Chapter 5: The Battle for Sector Seven
Locating Don Corneo's mansion was easy. Obviously, the majority of the ordinary people in Sector Six's Wall Market did not know precisely where to find Corneo. Finding the men who worked for him would have been a problem, except that Squall, Quistis, and Rinoa already knew what business Corneo trafficked in.
Brothels were a bit too common in Wall Market, a section of the city that already reeked with the smell of trade. Anything and everything was sold around here, Squall saw, heard, and smelled. He passed a weapons shop that reeked of gunpowder and firearms cleaning fluid, heard the hawking shouts of shameless vendors displaying their wares in the most blatant manners imaginable, and could easily see the hundreds of neon, painted, and otherwise decorated signs outside every stall and establishment.
The sheer amount of ultraviolet light given off by the lamps in this area gave the region a shine that compared with daylight, and at some point, someone must have dropped or sown grass seed around the region, as a thick, short carpet of grass had sprung up throughout Wall Market.
Squall unobtrusively approached various people throughout the massive market and asked the same general question: where could he find the nearest brothel? He wasn't embarrassed to be asking, unlike many men who passed through. In fact, he made it seem almost businesslike. The ex-SeeD soon enough found one of the operations just beyond a small restaurant, and turned back to the women.
"I'll go get what we need," he told them, and they nodded. Judging by the already lecherous crowd of men outside the brothel, they didn't want to get any closer anyway. Squall forged ahead, steeling himself as he moved through the crowd. Several men gave him nasty looks as he shouldered them aside, but a quick glare that promised a painful death was enough to put them back and let the small but very dangerous man past.
Squall approached the bouncer outside the brightly-lit brothel. The building was painted a cheery yellow, with numerous bright neon signs outside proclaiming it to be the "Honey Bee Inn." The bright lights reflecting in Squall's glowing eyes, he approached the man out front, his face impassive, revealing nothing.
"I need to speak with the Don," Squall stated. "Where can I find him?"
"Corneo?" the huge, dark-skinned bouncer asked, laughing. Squall noticed he wore a lot of jewelry, and half his teeth were plated in gold. "The Don don't like men. Whachoo want with him?"
"Business," Squall replied.
"You don't look like a 'supplier,' man," the bouncer replied with another half-golden grin.
"I'm not," Squall responded evenly. He narrowed his eyes. "I have business. Where can I find him? It's in everyone's best interests that I know."
"Look, kid," the bouncer replied, poking a finger into Squall's chest. "If you got business with the Don, you gotta show me your merchandise, got me? Then I can tell you where the boss is."
Squall looked down at the finger, then up to the bouncer. An instant later, Squall's left hand was tightly closed over the bouncer's wrist, and with a quick twist and movement of his arm, the ex-SeeD had the bouncer on his knees, hand twisted painfully behind his back. With his other hand, Squall drew one of his knives and put it to the bouncer's throat.
"If you want my merchandise, you can have it," Squall whispered quietly, his voice like the cold words of death itself. "Shinra doesn't like it when their messengers are taunted."
"Shinra!" the bouncer cried, suddenly going very still. "Umm, well, I'm sorry, man, I didn't know you were-"
"Shut up," Squall replied, his tone deathly calm, which made it even more frightening. "You think I'm stupid? Everyone knows members of SeeD have glowing eyes. It's obvious you knew I was with Shinra, and the company does not enjoy being mocked. We consider it an insult to our pride." Squall pressed the blade tighter, a thin trickle of blood flowing from a small cut in the bouncer's neck.
"And we don't like insults."
"Okay! I'll talk! I'm sorry!"
"Yes, you are sorry," Squall answered evenly. "You're a sorry waste of oxygen, and the only way I won't kill you and write you off as launching an unprovoked attack against a member of SeeD is if you tell me, right now, where to find Don Corneo."
Twenty minutes later, Squall, along with Quistis and Rinoa, had crossed through Wall Market to the north, to the site of Don Corneo's mansion. And what a sight it was.
"Good Hyne, what is wrong with this guy?" Rinoa muttered, and Squall and Quistis were forced to agree. The outside of the mansion could best be described as the worst case of bad taste imaginable, featuring strings of eye-hurtingly bright neon lights illuminating cartloads of random artifacts and objects from around the world. Why the Don would even bother to put these things outside where they were easily stealable was beyond the trio's understanding, but apparently the sheer hideousness of most of the objects (not to mention the Don reputation) kept people from just picking up the items and carrying them off. Neon signs, graffiti, random statues and art objects, and more littered the grounds leading up to the garishly decorated house of Corneo.
A single man who carried an assault rifle slung over his shoulder stood outside Corneo's mansion. The figure glanced over the group and then looked to Squall.
"The Don's busy," the man quickly explained, glancing to the women. "Any business you want to conduct with him concerning sales will have to be carried out later." Squall narrowed his eyes, while the reactions from behind him were more visible, both Quistis and Rinoa immediately angered over the guard's assumption that they were prostitutes.
"We're not here on that kind of business," Squall replied. "We need to see the Don for different reasons."
"Sorry, can't let you in without the Don's approval," the guard responded. "I may be able to let the ladies in, Don Corneo may be interested in them, and even if he isn't, the guys certainly would." The man's grin was sickening as he looked back over the two women.
"We don't have time for this," Squall muttered, drawing the Revolver.
Three seconds later, the guard outside became the door opener, his body smashing through the entrance and blasting Corneo's huge wooden doors into kindling. Squall stepped over his unconscious body, the Revolver drawn and readied by his side. A single man stood in their way, brandishing a sub-machinegun that also featured a long bayonet on the end, but he wasn't the first thing the ex-SeeD, nor Rinoa or Quistis, focused on.
The outside of the house was badly decorated. The inside of the house was a monument to sheer sickening design. Opposing colors shined through bright neon lights, even more eye-hurting than the ones outside. The inside of the building was painted in garish colors, the expensive paneled wood transformed into hideous decoration. The lower level of the house was occupied by the main hallway, which included a staircase leading up to the right to a balcony ringing the entry hallway. Several doors were spaced along this balcony, including one massive, gaudily designed pair of double doors, directly above which was positioned a disco ball hanging from the ceiling. From somewhere inside the mansion, some godawful rap music was playing, seeming to have been custom-composed for the mansion as the verbal equivalent of the visual decadence inside the home.
"What the hell's going on?" came a shout from beyond the double doors above, which flew open. "Kotch! What's happening?" Out of the doors above appeared a man who could only have been Don Corneo himself. No one else could have designed this mansion, except the huge, fat slob of a man clad in what seemed to be almost a mockery of royal purple robes. Corneo's eyes were wide with shock, the cheap cigar he was smoking almost falling out of his mouth. Squall focused on the man's head, amazed to see a solid gold crown on top of the Don's head, and what seemed to be almost a mile of gold and silver necklaces around his neck. The Don's fingers and hands shone with gems and gold as he put his hands on the railing, shocked to see the intruders and his ruined door.
"My door!" the Don screamed, face turning red. "I liked that door! I really did! Kotch, what in the holy hell is going on here?"
"Not sure, sir!" replied the man standing in front of the intruders, now brandishing his sub-machinegun, as obviously confused as his boss.
"Don Corneo," Quistis said, stepping over the kindling that had once been the door. "We're here to ask you some questions."
"Are you . . . are you with Shinra?" Corneo asked, his voice quavering in fear. Quistis shook her head.
"No, we're with AVALANCHE," she replied.
"Oh, well then!" Corneo replied, his courage returning. "I was worried for a second. Skotch!"
The door nearest to the stairs burst open, and another man, clad in a brown tank top and black pants, rushed out, brandishing another one of the bayonetted sub-machineguns. Behind Corneo's goon came a half-dozen similarly attired men, wielding the same weapons.
"Yeah, boss?" Skotch growled. Corneo pointed down at the trio of intruders.
"Kill those bastards!" Corneo growled, but then paused, grinning. "Wait, wait, second thought." He looked down at Quistis and Rinoa in a way that could best be described as skin-crawling. "Just maim the women. Kill the girlie man!"
"Right, boss!" Skotch responded, spinning toward Squall. "Open fire, boys!"
The order wasn't even out of Skotch's mouth, and squall was already moving. By the time the thug had shouted "Fire!" Squall was already face to face with a startled Kotch, gunblade snatching up and catching the sub-machinegun by its bayonet and throwing it out wide to the ex-SeeD's left. Skotch's men were raising their weapons at the ex-SeeD when he was dancing around behind Kotch, the startled thug just barely begining to react to the lightning fast assault as Squall moved behind him, his left hand grasping Kotch's left arm and spinning him around.
The men on the balcony opened fire on Squall, and Squall spun Kotch into their path, the man becoming an instant human shield for the moment Squall needed. A faint half-dome of purple light formed before Squall, stretching from the top of his head to his knees, a short-term, mobile barrier formed of magic.
Then, Squall leaped, his enhanced muscles taking him up to the level of the balcony and just over the wooden railing to land almost right next to the suddenly terrified Don. Corneo shrieked and dove through his gaudy doorway, and before Squall could pursue Skotch and his men spun their weapons toward the ex-SeeD. With the tight quarters on the balcony, only the lead goon and one of his subordinates could get good shots at the ex-SeeD, however, and the rest quickly found danger in the two women below, whom they had ignored.
Two bolts, one of lightning and one of metal, startled Corneo's soldiers (and killed two of them outright) as Rinoa and Quistis opened up on the tightly clustered squad. One man lay collapsed on the floor, a crossbow bolt from Rinoa still quivering in his chest, while the other had pitched over the railing and lay dead, chest burned by the impact of electrical magic. Two of the survivors turned toward the women, but recalling the Don's orders, held their fire, instead charging down the stairs. They reached the foot of the stairs and rushed toward Quistis and Rinoa, intending to use their bayonets to disable them.
Skotch and his subordinate opened fire on Squall, but their bullets merely bounced of a dome-shaped semicircle that flared into existence directly in front of Squall. The magical dome of defensive magic shone brightly, and Squall charged the group of Corneo's soldiers immediately, realizing the shield wouldn't hold forever under the barrage.
Skotch, thinking quickly, pushed one of his remaining subordinates in front of him and then hopped up on the railing of the balcony. Skotch and his two men then rushed to meet Squall, leading with their bayonets thrusting. The barrier deflected Skotch's strike, though the magical shield had absorbed the last hit it could take and collapsed under the blow. However, the barrier had bought Squall all the time he needed, as he shot forward with his gunblade. The blade of the Revolver intercepted one of the Corneo guards' strikes, and Squall turned the man's bayonet around to catch and deflect the second bayonet from his comrade. The Revolver snapped into the opening presented by the skilled deflection, and bit hard into the chest of the soldier whose blade Squall had deflected.
Kotch reared back for a second swing when Squall spun toward the guard and then dove forward, crashing against the man's legs and taking him off the balcony. The second soldier, still confused by his comrade's sudden death, hesitated before pursuing the falling ex-SeeD.
The two men attacking Quistis and Rinoa split up, closing rapidly with their respective targets. The man approaching Quistis moved more cautiously, while the one attacking Rinoa rushed at her, trying to get at her before she could fit another bolt into her weapon.
The first man came forward with a quick, cautious thrust, but Quistis' rante shot up into the bayonet's path, the sickle blade knocking the weapon aside long before it even neared her body. Quistis snapped the whip a second time, this time downward, the chain entangling the submachinegun. She flicked her wrist and the weapon was snatched out of the soldier's hand. The man fell back a step, and grabbed for a pistol at his belt, Corneo's orders be damned, but another snap of the rante's handle sent the blade slicing up through the man's chest, ripping him open from his left waist to his right shoulder.
The soldier rushing toward Rinoa knew he'd be able to get to her before she could fit a second crossbow bolt, and she knew it. So instead of trying to use the crossbow, Rinoa reached behind her, beneath her blue duster, and drew out a small rod, about two feet in length. She tapped a button on the rod as the soldier came in, and the rod instantly extended into a quarterstaff made of mythril, a light and extremely durable metal, which she whipped around in front of herself. The upper tip of the staff deflected the thrusting bayonet, and before the thug could respond to the surprising manuever, Rinoa swept the staff's lower end up and across, smashing it across the man's face. Two more quick alternating strikes with the staff's opposite heads followed, and Rinoa quickly spun around, gripping her staff with both hands. As she came around, she smashed the staff across as hard as possible into the stunned guard's head. The impact was vicious enough to flip the man halfway over, knocking him out cold.
Squall hit the ground floor hard, though Skotch took the brunt of the damage for the ex-SeeD. The last of Corneo's goons, however, was chasing him down to the ground floor, landing right behind the ex-SeeD. The man thrust at Squall even as he rose. But Squall was already blocking, the Revolver shooting across and intercepting the hit beneath the bayonet. Squall then spun his gunblade up and over, forcing the bayonet up and over as well, and then down into the floor. Squall's left hand shot down in the middle of the maneuver, moving to his belt and drawing one of his knives. Grasping the blade in an overhand grip, Squall stabbed the weapon up into the Corneo soldier's neck even as the man's weapon hit the floor.
Skotch was just recovering from the impact with the floor when he looked up, seeing Squall towering over him. The ex-SeeD spun back to the soldier even as the man was raising his sub-machinegun, and Squall flipped the Revolver over in his hands into another overhand grip. He jammed the blade down, the razor tip slicing down through Skotch's chest.
Squall extracted his blade, and a quick check showed Quistis and Rinoa were fine, their opponents disposed of just as easily. He glanced at Rinoa's staff, and raised a quizzical eyebrow, but asked no questions, despite his surprise at her proficiency as a warrior.
"The Don's waiting," Squall stated, and bounded up the stairs. He approached the double doors and kicked them in, the wood splintering with a satisfying crunch. Squall strode into the office, just as loudly and terribly decorated as the main hall, and shook his head, moving to the back of the room, where a heavy curtain was draped. A quick slice of his gunblade chopped the fabric out of the way, and beyond was another horribly designed room, this one Corneo's bedroom. The Don was cowering on his bed, the covers pulled over his head. Squall shook his head at the man's cowardice and crossed the room.
"Time to answer some questions," Squall growled, yanking the covers off the fat slob. Corneo fell back, terrified, his crown slipping off his head.
"Why are you so interested in AVALANCHE?" Quistis demanded, crossing her arms.
"Tell us," Squall growled, snapping open his gunblade's chambers, before closing them again, a pointed reminder. He then leveled the weapon at Corneo's crotch. "Or I'll blast it off." Corneo's scream was immediate and his fear was absolute as he clutched his groin protectively.
"I can't tell you! They'll kill me!" the Don cried, waving his hands desperately.
"Who?" Quistis demanded. "Tell us," she began, then looked down at Corneo's pants. She uncoiled her whip, fingering the blade. "Or else I'll slice it off."
"It was Heidegger!" Corneo screamed, once more clutching his privates defensively. "Heidegger, general of the Shinra army! He was wanting me to confirm where AVALANCHE was based, so they could . . . . " Corneo slapped a hand over his mouth, realizing he was letting important information slip.
"What are they planning?" Rinoa demanded, pointing her staff at Corneo. "Tell us, or I'll crush it."
Squall glanced at her, surprised, but glad she had so quickly hopped into the interrogation game.
"Eek!" Corneo yelped, once more shielding his nether regions. "They're gonna crush AVALANCHE! Literally!"
"Literally?" Squall echoed, not liking the sound of that at all.
"They're gonna blow the support pillar, and the plate will come down and smash the entire slum flat!" Corneo continued.
"WHAT?" Quistis exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock. Rinoa and Squall echoed her sentiment an instant later, though not as loudly.
"I'm just glad they're based in Sector Seven, not in Six!" Corneo added. "They say that AVALANCHE is going to be blamed too! And that the operation was going to start as soon as they got confirmation from me."
"Have they?" Squall growled, and Corneo fell back. Squall raised his gunblade, and the look in his shining eyes was all Corneo need to know Squall would cut off his privates if he didn't answer.
" . . . yeah," Corneo managed to mutter quietly. "They got confirmation about a half hour before you guys got here."
"We have to go!" Quistis shouted, and Squall nodded. He turned to step away, but then spun, heaving his gunblade like a spear. The blade dug into the wood just inches from Corneo's hand, which was reaching for a lever on beside his bed. The Don screamed and fell back, once more terrified as Squall crossed the bedroom and tore his blade free. He glanced around the room, scanning for a trap of some sort, but saw nothing, except an oddly plain-looking floor mat where he had been standing. Nodding, Squall roughly grabbed the Don by his robes and threw him onto the floor mat with one hand.
"Step away," he quickly told Quistis and Rinoa, and they did so, moving completely out of the room. Squall grabbed the lever Corneo was reaching for, and the Don scrambled to his feet.
"NOO-!" he began to say as Squall flicked the lever. The covering mat, and the massive slob standing on it, fell down, through a cleverly concealed trap door. The Don's denial echoed throughout the tunnel as he fell down. A couple of seconds later, Squall heard a splash as the Don hit water somewhere far below, and then the man cursing.
"Good riddance," Rinoa muttered, and Squall nodded.
"He's not dead," Squall answered as he hopped over the secret trapdoor. "That hidden door probably leads down to the sewers. But he's out of the game for a while, at least."
"We have to hurry!" Quistis said, and Squall nodded. They ran out of Corneo's ruined mansion and toward Sector Seven. Time had just become the most precious thing in the world.
Alexander Shinra sat back in his chair, cigar smoking in his mouth, as he regarded the video screen in front of him, set into his massive steel desk, and the young blonde man displayed on one of the dozens of video screens here, in the nexus of his network that spanned the entire globe.
"Father, this is an insane plan," Rufus Shinra, Alexander's only son, stated. "Dropping Sector Seven to kill a small band of rebels? Do you have any idea how much this will cost?"
"Very much so," Alexander replied, puffing his cigar. "The costs are worth the extensive benefits we will reap. Midgar will know the true terror that these rebels can inflict, especially considering we're blaming this on them. We've even arranged to let the information slip, so that AVALANCHE will desperately try to save Sector Seven from this catastrophe. Sadly, the rebels were able to destroy the platform through insanely suicidal means. This will be precedent to tighten our control over the slums and increase Mako rates to ensure such a disaster will never happen again."
"One seventh of our Midgar income will be lost!" Rufus responded. "That's almost the equivalent of all of Junon! How can you make up for that?"
"Rufus, you know we've been searching for someone very special, correct?" Alexander said, seeming to change the subject.
"A very special person?" Rufus asked, his tone indicating that he knew just how special this person was. Alexander nodded.
"Neo-Midgar will soon be a reality, son," Alexander said, with a predatorial smile. "And once that has been realized, even Midgar will be nothing more than a mere bauble in our crown."
"I see," Rufus muttered, nodding.
"After AVALANCHE is . . . crushed," Alexander said with a widening grin. "No one will dare oppose us, the citizenry of Midgar will be even more loyal to us, and we will tighten our control and profits. Nothing but good will come out of this."
"Still, it seems such a waste, Father," Rufus complained.
"Allow me to handle business here in Midgar," Alexander replied. "You've still got issues in Junon, correct?"
Rufus nodded reluctantly, and the video screen went blank. Shinra stood, puffing his cigar again, as a massive, bearded man strode into the room, dressed in the green uniform denoting the officers of the Shinra military. The man lumbered into the office, his right breast gleaming with all the medals and commendations he had earned in his career.
"The assault's already underway, Mr. President," Heidegger, the head of the Shinra armed forces and one of the three most powerful people in the world, reported.
"What did you send?" Shinra asked, and Heidegger laughed, a thundering sound.
"Two squads of paratroopers, a pair of gunships, and a couple of squads of ground troopers to secure the staircase," Heidegger reported. "Those are just cannon fodder to secure the platform itself, so the Turks can move in and plant the actual bomb. I've already got condolences for their families ready."
"The rescue crews are standing by?" Shinra asked, and Heidegger nodded.
"Ready to see what survivors they can pull out of the catastrophe AVALANCHE has inflicted," Heidegger answered with another bout of laughter. Shinra joined in the mirth. He crossed his massive office on the top floor of the huge Shinra skyscraper and looked out over the metropolis, continuing to laugh quietly to himself, all the while puffing on his cigar. Things were looking up.
Within half an hour they had passed through Wall Market and beyond, reaching the gate to Sector Seven. From that point, they made their way through the trash mounds of Sector Seven at breakneck speeds, running as fast as they could. They took heart in the fact that Sector Seven still stood, but the trio knew that this wouldn't last forever.
Within ten minutes of entering the sector, Squall, Quistis, and Rinoa had come into sight of the pillar, though the immediate image of the pillar did nothing to assure them of Sector Seven's safety. They could see what looked to be Shinra helicopter gunships circling the structure, flashes of gunfire, and the answering bursts of magic.
"They've already started!" Quistis shouted, and the trio put on more speed. They bounded over random piles of garbage and jutting pieces of equipment, and at one point cut clear over a trash mound that was too wide to go around. The pillar and its accompanying platform came into sight ahead, and outside the structure was a large crowd, gathered to watch the spectacle. Even as they watched, one of the helicopters exploded, the burning wreckage plunging to the barren slum floor mere meters from the base of the pillar. Score one for AVALANCHE.
The trio quickly reached the crowd and pushed through, Squall taking the lead and shoving people out of the way. Soon he had reached the front of the crowd, Quistis and Rinoa with him. Directly in front of them they could see Xu, her leg mostly healed, trying to help Watts walk. The wounded rebel's shirt was soaked with blood, but he clutched his gun tightly as he hung by Xu's shoulder.
"Quistis," Watts muttered, smiling. "Good to see you, ma'am."
"Watts!" Quistis cried, rushing over to him.
"We tried," Xu explained as quickly as she could, helping Quistis lay the wounded rebel out on the ground. "Shinra's helicopters are dropping troops all on the top. Zone and Zell are up there fighting as hard as they can."
"We have to go to them," Quistis said quickly. "They're planning to destroy the pillar!"
"What?" Xu exclaimed, and Squall nodded.
"Evacuate everyone from the sector," he ordered quickly. He spun toward the crowd. "Everyone, Shinra is going to drop the pillar and crush Sector Seven!" There were shocked gasps from the crowd, and he pointed toward the nearby slum village. "Get everyone out of the sector as soon as possible! We'll try to stop them!" He turned to Xu and Rinoa, who was crouching over Watts. The warm, vibrant wind seemed to wash over the whole group, and Watts' wounds seemed to mend immediately, and the rebel sat up, confused by the ebbing pain.
"Xu, Rinoa, Watts, help get everyone out of the sector. Lead them to Wall Market or Sector Five. Just get them out before that plate comes down."
"What about you?" Rinoa asked, and Squall shook his head, before drawing his gunblade.
"We'll keep them busy and buy you all some time," he replied, and Quistis nodded. "Let's go!"
Quistis uncoiled her rante and the two ran for the staircase leading up to the platform. Squall took the lead as he bounded up the metal steps, and they managed to climb several flights without encountering any trouble. Up above the echoing sounds of gunfire and flashing magic could be heard more clearly, and Squall made out several teams of paratrooper commandos circling the structure, along with a single helicopter gunship. A squad of blue-clad Shinra regulars were about three or four flights down from the platform, Zone seeming to be holding them off single-handedly. Up top, Zell was leaping around like a madman, launching flying kicks and brutal punches that left broken corpses of any paratroopers who ventured too close.
However, their position was very tentative, the only thing keeping the gunship from entering the fray completely being the presence of the paratroopers who were trying to overwhelm Zell. Zone was valiantly holding on, but he was taking cover more than returning fire as the Shinra soldiers steadily advanced up the stairs. Still, a number of corpses sprawled along the metal steps testified to a fierce defense he had mounted.
"We have to hurry!" Quistis shouted below, and Squall put on more speed, charging up the steps with everything he could put out.
Up above, Zell launched another blast of magic, and one of the paratroopers suddenly fell, out of control as his propeller failed him. The man descended rapidly, until he managed to catch himself on a railing a couple levels above Squall and Qusitis. The paratrooper spotted the ascending pair quickly enough, and drew his machine pistol, leveling it at them.
"Hold it right there!" he ordered. "This area is restricted to Shinra personnel only-"
Whatever the rest of his order was, it never got out as a fireball erupted from Squall's hand, blasting the man and hurling him over the railing. Squall and Quistis continued their ascent.
Apparently, their actions weren't taken very well, as a duo of paratroopers suddenly dropped from the platform above, descending aggressively with machine pistols drawn. They split up, taking opposite sides of the platform, and as soon as they came into sight of Squall and Quistis, they opened fire with their weapons.
Squall saw them coming long before they opened fire, and had already cast a preparatory spell over Quistis. He didn't have time to cast one over himself, and as the bullets started flying, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and brace himself against the incoming streams of gunfire. Streams of hot metal bounced off Quistis' intervening barrier, and one cut into Squall's flank, drawing blood along his side. The wound wasn't too severe, however, and the ex-SeeD countered several times over with a bolt of electrical magic that blasted the offending paratrooper out of the sky.
Squall ran ahead, and the remaining paratrooper took aim at him, ignoring the protected Quistis. That was a mistake, for while he was aiming at the more vulnerable target, Quistis sighted the paratrooper. A green flare was his only warning, and then he was dead as a fireball blew him out of the sky.
Up above, the battle was still going badly, though the intervention of Squall and Quistis was drawing Shinra's attention. The helicopter gunship suddenly pulled away, giving Zell some much needed breathing room, and descended, targeting the newcomers.
Just below the platform, Zone tossed the last grenade he was carrying, blasting a pair of Shinra troops off the stairs. He then popped out from behind cover and sent a quick burst down that claimed another Shinra trooper. Only a few members of the squad remained, but they continued to advance and return fire at the rebel. There was a quick exchange of gunfire as both a Shinra soldier and Zone leaned out of cover at the same moment, and both men fell back. The Shinra soldier toppled over the railing, wounded fatally, while Zone fell back against the railing, pressing his sub-machinegun to a badly wounded left arm, blood staining his blue jacket. Below, the trio of surviving Shinra soldiers advanced.
"Chopper!" Squall warned Quistis as the helicopter descended. It was an assault helicopter, outfitted with a pair of machineguns and missile launchers on wings, and from his experience Squall knew both were very deadly weapon systems.
"Electrical magic!" Quistis quickly ordered, and Squall nodded. Before the gunship had even begun to track its weapons toward the pair, a green flare heralded a pair of electrical bolts that took the helicopter in its nose, scrambling the electronics. The gunship fell back briefly, circling, its targeting systems disabled momentarily by the electric discharge. Squall and Quistis continued to move up, feet pounding on the metal steps.
The pilot must have recovered his targeting systems a moment later, as the hovering death machine came back in, its machineguns tracking the pair.
"Split!" Squall ordered, turning and running down the stairs. Quistis bounded up, and his separating opponents must have momentarily confused the helicopter's pilot. Squall took advantage of that momentary confusion, and another blast of electrical magic splashed against the nose of the helicopter.
Quistis rushed up the steps, positioning herself above the helicopter, and pointed a hand down at the rotors. Her wrist flared green once more, and another bolt of electricity lanced down, striking the gunship's rotors.
Squall's electrical bolt wreaked havoc on the targeting systems, but this bolt momentarily short-circuited the rotors, causing them to cease working. Since the rotors were essential to the continued flying of the helicopter, this resulted in the gunship taking a very quick and very destructive drop to the slum floor. The ensuing explosion a few seconds later only helped to enunciate that fact.
Squall and Quistis continued on, bounding up the flights of steps. They were almost to the top now, the trio of surviving Shinra soldiers just a single flight above them, firing up at Zone's position. The AVALANCHE member was still alive, but pinned down by the constant fire, unable to return anything back to the Shinra troops. Realizing this, one trooper remained back and covered his comrades, who bounded up the stairs.
That soldier never even realized he was doomed until Squall cut him down and ran on up the stairs, past his collapsing body, Quistis one step behind.
The remaining two soldiers rounded the last flight of stairs and leveled their weapons at Zone. One of the men chuckled as the wounded rebel tried to raise his rifle, and the soldier fired, the burst tearing into Zone's right arm. The sub-machinegun clattered down the metal steps, and the soldier who had fired advanced toward the helpless Zone. The second soldier laughed as well, waiting for his friend to deal the coup de grace.
He should have kept his eyes down below, as then he might have seen the green flare of a materia orb in time to at least realize his doom. Quistis' fireball struck him dead center in the chest and hurled him over the railing before the soldier even knew he was hit.
The first soldier paused at the flash of light and roar of the fireball's explosion, and spun around in time to see a teenager with glowing eyes leap over the railing right behind him. Squall sliced across with his gunblade, throwing the man's assault rifle out wide to the right, then stepped around to the soldier's left too quickly to follow. Before the Shinra soldier could even move in response to the lightning-fast move, Squall was behind him and grabbing the chin of his helmet. The ex-SeeD pulled back with that hand hard, revealing the vulnerable neck, and his gunblade drew across the soldier's throat, slicing it open. Squall then pushed the dying man forward, and he tumbled down the steps, his lifeblood pouring out.
Quistis stepped past the dying man, and she and Squall stopped at where Zone lay, arms bleeding severely.
"Sorry," he offered with a rueful chuckle. "Looks like I screwed up."
"You didn't," Quistis offered with a shake of her head. Her wrist flared green once more, and white energy played over the wounded rebel's body. The bleeding lessened somewhat, and Zone sighed as the pain seemed to be equally relieved.
Up above, another burst of gunfire sounded, and all three looked up.
"Go!" Zone shouted tot he two of them. "Forget about me! Zell's up there by himself, you gotta help him! We gotta stop whatever Shinra's going to do!"
"They're going to drop the plate!" Qusitis replied, and Zone's eyes widened.
"Then go!" he shouted quickly, trying to wave his arms.
"Quistis, stay with him," Squall said quickly. "Patch up Zone and then both of you get up there. I'll go help Zell, but hurry! I think we may need you two up there soon."
"What do you mean?" Quistis asked, but Squall was already bounding up the stairs.
"This is just a prelude!" he answered over his shoulder. "The real attack's still coming!"
Squall continued running up the steps, rounding the last flight of stairs and reaching the central platform. Up here, he could see a large central console, big enough to hide behind, and a wide wire mesh platform with metal railings. Even as he reached the top, Zell roared a battlecry and launched a double kick against one of the remaining paratroopers, the soldier smashing hard into the central console. The kick was only the beginning of Zell's attack routine, as he was pushing off the paratrooper with that very kick, flying backward into the air toward the last remaining soldier, who was still airborne. Zell spun toward that soldier in mid-air, planting a powerful spinning kick that blasted into the man's ribcage, shattering it. The rib bones became skewers that impaled the soldier's internal organs, and the man himself was blasted away from the platform.
"Zell!" Squall called, running across the platform to where Zell landed easily. The brawler looked up, his eyes widening momentarily, to be replaced by a grin.
"Squall! I knew something little like a high-speed train crash wouldn't kill ya!" The brawler clapped his hands as if to wipe them clean. "Too bad you missed the party, though I'm guessing you were what pulled that gunship off my ass, right?" Squall nodded.
"Quistis is down below with Zone," he reported. "Xu, Watts, and a girl I met named Rinoa are clearing out Sector Seven."
"What for?" Zell asked, looking around the platform. "I'm guessing it has something to do with these guys, right?"
"Shinra's going to blow the pillar," Squall answered grimly, and Zell nodded.
"Figures," he replied. "The moment I saw all the commotion I brought everyone up here. Good thing too."
"Right," Squall nodded. "But it's not over yet. Knowing Shinra, these men were just cannon fodder. The real attack's on the way, and if they're still the same as when I left, that means one thing."
"What?"
"The Turks," Squall replied grimly. Zell looked confused, so Squall elaborated. "Shinra's top secret spy unit. They handle all kinds of dirty jobs, just like this one."
"We'll give 'em a warm reception then," Zell replied, punching his fist into his palm. Moments later, the sounds of another helicopter's approach could be heard, and the pair scanned the area.
"There!" Zell called, pointing past the support pillar. Squall spotted the helicopter, moving prudently behind the pillar to prevent any anti-air attacks with magic. It closed quickly, and swooped around the pillar, passing directly over the platform and beyond within an instant, but not before a pair of forms clad in dark blue dropped out, landing easily on the edge of the platform. Squall and Zell moved forward quickly, getting between the two men and the center of the platform.
Both men were clad in the usual Turk uniform, though one of them wore his jacket open and loose. Zell didn't recognize him, but Squall recalled Reno D'Angelo from yesterday easily enough, and judging by the Turk's smirk, he too recalled Squall.
The second man wore his uniform properly, jacket closed, with sunglasses over his eyes. The man's face was cleanly shaven and totally bald, revealing dark skin. Beneath his uniform the Turk was solidly built, matching Zell in physical fitness and musculature. Two sets of metal plated knuckles adorned his fingerless gloves, similar to Zell's own weapons. Squall recognized the man as well from his days as a SeeD.
"Rudolph King," Squall commented as the man stretched a bit. Rudolph nodded, readjusting his glasses.
"Just Rude," he replied easily, in deep - yet soft - voice. "Squall, heard you were back. Sad to be meeting under the circumstances, but it can't be helped."
"Don't suppose you're just going to get out of our way, now?" Reno asked, tapping a button on his rod. The weapon extended to its full length, its tip crackling with electrical charge.
"Can't do that," Zell replied, sliding into a combat stance. Squall raised the Revolver into a ready guard as Reno rested his baton on his shoulder.
"Too bad, then," Reno replied, grin widening. "Now we get a chance to finish what we started in Sector Five. Rude, take care of Kung-Fu Chicken over there. I've got Squall."
"Hey!" Zell protested the insult, but even then, the Turks were split with Reno, moving toward Zell, while the red-haired Turk approached Squall.
Reno's rod rested easily on the Turk's shoulder, bouncing casually, before suddenly jabbing forward. The Revolver intercepted quickly, snapping up and tossing the rod's thrust aside. Reno brought the rod up and over into a diagonal slice, but Squall easily deflected the swing, and countered with a quick horizontal cleave. Reno hopped back, rod weaving in to intercept the strike, a wide grin on the Turk's face. The rod snapped forward toward Squall's chest, and it was the ex-SeeD's turn to hop back, left hand slapping up against the rod's shaft to knock it aside. Squall punched out with his gunblade, the tip diving at Reno's throat, and the Turk had to leap back, spinning completely around, his rod smacking the gunblade away before it could dig in.
Zell grinned as Rude stepped forward, the Turk's face locked into an impassive mask as he stepped into a guard, left foot forward, hands raised. Zell took the initiative, taking one quick step forward and launching a high side kick, apparently aimed at Rude's face, but pullign back and jabbing lower at his chest. Rude snapped a hand up, seeign through the feint and throwing aside the kick with his left forearm. Zell reacted quickly, spinning the kicking leg down and leaping up with his right leg, coming around an a mid-air spin-kick that jabbed down at Rude's chest. Rude brought both of his hands together, intercepting and stopping the shooting foot, and as Zell landed on the platform, the Turk countered. Rude stepped forward, one fist jabbing for Zell's chest, which Zell caught in his right hand, throwing the hit out wide. Zell's left fist crossed over his blocking right arm, shooting forward at Rude's face, but the Turk used his other hand to deflect that hit as well. Beneath the interweaving hands, however, Zell's left knee suddenly jabbed forward at Rude's ribs. Rude raised his own left knee to quickly block, and the Turk's right hand weaved below Zell's hands, chopping into the brawler's ribs in a painful strike. Zell grunted in discomfort, and Rude broke away, spinning low to sweep Zell's legs out from under him. Zell lost his footing and slammed to the metal platform hard.
Reno came out of his desperate spin with another jab, to which Squall responded with a quick, measured parry and a speedy counter with his gunblade. Reno hopped back from the chop, then went right back in, his sparking rod jabbing in a quick succession of short strikes. The Revolver met each thrust easily, and Squall prepared to counter when the Turk simply hopped back, smiling.
"Hate to say this, Squall," Reno replied with a smile. "Looks like this will have to be cut short." Reno's rod flashed, and a shining white light erupted from the rod, diving at Squall. The ex-SeeD rolled aside, but the light tracked him, closing in. Just before it hit him, however, the light exploded into a shimmering multicolored sheet which folded itself up around the ex-SeeD.
"Damn!" Squall shouted, cursing as the multi-colored light became a solid yellow barrier, a four-sided pyramid that trapped the ex-SeeD perfectly within its confines. He didn't even try to break out, knowing that it would be impossible for him to shatter the barrier of energy from the inside. Shinra's energy barrier technology was used for short-term containment of subjects, and it worked very effectively.
On his back, Zell saw Rude raise a fist to jam it down into the brawler's chest. Zell reacted with lightning speed, left leg curling up and catching the descending fist on his foot, while his right leg rose, curling up. Zell twisted to the side, and kicked out with his right leg, the foot slamming into the Turk's chest and hurling him up and away. Zell snapped his body like a whip, hopping back onto his feet.
"Zell!" Squall shouted from inside his barrier. The brawler spotted him and began to run toward the ex-SeeD, but Squall jabbed a finger at Reno, who was even then running toward the central console of the platform, a shaped charge in his hands. The brawler dashed after Reno, but long before he reached the Turk, Reno had placed the charge.
"Mission accomplished!" he shouted triumphantly, spinning toward Zell. The same white light that had struck Squall erupted from Reno's rod at Zell, spearing the brawler and trapping him within another multi-colored sheet of light that quickly resolved itself into another pyramidal prison. The brawler cursed and kicked the inside of the barrier, intending to shatter it through sheer ferocity, but his foot was stopped as thoroughly as if it had met a steel wall.
"Can't break through that," Reno stated simply. "Only way to disable the barrier is to hit it from the outside." The Turk grinned and looked up. "I guess Sector Seven falling down would be enough to break it, but by then it'll be too late. Rude!"
The bald Turk was standing now, and nodded. The helicopter that had dropped them off swung around toward the edge of the platform, and the two Turks hopped aboard, Reno sending Squall a quick salute and smile. Then, the chopper was gone.
"Dammit!" Zell shouted, punching the inside of his prison. He spun back to Squall, intending to ask the SeeD what they should do, but then stopped as he saw Quistis and a fully healed Zone bound up the stairs.
"Quistis!" Zell shouted. "Hurry! Get us out of here! Hit the barrier!" Quistis nodded and snapped her whip at the barrier holding Zell. Zone fired a quick burst at Squall's barrier, directly over the ex-SeeD's head. Both pyramids of light faded, and the group quickly rushed over to the central console. The bomb Reno had set appeared to be a time bomb, but set with an abnormally long timer, over ten minutes. Squall was confused as to why Reno would set a bomb with that long a time limit, but for whatever reason, it would give him more than enough time to disarm it.
"Stand back," Squall ordered, drawing one of his knives. He crouched over the bomb, looking underneath the timer for the detonator. He quickly found it, and spotted several wires running from the timer to the detonator. He prodded forward with one of the knives, poking the wires, when the bomb suddenly beeped. Squall checked the timer, to see the numbers counting down several times faster than normal.
"The hell?" Squall cursed. Any forthcoming answers or speculation were delayed by the sound of another helicopter swooping in. The group spun, expecting the Turks had returned for another round, but were instead surprised to see a single man standing on a platform on the outside of the helicopter, normally used for holding heavy machineguns or missile launchers. He was an older man, clad in the blue uniform of the Turks, with long black hair that reached to his shoulders.
"Tseng!" Squall shouted, recognizing the chief of the Turks organization.
"Squall," Tseng called back, recognizing the ex-SeeD. "I see you've already discovered the safety mechanism we installed on that bomb. Any attempt to disarm it will just make it explode even faster."
"Turn it off!" Zell shouted, but Tseng shook his head.
"Afraid I can't do that," he replied. Zone, beside Zell, growled and leveled his sub-machinegun at the Turk chief.
"Zell said turn it off, slime!" the rebel shouted, but Tseng simply laughed.
"Don't do something so risky, boy," Tseng responded. "Otherwise, I may have to hurt my guest." The Turk reached back into the helicopter, and pulled a girl into view.
"Rinoa!" Squall shouted, and the girl looked up at her name being called.
"You know each other?" Tseng asked, glancing down at his prisoner. "Perhaps you should thank me for letting you see each other one last time."
"Let her go, asshole!" Zell shouted. "Or I'll come up there and tear your spine out!"
"Like I said," Tseng answered easily, disregarding Zell's threat, "I can't. My orders were to find and capture the last remaining Ancient. It's taken us a long time, but I can finally report this to the president." Tseng glanced back inside at something the pilot said, and nodded.
"Well, we're almost out of time," he said with a grin. "The bomb should be going off any moment now, and once that support pillar you're standing on is gone, nothing will stop the plate collapse. Can you escape?" Tseng's smile showed how possible he considered that eventuality as he pushed Rinoa back into the helicopter and the aircraft pulled away as, up above, thundering rumbles could be heard.
"Those jackasses must have set the pillar to collapse up above first!" Zell shouted, looking up at the thick concrete pillar. "We have to get out of here!"
"How?" Quistis asked as the rumbling grew more intense. Squall was scanning the platform, but he already knew that they wouldn't be able to get to the bottom of the platform and out of the sector in time. He realized, more than the others, that they were already dead.
"Hey!" Zone called. "You hear something?"
"Aside from the plate up above about to fall on our heads, no!" Zell replied.
"Not that!" Zone responded. "I thought I head a clanking sound, like metal on metal from somewhere!"
Squall frowned, scanning the pillar again, and stopped. On one of the pillar's railings, near the side that faced Sector Six, a hook attached to a metal cable had connected with the railing. Squall frowned, not knowing where the hook had come from, but as he followed it up, he could see the cable stretched up to the border between the Sector Seven and Sector Six.
"Here!" he called, running to the cable. "We can use this to swing to Sector Six!"
"You sure?" Zell asked, not convinced, but Squall nodded.
"You see any better way?" the ex-SeeD replied as he grabbed the cable. "Everyone, get on!" Quistis, Zone, and Zell grabbed onto the cable, and Squall lifted the hook off the railing. Behind them, something exploded, and Squall leaped. For an instant, he thought he heard the wind screaming in his ear as the flew through the air, but a moment later, realized it was just Zell.
From his office, classical music echoing throughout the room, Alexander Louis Shinra smiled as he saw one of the sectors of his city suddenly fall, the edges of the sector flaring and exploding as gas lines and Mako pipes were severed suddenly. The entire sector went dark as it fell, tens of thousands of tons of metal, stone, and ceramic dropping down onto the slums below. The impact was felt throughout all of Midgar, and even Shinra perceived a faint tremor running through his office.
He grinned as he imagined the people's reaction to AVALANCHE's latest atrocity, and turned around, heading for the stairs and the Shinra Media Center on one of the lower floors. He had a speech to give.
"No sir," he whispered, standing on one of the catwalks running beneath Sector Six. "I wasn't able to intervene in the collapse. Things happened too quickly, and I was still trying to follow him in Sector Five."
There was a response, and he nodded, pressing the radio closer into his ear.
"He's alive, as are the rest of AVALANCHE," he assured the man on the other end. "I managed to intervene using a cable between the two sectors. They're in Sector Six now, shaken but otherwise fine."
Another response came over the radio.
"I understand sir," he replied. "Do you want me to expose myself? No? Okay then."
There was a long steam of words from the other end, and the man nodded.
"Very well then, sir. I'll keep a sharp lookout. Goodbye, Mr. President."
Yes, quite the interesting chapter, no? I had lots of fun with this one.
Anyway, some important notes:
The cross-dressing scene and the sewer/train graveyard were skipped, because, well, I wasn't a big fan of the cross-dressing scene myself, and the train graveyard didn't offer much potential for story development.
Reno and Rude's last names were something I added for flavor. Reno always seemed to be kind of Italian to me, and the name "d'Angelo" seemed to fit him well. And Rude...well, "King" seemed just natural.
Who was the mysterious person at the end? Heh, wouldn't you like to know....
The storyline is heating up!