Start Date: June 13, 2022

Windwillow

Final Fantasy VII

To rescue Aerith the task at hand was to infiltrate Shinra's core, find her, and bust out as quick as possible. There were turns that they probably should have expected, and a few they couldn't have.

The issue was joined. Time to rock and roll!

Chapter 10: Infiltration

Scene One

Shinra Inc.'s main building was a massive, multi-storied tower decked out with offices, recreational areas, and research laboratories. Access to the higher floors was sternly restricted, limited to essential personnel only. AVALANCHE didn't fit that category, so a little... creativity was warranted.

"Well, we made it!" Tifa said as she stretched her limbs. "Now we have to find a way in!" Seeing Barret out of the corner of her eye, she angrily stomped her foot. "You can NOT be serious, Barret! Running in guns blazing won't help anything!"

With a tilt of his head Barret caressed his Gun-arm. "Only way in is to kick some ass. You have a better suggestion? How 'bout you, Cloud?" He flexed his left arm tautly. "I know you're with me here, right?" Burying his face in his hand, Cloud shook his head in disbelief. There was no other way?

"No," Cloud began quietly. "Let's look for an unguarded staircase and..." As Barret charged the front door, he detached the Buster Sword angrily. "God damn it, Barret!" he snarled as he ran after him. "Show some restraint!" Tifa silently vowed to give Barret hell after everything settled down.

Barret barreled his way through the front doors, finding multiple employees talking and going about their work day. He unloaded his Gun-arm into the air, frightening and scattering the rank-and-file.

"Everyone not worth fighting, get the hell outta the way!" Barret screamed. "We're here to kick some ass and if you ain't willing to fight-" He was promptly stopped as Tifa bonked him on the head. "Hey, I'm warning them! Don't get your panties in a bunch!" Tifa's glare confirmed that he used the wrong words, and as she cracked her knuckles Barret stepped aside. "S-sorry..."

"Honestly!" Tifa scolded Barret, tightening her glove. "Do you not have an OUNCE of strategy in you?! You're supposed to be our leader here!" As Barret slunk away, she only grew angrier. "We run head first into enemy territory and you-" She was interrupted by a burst of gunfire that dropped all three running for cover. "See what you've done! Idiot!" Barret could only flinch at each word.

The hell, ain't I supposed to be in charge here?!

Forming a ball of flame, Cloud tossed it over his shoulder. The orb exploded, clearing away the security guards. In the aftermath he slung his weapon over his shoulder and rushed forward.

"Can we talk later?!" he shouted. "Barret, I am SO kicking your ass later... but we have BUSINESS here, dammit!" Watching as the grenade combatants began to gather, he formed another fireball. "Worry about grenades first, break through second!"

The combatants pulled the pins on their grenades and tossed them. Before they could land Barret blew them away, with Cloud taking out the rest with a quick series of slashes. Tifa ran by Barret with a fierce glare, causing him to flinch.

Okay, not in charge...

Rushing forward the party readied their counterattack. Barret unloaded on the soldiers, dropping most to the floor. As they hit the ground Cloud tossed his bomb, blowing them into all corners of the room. Cloud quickly directed his friends towards a large elevator.

"Get on, NOW!" he yelled, palm hitting the button. As the door opened Cloud brandished the Buster Sword against the only remaining soldier - who promptly passed out - and Tifa and Barret joined Cloud on the elevator. Just as the remaining security began firing the door closed, bullets ricocheting off in all directions.

Scene Two

As the elevator began to move, Barret angrily stomped his foot, more out of petulance than anything else.

"I don't wanna hear no more!" Barret growled, ignoring his friends' glares. "Okay, I'm sorry, we good?!" Watching Tifa's eye twitch he quickly bowed his head. "Yeah, yeah... It's on me... I'm sorry, y'know? Can we just drop it?"

"No point arguing now..." Tifa sighed, adjusting her glove. "But there's only so far we can go shooting wildly. I hear to get to the top floors, you need keycards specific to that floor. I have NO idea how far we can go without one..."

At the 59th floor, the elevator door opened. A quick scan revealed several infantry and two red, heavily-armored soldiers called Mighty Grunts armed with heavy cannons. Lacking a better option the team slammed the button to go to the next floor, but found it jammed.

"Damn it!" Cloud cursed. "Guess we gotta cut through!" He quickly charged his left hand with an extreme amount of electricity. As the infantry fired he threw out his arm, a curtain of lightning shielding them from their bullets. "Split up! Barret, back us up! Tifa, take the left and I'll go right!"

With a nod Barret hopped out and began to fire, pinning down a team of infantry and causing them to find cover. He continued to strafe, some rounds downing the soldiers that couldn't escape. But as they returned fire he was forced to run away. Barret promptly took cover behind a statue, and popped out to keep firing.

Lifting his Buster Sword, Cloud tore into the MPs, cutting them down with wide slashes that cleaved open both man and metal. The first Mighty Grunt took aim and fired its cannon only for it to be sliced in half followed by its attacker. As its armor shattered the Grunt lunged with its claws, aiming for Cloud's face.

Leaving his primary hand on his weapon Cloud lifted his left to blast a wave of fire that incinerated the Grunt, before following up with a rising slash. He wasted no time in clearing out the last of his side with one mighty swing.

Tifa threw out her fists and covered them in fire. She hopped and lunged forward, both hands blasting away the last of her infantry. As the last Mighty Grunt lifted its cannon Tifa stomped her foot and pivoted on her heel, a vicious backhand blowing apart its armor and a follow-up roundhouse smashing its face in.

All that remained on the floor were dead, dying, or severely wounded Shinra soldiers and our three heroes. As the final Grunt dropped to the ground Cloud reattached his weapon to his back and stretched his legs.

"Well..." Cloud groaned, flexing his fingers. "Any idea how we go up?" He looked out at the carnage that they'd wrought. "Pounding the living daylights out of these goons ain't gonna help us save Aerith."

"Heh-heh... Awful fun though!" Barret chortled. Tifa bonked him on the head, causing him to drop like a stone. "The hell you keep hitting me for?! Eh... what's this?" Beneath his face Barret snatched up a small card etched with a Shinra insignia. As he rose he inspected it further. "Keycard Sixty? Hot damn! We got ourselves a free pass!"

Tifa tightened her glove, eyes turning back to the elevator. If they were on the 59th floor, that earned them another floor to work out a plan. Hopefully WITH a plan, after Barret kept shooting at everything in sight - she and Cloud were still sore about the whole thing, and they weren't going to let Barret forget it.

"Floor Sixty, here we come!"

Scene Three

A quick ride in the elevator led AVALANCHE into a wide open space, with several steel pillars on the far end of the room. There were two chambers on either side, a straight shot from one to the other.

The elevator opened and Barret tromped forward, Gun-arm trained on anything that might shoot back. Seeing nothing he lowered his weapon and gestured for his friends to join him. They began to cautiously advance towards the pillars, only to sight a group of soldiers behind them - five, and not armed with rifles, but with broadswords. The party swiftly darted into the closest chamber and took cover.

"Well this is just great..." Cloud groaned as he detached the Buster Sword. "Now we have SOLDIER on our case..." He slid onto his back, darting out briefly to check out the enemy forces. There were five of them, spaced out evenly across the back of the room. "We don't have much choice here..."

Barret pumped his fist. "Yeah, let's brawl!" Cloud promptly clapped his hands over Barret's mouth and threw him to the ground. After a bit of struggling Barret managed to force him off. "What's your problem?!"

"Like I said, we aren't dealing with soldiers anymore... we're dealing with SOLDIERs." Tifa breathed in a deep gasp, leading Cloud to nod his head. "Third Class, melee specialists. They aren't the kind of pushovers we've fought up to now. We need to slip by without a fight." Tifa swallowed hard and collected herself. Fighting SOLDIER would only make things worse.

"Do you have a plan?" Tifa asked. Cloud nodded briefly, reattaching the Buster Sword to his back.

"They won't see us if we hide behind the pillars... I'll go first, then tell you guys when to follow. Understood, Barret?" With a growl, Barret nodded and Cloud clicked to open the door. Slowly, carefully, he darted from pillar to pillar until he reached the second chamber, which he opened quietly. He gestured to Tifa with a shushing gesture.

With a nod, Tifa followed Cloud's lead in taking cover behind the pillars, and managed to join him in the second chamber. That left Barret. Cloud groaned.

This won't end well...

Using Cloud's gestures as a sign Barret attempted to navigate the way Tifa and Cloud had. His bulky frame, though, made things more difficult - and "graceful" is not a word to be used in describing Barret. He'd reached the final hurdle, and slowly, carefully, he slunk past the last pillar.

And promptly fell flat on his face, alerting the SOLDIERs to the party. Scowling Cloud drew his sword and leapt out from behind the door, followed by Tifa as Barret stumbled to his feet and lifted his weapon.

"Dammit, Barret!" Cloud cursed, charging the Buster Sword with electricity. "Can I not take you anywhere?!" He ducked out and took up a position in front of his friends, blade lifted parallel to his legs. Barret mouthed a foul word, but was stopped as he narrowly dodged a line of pressure that kept going and cut through the far wall.

"What the-" Before Barret could react three more SOLDIERs swung their broadswords, sending three shockwaves roaring towards his position. He frantically fired, but the bullets were repelled like he was shooting an iron balloon. "The hell is-?!"

Just before the waves would have hit Barret, Cloud pivoted on his heel and slashed horizontally against them. His electrified sword collided with the pressure waves, struggled against them, and after much effort shattered them to pieces, leaving the remainder to carve up the floor around Barret's feet.

Stunned, Tifa coated her arm in fire. "Cloud! What just happened?!" Another line came towards her, causing her to nimbly dodge as she swiped her hand and lashed out a whip of flame that burned the SOLDIER's chest. As he fell, another two took his place. "What in the world-"

"Flying slash attacks!" Cloud growled. "They're slicing the air around their swords and creating a cutting vacuum aimed right at us!"

"Can't you do it too, Cloud?!" snarled Barret, narrowly dodging a wave. "These punks are just Third Class! Why can't you-" Cloud quickly kicked him out of the way of the waves, sending him flying back into the wall. "Dammit, man-"

"I would if I could!" Cloud snapped. Charging forward he clashed with one of the SOLDIERs. "You think I'd hold back now?!" His swordplay matched the SOLDIER, fighting him to a draw. As their swords parted he lifted his left arm and blasted away his foe's sword before skewering him.

Down to four, Tifa skillfully parried each swing with a counter of her own, narrowly dodging the slashes. As the enemy swung down with a vertical chop she jumped to the side just in time, and delivered a flame-powered punch that offed the soldier.

Three remaining. Barret's continued fire paid off, nailing the SOLDIER in the gut. A follow-up shredded his sword and threw the man back in a wrecked mess. Now down to two, Barret trained his Gun-arm and took aim at one of the remaining two. That SOLDIER swung his sword down, sending a flying slash straight at Barret. Having no time to react, he angrily began to fire.

"Ain't no way I'm going out like this!" he roared. The vacuum continued on its way, finally reaching and coming within centimeters of his Gun-arm.

"Barret, NO!" Tifa screamed, watching as the flying slash nearly connected. Finally, with a flash of inspiration, Barret fired every barrel at once and slung it against the blade. The concentrated fire diverted the vacuum into a nearby pillar and cut it wide open. With a smirk, Tifa quickly slammed her heel in that SOLDIER's head from behind, his sword having been thrown away by the impact.

With one SOLDIER riddled with bullets and another with a fractured skull, Cloud turned his attention to the last man standing. Not cowed, that SOLDIER lifted his blade horizontally and slashed, a wide wave soaring towards Tifa and Barret with no way for them to dodge in time. They could have dropped, but their reflexes weren't keen enough. Cloud furiously grit his teeth.

Dammit, there's no time!

Think back. You saw him do it before!

Saw who?! God damn it...!

The wave pierced through a column as it approached the pair, but split in two and the force diverted itself in half. Shocked, the enemy lifted his weapon for a final attack. He was quickly nailed by Barret's gunfire, and sent flying back into the pillar just as the bullets broke it open.

Barret lowered his smoking weapon. "The hell just happened?! Who... What..." Tifa's eyes pivoted to see a huge sword embedded vertically in the ground, Cloud's Buster Sword having shattered the floor in a straight line.

"Cloud?!" Tifa gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. "Did you just..." As he stood panting heavily, Cloud slowly dragged his weapon up and shouldered it. He soon lowered it and saw that the blade was, indeed, intact. And so were his friends.

That voice... who did I see do this?

As Tifa rushed to Cloud's side to embrace him, Barret crouched by the twitching body of the fallen SOLDIER. "Hey..." Barret smiled a wide grin. "I think I found something, guys!" His friends turned to see his palm a small card in his hand. "Keycard Sixty-One!" he said as he flicked it between his fingers. "Looks like we did it!"

"I'll be damned..." Cloud smirked as he reattached his sword to his back. "We actually got something out of the whole mess!" Tifa tightened her embrace, bringing him back to his senses. "Hey, Tifa... I..." Tifa put a finger to his mouth, shushing him. As she stepped back with a smile, she extended her fingers and clenched them into a fist.

"One step stronger!" Tifa giggled. "Now you have a new weapon, and so does Barret! We did it!" For a moment Cloud's face remained blank, but he soon tapped his fist with hers with a smile.

"Next floor, here we come!"

Scene Four

It was quite an odd development. Barret's weakness was a lack of close-range combat ability, leaving him as a long-range supporter. Now he'd learned something key: just fire on all cylinders and swing, and he can cause a small-range explosion. Not exactly the most reasonable option, in case he misfires and hits his friends, but it was progress.

More interesting was Cloud's flash of inspiration. Having heard his inner voice, he learned to project his slashes like vacuum waves. But as they continued up the stairs to the 61st Floor, his mind was troubled. He'd clearly seen it done before, but not here and now and not by the SOLDIERs. When he saw it and who he saw do it troubled him... Was there something he'd forgotten?

"Remember," Cloud warned, "anything could be waiting for us on the next floor. Keep sharp and make sure you're ready for combat." He detached the Buster Sword and let it drop to his side in a ready position. "We go in three... two... one... GO!" The door slammed open, Cloud brandishing the Buster Sword and Barret gripping his Gun-arm.

There were no enemies. There were no weapons, no traps, no soldiers. There WAS a cafe and a few clusters of chairs arranged in circles. Even had tea and snacks on them, with baristas roaming the floor. The party slowly lowered their weapons, tilting their heads in confusion.

As a figure approached, Cloud's fingers tingled. He turned, and was greeted by a young woman in a skirt carrying a plate of cheese samples. She seemed oblivious to the weapons, because she lifted the plate with a smile on her face.

"Roquefort?" she asked, beaming. "We also serve Espressos, Lattes, and Cappuccinos. There's a thirty Gil discount on top-quality Espressos, so it's a hundred fifty for one. Can I interest you in something?" The party's jaws sank like elevators, dropping wide open in shock. "Oh, too much? Sorry. Black coffee is eighty Gil. Or would you prefer tea?"

There really was no good way to explain they'd come to raid the place. That might have ruled out the discount, and certainly no cheese samples. Swallowing hard, Cloud gathered as much sense as he could manage.

"We... We'll pass..." he squeaked. The barista flashed another smile and walked away. Cloud turned his head to Tifa. "Did... we just get offered coffee in the middle of attacking this place?"

Tifa nodded slowly. "And cheese," she muttered. I actually like tea, but... um..." She turned her head to Barret. "Um... do you like coffee?" Barret managed to clench his jaw shut after a few moments.

"I, uh... um... n-no..." Shaking his head, he shuddered in anger. "We're here to save Aerith, not have a damn tea party!" From one of the tables a businessman turned his head.

"Aerith?" he asked. Stunned, the party was unable to form words. "Oh, the receptionist. You're after her too, huh? Damn, another rival..." With a shrug, he rustled through his jacket and withdrew a card. "Wait, wait. You have to be the repairmen! The damn elevator keeps jamming. Here, this'll take you to the Mayor's floor. He's been complaining more than any of us, so please, fix it and shut him up."

Cloud's head slowly turned to Tifa, whose slowly turned to Barret, whose slowly turned back to Cloud.

What... the hell... is happening?

Putting on her sweetest smile, Tifa took the keycard for the 62nd Floor. "We'll get right on it, chief!"

Scene Five

President Shinra and his cabinet exerted full control over Shinra Inc. as well as the city of Midgar. They even disguised their army as the "Department of Public Safety." To placate the citizens of the city they had installed an elected mayor, Mayor Domino, nominally as leader of Midgar.

The Deputy Mayor of Midgar was called Mr. Hart, a glorified paper-pusher. He sat in his office looking over various documents ranging from the Space Program's latest report (which had nothing new) and a report on the newest weapon developments (which were almost totally censored). His life was as boring as the black-out reports he sorted every day.

God, what a bore... Wish something INTERESTING would happen...

Hearing a commotion outside his office, Hart stumbled over his papers and opened the door to find three strange people staring at him - ARMED people (and one looker without a weapon). Hart let out a shriek and dropped to his knees.

"God, please-please-please don't kill me!" Hart wailed. "I don't get enough overtime for crap like this!" His head slammed to the ground. "I haven't even had a God damn vacation in-" Placing her hand on her hip, Tifa sighed.

"We aren't here to kill you, calm down!" Crouching down she flexed her knuckles. "Unless you make us ANGRY..." Hart shrieked again, and Tifa suppressed a laugh. "Kidding! All we want is the keycard to the next floor. No need to hurt anyone NOT an evil bastard. Doesn't seem like you're so bad..."

Hart stood bolt upright, hand extending towards the next office. "Yes, ma'am! Thank you, ma'am! No evil here, no ma'am! Mayor Domino has the keycard in his office. Knock quietly or- gah, forget it. Go bother HIM!"

Mayor Domino sat in his own office, just as depressed as Hart was. He may have been elected, but all he did was sort files all day. It's not like he actually did anything for his paycheck...

His door slammed open, Barret's Gun-arm aimed straight at his head. "Okay, buddy!" Barret barked. "Give us the keycard or I'll-" Tifa bonked him on the head. "Hey!" With a sigh, Cloud approached Domino.

"My friend is... a bit rude. Can you give us the keycard? We have business up top." Domino stared at him, disinterested, with a hand on his chin. Cloud's eye twitched. "I wasn't ASKING, I was TELLING. Fork it over and we'll leave."

"Not like I care..." Domino shrugged. "But you gotta make it worth my while. If you can guess my favorite word, I'll give you the card. I have to get SOMETHING interesting out of this stupid job... You can find clues in the library! Or ask Hart, he knows-" As Tifa put a fist through his bookshelf, he began to rustle through his pockets. "Or not. Here."

AVALANCHE left the room with their thanks, leaving Domino alone with his favorite collection of romance novels busted but his life intact. One call from him and a swarm of soldiers would be waiting upstairs. With a shrug, he picked up the dirty magazine he'd been reading.

"The hell with 'em... I certainly don't care if they give Shinra a black eye. Rereading this saucy column is all I care about right now... Ooh, this one's scratch and sniff."

Scene Six

As an added bonus to terrifying Domino, the keycard he'd given them would take them up to the 65h Floor, jumping four floors in one go. AVALANCHE hurried up the stairs to the 65th Floor, exiting the door with their weapons at the ready. Whatever waited, they NEEDED the next keycard. And they were going to take it.

Cloud detached the Buster Sword and slowly crept through the halls into an open area, with two doors; one straight ahead and the other to the right. They took the door to the side first. What waited was a huge model of Midgar, scaled down of course. As he inspected the model Barret noted that Sector Seven's plate was wrecked.

Bastards even screwed this up? Get a God damn life. Why'd they have to mess with this toy too?!

"Did they do this just for kicks?" Tifa scoffed. Cloud could only shake his head in disbelief. Not only did they wipe out everyone in Sector Seven, they took the time to tinker with the model?

"You can't see people on this damn thing..." Cloud growled. "It's like they just erased a dot on a map..." While they considered destroying it, Barret decided against it; they didn't have time for satisfaction.

They exited the room and headed towards the second door they'd seen. Seeing that it was locked, they did the proper thing and cut the door down, entering into a storeroom filled with various pieces of junk.

"Is there even going to be a keycard here?" wondered Tifa as she rummaged through the room. She rustled through various pieces of what seemed to be worthless scrap. "I'm not seeing anything remotely useful..."

There was one final chest to open, and as he opened it Cloud withdrew a hefty chunk of what looked like a slice of pizza made of heavy metal and rusted plastic. Further inspection revealed that they'd seen it before.

"It's the plate to Sector Seven!" exclaimed Cloud as he examined it. Well, it was the part of the plate that had been removed from the model they'd seen before. It seemed like they'd just broken it off and stored it in a side room.

"I say we put it where it belongs," Tifa said as she adjusted her glove. "Make one tiny statement before we move on..." With everyone in agreement they carried the plate to the model room and started to fit it into the scaled Midgar. "Let's see... There!" The final piece clicked into place, and as it did the party saw a thin object slide out of the Sector Seven section.

Barret scratched his head, confused. "The hell?" He slowly withdrew the item from the model and examined it. As he did, his eyes lit up. "Keycard Sixty-Six!" he laughed. "We got the next... Wait. Why the hell did they hide it here?!"

With a shrug, Cloud snatched up the keycard. As he looked at it, his eyes scanned the text on the card: there was a tiny bit of script saying 'Authorization for Conference Floor.' His frown shifted to a smile.

Maybe we can catch them in the act...

Scene Seven

Shinra Inc. may have been a huge corporation, but a small handful of men (and women) held all the power. The Mayor, for example, was a figurehead, and so were a lot of 'officials' that held posts around the world. The world of Gaia was ostensibly free, but truly it was nothing but Shinra's plaything.

The executives gathered together in the conference room were the REAL rulers of the world. There was Heidegger, who we've already met, Head of Public Security. That was a euphemism for saying he was in charge of the military. Scarlet, Head of Weapons Development; Reeve, Head of Urban Planning; Palmer, Head of the Space Program - these people pulled the strings from behind a corporate boardroom.

And now all of the above had settled in to a meeting in a very secure conference room, now sealed and impenetrable from the outside. No employee was given a key, and no one was allowed to listen in. Those who did were either fired or, depending on what they heard, murdered.

Therein lied the rub. AVALANCHE arrived at the sixty-sixth floor, hiding behind walls and doors as they watched the executives seal themselves into their fortress. Finding a way in seemed an impossible task.

"Before you ask, the answer is no, Barret..." Tifa sighed, watching Barret's face drop. "There has to be a way in! A secret passage, a hidden door... Nah. They'd have all that covered." She slammed her fists together in frustration. "Damn!" Cloud put a finger to her mouth as a pair of employees past, and they slunk into the background.

"Maintenance again? Slackers!" One of the employees said with disdain. "They still haven't fixed the damn toilets!" His partner nodded in agreement, sliding his glasses up his nose.

"And does it have to be so drafty in there? I swear, it's like those guys are trying to freeze us out while we do our business!"

"Yeah, I hear the duct work's gone to hell! Someone ought to climb in and fix the damn thing..." The two employees passed by as they continued to argue, leaving the party alone in a drafty hallway. No thanks to maintenance, certainly. Cloud put his hand to his chin in thought.

Let's review: toilet's drafty, duct work is shoddy... Do you suppose we could sneak in by climbing up the john?

A quick trip to the bathroom verified Cloud's hypothesis. Right above the nearest toilet seat was a cold spot, caused by a broken air duct allowing in too much air. While it took some effort to hoist Barret up, the party shuffled through the ducts in search of a way into the conference room.

"Damn it's cold in here!" Barret growled, shivering. "Gonna freeze my nuts off 'fore we find the bastards!" A scowl from Tifa silenced him.

"You think it's any easier in a t-shirt and a skirt?" she hissed. "Suck it up!" Quietly as they could the team moved through the ducting until they heard what sounded like a voice. The party gathered around a lighted duct to find a huge table with five people seated around it.

They recognized the President straight off, but hadn't seen Heidegger or Reeve and thus couldn't identify them. Also present was a rotund fatty in a suit named Palmer, Head of the (defunct) Space Program; and a sinister woman in a long, red satin dress with a plunging neckline and enough jewelry to buy a small house. She was Scarlet, head weapons developer and one of the five top executives.

Reeve was the first to speak. "We have the damage report for Sector Seven. Given all the factories we had there and various investments, I estimate the loss at ten billion Gil. This is no chicken scratch, we need to consider our response carefully! I've estimated the cost to rebuild as-"

"We aren't rebuilding," President Shinra said matter of factly. Startled, Reeve turned to face his employer with a look of confusion (and horror). "Leave the wreck as it is. We're restarting the Neo-Midgar Program." He lit a cigar and took in a deep huff. "With the final Ancient in our hands, the Promised Land will be ours soon enough."

His face ashen, Reeve swallowed hard and put on his bravest face. "What about the citizens? Aren't we going to compensate them for..." The President exhaled a sharp puff, signaling indifference. "Sir! We lost thousands of citizens and workers! I can't just abandon-"

"Raise the Mako rates by fifteen percent citywide," the President said quickly. "We'll recoup our losses before long... without worrying about the sector's maintenance. Fewer paychecks while we're at it... You don't need to pay a dead man." Barret's good hand clenched, his fingers tightening painfully.

That... SON... of... a...!

The corpulent brown-suited Palmer seemed exhilarated at the idea. He began to bounce back and forth on his ample bottom as if he were riding an attraction at the fair.

"Tra-la-la! Rate hike time! How much can the Space Program get, chief?!" President Shinra flashed an annoyed glare at Palmer, immediately silencing him.

"Scarlet and Heidegger's departments will split the extra income. It ought to fund a couple of nice projects." By this point Reeve's horror had settled into a more measured response.

"How would we justify the increase, sir?" Reeve questioned. "We just lost an entire sector, and now we're asking for more-" Taking a deep huff, the President's eyes shifted to Reeve with a look of irritation.

"The commoners are too stupid to realize... or care. It doesn't matter to me WHAT they think, but... Heidegger, can you summarize the situation?" A sinister smile crossed Heidegger's face, his yellowed teeth bared in a disgusting sneer.

"Gya-ha-ha!" Heidegger laughed. "AVALANCHE took out Sector Seven. In order to 'protect' the common interest, we'll need more funding! Heh... Ha! They're gonna THANK us before the P.R. campaign's through!" Barret struggled to swallow his anger, while Reeve's only began to grow.

I can't believe what he just said...

President Shinra exhaled again, a smile passing his lips. "Professor Hojo..." he said, turning to the corner of the room. "How's the girl?" The man that emerged from there was a haggard, almost gaunt man in a long white lab coat. Hojo, head researcher of Shinra, Inc.

"As a specimen, she's inferior to her mother..." Hojo sighed. "I estimate an eighteen percent difference. We won't get as good of a sample out of this one as we would have Ifalna." The President shot him a disappointed glare. Clearly he wanted to hear something different.

"How long will the research take?" asked the President. Bowing his head for a moment, Hojo gave a tired shrug.

"Probably a hundred and twenty years. Finishing in our lifetime is as unlikely as the specimen is to survive. So... I've been thinking of breeding her." The party's hearts sank, before a white-hot rage erupted in their souls. Cloud was particularly offended.

BREED her?! Aerith isn't an animal!

"Won't this hinder our search for the Promised Land?" asked President Shinra. When Hojo shrugged again, the President angrily put out his cigar. "Give me an answer, you ragged piece of trash! How long will it be before I find my Promised Land?!" Hojo waved him off with a laugh.

"I'm already in the process of formulating a hypothesis... Without her mother, we've naturally experienced a setback. After I create a few more specimens I can start to speak in more certain terms. Heh... Ifalna, eh... Losing that little bitch really fouled up my research..." Reeve's stomach churned as he heard the discussion.

I can't even form words... you Inhuman bastard!

"And that concludes the meeting..." The President rose from his seat and turned to his executives each in turn. "Get back to work." The officers saluted, slowly rising from their chairs and exiting the room. Reeve's emotions continued to fluctuate as he departed, but said nothing.

Scarlet suddenly stopped, staring up at the air ducts. The party quickly moved away from the vents to avoid detection. Though her eyes narrowed, Scarlet eventually shrugged it off.

"Something stinks..." she muttered as she walked away. That left the party alone to think, ruminate, and formulate a plan to stop these wicked men from having their way with the world... AND Aerith.

Author's Notes

The first draft of this piece included Barret using his Big Shot Limit Break. But I decided I didn't want to go down that rabbit hole, so I added the whole close-range explosion bit during the fight with the SOLDIERs. Not totally pleased with it, but including Limit Breaks in my work is something I'd like to avoid. I want to make this piece as realistic (so to speak) as possible.

Favorite part? Writing the whole bit on the 61st floor. I hope I managed to inject some comedy into it.