One Week Later
The city had come back to life in the past week.
It wasn't to say that the mainland areas weren't busy either. The campaign to raise support was in full swing now. Reeve became the head of the affairs, along with the employees that had agreed to chair and manage the movement. The message had been broadcast in Midgar, and it was quickly spreading elsewhere on the Eastern Continent, and making its way to the Central Continent. There weren't as many people answering the call as they had to Ragnar himself, but the youth was far from turning up nothing. As they continued to call out, they started appealing to the younger generation, ages 16 through 20. These were the ones who had to grow up under Shinra and were bitter, but also the ones who still felt bold and daring enough to become activists about it. Many of these people were more environmental and naturalistic, as well as idealistic in terms of politics, as well. Running off with a volunteer army was an adventure for them. Unfortunately, there was no way to get them across the ocean until the new Planet Protector Army had boats or funds for shipping. Instead, the two hundred new recruits gathered in Midgar, and contributed their services to fund raising and donation drives. As of yet, there was no way of getting these north either, but the Planet Protector Army now had its own account, and it had already raised another 30,000 gil.
However, the north was where things were really going to town. The City of the Ancients had been divided up to become a new military encampment for the Planet Protector Army. Areas had been squared off to run drill exercises, in particular ones for physical preparation, and another as a firing range. The shell houses were broken off into specific sections, so that the first three divisions could be housed roughly together. Everyone operated on a schedule now as well. They were up early, did some morning jogging, taken to the mess tent for breakfast, and then got started on their training exercises, stopping only for lunch, dinner, and then lights out.
Tifa was tougher than she gave herself credit for. She ran the new recruits a bit harder than they expected the first day, and she soon was barking at them and urging them on when they slipped up a little. When they got into more physical exercises, she once again took up shouting and driving them on, her normally pleasant face turning into one of fury. She never expected anyone quitting early or, in her words, "dogging it", and yelled at them when they slowed down to push it again, gritting her teeth and nearly screaming. It got so bad that on the third day, Cloud had to be called over to get her to relax a little, before they drove off what recruits they had by her slave driving.
Gunnery practice was easier. A considerable amount of time was used for that, led by Barret's own gruff, grumpy disposition. However, given the low amount of ammunition, most of the time maneuvers with weapons, stances, and proper maintanence of guns had to be emphasized. There was time for some target practice, though not for as long or intensive as any of the new "officers" wanted. After the first week, only half of the new, inexperienced recruits even consistently shot within the target circles at a hundred feet. Luckily, those who had some hunting practice, like Mack, quickly got good with the rifles. About thirty of them could hit bullseyes if they steadied themselves enough.
Red XIII also got his own time for the day, which was essential early on. The beast created a system of alerts for the camp, and had all of the soldiers run through them. He also created a system to be used when the camp was in a state of defense, or when the army was attacking. He designated safe zones for the children and those who could not fight, and began to devise a code to be used for long distance communications when necessary. For now, the only way to pass information around was word of mouth, usually through officers.
It was suggested that Cloud teach some of the recruits to handle swords, but the man refused. He responded that none of them were good material for it, save for three individuals. Ragnar was one of them, and he and Cloud continued to spar every day. Cloud always won, but Ragnar was glad for the experience. Surprisingly, Zola also turned out to be rather good with a sword, and his own unusual weapon was heavy and powerful. However, he preferred to usually practice by himself or with his sister. Noonian, on her part, wielded a whip in one hand and a knife in the other for a deadly "hook and stab" combination. Cloud said she would have been good to learn a sword, but she merely replied that she preferred her style…flashing that unusual lusty look again…
Cloud, therefore, found little to do. He hadn't many duties, despite being the second in command of the army. Most of his friends handled all the details, and Ragnar made all the big decisions. However, on that morning, Ragnar had called him over for something important. Seeing as Denzel and Marlene had made friends with the other children and were off playing with them, while Tifa was trying to squeeze a few more crunches out of her current group, Cloud had nowhere to go but there. And so, this morning, he found himself walking through the camp and toward Ragnar's house and seat-of-command.
The ex-mercenary looked around as he made his way through the city. Some parents were out washing clothes or cleaning up around their new shell domiciles. Walking past him from time to time was a small company of soldiers led by recently appointed corporals. Their marching and line formation was haphazard at best, and the corporals looked more uncertain of themselves than their recruits. They frequently stumbled over lines. A ball occasionally went across the path, and a kid would chase it. Other recruits were brushing their teeth in rain barrel basins, or hanging out their laundry to dry.
Cloud tried to stifle a sigh as he walked through this town. He supposed he should be patient. It had only been a week, after all. They had a long way to go. But for now, they were still looking like a crowd of refugees playing soldier. They had to get better at combat, or the New Shinra would decimate them. It worried Cloud that they might not be ready when danger came. Even when it did come, he was worried that a bunch of civilians would panic and run when they started seeing blood fly. He was somewhat glad that Tifa was being so mean and vicious. That was a technique he learned back in the Shinra Corporation Army. You had to be ruthless and brutal to your recruits…so that when the spit really hit the fan, you'd be able to keep your cool in it. That, more than anything, would decide a battle.
It didn't help that they had so little. All they had were rifles and machine guns…and that one heavy machine gun. They needed more. The New Shinra had all of the equipment and war machines of the old Shinra. To combat them, they needed the same. And they still needed a lot more personnel too. But to get these things, they needed more money and resources. They had neither. For now…they just had to try and hold this as best they could until more help gathered. The ex-mercenary prayed they could… Personally, if he was the enemy…he would be knocking down their doors now, destroying them before they did become an actual threat…
Cloud came to the entrance to the grove leading to Ragnar's house. Once there…he hesitated for a moment. He had to clench his fists and inhale a deep breath before going further. Ragnar had to have picked one of the most troubling spots in the city to live in, it seemed. It wasn't enough that she was buried just ahead… It also had to be where those things took the children, and did something to them to make them their puppets…just as he had once been Sephiroth's. Something still bothered Cloud even though Denzel was free again… The Geostigma was only supposed to affect people who had Jenova cells inside them. It was supposed to be an immune response, in effect… So why did a bunch of children who had never been considered for SOLDIER have it?
Cloud wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to that.
Pushing it aside, he walked forward and into the grove. A moment later, he was passing by the pool in the center of the area, and going on to the giant shell house beyond. He quickly ascended the steps and came to the doorway. He stopped there, however. There were no actual doors on any of the houses. However, people had installed rods and lengths of cloth for curtains over the entrances. Ragnar's place was no exception. This was the only thing that served as a "door". Hesitating here, Cloud reached out and knocked against the frame.
"Is that you, Cloud?" He soon heard Ragnar call out.
"Yeah, it's me. What did you want?"
A moment went by. But then, Ragnar, from inside, seized the end of the curtain, and with a flourish pulled it away to one side, revealing himself. He immediately raised his hands and indicated toward his body, showing it off. "So…what do you think?"
Cloud looked over the young man for a moment. His clothing had changed. Cloud's sweater, pants, and boots were gone. Now, he wore a more formal pair of brown boots with tan pants. He wore a tan tunic over this, which folded across his chest and fastened against one side of his body. It didn't take long for Cloud to recognize this as a uniform type of tunic. He had cuffed wrists and a collared neck, and both had a star on them as well as a uniform stripe. A cape fastened to his collar and spread out behind him, also of tan color. Lastly, he had a single sewed-on credit over his breast. It was soon plain to see that it was some sort of military uniform.
"Ta-da!" Ragnar called out. "Check it out! It's the new uniform. Reeve paid for a helicopter mailing service to deliver it this morning. What do you think?"
Cloud crossed his arms and looked over it a bit coldly. "…It's impractical for combat."
Ragnar frowned and dropped his arms. "You said the Turks always fought you in full suits."
"Yeah…and we always beat them."
The youth sighed. "Whatever. Just give me your measurements. They're making yours next."
The man raised an eyebrow in response. "I'm not wearing something like that around."
Ragnar frowned again. "You're the colonel. You have to wear something to make yourself stand out. You just can't wear that half of a coat everywhere."
Cloud frowned as well and indicated to it. "Look…it's not half of a coat. I tore off that half so I could move the Event Horizon more easily."
"So it is half of a coat."
"Well, yeah…but not in the sense you were thinking of."
"What other sense is there? It's half of a coat."
"The bottom line is, I'd rather wear half of a coat then something like that. You have any idea how hot it is to run around in a Shinra uniform? If you have everyone wearing something like that, they'll be too rigid and cut off to be able to run or act properly."
Ragnar sighed again. "Look…the rest of the army won't be wearing something like this. They're making a combat uniform too."
"Then I'll wear one of those." Cloud simply concluded.
"Hey…I don't mean to put a halt to negotiations on what is, no doubt, the crucial matter of what clothes we're going to wear…but I think you guys should listen to this."
Both Cloud and Ragnar forgot about their discussion, and looked out into the grove. Standing just a little ways from the ramp leading to the front entrance was none other than Cait Sith. However, the plush creature looked about as serious as he could manage with his childish expression, and he glared at them dangerously.
"I've been out reconnoitering."
The men stared at Cait Sith for a moment of silence. But then, Ragnar formed a puzzled expression. "Reconnoitering? I thought you were in the camp, doing…"
The cat frowned, and waved a paw at him. "Oh come on. You didn't really think I was going to do that dumb old job of 'improving moral' and 'guarding the children' all day, did you? Don't you know a bold-faced lie when you see it?"
The youth hesitated, having not actually expected that. He thought he had the robot pegged. He turned over to Cloud, who looked back to him and gave a shrug. "What'd I tell you? He's a tricky one."
"As I was saying…" Cait Sith continued in a somewhat impatient voice, getting the two to turn back to him again. "I've been out reconnoitering. And I'm afraid we've got trouble. Big trouble."
An hour later, the meeting tent was full again. The officers had reassembled and reconvened inside. However, they weren't sitting now. Everyone was gathered around the cooler at the front of the room. Some had drug chairs to sit near it. Most of them were just standing around. An air of anxiety was around them now, and they were all beginning to feel a little cold. They moved a bit stiffer, and looked to one another uneasily. After all, if what Cait Sith said was correct…then they all had very good reason to be very afraid.
A map of the surrounding area was on top of the cooler, causing all to focus their attention on it. Cait Sith was gathered with the others now, and hunched down next to it. He had abandoned his moogle for the moment, allowing himself to get closer to the cooler in the midst of everyone else. The creature pointed to the top of the map, about twenty miles outside of the entrance to the valley.
"That's where they are." He grimly explained. "The 1st Army of the New Shinra. 20,000 troops… of which 3,000 are heavy troopers and 2,000 are swordsmen…1,000 sweepers…30 heavy artillery units…20 transport trucks…and 1 Colonel who's been ordered to take no prisoners."
Ragnar's eyes stayed wide as he looked at the map. He raised up his arm and placed it against his head, feeling a bit tired and dizzy. He hadn't been expecting this. He had planned on a few sorties coming against them. Even after Bahamut warned him, he couldn't believe that they'd do this much. But now…they were sending all 20,000 to them. Apparently, General Leers wasn't going to let them impede his progress any longer. Perhaps this group was even meant to push to the shore and take it…after destroying any army that had carelessly put itself in their path.
"This is really bad…" Tifa announced, looking at the map in a bit of fear herself. "We're outnumbered over fifty to one. We don't have the weapons to begin to counter those heavy troopers or the artillery."
"Hey, sure we do!" Yuffie called out. "We've got materia, remember?"
"…Which we have only managed to replicate once since we arrived." Red XIII darkly added. "We couldn't do any better, no matter how hard we tried. Meaning will have one fully powered version of each, and only a basic one of each. That won't be enough to destroy an artillery garrison."
"How long?" Cloud asked, staring at the map stoicly.
Cait Sith exhaled a blast of air. "I dunno…9 AM…10 AM tomorrow? They're moving slow and camping. If you're asking me, we should pull out."
Barret scowled in response to this. "And after we pull out, there ain't nothin' to keep Shinra from movin' all over the continent! And attackin' Midgar!"
"I'm with him." Mack answered, gesturing to the man. "The whole reason we're in this valley is to control the bottleneck. If we leave it now, we're giving up our one advantage."
"But we have no experience. All of our troops are totally raw." Tifa responded. "And if stay and the lines break, they'll be nothing left to stop them from getting to the children and families. And I doubt New Shinra has enough pity to let them go."
"Believe me…" Zola answered with a dangerous edge. "If the New Shinra enslaves them instead of killing them…they'll be doing the less merciful of two evils."
"Staying to fight is hardly an option, irregardless of how well-trained our troops are." Red XIII spoke up. "The simple matter is that we have no way of taking out all of their tanks. They could roll forward and flatten our entire division easily. We don't have any weapons that are against tanks, or any artillery of our own. We could be blasted by mortars before we even had a target on our longest-range rifles."
"Well then…we'll need some damn artillery." Barret answered back.
Red XIII sighed in response, putting a paw to his own furry brow. "Even if we did have any artillery, which we don't and aren't likely to get unless we build our own foundry, there's no way to bring it up here before 9 AM tomorrow. We have 21 hours. And even then, the bottleneck works against us in that sense. All we could do was put it in such a position as to cancel each other out. The valley may be narrow, but there's no way up and around either side, so we can't initiate a pincer. If it's a shootout, then we don't have the troops to outlast them. We'd need to be able to hit them repeatedly with something powerful, and we have no artillery."
"Actually…maybe we do."
The beast raised an eyebrow to this. He turned and looked to who had spoken. He found himself looking at Ragnar, who was staring down at the map in much the same stoic way as Cloud was. However, Cloud looked up now along with everyone else, and they turned all of their attention to Ragnar. The youth was silent for a moment as he looked over the map below, and the thin valley that they now guarded. Something new was running through his mind.
In the end, he raised his head and looked to Red XIII. "Major Nanaki…if I read off a description from an ancient rune of how to build medieval siege weapons, would you be able to copy a diagram?"
The beast hesitated a moment at this, but then gave a shrug. "Sure. You may not know it, but I've gotten rather good at penmanship with my teeth."
Ragnar turned to Barret next after this. "Commander Barret…you've been making and modifying your own guns for years. You'd know how to make some explosives from scratch, correct?"
The large man crossed his arms and gave a nod. "Got ya' covered, Scrawny…I mean, General Ragnar."
The young man gave a nod in reply to that. Afterward, he turned to the others around him. "Alright…we'll start with that. I know where they keep the records on war in this city. First, I'm going to dictate to the major the plans. While I'm doing that, start dividing up the companies to begin building them. But don't start them just yet. I want to go one more place first…"
Two hours later, and Ragnar, Cloud, Red XIII, and Yuffie were back in the valley. It was empty for the moment, and there wasn't any sign of any enemy approaching. That would change soon. For now, Ragnar was glad that there was plenty of daylight. Taking Ragnar's other entrance made it much easier to get out of the city, but there was still the rock wall to contend with. As a first order of business, Ragnar made a note to get people working on it to put in a way where they could move large numbers of troops out quickly. They couldn't all just use the one metal ladder. For now, he didn't think about it. Ragnar was mostly preoccupied on the valley that they moved through.
As the youth walked along, he gestured up above him on either side. When he spoke, his voice echoed throughout, up, and down both sides of the valley. "Alright…there's no way that we can scale the cliffs on either side to make a pincer attack. However…as you can see, there are small areas up there from time to time that are flat enough to actually put something down on. There're enough of them to put a fairly good sized amount going down this valley. You could also probably put up a few people with materia. Next to them, there are loose rock slabs just waiting to be hit loose." After saying this, he turned back to Cloud and Red XIII. "You getting my idea?"
"Well…it would help us to do a lot more damage to them, at any rate." Cloud answered back with a shrug. "Although I'm not sure if we could still do them all."
"And there's still the problem about how we can get anyone up there." Red XIII added. "These cliffs are all but inscalable."
"I had a plan for that, too." Ragnar answered. After saying this, he looked past both Cloud and Red XIII. The two warriors looked a bit puzzled at this, until they too turned and followed the youth's gaze. After a moment, all three of them were looking solely at Yuffie. The young ninja looked back at them in confusion, turning her head from side to side, and in the end shrugging.
"…What?"
Yuffie let out a steady stream of incoherent grumbling as she struggled to finish climbing the sheer rock wall to the first ledge. A length of rope was tied around her waist, as well as a few tools to help secure it when she reached the top. From down below, Ragnar, Cloud, and Red XIII could only hear her mumbling at this point, having long since been unable to make out her words as she ascended. She at last reached the lip of the first flat area, and began to haul herself over the edge.
"Hey, you wanted me to respect your talents." Ragnar called up to her. "You're the only one who can climb these cliffs."
An obscene gesture was flashed from over the edge of the rock platform.
Despite the rudeness of this, Red XIII gave a nod. "Good. We can't see her body once she's up there unless she reaches out. That will help conceal it."
"So once she secures the initial rope, the units climb up it and secure enough additional ropes to haul the materials up." Cloud observed as he watched. "They build it up there. Not bad…but I'm afraid we're going to have to cut down a bit of the Sleeping Forest to have what we need to build these things."
"Don't be too upset about it." Red XIII responded, noticing that Ragnar was looking a bit worried on hearing that. "I think the Planet would rather have us use a few trees that can have their energies recycled back into the world, rather than let Shinra advance and drain more life from it that won't be coming back."
Ragnar paused, but in the end gave a shrug. He supposed Red XIII was right. In the end, he looked back up to the rock platform, cupped his hand around his mouth, and yelled up. "Hurry up there! You still need to do about thirty more of those up and down this valley!"
The cursing grew coherent again.
The camp was soon abuzz with activity. There was some initial anxiety, of course. Once people heard the news that a full-sized New Shinra army was engaging an eminent attack on the City of the Ancients, people were understandably worried. Most of the recruits thought that they wouldn't see action for weeks, and then with an army of some thousands, not 360. However, there was nothing for it. One good point in Ragnar's favor was that most of them had brought their families with them. That gave them extra impetus to fight. Besides, at this point, the only recruits that had joined up early were ones who were intent on fighting and not backing down. Now it was time to get some experience.
A few ropes were set up at the cliff, but it was far from providing an easy passage. People had to arrive early in order to get up in time. Hauling up their weapons and ammunition was no easy task either. No one had any official uniforms yet except for Ragnar, and so the best he could do was tell the people to wear light colored, dull clothing as they came. The units were broken up and given instructions as to how to go about building their separate machines. Luckily, most of the recruits so far had been factory workers, and knew a bit about constructing simple machines. Ragnar tried to assign one to every unit. After that, he sent them to each rope that Yuffie had hung up, and sent them up it to their separate platform. While they were doing this, other units were cutting the trees and fashioning them into the separate parts they needed for each siege machine. As soon as they finished enough to complete a siege engine, the components were wheeled out and hauled up by the ropes. On top of the platform, the people went to work assembling.
Back at the camp, Barret was getting to work making his homemade explosives. Normally he was used to building large shells for his arm gun, but now he was configuring them onto bolts that could be fired from the siege engines. He also built some simple explosives that could be timed and detonated. While he was doing this, and instructing other people how to make them, the spare gas was utilized. Others began to use it to fill up large glass jugs that had been brought over as supplies and since then empitied. They had to use all the gas they had, which was a bit nerve wracking to Ragnar. However, by now the sun had set and night was in full swing, and he decided in favor of it.
As the siege engines were completed, more things were sent up to the crews. Ammunition of various types was drawn up on ropes, each type specific to whatever type of engine was being constructed. The timed explosives were also set up on some of them…any ones that could be determined to be safe. They were to implant these against the rock walls on one of the sides of their perch. It was a bit risky. It was meant to be a last resort, to detonate them and send an avalanche of rocks down on the enemy once all ammunition was spent. However, there was no guaranteeing on some areas that the platform itself would be stable enough to not break off on the eruption, and these Ragnar had to avoid. Lastly, each five member crew on each ledge was given three machine guns, fifteen magazines, and one materia of offensive power. Three of the crew members would use the guns. One would work the materia. The last would man the siege engine.
Once this was done, the remaining units began to move out to fill the valley. Only a twelve person platoon was left behind to guard the families. Their main purpose was to tell them to run. Cait Sith stayed behind, taking up his post of guarding the children with his life. Even now, Barret and a few others continued to make some final explosives, ensuring that there would be a few more shots, but also making an impact type of explosive that would blow up when jarred too violently. These were sent up to some of the crews, those who had a few tools with them, and were using the last of their time to chip out the largest pieces of rock they could manage for their own ammunition.
The rest of the units filled the end of the valley closest to the cliff. About a hundred feet ahead of them, the valley narrowed to its thinnest point, a mere twenty feet across. Metals, rocks, wood, and whatever other things that could be used as a bullet guard were placed opposite this, leaving plenty of small holes for the remaining soldiers to poke their rifles and machine guns through. This was all piled up into a barricade, and then had the path in front of it filled with jagged rocks pointing up, shards of glass, pieces of metal, and whatever else could be managed. Last but not least, the heavy machine gun was put on the front line. This one had the only well established defense. Sandbags were placed around it, and a concrete wall that had been fabricated for it was placed in front, with an opening for it to move and shoot out from. Lastly, they covered this to make it look like another part of the lifeless barricade. Mack, the furthest along improved gunner without having expert skill, was put in command of this single battery. This was the last stand area. Anything that made it through…could go no further.
With that, people settled down and checked their weapons, or continued to make ammunition as long as they could. It was well past midnight now…and they had only to wait until dawn.
Cloud looked up at the sky from where he was hunched behind the barricade. Event Horizon was balanced against one of his shoulders. The valley was still covered in shadow, but the sun was up now. The sky was already a light blue. He looked back down to his watch soon after. 9:32 AM. So far, they had seen nothing, but they knew that they weren't far off anymore. He slowly exhaled, and then turned his head to his right.
Ragnar was there. He too was hunched up with Ragnarok across one shoulder. However, he was more fretful. He breathed slowly with the air of someone nervous, and his head was bowed and propped up against one hand. Every now and then, Cloud saw him stiffen himself to keep a chill down.
The ex-mercenary leaned a bit over to him. "Bad time to get cold feet, kid. You're going to ruin the moral of the others."
The youth looked up at this. His expression was tired, and he shook his head as he put his hand down. "I'm not nervous about fighting these guys. Well…I am. But I'm not afraid of them. It's about everyone whose fighting underneath us." The young man paused at this, and then frowned and shook his head. He bowed it and put it onto his hand again. "I must have been crazy. No one has ever managed to win a battle this outnumbered. The best they could do was make a costly victory for the enemy…before they were wiped out. All of these people have trusted me, and now they're going to…"
"Ragnar."
The young man froze. That had come from Cloud. That was the first time ever that Cloud had called him by his name, and not simply "kid". He looked up a bit, and then turned to the man. The ex-mercenary stared back at him with the same steely glare…but it wasn't cold or without pity this time. It was more forceful and edifying.
"You and I both know that you don't need to be talking like this right now." He simply said to him. "If your master was here, he'd say the same thing. You'll be beaten before we start if you do that. Nobody wins any game going into it saying they'll do their best or they'll make it a good loss. They go in saying they'll win. You know you're strong. You know you're skilled. You know that you've done all you could in the time you had, and that we all have a much better chance for it than we would have. Remember what I said…you have got to be confident in battle. You know you're more athletic, stronger, smarter, and more skilled than them. They need to be scared of you. Show them who the real terror is here."
The youth paused and looked back to Cloud at this. As he finished his last sentence, Cloud cracked a smile and looked to Ragnar supportingly. As he saw this, the young man began to feel better. He did feel a bit more confident and stronger after hearing this. He did remember all he had gone through and worked through. Most importantly…it felt good to know that there was someone who believed in him. With that in mind, he smiled a bit, and gave him a nod.
"Alright."
The gaze of the two men at each other was broken a moment later asa big object passed in front of them. Both of them looked up at it as it came. It turned out that it was Barret, pushing himself in between Cloud and Ragnar. He crouched down in front of the barricade. Bothmen steadied themselves after a moment, and then rose a bit into a squat, and turned to look out as Barret now did, staring at the silent valley before them.
"Cutting it a little close, Barret." Cloud announced as he finished readjusting.
"I'm here, ain't I? And I don't see no damn Shinra yet. So quiet your spiky ass down." The man gruffly answered. With that, he lowered his own gun arm, and reached over with his right hand to push a button. As a result, a small hatch opened on the side. The commander reached into his pocket next, and emerged with a large shell that looked like a fired grenade. He dropped this into the hatch, and then closed it again. After doing so, Ragnar saw the minigun barrels suddenly go back into the arm with a metallic whir, and the middle portion opened up into a larger hole.
He sensed someone moving next to him on his other side a moment later. Ragnar turned his head and looked, and watched as Red XIII sat down next to him. He really was a deadly hunter, for the youth hadn't heard him come in at all. But now that he was seated, he swished his headdress once. It revealed a sparkling green orb inside a slot built into it. Noticing that Ragnar was looking at him, he turned and looked with his one good eye.
"It's the Contain Materia." Red XIII explained. "I think one Flare will be enough to take mine out."
Ragnar gave a nod. "Good. I guess that means all we do is wait."
Red XIII turned his head slightly at that. "And pray that the moment the first tanks see this barricade, they decide to roll over it instead of obliterating it with fire from their main guns."
Ragnar paled a bit at this, and a bit of sweat formed on his brow. He looked away soon after. "Didn't think of that…" He murmured aloud in a nervous voice.
Barret rolled his eyes and cursed.
"Nobody's perfect." Cloud added.
The youth slowly exhaled after this. Once he steadied himself again, he looked back up and out to the field. "Hey Cloud," He called out to his right. "Were Marlene and Denzel worried about you and Tifa at all?"
"Nah." Cloud answered with a shaking of his head. "Marlene said that Barret will look out for me. Denzel is just waiting for me to come back and tell the story. I think he wanted to hear from you as well."
Ragnar snickered and grinned a bit. "What do you know. I've been a general for two weeks, and I'm already got a f-"
The young man instantly went silent. When he did, the others likewise stilled themselves and turned to him. They didn't have to look long. Soon all of them began to feel it. The ground beneath them felt like it was slightly shaking. From a distance…they heard a very slow rumbling work its way down the valley and to them, like an echo. At that, they all cut any thoughts of any more chatter. They turned and looked back down the valley. As they did, the rest of the soldiers began to tense up on their weapons and look as well.
The rumbling slowly began to grow louder. The ground shook more as it came. Ragnar pulled up a pair of binoculars and looked ahead, but it was futile. The valley was so narrow and bent that he couldn't see very far ahead of him. That was the idea, after all, that they couldn't look to them either. That insured that they wouldn't be fired on early. Nevertheless, Ragnar began to tense up and wished he could see what was coming at him. The rumbling continued to gain volume over the next few minutes. The valley would take time to march through, and hence it would take some time to get here. But he didn't like it. As it increased in volume, it began to echo more and reverberate throughout the area. It made it quite clear that they were lots of them, and with the echo it made them seem even more. A few soldiers began to quiver, their guns rattling slightly in their grasp.
At last, the fateful moment arrived when a spark of static came from one of the walkie-talkies.
"We have visual. Man…there's thousands…"
Ragnar swallowed in reply to that. He looked to the others and gave a nod. He took the hilt of Ragnarok and held it down. Cloud likewise took up Event Horizon and did the same. Both men looked forward. Cloud had gloves, but Ragnar soon felt his palms begin to sweat over the metal of his blade, sending the metallic aroma up to his nostrils. He continued to feel cold, and felt a bead of sweat slowly roll down the side of his head. The noise continued to grow in volume, as the troops drew closer and closer. The sounds of giant engines and machines started to come as well. Treads were heard cracking the stone ground and sending their echoes back throughout the valley.
The echoes finally began to die down…and the sound became sharper. Ragnar lowered himself a bit more, making sure he was out of visual range, and placed his head in the spot of an opening instead. He continued to watch there assomething arrived.
Two full sized tanks rounded the corner. They could barely make it, scratching each other as they turned and rolled onward. The small space only allowed two through at a time. However, they were far from alone. More tanks were rolling in two lines behind them, filing in one after another as they rolled down the valley. Each one was heavily armored, and had their multiple guns turned forward. They didn't hesitate as they saw the barricade…but they didn't fire, either. It was still an intimidating sight. Some of the units nearly rose and moved away, which would have been fatal for the others. But Ragnar and the others on the front held tight, and so they held tight. As the last pair of tanks rounded the corner, Ragnar began to see sweepers moving in behind them, each one brandishing its pair of chain guns and scanning for enemies. He couldn't see behind them, but far to the rear, all up and down the valley, thousands of soldiers were on the march. They were like a carpet of ants filling the valley. No one could see anything but blue and black as they moved along. It looked impossible to overcome, that there simply wasn't enough firepower in their tiny band to hope to destroy them
Ragnar saw this…and raised his hand. As he did, Red XIII zeroed in on the tank on the left. Barret aimed his weapon at the one on the right. Both of them then held. Ragnar waited a few precious moments longer, watching them as they rolled forward, praying that they would hold a bit longer. The lumbering behemoths of metal finally inched their way into the narrowest point. They dropped speed here, so that the drivers could get them through without catching each other. They barely squeezed into the crack, filling the twenty foot space and making it impossible for anything to go through the middle or around.
That was the moment. Ragnar dropped his hand immediately.
"Flare!" Red XIII yelled, the first noise the army had made in thirty minutes.
If the crew of the tank heard, it was too late. A great red stream of light suddenly erupted out from behind the barricade. A string of burning hot orbs shot forward in this stream, burrowed through the tank on the left, and sank into the middle to form a growing ball. The tank turned red hot in instants, as the fires continued to mass inside of it. But that was only a second longer…before the tank exploded. The top of it distortedbefore erupting into a giant fireball. The explosive shells inside erupted as well, further igniting it. Twisted metal and debris were blown everywhere, and most of the units took cover. But not Barret. At the same time, he fired one of his own exploding shells at the one on the right, sending it straight down the barrel and into the main head. A moment later, and the entire top barrel was blown completely off the machine as the rest of it erupted into a similar fireball, sending more debris and metal everywhere.
Ragnar looked up through the hole for a moment. With a grin, he realized it had worked. He had been expecting the New Shinra to send tanks first, rather than a bunch of soldiers into a bottleneck. But New Shinra hadn't expected them to have any form of anti-tank weapon. Now that they used it, they had detonated two tanks in the thinnest point. They had removed the firing window for the bottleneck, but they had done something else as well. They had created a barricade of heavy twisted metal and fire, stopping anything else from being able to get through. The army was stuck with nowhere to advance.
And after hearing the two tanks explode, the separate units went into action.
Eruptions and balls of fire soon lit up the valley. Soldiers wielding siege ballistas on their ledges now fired exploding bolts out on the trapped army below. Soon, their bunched together ranks were getting blown up in masses. That wasn't all. Others manned catapults. Some of these catapults fired off one hundred kilo boulders that had been chipped off the night before. However, the first ones had a special surprise inside. After landing and smashing a few troops on their own, the explosives within erupted as well, sending burning hot rock fragments in all directions, as well as a terrific explosion. Still other catapults fired off the jugs full of gasoline, with a small lit rag in the mouth of each one. On landing, they erupted like giant Molotov cocktails, spreading flames everywhere. Jammed into this valley, the army had nowhere to run when they went off instead of into their own troops, spreading the fires.
The siege only lasted a short time before it was joined by magical blasts from materia. Ice, lightning, fire, green waves of destruction, flaming rocks from the heavens, and all sorts of other destructive forces rained down on the enemy. Lastly, machine gun fire began to go down on the trapped soldiers. One didn't have to be a good gunner here. There was no way for the enemy to avoid the fire.
The troops were thrown into panic. Until now, they had been expecting a bunch of dim-witted, half-starved country people with guns they could barely use. It hadn't occurred to them that they would have this many weapons, or would spring from so many areas on top of them. Bunched together as close as they were with destruction blowing up ten or twenty with each shot raining down only made them more panicked. It drove them into confusion, and got them to run and stampede each other, trying to get clear of the firepower that was falling. It didn't help that they could hardly fight back. From the enemy's position on the cliffs, and their own position in the narrow valley, there wasn't enough clearance for their heavy artillery to raise and fire on them. They could lift their guns and shoot, but by now the sun was beginning to clear the top of the valley, and light was being shone down on them to blind them. Not only that, but all of the fire and destruction was sending up clouds of smoke to further muddle them. About the only ones who could get any success were the heavy troopers, who possessed rocket launchers. One of them fired on one of the enclaves, and blew it up in a blast of fire, smoke, and dust. However…that too soon proved to be foolhardy. The explosion resulted in fracturing the cliff, sending an avalanche of rocks down onto the soldiers below, killing both the heavy trooper who had fired as well as some thirty of his brethren. No one risked firing again.
The bombardment continued for a bloody hour. The siege craft continued to fire away at the enemy below with as much as they could get off. Once they finished using the Molotov cocktails and exploding rocks, the catapults threw regular heavy stones. Once that was done, they fired pieces of debris. After that, the people went back to work hacking away at the walls to get more ammunition. The people with automatic weapons emptied all five of their magazines into the army before passing around the materia orbs, for the first person with it had exhausted themselves by this point. Ballista shooters regressed to simply dropping rocks off of the ledge onto the people below.
The New Shinra forces struggled to fight back. Some tried backing up to give more room, but they were too packed together at this point. Many of the artillery units were damaged by siege fire or destroyed by more powerful materia blasts, further cramming them together and locking them in. Some went back to try and go around behind the overhead units, but that was impossible. There was no path for them to ascend. The front line continued to be jammed shut. There was no way through. The rows of tanks behind them could try and shove forward to roll over the debris…but if the enemy had more anti-tank weapons, then it would only result in creating a more hopeless blockade, one that nothing could get through. On that note…it eventually became decided to order the troops to advance anyway.
As the front line waited and held, they suddenly saw some sort of canisters flung forward from behind the wall of flames and metal and into the fires. The moment they landed, they broke open, and a thick mist spread out from them. Liquid poured forth on either side, which expanded quickly into foam. Ragnar saw this as well, and knew that it had to be some sort of fire-stopping device. Sure enough, the flames quickly subsided in the wake of the foam and mist. More canisters were flung and broken on it, until the entire area had been cleared. The area was thick with smoke for a moment, showing only the jagged, twisted metal and remains of the two tanks. But then, as it faded, Ragnar and the others began to see troops crossing over the tanks in the rear, jumping on top of them and moving forward. They soon made it to the front, and began to climb over the now-cooled debris that blocked their path, coming forward in renewed force.
"Fire!"
At that, the rifle men began to shoot. The first row of troops that managed to break through dropped down dead immediately. The next line took heavy damage. On seeing that the barricade was no longer abandoned, the New Shinra troops that had broken through abandoned the attack. They quickly ducked down and took whatever cover they could instead. Soon, the two sides were locked in a firefight. Shots cracked the air and continued to go between the two sides. However, the jagged metal blockade wouldn't let more than a few troops through at a time. More troops began to pour down the valley into the narrows, but they could go no further. They had the numbers to overwhelm the defenders, but not the ability to move them forward. They were pinned down…and stayed there for a few minutes.
Then…over the gunshots, Ragnar suddenly heard a mighty engine peel. Moments later…two of the tanks burst right through the metal barricade, sending shrapnel everywhere and grinding any obstacles under their treads. They ignored the fact that they killed many of their own troops in the process. They just burst forth, breaking down the roadblock. In response, Barret sent out another grenade to the tank on the right, while Red XIII blasted the one on the left with another Flare. Both soon erupted into another pair of fireballs. Unfortunately, the damage had been done. The tanks had hugged their walls, and drove to a wider point, opening a good ten foot gap between their flaming wrecks when they were destroyed. The barricade behind them was also eliminated. With this done, the troops that had been gathering helplessly behind the barricade seized their chance. They began to rush forward in an overwhelming mass.
Only then did the camoflauge get ripped off of the heavy machine gun. As many of the troops as there were, they were still only moving through a ten foot bottleneck. And now, the gun let them have it. Huge numbers of troops were hit and fell to the ground. The intial wave was brutal, tearing through the first row of men and hitting the ones behind it. They all collapsed and nearly formed a barricade of bodies in their wake. Yet the New Shinra were relentless, continuing to push forward. They continued to rush onto the field, firing as they came, and pushing away through any obstacles. Not only that…but Ragnar soon began to see small egg shaped objects be dropped in front of the barricade, just barely missing clearing it. When that happened, he yelled and ordered a cease fire so that the troops could duck. Moments later, a powerful blast ripped through a portion of the barricade, and fire and debris were scattered everywhere.
Still, the men and women stayed on and continued to fire. But against these many, it looked like it was impossible to stem the tide. Despite how many losses they were getting, the enemy continued to come forward, gaining ground slowly but surely. Ragnar swallowed from behind his own barricade. He watched as this happened for a few fateful moments. But then…he saw a troop with a rocket launcher begin to come forward, preparing to aim it at the barricade.
Seeing that, Ragnar slowly exhaled.
I guess that's my cue.
Tightening his fist, maneuvering Ragnarok so that it was in front of him, Ragnar leapt over the edge of the barricade and out onto the field.
Until now, most people were firing for the openings on the barricade, and as such were surprised when Ragnar initially emerged over the side. The general glared at them all with stern ferocity, and raised Ragnarok dangerously before him, as if challenging them all alone. The look was so powerful…so fierce…that for a moment, what Cloud had said came true. The soldiers suddenly saw some sort of superb being in front of them, some pinnacle of fearlessness and strength, with a sword of flame dancing in the sky. And for a moment…they did feel fear to look at him.
Yet it didn't last. The soldiers soon began to raise their weapons to fire on him. However, before they could, both they and Ragnar received another surprise. More bodies leapt over the edge of the barricade and took the field. The youth's look faded into astonishment. He looked around to either side of him, and found that Tifa, Barret, Red XIII, Yuffie, and Cloud were now taking the field along with him, glaring ahead with that same look of confidence and power. Barret cracked a grin as he stood out there.
"Couldn't let you have all the fun, Scrawny."
The young man blinked again for a moment, realizing this. However…he suddenly felt enthusiastic. Until now, he thought that he was just some person who happened to recruit these members of an old group. He thought of them all as Cloud's people. But to see them jumping out with him and taking the field…it made him feel like he belonged. That was encouraging. Grinning again, he turned out and glared at the opposition. Though the front line had paused, more enemy units were coming forward. A virtual flood was still pouring over the tanks in the back, and coming forth in waves. As Ragnar stared at this…he heard a shik of metal to his side. He cast a brief glance to his left.
Cloud was there, with Event and Horizon broken apart, and staring ahead dangerously.
Ragnar kept his smile. "Think they'll be trouble?"
Cloud didn't change his expression. "…Maybe if one more shows up."
Ragnar snickered a bit. "Then I'll have to take care of that one."
To this, Cloud raised an eyebrow to Ragnar. "Oh? You're fighting too?"
The youth grinned a bit wider…and Cloud, in response, smiled a bit as well. After that, both men turned ahead…and charged.
Bullets thundered through the air. However, both Cloud and Ragnar had rather powerful swords, and they crossed them in front of them to intercept the bullets, letting them rain harmlessly off their own blades. Barret answered back with a spurt of gunfire, sending his own minigun bullets raining down on the enemy. Ragnar picked his target. Dashing forward with incredible speed, he vaulted over the barricade with one leap, cleared to the other side, and then came down on the astonished heavy trooper. He only could stare in shock for a moment before the youth flew down on him, slicing through his rocket launcher and then through him with one strike. The rest soon cleared the barricade as well, and jumped into the fray. But they didn't stop there. They continued to plow their way through into the enemy, jumping onto their tanks to reach them as they crossed. This wasn't just to drive fear and pain deep into their hearts…it was to allow the gunners behind clear shots. Sure enough, as the survivors of the initial strike turned back in surprise…they were soon pelted from behind when the soldiers opened fire again.
Ragnar's blade danced like a flickering flame. As he moved forward, he nimbly twisted it around, spun it, and tossed it from hand to hand. His body leapt and moved forward like a graceful dancer. Everywhere his blade flashed, it sliced through another. Soldiers were cut down on both sides of him as he plunged into the ranks. He was in their midst now, and it was impossible to shoot him without hitting others. As Ragnar continued to push through them, he did see three swordsmen ahead. These ones were standing their ground, and lifting their own huge blades to counter him. However, he only smiled and continued to advance. The first one brought his sword down on him as he approached. Ragnar blocked that and threw it aside easily, shocking the man with his strength. He followed up with a quick slice through his neck, cutting his jugular and carotid in the process. He moved up to the next, who tried to guard against him with a horizontal cross. Ragnar merely swung his blade up, knocked the enemy's sword up and out of the way with his weapon, and then delivered a fatal slice to the side. The final swordsman, shocked at what Ragnar had done to his fellow troops, crossed his blade vertically in front of him, and seemed to cower behind it. Ragnar retorted by simply swinging his blade around, cutting through the sword, and letting it travel unhindered to the man's neck.
Cloud was even more fierce. Twice as many soldiers dropped around him as he advanced, slicing this way and that. He took the opportunity to let the Event fly against the treads of tanks on the sides, slicing into them as if they were no more than tissue paper. The tanks that now struggled to advance again were now crippled. And with them stuck in the way, and yet not detonated, their jam packed mates behind them couldn't advance. But Cloud continued to move forward, slicing through guns, cutting down troops right and left, and creating destruction wherever he landed. Swordsmen eventually rushed on him as well. After seeing their failure with Ragnar, this time they surrounded him with eight. Once Cloud finished clearing out the basic troops, he looked up, and saw his predicament. The men gave a yell, and all rushed in on Cloud at once. Cloud merely kept both swords out and waited for them to close, brandishing their blades out. Once they were about to hit, he started by twisting his body to one side. The one behind him drove his sword through the one in front of him by mistake as a result. More swords swung down on his left as the others closed, but he swung up Horizon to knock them away, and then ducked inward to smash his fist into the nearest one's face. He then twisted around, still holding two swords to the side with Horizon, drove Event behind him, and stabbed another in the gut. With his arms crossed and both swords held on either side, he quickly ripped both out to make a scissor cut in front of him, slicing in half two more. Cloud stood simply after that, twisting his blades on either side to knock away two more swords that were coming in from either side, and then twisted Event behind him to block a back blow. He spun around again soon after, letting Horizon flash a fatal cut once more. Finally, he brought both swords together and locked them into one blade once more, and then stabbed it into the ground. Using that as a fulcrum, he brought himself up, spun his body around, and delivered a powerful kick to the last two solder faces, sending them flying twenty feet away with both hits.
Tifa may have lacked a weapon, but she soon showed off her power. She went right for the throats of the soldiers around her, battling them away like they were flies. She was almost superhuman in her movements, considering what she was able to do. She didn't need to block guns, for her skill and reflexes were so sharp that she could jump and twist her way through a hail of bullets, and end by delivering a spinning kick down on their heads. Every blow sent an enemy unit flying, crashing into more of their allies. At one point, close to a wall, she had a swordsman in her sights. He actually managed to dodge her as he saw her fist spin around…but soon gaped in terror as he saw her fist smash right through the stone cliff instead without even missing a beat. Still gaping, he was an easy target for Tifa to spin up, seize him by the head with a scissor grab, and fling him to the ground with killing force.
Red XIII soon showed that he wasn't just a brain. Ragnar saw him in action for the first time as he turned himself into a living buzzsaw, spiraling into the enemy with his metal feather sticking up from his head. It fatally slashed all who got near. But after that, he unleashed his claws and fangs and went to town. His speed and power were impossible to counter. He avoided all gunfire, and tore through anything that tried to stop him physically. But he also fought smart…tearing past some soldiers just to seize the pins on their grenades with his teeth, and then passing. Moments later, they blew up and scattered more soldiers. If that wasn't enough, the furious beast also still possessed his materia, and had far more stamina than any of the other soldiers above. It was child's play for him to cast one horrificly powerful spell after another, even going so far as to obliterate another tank every now and then.
Barret only went a little bit onto the field before adjusting his arm. When he did, three smaller guns popped out of his middle one, along with a fourth gun coming out of the middle that looked like some sort of spire. It was Barret's own custom made weapon…three rotating machine guns with a microlaser in the middle. Once he was clear enough to where he saw a line of New Shinra, Barret let fly. The bullets were heavy and fast, and peppered the area at ultra high speeds. No armor or padding could stop it from hitting someone, and it tore through the initial line into the back. Only the tanks were immune to the bullets. But when Barret fired off the microlaser…it was hopeless for even the tanks. The metal was slashed into and the vulnerable interior obliterated. Barret soon was blowing up more behind the two that Cloud had stopped, as did Red XIII, widening the destruction and creating a wall of fire and metal that further limited where the New Shinra could move.
Yuffie was last, but also one of the most fearsome. With a grin, she stood still, letting people draw a bead on her…not knowing she was doing the same. Then, right as she was about to be hit, she flung her shuriken, and immediately activated her invisibility cloak. The people were stunned as she vanished into thin air, but that surprise could only last a moment before her shuriken spun around and sliced through a dozen of them. A moment later, she would reappear on another point of the battlefield, seeming to come out of thin air, and snatch the shuriken out again just as it came back. The soldiers would spin around in shock to fight her again, only to have her once again fling and disappear. She continued this process, stunning her enemy and filling them with fear, and continuing to inflict massive damage. The one time she managed to reappear and a swordsman seized her from behind…she merely elbowed him in his manhood and then disappeared again.
With the six warriors destroying everything in their path, blowing up one tank after another, and causing massive mayhem, the people back behind the barricade decided to charge. With Mack giving the order, the remaining soldier spilled forward to hunt for more units, and back up the six leaders who had gone up. They continued to fire at stragglers, and used their own tank wrecks for cover. By doing so, they continued to gain the field, and continued to push the rest of the enemy down, back away from the City and back into the path of destruction, where the overhead soldiers continued to pummel them with everything they had.
It was at that time that Ragnar noticed something else. As the other units came forward…two new warriors joined with the rest of them. Zola and his sister Noonian rushed out onto the field. They moved just as fast and nimbly as they others…if not more so, and almost recklessly charged into the fray with them. The youth actually felt himself pause a moment as Zola ran into the enemy. He swung his own massive blade with speed that made it look weightless, slashing through soldiers, weapons, and heavy metal with the greatest of ease. Like a giant fork, he lashed out again and again to pierce his enemy. A wily grin spread across his face, as he formed a look of relish and enthusiasm, nearly crying out for joy as he struck down his foes. He paused only occasionally to flash a toothy grin to Ragnar, and then gave a him a nod before turning back in and attacking more. Swordsmen came up to him, but it was futile for them to attack him. As they brought their blades down, he caught them in his own forked weapon, and then gave a powerful twist to snap their blades in half before finishing them.
Noonian was just as deadly. She shot out again and again with her whip. Sometimes she snagged a passerby and pulled them in close, where she finished them off with a stab from her dagger. But other times…her whip seemed to get an edge on it, and wrapped around an enemy only to slice through wherever it was attached, cutting them into pieces. She was nimble and quick, darting through her opponents almost faster than Yuffie. She too struck out with her weapons and limbs, batting more aside with killing force. Her eyes flashed violence, and her face grinned and laughed as she attacked. She was having the time of her life, surrounding herself with death and gore. It began to actually unnerve some of her surrounding comrades…
But Ragnar felt a thrill come into him too as he continued to strike down soldiers. He had no idea how long they could keep this up…but they were doing it. They had managed to keep the enemy on the defensive this long, and were inflicting massive casualties. As he let his fiery sword slice through more that surrounded him, he began to feel confident, like Cloud had said, and felt sure of himself. He did believe that it was the enemy who should fear him, not the other way around. Even as the six, now increased to eight with Zola and Noonian, of them tore back into a wide area of the valley, and began to spread out, he felt invincible in the midst of the carnage.
That was until something changed. Abruptly, the soldiers broke off from him. They spread out and put as much distance between him and themselves as they could manage. Despite how jam packed the valley already was…Ragnar soon found that he had quite a bit of space around him. The youth paused at that. Looking confused, he began to turn his head from side to side, looking at the fleeing enemy. They were pushing back into each other now, barely able to make more room. However, they weren't using the distance advantage to fire. None of them were even aiming their guns. Seeing this…Ragnar let his sword down a moment and watched them…
Then…he began to hear the rumbling. The ground underneath his feet began to shake, and he realized something big was coming. Slowly, he looked away from the rest of the enemy and looked at the open space straight ahead. One of the tanks that hadn't been in the front division was coming, and he saw it rolling out through the midst of the New Shinra soldiers to confront him on the newly opened battlefield. It was thickly armored, large, and armed with various weapons. Two chain guns that poked out of flexible Kevlar-like coverings that sealed openings on the flanks of the tank slowly rotated and zeroed in on the youth. In addition…the massive main gun also rotated and lowered its battle to aim right at the new general.
Ragnar felt himself sweat a little. But after that, he swung his blade around once, and put it in the ready position. His eyes zeroed in coldly on the new challenge.
"You want me?" He called out. "Come get me."
The tank responded by firing its big gun. In a flash, Ragnar pitched into a roll and rotated to the side. He still felt hot debris and pebbles smack against him as he rolled out of the way, and the cannon obliterated where he had been a moment earlier. Not wasting time, the cannon rotated again and once more fired. The youth paled, but then quickly dove in the opposite direction. It was a bit faster for him then. He felt a bit more debris, and a flash of the heat from the eruption blew over him. The cannon rotated once again, and fired at him the moment he landed. Ragnar hesitated then nervously. He couldn't roll away from this one. However, he could do something else. As soon as he was on his feet again, he backflipped twice instead. The cannon once more obliterated the pavement in front of him, this time sending dust and rocks into the fleeing youth's face. The young man grit his teeth and shielded himself as he came out of his second flip, wincing to try and keep the rocks out of his eyes. The eruption from the blast made him stagger a bit on his feet, but in the end he stabilized.
Once that was done, Ragnar swung his sword around again and prepared for the next wave. He knew enough about the construction of the tanks ahead from old workers that these ones were built to be able to fire three shells in rapid succession. But after that, they had to reload. Sure enough, the large cannon didn't rotate again, but instead the two guns went up instead. Moments later, they erupted in a burst of fire.
Ragnar quickly raised his weapon to guard. Soon, he felt his wrists wrenched horribly. This wasn't some rifle or machine gun fire. This was a heavy chain gun. Each bullet was the size of a shotgun shell. Ragnarok was strong enough to withstand it…but Ragnar soon felt his arms ache as the force tugged against him violently. Then…the unthinkable happened. One of the shots hit Ragnar at just the right angle, forcing Ragnarok downward. His wrists were wrenched too hard…and his fingers slipped. The next moment, he gaped in horror. Ragnarok was knocked out of his hands. The force of the blast made it spin violently through the air and a good thirty feet away from the youth, before embedding into the cliff wall.
Ragnar turned white again, and looked back to the guns. Moments later, he was putting his backflips to good use again as the chain gun attempted to finish the job.All of his reflex practicewent towork as the firepower threatened to shoot him. The two guns now chased him all over the field, ripping up the ground in his wake. The young man was as nimble as a fox in hopping out of their way…but with two on one he couldn't outlast them. They forced him back against one of the wrecked tanks at one point…and the youth was forced to jump and vault over the line of fire as the two guns intersected at where he was. He landed in between where the two chains of bullets were being fired, and quickly ducked and rolled out of the way as the two gunners compensated by closing their intersect, trying to catch him in crossfire again. As they did this, and once again found themselves stunned by Ragnar's move, the youth began to run to the cliff wall, eying Ragnarok…
As he went, he suddenly caught one of the gun barrels jerking violently in his direction. The young man cursed under his breath. He forgot…with two of them, keeping up with him was much easier. And now, it put itself in the path between Ragnar and his sword. With just ten feet to go, it opened fire. Ragnar tried until the last to get to the sword before the gun could…but in the end it was too late. He had to force himself to halt, using his forward momentum to leap forward slightly, touch off against the ground, and then use his force to halt and then leap backward. Even so…he felt something hot rip the back of his tunic before he saw his cape sweep in front of him…and then get blasted into cloth shreds.
The guns were too close, and the other one was moving in to hit Ragnar from behind. Seeing this, the young man realized he had to move. He quickly spun around after leaping back, and then dashed back for the wrecked tank he was backed up against a moment ago. The two streams of fire chased him, thinking he'd be trapped once he got there. However, he didn't stop once he reached it. Disregarding the flames, the youth crouched and then leapt up, sailing over the smoldering wreckage and into the fire. The guns aimed up and tried to shoot, but it was too late. Ragnar vanished in the flames.
On the other side of the fire, the youth came out a moment later, smoldering and smoking a bit. The heat had been intense, but he had managed to survive untoasted. His face was a bit blackened, but he didn't mind as he fell down and crashed back onto the ground on the opposite side. He hadn't seen where he was going, and as a result he hadn't been able to stop himself before he landed on the stone ground in a heap. Once there, Ragnar groaned and slowly rolled onto his back, wincing and feeling a bit sore and bruised. Yet he didn't indulge the pain long. Bahamut had taught him early on to not focus on pain as a distraction, but on the moment. Forcing himself up, the youth flipped back onto a squat on his feet.
Ragnar knew he wouldn't be safe here long. Already, he began to hear the tank shift on the other side of the wreckage. Soon the main gun would be reloaded, and he would be a sitting duck behind here. But without his weapon, he couldn't do that much. He had to get it and somehow take out the tank…but how?
As Ragnar was thinking this, his eyes caught something. He was in the midst of several bloody bodies at this point, surrounding him. Among them were two swordsmen nearby, still holding their own heavy blades. The youth looked to this and hesitated for a moment…but then got an idea. Perhaps he could still pull this off…although he would have to move fast and this was crazy. He was already getting sweaty and winded from his previous acrobatics. He didn't need more. However, there was nothing else for it. He had to move soon. In the end, he reached over to the dead soldiers and grabbed their swords. Naturally, he wasn't accustomed to the weight as he pulled both up, one in either hand. Yet he compensated quickly. He hadn't worn all those weights on his wrists for months for nothing. Wielding both, Ragnar stood back up again. He turned back to the flames and the wreckage. The youth exhaled a tired blast, and then inhaled deeply once again. With that done…he launched himself up and jumped back through the flames.
The gunners soon saw Ragnar emerge on the other side. They were surprised, thinking before that he had made a panic move that had ended fatally. Ragnar touched down on the ground this time, and immediately went forward, toward the tank. He held one sword down at his side, and another he cross guarded in front of him, but angled it so that it was sloped away from him. Moments later, the gunners both wheeled around and locked on him. However, Ragnar was running for only one side of the tank. The other gunner couldn't turn far enough. The one opened fire on the youth regardless. At that, Ragnar tightened his wrist as much as possible and braced for impact. The bullets struck him a moment later. The force soon drove his wrist into agony, but he held on. Straight on, the bullets would have torn through the sword and him. But how he was angled, they instead slid off slightly based on the angle of the blade, being just diverted. Theystill toreup the sword, however. Deep nicks began to appear, and parts of the blade began to twist and warp. The youth held on, pushing himself as close as he could. The chain gun continued to fire, and his blade began to chip and fragment. Larger pieces of it started to fly off, and what was left was almost dented in enough to let the shots go through. But still Ragnar ran…getting as close as he could to the tank…
At last, he was in range. With a tremendous feat of strength and superhuman agility, Ragnar squatted and then leapt into the air. He left the guard sword behind, letting it get blasted away into nothingness at last. But as for him, his highly trained body flew through the air, past the chain gun barrel, and landed on top of the tank. He didn't land exactly right. His body sprawled out on the lower portion, and he was half hanging off of it. But once there, he grunted, and quickly pulled himself up the rest of the way. That done, he quickly ran over the top of the huge machine and to the opposite side. As he did…the massive barrel of the cannon began to move again. Yet Ragnar was glad for that. He had been hoping it would reactivate at this point.
The youth continued to run across until he was on the opposite side. Once there, he looked down to the other protected gun barrel. He focused himself on the cloth-like portion, and then drove his sword down and through it. He doubted that he hit the gunner, but his weapon sliced through, thanks to his power, and pierced the other side. The result…the gun barrel was now wedged and unable to move. Not wasting a moment, Ragnar leapt off of the side of the tank, and to the ground. Just ahead, still buried in the cliff wall, was Ragnarok. The youth seized it, ripped it out with one mighty yank, and then turned and leapt back on top of the tank once again. Again, he sprawled out on landing, and the metal edges hit him a bit rough this time. But he grunted, and quickly pulled himself up.
"Ragnar!"
The youth raised his head at the sound of his name. He looked out to the field, and saw that he wasn't going to be alone much longer. Cutting his way through the ranks with his two swords was Cloud, quickly making his way to the empty space in front. The man actually looked a bit concerned. That surprised Ragnar…and made him feel a bit touched inside. But he shook that thought away quickly. He wasn't the only one who noticed him. The main gunner had too, and now the huge barrel was swinging to him, having lost its other target.
Seeing this, Ragnar realized he had his chance. He quickly scrambled into a full stance, and then leapt from where he stood to the top of the large rotating barrel. As he did, it finished adjusting, and leveled itself right at the approaching ex-mercenary. Ragnar panted as he looked down at it, but then spun himself around so that he stood with the point of connection of the main barrel right between his legs. Immediately, he thrust Ragnarok down. The metal was pierced…and the flat blade soon inserted itself right at the connection point of the barrel, blocking the way.
This is either genius…or extreme stupidity…
Moments later, the tank beneath Ragnar exploded. The shot from the main gun detonated within the barrel, and the entire upper half erupted into a fireball as it destroyed the other shells in the barrel. The turret for the main gun was blown clean off of the top in a rush of flames and debris, sending Ragnar up into the air with it. The eruption was bone jarring. Ragnar's body was wracked with pain as flames rushed past him, singing his clothes and hair. Only the fact that the main turret stood between him and the eruption protected him from being fried alive. The impact was still so powerful that it rocked him painfully and he was flung violently. Ragnarok was snapped free and somehow he held onto it, but he still went soaring away from the explosion. Ragnar's head swam, and the sound of the explosion made the world swirl and his head dizzy. Hot pain flashed across his body from where debris had hit him. But somehow…he was able to push himself off of the turret with his last bit of strength, and just managed to tuck himself into a roll once he hit the ground. He rolled once before sprawling out like a dead fish, and went unconscious.
However, it didn't truly matter at this point. Ragnar's work was almost finished. While he lay there, the groups overhead finally implemented their final maneuver, blowing away the rock shelves adjacent to them. Half of the valley was soon faced with a tremendous rock avalanche. As this happened, the group on the end continued to push forward, with the seven warriors still swinging. The New Shinra were overwhelmed. They had never expected this. They thought that the City of the Ancients would be a brief rout, before marching on to the main mission in the ocean. They hadn't expected half of the onslaught they now received. And now…they had been caught in a massacre. Their enemy had wanted them to come into this valley of death, and here they were merely sheep for the slaughter.
The crammed troops were in total confusion. Death rained down from everywhere above. Fire and smoke clouded their vision. The seven warriors dodged in and out among them, striking down more everywhere. More troops came out of the flames of the barricade, pushing in on them. The soldiers began to panic. They shot more wildly. They tried to fire more rockets at the overhead areas, only to bury themselves under more debris. One tank after another went up. And still, they were trapped in their space, with no place to run or escape. Soldiers on fire continued to run into other ones. Bullets continued to hit their allies in friendly fire. The panic began to grow. Last but not least…the enemy began to fear the new army, especially the warriors. They were herded in here with nowhere to go. They had met surprising force so far, and still had no idea what they were dealing with. Some expected more firebombs or shot at any time. Others thought they had anti-tank weaponry at the front of the valley. Most of all…they panicked before the warriors, who seemed like immortal monsters as they marched forward on their deadly run. They fled before them, trampling their own ranks, and turning the valley into a nightmare of confusion.
Deep within the ranks, in one of the few remaining tanks, Colonel Zed began to panic. People were running right into the treads as he struggled to bring his tank forward. Fire and other explosions rocked around him. No one was able to move or organize in the confusion, and bodies were piling up everywhere. Even if he could get the tank to the front…every one that had gone there so far had been destroyed. One platoon after another went off contact and into static. And still the enemy was assaulting. At last…he realized that they could take no more. Things were only getting worse. And any moment…a shot of the unknown anti-tank weapon could destroy him too. He reached a decision, and quickly activated the radio to give the universal order to all walkie-talkies.
"Retreat!"
Beaten, confused, and panicked, the remnants of the New Shinra army turned and began to run for it. The enemy didn't let up. They only pursued them more doggedly now, chasing after them and continuing to shoot. Rocks were thrown from above and materia blasted around them. It was somewhat ruthless…but they really had no choice. They had to make the loss as painful as possible to force New Shinra to regroup. It was mostly affective. The already panicking troops were only thrown into more confusion and anxiety. The calm ones felt the pressure to escape, and made more stumbles and mistakes as they ran. The tank drivers were panicking as well now, not wanting to be the last one. In their confusion, they road forward and ran over more of their units. Others stumbled over wrecks and shrapnel, sustaining more injuries as they went out. But in the end, as the sun began to set once again over the valley…the last few stragglers dragged themselves out of the valley and joined with their others, running to the rendezvous point from last night's camp twenty miles to the north.
The bruised, bloodied, tired, and dirty Planet Protector Army slowly began to recover from the battle. It had been hard and long, and it had been filled with more carnage than many of them had ever seen. As the overhead positions lowered their ropes and began to go to the ground, they saw that the valley was now filled with death. Hundreds…thousands of troops lay dead, staining the white rock red. Wreckage was still burning everywhere, and twisted metal and ruins filled much of it as well. Most of their guns had overheated at this point, and few of them had any bullets left. Their bodies were still shaking and their ears still ringing as they walked out onto the field from the fight. And yet…despite all of the death and destruction that surrounded them…one fact still remained.
The 360 person army had beaten off the 20,000 member army.
They had won the day.
Ragnar's head throbbed, and his vision blurred, as he felt something grabbing him. He was dragged off of the cold, stone ground a moment later. He was sore all over, and burnt and cut in a few places, but he still managed to wriggle a bit in the grasp of whatever was holding him. "No…" He moaned aloud. "Put me down… I got to…get back to the fight…"
"Sorry kid. You've had enough for one day. Besides…it's over."
Ragnar moaned and winced again, letting the pain subside a little. When it did, however, he managed to open his eyes and see a bit more clearly. He was moving now. All around him was death and carnage. Bodies of the New Shinra were everywhere, as well as twisted metal and destroyed machines. He heard fires still crackling. He saw a few of his soldiers moving by, picking at the debris and helping other people up. As they did, he began to notice that despite how tired and shocked they were at the battle, there was an enthusiastic air about them. They grinned occasionally to one another, and gave a laugh. For the most part, however, it was silent as they moved around. The sun was setting, and it was already getting dark.
At last, the young man looked down to himself. He realized now that he was slung over another man's shoulder. As he looked again, he saw that it was Cloud. He was roughed up and a bit bruised and bloody himself, but he turned to the young man and smiled as he hauled him along.
"…I can walk. Really." Ragnar sounded after a moment. "The explosion…just shook me up, is all…"
"It also put about three pieces of jagged metal in your back, and probably gave you a concussion." Cloud answered. "Hang tight. You earned it anyway, after tackling that thing like you did. You're going to make me think you're crazier than me if you keep this up, kid. And knowing my background, you know that's really saying something."
Ragnar shrugged slightly from his position. "…It was nothing. I mean…you guys went charging in…"
"We've done it before." Cloud responded. "And even I'm not dumb enough to shove my sword into a tank barrel, especially not when I'm standing on it."
Ragnar paused after hearing that. He was too tired and sore to be annoyed. But after a moment, he grew a bit more serious. "I take it from the fact that I'm here talking to you…that we won?"
Cloud gave a nod. "Yeah kid. We won."
The youth rolled his eyes back and let his head hang loose for a moment. He inhaled deeply and exhaled, a feeling of euphoria pouring over him for a moment. He turned his head from side to side, and in the end shook it. A tired smile spread across his face. "…I don't believe it. We actually beat them… We didn't even have 400 troops to their 20,000… We were outnumbered that badly…"
The ex-mercenary looked to him for a moment, but then turned away and exhaled. "Well…savor the flavor, kid. They weren't expecting us this time, and they went right into a trap. We had the terrain to our advantage, and we managed to surprise them with weapons they didn't know we had. We still lost about 40 people…and we have even more casualties, including you. Next time it's going to be much worse. And we don't know how long it's going to be before they strike again."
Ragnar's smile faded. He looked tired again, and let out a slow groan. "…So much for any victory celebration…"
"Oh, I didn't say that." Cloud calmly answered. "In fact, I almost encourage it. The troops have to do something to reinforce moral, and now they have good reason to. But not tonight. Tomorrow, we can plan our next move from here. I guess that means that I'm going to be patching you up before I go and see how Tifa's managing with Denzel and Marlene."
The young man looked up again at that, and groaned a bit as he did so. "I'm not a baby, Cloud… I can take care of myself. In fact, I wish you'd put me down…"
"We have no doctors in the camp and only a bit of medical supplies. I've seen enough blood and doctored myself on the field enough times to know how to pull out a couple of pieces of shrapnel. After that, you're still going to need a shot of antibiotics or a healing materia unless you want to wake up tomorrow with a fever of 106 and feeling like you've been stretched out on an ice block. And since you're too roughed up tonight to move anywhere, I better do it. Everyone else is busy with other things and people."
Ragnar sighed and let his head fall back again. "Cloud, you keep this up and you're going to start sounding like my mother…"
Cloud cracked another grin. "Oh no. You're mom would always call you, 'Ragnar'. To me, now that the fight's over, you're back to being the kid."
The youth groaned and closed his eyes again, hoping he could slip back into unconsciousness until morning.
To be continued...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: People who've played Kingdom Hearts 2 will notice that I ripped a bit of Ragnar and Cloud's dialogue from that game (only it was Squall and Cloud there). I just thought it was cool sounding, so I included it.
