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For the umpteenth time in her life, a rooster woke her up.
Well, she could've sworn that there was a rooster in this godforsaken battleground, or maybe she was simply hallucinating. Either way, she did wake up. Tifa found her body was surprisingly heavy. And hot too. Maybe she was catching a fever?
When she sat up, something large fell from her back. She looked at what it was and picked it up, realizing that it was a legionnaire's vest. She studied the padded garment carelessly and saw a name patch with the letters 'Sodder E' stitched on it.
'Speaking of which, where was Elias?'
"Oh, so you're awake."
Tifa looked at the source of the voice. There Elias stood, helmet hanging by the chin straps in one hand and rifle held in the other. His dark hair was pretty messy, though not as messy compared to Cloud's. Elias was much slimmer than yesterday though. She held the vest out to the man, "Thanks for the blanket."
Elias nodded curtly and took it. "You ready to go?"
The woman stood, running her hands through her hair. She frowned when some of it wouldn't go down.
"No one's gonna see that." Elias joked.
"Cloud will."
"Oh, he won't mind." the man zipped up the vest, moving his arms for the garment to fit snuggly. "You look happy."
"Well, you told me to believe." she grunted in resignation when her stubborn hair remained, well, stubborn. "I'm ready." Her hunch was right: the vest did make him look as big as yesterday.
Elias strapped his helmet on and grinned at her. "Shall we?"
Tifa nodded and she made her way out of their hiding place after the legionnaire.
Elias dropped down from the rubble with a thud before helping Tifa down. They made their way through another alley, luckily encountering no Shinra soldiers.
"Isn't that heavy?" Tifa pointed at the vest, in an attempt to break the silence.
"Not really," Elias patted the front of the garment "When you're used to it."
Tifa giggled, "Cloud carries a large buster sword."
Elias raised an eyebrow at this.
"But he carries it with ease, like its nothing." Tifa looked at the legionnaire, her eyes shining and her face lit. "Makes you wonder, doesn't it?"
"He must be strong." Elias peered around for possible threats.
"He's just used to it."
Elias laughed a little.
"It does make you wonder..." Tifa continued.
"About how he wields that sword?"
"No."
Elias studied her partly downcast face. He could tell that she had changed the topic.
"About... I mean," she began, "War." she faced Elias, "Are you used to it?"
"War?... I, actually, this is my first war." he sighed, looking up at the sky, "And I don't want to get used to it."
"Cloud... He was used to it." Tifa clutched her right arm, "Too used to it."
"And you?"
"I was too... In the first war." Tifa closed her eyes, "We wanted it to end. We wanted to forget that feeling. Live regular lives."
"Sometimes, it is important for things like these to happen."
Tifa opened her eyes and shot a puzzled look at Elias.
"It is when we undergo great difficulty that we become strong."
"But, is war a necessary difficulty?"
The legionnaire shrugged, "Who knows? We didn't know that there will be a war. At least now we're prepared for this difficulty."
Tifa did not say anything. He was right though, nobody knew that a war was coming. At least she was supposed to be prepared, after undergoing the gruesome battles of the first war.
However, she did not really prepare herself for it. How can you prepare if you did not know that it was coming?
When the alley ended, they had to cross the street, passing over a fairly large group of dead bodies. They were Avalanche soldiers. "Poor fellas," Elias whispered.
Tifa moved around them, careful not to kick any of the bodies. "Did they have a chance?"
"It's sad. They came all the way here under orders. Said there was a makeshift Shinra supply center in here and that they should tear it down."
"You mean-" Tifa gasped.
"They were fooled. There was nothing here but empty space. And before they turned back, all hell broke loose."
"This is horrible..."
"What isn't?"
They tried to avoid the street as much as possible, pressing as far as they could to the sidewalk. They walked quietly, praying that they would make it through when finally, they saw what seems like an alley. They entered it, inching their way through.
Only to find a dead end.
Elias sighed. His eyes searched for a way through but found none.
"We can turn back." Tifa suggested.
"I won't risk it out there on the street." Elias leaned his back against the wall and took the moment to relax.
Tifa tried again to put her hair down but to no avail. She sighed, leaning on the wall next to him. Now is the time, she thought, for another story-telling. She took the opportunity and asked, "And then what happened?"
"Where?"
"To you."
"You mean Cloud?"
"Yeah. And you too. You're my friend; I also want to know what happened to you." Tifa looked at him intently.
Elias smiled weakly. He broke eye contact and dropped his gaze down on Tifa's shoes. Quietly, he began...
(flashback)
"Okay fellas!" A heavily-laden soldier stood amidst a group of soldiers as men and vehicles moved about. Radio chatter was heard through the makeshift tents. But the sound of vehicles and men's voices were predominantly heard. Judging by the way he looks, one could tell that he was a captain. "The other bastards left us to fend for ourselves in this hellhole!"
One of the men held no emotion in his face. He closed his blue eyes and sighed inwardly. A sword was strapped to his back while he hung a rifle on one hand. It was Cloud, though it was difficult to recognize him due to the change of clothes. Right now, he wore the same clothing the soldiers wore since the attire was appropriate for these conditions.
But he didn't mind, as long as he can come home.
"Hey! Where's our tanks?" One legionnaire spoke, his familiar black hair ruffled in the wind.
"Seventh armored cohort?" the captain inquired. "They're somewhere else Sodder, picking up the other lost bastards. Now here's what's gonna happen! I heard command say that they're bringing in reinforcements from a small garrison somewhere between here and Midgar! Now once these guys arrive, we'll take back the city!"
The others, except Cloud, cheered in excitement at the news.
"Nothing to cheer about yet lasses! Until then, we are to hold the plaza! Keep your eyes open for anything!"
Just then, a whizzing sound was heard followed by an explosion. The captain lay bloodily on the ground, his clothes torn.
"Son of a-" one of them blurted out.
Immediately afterwards, the whole place began blowing up. On instinct, the group ducked low and ran for the bunkers.
Wait a minute, what bunkers?
Around them, explosions kicked up mounds of dust, destroyed equipment, and silenced panicked men.
They were also responsible for the destruction of their makeshift bunkers.
The alarm then sounded, its red lights illuminated the place. One could not tell the difference between blood and the light from the alarm whenever it passed them. Its distinct wailing pierced the panic and chaos that engulfed the area.
Elias ran after his other five companions as they made their way to one of the entrances to the plaza. Hopefully, the sandbags there can offer some kind of protection.
To his right, he caught a glimpse of the cavalry. The men were more occupied in calming down their panicked chocobos than finding a safe haven. Some chocobos lay on the ground, killed by the blasts from the barrage. Their riders either met the same fate or were about to meet that fate.
Another explosion mutilated a chocobo and tossed its dismembered rider off it.
Elias returned his gaze in front of him, only to catch a glimpse of an artillery shell landing next to a passing truck, causing it to topple over some of the unfortunate soldiers caught under it.
But the legionnaire continued to run, using the shine on Cloud's sword as his guide amidst the dust. He nearly tripped on a body as he ran but he found no time to look at the bodies and the dying men screaming on the ground as he passed them.
If you were in this condition, you wouldn't find the time to do so.
Cloud dodged another blast that occured next to him.
It seemed like they had been running forever when in actuality, their destination was only a few meters away. Elias dodged more explosions as he dashed like mad after his companions. At times he could even feel the dust kick up behind him whenever a shell landed there.
And then, he began to yell. He yelled in fear. He yelled as he felt his equipment and his gun begin to weigh him down and slow his run. He yelled as comrades were tossed in the air due to the blasts. He yelled whenever he saw a dying face. He yelled in the painful realization that he wouldn't make it.
Without a clear thought, he threw his rifle away and unzipped his vest. Maybe if he did so, he would get lighter.
He almost lost his balance when the shockwave of another explosion hit him. He frantically recovered from it, realizing that the wind was entering the now open vest and began slowing him down.
Now he had to ditch the vest too.
But before he could do so, he found himself diving as a shell landed right were he last was.
And then, the shelling stopped. Slowly, he looked up and saw five faces looking down on him. One of them was Cloud's emotionless face. Elias could see the blonde was panting hard from the sprint.
He made it.
"Sodder! Where the hell's your gun?" One of the men spoke.
"I lost the damn thing!"
"Then get another one, we ain't out of this yet!"
Elias stood, using the sandbags as support and made his way back to look for any gun he can find. He saw some of the survivors running past him and began forming a blockade at the entrances of the plaza.
Luckily for him, he found a heavy machinegun next to a dead soldier. "I'm sorry buddy." he whispered before taking the gun. The box holding the bullet belt was damaged. Elias took out the box and slung the long bullet belt over his shoulder.
He held the heavy weapon firmly in his two hands and ran back, completely ignoring the hanging bullets as they clanged against each other and as they constantly bumped into Elias.
"Hurry up!"
Elias heard one of the men yell at him as he approached. When he reached the sandbags, he took the long bullet belt and handed it to one man, "Here. Hold this."
The man laid his rifle on the sandbags and took the bullets, holding them with care. Elias then unfolded the tripod at the front of the gun and positioned it on top of the sandbags. He caught a glimpse of Cloud next to him, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.
"Here they come!" They heard a legionnaire yell from the other sandbags.
And soon enough, the bullets were flying. There was a multitude of Shinra soldiers running to their position. Elias fired away, partly amazed by the sound and power of the gun he's holding. Beside him, the man held the bullet belt with both hands, supporting it as it was fed into the gun.
After a wave of the Shinra grunts were taken care of, the heavy troopers came in, with their shields up. Behind them, APCs followed. The rest of the soldiers used the APCs as cover as they advanced.
Fortunately for the legionnaires, they have two twenty millimeter guns with them. The guns fired their distinct, thunderous sounds, their bullets penetrating the heavy troopers' shields and killing them.
One of the APCs even caught fire when it was hit by the guns.
The sandbags were punctured as they took the brunt of Shinra gunfire. The burning APC veered to the right and stopped dead in front of a metal fence, giving Elias a clear shot at the soldiers who were hiding behind it.
Eventually, it came to a point where in Shinra soldiers began throwing grenades into the sandbags. The legionnaires however, picked them up and threw them back.
Soon enough, Shinra's numbers began to thin. The legionnaires were winning.
But before they could celebrate, the radioman yelled, "Everyone fall back to the plaza center! They've breached the east side!"
"What?"
"We have to fall back! The guys there need our help!"
Elias found himself running once again amongst twenty legionnaires, leaving behind them eight dead comrades. One of them was the guy who supported the bullet belt of the heavy machinegun. He was last seen laying limply on the sandbag.
The tripod of his heavy machinegun was still down. He didn't even have the time to bother retracting it. He only remembered standing up, pulling the bullet belt from his dead comrade's hands, and catching up to his fellow legionnaires.
Cloud though, was still emotionless.
Once they reached the plaza center, they were greeted by Shinra gunfire. At once, six of the men dropped dead. One of them managed to scream as he was hit. The rest reacted by crouching low behind a long wall.
"We're too late! They have taken the plaza!"
Just then, the radioman picked up another transmission from high command.
"What is it?" one man asked, as he fought back. The rest, including Elias, followed suit in defending themselves.
"They request all soldiers," the radioman began, "To pull out of Edge. Let's pack our bags guys, we're getting out of here."
"But what about the reinforcements?" Elias retorted.
"We no longer have reinforcements!" the radioman yelled. The others stopped, puzzled. "After they learned about what happened here, they cancelled it. Instead, they will send us extraction vehicles at the south-western side of town. At least lets be grateful for having that luxury."
The soldiers looked at one another as bullets whipped at the other side of the wall. A corporal spoke up, "Okay folks, let's go."
There was a slight reluctance, but seeing the multitude of Shinra soldiers in the plaza, they had to obey.
The thing is, they needed to fight through the Shinra lines to get there.
And fight they did.
Cornered by all sides, they stood their ground and battled for their lives.
After losing four more men, they managed to break a hole in the Shinra defense. Elias dropped the heavy gun and picked up the rifle of a fallen comrade, apologizing to his body in the process.
Then, with pure adrenaline, the remaining ten of them stood up in plain view and charged right through their avenue of escape. Shinra crossfire suddenly grew intense as they dodged the whizzing bullets.
They swore that they could even catch a glimpse of the bullets ripping through the air. One of the bullets though, clipped the corporal. He yelped in agony as he tripped and tumbled on the ground.
Two of the men came back and picked up the officer. Amidst the hail of gunfire, they managed to drag the limping man back with the group.
One unlucky man took a bullet straight through his head and he fell dead.
Another one was hit by a fair number of bullets. When he dropped to the ground, Cloud tripped on his body.
Elias saw this so he doubled back on him, "You alright?" he said, as he grabbed Cloud's garments and helped him up.
"Thank you." was all Cloud managed to say as he got to his feet and ran.
(end flashback)
"We made it out of there." Elias finished.
Tifa smiled.
"And you know what's funny?" he looked at her.
"what?"
"We laughed our asses off."
Tifa raised an eyebrow at him.
"With all that intense running and shooting, and we still made it through."
Tifa could imgaine Cloud in a victory pose, laughing hard, both hands on his belly. But... It just didn't look right.
Nevertheless, she giggled at the thought.
"War can make one lose his sanity."
Tifa pondered for a moment. War is, without a doubt, horrible. Even if Cloud did make it out alive...
Will he still be the same Cloud Strife?
"Okay, story time is over. We better keep moving."
"You're right. We've wasted enough time."
Elias looked at the wall that barred their path. Maybe they could climb it or something. But when he found no protrusion or any good place where in they could put their hands and feet, he studied his surroundings. Maybe there was something here that they could use.
And then the answer came rolling to him: A large metallic trash bin pushed by Tifa. She positioned it against the wall and brushed her hands against each other to remove the dirt.
"Well," Elias began, "Ladies first." and then he climbed on top of the trash bin. From this height he was able to jump and grab the top part of the wall. He partly pulled himself up, enough so that he can peep through the other side.
When it was clear, he hoisted himself up on the wall. And then he turned to help Tifa up.
But she was already hoisting herself up on the wall. So the legionnaire just supported her even if it didn't seem necessary. He then dropped to the other side with a heavy thud.
It was then followed by a much softer thud.
The two figures began their cautious walk on this new alley. Vexin avenue was still a long walk from this area but before, it used to be a mere five minute drive.
Suddenly Elias heard a sound. The two of them immediately stopped.
"What is it?" Tifa asked but she was silenced by the alerted legionnaire. She saw him pull out his small extendable baton from his belt and unfolded the blade attached to it. Whatever it was, she prepared herself for the worst.
Suddenly, out of the corner, a Shinra soldier appeared. And luckily for the two, he turned away from them.
Unfortunately, Elias stepped on a dried leaf. It crunched under his weight, alerting the Shinra soldier.
The soldier turned around and uttered a "What the-" before Elias pulled him into a corner and drove the blade into his chest.
The sounds attracted the attention of another soldier, "Hey you!" the second Shinra soldier pulled out his gun and before he fired at the legionnaire, Tifa sprung into action, jumping in front of him and landing a powerful punch on the soldier's facemask.
The punch was so strong that it shattered the plastic glass that covered his eyes. The shards then blinded him. As he screamed in pain, Tifa chopped his neck and silenced him. "That was close."
"We aren't out of the woods yet." Elias said, returning his baton on his belt.
Just then, they heard a deafening whirling noise and the air began to kick up around them.
"The guys we killed were ground scouts for their scout chopper. No doubt we got its attention by now." Elias continued. And he was right, for they found themselves running away, a small helicopter on their tail.
As the chopper began firing its guns at the two figures, Elias pushed Tifa out of the way. A bullet cut through Elias' sleeve but fortunately for him, it did not hit graze skin.
The chopper hovered about them, finding the best angle to kill the two helpless figures.
Elias dove while Tifa jumped to the side as the bullets passed them. The chopper hovered past them and began to turn around to face them. As it did so, Elias grabbed Tifa's hand and pulled her into a narrow alley to hide.
After a while, its whirling sound disappeared. "Is it gone?" Tifa whispered, panting.
Elias shrugged, he too was panting. "Stay here."
Tifa crossed her fingers as the legionnaire slowly stepped out on the street and peered around for the chopper. After about a second, he motioned her to come over.
As she approached him the distinct whirling sound came back and they watched in horror as the aircraft soared from the small buildings to their left and faced them.
The two ran, and entered a heavily-cemented building for cover. They ran up the second floor as the chopper strafed the windows of the first floor and destroyed many of the objects inside.
The chopper then peered around the windows of the second floor to find its quarries.
Tifa and Elias however, were taking cover behind a large cement pillar. As the chopper's lights searched the floor, Elias leaned out of the pillar and aimed his rifle at the cockpit. When he had a perfect shot at the pilot, he opened fire.
"No way!" he said as the bullets merely bounced off the glass. "The thing's bullet proof!" With their position given away, the legionnaire hugged Tifa, shielding her as the bullets ripped through the floor.
After the hail of gunfire, Elias peered around the corner to anticipate its next move.
But the next move never came as a rocket hit the chopper on the side. With a deafening explosion, the aircraft was cut in half, droppping to the ground in a smoldering wreckage. Some fragments of its sleek metal frame rested on the floor while others scattered outside the building.
"What happened?" Tifa was now peering out of the wall.
"Someone just took it out." Elias pushed aside the upturned tables and chairs and scattered office supplies before he motioned for Tifa to follow.
They descended the short flight of stairs into the now messy first floor. They found a rotor blade partly blocking the front door. Elias approached the obstacle and began to push it aside.
However, he found the blade to be too hot and his hands suffered from this high temperature. His reflexes kicked in, causing his hands to retract. He blew into them and frantically rubbed them together to relieve him from the pain.
Tifa, with her gloved hands, stepped up and pushed the blade aside. But instead of just actually being pushed aside, it fell flat on the street with a loud clang. She was about to walk outside when Elias stopped her.
"Better watch it."
The woman looked at him, her hands on her waist. She stepped aside and raised a hand and presented the doorway, "Ladies first?"
The legionnaire approached her, "Yup." he said before exiting the building. Tifa followed closely behind.
The place was a mess. There were burning parts of various shapes and sizes everywhere. The most prominent parts, the cockpit and the tail, lay a few feet apart from each other. The tail was somewhat intact, though a few blades from the tail rotor were missing. The cockpit however, had collapsed upon itself. The pilot was not visible, crushed by the disfigured metal frame.
Out of the corner of her eye, Tifa saw three figures slowly revealing themselves amidst the rubble of an adjacent building. She gasped and shot a look in that direction.
Her sudden actions alarmed Elias who quickly turned and pointed his rifle.
"Whoa! Easy there!" one of the figures spoke.
Immediately, Elias lowered his gun, a smile creeping on his lips. "Friendlies!"
It didn't take long for Tifa to digest the identities of the three men. All wore the same clothing Elias wore. She smiled as well.
The man on the left held a large anti-air weapon with one hand, while the rest of the weapon lay on his back and shoulder. There was smoke emitting from the front end of it.
The man on the middle held a nice-looking rifle, similar to the one that Elias was carrying. But it looked a bit different, for it had a scope that was attached to it.
The last man, the one on the right, held the exact same rifle Elias was carrying. The only thing that was different with this man was that his helmet was white in color with red crosses painted around it. He also had a white armband with a red cross stitched on it. His vest seemed more loaded with stuff as compared to the other soldiers.
"Thanks for the save." Elias spoke. "Glad to see some friendlies."
The man who held the scoped rifle answered, "No prob. Just happened to be passing by when we stumbled upon that chopper. Been causing us trouble lately. By the way, I'm sergeant Ulysses Hankel." he then offered his hand to Elias who in turn, took it with gratitude.
The man on the left spoke next, "Corporal Terrence Sleeker." he stretched out his hand, his large, tube-like weapon shifted as he moved.
The medic spoke last, "Private EZ Kristoff." he too, held out his hand.
"Private Elias Sodder," Elias introduced, "and this is Tifa Lockheart."
Tifa merely smiled.
After the introduction, Tifa and Elias were invited by the three legionnaires to come with them to their temporary hideout.
The two accepted the invitation and soon enough, the five of them were walking. Hankel was on the lead, followed by Terrence then EZ. Tifa trailed behind the medic while Elias covered their backs.
"So," Tifa spoke. "Where were you guys from?"
The medic was the one who answered, "We came from Lieutenant Rob Langford's unit."
"Langford?" Elias asked.
"Yeah."
"He and his men were supposed to 'ambush a Shinra supply convoy' as far as I know."
EZ forced a laugh, "The bastards. It was the other way around."
"So I've heard."
"Sorry about what happened." Tifa said. They walked silently for about an hour, only their footsteps and the clanging of their equipment made the noises.
Soon, they stopped in front of a boarded-up old house. "Well, here we are," Hankel spoke. Tifa looked up at the shabby structure. It was a small house, made out of wood, very dirty and pretty much... old. There were cobwebs on the ceiling, the floors seem unstable due to termite infestation, who knows what other defects this dingy place held within.
As they entered, the wooden floors creaked with every step they made. Tifa nearly jumped when she accidentally stepped on a small termite mound. Thousands of tiny parasites panicked as their home was crushed. Elias, on the other hand, sneezed.
"Most comfy place hell has to offer." Terrence commented as he settled his large weapon on the dusty wooden table. "It was a surprise this place survived the initial shellings when the Shins invaded."
There was a map on the table, with a radio acting as its paperweight. Tifa approached the map, noticing that it was a map of Edge. She studied it, taking note of their location (marked by a black circle on the map). Vexin avenue was only four more blocks away. And in this part of the city, a block was not that long.
"Anyway," Elias spoke, "Didn't you guys receive the order from command?" he pointed at the radio.
"To pull out?" Hankel confirmed.
Elias nodded. Each of them took a seat. Elias almost jumped up when his chair creaked.
"Yeah we did. But before we were going to run with our tails tucked between our legs," Hankel leaned over to Elias and spoke in a low tone, "We heard that the Shins hold a copy of a document containing their plans of action and a certain machine that transmits orders to them in a language our computers do not understand. We intend to steal them."
"Just the three of you?"
"And some survivors." Hankel eyed him suspiciously, "If we find some, and they are willing to join us."
Elias shifted his gaze from the sergeant to Tifa, who was now walking towards them, and then back to the sergeant.
Hankel leaned back on his chair saying, "I see..."
"Elias, Vexin avenue is close by. We're almost there." Tifa's sweet voice broke the tension.
"Hold on," Hankel interrupted, "You're going to Vexin avenue?"
"Yeah," she answered. "I'm looking for somebody. Perhaps you know him, Cloud Strife?"
"I'm chauffering her." Elias added. But Hankel paid no attention.
"He's a soldier too, like you." Tifa added.
The sergeant shrugged, "I don't know him. So, you're on your way to Vexin avenue?"
Tifa nodded.
Hankel spoke in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry but..."
The woman's heart raced. 'What was he sorry about?'
He then looked at her straight in the eyes, "Vexin avenue was overrun by a regiment of Shins earlier this morning."
Elias was thrown in disbelief. He looked at Tifa and watched how she would react to this.
Surprisingly, her face was blank. He couldn't read any noticeable expression from it. Slowly her head turned to his direction. In her eyes was shock and a slight hint of failure. Elias tried to hide the disbelief in his face from her but as much as he tried to, she was able to read it.
"But we've got a bunch of guys out there!" Elias faced the sergeant, "Surely they could've fought back..." He faced Tifa, hopefully what he said would've lightened her up.
But she remained blank.
"I don't know," Hankel replied, "We did receive a SOS transmission in Avalanche frequency from that area. But as far as I'm concerned, it wouldn't be advisable to go there. Shins are crawling all over the place."
Tifa's face turned slightly pale. Deep inside, her heart began to shatter into a million pieces.
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(A/N)
For those who reviewed, and added this story to their favorites/alerts list, I thank you. Hope you enjoyed this simple chap.
So there, please review. :-)