Sit back, turn on your music, enjoy scrolling the page down, and pressing that review button. Hehehe.
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"We repeat!" there was a loud static and cracks of gunfire. "Our zone is hot!" On the background, there was a large bang followed by a faint voice that said something like, "they've broken through!"
The gunfire grew much louder amidst the incoherent voices. Again, the operator spoke, "The enemy has moved in to Vexin avenue..." there was static, "...fighting back as much as we can..."
A burst of fire then a gag was heard, "We... down! Man down!" somebody yelled from the background.
"We request- AGH! GOD!" the radioman uttered these last words before they heard a loud bang and the radio died.
Elias rewound the tape and played it again.
"We repeat!" the voice started, as the tape began to play for the third time. Elias rested his face in his hands, closed his eyes, and listened intently.
"Agh! GOD!" then the bang, then the line died.
"Is this all?" Elias muttered.
"Yes. That's all." Hankel stood next to him.
Elias sighed and rewound the tape for the fourth time. He tried to find a clue as to where the men could possibly be right now. Hopefully they aren't dead.
"I'm sorry." Hankel spoke, his head downcast. EZ sat on a chair while Terrence leaned on the wall, arms folded. They watched as Elias focused on the recording.
Tifa simply stood beside Elias, her face still blank. She has been desperately trying to catch the sound of Cloud's voice amidst the radio chatter. For the fourth time, she couldn't hear it.
With a shattered heart and weak legs, she fainted.
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Groggily, she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a broken ceiling fan that was covered in cobwebs. It was the first time she noticed its existence. She moved her hands and slowly felt the area around her. Apparently, she realized, she was on a table.
And her back started to ache too.
Then she heard the familiar cock of a weapon. She turned to face the source of the sound, groaning as her back began to hurt from her movements. There she saw Elias, all suited up and studying his rifle. He holstered his rifle and picked up a few magazines from the chair next to him, checked them for bullets and placed them in their respective places in his belt.
"How do you feel?" Elias wasn't looking up but the sounds Tifa's movements made told him that she was awake.
"Better, thank you." Tifa tried to sit up. "Where are the others?"
"They left. Said they were going to scout around."
"Oh." she watched as he strapped his helmet on, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to try to find those guys." he tilted his head to the direction of the radio.
Tifa stood, her legs a bit wobbly and weak. She took her time, supporting herself on the table before she could find the strength to stand on her own. But thinking about the radio transmission she heard, she found it difficult to keep her legs from giving out.
"Tifa, listen." Elias stood next to her as she held on to the table, "We are heading into an enemy-infested area. Our chances of survival are going to be pretty slim, if there are at all. And we are going there without the assurance that Cloud and the others are still there and still alive."
Tifa closed her eyes and forced a weak smile, "That was what I was thinking of before I entered this city."
Elias sighed, looking at her intently, "Are you sure you want to go on with this? If not, I can do it by myself. You can stay here where it is safe, and I'll bring him back to you."
"Elias, tell me a story."
The man became silent for a while. Slowly, he sat on the table. He let out another sigh before looking back at her.
"Your stories mean so much to me."
Smiling, he finally nodded. He looked up, closed his eyes, and let the memories flood into his mind,
(flashback)
They ran, the remaining eight of them. And limped, as to the injured corporal's case. They've encountered a few Shinra patrols, all hell-bent on killing them. Right now, they were being pursued on foot by some of those black-clad soldiers.
One of the men turned and fired blindly at their pursuers. The Shinra soldiers jumped out of the way, hiding behind obstacles, and buying the fleeing men some more time.
Soon enough, their pursuers caught up to them. The legionnaires suffered one casualty when their comrade was killed by enemy fire as they ran and since then, they decided that running would be futile at the moment.
They hid behind cars and any usable cover they could find, ducking as the bullets whizzed by.
The Shinra soldiers, upon seeing their intentions, found cover for themselves.
A firefight ensued between the remnants of Avalanche forces and the Shinra soldiers. The exchange of bullets lasted for about an hour.
The only Avalanche casualties were a man who got shot in the arm and a legionnaire who was killed. On the other hand, Shinra lost three men and had four others injured.
The legionnaires organized themselves in two groups of four and three as they retreated. The first group engaged the remaining Shinra soldiers while the second group stood and retreated. Among those in the second group was Cloud, who got shot but was luckily saved by the large sword that was strapped on his back, and the injured corporal who needed immediate evacuation. Elias remained covering them in the first group.
At a considerable distance away, the second group took their turn and covered the first group. The first group found themselves crawling on the rocky street to avoid the crossfire between friendly and hostile forces.
The only casualty during this tense retreat was when the second group was covering the men in the first group. One of the men accidentally shot his retreating comrade. He was hysterical and wouldn't leave his spot even when the man he shot survived with only a scratch on his shoulder.
The hysterical man, aptly named Kyle Scherzo, had to be literally carried away. Eventually he stopped and got a hold of himself for three reasons: One, when the man he shot forgave him, two, when the others told him that he was becoming a burden with all his whining, and three, when they convinced him that it was the enemy who did the shooting and he had nothing to do with it.
Of course, they all knew that the third one was a lie; even Kyle was aware of it. But what could they do, he had to shut up or risk having him and/or all of them killed. Eventually he bought the lie. Sometimes war can make people lose their sanity and their clear sense of thinking.
"Can we stop for a while and rest? My arm is killing me!" They hadn't realized it but they had been walking for a while now without rest and, surprisingly, without speaking much to each other.
Elias looked at the man who broke the silence. He was covering his bleeding arm with a blood-soaked handkerchief. It looked like he was shot pretty bad. But what could they do? They were in enemy territory and there was definitely no medic. The one they had with them was dead.
They didn't know how to treat gunshot wounds; only how to treat an enemy mercilessly.
"You can say that again," came another weak voice. It was the corporal, limping, and with a pale face. He was hunched over, a bloody hand on his side and an arm over the shoulder of a legionnaire.
"The only time we can rest is when we're outta here. We have to keep moving."
With that said, the injured just gritted their teeth and hoped that they would make it out. They prayed that they would not delay for the pain of their injuries were bothering them.
"Just continue applying pressure. Sorry but that's all we can do now." Elias spoke.
The man with the injured arm fought back by tightly tying his blood-soaked handkerchief around his arm and continue using it normally. Sure it didn't help ease the pain much. But it also wouldn't help him survive if he only had one arm.
"Shinra scout jeep!" Kyle yelled, causing the remaining men to dive for the ground, laying prone.
The corporal cursed loudly when the man supporting him also dove to the ground. The officer lost his balance and dropped to the ground, causing more pain to his injury. "For god's sake!"
"Sorry sir!"
Behind them, a vehicle came racing towards their position. They could hear it firing and the bullets hitting the ground around them, unfortunately hitting one man who was unlucky enough to have been laying where the bullets hit.
The legionnaires fired at the jeep, first killing the gunner, then hitting the driver. The jeep lost control and banked to the left, hitting a bench and toppling over. The men then began shooting at the remaining three passengers as they crawled out of the wreckage.
Once they were dead, the legionnaires agreed that they have to move much faster for they began to hear more vehicles approaching their position. They stood, one man helping the corporal up, while the other tried to help their comrade who was hit. Once they identified him as killed in action, they left him.
They learned the hard way that feet can not outrun wheels when an APC caught up to them. Luckily for the men, there was no gunner on the APC and so the Shinra soldiers inside it had to disembark and fight on foot.
Cloud, Kyle and another man stopped and engaged the pursuing Shinra soldiers. They managed to shoot two of them who weren't fast enough to find cover and dodge the bullets. They moved on and caught up to the rest of their comrades.
"Let's enter there and fight inside!" Elias pointed at a fairly nice house. It looked intact, saved from the shelling and gunfights. One window was broken though, and it looked like something the size of a fist hit it.
The group ganged on the door while one of the men kicked it down with a loud bang. They entered the house, their feet thumping loudly on the marble floor. Elias was partly surprised that the house was actually in one piece. Many of the furnitures were there, the heater was surprisingly on, and it was cozy and warm despite the warzone around it.
Elias found it somewhat odd that on an intact couch was a flowery-decorated blanket. But he didn't care, for there were more pressing matters at hand.
He also saw Cloud looking around as they headed hurriedly up the stairs. He could tell that the blonde was surprised as well. But there was no time to marvel at the surroundings. Once they took up positions on top of the stairs, five Shinra soldiers appeared on the doorway.
"Over there!" the masked men fired at the six survivors. Then there was another firefight.
It was clear that the Avalanche soldiers had the advantage. The thick walls and the height offered their blessings to the legionnaires while soft chairs and wooden tables offered naught but the satisfaction that there was at least some cover for the Shinra soldiers.
Cloud then managed to kill the man behind the table.
Elias cursed when his clear shot at another infantryman missed as the man dodged and hid behind the doorway. But what caught his eye was that he thought he saw the flowery blanket on the couch move.
The bullets nicked the wall Elias was hiding, causing small cement debris to hit him and snap him out of it. This time, he saw an enemy soldier run across the room, possibly finding a good place for cover.
Elias didn't allow him that luxury. He immediately fired at the running man. The soldier died, sprawling the top half of his body on the flowery blanket and the couch while his lower half remained on the floor.
At that time, Elias swore he could've heard a shriek somewhere. He turned to the man beside him, "Did you hear that?" he yelled.
"Yep! I heard him drop good! Nice shot Sodder!" the man yelled back.
"No! I meant like a shriek or something!"
"If he had his mask off, I'm pretty sure you'll hear him shriek!"
Looks like no one heard it. Elias shrugged it off as maybe the soldier he killed. But still, it was too high-pitched to be a man.
Or quite possibly...
The soldier he killed was gay?
Once they were able to kill another Shinra soldier, the remaining two began to run out and withdraw from the battle. In the process, the legionnaires managed to get one of them.
Then it became quiet.
"Did you get them?" the corporal asked. He was completely hidden, his injured state disallowing him to engage in combat. He had a pistol in his hand for protection just in case.
With their guns trained on the door and windows, they waited for another batch to come. Since one soldier escaped, he probably would've called for reinforcements.
But none seem to have come. "Somebody get out there and check it out." The corporal spoke again, his voice was somewhat weak. He continued to lay with his back against the wall, but tried to move in order to peep around the corner.
At first, there was some hesitation among the group.
Until one finally volunteered, "I'll go."
They looked at the man. There he was, gun trained on the doorway, waiting, somewhat nervous, but brave enough to volunteer.
"Are you sure, Cloud?"
The blonde merely nodded.
"We'll cover you." the corporal assured him.
Cloud looked back at the corporal. Elias wondered whether the blonde raised an eyebrow at this. Imagine, here's a guy who was hurt bad, his vision probably double, a single pistol in his shaky hand, completely hidden away from enemy view, telling Cloud that he will cover him. It was kinda funny.
But Elias couldn't see the blonde's eyes for it was covered by the helmet.
Cloud descended the stairs, his footsteps thumping as loudly as his heart. As he approached the doorway, he moved cautiously, as if it was a wild animal. With an outstretched rifle, he quickly peeped around the right of the doorway, then to the left.
He was quiet for a few moments.
The legionnaires raised their guns and waited. Finally, Cloud flashed a thumbs up at them.
Somewhat relieved, the men slowly approached the blonde.
Elias' attention was caught by the dead Shinra soldier that sprawled on the couch. His position was kinda funny.
"Hey, the corporal!"
"Oh jeez!" one of the men slapped his palm on his helmet, raced back up the stairs, and came back after a minute, supporting the limping officer.
The radioman bounced the solid radio on his back in discomfort and impatience before muttering a "Let's keep moving." at the group. They quickly left the house and proceeded on their way.
(end of flashback)
Tifa froze for a minute. She suddenly felt sick about this particular chapter of the story. They were there- Cloud was there, in that house, and she didn't notice or even tried to notice!
"After that, Kyle was killed by a sniper." Elias looked back at Tifa, "You okay?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Please continue." Tifa tried to unfreeze herself and continue listening to the story so as not to be rude.
"So there, he was killed. Actually, he didn't die on the spot. We just couldn't get to him in time."
"Were you able to find the sniper?"
"Well," the legionnaire played with his fingers, "that's the thing with snipers. You never know they're there and where they are until somebody gets shot."
Tifa nodded in understanding.
"We were told to get to Vexin avenue and rendezvous with some friendly armor that were supposed to bring us out of Edge. But, seeing how that place is overun," he took a deep breath, "I don't know."
Tifa didn't say anything and allowed Elias to continue.
"We made it to Vexin. But unfortunately, our ride wasn't due to show up until another three days. Yeah, it pissed us off. Anyway, we took the time to look for any stragglers so that we can bring them with us." the legionnaire looked deeply into Tifa's eyes. "And that... Is when I found you."
She looked away, smiling, "Xavier plaza is awfully a far and dangerous place to be looking for survivors."
Elias sighed, "Yeah well, I just kept walking and walking. Next thing I know, I saw a young woman all curled-up and crying."
Tifa giggled to hide her blush.
"Would you like me to continue the story or would you like to continue it for me?"
The woman smiled, "Nah, I wouldn't want to spoil it." she saw Elias smile back at her. She watched as he stood up, fixed his dirty clothes, and then was surprised when she suddenly found herself holding a pistol in her hands.
"Know how to use one of those?"
"Well, a little," She cautiously studied the firearm, remembering one time when Vincent showed her a thing or two about using a gun. She could remember it clearly. They were in the Highwind that time, going somewhere she couldn't recall.
She remembered how difficult it was to aim, much less fire it at some paper targets. She remembered the look on Cid's face when he barged out of the cockpit and scolded them about the bullets hitting the ship. She laughed as he cursed at every shot that was fired.
"Be careful, it's loaded." Elias snapped her back to reality.
"Thanks, but I'm more content on fighting melee."
"But it's worthless if they wouldn't even let you near them in the first place."
Tifa sighed. He did have a point.
"Hold on to it, just in case." the legionnaire helped her up.
Tifa turned the weapon around, careful not to point the nozzle at Elias or herself, and searched for the safety switch. All weapons have a safety switch, Vincent once told her. It will help prevent an accidental discharge.
But still, Vincent said, the safest is when no bullet, not even a single one, is loaded in the weapon.
She eventually found the safety switch and made sure that the safety was on. After that, she tucked the weapon between her belt and her pants. "Elias, let's go."
"You sure about coming this time?"
Tifa closed her eyes and breathed calmly, "I believe."
The legionnaire nodded and opened the door.
It was already dusk and as the two neared their destination, the number of Shinra soldiers increased. There was even a time where in they had to hide in a small trench on the side of the road, pressing themselves hard against the soil as Shinra tanks rolled past.
Vexin avenue was near the edge of the city and so the roads there are not yet fully developed. For now, the place was a small agricultural land of sorts with dirt roads that formed a simple mean of automobile travel.
There had been plans on transforming the dirt roads into cemented roads but the funding that was allocated for this project had to be diverted to assist in another project that aimed to provide water around the area.
For the meantime, the dirt roads were meticuously smoothened out for cars to pass without difficulty.
The area around Vexin avenue is an important agricultural area for Edge. Most of their produce and food come from here. And since this place is pretty near Midgar, it also provides these same necessities to the residents of Midgar. It was no wonder why Shinra forces were interested in this place. It was a flat land, large enough to hold an entire army. It also had food in which Shinra can take for themselves, and it was a strategic place in which to strike at Midgar.
The only thing was that Avalanche never expected them to take this area quickly.
The commanders' strategy had failed miserably. They all knew that Edge will fall against the might of the Shinra army; It was supposed to be part of the Avalanche commanders' plan.
They were supposed to send in a quarter of a legion in Edge to defend the city. As they held back the invading Shinra army, they will buy some time for the remaining three-fourths of the legion to gather up at the edge of Midgar and for the artillery batteries to be sent in and repositioned.
The agricultural land around Vexin avenue was a prime target of Shinra and so, they will move as fast as they could to take that place. By the time Shinra supposed to have reached Vexin avenue, as the commanders hoped, the Avalanche artillery batteries and the three-fourth legion would have been in position and ready.
And while Shinra was slowly gathering their scattered forces(due to the quarter of a legion that was defending the city) in this land, these batteries would've fired at Vexin avenue, further diminishing the scattered Shinra forces.
Then, the waiting Avalanche army at the edge of Midgar would storm in, finish off the Shinra stragglers, and retake Edge.
But it was the other way around. The blitzkrieg of the Shinra army was so fast that the commanders were completely shocked and unable to anticipate it. Now, it was the Shinra mobile artilleries that were in the agricultural land, aimed at Midgar.
Right now, the commanders had to withdraw the army from the edge of Midgar and cancel the positioning of the artillery batteries or else Shinra would have a clear shot at them.
Now all Shinra had to do was regroup its army and then, they will be ready to strike Midgar.
Elias' heart was pounding madly on his chest. Almost everywhere he looked there was a Shinra soldier. He was beginning to be apprehensive about coming all the way here.
They moved away from the roads and entered one of the small woods to get to the other side. Vexin avenue was now only about two blocks away.
As they walked through the woods, they heard gunshots. Then they heard dull thuds around them.
"They've found us!" Tifa said.
"Yay. Now I should be jumping for joy." Elias pushed Tifa down on the ground. He too ducked down and looked around him for the enemy.
Bullets hit tree trunks with dull thuds, creating small holes on the trunks and causing splinters to spark off. Tifa studied the bullet damage on the tree next to her and looked at the direction the hole was facing. Sure enough, she saw some Shinra soldiers amongst the trees.
She then heard extremely loud gunfire near her. One of the Shinra soldiers suddenly held his tummy and crumpled to the ground. The others scattered, finding trees to hide in.
"Tifa, this would like, be the best time to use that pistol." Elias remarked as the dust around him kicked up.
But Tifa didn't notice him. She counted to three, stood, and ran to the side. She jumped, planting her foot on one tree then propelling herself onto another tree. From this tree, she propelled herself again, getting closer and closer to the black-clad soldiers.
On the last tree, she placed both of her feet firmly on the trunk, gathered strength, and propelled herself straight to the soldiers. She focused herself on the one nearest to her.
As she approached the man, she positioned herself for a powerful kick. But as soon as she reached him, she saw blood puff from his chest. As the man fell, Tifa immediately repositioned herself and unleashed her kick on the other man to her left. The force of the kick broke his mask and snapped his neck.
She landed with both legs spread apart and a hand placed on the ground. The attention of the remaining five soldiers were now on her. From her position, Tifa sprinted towards the other soldier and delivered a powerful blow on his midsection.
As the man flew backwards, another soldier came up to her right and fired his gun at her. Tifa spun and used the flying man as cover. The bullets killed the soldier. Tifa then kicked the ground, sending soil and small rocks hitting the face mask of the one who fired. He was stunned for a moment.
She side stepped as a soldier charged from behind her, his bayonet up. She then spun and kicked the rifle off his hands, sending it flying towards another man who aimed at her. The bayonet went straight through his chest causing the man to fall backwards, firing his gun in the process.
She then kneed the disarmed soldier, forcing him to hunch over. When he did so, Tifa delivered a powerful blow to his back. The man dropped to the ground and didn't move.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw three more soldiers entering the fray. Before she could react, she saw Elias firing his gun at the three of them, "Yeah, well. You can take care of that army while I take care of this squad!" he yelled at her.
By this time, more soldiers entered the battle. Tifa faced four of them. She delivered blows to the newcomers, moving at a speed that dumbfounded the four men as they were unable to recover and fight back.
Once she has taken care of them, she approached Elias. He held a bloody stabbing sword in one hand and a pistol in the other.
"Hey, how was it?" the legionnaire spoke.
"Tiring." Tifa smiled, "You okay?" she looked behind the man and saw five dead soldiers. The two of them were extremely lucky that the woods and the darkness had showered them their blessings.
"I couldn't believe I just killed five of them single-handedly! How about you, how many did you get?"
Tifa shrugged, embarrassed to tell him that she took down eight. But there was one who escaped though. She looked down and blushed, noticing a patch of blood on Elias' leg gradually growing larger. "Elias, you're hit!" she pointed.
The worry in her eyes compelled the legionnaire to look down at his leg, "Well I'll be..." he muttered, before the pain kicked in and his injured leg buckled under his weight.
Tifa caught her friend before he completely fell. "Come on, let's go."
Elias groaned as he found it extremely difficult to walk.
Once they left the woods, she put the man down in the trench on the side of the road. There were almost no enemy soldiers in this area they were in. Probably they haven't expanded yet. At least for now, it was a safe place.
Elias watched as Tifa began to examine his injury. She was beautiful. The way the moonlight illuminated her raven black hair, the smoothness of her face, the sparkle in her ruby eyes as it was filled with concern, the kindness in her face, and her sweet disposition. And to think, she is now risking her life just to find her beloved. No wonder Cloud was head over heels over her.
Yep, he was one lucky blonde.
Tifa was absolutely amazing. And Elias was extremely lucky to have known her and be her friend. He began to relax as her touch soothed him of his injury. Ah yes, that loving touch of hers too. So caring, so motherly, so...
"GAH!" he jumped. "Be careful!"
"I'm sorry!" she whispered hoarsely, "But I have to do this, now be quiet or they might find us here!"
"Yeah, like, who would find us in this barren place?"
Just then, they heard motorized vehicles approaching.
"And you were saying?" Tifa said, ducking down while Elias looked up.
"Yeah, yeah." He squinted his eyes to see what it was. It then grew wide in surprise, "Tifa look!"
"What?" her head popped beside him.
Elias pointed at a large truck, "See that?"
"It's a Shinra truck." she stated.
"Shinra 'POW' truck!" Elias corrected, emphasizing on the letters, 'POW'.
Tifa looked clueless.
"POW means Prisoner Of War!"
Tifa gasped, "You mean-"
Elias nodded, "Shinra will not bring a Prisoner of war truck in here if there were no prisoners, right?"
"But, how can we get to it?" Tifa was right. The truck was being escorted by eight soldier-filled jeeps and two troop transport trucks. Four jeeps and a truck in front, and another four jeeps and a truck at the back.
"At least it's approaching. When it comes, grab onto it." Elias said.
"How about you?"
"I'll cover your back."
"Against all those soldiers? I don't think so."
The convoy was already approaching them. It had already turned onto the road and was a few blocks away.
"What other choice do we have?" Elias retorted.
Tifa was already getting worried, "But there must be some other way, I'm not leaving you behind!"
"I've already done my part in here, Tifa, and I'm so glad to have known you." The convoy was already three blocks away.
What the legionnaire was about to do began to sink in, "But Elias!" Her eyes started to form tears.
"Tifa, I'm sorry." he looked away from her, "I can go no further." The convoy was two blocks away.
"At least, don't let them see you."
"Then how will you survive?" The convoy was now only a block away.
Tifa let a single tear roll down her cheek. Then another came afterwards.
"Go!" the legionnaire took his rifle and held it firmly in his hands. The convoy was now a few meters away.
"You are not going to go through this, Private Elias Sodder," Tifa was frustrated. Another tear rolled down her cheek. In desperation she added, "That's an order!"
Elias tried to hide the smile that crept up to his lips. But he frowned again, and showed her just how darn serious he was, "Damnit Tifa, you made a promise to me that you are going to find Cloud! Now I'm going to make sure you keep it!"
"Elias..." the convoy was now a few feet away. She tried to think of other ways in order for him not to push through with it. But time was running short. She let out a frustrated sigh.
"Now go!"
Tifa knew she lost. Right now a good friend was about to sacrifice himself for both Cloud and herself and there was nothing she could do. With trembling hands, she threw herself upon him. "I'll never forget you Elias. Thank you." she closed her eyes and allowed the remaining tears to fall.
"Thank you for everything Tifa." Elias knew it was kinda rude but he had to push her off, "Now go. It's already here."
The woman nodded and jogged parallel to the vehicles. When the truck was near, she went to the road and jumped, grabbing a ladder that was installed on the side of the truck. She then hoisted herself up on it and laid flat on the roof.
Behind the truck, she saw one of the jeeps explode. The rest of the vehicles behind stopped and began to defend themselves from the attack. As she lost sight of the vehicles, the sounds of gunfire and explosions continued.
When it stopped, Tifa looked up at the sky and watched as the stars twinkled beautifully, "Elias, finally, the war is over for you. You had kept your promise to your family."
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A/N Ah, drama moments. :-)
Hope you enjoyed sitting back, listening to your music, and then scrolling down the page.
Now it's time to enjoy pressing the review button and leaving me a word or two. Hehehe.