Chapter Two: AVALANCHE

While Shinra's military and police forces did not have a particularly firm grip on the slums, they did enforce the law down there, typically by setting up heavily-armed and barricaded security checkpoints between the different sectors, complete with massive walls. During the daytime the checkpoints were not as strict and allowed the necessary commerce and traffic to pass through; during the night, however, the slums were locked down, and heavily armed patrols roamed the areas around the checkpoints and security gates. No one except Shinra personnel moved between sectors at night. The only way into or out of the slums during the evening hours was by train, and every slum sector had a train depot to allow workers and citizens to move around. After all, just because they lived in the slums didn't mean that civilians couldn't be productive workers or paying consumers.

It was twenty minutes after Cloud's dramatic escape on the train that the locomotive slid into the Sector Seven station. The last people still riding the train got off, and among them were the victorious members of AVALANCHE. They quickly hustled off the car and onto the platform, and Barret led them away from the few civilians nearby and gathered them into a group.

"Alright, now we're safe," he stated. "This hit was a success, for sure!"

"Yeah!" Biggs said, and Wedge nodded. Barret's trio of subordinates were positively beaming after the completion of the bombing and the successful escape, but Cloud saw something else in their eyes: anticipation. They were begging for the next mission, eager to continue the fight against Shinra. That was both a good and a bad thing. Morale was high, but it could also lead to over-eagerness, which might lead the group into a situation they couldn't handle.

"But don't think this is it," Barret continued. "That little explosion was nuthin'! We're gonna hit Shinra again, ten times as hard. They're gonna fear AVALANCHE by the time we're done!" Jesse, Biggs, and Wedge let out another exuberant cheer, though this one was tempered by a desire not to draw too much attention to themselves from anyone who might be watching.

"Regroup back at the hideout," Barret barked, and the others nodded. "Move!"

The rebels quickly scattered, hurrying off the platform and running to the west, across the barren, brown dirt and mud of the slums. Barret followed suit, but was stopped when Cloud grabbed his shoulder.

"My pay," he muttered quietly, and Barret chuckled, shaking his arm free of Cloud's grasp.

"You'll get your share when we get back to the base," he replied gruffly, and Cloud nodded, before following the rebel leader off the platform and delving into the slums.

Sector Seven was, for lack of a better way to describe it, a shithole. The slums were the toilet, garbage dump, and sewer of the upper levels, ad it showed, with the tremendous piles of trash and garbage strewn about the open, flat terrain of the slums. Chunks of masonry, bags of stinking refuse, scrap metal, wrecked vehicles, and other unidentifiable pieces of trash were strewn about the slums beneath the plate, often piled high into artificial mountains.

Cloud passed between two of these hills of garbage, and spotted the outer perimeter of one of the dozens of slum villages scattered around Sector Seven. Like most of the slums, the people lived in sprawling, scattered collections of houses scattered across the slums, many constructed from refuse and discarded building materials. Houses made of rotting wood, rusted metal, chipped and cracked bricks and stone, and plywood made up the majority of the homes in the region. Many lacked roofs, or what roofs they had were constructed of sheet metal. None of the buildings resembled a real home, but somehow, the industrious poor of Midgar had managed to build structures that reasonably resembled normal houses.

There was a strange degree of honesty here, Cloud could tell, as he walked through the outer perimeter of junkyards and into the small village. The people in Midgar's slums were popularized as criminals and malcontents, and it was true that the slums did house an array of unsavory characters. But the vast majority of the people Cloud saw in Sector Seven were ordinary citizens, eking out a living as best they could among the garbage and squalor of the upper city. The slum was, in a way, a nicer place than the cleaner but more corrupted plates above.

Toward the heart of the shanty town was a building that was actually well-made, constructed of wood planks and timbers, with a solid brick foundation. The building looked well-worn and used, but it was intact and standing strong in the center of the slum. A large glowing neon sign hung over the swinging doors of the entrance, reading "Seventh Heaven Bar" in large green letters. As Cloud strode toward the building, Barret walked up toward it, the other three members of AVALANCHE emerging from the nearby buildings to flank him. The burly rebel strode into the building while his comrades remained outside, waiting patiently.

Barret's voice could be heard thundering inside the structure, and it sounded like he was ordering everyone out of the building. There were several shouts of protest, and a moment later a huge, portly man came flying out the front door, rolling down the wooden steps leading up to the entrance and ending up face-down in the slum dirt.

The rest of the bar's patrons, a dozen other men and women, hurried out without another complaint, allowing AVALANCHE and Cloud to walk inside the building without any trouble. Barret bulled his way back outside to make sure the crowd was dispersed.

The interior of Seventh Heaven was in as good a shape as the exterior. Made of solid brown wood planks, the bar looked as if it belonged in the upper plate. A long, pockmarked wooden bar and worn but functional chairs, stools, and wooden tables filled the room, along with a working pinball machine in one corner and the odd paraphernalia that restaurants and bars tended to accumulate were hung up along the walls. A tremendous selection of beers, wines, a liquors was stacked up along the wall behind the bar. A television was hanging above the bar, but it wasn't turned on, which was a reasonable precaution; Barret had an annoying tendency to shoot up TVs when President Shinra was giving a speech.

Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse were all seated around a large table, already drinking beers and chatting excitedly about the mission and exchanging notes on what had happened when they'd been separated. Cloud walked into the room, but didn't immediately take a seat, instead looking around the bar for a moment.

"Papa!" came a shout, and Cloud glanced down at a small girl, probably barely more than four or five years old, with pale skin, long, rich, dark brown hair and large, equally dark brown eyes. The little girl was looking out at where Barret stood, barring the door, and the burly leader looked back, and, to Cloud's surprise, cracked a smile and waved with his fleshy hand. The little girl waved back, and then looked up at Cloud. Her eyes widened in surprise, which was understandable, considering the powerful figure the muscular mercenary cut, especially with the numerous healing but still clearly visible wounds. He definitely looked the part of one who could scare small children away, and that he did, as the little girl took a step back from where Cloud stood, a little bit afraid.

"Marlene," came a voice from behind the counter, and a slender woman stepped out from behind the bar and put a comforting hand on the little girl's shoulder. "Don't be scared of Cloud." She crouched next to the little girl and smiled, a warm expression that instantly soothed the little girl's feelings. "He may look tough, but he's a softy inside."

Cloud snorted, and managed a smile as the woman stood up and looked to Cloud with her lighter brown eyes. She was beautiful, with a face that would catch the eye of any man, and slender, with attractive curves that her brown khaki shorts and white tank top did nothing to hide. Her long brown hair extended well past her hips and dropped near her knees, pulled back and gathered into a loose braid at her hips. Her long, slender legs ended with surprisingly rugged brown boots, scuffed and worn but still very functional. Her entire body was toned and subtly muscular; at first glance she seemed slender, but watching her move showed the supple strength hidden beneath her lightweight frame.

"How did it go?" Tifa Lockheart, owner of the Seventh Heaven Bar and one of the key founding members of AVALANCHE, asked him.

"It wasn't a cakewalk," Cloud replied with a shrug.

"Did you fight with Barret this time?" she asked, a little concerned but mostly seeming resigned. Cloud shrugged.

"We don't exactly see eye-to-eye on this Planet stuff," he responded truthfully. Tifa sighed in response to that, and Cloud resisted the urge to roll his eyes. She as almost as bad as Barret when it came to the group's mission, but at least she didn't shove the "save the Planet" routine into his face like Barret had. Tifa had been his friend since childhood, but they hadn't seen each other for a long time. When he'd last seen her, five years ago, back home in Nibelhiem, she hadn't been a member of a rebel group; she'd been a fifteen year-old mountaineering enthusiast. Now she was part and parcel of an insane bunch who were on a crusade to kill Shinra. Times and people changed.

None more than me, I guess . . . .

"I should have known you two would butt heads," Tifa remarked. "Barret's always pushing people around, and you've always been in fights since you were a kid. Too proud to back down, both of you."

As she was speaking, the heavy-set rebel leader lumbered through the doors, closing them behind him. The sour look on his face instantly changed to a warm smile that looked totally out of place on the vicious rebel's face as he scooped up a smiling Marlene and lifted the girl up onto his shoulder. Cloud watched this with interest, knowing immediately that Marlene couldn't have been Barret's real daughter. With the little girl perched on his huge, muscled shoulder, Barret turned toward his comrades.

"Gather round, fools!" he shouted. "We're starting the meeting!"

"Up here?" Cloud asked, and Barret glanced at him, a surprised look on his face.

"What? You thinkin' we're stupid?" He strode over to the pinball machine, and kicked the bottom of it, flipping something hidden underneath the machine. Instantly, the entire floor around the machine clicked and started to descend into a hidden basement below.

"Clever," Cloud remarked, and Biggs nodded.

"Jesse put the whole thing together," he explained. "No one would guess that this is our hideout!"

Slowly, the trio of rebels stood up, stretching, and moved toward the elevator as it rose back up, settling into position, the platform melding seamlessly with the wooden floor. They boarded it, crowding onto the platform, and rode the elevator down to the basement. As it descended, Tifa walked back to the bar, and started cleaning up back there. Cloud, after a second, took a seat in one of the stools, relaxing. He reached over his shoulder and pulled the harness holding his sword off, and set it down, leaning it against the wooden bar.

"You want a drink?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Something stiff and hard," he replied, and she nodded, grabbing a bottle marked "Reagan" off the back wall.

"Just a sec," she said. She started mixing the contents with something else from back there while Cloud waited.

"How long have you been with these guys?" he asked after a moment.

"Not too long," she answered. "I've been with Barret since . . . About maybe a year ago. I ran into him in Junon a while back." She turned around, drink in hand, and passed it down the bar to Cloud, who caught it deftly. "Why?"

"Just curious," he responded. She nodded after a moment, and went back to work.

"Yeah, I had finished training with Sensei Zangan, and I was still bitter after Nibelhiem," she continued. "I guess Barret saw that when we ran into each other. He was combing the slums of Junon for recruits against Shinra, and I was passing through. He saw how I could handle myself and asked me if I wanted to help him."

"You've already finished with Zangan?" Cloud mused, surprised, and she looked up, nodding.

"I was his best student," she replied. "He said I picked up the tricks to his style almost even more naturally than he did." She paused again, and wiped down one of the machines. "I wish I could have joined you guys at the Reactor bombing."

"Nah," Cloud responded. "We had as many people as we needed. It wasn't that tough of a job anyway."

Tifa looked at him quizzically, noting the cuts and punctures in his skin, though not very visible anymore as his augmented healing kept acting.

"I suppose not," she responded after a few more moments, as Cloud kept nursing his drink. "Oh, and be sure to get your money from Barret." Cloud glanced up to her, catching something in her voice, a faint bit of disapproval even as she spoke. Once again, she was showing how she didn't like his attitude toward this whole thing, though a lot more subtle than Barret's angry shouting. Still, even as quietly delivered as it was, it stung the mercenary slightly to be hearing that from Tifa, of all people.

"Once I get my money, I'm out of here," Cloud replied quietly, finishing his drink and standing up. He reached over and grabbed his sword, reattaching the harness to his shoulder. Tifa watched him walk away from the bar and toward the elevator, and then ride it down to the lower sub-basement.

The lift descended for a good forty feet underground, dropping through a long tunnel, before opening into a small chamber deep underground, lined with concrete and with a floor of solid steel. AVALANCHE's secure underground bunker was a brightly lit chamber with walls covered in maps, newspaper clippings, and the like, with a wide table set up in the center. A worn, patched, beat-up punching bag hung up in one corner, and in another was a large television. Jesse was seated at a computer next to the lift, typing furiously away as the TV droned on, a newscaster giving a report on the terrorist attack an hour ago. Biggs and Wedge were seated around the table, while Barret was planting a meaty combo against the punching bag as Marlene watched. Cloud watched Barret's style, and noted that he preferred to use his right arm for heavy blows, which made sense, considering the obvious power a hand of solid steel would have behind it.

"Hey, Cloud," Barret called. "I gotta question!"

Cloud stepped off the elevator, but didn't say anything. Instead, he simply looked to Barret as he plopped down on a chair by the center table.

"Was there anyone from SOLDIER in the reactor tonight?" Barret asked, pounding the bag with a left hook. Cloud snorted and immediately shook his head.

"No," he answered. "Definitely not anyone from SOLDIER."

"How do you know?" Biggs asked, and Cloud shrugged.

"You'd be dead," he answered. "Or worse." The meaty smack of Barret slapping his punching bag filled the room.

"Don't be thinking you're all hot and hardcore jus' 'cause you was in SOLDIER!" Barret responded, clearly trying to deflate the mercenary. Cloud didn't respond, instead glancing over his shoulder at Jesse, who was watching the television screen, which further served to annoy Barret. The meaty impacts sounded again as Jesse suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, look!" she called, grabbing a remote and turning the volume up. "Its President Shinra!"

"That fat shit?" Barret asked, breaking off from his punches and pounding around the table to get a better view at the screen. Cloud heard a loud, resonant click from the rebel leader's gun-arm, and he knew that the man was restraining the urge to put a bullet into the TV then and there. Instead, Barret watched the screen a huge, fat executive clad in a garishly expensive, blood-red suit leaned behind a desk. Hovering above his head was the headline "Terrorists Strike Reactor!" Cloud, along with everyone else, recognized the mustached fat man as none other than Alexander Louis Shinra, the President of Shinra Inc.

"Citizens of Midgar," the President began. "Earlier this morning many of you were rocked out of your beds by a tremendous detonation along the southern edge of our city. It is my deepest regret to give you all this dark news. The Number One Mako Reactor between Sectors Eight and One has been destroyed by a band of vicious, murderous terrorists. The secure perimeter of the reactor was breached after vicious fighting, and the criminals placed an explosive within the reactor that destroyed it. Estimates from the damages are still coming in, though we know that the total casualties from the explosion number in the mid-hundreds, and are rising. We have confirmed that many of the criminals were killed during their efforts to storm the reactor itself."

Barret burst out laughing, as did the other rebels, at that last line. As they laughed among themselves, Cloud paid careful attention to the next words the President spoke as he straightened up.

"The brutal criminals responsible for this atrocity have identified themselves as AVALANCHE. We believe that other elements of this terrorist force are in action and plotting further attacks as we speak. In order to hunt down this threat and ensure future peace, we have immediately mobilized the Shinra military machine and dispatched elements of SOLDIER to locate and eradicate these murderers. We at Shinra will protect our citizens against any enemy. Security checkpoints have been established in all sectors and a strict curfew will be established starting tomorrow night. All citizens will be required to hand over identification at any checkpoint and at the request of corporate police and soldiers. These new measures are for your own safety. Thank you and good night."

"Hm," Jesse mused as Shinra's image was replaced by the corporation's seal. "If what he's saying is true, we could have problems."

"They won't be setting up checkpoints in the slums," Cloud commented. "At least not inside individual slum sectors, but they may have them enforced at the gates." Restricting movement in the slums was stupid; Shinra could much more efficiently maintain control by manning the gates, not to mention focus their manpower in those areas. No need to risk putting good soldiers out in the dangerous slum regions.

"Any case," Barret added, "we're gonna have trouble movin' around up on the plates, especially if we pull another strike like we did tonight."

"Not to mention they have SOLDIER on the streets as well," Cloud added, looking away for a moment.

"Hey, now," Barret said, noticing the distant look. "You thinkin' about how it was back with SOLDIER, huh? Remember, yo' skinny ass is workin' for AVALANCHE now!"

"Was working with," Cloud responded coolly, staring at Barret with a gaze that seemed to beam icicles at the rebel leader. "I still haven't gotten my pay, either." He stood up and walked toward the elevator.

"Cloud, wait-" Jesse said as the mercenary strode past.

"Nah, Jesse, leave 'im alone," Barret snarled. "Looks like he still misses Shinra!" The words were ridiculous, but Cloud knew they were intended to get under his skin. Still, a flash of arrogant pride cut through him, demanding he respond. He turned toward Barret, and fixed him solidly with his gaze.

"Shove it, Barret," Cloud said coldly. "I don't give a damn about Shinra or SOLDIER." He glanced at the rebels, all of whom we watching him, and made certain to clarify matters further.

"But don't get me wrong. I don't give a shit about the Planet or AVALANCHE either."

"Fucking dick-head!" Barret shouted, rage boiling over. Cloud didn't answer, instead walking to the pinball machine and activating it, riding up to the bar's main floor. The device cranked up to the top, and the mercenary found, to no surprise, Tifa waiting for him at the top. Their conversation must have been relatively audible from down below, and Tifa knew the gist of it.

"Cloud," she began, but he waved a hand in the air. She pressed on, though, ignoring his casual dismissal. "Cloud please, we need you on this team."

"I'm a mercenary, Tifa," he replied. "I do my job for money, not out of the kindness of my heart."

"But the Planet is dying!" she protested, abandoning all her subtle attempts to persuade him. Cloud obstinately shook his head.

"Let Barret and AVALANCHE handle it," he responded. "Its not my problem." Tifa blinked at that, and she almost looked hurt by what he had said, and Cloud realized that he had just lumped her in with AVALANCHE, more or less ignoring her. His expression softened a little bit.

"Are you just going to walk out on your old childhood friend?" Tifa asked, the last three words delivered sarcastically, cutting deep into the mercenary's skin. Cloud blinked at her accusing tone, and shook his head.

"I didn't mean it like that," he responded.

"Then what did you mean it as?" Tifa replied, pressing him. She put her hand son her slender hips, frowning disapprovingly at the ex-SOLDIER. "Did you forget?"

"Forget what?" Cloud asked, and Tifa sighed, shaking her head.

"You forgot our promise, didn't you?" At Cloud's vacant, confused stare, Tifa shook her head again, clearly disappointed in her old friend.

"You remember, back in Nibelhiem, when we were children, don't you?" she asked, and Cloud closed his eyes. He reached back with his mind, and as he thought back, he remembered a faint pain in his knees . . . And then her recalled the moment she was speaking of.

"Late at night, at the well," he remarked. "There weren't any clouds in the sky . . . You could see every star perfectly."

"It was getting late," Tifa replied, nodding, managing a slight smile. Her disappointment had rapidly faded, replaced by a nostalgic tone. "We agreed to meet at the well, and it was starting to get cold. I didn't think you would show up."

"I did," Cloud replied, nodding. "Didn't I . . . I told you that I was leaving town, didn't I? To go join SOLDIER."

"That's right. All the boys were leaving town, but they were all looking for other jobs. I think you were the only one who wanted to join the military. And certainly no one wanted to join SOLDIER. You said you wanted to be like the great Sephiroth . . . ." Cloud's expression clouded over at the mention of that name, and he became very quiet. After a second, Tifa poked Cloud in the shoulder with a finger, smiling. "And that was when I made you make that promise." His expression shifted back to a normal one, and he even smiled.

"Yeah, you did," Cloud responded, nodding.

"If you ever joined SOLDIER and became a famous hero, you'd come help me if I was in trouble, right?" Tifa asked. "I wouldn't let you go until you made that promise!" Cloud mulled over her words, now remembering that moment if far-off Nibelhiem far more clearly. It seemed like a lifetime ago, which it really was, once he considered it. Nearly a decade had passed . . . .

"Tifa," he spoke quietly. "I'm no hero, and I never became famous. I'm just a mercenary, and a traitor to Shinra." He looked into her face, and shook his head.

"But you achieved your dream, right?" she asked hopefully. "You became a member of SOLDIER."

"I did, but . . . ."

"No buts!" came a snarl beside the pair. They both looked up, to see Barret towering over the pinball machine, having rode it back up during their conversation. The burly rebel leader had heard a substantial part of Cloud and Tifa's reminisces already.

"Cloud, a promise is a fuckin' promise," the big man stated, and he reached into one of his pockets, fingering a thick wad of green and blue printed paper money. He tossed it to the mercenary, who caught it. "Yo' payment."

Cloud tossed the wad of cash into the air, catching it, and judged the value by the weight.

"Fifteen hundred gil?" he muttered. "You've got to be kidding me."

"What!" Barret exclaimed, his dark skin flushing with anger.

"You have another mission lined up?" Cloud asked. "I'll do it." he glanced to Tifa, who barely managed to hide her smile at his agreement to continue fighting with AVALANCHE. "For three thousand."

"Three damn thousand?" Barret's roar nearly shook the wooden panels, and Tifa's eyes widened. She glanced between the two, almost expecting Barret to leap forward and throttle the demanding mercenary with his one good hand.

"Barret, we need the help," she hissed to him, and the rebel leader crossed his arms, managing to hold himself in check.

"That money's for Marlene's schooling," he responded. He sized up Cloud for a minute, and then shook his head. "Fifteen again, for the same work. We're hitting another reactor just like last time."

"Twenty five," Cloud replied, willing to play Barret's game.

"Eighteen hundred," Barret muttered.

"Twenty two," Cloud stated.

"Two thousand, and you're gonna fucking like it!" Barret snarled, pounding a table with his left hand, cracking the wood and leaving a few splinters in his fingerless gloves. Cloud considered for a moment, and then nodded.

"Fair enough."


Cloud had not been able to sit in on the mission planning during the last reactor bombing; AVALANCE didn't trust him enough. However, after seeing Cloud in action during the last mission, and how he had saved everyone's asses more than once, the rebels were a bit more open to his involvement . . . Not to mention wanting to take full advantage of his experience as a member of SOLDIER. Barret was a canny leader, when he could control his temper, but he'd never been officially trained by the military.

AVALANCHE's hideout became a bit cramped with Barret, his motley crew of rebels, and Cloud and Tifa crowding into the relatively small bunker that night. The mercenary found a spot on the back wall, sitting on crate of grenades Jesse had "acquired" some time ago - Cloud noted a bit of dried blood on the side of the crate - he watched the rebels begin their planning, laying out the rough ideas for the assault. The basic plan was simple, just like the last mission: break into a reactor and blow the hell out of it. Execution, on the other hand, would be tricky.

"Cloud," Jesse had asked from her spot at the computer monitor. "How long will it take Shinra to fully mobilize their forces against us?"

"In terms of setting up martial law and locking down the streets . . . ." He mused for a moment. "I'd say we can expect Shinra to have the upper streets of Midgar under constant patrol in under twelve hours, and fully lock down the plates in twenty-four. It'll take them about as long to set up security over the gates in each sector of the slums. And once that happens our movements will be a lot more limited."

"So, we can scrap the last plan," Biggs commented. "No escaping through the upper streets."

"Shinra will have the trains locked down tight," Tifa added with a nod. "We might be able to use them going in, but coming out is out of the question."

"Frontal assault like last time will be suicide," Cloud added. "They'll have tripled the defenses protecting the Reactors to guard against us attacking from that direction again."

"So, we'll have to sneak in," Jesse responded. Her fingers played over the keyboard for a few moments, and she brought up a map of the area surrounding their target, Mako Reactor Number Five. After a few more moments, she highlighted three areas, lines leading from outside locations into the reactor complexes.

"There," she said, smiling, her tone satisfied. The others gathered around her monitor. "Each of these routes are maintenance accessways leading into the reactor complex."

"These two are on the plates," Wedge pointed out, his chubby finger tapping two of the screen. "If Cloud's right, by morning we'll have Shinra patrols all over the place. We'll never be able to move around and get into these accessways."

"This one," Jesse said, tapping the last highlighted route on her screen. "This one is in the train tunnels."

"That's a damn far hike," Barret complained, and the others nodded, noting the distance between their base and the accessway.

"We can ride the train to Sector Five," Tifa suggested. "Then hop off as we near our target."

"Good idea," Jesse replied. "And . . . It looks like this accessway opens into the underside of the plate. We'll use the catwalks and additional maintenance passages to reach the Reactor. From what I can see, it looks like this route will actually drop us off right outside the elevator that leads into the lower reactor levels."

"We can plant th' bomb 'fore they even know we're there!" Barret said with a smile. "I like this!"

"How about extraction?" Cloud asked.

"Once we set the bomb, we withdraw as normal," Jesse replied. "But instead of using the trains on the upper levels, we use the underground tunnels to get back to Sector Seven. There's thousands of passages under the plate. Shinra can't cover them all."

"Hmph," Barret muttered. "Guess a one-way hike is better than a two way."

"This will need to be handled very delicately," Cloud surmised as he considered the plan. "One team goes in to plant the bomb while another element supports them by covering the entrance and arranging the withdrawal." Jesse nodded, poring over the maps.

"I can work something up. Give me a little bit of time."

"And while she's workin' on that, we tool up," Barret added with a snort. He glanced to the others. "Getcha' gear ready!" He pointed to Biggs and Wedge. "You two are gonna work with Jesse on preppin' extraction! You three'll keep the doors open while we go on and plant th' bomb!"

"Then the assault element will be us?" Cloud asked, not surprised.

"You, me, and Tifa," Barret replied with a nod. Cloud glanced over at Tifa, who herself nodded, confirming Barret's words. Cloud arched an eyebrow, a bit skeptical. Barret was a powerful, hardened tank of a man with a cybernetic gun-arm for a right hand. Cloud was an ex-SOLDIER. But Tifa . . . .

"What?" she asked, frowning. She crossed her arms over her chest, scowling slightly at Cloud's skeptical look. "You don't think I can handle myself?"

"I never said that," Cloud responded. "But we're dealing with the Shinra military here. I've heard stories about what disciples of Zangan-Ken-Ryuu can do, but can it hold up to Shinra's weapons?"

Tifa's confident smirk dispelled some of Cloud's uncertainty. On any other person her age, Cloud would have passed it off as youthful overconfidence, one of the biggest killers for many young soldiers. But Tifa's expression was one of certain confidence, the smile of someone who understood the danger, and knew without question that they were capable of handling it. Not to mention Tifa was the last person Cloud would expect to think way too highly of her capabilities.

"Tifa's one helluva fighter," Barret added, just for emphasis, and Cloud nodded.

In truth, Cloud was still a bit concerned for Tifa. Even a master of Zangan-Ken-Ryuu style martial arts might not be able to stand up to Shinra war machines. But if Tifa was confident in herself and Barret backed her up, Cloud figured she'd hold her own, at least.

"Listen, when we go in there," Barret added, glancing to Cloud. "You take the lead in th' assault."

"You have the most experience with this type of operation anyway," Tifa added. Cloud considered their words for a moment, and then nodded.

"If you want me to," he replied.

The planning continued for some time afterward, as the rebels plotted insertion routes and contingency plans. Jesse decided to modify their I.D. cards, and would implant fresh data onto the Shinra security servers that night, so they wouldn't be potentially flagged if the corporate technicians had found their fake data. Biggs and Wedge assembled their weapons and gear: three sub-machineguns, a dozen grenades for each rebel, several flares, pistols, boxes of ammunition. Medical gear, and the like. Barret busied himself with cleaning and loading his gun-arm as Jesse finished the assault planning.

Cloud separated himself from the others, and took off the bracer over his left forearm, green and blue light shining as he adjusted the armor straps. He checked the armor piece over, and shook his head. The metal was battered and damaged after a lot of long-term use. He'd have to replace it soon.

Barret was running some lubricant through one of his barrels as Cloud was checking his own gear out, and noted glimmering motes of light set into the armor, within a series of small round hollows running the length of the piece. The rebel leader blinked as he saw the light, and knew what it signified.

"Materia?" he remarked, and Cloud glanced up, nodding. He ran a finger over four small green spots of light, which ordinarily didn't glow unless the armor itself was disturbed in some manner.

"Basic spell Materia," Cloud responded. "Fire, electrical, and ice-based, and one for healing magic. Nothing really special."

"Hell, far as I'm concerned that's pretty special that you've got some," Barret replied. "None of us have Materia. Well, 'cept for Tifa."

Tifa, who had been going over the plans with Jesse, wandered over, drawn by both the mention of her name and the rare non-confrontational conversation between Barret and Cloud. Cloud glanced up at her as she approached, and she nodded. She reached into a pocket in her shorts and pulled out a pair of hard leather gloves, with chitinous metal plates covering the back of the hands, knuckles, and fingers. She touched one of the plates, and there was a flare of green and blue light as she did so.

"I didn't know you could use Materia," Cloud mused. She shrugged.

"Sensei taught me," she responded simply.

"Well, at least we'll be well-armed when we go in," Cloud remarked as he slipped his boots off.

Materia orbs were concentrated blobs of Mako energy. No one was precisely sure how they came about, but there were numerous theories, among them that Mako "currents" in the pools of Mako energy inside reactors would cause enough of the energy to collide that it formed solid balls. Of course, that didn't explain how some Materia was encountered in odd locations; some orbs had been found in deep wilderness hundreds of miles from any reactor. Some said that any location with abundant life energy would form Materia orbs.

But regardless of however the orbs were created, they all worked in a roughly similar fashion. Many pieces of armor or weapons, or any piece of clothing or jewelry, could be fitted with special "slots" that absorbed the Materia into them. Once absorbed into the armor, the Materia had various effects, the most common of which was to interact between the Mako energy running through the planet and the wielder of the orb, calling forth various effects, often dubbed "magic." Then, there were other Materia orbs with different effects, most often spreading the power and strength of other Materia over wide ranges, linking different effects from different Materia together, strengthening the user's mind or body, and so on. Shinra had an entire research division devoted to studying the intricacies of Materia orbs and their uses.

But none of that mattered to Cloud at that moment. The mercenary walked back across the room and sat atop the crate of grenades he had been seated on earlier, setting his blade's harness against the wall. He dropped his boots beside the weapon, and his bracer and shoulder guard atop them. He laid his head back against the wall, and closed his eyes.

"You takin' a nap?" Barret replied, surprised.

"We need to rest up for the next mission," Tifa replied, and glanced at the mercenary, to see him already deep asleep.


It was much later that night when Cloud felt a nudge against his shoulder. Trained as he was, the mercenary was instantly awake, sitting up, hand snapping for his blade. His hands wrapped around the handle and his glowing blue eyes scanned the darkened interior of the room when a warm hand closed over his mouth.

"Shh! Cloud," came a soft voice, and Cloud traced the fingers and the hand over his mouth back up to Tifa. The underground bunker was dark, lit only by the lights of Jesse's skull and crossbones screensaver on her computer monitor. The other rebels were all asleep around the small bunker, with Barret's thunderous snores filling the room.

"What is it?" he whispered, looking round for any threats. However, judging by Tifa's relaxed posture and slight smile, visible even in this dim light, there was no enemy bursting through their doors up above.

"Get your sword," she told him, and moved toward the elevator. He blinked, not sure what she meant, and was momentarily distracted by her slightly bouncing, almost eager gait. But as she neared the elevator, he saw Tifa take out her gloves and slip them on. She glanced back at him, and he understood. The mercenary rose, and strapped on his boots, before mounting his harness and heavy blade on his back. He moved across the room quietly, stepping over Biggs' slender form as he snorted in his dreams. Cloud joined Tifa on the elevator, and rode it up into the bar.

She led him outside into the small slum town, and cut between the various shanty buildings. Cloud pursued, keeping a wary eye out; it was still technically nighttime in Midgar, though the only difference was that not as many people were out. It was hard to tell the difference between daytime and nighttime in the slums when the plates blocked out all light.

Tifa came to a stop at the edge of the shanty town, at an area that was relatively clear from debris, consisting of solid, flat brown dirt. It was secluded, clear, and quiet. Perfect. Cloud watched as Tifa did a quick calf stretch, bending one knee while stretching her other leg out as she dropped low to the ground.

"You're serious about this?" Cloud asked. "The mission's good to go in-" he checked his watch "-four hours?"

"Barret pushed it back to mid-day," Tifa replied as she alternated legs. "We figured we'd have more of an impact with a strike in broad daylight. Not to mention it'll make Shinra look like fools."

"Gives me more time for beauty sleep," Cloud remarked, setting a hand on his sword. He glanced over his shoulder at the weapon, and then at Tifa's slender body, and winced. She saw the look on his face as she did a quad stretch, pulling one of her legs back.

"Look, Cloud, I know you," she responded. "Doesn't matter how much I assure you or Barret praises me. You're still uncertain about whether I can hold my own out there. I don't blame you, either." She switched legs as Cloud nodded quietly. "I wouldn't want someone on my team if I didn't know they could keep up, protect themselves, and watch my back. I wouldn't be able to trust them either." She finished the quad stretch and planted her feet on the ground, before smiling.

"So, Cloud. If I can keep up with a First Class SOLDIER, you think you can trust me?"

A smirk cut across Cloud's features, and he slowly pulled his heavy blade free. Tifa raised her hands into a guard, balancing evenly on her toes, legs shoulder-width apart. Slowly, Cloud mimicked her stance, spreading his legs out, and putting both hands on the handle of his heavy sword. He stared into her eyes, and she slowly, subtly nodded.

Tifa scooted forward in an eye-blink, cutting to Cloud's left. He shifted, bringing his sword to bear, watching her movements, caught off-guard by her sudden speed. Tifa shifted in mid-step, cutting to Cloud's right. He snapped his sword forward, swing across with the heavy flat of the blade. Yet, even as he moved, she was taking a wide step to the left, ducking beneath the blade in a single smooth motion. She shot forward, left arm shooting out and catching the blade of the weapon and holding it out to the side with her left hand, while her right arced in with a stunningly hard hook to Cloud's ribs. He barely registered the hit when Tifa slammed her fist up into his jaw hard enough to rock Cloud's head back-

-and at the same time her right knee rose up into his ribs, slamming into the exact same spot her hook had struck before. Cloud's head was still moving backward when Tifa shot her right leg back. He brought his head forward, pain flaring through his jaw and rib as Tifa set her weight on her right leg and flew backward in a backflip kick. Her boot slammed into Cloud's chin, once more in the same spot as her fist had struck, and he was sent reeling, stumbling backward.

The mercenary set his feet, however, recovering shockingly fast, but not before Tifa had hopped back out of easy striking range of his sword. He shook his head, rubbing his jaw, and eyed Tifa with new respect.

"That hurt," he remarked. "Good hit."

"Thanks," she replied, grinning behind her raised fists. He watched her bounce slightly, shifting guard and putting her right leg forward, shoulder angled toward Cloud with her right hand low and forward, left hand high and beside her face.

"Show me what you've got, Tifa," Cloud added quietly. He shot forward two quick steps, heavy blade arcing out in a wide one-handed slash at Tifa. She ducked beneath the chopping blade's flat, stepping forward into a high left kick. Cloud's left hand disengaged from his sword and shot up, blocking the kick with a thud of boot on forearm, but Tifa suddenly alternated, completely shifting her momentum into a jumping high right kick. Cloud had no idea how she pulled it off, but he was caught completely off-guard when her foot crashed into the side of his face, the sheer force behind the blow spinning him around.

Cloud's blade shot around behind his back as he spun away from Tifa, and her boots slammed into its flat as she planted a double kick against it, clearly intending to strike his exposed backside. He came back around, sword swinging out wide, but Tifa was already dropping beneath it. As it passed, she rose up, planting one-two-three rapid uppercuts to his stomach, followed by a sudden palm strike to his injured jaw, and a rising knee to his gut, all in the span of a single second. Cloud managed to take a single step backward, and she dropped low into a sweep, taking out his forward leg. The mercenary stumbled forward, and s blindingly-fast open palmed uppercut rose into his forehead, snapping Cloud's head backward and complete reversing his downward momentum, flipping him backward into the air.

Cloud's left hand shot down as he flipped over, touching the ground and giving him a solid support that let him somersault back into a standing position. His right arm pointed out, blade extended to ward off another strike by Tifa as he recovered, to which she skittered around to his right. Cloud pivoted, blade moving across, flat presented at her as a shield, blocking her arcing side kick. Her boot rang against the heavy sword, but then she alternated, her other foot rising into an axe kick that came down on top of the sword's flat. Her foot planted against the edge of the sword, and she pushed up, her entire weight rising up on that one foot for an instant, lifting her up off the ground and over Cloud's blade.

Her other boot slammed into Cloud's temple with shocking force, flipping the mercenary over to crash solidly to the ground, dazed and shocked by the insanity of that last move.

"How did . . ." he muttered, standing up, shaking his head.

"Ki manipulation," Tifa replied. "Zangan-Ken-Ryuu focuses on combining the various forms of other martial arts and then channeling the bodies' own spiritual power into every movement." She grinned to her self as she fell into her typical stance. Cloud slid into a guard of his own, nodding to himself.

"How hard can you it with that?" he asked her.

"That last hit probably would have killed you if I had been serious," she replied. "Let's leave it at that, hm?"

Cloud chuckled to himself, and rushed in again with a hard overhead chop. Tifa skittered to Cloud's left, around the attack, and shot ahead in a high kick at Cloud's head. His left hand snapped across in a quick block that threw her foot aside, and, to her momentary surprise Cloud shot ahead in a brutal forward kick of his own. His leg shot toward her head, but Tifa spun back to her right, hands shooting up and catching Cloud's foot. She pivoted and pulled, and Cloud suddenly found himself flipping over her shoulder. He crashed hard into the dirt, facedown, and flipped over quickly. His feet jabbed forward at Tifa's legs, partially kicking them out from under her. She managed to dive forward, and led her fall onto Cloud with a powerful punch to his gut that had him almost double over, groaning in agony at the hit to his stomach.

Cloud settled back to the dirt, and chuckled for a moment, before realizing that Tifa was still on top of him. He looked up at her for a moment, blinking in surprise at the proximity of their bodies . . . And oddly, he could say that it felt good. He could tell from the surprised and slightly confused expression on Tifa's face that she felt much the same way. But then, after a moment of that awkward proximity and uncertainty, she managed a smile.

"How did I do?" she asked him. "You think you can trust me now that I kicked your ass?" Cloud managed a chuckle and a nod. Laughing as well, Tifa pushed herself up off of Cloud and stood up. She reached down, offering him a hand, and he gladly took it, standing up. She casually dusted off her knees, while Cloud patted off the dirt on the rest of his clothes.

"Didn't expect you to be that fast," he remarked, and noticed Tifa taking off her gloves. She stretched her arms for a second, and then glanced back at the mercenary, before waving for him to head back to the bar. With a shrug, Cloud picked up his dropped sword and followed her.

"You were holding back on me, weren't you?" she accused with a grin, and Cloud managed another shrug. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and put one in his mouth. She looked back at him again, but this time with a critical expression.

"Smoking?" she asked as Cloud lit up the coffin nail. The merc nodded.

"Not like it can kill me," he remarked. "Mako infusions make it impossible for the carcinogens to affect my body. I'm immune to cancer now."

"Just don't smoke that thing inside," she responded. "Barret hates that stuff."

"Thought he'd love cigarettes," Cloud responded under his breath as they walked back toward the bar. "His breath is bad enough." Tifa burst out laughing at that remark, and for a moment, Cloud felt like he was back home at Nibelhiem.

That brought back more memories, and he rapidly banished them, taking another inhalation of smoke to clear his thoughts as they neared the bar. They had a mission in the morning. No time to get nostalgic.

Especially with memories of Nibelhiem and Sephiroth . . . .