His skin was dark - something close to the color of mocha, maybe a little darker. His hair was braided in neat little rows and the scowl he wore on his face seemed permanent. His build was purely muscular - almost like a body builder. Barret had worked hard to sculpt his body after the invasion of Shinra in hometown. And as a reminder of his hatred, of what happened some years ago in North Corel, Barret had a gun grafted in place of the hand he lost because of reactor explosion in his hometown.

The little mining town was now worse than the slums. People in the slums struggled to make ends meat as did those in his hometown, except, the people in his hometown still had morals, still had pride and did not stoop to shady business in order to make a living. It was laughable really, trying to make a honest living. Pride - the concept of pride and honor - it was lost on the people of the slums.

People here underneath the Plate were trapped. The red tape involved to gain permission to leave Midgar was ridiculous and most people couldn't afford the price for the forms and administration fees. And then, there was the cost and dangers of traveling. And once one did make it to a new town, it would cost even more to find a place to live and then the task of getting a job to pay for bills.

Shinra, an electric company, had successfully established themselves as the World Police, and then as a government entity. Many continents fought against it, not wanting to be under the crooked rule of Shinra, but Shinra's military might grew tremendously - primarily because of Shinra's scientific department. In the end, only one country remained strong enough to oppose the Shinra Army but the lack of materia was taking it's toll on the country.

It won't be long before Wutai falls.

Barret had publicly, though anonymously, announced his personal war to see Shinra fall. For a long time, he worked by himself - then came Jesse, Biggs, and Wedge. It was just four people… four people fueled by their hatred for Shinra. Eventually, the group grew and grew… and Barret's propaganda became 'To save the Planet!' in order to recruit more people. Honestly, Barret couldn't have given a rat's ass about the Planet. He sold out North Corel - pushed hard for the town to have a Mako reactor.

Barret was driven by a personal vendetta.

In the end, the core of Avalanche became comprised of eight people : Barret, Tifa, Yuffie, Red, Jesse, Wedge, and Biggs… If the journey to Rocket Town proved successful, then one more would join the central core of Avalanche - Cid Highwind.

Yuffie is the heir to throne of Wutai and she is driven by the desire to see her people prevail in this gruesome war with Shinra.

Red is a creature of dying race that was captured by Shinra for research purposes. Barret found him nearly half-dead in the streets of the slum after escaping from the Shinra Building. After suffering humiliation and torture by Shinra, he has vowed to see the company fall.

Both Red and Yuffie were on their way to Rocket Town, to recruit Cid Highwind, a bitter pilot tossed to the side by Shinra. The company ruined his dreams of flying into space by cutting all funding for the Space Program. Avanlache was contacted by Shera, Cid's assistant, at having obtained some information to what the company was planning next.

Tifa smiled sadly at Barret as he punched the much abused punching bag. His adopted daughter, Marlene, flipped happily through the pages of a story book, totally unfazed by her 'daddy's' behavior.

"Don't worry, Barret… our plan will go without a hitch," Tifa said, her smile warm.

Barret growled, his eyes burning with anger. "This shit don't right with me, Teef."

And it shouldn't - putting Aeris' life in danger was deplorable but to save the Planet, one had to do what must be done.

"Don't worry - when they catch Aeris, Cloud will go running to her rescue, not to mention we got Biggs on the inside," she said, in a voice that didn't sound quite as reassuring. "And plus, that Soldier she's dating… I'm sure he'll come to her rescue. Everyonecomes to herrescue."

"Yeah, yeah…" he muttered to himself. It was a sure bet that Shinra would increase security to ensure that Aeris didn't escape once she was caught, which would leave several areas of the company lax in security, a perfect opportunity for infiltration. A direct attack on the Shinra Building… or more specifically, the Weapons Research and Developmental department. In the commotion, Aeris would be rescued.

It was a plan not without risks… especially since Aeris was totally of unaware of the plan. They were going to plant a bug on her, developed by Jesse, that would record the inside of the building, faces, vital information that would leak out during Aeris' time in captivity.

But still…

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A/N: Hmm, decided to add a little bit of what's going on with some of the other characters. This definitely doesn't fit with other chapters but necessary for the plot development. Sorry for any mistakes I didn't catch - and this is totally AU… the only thing I will change is Zack's last name as it has been officially listed as 'Fair.' Heh, I always had a feeling his last name started with an 'F.'