15 Minutes Before Commencement Of Operation Gold Strike
The escort guard inserted the key card into the slot and swiped it. Immediately, the metal door slid aside, revealing the basic interior of the next room. After doing so, the guard turned to Wuu, and presented her with the key. The woman gave a nod in response. The guard saluted a moment after, and then turned and began to walk back.
Meanwhile, Wuu entered into the chamber. The others quickly fell in behind, Ragnar being carried in on the crate as they did so. The young general looked up and around. It was a rather simple metal room with basic light fixtures. Nothing too fancy. There were a series of metal bunks in the area, just like you would expect in a real barracks. A small table with a few chairs was in the center. Other than that, it was just a basic rectangular room. It seemed pretty innocent and private enough…or at least, Ragnar thought until he was fully carried in. After that, he noticed that on the wall that contained the door, tucked into one corner, was a slowly rotating security camera.
That's another problem… Ragnar thought to himself as he was carried in and set down.
Evidently, the others seemed to notice it too. Wuu sent a silent message to everyone that it wasn't yet time to relax by simply leaving the door open. By that gesture to show that they weren't private yet, the others began to act out their parts a bit longer. Some groaned as they took off their packs and threw themselves onto bunks. Barret and the Wutai soldier grabbed Ragnar by his legs and shoulders, and began to lift him off and carry him to bed. He hoped that there wasn't that good of sound or resolution on that thing…because it wasn't until they had lifted him up that he remembered to act like he was in pain.
Once all were inside and disassembling…that left only their "sergeant" standing in the doorway. That close to the wall, he was the only one still outside of the camera's view. At this point, he placed himself against the back wall and out of the doorway, and began to slide along it toward the camera. Ragnar caught this from beneath his visor, as did several others, and they quickly maintained the illusion that they were just resting. As they did, the sergeant finally reached the space underneath the camera.
While keeping his back to it, and staying perfectly quiet, he reached into a side pocket on his backpack. He emerged with what looked like a tiny CD player. Still staying concealed, he reached up on the side of the metal wall and slapped it against it noiselessly. Some sort of tacky had to make it stick, for he let it go a moment later and it remained on it. After doing so, he reached behind him up to it, and pulled off some sort of cable and plug off the end. He reached up to the camera afterward. He had to stand on his tiptoes to get up to it, but he did so, and managed to plug the cable into the back of it.
After doing so, he looked to the others, in particular Wuu. He gave her a nod. After seeing this, she turned to the others in a room in officer format.
"Alright everyone. Let's just take it easy until the medics show up. We've had a long night."
In response, the spies that were still standing immediately went to bunks. The people in Ragnar's group who hadn't laid down yet understood, and immediately went as well. The "lieutenant" herself went to one particular bunk. Barret was headed for it at the same time, to take the top. However, as he drew near to it, the lieutenant suddenly put out a hand and stopped him. He froze and looked down to her in a confused manner.
"Why don't you take the bottom one over there, soldier?" Wuu asked, indicating to an unoccupied bunk.
Barret hesitated a moment, forming a confused expression. But luckily, he wasn't facing the camera when he did…and he decided not to argue. In the end, he nodded and turned to go back over to the indicated bunk. Wuu, on her part, went ahead and took the bottom. Once both were in place, and leaned back and relaxed a little, Wuu made a flick of her hand toward the "sergeant".
In response, the spy reached up and grabbed the previous cable while reaching over and pressing the "play" button on the CD player. A moment later, he detached one and started the other at the same time. The result was a blip of static before showing a prerecorded video, with sound, of Wutai spies dressed as New Shinra soldiers on a "set" that mimicked a barracks perfectly. They were all on bed already in the video, and it only showed the sergeant moving to the top bunk over the lieutenant before showing that same image for an hour. Just as expected…there was one blank bunk in the video, just as there should have been due to Vincent's disappearance. And thanks to Wuu's direction, it was the same empty bunk as in reality.
With this done, the sergeant moved over to the door and finally closed it. The moment it slid shut, he looked to the lock and activated it. After doing that, he raised the butt of his gun, and with one easy movement broke off the card lock. He turned back to Wuu. She immediately sprung up from her bed, and began to remove her overcoat.
"Alright everyone…we're out of this room in five minutes."
Ragnar immediately sprung off his bed, as did the rest of the people in the room. They all began to strip off their outer winter clothing. Once down to their uniforms, some went ahead and stripped further, like Barret who tore off his tunic. Tifa both ripped off her tunic, leaving her with only the white sleeveless shirt, but also ripped off her pant legs at the knees to give her more mobility. Ragnar, on his part, was ok after taking off his helmet and running to the crate. He readily claimed Ragnarok and its sheath from it, strapping it to his back. Cloud did the same with Event Horizon. As for the spies, they found another compartment on the opposite side of the crate and opened it up. Four cutting torches were revealed, which they immediately took up and walked down to the rear of the room with. Wuu began to look inside her uniform for charts, while the "sergeant" went to the crate and began to unlock it. As the four spies reached the wall and began to find natural creases in the metal paneling, the man finally unveiled the EMP Projector.
Ragnar stole a look at it while he tightened his straps. It didn't look all that impressive. It appeared to be some sort of cobbling of machinery and parts on some sort of wheeled cart. He supposed that it was disassembled. Once it was open, he looked out again to the big guys.
"Commander Wallace? Lieutenant Yo? If I could borrow your strength once again…"
Barret frowned at this. He had just finished transforming his metal hand into a gun again, and now had to turn it back. However, he did as he was told in the end. He went over to the crate, where both he and the officer named Yo were directed by the spy officer to pull out special rails from the sides of the crate. Once they did, they inserted them on portions of the cart and locked it into place. After that, both of them gave a grunt, and began to lift the obviously heavy piece of machinery out of the box and set it on the ground nearby.
While they were doing this, the spies at the back wall had fired up their torches, and were proceeding to cut through the wall. With four going at once, each one took a side of a large rectangle, just large enough for someone to walk under with, and just wide enough for the cart to go through. Ragnar inhaled and exhaled. He turned and looked around the room again, and rested his eyes on Aerith.
The woman had taken off her bulky winter clothing, and had let her hair down from underneath her helmet. However, she had discarded her weapon as well. Ragnar hesitated a moment, but then began to walk over to her.
"You should take the gun." Ragnar advised as he fell in next to her.
Aerith looked to him at this, and after a moment's pause exhaled and shook her head. "No…I'm sorry." She apologized. "I can't use it. I mean…yes, I think they're nasty and loud and everything…but I also really couldn't shoot straight. The recoil would be too much for me. I've got my powers." She paused for a moment after that, and then smiled. "And I've got you."
Ragnar wished he could smile in response to that, but all he could manage was an easy look. The truth was, at this moment, he wished that Aerith could defend herself physically. Even with her staff, she was hardly a match for someone in a fight. Someday her powers might not work, and she might catch herself alone. And with Sephiroth running around…especially here…
"Um…Aerith?"
"Yes?"
"…After we get back from this mission…I'd like to teach you to fight."
The Cetra blinked at this, looking a little surprised. "But…I already know how to fight…"
Ragnar sighed and gave a nod. "I know, I know that… But I mean…really fight. Be able to defend yourself with your staff. I think it's a good idea. I mean…what with how dangerous everything is, I'd feel a lot better if you could do some real damage to someone with Princess Guard. I'd at least like you to be able to guard yourself with it."
Aerith hesitated a moment afterward, but then smiled and gave a nod.
"Alright, Ragnar." She answered. Then, throwing it in like a little joke, Aerith added, "It's a date."
Ragnar did chuckle a bit at this, turning a bit red while he did so.
A solid hand clamped down on his shoulder a moment later, arousing his attention. He turned around to the source, and found Cloud staring at him somewhat cynically.
"Alright, Edward Damcyan… Save the romance stuff until after we're done. We've got to be on alert until we get out of here."
Ragnar hesitated a moment after this. Then, he snapped out of it, and quickly shook his head. "Yeah…right." He responded. After doing so, however, he turned and gave a look to Aerith. Seeing the implication, she had snapped out of it as well, it seemed. She was now walking away a bit, headed toward the back of the room, and trying to look more ready as she brushed back some of her hair behind her ears. Ragnar let out a sharp exhale, and then turned back to Cloud. After that, both men began to walk to the back as well.
Barret and Yo still carried the machine with them. It had wheels now, but it was heavy and needed to be pulled and pushed. And where they were going, they would need to be able to lift it and twist it if necessary. After a few seconds longer, the rear panel that was being cut was finally severed. The four spies backed away at once as they finished, and let it fall to the ground. The clash, to Ragnar, was a bit louder than he wanted to hear. He stiffened a bit as it did so.
"Quickly." Wuu ordered as she began to walk forward to the front of the group. The sergeant followed right behind. "The medics will be here any minute. After that, we'll only have about ten minutes before they start realizing something's wrong. Hopefully, they won't be able to pick up on our trail until it's too late."
Wuu ducked into the now open hole, minding the red hot metal slag on the sides. Ragnar looked after her, and saw that it was pitch black inside. Once she was in, she switched on a flashlight, giving some illumination into the dark area, but not much. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who noticed this.
"Um…where exactly are we going?" Yuffie voiced.
"The New Shinra HQ Dome functions as a base, highly automated weapon, factory, and mako reactor." The sergeant answered as he went into the hole and turned on his own flashlight. The other soldiers began to fill in as he went on. "At least 50 percent of its volume is nothing more than maintenance areas, containing bulkheads, valves, pipes, conduits, boilers, etc. No one ever goes into them unless there's a problem, and its too complicated and dark to use security devices. It's a veritable maze inside, so even if the New Shinra find out that we went in it will take them forever to find us. Now come on."
The rest of the soldiers quickly filed in into the darkened area. Ragnar was among them, minding the slag himself as he entered the darkened area and pushed into the mass of people that were gathering. Once there, they each began to turn on their flashlights, for there was no other illumination in here, not even small red bulbs for signaling points. Ragnar himself turned his on, and began to sweep it around the area. Nothing much. A lot of pipes and valves, each leading every which way in the area. There were grates and ladders all around too. The youth couldn't actually see initially any pathway through this junk…before he managed to see a rather small pseudo-"tunnel" leading through a bulk of pipes ahead, into a steam cloud. The youth sighed at the sight. He hoped they wouldn't be on their knees this whole trip.
Once the last soldier was in, the four spies entered. As they did, they once more reached into their uniforms, and this time came out with small suction cups. They affixed these to the fallen panel, and pulled it up as they went in. As they did so, the last bit of light other than the flashlights vanished, sealing the nineteen-person group into this dark world. Only a faint outline of light was still visible where they came in. The spies soon went to work getting rid of that, twisting around the ends of their cutting torches and turning them into welders. They soon started to seal the entrance behind them.
As they did this, Wu looked to her watch, hitting a button to illuminate it.
"Alright…the time is now 0455 hours. We have an hour and five minutes to get to the reactor and finish our mission. Let's make every second count."
5 Minutes Before Commencement Of Operation Gold Strike
Mack had wondered when he'd see this.
The sun was still not up yet, but it didn't matter. As the Wutai Gold Navy lurched northward, the sky above it filled with the Phoenix fighters, everyone knew what was ahead of them. The New Shinra had sensed their foes coming by now, and they were fully lighting up the shores of their own defense line. Searchlights had turned on and were beginning to scan the skies. Lights all up and down the shore began to flicker on. None of them were distinct enough to show where an artillery unit was, but they were clearly illuminating the fact that the defenses were coming online. It was also obvious on the fact that the fleet of destroyers that was in the bay was lighting up and becoming battle ready. And over it all…a great long shadow seemed to blot out some of the pattern of the lights. Mack didn't have to have his radar on to tell him what that was.
They were getting close to the engagement point. And now, the New Shinra Navy was moving to respond. Mack checked out his own long distance radar. The sign was not promising. Evidently…the New Shinra Navy wasn't as wounded as they thought after the last battle. True, they had been seriously damaged, but over four months that had been repaired. And they still had more ships in reserve that had been guarding their native coast, as well as ships further north that had not moved south yet. All in all, this was making something painfully aware to all of them…
"This is the Murasame." A voice came in over the general line. "Our radar sweep shows that there are at least 45 destroyers in that bay, including the Juggernaut. They're beginning to scramble what appears to be Harbingers. In addition…we're seeing some sort of new flying bogies. They look similar to Shinra Inc. Eagle Guns. Phoenix Squadron, prepare for fire on engagement."
Mack formed a slight frown in response. "Copy, Murasame." He answered, though his face looked rather tired, and even a bit worried. This meant they were outnumbered. True, the Wutai Gold Navy was far more accurate with their guns, but when you were going right into the throat of a lion it didn't really matter if you could shoot it in the heart from the side. There was only one direction that the New Shinra Navy had to worry about aiming at on this initial strike. And they also had their defenses to worry about on the shore. If this was an actual military strike and not just mostly a diversion to allow the Phoenixes to get close enough to make an attack run, then they'd be in trouble.
Some initial strike on enemy soil… Mack thought. At any rate, he shook this out of his head, and put himself on the appropriate channel.
"All Phoenix Leaders check in. Squadron 1, standing by."
"Squadron 2, standing by."
"Squadron 3, standing by."
"Squadron 4…"
One thing was for certain. They had more manpower and weapons this time. Their full Phoenix wing consisted of sixty three-ship squadrons, bringing them up to 180 different fighters. It was so much at this point that they had to refer to each other by Squadrons rather than individuals, relying on the leaders to assume responsibility for the rest of them. Luckily, their radars showed which squadron was which. Mack didn't think he could remember them this time.
At last, Squadron 60 checked in. When that happened, Mack looked to the time. Only one minute until commencement of Operation Gold Strike. He looked up again through his window, and saw the lights of the fleet far more closely now. He slowly exhaled as he looked at it, and then tightened up for action.
"This is it, ladies and gentlemen." Mack announced. "Remember, strafting runs only, and focus on engaging the rival fighters when they come in. We need to stay alive until 0600. Let's go."
"All units." Admiral Godo's voice sounded moments later. "Engage the enemy fleet."
Ragnar looked down and checked his own watch. It was still dark, so he had to press the illumination button. He did so, and the time was revealed.
0520 hours.
The youth exhaled, and then looked back up to their current status. He could see little. He was just walking in a single file through the inner workings of the Dome, much as he had been doing for the twenty minutes before now. They still didn't look like they were getting anywhere, but he trusted the judgment of the spies. Still, he wished they could get into a more well illuminated area. This darkness didn't appeal to him…
The man ahead of Ragnar ducked, and the general quickly had to do the same. He groaned as he once again went onto his hands and knees, and began to crawl forward. As he went on, there was even more grunting from Barret in the back, due to having to not only crawl, but drag the projector along with it. This was yet another time they found themselves having to squeeze their way through a narrow conduit. They had gone through several before now, as they wove their way through the maze of pipes, hatches, and other mechanical attributes. It was a hopeless black nightmare around him. Only the spies could get them through this, for he had no idea how he would ever find his way through here. Along the way, he would probably bounce into a dozen burning steam vents and pipes, and who knew how many times he would bang himself up. No wonder no one in Icicle Inn ever tried escaping through this. He doubted anyone could…
Ragnar had to keep his flashlight trained in front of him so he could move as the soldier before him did. It was the only way to avoid odd pipes from coming out and clipping him. Of course…crawling over them was even more of a hassle. He heard Cloud, the one behind him, grunt considerably as they went along. Aerith, behind him, also seemed to be having trouble. That was another thing he didn't like. He wanted her to be between him and Cloud…but evidently the ex-mercenary wanted to keep an eye on him again. Despite the good intentions, Ragnar hated it. He thought it was more treatment of him like he was a helpless kid. At any rate, Tifa had Aerith's back, so she was somewhat safe.
After another five minutes of crawling, the line of troops emerged again into an area where they could stand. And unlike last time, they didn't have to be hunched over. They were able to rise to their full height. Ragnar enjoyed this part, especially as the area around him widened. He let out a sound of relief as he walked forward. Now if only this could last a bit longer…he'd be a very happy man.
However, they only walked about fifty feet stopping. When Ragnar halted, he looked up ahead with some puzzlement. Were they there? He couldn't tell. Everything was still dark around him… However, from what he had heard, the glow of mako alone should have provided some illumination around here…
Moments later, however, the four spies from before brushed past him. On seeing this, he turned his head and looked out from the line to see what they were doing. Luckily, there were enough flashlights up front to get a feel for what was going on. Apparently, they had stopped next to one particularly large pipe that was making a right angle junction with the floor and their forward direction. Once the spies arrived, Wuu stepped out of the way and let them get to it. Immediately, they began to cut away at the surface.
"So what's this?" Ragnar called out in front.
Wuu turned and faced him. "This is our main entrance. It's going to be a bit hard to get in, but this is our way to the reactor. The rest of it is sealed under mako resistant shielding that can only be accessed through high security areas. However, this pipe is one that they use to pump in water quickly if the reactor overheats, and to carry off excess mako waste. The reactor is currently fully operational, and this line has never been used. Therefore, we can use it to get all the way to the reactor."
Despite that "good news", Ragnar found himself frowning and surpressing a groan. That pipe was barely big enough for him to stand up in a squat. That meant that they were all going to be compressed into a tiny space which they would have to crawl through, likely getting rather hot, cramped, and uncomfortable along the way. With their long swords, Cloud and him would have some of the hardest times. And yet, there was nothing for it. So he merely stewed over it mentally as the spies finished cutting through the pipe. This time, once they had cut the section out, they let it fall into the pipe, sliding down the vertical section of it. After that, they gestured to Wuu to help her get in first.
Getting in turned out to be tricky. They cut their way in at the elbow junction. That turned out to be the only way in, because further along the pipe was covered with more conduits, steel supports, and eventually the shielded wall. Yet because of this, anyone who went in had to straddle the vertical portion of the pipe to reach the horizontal portion. This was a bit difficult…and dangerous. Falling into the vertical portion would send one into a free fall that could terminate deep within one of the sub-basements of the Dome, which would mean being hopelessly lost at best or dead at worst. It took some precarious methods to get into it. Ragnar himself looked down, and saw nothing but an empty black oblivion that had a rather large echo when he went into the pipe. He felt a ripple of fear go through him when he practically vaulted through to the other side. But once in, he quickly had to slide down to make room for Cloud and then the others.
Ragnar soon hated being in this area. He was squished in on both sides by soldiers, and compressed like a sardine in a can by the pipe on either side. For now it was tolerable…but if they were going to be crawling down this thing for a while, he'd soon feel rather uncomfortable and stuffed. He hoped there weren't any claustrophobics among his group…
Initially, Ragnar spent a lot of time just waiting for the others to come in. Barret and Yo's cargo was the hardest. One had to get in, and they had to carry it over the break of the pipe and into it. Even so, the pipe was essentially filled by the cart. Yuffie was so nervous that she sent some vomit after the section of metal pipe that had been cut out before coming over. But at last, all were inside. The spies came in after them, and their group was once again whole.
"Alright." Wuu called, her voice echoing down the pipe. "We've got a little over thirty minutes left to complete this operation. We're going to have to crawl fast. Mind a few dips in the path. Those are spillway hatches."
Ragnar groaned at the thought of more trouble, and then bit down on his knees and began to crawl.
Bahamut stared out to the sea silently, balancing his head on one arm.
He was on the shore of the Eastern Continent, but far away from Midgar or any other human. He was perched on a great cliff that overlooked the vast ocean, watching as the sky slowly began to turn orange. Even his great eyes couldn't see more than a hint of what was now going on far away. The New Shinra Navy and the Planet Protector Army and Wutai Gold Navy were clashing. But despite what he was seeing there, and all the lives being lost and spirits returning to the Lifestream…he did not focus on that. He struggled to see beyond, all the way to the New Shinra HQ Dome. But could he…even he would not be able to look within it. He would not be able to see his student wandering ever closer to the jaws of death.
Bahamut had seen this scene play out before. The boy had told him it wasn't certain…but so far it was happening just as he had shown him. His warning had little effect on history. In just a matter of minutes…it would begin. It would stretch on for what seemed like an eternity to Bahamut, but in reality would be less than a half hour. Then would be the climax. Then would come…
The esper tightened his fist at the thought, and slowly exhaled.
He could sense him from here. His power was horrible…and filled with wickedness and evil. It was hard to believe that somewhere, deep inside that sea of shadow, was the faintest spark of light… But it would not help Ragnar now. Not today. He was skilled too. He must have known that someone could find him as Bahamut was trying to. And so he was blocking his thoughts…and he had enough power to resist even Great Bahamut's mental probes. Perhaps, had he been in his ZERO form, he wouldn't have had the strength. But he wasn't. He was weaker now. Of course…the notion was almost ridiculous to him. He was god-like in the amount of power he had as Neo Bahamut, and yet he found himself craving the hundred-fold power of Bahamut ZERO at this point in time. Perhaps it was fate for something stronger to always arise, that would require the power of light to be a bit stronger…
Yet this didn't matter either.
What truly mattered was what he would decide.
Bahamut slowly inhaled and exhaled. The truth was…he liked this boy. He liked him very much. Out of all the people on Gaia, he alone still knew of…respected…the world that Bahamut had come from. He was a human after his own heart. If given time, perhaps he would have created a world where espers and humans could have coexisted. But now was neither the right era nor age. The Age of Espers was over now, and there was no place for them any longer. Yet that didn't change the fact that Bahamut felt more for this boy than he had felt for any other pupil of his. He was truly the spirit of the Light Warriors of old, of the Dragoons…even of the Paladin.
Looking at him…he almost could feel the same youthful innocence and potential that Palad once had…the sort of purity and sense of right that had faded from much of mankind…or at least had been diminished by worldly cares and fears… He admired that…loved that…
However, this was no time for sentimentality. Ragnar knew that something was at stake here…but there were far greater things that neither he understood nor Bahamut fully understood. There was a critical balance to maintain…one that if tipped could destroy everything on this world just as the old age prior to espers had been destroyed…and could fix in its place a chaos and darkness worse than Griever, if such was possible… First and foremost…Bahamut was the servant of Gaia. He had been for countless generations. The world had already been through so much… He doubted that it could maintain its own "good side" through another catastrophe.
Bahamut had to remember that as he thought and planned, along with Ragnar and all other humanity, that something else was watching all of this with keen eyes. The Planet was taking in the ends of everything that was done without considering means or intentions. Those shaped its perception of the life forms that had come upon it. Right now, through an event that would happen shortly, the world stood on the threshold of a new age. It would be one of both wonder and fear…love and hate. And, sadly, it would likely start the cycles of old again…the cycles of mankind's hubris giving way to its evil, destroying everything it built, and then needing some force to calm things once again. And if the Planet saw this cycle happening again…it would act out in the most terrible way possible.
And so…that left the matter of the great question.
What was more valuable to him? A student? Or the future of this world?
Mack swerved his Phoenix sharply, narrowly missing a deck gun shot. However, a miss was still a miss, and his target lock was not interrupted. A moment later, he depressed the missile button, and sent a rocket flying toward the Harbinger he was tailing. It connected, and the gyro immediately exploded into a ball of debris and flame.
That was for Bismark 2 and 3. He mentally said as he swooped out to pick a new target.
The two fleets had engaged. Although the sun was still only slowly rising, the fires of destruction were already lighting up the morning. The sea below was filled with explosions and exchanges of gunfire as the two sets of destroyers pounded each other. Due to being outnumbered, the Wutai Gold Navy was forced to widen its range. It was able to compensate with more guns that were more accurate, but they were unable to make a major push on the line. As for the enemy destroyers, they were only slowly moving out to engage, forming a monolithic line as they did so. They were targeting most of their firepower on the edge ships of the Wutai Gold Navy…hopefully to shrink the line so they could come in and flank them on either side. Unfortunately…it looked like they were succeeding. In another hour they might pull it off. That pressed them even shorter for time.
Overhead, the dogfight between the two forces went on. Luckily, the Phoenixes were everything that had been promised and more. They couldn't make high speed pivots like the Harbingers, but they were far more durable and high speed. As for the Eagle Guns, they were an unexpected bogie, but were still inferior to the Phoenix design. For the most part, the air was being cleared of enemy units, and squadrons were able to break off to make attack runs on individual destroyers. They weren't prepared for their new craft, and were taking heavy damage from them. For now, they were holding.
As Mack maneuvered his fighter through a storm of flak and fire, he suddenly saw a large shape sweep past his vision. He turned his head to see it, and saw that it was a Gelinka. It had taken off from the Juggernaut, and it was making its way to conduct another bombing run on the Wutai Gold Navy. The commander grit his teeth, and began to spin his craft to follow after it…
But that was unnecessary. Suddenly…the Sierra swept down from out of the clouds and right into the Gelinka's path. A salvo of missiles later, and one of the wings was blown off of the plane in a fiery burst, sending it spiraling into a nosedive for the ocean. The Sierra only stopped to level off, and then rushed forward. As Mack saw it shoot by him, he saw six Phoenixes trail after it.
"Quit gawkin' and shoot, Phoenix Leader!" The gruff voice of Captain Cid went over the intercom after the near miss. "And Squadrons 33 and 34…cover me already! This is the big one!"
"Copy."
"Copy, Sierra."
Mack, despite the order, turned around his own Phoenix and watched. This was their main "secondary goal" after all. As he did so, he saw the Sierra suddenly make a beeline straight for the enemy fleet. Squadrons 33 and 34 quickly fell in at the sides, and each one of them began to open fire with both guns and missiles to create a "screen" ahead of them. All seven ships started to drop altitude…and headed straight for the Juggernaut.
The aircraft carrier was pounding away at whatever sparked its interest before now. However, on seeing Captain Cid coming for it with his associates, the guns stopped and began to reposition themselves. While they were still diving and picking up speed, they took aim and began to fire. The Squadrons and the Sierra immediately took evasive maneuvers, but it wasn't good enough. Two of the Phoenixes were lit up. After that, they managed to avoid them for a few moments. But then, the Juggernaut opened fire with its missile launchers. One of the guided missiles ignited a Phoenix. The other was about to hit the Sierra…when Squadron 33's leader suddenly shot forward in front of it. As Mack grit his teeth in helpless anger and frustration, he saw the Squadron Leader sacrifice himself to get the targeting of the missile to aim at him instead. It worked…
The Juggernaut began to intensify its power, but it wasn't enough. The Sierra was almost on it now, and was undershooting most of its firepower. The airship finally began to enter firing range, and the two remaining fighters broke off and flew away to the sides. Despite the loss of a screen and all of its shooting, the aircraft carrier couldn't stop the airship anymore. It sailed in the rest of the way, opened its bays, and sent a pair of the heavy drill missiles flying right at the port hull. The airship immediately veered off as the two weapons struck their target. Moments later, they vanished into a cloud of yellow sparks as their drill bits went to work.
Mack veered around his craft to set up for another attack run, but he also did so to get a better look at what was going to happen. In addition to him, however…many of the other squadrons, destroyers, and even the enemy destroyers paused as they saw this happen. Even the Juggernaut killed its guns for a moment and let the Sierra escape as the two rains of sparks went out around its side. This continued for a few fateful seconds more as this lull in the battle happened…and then, the missiles ignited.
Two tremendously powerful explosions erupted, with force so great that the massive aircraft carrier actually rocked from the blast. The nearest destroyers were pushed away. Whoever hadn't already ceased fire suddenly found themselves doing so as a sonic vibration struck every pilot and unit in either fleet. Mack himself was rattled painfully for a moment, as the Juggernaut slowly rocked, and two massive fireballs roared into the sky from its side. The nearest destroyer ran into one of its mates, causing some confusion and grinding of metal, as the echo slowly died down from the massive boom.
Mack blinked a few times as he looked to the ground. Either one of those missiles would have blown a destroyer to oblivion. It wasn't just the drill bit heads, but the sheer power… The commander kept looking and waiting, however, as it seemed did the rest of the fleets, waiting to see what the damage had been. At long last, the fires died, and the smoke began to clear enough to see through to the hull…
Even before Mack saw it, he heard the words ring in his ears.
"…Damnit to hell…"
As the last of the smoke faded…two dents were revealed at the side of the Juggernaut's hull.
Nothing else.
The pilot was honestly shocked. What kind of material was that thing made out of? Even if the drills hadn't been enough, they had to have caused enough friction for the heat of the blast to leave it melted. But the side didn't even look hot. Other than some scoring, there was no sign of a burn at all. The most they had done to the huge ship was cause the crew to get rocked around a little…
Now, the New Shinra Navy was coming back to life. The guns once more began to raise into position, and soon started to fire off again. The Eagle Guns and Harbingers went active once more, and soon began to pepper their enemy. In response, the Wutai Gold Navy and the Phoenix Squadron slowly came back to life and began to counter strike. The lull in the battle was over…and the New Shinra had something new to brag about.
Mack stared down at that ship as it resumed blowing destroyers out of the water and Phoenixes out of the sky. Under his breath, he cursed it more quietly as he knew Cid had to be doing more vocally. How were they ever going to beat this fleet once and for all if they couldn't take out the Juggernaut? Was there anything that would damage that beast? Did it have any weaknesses whatsoever? Or had the New Shinra really built an invincible ship?
The commander didn't know. With a sigh, he turned back to his own task at hand…doing as much damage as he could to the rest of the fleet for the next fifteen minutes.
I hope this isn't an omen for how Operation Hiccup is going to go.
0545 hours.
I hope this tunnel ends soon…for our sake as well as the navy's…
Ragnar thought this as he continued to half-crawl/half-squish his way through the pipe. It was a good thing the interior was smooth enough to slide along part of the way, but it was still a horribly tight fit and murder on one's knees. On top of all that, there were spillway hatches underneath them, making annoying dips and ridges they had to go over…ridges that were just deep enough for one to bang their patella on or stub their fingers on in the darkness of the tube. All except Wuu had turned off their flashlights at this point, because they couldn't carry them and crawl. The result left them in mostly cramped, closed darkness, bumping into each other and never telling when another dip was going to come. They had been crawling through it for some time now, barely making any headway it seemed. While they had, it had been getting progressively hotter and more uncomfortable. Ragnar was beginning to fear that if they were going to get out of this thing, that it would be too late…
However…just as he thought this, the person in front of him stopped moving. He ran into him a bit, of course, and Cloud in turn ran into him when he stopped. But after a bit of scuffling and roughhousing, they finally all began to come to a rest. The whole group settled down and turned to sitting positions in the pipe. Ragnar, once again the victim of bad luck, found himself sitting on the edge of a spillway, letting the ridge shove up against him. The only sound was panting from everyone.
The flicker of a flashlight went back to the group in the tunnel, and Wuu's voice soon went out.
"Alright everyone…we're right below it. Now keep this in mind. Once we're in here…we're in a full combat zone with no more secrecy. First thing we do is seal and cover the entrances. After that, we deploy the EMP Projector and fire it at the main reactor. Then we get the hell out of here before we have every member of the army down our throats. We only have about fifteen minutes, so let's get busy."
Ragnar began to hear some movement a moment later from further down on the end. Seconds later, something was thrust into his hand, with another one coming behind it. The indication was to pass it down. As this happened, Wuu went on.
"Alright, here's what's going to happen. We're passing the torches to the front. I and the other first three people will start cutting a section out. Now we can't move all the way down, so we're going to pass it back. Each person behind will cut the area over them, and then pass the torches back. It's very easy with these tools. Just aim it and press the trigger. Keep melting until you see some light, and then pass it on."
Understanding what was happening better, Ragnar passed his torches down the rest of the way. He was pretty close to the front himself, but he was stopped right before being one of the first four. As a result, he didn't get a torch initially. He was somewhat grateful. It allowed him to see it before he tried it. At any rate, once they had the torches, he soon saw four tongues of flame light up in the darkness, and begin to cut overhead.
It was a good thing the metal only dripped outside the tube. Otherwise, they'd be filling their own chamber with slag. At any rate, more light soon came as Ragnar saw glowing streaks made into the metal pipe over their heads and to their sides. It made it easy to see where to go. It was a bit rough between sections, but they managed to join up well. Soon, the entire first section was cut, and the torches were cut off. The tools were passed back, and Ragnar handed three behind him before he took the fourth. After that, it was his turn.
It was pretty easy. Nothing like spot welding, which he received the impression of being pretty hard. Of course, somehow, he thought that they weren't exactly following proper safety procedures with these things. Luckily, all of them weren't going to goof off with them as they cut. In no time at all, Ragnar had connected the line of the man in front of him to Cloud's line. After that, he merely had to swivel around and do the same on the opposite side. Soon, he began to see cracks of a sort of magenta-ish industrial light glowing. They were getting through. With this done, he cut his own torch and passed it back to the next four.
"Ready, kid?" Cloud asked.
Ragnar slowly exhaled, and cracked his neck a bit. "Ready as I'm going to be. I just hope that some sentry for the inner reactor isn't standing out there, watching us do this, and is waiting for us to come out before he unloads a machine gun into us."
"Don't be a pessimist." Aerith called back from further behind. "It's bad luck."
The next four person section was cut, and then another four person section after that. At last, the torches were passed to the final three spies at the end, who quickly began to cut through the rest. Ragnar raised his watch and looked to the time. Only ten minutes left before they were set to roll. He was glad that this wasn't taking so long…but that didn't change the fact that they had precious little time left. They had to move as soon as this pipe was open.
However, about two seconds after Ragnar began to ready himself…the thoughts of the pipe, the group, the mission, and everything else was a thousand miles away.
That was because the ground beneath him suddenly opened up…and he plunged into a vertical free fall.
Ragnar's stomach immediately rushed up into his throat, causing nausea to flow through him before he could even realize what was happening to him. Suddenly, the world around him had gotten dark again… But then he realized that it wasn't darkness…the world was falling around him. He was falling down. Seeing this, he snapped his head back up and looked overhead instinctively. Dimly far above him, he saw a faint circle of light that was rapidly shrinking. That was the entrance…and immediately he realized.
The spillway…it just opened beneath me.
I'm falling…
Ragnar snapped his head down and tried to make sense of what was happening as he continued to free fall. What was going on? Where was he going? Was this to some reservoir? Or a mako pit? Or to anything else that he didn't want to go into? At his rate of decent, and how long he was falling…he began to realize that any landing probably would make him go splat…
However, as if in response to that thought, the tube suddenly began to angle. He felt gravity starting to pull him against one side of the tube, and soon he found himself sliding down what appeared to be more of a slide than a drop. This made him more grateful. That meant he might not die when he landed… But it was still too fast, and it was making him sick… He had to do something.
With that in mind, Ragnar quickly reached for his sheath straps. He quickly found them and started to loosen them. Within moments, his sword and sheath were off, and he began to manipulate it…
Suddenly, Ragnar became aware of something. There was light up ahead. It was pale and yellow, but it was coming in fast. He turned his head down…and saw that it appeared to be coming from around the tube up ahead. He puzzled over what this was for a moment…before he suddenly went by it. To his surprise, he saw himself suddenly shoot through midair. He looked around in shock for a moment, seeing his body suddenly free of the tube and flying in space. His brain analyzed the situation as fast as it could…and realized that he was in a break in the tube, one that led to one of the sub levels. But he was powerless to react to it. He shot right through midair, down an angle…and right into the receiving end of another open tube that continued to bear him down deeper into the facility.
The youth blinked and looked above him, but that opening was quickly fading away as well. He was still falling. To that, Ragnar began to grow worried. This thing wasn't an infinite drop. And from what he remembered…mako waste was usually stored on the bottommost level of Shinra Inc. structures. He turned and looked in front of him…and sure enough, he began to see it. There was another break in the pipes ahead, this one surrounded by faint green light. But more distinctive…and definitely at the end of Ragnar's long trip, was a green termination…one that he reasoned had to drop right into a pit of mako…
He realized it was now or never. Quickly, he readied himself to act. He only had one shot at this. Ragnar slid down a bit farther…but then once again emerged into free space as he slid into the break in the pipe. Giving a cry, he threw out Ragnarok as he did, and then grasped the strap of the sheath for dear life. Moments later, he flew into the other tube, and began to slide down again…straight into the green substance…
Then, abruptly, a sharp jerk yanked at his arms, and they were snapped over his head. His grip was nearly broken as inertia continued to bear his body downward, but he held firm, grit his teeth, and let it pass. After a moment, it slackened, and his body came to rest. He was now dangling down the tube, his gloved hands grasping the end of his sheath.
Ragnar licked his lips once, and then slowly looked over him. The break in the pipe that he had just gone through was right overhead. Pried across the tube was Ragnarok. As he had fallen, it had gone out and braced itself against the sides of the tube end, stopping his descent abruptly. It held firm now, and he was dangling from the end of the sheath that was around it. The youth blinked once, and then turned and looked down beneath him.
He became conscious of a sizzling, hissing sound as he looked that way, and soon saw the source. Not more than five feet from where his feet were was the end of the pipe…and below that was a pale green, sizzling, simmering pit of mako waste. He could feel his skin tingle just from having its green glow shine on him. Falling into that pit would have probably have given him severe mako poisoning…if not given him a lethal mutation or outrightly seared the flesh from his bones. Needless to say…he was a bit more grateful for Ragnarok after that.
The youth slowly looked back up to his sword, and then began to precarious task of pulling himself back up along the strap. It took some work. He had to maintain constant force on his sword to keep from falling the rest of the way to his doom. Yet he finally got to the lip, and put his hand out and over the rim. Grasping it, he finally let his sword loose and fall to the ground of whatever floor he was on. Then he yanked himself up the rest of the way, over the edge, and onto the floor as well. He plopped out as he did so, and for a moment just sighed in relief and breathed.
Yet once he had regained his bearings, Ragnar slowly pushed up from the ground and began to get to his feet. He saw he was perched on some sort of industrial grating. It was thick and durable…but it also seemed to be over a trench filled with mako waste. As he pulled up his sword and began to reattach it behind him, he looked around his area to try and get a better feel for where he was.
The sounds of heavy reactor machinery filled this level. Most of it was black and full of shadows, yet the conduits, pipes, and other technical objects that coated the previous hall coated this as well. Things were a bit dirtier down here, but had he not known he had fallen so far, he would have almost guessed he was still on the main floor. There were no industrial lights here, but the mako pit itself produced a glow that was bright enough to illuminate everything in a green shine. Other than the machinery slowly working and a few steam hisses, not to mention the boiling substance below him, this area was silent.
Ragnar looked around a bit more, and then sighed. Terrific. So much for the spillways not opening up. Now he was stuck again in the bowels of this infernal fortress. He was even lower than he had been when he started this whole mess… And without a map, it was going to take him forever to find his way out again. Forget returning to the group…getting out of here and getting to the Gelinka would be a big enough challenge. He started to look around the room a bit, trying to find some indication of some way he had to go…
"…Hello, Ragnar."
The instant those words struck Ragnar's ears…the blood in his veins seemed to cease to flow. He had thought it had been terrible on the radio…but he was wrong. In real life…it was as cold, calm, and subtle as death itself. For a brief moment…fear consumed him. His heart seemed to shrink in his chest, and refused to beat…as if doing so would let the one who spoke know where it was.
But then…Ragnar remembered his men…Cloud…Aerith…all those who had suffered…
When that happened, his eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. Very slowly, he turned his head behind him, and turned the rest of his body slowly around behind it.
There he was.
Standing tall and dark behind him…some twenty feet away. Ragnar had looked that way a moment ago, and hadn't even heard him approach. But now he was there…and he was even more powerful-looking and dark than Cloud had described in his most vivid stories. But it had to be him… That silver hair…that black coat…those eyes…
Those…eyes.
Ragnar turned his body fully around, and aimed it directly at him. He said nothing. He let the look in his narrowed, angry eyes say everything he had to say to this man.
On his part…the dark man merely smiled back at him, not saying anything else.
The youth stared a moment longer…but then suddenly snapped behind him. In a flash, he drew Ragnarok and wielded it in front of him. Its metal began to blaze like a flame in the pale green light of the mako waste, and seemed to blaze more brightly than it had ever done before.
"You wish to fight me…" Sephiroth slowly murmured, as if he was considering this fact rather than asking Ragnar to confirm it. "Why? What have I done to you, Ragnar?"
"You hurt my friends. You killed my troops. You murdered Aerith. You tried to destroy the world I love." Ragnar answered back, nearly biting in his answers. "That's more than enough reason to want to kill you for me."
Sephiroth, however, merely narrowed his eyes, and let out a slow chuckle.
"Simple little boy…" He said as he gazed at him. "You have no idea, do you?"
Ragnar, despite his anger, paused at this. One of his eyebrows raised. "What?"
"You have no idea who you are, or what your purpose is." Sephiroth calmly answered. "You are blindly bumbling ahead, wandering on and off your path at random. You know nothing. You're just a foolish child."
The youth tightened his grip at this, and sneered.
"That crap's not going to work on me, Sephiroth. I know I'm not a clone of you. I don't have any repressed memories. You can't control me like you did Cloud."
The dark man merely laughed again.
"Cloud…" He slowly answered. "He thought I was lying to him before too. Can't you learn a lesson from him? Don't you have any idea who he is? Or are you blind to that as well?"
"Shut up!" Ragnar spat back. "I'm not going to listen to your crap, so stop babbling!"
Sephiroth closed his eyes at this, and let out one last chuckle. After a moment, he opened them again, and focused them again on the youth.
"Very well." He slowly answered. "If you would prefer to die both ignorant and weak, then I will not hinder you. What a pity. For a creature to die never knowing why it exists. However…there is a way out of this, Ragnar…an easier way."
Saying that…Sephiroth reached into his long black coat. He grasped something…and slowly began to draw it out. Ragnar watched, and saw that it was the Masamune. He didn't know how he had concealed it in there before, but now it seemed to materialize from some dark world in his cloak and into his hand. Once it was out, he slowly twisted his body to one side, and raised the weapon up to his head, getting into his own unique battle stance as he aimed the point at the youth.
"Just beg me for death." The dark man continued. "Then perhaps I'll grant you a painless one."
Ragnar grit his teeth tighter…and then took off for him.
To be continued...