Hai everybody! I hope you are feeling a little better than me, who is sporting a huge headache after so much proof reading (and I probably still missed bits u_u; for this I am very sorry, but three readthroughs later my brain is all mushy) But...a new chapter is here for you to sink your teeth into. Im also getting a little worried, my reviews keep vanishing in chunks and then reappearing D: making me panic!

My usual thanks to my readers, regular and new. And much hugs and love for my reviewers, who rock very very much :)

Sephiroth and all original final fantasy VII names and places are copyright to Square Enix! And this is a work of fandom, not for profit. I do however own Meia, Renji and the other odd OC that may crop up.

Chapter 29

"Lazard here…who is this?"

Sir! I'm sorry about the late hour…

"Meia?...what…what's going on? Is everything all right?"

No Sir, it's not. I don't have a lot of time…the mission has become far more serious. There is an enemy base on this island and Callo has been captured-

"Captured? How?"

The enemy has some kind of anti-SOLDIER tranquilizers Sir, they shot him with one and he was out cold in an instant…

"That's impossible…what's your situation?"

Not great, Sir, we managed to escape and infiltrate the facility to send this message. The jamming signal is coming from the Wutai, Sir; it's not a natural phenomenon… we…

"Meia…? …Meia!"

…false alarm, sorry. What are our orders, Sir?

"Can you disable the jamming frequency?"

No Sir, I've been trying but the code…it's complex and in Wutain…I won't be able to figure it out in time…

"I see. I'll send reinforcements, Meia, but you're going to have to sit tight until they can get there, understand?"

Yes Sir, understood. We'll use the time to gather all the intel we can…

"Please be careful, Meia, don't take any unnecessary risks"

Understood. Meia out-

All eyes were on the digital Dictaphone in Lazard's hand as he ended the recording and turned to the portly man sitting at the head of the grand conference table,

"We received that transmission approximately forty minutes ago, Mr President. We need to get our forces to that island and retrieve our SOLDIER's"

Lazard had wasted no time in contacting the president after Meia's transmission. Now, nearly every department head had assembled in the conference room, despite the late hour. President Shinra was notably alarmed with the situation; He'd already questioned everyone as to why the island base wasn't discovered sooner. The man wasn't happy…All of the executives sat in silence, listening to the company head drumming his chunky fingers on the table before him. Eventually he sucked in an enormous breath through his nose,

"It's not the SOLDIER's I'm worried about, it's the enemy" He stated in an arrogant tone.

Lazard clenched his jaw, "With the greatest of respect, Sir, those SOLDIER's are you're fighting elite and are gathering valuable intelligence right now. They need to be saved as well as the Wutai being stopped" He said steadily. The president took his time surveying everyone in the room before standing up,

"Where is Sephiroth?"

"On his way back from the Wutain continent Sir"

"Send him in"

"But Sir" Rufus Shinra spoke up beside his father, "Is that necessary? Anything Sephiroth is involved in automatically gets a lot of media attention…do we really want this…slip up, getting out?"

"Then we don't broadcast any of it. Send him in, he can be picked up by a chopper in Costa del sol and dropped as close as possible. It won't take him long to swim the distance…"

"But father…"

"That's my last word! Send in Sephiroth! Order him to destroy everything, I want no evidence left!"

Lazard sighed, "Yes, Mr President"

By now, Meia had lead her small resistance group along the patrol path their unfortunate victims had trod and were now back out of the base, away from earshot,

"I have no idea when the next guard change is going to be" She began in a hushed voice, "But I'm going to assume a minimum of four hours, which doesn't give us a lot of time"

"Is Shinra sending reinforcements?" Renji asked quietly.

"Yes, but we have no way of knowing when they will arrive so…" She stopped and looked at him, "We have to survive until then" She finished with a slight smile.

"I doubt that will be a problem, Miss ex-Turk" Zack commented with a small laugh, "I think most SOLDIER's would have just rushed in and tried to destroy everything back there"

Meia crossed her arms and looked at the stars through the thick canvas of leaves above them, "let's be honest, that's not the best strategy" She replied with a sigh, "Only one man could accomplish such a thing and emerge alive. We on the other hand are heavily outnumbered and" Meia's hand drifted to the tranquilizer gun at her hip, "Potentially outgunned…"

The other two SOLDIER's beheld the weapon in the gloom stoically. The thought of a weapon being able to take down one of the largest SOLDIER's they had in just one shot was frankly frightening. Suddenly, all three of them weren't as invulnerable as they once thought.

They set off again, heading back once more into the main base. Meia warned that it was only a matter of time before the bodies at the tower were discovered. They could be found at any moment. Luckily, as they approached the main camp, there was no sign of alarm and they continued carefully. No one stopped them or even raised a hand in greeting; the mood amongst the enemy soldier's was very subdued, almost morose.

Meia led them further back; she was heading to the man-made cave carved from the rear of the quarry. She wanted to find out why there were suspicious people in bio suits and lab coats seen there earlier in the day. Now, in the early hours of the morning, the activity was minimal, as it was for the rest of the base. Meia led them in confidently, not wanting to arouse suspicion by appearing hesitant. As they progressed deeper, the cold light from the clear night sky was replaced by artificial lighting in yellows and reds. The whole interior was beginning to look very familiar; pipes and cables ran along the ceilings, walls and floors. Everywhere they looked, signs warning of chemical and biological hazards were displayed. Eventually, the long wide corridor was intersected by another, narrower one and beyond the intersection; doors to other areas became visible.

They were quite deep in by now and Meia found herself wondering how far back this cave reached. This wasn't done in a short amount of time, the Wutai were probably present on the island way before Shinra discovered it. As they passed the doors, windows were also installed and they peered inside. Most of the rooms were very dark, but what they could make out was slightly disturbing; large instruments, what looked like beds and surgical trays. Meia began to feel queasy all of a sudden…the bio suits, the coats…the rooms. She drew her comrades up quietly and glanced around. Aside from the odd few people in white coats, they hadn't met anyone else and at the moment, they were alone. She reached down and tested one of the doors which astonishingly was unlocked. Carefully they stepped inside, clicking the latch shut behind them. They stuck to the shadows and let their eyes adjust. Slowly, Meia's fears were confirmed; it was looking all too much like one of Hojo's labs. Mercifully it was clean but it was still disturbing. Renji stepped away slightly and appeared to be trying to take the sight in,

"Why is this here, Meia? What's going on…" He asked in a timid voice; this mission appeared to be proving too much for the green rookie, but Meia was still impressed with his cool head. She placed a hand on his arm gently in an effort to reassure him,

"I don't know, Renji, but I'm sure we'll find out" She whispered gently. Renji smiled at her but it quickly faded as the sound of raised, slightly panicked, voices met their ears. Quickly all three of them ducked and in the next instant, they saw what was causing it.

Outside the room in the eerie corridor, a group of figures moved into view of the window. Two people in thick, grimy, bio suits were carrying a heavily struggling figure between them. The captive was howling and screaming, horrid bloodcurdling sounds that chilled all three SOLDIER's to the bone as they crouched in the darkness and watched. The people in the suits were having trouble holding their captive down; they struggled to carry it into the lab opposite the room concealing the crouched SOLDIER's. When they had, what appeared to be two scientists followed after them and closed the door.

The three comrades didn't dare to move for several minutes, but there was no more sign of activity so Meia allowed herself to relax. She could feel Zack getting twitchy next to her,

"Are you alright, Zack?" She asked in as hushed a tone as she could manage. He simply nodded and looked back towards the other lab. Meia took a quiet breath,

"We can't go anywhere until that lab is empty again" She carried on quietly, "So we need to stay put and stay calm, Zack…" Meia knew Zack got restless on missions and she hoped he could contain himself a little while longer. But both men acknowledged her and they waited, surrounded by the gloom and sterility of the enemy's lab.

It was well over an hour later now; whatever business was being conducted in the room across the corridor was finally concluded. They watched as the scientists emerged, both appearing to be talking in frustrated tones before heading away again, deeper into the facility. A moment later, the figures in the bio suits appeared, this time wheeling a table between them. Meia supressed a gasp as she beheld the dark form that lay upon it.

A body bag.

Presumably containing the struggling victim only now…it was completely still. She swallowed as Renji caught her attention,

"That's what we saw in the cave" He hissed quietly, "They are just dumping the bodies in there? Why not burn them or something?"

"Burning would create smoke, which someone would spot. It's probably more convenient to just throw them in the water and be done with it" Meia replied after a moment's thought.

Meia gave it a good few minutes to make sure no one was coming back before they crept out the lab and continued their infiltration. Now, the further in they went, the more people they saw. All scientists who thankfully ignored them, but it was making the trio uneasy. Meia hoped they could keep their cool long enough to see this through. But after a while, she noticed something that was very familiar to her; a mako haze. It's not possible, how could the enemy have their own reactor? Only Shinra had the power and money to construct such a thing, plus the technical know-how. But Meia reminded herself, they were using Clydia's reactor. It wasn't too much of a stretch to imagine the enemy figuring out how to build one. Still, it would take a very intelligent individual to build their own simply from scavenging blueprints…

Meia brought the group to a halt; up ahead the wide main corridor began to slope downwards and quite a large gathering of scientists and even a few soldier's had amassed. She had no desire to lead her men through them. There was a side corridor up ahead so they quickly and smoothly turned down it. It was curved and appeared to be taking them to the same destination as the main corridor, though it didn't slope. The haze got thicker and they marched on until the source became apparent. Meia signalled her comrades to stay in the corridor while she stepped out onto a narrow walkway, following the curve of a cavern wall and suspended over a lower floor. And one half of the lower floor was a lifestream pool. Meia swallowed as she beheld it; her and green pools didn't mix well, but when she looked around properly, the liquid became the least of her worries.

It seemed this was the end of the line, a large cavern hollowed from the rock. Opposite her, suspended on walls and walkways were pods, not unlike the ones she saw in Clydia's reactor. Below her was the larger main floor, taking up half of the cavern space, and appeared to contain yet more equipment and a small reactor core. Various pipes were supplying the pods with power and green ichor flowing from the pool below them. From this distance, she couldn't see exactly what was occupying the pods but they appeared to be human. Meia's mind was a blur. Yet more evidence of experiments involving human beings, and more evidence suggesting Shinra was somehow involved. She gazed at the small, makeshift reactor core; maybe she was wrong, though, maybe they weren't involved. Maybe it was all the work of the Wutai, constructed from whatever they could steal. She bit her lip; she needed a closer look at the pods. Currently there was no one below her in the cavern itself, though she was well aware of the group in the main corridor.

Meia carefully walked back to her two companions,

"There is a reactor core in there…as well as something else I want a closer look at. Stay here and watch my back while I go down and check it out"

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Meia?" Zack asked straight away, "If we're discovered down here we are in trouble, there is only one way out"

Meia knew this, however they may not get another chance to inspect the site and any information would help Shinra, "I know Zack, it's a risk but I need to know what's going on here"

Her two comrades looked at each other before nodding, "We trust you Meia, we'll watch your back" Renji stated simply. Meia nodded and together they moved out onto the walkway.

Meia checked one last time before climbing gracefully over the guardrail and dropping silently to the floor below. Ever cautious, she crept forwards towards the pods. She didn't see it at first, but as she got closer her blood ran cold. A fair few of the figures inside them wore SOLDIER uniforms. Thirds, seconds…and one First. Callo…She couldn't believe it, why would the enemy be experimenting on SOLDIER members? She was under the impression the extent of the Wutain offensive was military. But what she saw here suggested otherwise…

Before she could contemplate the situation any further, her sharp hearing detected footsteps approaching. She looked around quickly; they were descending from the main corridor behind her and she didn't have time to dash back up to her concealed comrades. Quickly Meia found cover out of the way and hid herself, just before two figures emerged into the cavern…

"….t understand why we are doing this"

"It's simple; we need a force comparable to SOLDIER to fight Shinra"

"But what we are doing here is inhumane, Fuhito, can't you see?"

"All I see is a wealth of untapped knowledge waiting for me to discover"

"But all your experiments are dying, you lost three today and the Shinra are beginning to suspect. They want to know where their elite fighting force are all disappearing too…"

"Are they now…

"AVALANCHE doesn't need any super soldiers; we are strong enough on our own…"

"I think not, the tranquilizers aren't enough…we need to be able to best them in combat without relying on them"

"…very well, Fuhito, but I warn you; they suspect. If we're not careful our whole operation could be blown…"

"I doubt he would allow that to happen…"

Meia listened to the figures conversation with her heart beating in her ears; AVALANCHE…she recalled the same word scrawled on a piece of paper in the Clydia reactor, along with the words imperial swords. Were they…the same? Her mind was yet again a blur; an organised terrorist group was trying to make a force that could combat SOLDIER. Make…like creatures in a clone shop…was that even possible?

The sound of footsteps approaching her position snapped her round. The two figures continued conversing, though the male was steadily getting closer to where she was hiding. Meia risked a glance at Zack and Renji, who she could just see on the walkway. They looked alarmed, she didn't blame them…

"And what of the three intruders that we didn't manage to catch?"

"Still nowhere to be found, they haven't tried escaping back out the underwater cave either"

"I'm very interested in the woman, our guards reported she was quite the athlete…and she dodged all the tranquilizers fired at her with ease…the First class we captured isn't proving very interesting at all, I also believe his mind to be somewhat…addled…"

Meia held her breath as the man trailed off, sounding very close now. The other person, a female, started to speak but was hushed by her companion…

"What do we have here? Why are you crouched and hiding, soldier?"

Shit! Meia rose carefully, her back turned to the man, she didn't have a clue what to say and her heart was still hammering away…

"I'm sorry sir…it appears I was caught napping on the job" Meia forced her voice to remain calm as she addressed him. The man made a sound of musing,

"Turn around, I don't recall there being any female commanders on site with us…"

Meia turned, but knew full well she was busted. The man addressing her was fairly short with chestnut coloured hair swept back from his face. He beheld her with spectacled eyes and frowned,

"You seem…familiar somehow, why don't you take off your hat and goggles for me, hmm?"

Meia swallowed and glanced past him at the female. She was gazing at her with a blank expression, Meia could tell she was important due to her altered uniform but she made no move to assist her friend,

"Didn't you hear me?" The man repeated, "Take them off, please"

Meia reached up to her head but before she could do as the man requested, his female companion received a transmission on her radio;

Ma'am! Our guards at the tower…they've been killed! And we found four more dead outside the perimeter

The man cocked an eyebrow, "It would appear our intruders have caused some…damage" He took a step towards Meia, who took one back…the game was up. The woman finished her communication and started towards her also, drawing her weapon; a chunky katana. She marched right up to Meia before she could react, ripping the hat and goggles from her head,

"I don't recognise you" She hissed, "Identify yourself"

Meia paused a moment, before lifting her gaze to meet the woman's eyes, "LeSait…SOLDIER second class…"

A look of shock appeared on the woman's face as straight away Meia head-butted the male, knocking him clean out,

"Fuhito!" She took a step back and ducked, dodging a punch thrown at her by Meia, who was on the offensive again. However when the woman recovered and began to fight back, Meia noticed she wasn't like the others. She was fast and very strong; managing to block Meia's attacks solidly and throw back some of her own…she certainly wasn't normal to be able to combat a SOLDIER…

By now Zack and Renji had leapt down to assist their commander and together they managed to overpower the woman, Meia finally connecting a punch that sent her reeling,

"We need to get out of here, go you two" She stated quickly, "While you still have your cover intact"

"We're not leaving you again, Meia!" Zack hissed. She rounded on him with fierce eyes,

"Go, now! I'm ordering you too" She commanded, gesturing toward the corridor, "…I'll be right behind"

Reluctantly the two men turned and ran out of the cavern as Meia turned back to the woman,

"What has AVALANCHE got to do with the imperial swords, answer me!" Meia demanded. The woman picked herself up gingerly and held a hand to her head,

"The imperial swords…were Fuhito's…" She began slowly, but stopped, "I'm not telling you any more than that…"

Meia growled and nailed the woman with another vicious punch, sending her sprawling on the floor again. Meia picked her up by the front of her jacket,

"Tell me…" She said again, her voice low and dangerous. Her training as a Turk had resurfaced… The woman simply stared and beheld her,

"You better run…by now the alarm has been raised…and your friends fleeing to escape will look very suspicious" She croaked. Meia's eyebrows tightened in fury as sirens began to sound and she dropped the woman, fully intending to kill her. But something stopped her as she reached for her tanto…the woman's eyes were gazing defiantly at her. This woman was important, she may be the only one who knows about the connection between the two groups…and she was no use dead. Meia pressed her lips together and made her decision, quickly bringing up the tranquilizer gun and aiming it at her,

"Don't take this the wrong way; I need answers…but it's clear I'm not getting them today" Meia informed her, before firing off a round and knocking her out. The gun was empty now and Meia discarded it before heading out the cavern, glancing back at the captured form of Callo. There wasn't time to rescue him now and she fled the same way she'd sent Zack and Renji.

As with before, Meia's enhanced physique caught up to her friends quickly, who were almost out of the cave. But as they approached the mouth, they saw the enemy were clearly looking for them. And what was worse, a guard had spotted them running. He raised a cry and before they knew it, the mouth of the cave was being surrounded. They had seconds to move and together they tore through the enemy lines, knocking a few back from shear shock, and continued running for their lives. They headed for the slopes that would take them out the quarry and back up to the cliff tops; so far they appeared able to outrun the enemy and Meia dared to feel optimistic once more. But her ears picked up the sound of a dart being fired and she looked up. The shot was fired from a group in front of them, and it was aimed right at Renji…

The shot flew through the air; it appeared to be happening in slow motion for Meia. She saw every inch of distance it covered as it headed for Renji's chest and with a surge; she grabbed him around his waist and spun round, shielding her friend from the incoming dart. Zack flew on ahead and with a yell, attacked the enemy with all his might, the speed of the man clearly catching the troops off guard. They fell off the slope into the camp below and Meia watched as more soldiers rushed to catch up with them, swarming up the side of the quarry. Zack stopped and stared at the dart sticking out of Meia's back but she hissed for him to keep going, throwing Renji ahead of her once again. She didn't know how long she had, but she was determined to defy it to the end. Eventually they reached the top of the slope and the heavy forest that lay beyond it; at least Zack and Renji would make it.

Meia gasped as another dart flew into her, clearly fired at Zack but she had moved in the enemy's line of sight, completely by accident. She looked down at it sticking out her side, noting the looks of distress given by her comrades,

"Go you two, quickly. Get back to camp" She commanded quickly, "I'll try and lead some of them in the wrong direction…don't even try to tell me not too!" She hissed before they had a chance to speak. They nodded, their expressions grim, and disappeared into the trees. Meia gritted her teeth and took off in the opposite direction, praying she had enough time to give her friends a head start.

Zack and Renji ran until their lungs were on fire. Then they ran some more, taking a non-linear path to their camp. Before both men collapsed they slowed down, confident they were out of any immediate danger. Then they began to cover their tracks as Meia had shown them earlier. The sun was beginning to show itself by the time they were back at their own camp, having concealed it so well they had trouble finding it.

Renji sat down on a fallen tree and hung his head,

"Do you think they got Meia?" He said solemnly. Zack stopped what he was doing and stood up,

"Probably…she had two of those things sticking in her…" He answered quietly, his voice stripped of all his usual joviality. Renji yanked off his stolen headgear and ran a hand through his dirty blond hair,

"She took them for us, Zack…they were aimed at us…" He said quietly, "she saved us…"

Zack turned to face his comrade, "Yea…she did, so we should make damn sure we get her back safely" He stated, punching his fist into his palm. Renji nodded and stood.

The two men sat in camp and waited until around noon to start formulating their own plan, each taking it in turns to rest while the other kept watch. As they sat, drawing lines in the dirt, a distant rustling of leaves caught their attention. They hid themselves quickly; neither of them could fathom how the Wutai had found them, they were certain they'd covered their tracks well enough. As they crouched in the trees, the rustling became louder and the sound of gentle panting met their ears. Finally a figure ran beneath them into their camp. A lone figure…

"Meia!" Zack's yell verged on a squeak as he hurried out of his tree to the ground to join her, Renji following close behind.

Meia breathed a sigh of relief, for a moment she thought her friends hadn't made it and she welcomed them with a smile,

"We thought…the tranqs…I don't understand, Meia" Renji babbled, clearly relived to see her back.

"I don't understand either, but they had no effect on me"

"None at all?" Zack stared at her as she shook her head, "That's amazing! I wonder why…"

"Me too, but if I'm immune…" She took a deep breath and faced them both, "I'm going back for Callo"

Any elation that was present in Zack and Renji's faces drained straight away, and they simply stood and stared at her. Meia pursed her lips and turned away, crossing her arms as she did so. She had no idea why the massive dose of tranquilizers hadn't put her out. She was the same as Callo, a SOLDIER, so why? Was it the lifestream exposure? Or something else. So far, all she had discovered on this island was question after question and without her usual muse to bounce ideas off of; she was beginning to get frustrated.

Zack cleared his throat behind her, "Meia…we should just wait for the reinforcements, we can rescue Callo then"

Meia shook her head, "If I know what Shinra is like Zack, we won't get that chance" She stated simply, "I'm going back while I still have time. Maybe I can capture the scientist and that woman as well"

"Meia please…" Renji stepped closer and she turned again, a gentle smile on her face,

"I appreciate your concern, but I'll be fine" She reassured them. Zack sighed, placing his hands on his hips and shaking his head,

"At least let us help"

"No, I can't risk taking you in there too…"

Zack looked up and grinned, "Who said anything about going in with you?" He stated a twinkle in his eye. Meia arched a slender eyebrow,

"What did you have in mind…"

Evening on the second day was fast approaching now, the sky beginning its cycle through the warm colours that heralded dusk. But deep in the cave where the Wutain scientist sat, pouring over his laptop, he could see none of it. He was looking over report after report, some over twenty years old, with a deep frown upon his face…

"I thought she looked familiar…" He muttered to himself. He brought a hand up to the sore lump forming on his forehead while jotting down some notes in a small pad. He continued for a while longer, recalling files, making notes and talking to himself, until he was loudly interrupted,

"Fuhito…we have a serious problem" The same female Meia had shot in the cavern stated, bursting through the door to the scientists small office. The man named Fuhito sighed heavily and adjusted his glasses,

"Elfé…must you be so loud? I'm trying to work here…what could possibly-"

"We need to get off this island, now…Shinra has sent Him and if we don't go now, we're all dead…"

Fuhito made a sound that suggested this piece of news was a massive inconvenience, "How long do we have?"

"Hours, minutes…seconds, who knows? We have to go Fuhito!" Elfé insisted, stepping closer to her colleagues back, "Your experiments are going to have to stay here"

Fuhito twisted his chair to look at her, "Are you mad? They represent months of work!"

"Months of work that would have been for nothing if we don't survive. Leave them, destroy them. Dispose of them, that's an order…" Elfé turned to leave, "We go now"

Meia crouched behind the cover of thick vegetation and scattering of rocks, awaiting her signal. At Zack and Renji's insistence, she had allowed them to plan a diversion. A loud, chaotic diversion in true Zack style, or so he claimed. She hoped they could look after themselves, but Meia quickly chastised herself; they were SOLDIER's too. She should stop worrying and have more faith in them. She focused on her own task, infiltration. A few minutes later, the sun beginning it's descent to the horizon, the diversion happened right on cue. Meia couldn't help but grin as an enormous explosion rocked the opposite side of the vast quarry, sending up plumes of coloured smoke from the cliff and rocks flying into the pit below. Materia bombs, nice and flashy.

She took a steadying breath and peered over the boulders she was hiding behind. As predicted, the enemy was in turmoil but her eyebrows tightened in concern; it appeared a large group of them were trying to leave. She stood and watched as small helicopters were fired up and personnel, military and scientific alike, rushed to haul gear and supplies into them. This wasn't right, surly they weren't that spooked by three SOLDIER's to warrant fleeing entirely? Unless…Meia remembered the reinforcements. But the Wutai had no way of knowing when they would arrive.

She pushed her doubts and questions to the back of her mind and began her descent into the quarry, still clothed in the uniform of the enemy. No sooner had she set foot on the rocky slope that lead down into the pit, she saw the scientist and the woman emerge from the cavern, clearly in a hurry to leave. Meia pushed harder and cursed under her breath; the likelihood of stopping and capturing them had become remote. Despite her speed they were already boarding their chopper, the pilot wasting no time in getting airborne. By the time she had reached the base of the slope, several more helicopters were already in the air and preparing to pull away. Much to Meia's frustration. Still, there was Callo to rescue.

While she was still looking skyward at the rapidly escaping enemy, an enormous cry went up from the troops on the ground. She watched as the enemy soldiers all formed up and appeared to focus on the back of the quarry, opposite the cavern. Meia by now was at a loss to understand what was happening, her only conclusion was the reinforcements had arrived and the enemy's advanced watch had spotted them. But when she turned to the back of the quarry, suddenly the enemy's behavior made perfect sense…

He stepped up to the very edge of the cliff and observed the scene in front of him. The Wutai had been busy…Next he looked up and noted quite a few helicopters in the air, only one of which was currently out of his range. He smirked; if they thought they were safe, they had another thought coming. His keen eyes drifted down again as seemingly all the remaining troops were intending to stop him. Or stall him while the helicopters got away…He snorted softly to himself, It will take more than that to stall me…

Still, he would need to be on higher ground to reach them, so quickly he sighted the highest point – the top of the communications tower – and used his superior speed and agility to get there.

Meia watched in awe as Sephiroth seemed to vanish from the cliff top, only to reappear running across the quarry floor. His speed was unbelievable, Meia realised she'd never seen him in full swing before, not up close. Clearly his first target was the helicopters. None of the enemy troops could even aim at him, he was probably moving too fast for them to even track. She watched as he reached the communications tower and leapt onto the main deck, before performing another massive leap onto the metal ladder that was in place to allow access to the crow's nest. He scaled it in no time at all and once he was up there, swiftly cut the dish at the top from its moorings on the tower, sending it crashing to the ground below, effectively cutting off the enemies' communications. As well as their jamming signal. Now he had a clear line of sight to his target, but Meia didn't understand how he would reach them…

Sephiroth quickly assessed his prey; three he could take in one swing, the fourth he would need to get closer too and the fifth was too far away now. He stretched his left arm out, the beautiful steel extension held in his hand gleaming, ready to strike. In one massive stroke he swung it with all his force, sending out a shock wave that cut through the three closest helicopters with ease. In an instant, he spotted an opening to use the burning debris as a platform and wasted no time. He seemed to move on air, the distance closed in a split second, and from the burning metal sent forth another wave that felled the fourth and final chopper, sending it spiraling to the forest below. His eyes narrowed as he began to free fall, watching the fifth chopper get away. They knew he was coming, they had too…but the question was, how? He turned in mid-air and averted his gaze…

Now for the insects on the ground…

Sephiroth calmly spread his arms and legs to slow his fall, before tucking up and landing perfectly on his feet. He noted the cavern behind him but the bulk of the enemy were in front; most were aiming strange firearms at him, only the odd few choosing to stick to traditional guns. Maybe those were the weapons Lazard had warned him of? Still, he had a hard time believing any drug could fell him. He had an even harder time believing any of them would be able to land a shot…Sephiroth's usual smirk appeared on his lips as he squared up and began to stride forwards. Straight away tranquilizer darts were fired at him, only to bounce off the barrier he had erected to protect himself. His feet crushed and smashed the darts as he strode ever forwards, ever confident. They tried their traditional guns but again, it was no use. There was nothing any of them could do to stop Sephiroth. Finally, the realisation dawning, they began to take flight and run for their lives. It would help none of them…

Meia watched, at first in awe as usual but then a feeling of terror and horror crushed her. Sephiroth leapt into the enemy like a wolf amongst a pack of sheep. Blood flew like water, arcing and spilling from his every stroke. Every singly enemy soldier fell in a bloodied, mutilated mess, the fearsome Masamune slicing through them like they were nothing. Meia usually wasn't squeamish; usually she was able to behold the most terrible of things without flinching. But this was different. This was the man she called her friend. The man she had shared a loving kiss with not three weeks past. Except now he was the man who had sent himself to kill her, to test her. The man Hojo had forced her to fight when she was still inexperienced. This man was terrifying.

She crouched, motionless, and tried to reason with herself. She knew what Sephiroth was. She knew he was fearsome, she knew he was deadly. But seeing him in action was an onslaught her senses couldn't work through. All her logic was overshadowed by her fear; she'd seen him destroy two enemy vehicles at Howl's summit a year ago, but the sight of him carving normal, human flesh was something else. Something much more terrifying. Especially as she could see his face, his body language. As he was now, it was easy to read. The customized suit he wore, black with silver armor plates on his shoulders and arms, hid none of his aggression, his pride.

And what's more, she knew he wasn't holding back. He wasn't hiding himself because he didn't know she was watching. She took some comfort in this. At least he tried to protect her, to shield her from his true nature, but now she'd seen it. And she couldn't tear her eyes from his pale face, tilted up to the heavens, wearing a satisfied expression as the enemy lay dead at his feet.

She took a deep breath and stood slowly, noting his eyes open as he sensed the presence of another being. But then her blood ran cold and it felt like she'd been punched in the heart; she was still dressed as the enemy…and now those fierce green eyes had narrowed and fixed on her position…

O_O Nooo, Seph, down boy!

Next chapter - With Sephiroth's adrenaline still pumping through his veins, will Meia be able to stop him before he cuts her down?

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