Rex Arinthone sat in his office, wiping the drying blood from his strong knuckles. He didn't feel good about what he had just done to the rebel prisoner in the other room, he felt great about it. The satisfied smirk on his face wouldn't go away as he ran the once-white cloth back and forth over his hands, painting the rag a dark red. He had put the rebel dog in his place - taught him a lesson that would soon echo through the entire resistance. If you messed with Shinra, you would pay.

His office, which should have been cleaned out by now if it hadn't been for his recent revoke on his retirement plan, was one big contradiction to the man himself. Rex was strong and fierce, a cunning general on the battlefield and a dangerous player in the game of war. His voice wasn't so much a sound as it was a battle trumpet to his men. A leader - bold and relentless through and through. His office, however, seemed more fitting for an accountant, or a lawyer. It was furnished with classy looking leather chairs and old, polished, oak cabinets and desks. Dim lights gave it an almost restaurant-like ambiance. Bookshelves and paintings lined the tall wooden walls. And at the far end of the room, overlooked by two giant windows, the general sat smiling like some twisted security guard in a museum.

The settling silence was sharply broken into by the shrill ringing of the generals cell phone, which laid lazily on the top of his desk. He frowned at it for a moment in thought as he quickly finished wiping his hands with the rag, then tossing the moist cloth into a waste basket to his side. He picked up the phone. It looked dainty and frail in his large, war-experienced hands.

"Yes." He said, flipping it open. It wasn't a question as much as it was an "OK" for the person on the other hand to begin speaking. He listened to them as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hand on his broad, clean-shaven chin. "That's strange…" He stated suspiciously. After a few seconds passed, he added, "Yes, certainly have that checked out immediately. Report back when you're finished."

He hung up the phone before waiting for an answer and set it back down onto the table. His hands steadily found their way to his temples and he began slowly massaging the sides of his head. He did this when he needed to think clearly. He also did it when he felt their was something wrong. Right now, he was doing it for both those reasons.

Standing up, he laced his fingers behind his back and began pacing the large office. His path followed a familiar line, walking first to both windows for a glance outside before heading towards his favorite painting to the right of the windows. He stopped in front of it and looked up at with great pride.

His father watched over the office from behind the golden framed painting. He was large and strong looking, just as his son would be. One bulging arm held a black machine gun, the other a wide, sleek-looking sword. The man had a smirk on his face that was undoubtedly where his son had obtained the same look from. He was a Shinra elite. He was the guy who called the shots. He was the guy that, if he had come to power at the right time, would have ended the rebel resistance before it ever began. He was the guy Rex Arinthone respected most. And most importantly, he was the guy who lost his life to a rebel attack, six years ago.

Rex sucked in his chest and gave the painting an honorable salute, using his other hand to wipe away the single tear that had cropped up in left eye.

"You always get me, pop." He said, smiling and shaking his head. "Every time."

The cell phone suddenly burst to life again. Rex walked over to the table and picked it up.

"Yes." He answered, his voice not losing once ounce of the authority or power it had the last time he spoke to the soldier. The voice on the other end gave his report. Rex only debated for a moment before saying, "Bring a squad down to the detention center, I'll meet you there."

Suddenly the general was moving with disciplined speed, and an intense look on his face. No one would have been able to even imagine that this was the man that had been wiping tears from his eyes only moments ago. He went to his desk, picked up the machine gun that was lying in the bottom drawer, and fastened a thin blade to his calf. In another moment, he was out the door of the office and marching towards the elevator at the end of the hall. As he passed two soldiers in their classic blue uniforms outside his office, they promptly saluted him, showing their respect. He gave them a nod, but did not stop to chit-chat. In times like these, seconds became as important as breaths. Rex learned that the hard way in his younger years.

He reached the elevator and pressed the button, then crossed his arms and waited patiently. In a few moments, the doors slid open and he was inside, pressing the floor button for the detention level. The elevator began its descent. Rex's patience seemed to be falling as quickly as the box he was in. He tapped his foot and began breathing a little heavier. After what seemed like an hour, the elevator reached the floor and he quickly slid through the opening doors. At the end of this hall, five soldiers and Denzel were standing outside a thick door. A thick door that was the only thing keeping the rebel dog, Teioh, from freedom.

"General." Denzel said as Rex neared.

"What's the situation right now." Rex said, his voice cold and stern.

"Like I said, the two soldiers that entered ten minutes ago did not have authorization. Gerald let it go, thinking it was just a routine check. When they didn't come out in a few minutes, he tried to go inside to get them. The door was locked and has been since. They're not answering their radios, and won't respond when we call to them from out her. The code to the door has been over-written so we need your key to get inside."

"There's no way out of there besides this door, correct?" Rex asked.

"Only the ventilation shaft, but after he discovered the door was locked, Gerald sealed it and turned on the fans. They can't get though it now, it's impossible."

Rex was already at the door before Denzel finished speaking. He pulled out his key card and quickly swiped it through the lock. The door slid open, but as soon as it did, a hail of machine gun fire came blasting from within. Rex dodged to the side of the door just in the nick of time as the bullets hurdled through the air, landing in the wall on the opposite side of it. All the soldiers moved to either side and readied their guns. The doors slid back closed.

"Who the hell is in there!" Rex yelled out in rage. When he got no answer, the rage became fury. "Son of a-

Suddenly, Rex's cell phone, which he scooped up in his office and placed in his pocket, began ringing. He eyed the soldiers suspiciously before yanking it out and answering it.

"What." He spit into the small phone.

"Is this General Rex Arinthone?" The voice asked.

Rex felt something terrible land in his stomach.

"Yes." He answered, tightening every muscle in his face to keep his calm. "And who, may I ask, is this?"

After a short pause, the voice responded, "I was told to inform you that names aren't important, general. It's what's inside the name that counts."

Rex let out a thunderous yell and pounded the wall behind him with his fist.

"You won't live through this, I PROMISE YOU THAT!" He shouted into the phone. Every vain in his head looked like it was ready to burst. "You hear me!?" He called into the room behind him.

"You come in this room and you die, do you hear me?" The voice answered through the phone.

Rex lowered it and looked over at Denzel.

"Smoke and clear." He said in a low voice.

"Yes general." Denzel answered. "Don't worry sir, there is no way they're getting out of this building. It would be impossible, I already have all soldiers on high alert."

"I don't want them leaving that ROOM, do you understand."

"Yes sir."

"Now smoke and clear."

As soon as he said the words, the entire squad went into action. They took their places around the door with guns raised and ready. Denzel took point, pulling out a small white grenade and leaning up pressing up against the wall to the side of the door. He gave a nod and then pressed the door-open button. As soon as the door was opened up a crack, Denzel tossed the smoke bomb in, which instantly began spewing out white mist as soon as it made contact with the ground. The gunner inside began firing again, but this time it was matched by gun fire from all five of the soldiers. Rex stood to the side watching intently. They fired into every spot they could, drowning the air inside in a sea of bullets. Denzel blocked his ears to shield himself from the intense volume of six guns blazing at the same time.

By the time all the soldiers had to stop and re-load, it was like a battlefield in the hallway - ripe with the stench of bullets and splintered concrete. As the door slid closed, the gunner inside was amazingly still firing. When the door closed, the fire stopped.

"What the hell!?" A soldier called out.

"It's like they're a ghost or something!" Another added.

"Not a ghost." Rex said, his voice low and dangerous. "A machine." He added, pointing to the wall across from the door.

All the soldiers looked back. On it was one single mark. A hole that had been dug all the way through to the next room. A hole that, Rex knew, was too accurate for any human to make.

"Denzel." Rex called out, seeming to be on the verge of insanity, but keeping calm.

"General?" He answered.

"Leave the door opened, the machine gun turret at the end of the hall, that hey somehow rigged to the door, will eventually run out of bullets."

Denzel looked shocked.

"Where do those vents go." Rex asked, running a hand through his hair, which was now sweating furiously.

"Uh…well… everywhere, but… they can't just get out of this place. This is Shinra headquarters, general. It's impossible!" Denzel answered.

"Impossible like it was to go through the ventilation shaft?" Rex asked.

Denzel had no answer.

Suddenly, a stray thought found its way into the generals head. He rubbed his temples and looked at the ground.

"No…" He murmured.

"General?" Denzel said, walking over to him. Without a word, Rex began promptly heading towards the elevator. "What do you want me to do sir?" Denzel called after him.

"Clear that room… search the area… kill them on sight." Rex answered, but clearly didn't have his mind on what he was saying. He got in the elevator and hit the button back to his floor near the top of the building.

He cursed to himself for not realizing it sooner. The guards outside his room. They weren't the same. If it had been any other moment, he would have asked them for their ID numbers and names, but he was in such a rush… seconds were like breaths. One was dark skinned, the other, short and kind of pudgy.

When the doors opened to the hall outside his office, his dreaded thoughts were confirmed. The two guards were missing. He stormed down the hall, stopping midway and kicking open the door that led to their quarters. On the floor were two unconscious guards… his two regular guards.

"NO!" He yelled at himself, and then continued down the hall towards his office. Upon reaching the doors, he kicked them open with a thunderous thrust of his beefy leg.

Nothing there. Nothing except a few papers that had been thrown off his desk by the strong breeze coming from… the open window behind his desk. He ran to it and stuck half his body out with such force, he almost fell out.

"Wha… no… how…" He couldn't find words to fit the anger he was feeling. After a few more moments of hanging out of the window trying to keep his head from bursting open, he spun around to see Denzel in his doorway watching him.

"What happened general?"

"This…. THIS was an INSIDE JOB!" Rex screamed, slamming his desk. "Do you understand? They were helped by some PIECE OF SHIT RAT!" He picked up his chair and flung it at the wall. Denzel was speechless again. "I want them found! I want the rebels found! I want the RAT found! I want EVERYONE found that had a hand in this!"

"Yes sir." Denzel said. "I'll issue a lockdown order for the entire building."

"I'll kill them." Rex muttered as slammed his fists onto the top of his desk.

Denzel quickly took off to get his task done. Rex watched him go, breathing fire-like bursts of air. When he was alone again, he looked up at the painting of his father on the wall. The proud smirk seemed to be replaced by a disappointed stare. Rex let out another yell as he kicked the desk.