Chapter 12 – Oops... Too late.
"Yuffie, front door, Cid, back door. Cover your eyes and ears. When you hear the flashbangs go off, you charge them, but stay out of our line of fire." Vincent issued orders to his companions, who nodded in acknowledgement and rushed to their assigned positions. Mere moments after they reached safe positioning, the lights in the building cut out, and Vincent lowered himself behind an over turned table, his back towards Rude.
"Go, go, go!" Cid could hear Cloud from where he was, ordering his team out. Gritting his teeth and literally tearing apart the cigarette between them, Cid released the grip on his spear and covered his ears and eyes tightly. An explosion and blinding flash rocked the little home, and for Cid, time seemed to slow down. As he sat crouched, he couldn't help but wonder how the blast would have felt had he not been prepared, his ears ringing still. However, the sound of shattering glass broke through his reverie and his hands found his spear again. Gunshots tore through the room in small bursts, destroying anything they ripped into. Vaulting himself over the counter he had used for cover, his drove his spear into the back of an unsuspecting assailant. Assessing the situation as best he could in the darkened room, he took note of a couple of bodies crumpled together near the back door. Whatever remained of that particular assault team was currently pinned down nearby, but where, he had no idea. Cid crouched low, hoping he had remained out of sight for the time being. Suddenly, an unmistakable green glow illuminated parts of the room before it lit up completely, as a high level Bolt spell struck one of the unknown attackers full in the chest before flinging him across the entire room. During the flash of lightning, Cid had seen where the three closest to him were hidden from the Turk's fire. Taking in short breaths to steady himself, Cid dashed toward the pile, throwing himself amidst them, spear and fists flailing wildly, not giving a stationary target at any time. His spear pierced the chest of one of the men he battled and stuck, forcing the pilot to release his grip on it. Cid kicked the one directly in front of him, sending the dark figure tumbling backwards as his gun clattered away. Falling over the couch the attackers had been using for cover from Rude and landing in the open, that man quickly fell prey to well placed gunshots. Then, turning quickly, he slammed his fist into the temple of his last target. As the man crumpled, Cid pounced, pinning him down beneath him and completely helpless as Cid pounded him mercilessly. One final blow forced the gunman's head into the hardwood flooring beneath him, splinters flying out the sides as the body finally went limp. Triumphantly, Cid stood up straight and looked around, catching his breath. Spotting his spear, he began to walk over, unconcerned of the gunfire concentrated on the other side of the home. Suddenly, over the roar of the gunshots, Vincent's voiced rose up.
"Cid, get down!" Surprised, Cid looked over, a confused expression covering his features. Then, just as unexpectedly as Vincent's unheeded warning, a large hand grasped the collar of his bomber jacket, and pulled the pilot over a couch and onto the floor, just as a single bullet decimated the chair had been standing in front of.
"Holy fuck..." The near-death situation seemed so surreal to Cid as he gasped for breath. Rude released his grip on the man below him and switched his gun hand.
"Head down." Rude reloaded her pistol while reprimanding the captain. "I can't be saving your ass every time you do something stupid."
Seeing his friend out of harms way, Vincent turned his attention back to supporting Yuffie. The ex-Turk and young ninja were completely pinned down, the well-trained assault team keeping a heavy fire, and reloading on a rotation so as not to leave themselves open. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the house, as one of the second story's walls was blown out. As the explosion died away, multiple footsteps worked their way across the hallway above them. With the house quickly filling with enemy soldiers, Vincent found the situation becoming more and more desperate. Looking over at a near-panicked Yuffie, Vincent began to focus his mind. He concentrated hard and closed off the surrounding gunfire from his mind. Then his body began to burn.
Cloud's attack team burst from the house and into the field that lay behind. Sprinting around to the front, Red took the lead and began to mentally prepare the materia that resided in his headdress. Spotting a heavily armed figure taking cover behind a neighbor's fence he released the pressure that had begun to build in Red's quickly moving body. The fire beast stopped, and flames erupted around the man, his screams alerting the rest of the unknown attackers that remained outside. As they turned their attention towards the unexpected second group, the assault team was scattered by Barret's wild gunfire and Elena's more accurate bullets. Any shots returned were easily blunted by Tifa's rigorously maintained Barrier spells. The group found cover behind a nearby house and Red's constant barrage of spells bought them time to think.
"Cloud, look!" Tifa called out to her love, pointing wildly at a helicopter that dropped more assailants onto their roof who quickly moved into the second floor.
"Hell... We need to take care of these outdoor threats and get back in there." Their attackers suddenly launched a offensive attack, and Tifa's Barriers began to fade. Acting quickly, she recast the spell, and panting with fatigue, Tifa dropped down to two knees. A wide-spread Ice spell tore and return fire dropped the remaining soldiers outdoors.
"Cloud, you have to get back inside to help the others. There's no real threat out here. I can handle anything else." The fallen woman said between heavy breaths of air.
Cloud looked down at Tifa, a worried stare in his eyes. Elena spoke up. "She's right, they'll need us back in there after that secondary team moved in."
Cloud looked back to his decimated home. "Alright, we're going. Barret stay here and take care of Tifa."
Cloud, Elena and Red bolted off towards the house again as Tifa stood up beside her friend. "You ok Teef?" Barret asked, obviously concerned.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a little tired. But you have to go make sure there's nobody left out here." Barret seemed apprehensive to leave. "Go, I said I'll be fine." Nodding once, but obviously still hesitant Barret rounded the corner, and looked down the street. A lone man, holding a single handgun stood in the middle. The founder of AVALANCHE went out to face him.
"Barret Wallace. Nice to finally meet you." The man called out.
"An who the fuck're you?"
"I've introduced myself before. I'm Kassidy, Wallace. I'll be the one to destroy AVALANCHE."
The transformation occurred quickly this time, and Cid crouched shocked beside Rude. No matter how often he had seen these transformations, they always instilled a fear into the pilot and it took everything he had to ignore what his eyes were screaming at him, and remember that his friend was buried inside of there, no matter how deep. Just as the Chaos demon emerged from where Vincent had only moments ago been, Cloud, Elena and Red burst through the front door, and found themselves faced by Rude's pistol. Identifying his companions, Rude turned his attention back to the beast that took slow step by slow step towards terrified assault members. The room fell silent as the Chaos demon raised its head toward Kassidy's assault team, an unearthly smile spreading across its face as glistening fangs showed themselves. A horrified scream erupted from the back of the group, and that served as Chaos' signal. With a bloodcurdling roar the beast tore through the air and into the armored attackers, rending them limb from limb. The members of AVLANCHE and Elena turned away from the gruesome sight, as screams of pain tore into their minds. Rude looked on curiously, forcing himself to observe the scene and learn what he could. Within seconds the carnage was over, and Vincent stood in his cloaks once again. Silence reigned as all eyes fixed on the ex-Turk, who was staring at his golden claw, a contemplating gaze in his eyes. Then, a small shiver passed through Vincent's body, and the majority of the group jumped as gunshots sounded loudly outside.
A look of horror crossed Cloud's face as her Tifa scream out in protest. "Tifa..." he whispered, a sound picked up only by Red and Vincent. Cloud again tore out through his door and looked out into the street, AVALANCHE right behind him.
Barret had wasted no time opening fire on Kassidy, who amazingly danced away from the barrage.
"You can't beat Mako enhancement, Wallace. The strong get stronger, the fast get faster and the smart get smarter." Another burst of gunfire rang out and Kassidy dashed off to the side away from the bullets, so quickly that Barret barely followed the movement.
"What the hell?" Barret questioned, as Kassidy leaned up against a wall, twirling his gun around his finger.
"I know, I know it's amazing isn't it. But, as fast as I am, I'm not invincible." Kassidy looked down at himself. "At least not yet." He looked up again at an astounded Barret, and began to walk over, holstering his gun. "You're bound to get lucky if I let you keep shooting like this."
Barret's gun arm came up as fast as he could make it, but a single gunshot rang out and Barret felt his arm go numb and drop like dead weight. He allowed himself a grunt as the pain spread out from his shoulder. Kassidy's smoking gun was again in his hand, the draw having been unbelievably fast. Two more shots rang out, nearly as one, and Barret collapsed, the bullets piercing his thighs.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen." Kassidy taunted, standing mere feet away from Barret. "The great Barret Wallace. On his knees, ready to die." The gun came up and was held unwaveringly inches away from Barret's head. "Where are your friends to save you this time, I wonder." The hammer clicked back. "Oh well. I suppose you'll die wondering."
"Barret, No!" Tifa's scream rang out, and Cloud burst out of the house to see his friend with a gun to his head.
Kassidy smiled at them. "Oops... Too late." The single gunshot rang out through the small Kalm suburb.
Davis entered the office to speak with Alexander. "Sir, I don't believe Kassidy's plan is going to work. AVALANCHE is simply too resourceful, too powerful."
Alexander held up his hand to silence the man. "I know Davis. But it's worth a shot. Besides, perhaps a failure on Kassidy's record will teach him that he isn't a God." Alexander looked back at a nearby screen. "Though, it does seem like he's about to take care of a Mr. Wallace. That should be more than enough of a blow to slow AVALANCHE down. At least for a while."
"Or it will only serve to anger them..." Davis trailed off, speaking more to himself.
"Oh, I agree, that's a very likely outcome. But no matter what happens, things will certainly get... interesting."
The moment before his gun went off, Kassidy felt the power of a materia being unleashed. Bracing himself for what would prove to be a futile effort to knock his aim off, Kassidy looked down to watch Wallace die. Confusion quickly spread across the enhanced soldier's face. The bullet hovered millimeters from Barret's forehead, as a silver sheen surrounded the kneeling black man. The bullet floated a moment longer, before falling harmlessly down to the dirt. Kassidy looked up.
"Not even Barrier could have stopped a bullet from that range. You fools actually have access to a Shield spell? Unbelievable good luck." He looked over as Tifa collapsed into unconsciousness, the light still fading from a materia that rolled out of her hand.
Kassidy stood for a moment, considering the turn of events. He couldn't help but admire this group of 'heroes.' They managed to not only escape certain death in a well-planned assault, but they took out his entire team without suffering a single casualty, saving the only near-death with unrelenting will. With no support, and the whole of AVALANCHE currently out for his head, Kassidy found himself with no choice but to run. Faster than nearly anyone could follow, he was gone, the A.E.C. helicopter on route to evacuate him.
Cloud immediately took control of the situation. "Red, Cid, take care of Barret. The rest of you, split up and see if there's any of these jokers left alive, cause I could really use some answers right about now." Turning his back to his companions, Cloud jogged quickly over to Tifa. "Teef? Hey, Tifa, wake up love."
Still laying prone, Tifa's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Cloud. "Hey." She said with a weak voice.
"Hey you. How're you feeling?"
"Tired. Is Barret alright?"
"Yeah, he's gonna be just fine. You did so good."
"Thanks... Hey Cloud?" Tifa's eyes closed again.
"What is it honey?"
"Is it ok if I take a nap?"
"Yes, of course, whatever you – "Cloud stopped mid-sentence, seeing Tifa already asleep beside him. Lifting her up, he carried her sleeping form over to Red, Cid and Barret, the injured man being supported by a grumbling pilot.
Barret looked up at the two. "Hey, how's she doing?"
"She's just exhausted from over-using the materia. She'll be fine. What about you?"
Barret grunted with pain. "Nothing some rest an' materia won' fix."
Cid also grunted from under the bigger man's arm. "Yeah, I'm gonna need a couple days off after this. Fuck, lose some weight."
"Hey, Cloud!" Yuffie stood at the shattered doorway of the blonde's home, waving him over. "One of these clowns is still alive. We can ask him some questions after we pull his head out of the floor."
"Finally..." Cloud breathed a sigh of relief. "Something seems to go right."
Kassidy sat in the passenger side of the helicopter looking out window. Touching down at the A.E.C. headquarters, he hopped out quickly and was met by Davis.
"Good job out there buddy." Davis clapped slowly. "Three teams nearly entirely wiped out, and not a single kill to show for it. Outstanding really."
"I got the disk, didn't I?" Kassidy snarled.
Davis simply smiled softly. "Yes well, if the only intention of this mission had been to retrieve the disk, we would have simply paid the Turks for it. Instead, we have a very pissed off entire AVALANCHE and a very pissed off entire Turks to deal with now, and they will likely be expecting an attempt on them. Again, I've got to congratulate you on this fine effort."
"Actually, the Turks aren't a full group."
"Pardon?"
"Reno wasn't in Kalm. It seems that he didn't quite make it out of Midgar. Which is a shame really. I always hated him, ever since my days in Shin-ra. I had been hoping to personally kill him."
"Oh... Well, one out of ten ain't bad." He slapped Kassidy on the shoulder. "C'mon, President Alexander wants to talk to you."
Jon came back to consciousness quickly, and shook his head to clear the pain away. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself in a darkened room bound to a chair. Then, in what he assumed was a corner, his vision locked with a pair of piercing blood-red eyes that seemed to bore into his soul. The captured soldier looked away immediately. Jon wished for the lights to turn on, to prove he wasn't stuck in some hellish nightmare. When his wish was granted, he instantly regretted it. Feeling himself shrink in his seat, Jon looked back and forth between two of the biggest, and most mysterious, names in mercenary history. Rude and Vincent Valentine. And here he was, tied to a chair at their mercy.
"What's your name?"
Jon knew better than to screw around with these guys. A.E.C. simply wasn't paying him nearly enough. "Jon Wickstrom."
"Who do you work for?" Vincent asked again.
"Alexander Electric Company."
Cloud stood behind, out of the prisoner's vision, in disbelief of how well this was going. He could only assume this 'Jon' simply wasn't an idiot. But he was still curious. "Why are you being so co-operative?"
The man didn't seem at all surprised by the third voice behind him, instead he turned his head enough to glance at Cloud through his peripheral vision. "Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea what kind of legends these two are?"
"Good point." Cloud mumbled to himself before settling back against the wall.
Vincent resumed his questioning. "What does A.E.C. want with AVALANCHE?"
"I'm not given the specific details of it, but our orders were to destroy the Turks and AVALANCHE after securing the data collected from the Shin-ra building. After the initial plan fell through, our orders carried over into the attack at Kalm."
"You don't know anything about Corin Alexander's plans?" Vincent glared deeply at the seated man.
"No, I have no idea. I was just hired on for this job."
Vincent nodded once and turned to Cloud. "I have no doubts he's telling the truth. We have all we need to know already."
This time Cloud nodded. "Alright... good job." Cloud took a few steps towards the door when he noticed Rude was removing his gun from its holster. Cloud turned back as the tall Turk aimed directly at Jon's head, who didn't say anything, though the fear shone evident in his eyes. "Whoa, whoa!" Cloud yelled, waving his hands to get Rude's attention. "What the fuck are you doing?"
Rude looked up impassively, gun unmoving. "We're done with him."
Cloud stood, shocked. "Well that doesn't mean you have to kill the guy..." Cloud looked over at Vincent. "Does it?"
The ex-Turk shrugged. "Usually, yes."
"Oh..." Cloud looked back at a helpless Jon, as he silently pleaded for help. "Yeah, well, regardless. We're under my roof, we do things my way got it? And that means no murders."
Rude raised a single eyebrow up over his sunglasses, and slightly shrugged. Then he holstered the handgun and stepped back. "Up to you." Then he and Vincent left the room.
Cloud stood beside Jon in the now empty room, who looked up gratefully. "Hey, thanks a lot man."
"Yeah..." Cloud wound back his fist. "No problem." The blonde swordsman then left the room as well, leaving the unconscious Jon slumped over in the chair.
A small, yet heavily armed squadron of Reeve's men moved through the destruction that was left of Sector 2. The president ordered the hasty search party after the demolition had been reported, and he had received no contact from the rest of AVALANCHE.
"Sir? Come quick, I found something!" One of the men yelled out to his group leader. The captain hurriedly jogged over to his subordinate.
"Holy shit..."
"I think he dug his way out..." The solider pointed towards what appeared to be a makeshift tunnel leading deep into the wreckage. "That's unbelievable."
"Is he injured?"
"Yeah, he's got a pretty nasty gash in his side. But I think he just passed out from exhaustion and some blood loss. What do we do?"
"Slap some restraints on him and heal him up for transport. He is a wanted criminal."
The solider hesitated. "Y'know sir... we could just leave him here to die. The world would be better off."
"I know. But he's our only link to what happened here so far. Unless something else comes up we need him. As much as it sickens me..." the Captain turned to walk away. "Now load him up, and lets get going. There's nothing else here."
"Yuffie, front door, Cid, back door. Cover your eyes and ears. When you hear the flashbangs go off, you charge them, but stay out of our line of fire." Vincent issued orders to his companions, who nodded in acknowledgement and rushed to their assigned positions. Mere moments after they reached safe positioning, the lights in the building cut out, and Vincent lowered himself behind an over turned table, his back towards Rude.
"Go, go, go!" Cid could hear Cloud from where he was, ordering his team out. Gritting his teeth and literally tearing apart the cigarette between them, Cid released the grip on his spear and covered his ears and eyes tightly. An explosion and blinding flash rocked the little home, and for Cid, time seemed to slow down. As he sat crouched, he couldn't help but wonder how the blast would have felt had he not been prepared, his ears ringing still. However, the sound of shattering glass broke through his reverie and his hands found his spear again. Gunshots tore through the room in small bursts, destroying anything they ripped into. Vaulting himself over the counter he had used for cover, his drove his spear into the back of an unsuspecting assailant. Assessing the situation as best he could in the darkened room, he took note of a couple of bodies crumpled together near the back door. Whatever remained of that particular assault team was currently pinned down nearby, but where, he had no idea. Cid crouched low, hoping he had remained out of sight for the time being. Suddenly, an unmistakable green glow illuminated parts of the room before it lit up completely, as a high level Bolt spell struck one of the unknown attackers full in the chest before flinging him across the entire room. During the flash of lightning, Cid had seen where the three closest to him were hidden from the Turk's fire. Taking in short breaths to steady himself, Cid dashed toward the pile, throwing himself amidst them, spear and fists flailing wildly, not giving a stationary target at any time. His spear pierced the chest of one of the men he battled and stuck, forcing the pilot to release his grip on it. Cid kicked the one directly in front of him, sending the dark figure tumbling backwards as his gun clattered away. Falling over the couch the attackers had been using for cover from Rude and landing in the open, that man quickly fell prey to well placed gunshots. Then, turning quickly, he slammed his fist into the temple of his last target. As the man crumpled, Cid pounced, pinning him down beneath him and completely helpless as Cid pounded him mercilessly. One final blow forced the gunman's head into the hardwood flooring beneath him, splinters flying out the sides as the body finally went limp. Triumphantly, Cid stood up straight and looked around, catching his breath. Spotting his spear, he began to walk over, unconcerned of the gunfire concentrated on the other side of the home. Suddenly, over the roar of the gunshots, Vincent's voiced rose up.
"Cid, get down!" Surprised, Cid looked over, a confused expression covering his features. Then, just as unexpectedly as Vincent's unheeded warning, a large hand grasped the collar of his bomber jacket, and pulled the pilot over a couch and onto the floor, just as a single bullet decimated the chair had been standing in front of.
"Holy fuck..." The near-death situation seemed so surreal to Cid as he gasped for breath. Rude released his grip on the man below him and switched his gun hand.
"Head down." Rude reloaded her pistol while reprimanding the captain. "I can't be saving your ass every time you do something stupid."
Seeing his friend out of harms way, Vincent turned his attention back to supporting Yuffie. The ex-Turk and young ninja were completely pinned down, the well-trained assault team keeping a heavy fire, and reloading on a rotation so as not to leave themselves open. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the house, as one of the second story's walls was blown out. As the explosion died away, multiple footsteps worked their way across the hallway above them. With the house quickly filling with enemy soldiers, Vincent found the situation becoming more and more desperate. Looking over at a near-panicked Yuffie, Vincent began to focus his mind. He concentrated hard and closed off the surrounding gunfire from his mind. Then his body began to burn.
Cloud's attack team burst from the house and into the field that lay behind. Sprinting around to the front, Red took the lead and began to mentally prepare the materia that resided in his headdress. Spotting a heavily armed figure taking cover behind a neighbor's fence he released the pressure that had begun to build in Red's quickly moving body. The fire beast stopped, and flames erupted around the man, his screams alerting the rest of the unknown attackers that remained outside. As they turned their attention towards the unexpected second group, the assault team was scattered by Barret's wild gunfire and Elena's more accurate bullets. Any shots returned were easily blunted by Tifa's rigorously maintained Barrier spells. The group found cover behind a nearby house and Red's constant barrage of spells bought them time to think.
"Cloud, look!" Tifa called out to her love, pointing wildly at a helicopter that dropped more assailants onto their roof who quickly moved into the second floor.
"Hell... We need to take care of these outdoor threats and get back in there." Their attackers suddenly launched a offensive attack, and Tifa's Barriers began to fade. Acting quickly, she recast the spell, and panting with fatigue, Tifa dropped down to two knees. A wide-spread Ice spell tore and return fire dropped the remaining soldiers outdoors.
"Cloud, you have to get back inside to help the others. There's no real threat out here. I can handle anything else." The fallen woman said between heavy breaths of air.
Cloud looked down at Tifa, a worried stare in his eyes. Elena spoke up. "She's right, they'll need us back in there after that secondary team moved in."
Cloud looked back to his decimated home. "Alright, we're going. Barret stay here and take care of Tifa."
Cloud, Elena and Red bolted off towards the house again as Tifa stood up beside her friend. "You ok Teef?" Barret asked, obviously concerned.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a little tired. But you have to go make sure there's nobody left out here." Barret seemed apprehensive to leave. "Go, I said I'll be fine." Nodding once, but obviously still hesitant Barret rounded the corner, and looked down the street. A lone man, holding a single handgun stood in the middle. The founder of AVALANCHE went out to face him.
"Barret Wallace. Nice to finally meet you." The man called out.
"An who the fuck're you?"
"I've introduced myself before. I'm Kassidy, Wallace. I'll be the one to destroy AVALANCHE."
The transformation occurred quickly this time, and Cid crouched shocked beside Rude. No matter how often he had seen these transformations, they always instilled a fear into the pilot and it took everything he had to ignore what his eyes were screaming at him, and remember that his friend was buried inside of there, no matter how deep. Just as the Chaos demon emerged from where Vincent had only moments ago been, Cloud, Elena and Red burst through the front door, and found themselves faced by Rude's pistol. Identifying his companions, Rude turned his attention back to the beast that took slow step by slow step towards terrified assault members. The room fell silent as the Chaos demon raised its head toward Kassidy's assault team, an unearthly smile spreading across its face as glistening fangs showed themselves. A horrified scream erupted from the back of the group, and that served as Chaos' signal. With a bloodcurdling roar the beast tore through the air and into the armored attackers, rending them limb from limb. The members of AVLANCHE and Elena turned away from the gruesome sight, as screams of pain tore into their minds. Rude looked on curiously, forcing himself to observe the scene and learn what he could. Within seconds the carnage was over, and Vincent stood in his cloaks once again. Silence reigned as all eyes fixed on the ex-Turk, who was staring at his golden claw, a contemplating gaze in his eyes. Then, a small shiver passed through Vincent's body, and the majority of the group jumped as gunshots sounded loudly outside.
A look of horror crossed Cloud's face as her Tifa scream out in protest. "Tifa..." he whispered, a sound picked up only by Red and Vincent. Cloud again tore out through his door and looked out into the street, AVALANCHE right behind him.
Barret had wasted no time opening fire on Kassidy, who amazingly danced away from the barrage.
"You can't beat Mako enhancement, Wallace. The strong get stronger, the fast get faster and the smart get smarter." Another burst of gunfire rang out and Kassidy dashed off to the side away from the bullets, so quickly that Barret barely followed the movement.
"What the hell?" Barret questioned, as Kassidy leaned up against a wall, twirling his gun around his finger.
"I know, I know it's amazing isn't it. But, as fast as I am, I'm not invincible." Kassidy looked down at himself. "At least not yet." He looked up again at an astounded Barret, and began to walk over, holstering his gun. "You're bound to get lucky if I let you keep shooting like this."
Barret's gun arm came up as fast as he could make it, but a single gunshot rang out and Barret felt his arm go numb and drop like dead weight. He allowed himself a grunt as the pain spread out from his shoulder. Kassidy's smoking gun was again in his hand, the draw having been unbelievably fast. Two more shots rang out, nearly as one, and Barret collapsed, the bullets piercing his thighs.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen." Kassidy taunted, standing mere feet away from Barret. "The great Barret Wallace. On his knees, ready to die." The gun came up and was held unwaveringly inches away from Barret's head. "Where are your friends to save you this time, I wonder." The hammer clicked back. "Oh well. I suppose you'll die wondering."
"Barret, No!" Tifa's scream rang out, and Cloud burst out of the house to see his friend with a gun to his head.
Kassidy smiled at them. "Oops... Too late." The single gunshot rang out through the small Kalm suburb.
Davis entered the office to speak with Alexander. "Sir, I don't believe Kassidy's plan is going to work. AVALANCHE is simply too resourceful, too powerful."
Alexander held up his hand to silence the man. "I know Davis. But it's worth a shot. Besides, perhaps a failure on Kassidy's record will teach him that he isn't a God." Alexander looked back at a nearby screen. "Though, it does seem like he's about to take care of a Mr. Wallace. That should be more than enough of a blow to slow AVALANCHE down. At least for a while."
"Or it will only serve to anger them..." Davis trailed off, speaking more to himself.
"Oh, I agree, that's a very likely outcome. But no matter what happens, things will certainly get... interesting."
The moment before his gun went off, Kassidy felt the power of a materia being unleashed. Bracing himself for what would prove to be a futile effort to knock his aim off, Kassidy looked down to watch Wallace die. Confusion quickly spread across the enhanced soldier's face. The bullet hovered millimeters from Barret's forehead, as a silver sheen surrounded the kneeling black man. The bullet floated a moment longer, before falling harmlessly down to the dirt. Kassidy looked up.
"Not even Barrier could have stopped a bullet from that range. You fools actually have access to a Shield spell? Unbelievable good luck." He looked over as Tifa collapsed into unconsciousness, the light still fading from a materia that rolled out of her hand.
Kassidy stood for a moment, considering the turn of events. He couldn't help but admire this group of 'heroes.' They managed to not only escape certain death in a well-planned assault, but they took out his entire team without suffering a single casualty, saving the only near-death with unrelenting will. With no support, and the whole of AVALANCHE currently out for his head, Kassidy found himself with no choice but to run. Faster than nearly anyone could follow, he was gone, the A.E.C. helicopter on route to evacuate him.
Cloud immediately took control of the situation. "Red, Cid, take care of Barret. The rest of you, split up and see if there's any of these jokers left alive, cause I could really use some answers right about now." Turning his back to his companions, Cloud jogged quickly over to Tifa. "Teef? Hey, Tifa, wake up love."
Still laying prone, Tifa's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Cloud. "Hey." She said with a weak voice.
"Hey you. How're you feeling?"
"Tired. Is Barret alright?"
"Yeah, he's gonna be just fine. You did so good."
"Thanks... Hey Cloud?" Tifa's eyes closed again.
"What is it honey?"
"Is it ok if I take a nap?"
"Yes, of course, whatever you – "Cloud stopped mid-sentence, seeing Tifa already asleep beside him. Lifting her up, he carried her sleeping form over to Red, Cid and Barret, the injured man being supported by a grumbling pilot.
Barret looked up at the two. "Hey, how's she doing?"
"She's just exhausted from over-using the materia. She'll be fine. What about you?"
Barret grunted with pain. "Nothing some rest an' materia won' fix."
Cid also grunted from under the bigger man's arm. "Yeah, I'm gonna need a couple days off after this. Fuck, lose some weight."
"Hey, Cloud!" Yuffie stood at the shattered doorway of the blonde's home, waving him over. "One of these clowns is still alive. We can ask him some questions after we pull his head out of the floor."
"Finally..." Cloud breathed a sigh of relief. "Something seems to go right."
Kassidy sat in the passenger side of the helicopter looking out window. Touching down at the A.E.C. headquarters, he hopped out quickly and was met by Davis.
"Good job out there buddy." Davis clapped slowly. "Three teams nearly entirely wiped out, and not a single kill to show for it. Outstanding really."
"I got the disk, didn't I?" Kassidy snarled.
Davis simply smiled softly. "Yes well, if the only intention of this mission had been to retrieve the disk, we would have simply paid the Turks for it. Instead, we have a very pissed off entire AVALANCHE and a very pissed off entire Turks to deal with now, and they will likely be expecting an attempt on them. Again, I've got to congratulate you on this fine effort."
"Actually, the Turks aren't a full group."
"Pardon?"
"Reno wasn't in Kalm. It seems that he didn't quite make it out of Midgar. Which is a shame really. I always hated him, ever since my days in Shin-ra. I had been hoping to personally kill him."
"Oh... Well, one out of ten ain't bad." He slapped Kassidy on the shoulder. "C'mon, President Alexander wants to talk to you."
Jon came back to consciousness quickly, and shook his head to clear the pain away. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself in a darkened room bound to a chair. Then, in what he assumed was a corner, his vision locked with a pair of piercing blood-red eyes that seemed to bore into his soul. The captured soldier looked away immediately. Jon wished for the lights to turn on, to prove he wasn't stuck in some hellish nightmare. When his wish was granted, he instantly regretted it. Feeling himself shrink in his seat, Jon looked back and forth between two of the biggest, and most mysterious, names in mercenary history. Rude and Vincent Valentine. And here he was, tied to a chair at their mercy.
"What's your name?"
Jon knew better than to screw around with these guys. A.E.C. simply wasn't paying him nearly enough. "Jon Wickstrom."
"Who do you work for?" Vincent asked again.
"Alexander Electric Company."
Cloud stood behind, out of the prisoner's vision, in disbelief of how well this was going. He could only assume this 'Jon' simply wasn't an idiot. But he was still curious. "Why are you being so co-operative?"
The man didn't seem at all surprised by the third voice behind him, instead he turned his head enough to glance at Cloud through his peripheral vision. "Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea what kind of legends these two are?"
"Good point." Cloud mumbled to himself before settling back against the wall.
Vincent resumed his questioning. "What does A.E.C. want with AVALANCHE?"
"I'm not given the specific details of it, but our orders were to destroy the Turks and AVALANCHE after securing the data collected from the Shin-ra building. After the initial plan fell through, our orders carried over into the attack at Kalm."
"You don't know anything about Corin Alexander's plans?" Vincent glared deeply at the seated man.
"No, I have no idea. I was just hired on for this job."
Vincent nodded once and turned to Cloud. "I have no doubts he's telling the truth. We have all we need to know already."
This time Cloud nodded. "Alright... good job." Cloud took a few steps towards the door when he noticed Rude was removing his gun from its holster. Cloud turned back as the tall Turk aimed directly at Jon's head, who didn't say anything, though the fear shone evident in his eyes. "Whoa, whoa!" Cloud yelled, waving his hands to get Rude's attention. "What the fuck are you doing?"
Rude looked up impassively, gun unmoving. "We're done with him."
Cloud stood, shocked. "Well that doesn't mean you have to kill the guy..." Cloud looked over at Vincent. "Does it?"
The ex-Turk shrugged. "Usually, yes."
"Oh..." Cloud looked back at a helpless Jon, as he silently pleaded for help. "Yeah, well, regardless. We're under my roof, we do things my way got it? And that means no murders."
Rude raised a single eyebrow up over his sunglasses, and slightly shrugged. Then he holstered the handgun and stepped back. "Up to you." Then he and Vincent left the room.
Cloud stood beside Jon in the now empty room, who looked up gratefully. "Hey, thanks a lot man."
"Yeah..." Cloud wound back his fist. "No problem." The blonde swordsman then left the room as well, leaving the unconscious Jon slumped over in the chair.
A small, yet heavily armed squadron of Reeve's men moved through the destruction that was left of Sector 2. The president ordered the hasty search party after the demolition had been reported, and he had received no contact from the rest of AVALANCHE.
"Sir? Come quick, I found something!" One of the men yelled out to his group leader. The captain hurriedly jogged over to his subordinate.
"Holy shit..."
"I think he dug his way out..." The solider pointed towards what appeared to be a makeshift tunnel leading deep into the wreckage. "That's unbelievable."
"Is he injured?"
"Yeah, he's got a pretty nasty gash in his side. But I think he just passed out from exhaustion and some blood loss. What do we do?"
"Slap some restraints on him and heal him up for transport. He is a wanted criminal."
The solider hesitated. "Y'know sir... we could just leave him here to die. The world would be better off."
"I know. But he's our only link to what happened here so far. Unless something else comes up we need him. As much as it sickens me..." the Captain turned to walk away. "Now load him up, and lets get going. There's nothing else here."