It wasn't long before the team stationed in Wutai contacted Lazard and the Infantrymen who had chosen to go on the mission were sent to get ready for leaving. Kayli, Davis and Rex were standing together as they fixed up their uniforms properly and then searched through the weapons for extra weaponry they would like to use besides what already came in their pack and belts.

Kayli took a handgun and slipped it into her belt before grabbing a sword and stepping back to allow the others more room. Davis then grabbed one of the fancy guns he loved so much and Rex spent a bit longer searching until finally he settled on a knife and a gun.

Jinx was also in the room, holding two guns and trying to spin them in his hands. He was doing alright, but would occasionally drop one.

The door opened again and Angeal walked in, leading Zack and Jensen behind him. Jinx abruptly dropped his guns again and stared.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm coming." Jensen said, shuffling over to the weapons and picking out a sword.

"Ha! I told you so!" Jinx declared, bending down to pick up his guns again and grinning at Jensen proudly.

"Alright," Angeal said, looking over the group and also looking over at where Camon and Nareau stood in the corner with their own swords. "We'll be heading out very soon and as soon as we do you all have to be prepared to do exactly as I say as soon as I say it. Understood?"

"Sir, yes Sir!"

"Good. Now remember, Wutai is a dangerous place. The group we're going to be ambushing is good at what they do and could easily kill you. Do you understand? Only if you do what I say will you have a chance of survival."

Angeal put his hands on his hips and nodded at them all. "Good luck, you may head out to the helicopter."

Slowly, the group headed out. They were all nervous as well as excited, but the most excited of them all was probably Zack.

"Oh my gosh, we're totally gonna kill them all! They'll wish they never met the Zackinator!" Zack announced as they walked. "I can just imagine their faces when they see us just before we chop their heads off. They'll be like, 'ah, crap!'" Zack laughed.

Angeal shook his head in disbelief and tried to ignore the boy, hoping that he wouldn't end up getting himself killed.

When they reached the helicopter and got in, Zack made a show of squirming in his seat before finally getting into a comfortable position and pretending to be fast asleep immediately. Everyone else sat calmly and quietly and waited to be taken into the air and be on their way to Wutai.

"This is gonna be great," Jinx said to Jensen whilst looking out the window to watch the ground fall away. "I can't wait to see the techniques Wutai soldiers use when fighting."

Kayli closed her eyes and leant back against her seat, trying hard not to think about what was going to happen but being unable to not notice the way her heart was pounding hard enough to break her ribcage.

"Murderer! Don't touch me!"

Sergei had instructed the group to lay low and wait for the opportune moment to attack. Right now the soldiers in the town were far too alert, so something had to be done to distract their attention. After waiting a while for that to happen, Sergei had thought of something else and sent Tarou around to sneak in the back.

If Tarou managed to get inside, Sergei and the others would charge from one side and then the ShinRa soldiers would all have their backs to Tarou, who would have the chance to kill them all from behind.

Tarou had immediately set off to do as Sergei asked, slipping through the trees around the town and trying to find a way in without being seen. Finally, he got close to a small house which was on the outskirts of the town and managed to crawl in the window.

He was inside.

Smiling, he walked through the room he had found himself in and came to a door, pushing it open and walking over to where a man stood near another window.

"I haven't seen you in a while." Tarou chuckled.

Genesis turned calmly to face him and nodded. "Good to see you made it. What can you tell me about what's happening out there?"

"Sergei's planning to attack front-on and have me shoot from the back to catch everyone by surprise. I know where he is if you want to ambush him." Tarou said.

"Wait-" Genesis frowned. "Sergei?"

"Yes, he's taken control of the group since Lee isn't-"

"Sergei Molotov?" Genesis interrupted again, eyes narrowed as he waited for his suspicions to be confirmed.

"I think so... we never really talk about our last names though." Tarou said slowly, cautious as to what Genesis could be thinking.

"I can't believe he's become a Wutai soldier." Genesis mumbled to himself.

"How do you know him?" Tarou asked.

"Sergei used to be a 2nd Class SOLDIER." Genesis said, turning away to look back out of the window.

"Wow, never saw that coming." Tarou mumbled.

"Tell me about the other leader of your group." Genesis said without turning again.

"Ah, Lee? He's an absolute nutter. He's got a terrible temper and hates whenever someone challenges his authority. Obviously he and Sergei don't get on very well. What do you want to know?" Tarou asked.

"Do you know if he's got any siblings?"

"Sorry, wouldn't have a clue. We never talk about anything like that."

Genesis nodded and lingered at the window before finally facing Tarou again. "How long until they attack?"

"They told me to wait for the signal."

"What's the signal?"

"Uh, basically them charging out of the trees." Tarou shrugged. "They could attack any minute."

"Is there anything you can do to hold them off? We've got backup coming but it will be pointless if they arrive after the attack is launched." Genesis said.

"I'll go back if you want," Tarou said. "I'll tell them there was no way inside and that we'll have to come up with another plan."

"No, don't bother." Genesis suddenly said, looking over his shoulder at the window again and smiling. "They're here."

Angeal had gone over their instructions again and again as they neared Wutai, hoping that by some chance they would be ready for what they were met with. He could see the fear on all their faces as the helicopter slowed and began lowering itself towards the ground in the centre of a Wutai town.

"Jensen!" Jinx called quietly, just loud enough for his friend to hear him above the sound of the propellers. "Why did you change your mind and come?"

Jensen looked over at him sadly. "I'll tell you later."

In the next moment, the helicopter had landed and the propellers slowed to a stop. Angeal quickly opened the door and jumped out, calling for the others to come. So far everything looked peaceful and quiet, but Genesis had said that the rebellion soldiers were waiting to ambush so they could come at any time. He had to get the Infantrymen into safety fast so they could then come up with a strategy.

Directing them over to a nearby house where Genesis had appeared, Angeal anxiously watched the trees for any sign of danger. He still thought it was a bad idea to have so many inexperienced kids on a battlefield.

"Angeal," Genesis said, walking towards him past the line of infantrymen making their way to the house. "I know where-"

A flash interrupted whatever he was going to say and then a bang followed as a grenade exploded just to the side of where they were. Gunshots followed and immediately Genesis and Angeal sprung into action, blocking the bullets with their swords and herding the infantrymen towards the house faster.

But it wasn't fast enough. The Wutai soldiers seemed to appear out of nowhere, firing guns and throwing more and more grenades. Angeal quickly yelled out for his men to stand strong and fight, glad to see that they all did turn and begin firing weapons at the enemy.

The Wutai soldiers must have known that an attack after the helicopter landed would be most effective as everyone would be momentarily distracted.

"Angeal!" Genesis yelled out and Angeal quickly spun around to block an attack from a man whose long black hair was dyed blue and red on the tips.

Davis fired his gun, trying to stop the man who was approaching him from getting any closer. Rex stood beside him, also shooting.

It felt useless. The man kept dodging and firing his own bullets at them that they only just managed to manoeuvre out of the way from in time. It was as if the man was taunting them and not really trying to aim at them properly.

Davis felt something at his back and panicked, shooting a glance over his shoulder as Rex took a turn to fire at the man. Thankfully, it was only Jinx standing back-to-back with him.

"They're everywhere!" Jinx called.

"I know!" Davis replied. "But there aren't even that many of them!"

"If Sephiroth was here we wouldn't-" Jinx stopped to take aim and fire, grunting in frustration as he only grazed his opponents arm. "We wouldn't have any trouble!"

Davis nodded even though Jinx couldn't see him and continued to focus on trying to shoot the man in front of him, glad that Jinx was covering his and Rex's backs. He wondered where Kayli and Jensen were, but now was not the time to look for them.

"Ah!" Jinx cried out just as the man Davis and Rex were shooting at was distracted by Zack who had jumped in to fight him with his sword.

Davis quickly spun around to see what was wrong with Jinx.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I stubbed my toe!" Jinx growled, lifting his gun again and shooting one last time at the man who refused to die in front of him. This time, since the man had been distracted watching Jinx hop up and down, the bullet embedded itself in his leg and he fell to the ground.

"Good shot."

"Davis!" Rex yelled, grabbing his friends arm and spinning him around. Davis hurriedly searched for what Rex could be trying to alert him off and then he saw it. Kayli was on the ground, scrambling as fast as she could away from a man holding a gun on her.

But what really caught Davis' attention was the man who was quickly walking towards them, his eyes narrowed in anger as he approached.

"Qurt, leave him!" the man snapped. "He's mine!"

Davis shrugged Rex off him and started running. That was Liam. He knew it was Liam because there was no doubting the resemblance between them. Kayli couldn't deal with this yet!

Kayli stopped scrambling away when she saw him. Her limbs seemed to freeze up as she stared in horror at the man who dropped to his knees beside her and reached out to grab her shirt, pulling her up off the ground slightly.

"Well, well," Lee said with a chuckle. "Little Roy didn't die like I thought."

Kayli felt her head spin slightly and fought off the nausea. She couldn't let him get to her. Just because he thought she was her twin brother didn't mean anything.

"Come, I'm taking you back with me." Lee said, standing and pulling her up as well. She began to struggle, trying to make him let her go, but he didn't even blink as he brought his gun around and shot her in the leg, eliciting a cry of pain as she almost collapsed to the ground again. He then dragged her away from the fighting and whistled for Qurt, who instantly came running up.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I need you to hold him for me while I finish these people off." Lee said. Qurt nodded and took hold of Kayli, making sure to hold firmly as Lee ran off back into the fighting.

Before Lee got far, though, he was stopped by another Infantryman.

"Out of my way or I'll kill you." Lee snapped.

"I don't think so!" Davis cried, bring up his gun and firing. Lee was taken by surprise at the boy's bravery and only had enough time to move so the bullet grazed his side. Suddenly angered that he had been wounded by someone so young, he brought his own gun round and slammed it into the boys head, knocking him out.

Kuja and Kuta were fighting Genesis and Angeal, trying their best to keep them occupied enough so that they wouldn't be able to help anyone else. Grenades were going off everywhere courtesy of Yakov and thankfully the confusion level was incredibly high. It was difficult to see who was where and whether the person approaching was an enemy or not at times.

Sergei, thankful for Kuja and Kuta's distracting techniques, was fighting against Camon and Nareau. They were proving to be good at what they did, but he knew it wouldn't be long until he was able to finish them off. Besides, his eyes didn't have a faint glow in them for no reason.

Once a SOLDIER, always a SOLDIER.

Another sudden blast from one of Yakov's grenades went off right beside Sergei and his opponents, making them all turn away to shield themselves.

But Sergei was faster at recovering and brought his gun up to fire, hitting Nareau in the arm and getting Camon in the chest. They both fell backwards from the impact and Sergei shook his head with a smirk. He never could understand why SOLDIERs preferred to use swords to guns, which always finished a job quickly.

"No!"

Sergei turned to see a boy with dirty blond hair running towards him with a gun in his hand, eyes wide in horror. The poor boy probably hadn't ever seen anyone die before.

Rex couldn't believe Camon was down and unmoving. The SOLDIER had always been so strong, loud and invincible. Sure, this was the first time he'd seen him in an actual battle, but Camon was the last person Rex had imagined would ever be killed.

So he ran at Sergei, knowing that he had to get revenge any way he could. Raising his gun, he took a shot as he ran, cursing under his breath as it went over the man's shoulder and didn't harm him at all.

Sergei walked forward to meet him, bringing his own gun up but not firing. Rex then slowed down to a stop and they stared at each other for a while before Sergei grinned and began to circle. Rex gulped and turned with the man, not wanting to take his eyes off him.

Once Sergei had walked far enough so that now Rex's back was to Camon and Nareau, he lowered his arm. Rex couldn't see, but Lee was now standing next to Camon with Camon's sword in his hands and waiting for the right moment to strike.

Rex hesitated for a moment but then quickly brought his left arm up, preparing to shoot Sergei since he had let his guard down.

But just as quickly, someone leapt out from behind him and brought a sword down on his shoulder.

He lost all feeling.

He lost... his arm.

At the same time, Sergei raised his hand again and fired one bullet, watching in satisfaction as the boy fell back against the dirt ground and lay still.

"Lee," Sergei said. "We need to get out of here or the others will die. Kuja-ta can't hold off the 1st's for much longer."

Lee nodded and turned to see Yakov grinning and throwing two grenades at once, in whatever direction they so happened to go. Apparently he didn't care very much about who he hit.

Angeal and Genesis had finally succeeded in making Kuja and Kuta back off, since the twins had fled. But as they turned and surveyed the damage, they knew the whole thing had been a disaster.

"We have to get them out of here!" Angeal yelled to Genesis, horrified to see Rex lying motionless near an also motionless Camon. Nareau had pulled himself up and was ignoring the blood on his arm as he fought with Yakov.

"Angeal, quick! You have to stop him!" Genesis ordered, pointing to where Lee was running back over to Qurt and Kayli. Angeal nodded and took off.

Genesis then raised his sword and ran towards Sergei, who was fighting Zack and currently winning. Zack was, however, putting up a good fight.

Coming from behind, Genesis shot a fira at Sergei and managed to light his clothes on fire, distracting the man for a moment before gaining the chance to slam him across the back of the head with the hilt of his sword and watch him crumple, unconscious.

Gradually, they were taking control of the situation again. The army soldiers who had been following the Wutai soldiers from a distance had reached the town and were now also joining the fighting, driving the Wutaians out.

Everything would be over soon.

It didn't take long for Yakov to realise that he was greatly outnumbered and would have to leave soon unless he wanted to be killed. Seeing a group of ShinRa soldiers approaching from one side as he continued to fight Nareau, he hurriedly pulled a grenade from his pocket and threw it at them to buy himself some more time.

In the group was Jensen, who had been pushed aside by one of the other soldiers before the grenade exploded, but still caught the blast against his face. A piece of shrapnel caught him in his right eye and he cried out, stumbling backwards blindly.

Yakov took the chance to fire another bullet at Nareau and then run off, hoping to reach the trees and be able to hide before someone else got to him.

Lee was with Qurt and Kayli again, grabbing Kayli and beginning to pull her away from the town.

"You think you can just survive me almost killing you and then show up here in Wutai? In my country?" Lee was grumbling angrily. "Well as punishment I am going to make your life a living hell. You'll never get back to Midgar, you hear me?"

Kayli didn't say anything. She was sure that if she spoke he'd realise she was actually not Roy, but so far she hadn't been able to make up her mind about whether that would be better or worse.

And she kept seeing Rex in her mind, falling backwards with blood running down his side and then lying perfectly still. She hadn't seen exactly where the bullet had hit him, but it must have been near a vital organ.

"Lee!" Qurt cried out, and Lee turned to see Angeal running towards them.

Survival instincts kicked in and Lee picked Kayli up before throwing her over his shoulder and beginning to run as well. A strangled cry from behind informed him that Qurt had just died but he didn't slow.

In amongst the trees he met with Kuja, Kuta and Yakov. Without speaking at all, they set out quickly to get away from the town, knowing that with the two 1st Class SOLDIERs still there they didn't stand a chance.

Kayli could feel the strength draining out of her as she flopped around on Lee's shoulder. Her leg kept hitting things and she was doing all she could not to cry out in pain every time it happened. Hopefully soon she would pass out and not have to worry.

So much for telling Gemma she was okay.

Genesis and Angeal gathered everyone together to assess the situation. Everyone was injured in at least one way, mostly from gunshot wounds to the leg or arm. Davis had been brought from unconsciousness with a bit of water poured over him and he was now standing next to Jinx. Jensen was collapsed on the ground and had blood streaming down the entire right side of his face and drenching his hand as he held it over where the shrapnel had hit him. His entire body shook violently as the shock of it all began to set in. His screams and moans of agony rang out over the town, mingling with the cries of other wounded.

Zack stepped over and bent down to him, quickly picking Jensen up and rushing him over to the helicopter. Moving rapidly, Zack grabbed some thick dressings and bandages before ignoring Jensen's screams of protest as he moved the boy's hand out of the way and began to cover the injury.

Davis and Jinx were watching as the regular army soldiers loaded Camon into the helicopter on a stretcher, with a sheet draped over him.

Next went Rex.

"Where's Roy?" Jinx suddenly asked.

"Not here." Davis said quietly, eyes on the stretcher that held his best friend since childhood. "They took him."

"What? We have to go after him!" Jinx said.

"They said not to. We're not allowed." Davis shook his head.

"Sephiroth?" Genesis was saying into his phone as he walked off. "We're going to need another helicopter."

Angeal let out a sigh from where he stood and shook his head. "I told him this was a bad idea."