Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII, Crisis Core, Before Crisis, or any other part of FFVII.
AN: Thanks for all the reviews. I hope you like the chapter. Oh, and on a side note, I'm now planning to post both items, and a few other things over in my forum in the "FFVII Fanfic Extras" section. So go take a look if you're interested, or even just want to say something about the story.
"Talking"
Thoughts
"Wait, wait, wait. We're gonna do what now?" Did they really just say they planned to…?
"Blow up Mako Reactor One. Tonight." Apparently they had.
"Well, that's a little short notice, isn't it? I thought we were gonna have a couple days." He tossed a questioning look at Tifa. She shot an apologetic smile at him, before responding.
"I thought we would. Someone," Glaring at Barret, she continued. " Must have changed our plans without telling me."
For a second, Barret actually looked a little worried. "Sorry Tif. A good chance popped up. I couldn't jus' let it go."
Sighing, she dropped the glare, knowing that Barret hadn't actually meant anything by it. "Sorry Zack. You still in?"
I really should see Aerith. Especially with Cloud feeling better. But still… "Yeah, I'm in. But I'm expecting something to pay for my troubles."
"We have one thousand gil for this kind of thing. Is that enough?"
"Yeah, that'll do. So what's the plan?" Please tell me you're not gonna just plop down on the floor and make up a plan on the spot.
"Nothin' complicated," Barret spoke up. "We're jus' gonna take the twelve-fifteen up ta the Sector One Plate. Jessie an' Biggs already got the security junk covered, so you an' me jus' gotta set the bomb in the center of the reactor."
"Short n' simple. I like it. So we've got about an hour. Anything else we need to know?"
The brunette over by the monitors had stopped typing, and held out a small card. "You'll need one of these. I made fake IDs to get us past the checkpoints the train goes through. I should be able to have yours done in about half an hour." Taking one of the cards, he glanced it over. Nice. She must've worked with Shinra's tech department before. Not many people can make IDs that'll fool Shinra's automated security systems…Not too hard to get by the guards though.
"Nice. You have to be really good with the techie stuff to pull one over on Shinra's security systems." At this, she gave him an embarrassed grin, clearly pleased to hear the praise. "I know Tifa here mentioned it already, but I'm Zack, by the way."
"I'm Wedge."
"Jessie. Nice to meet you."
"So, who all's coming on this trip?"
"Me n' you, then Biggs, Wedge, n' Jessie. Tif's stayin' back at the bar this time." So Tifa was staying behind?
"Yo Cloud, you're still feelin' sick from the Mako Poisoning, so why don't you stick around here with Tifa this round." The blond looked like he wanted to protest for a moment, but then nodded. As much as he wanted to help, he was still feeling a bit roughed up.
"Don't worry buddy. I'm sure you'll be ready in time for our next job, whatever that is." Nodding back at Cloud, he started for the elevator. "Well, guess I'll be meetin' you guys on the twelve-fifteen to Sector One. Oh, I forgot." Pulling a small box out of his pocket, he tossed it to Cloud "Here buddy. They're from Wutai. Should help you get back on your feet. Later." And with that, he was heading back for the main bar.
"Hey Spiky, help Tif' watch after the place while we're out." Following in Zack's trail, Barret boarded the elevator.
Cloud's downtrodden posture wasn't easy to miss. Walking over and hopping up on the edge of the pool table beside him, Tifa put an arm around her friend's shoulders. She already knew what the problem was, but he'd probably be better of actually getting it out.
"Hey Cloud. Why the long face?"
"I just…I want to help, but I can't do anything. It makes me feel…Useless. It's just like before Nibelheim."
I know how you feel. And she did. She hated that shewasn't going with them on this mission, but they needed someone to watch Marlene if things went awry."Don't worry about that. You heard what he said. You'll be back on your feet in no time."
Biggs cut in on the conversation, clearly following the same line of thought. "Yeah squirt, no worries. I'm sure you'll be ready to kick some Shinra ass by the time we pull our next job."
Giving his shoulders one more squeeze, Tifa made for the elevator. "I have to go put Marlene to bed. You can feel free to use anything down here or up at the bar." As she left, Biggs turned to Cloud.
"So, any good at pool?"
In the meantime, after retrieving the Buster Sword from the Seventh Heaven, Zack was back at the inn. Or weapon shop, depending on who you asked. He was slightly disappointed to see that they'd let the kid down. He'd been hoping to get in one more shot at making him admit that the Mauler couldn't touch the Griffon.
Oh well, at least I know it's true.
"Hey there, sonny. Rentin' up another room tonight?"
"Sorry man. We're shackin' up at the Seventh Heaven. I was hoping to find some materia though, if you guys happen to have any. You do sell weapons here, right?"
Glad to have a customer who would actually pay a decent price and not try to skip out on it, they were glad to help. "Well, we do have one. Neither of us really know how to use it, but we're pretty sure it's a good attack spell." Reaching behind the counter, the man running the weapon shop opened a small compartment at the bottom of the counter near the floor, and pulled out a small green orb the size of a large marble.
"Whattya think?"
Zack took the small orb in the palm of his hand and closed his eyes, making a small fist around it. He focused on the spirit energy flowing through the materia from the planet, bringing the energy just to the surface and holding it there, as he didn't want to cast a spell in the center of a building. A short time later, he opened his eyes, grinning at the salesman.
"Oh yes, this will do just fine. How's three hundred gil sound? Standard rate for base level materia up on the plate."
Eyes gleaming, the man gladly accepted the offer. They'd only been planning to sell it for half of that. Maybe two hundred if they could drag it out of one of the Shinra soldiers around there who wanted to use it.
"Thanks. I'm sure I can put this to good use. It'll be a real 'shocker' for the next guy who decides to pick a fight with yours truly."
"Good doin' business with ya. Stop in again any time."
Giving them a wave as he walked out the door, he pulled out the Buster Sword, and placed the materia in the slot nearest to the hilt. Well, guess I should head for the station.
Barret had been sitting in Marlene's room for nearly an hour. He had already made all of his preparations before coming to the meeting, so he knew he had the time. It was all he wanted to do, really. He was confident in his skills, but they'd never attempted something like this before, and an "ex-SOLDIER" appearing to join them just as the plan was getting ready to come to fruition made him suspicious.
Kissing the girl on her forehead, with a strangely gentle grace for someone his size, he whispered an "I love you" before walking out the door, and shutting it behind him. He knew that Tifa would watch over his adopted daughter if anything happened to him. Holding his gun-arm in front of his face, he looked over it one more time, and let out a deep breath.
Let's do this.
Entering the main room below, he found Tifa cleaning the room up yet again. It was already more than clean enough, but they knew she felt like she had to keep herself busy when she was worried about something. In this case, probably them. They'd been resisting Shinra before with smaller things like leaving messages on Shinra property, or talking to customers about how bad Mako Reactors were for the planet. But they'd never done something so extreme. Something that could make Shinra acknowledge their "New Avalanche" just as much as they recognized the old Avalanche. She was especially worried since she wouldn't be joining them, and couldn't do anything to help as a result.
"Later Tif."
"Barret." He stopped walking, turning halfway toface her."Be careful, okay?" He would try. He couldn't promise anything, but he could try.
"Please. Like I need ta be careful. We'll whip them Shinras like they werea coupla toddlers. Yadon't got nothin' ta worry'bout with me there." He grinned at her, and she smiled back.
"We'll be waiting for you guys. Just try not to get hurt."
"Yes Ma'am." He gave her a little mock salute, and walked through the door.
As the timer went off, Jessie pulled out their new IDs.
"Time to go boys." Wedge made a few more small adjustments to his model plane and placed it on a nearby crate, while Biggs put the black eight ball into the right side pocket of the pool table. Patting Cloud on the shoulder, he followed as Jessie and Wedge made for the elevator.
"Best two out of three when we get back?"
"Sure."
As they rose to the bar floor, she made sure to give them their IDs. Didn't want any accidents happening on this run. Tifa was waiting at the bar when they came through, and gave them a thumbs up.
"Good luck. And guys, take care."
Biggs happily returned the sign, grinning as he spoke. "We'll be back before you know it."
Wedge joined in the reassurances, as did Jessie.
"Hey, nothing's gonna happen to me when I've got your cookin' to look forward to."
"Yeah, and I can't very well leave you with just these goony guys for company." They laughed for a few seconds, before leaving with one last wave from Tifa.
Tifa was worried, but knew they'd be fine. After all, they're good at what they do. And now they have a SOLDIER with them.
When Zack arrived, Barret and his crew were already waiting at the bench near the train. Barret looked like he was in a bad mood, but the other three seemed fine. The gunman probably just didn't trust him.
"Heya guys. My late?" Jessie shook her head, while Biggs and Wedge murmured a couple of negatives at him, clearly anxious. Barret just gave him a grunt. As he got closer, the brunette handed him the small ID she'd made earlier.
"It's a bit of a rush job, but it should work fine. I'll make a better one later."
"That's enough yappin' people. We need ta get this crazy train movin'. We're in the last car, so hop on."
Getting on the train wasn't remotely hard, nor was getting to the last car. At twelve-fifteen, it would practically be deserted until later in the morning, save for the few "residents" who took advantage of the fact that the train didn't require a fee by using it as a mobile home of sorts. Wedge, still looking rather anxious, decided to strike up a conversation.
"So, uh, I've never really been up on the plate before. What's it like?" Figuring he'd probably spent more time on the plate than most of them, Zack decided to give him a rundown.
"Depends on where you're going, really. The industrial sector is probably impressive when it comes to architecture, but it's nothin' pretty to look at. Y'know, just a bunch of drab, cookie-cutter grey and black buildings. Well, that's not true. Sometimes they have that nice yellowish-brown rust color covering half the building."
Wedge didn't look like he would enjoy listening to that, so Zack moved on.
"The rest isn't that bad though. They've got a couple smaller chocobo racing arenas that are fun to visit, but nothing like what you can see at the Gold Saucer. Some of the richer neighborhoods are pretty fun to roam. Oh, and they've got the Balfia Technological History Museum over in Sector Four. Big place with all the information on technological advancements over the last hundred years. I think it's a bit too preachy and drawn out, but you guys would probably be able appreciate it more than me."
Wedge spoke up at this, while Biggs and Jessie were listening in, obviously interested in something relating to their specialties.
"All the technology? So does it have like, afull-scalemodel of the Gelnika?"
Zack smiled before answering. "Yep. They have one of the real live Gelnika modelson display, actually. Last time I saw it, the only things they didn't actually have were the Highwind and the rocket up in Rocket Town. Pity too, because those'd be a sight to see."
Before he could continue, and alarm started blaring. Security alarm! Damn…As Zack pulled the Buster Sword from where it rested on his back, Jessie looked like she was trying to decide between being worried, and incredibly angry.
"This shouldn't have happened. I must've made a mistake on Zack's card."
"It's too late ta worry 'bout that now." They were almost at the station. There wouldn't be any point in jumping ship this close. "The Shinra're gonna be ready ta start a fight. SOLDIER-boy, you're up first."
"On it." Going to the door, he shoved it open, grabbed the top, and flipped himself onto the roof.
"Damn showoff."
Jessie was grinning at him. "Oh c'mon Barret, he's not that bad."
Zack was running across the train cars, wanting to get to the front before it came to a stop. No point in sticking around on the back. At least this way, he might be able to catch the security team that would probably be sent to apprehend them by surprise. As he reached the engine car, he could see the station coming into view. Glancing behind him to make sure the others made it to the roof without trouble, he looked ahead again only to find several soldiers running onto the platform, readying their weapons.
He gave a quick salute with the Buster Sword, then focused on the materia inside it, and began charging the energy around his hand, curling it into a fist. As the electricity crackled and jumped around his fingers, he prepared to jump. "Throwing" the strands of lightning from his hands, and seeing the soldiers fly back across the platform as they were hit head-on by the deadly spell, he jumped from the train as it began to slow.
By the time Barret and the others joined him on the platform, Zack was calmly standing there, several more Shinra soldiers now either dead or disabled on the ground.
"What took ya?"
"Ah, jus' shut it. Le's get movin'. Our goal," he pointed towards the reactor to the north, "Is Mako Reactor Number One."
As the others ran ahead, Zack took a moment to look up at the towering structure.
Well. Let's get this party started.
AN: So, there we have it. We've finally hit the reactor. Hoping to hear more from you guys. Always nice to have some reader input, even if it's just a "Keep it up."