Before Crisis: The Beginning
By DarkAngel
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of the Final Fantasy VII compilation – not characters, places, concepts or any indicia. Nor am I making any money off of the story. It's all in good fun, folks. :)
Chapter 7: The Bombing Mission (Rosalind)
Rosalind ran through the streets, searching for her quarry. She hadn't seen any more of the brown-garbed men since her first and only skirmish with the two operatives earlier. She was almost at the reactor when her PHS rang again. Skidding to a halt, she grabbed the device in her pocket, nearly dropping it in her haste.
It was Tseng. "I want you to get information out of anybody you capture. What are you using now?"
Rosalind blinked quickly. "Standard 9 millimetre rounds. I've also got a few rubber tipped bullets and Sleepel rounds, though."
"Use the Sleepel rounds. How many of those have you got?"
"A standard cilp's worth. Should I be using those then?"
"Yes. Keep me informed if you find out anything else."
"Yes sir."
Hanging up, she quickly replaced cartridges, feeling strangely reassured by the click as the cartridge locked into place. Hefting the handgun to get a feel for its adjusted weight, she nodded to herself before starting down the street again.
She hadn't gone more than 300 yards when she heard voices from around the corner. She stopped, leaning against the wall, weapon at the ready.
"…we'll secure this route. Don't let anybody through."
There were sounds of affirmatives, then footsteps running down the street. Licking her lips, she peered around the corner. Nobody there. They must have gone on ahead. At the next corner, she did the same thing and saw one of the brown-suited men. Whipping around, she fired a round, bringing him down.
The sound of boot steps behind Rosalind got her attention. Spinning around, she came face to face with two hostiles.
"There's no getting away now!" one of them shouted. The man lunged, throwing a punch. Rosalind ducked, throwing her arm straight out, catching him in the midsection. There was a whoosh of air and the operative fell to the ground, wheezing. The second one was moving slowly, eyeing Rosalind through his visor. Rosalind's eyes narrowed.
"What are you after? Why are you doing this?"
The man didn't answer. Instead he ran at her, throwing a punch. Rosalind ducked again, then reeled as something connected with her head. Scrambling back, she glared. He had feinted. Raising her gun, she tried to line up a shot but unexpectedly he leapt, tackling her. With a shriek she went down, her head hitting the pavement hard. Spots swam before her eyes.
Suddenly there was a heavy pressure on her throat. Rosalind's breath hitched as more shapes exploded behind her eyes. She was being strangled! She reached up, trying to pry her assailant's fingers off of her but he only laughed and pressed down harder. Her eyes widened. She wanted to cough but couldn't muster enough air through her blocked passages to do it. She felt as if she were drowning. She was going to die!
With a hoarse yell that grated against her throat, she gathered as much strength as she could and whipped out her hand at her assailant's face. There was a great howl, and suddenly his hand was off of her. All at once, stinging air filled her lungs and Rosalind coughed, struggling to stand up.
Her attacker was on the ground, clutching his face. He let his hand fall away from his face, and Rosalind grimaced. His eye was bleeding profusely. She couldn't tell because the eye was shut and covered in blood, but she was pretty sure she had damaged his sight.
"You little bitch!" he snarled.
Without thinking, Rosalind dove forward, avoiding the man's second lunge. Rolling, she reached for her weapon just as the man grabbed her ankle. With a grunt, she bent her body forward just as he was trying to haul her up. Taking as best an aim she could, she fired. With a great bellow, the man let go, staggering back. Rosalind fired again. Finally, his good eye rolled up into his head, and he collapsed on top of her legs.
Breathing hard, Rosalind shuddered. That had been too close. Crawling over to the operatives, she checked their pulses. They were both fast asleep. With a shaking, shuddering breath, she got unsteadily to her feet. Tears stung her eyes. She wiped them away angrily. Spinning on her heel, she continued on toward the reactor.
Another pair of operatives were just up ahead. Rosalind didn't even bother with stealth this time. The last encounter had left her feeling angry. Who the hell were these people and what kind of sick game were they trying to pull? If she were Reno or St. Andrew, she would have described her feelings at that moment as "pretty fucking mad".
The operatives spun around. "We're not letting you get away with this, Shin-Ra traitor!" one of them shouted. "Don't think you're getting out alive!"
Stony faced, Rosalind raised her weapon – just as the PHS rang. If thoughts could kill, the phone would have melted in her pocket right about now.
"What's your situation?"
Tseng. Couldn't he call until she'd finished? Pushing aside the urge to shout at him, she reported her situation.
"If you've got a number of opponents to fight at the same time, use magic. It'll make things easier for you." How he could sound calm was beyond her. "You do know how to use magic, right?"
"Yes I do." She didn't bother to tell him that this too was something she had already gotten accustomed to at the academy.
The edge in her voice must have been evident, because Tseng sounded sympathetic when he spoke next. "I know this is a tough situation to be in, but hang in there."
Pocketing her PHS Rosalind took out the first operative, then without batting an eye, took out the other with a second quick tap. Still feeling somewhat angry from the strangling she'd been subjected to earlier, she hauled one of the operatives up by the collar. "What are your motives? What are you trying to do here?"
The Sleepel bullet was just starting to take effect. The eyes of the operative were drooping shut. "As if we'd tell someone from Shin-Ra…"
Frustrated, she dropped him, ignoring the thunk he made as he unceremoniously made contact with the ground. Checking her clip, she grimaced. She was running out of Sleepel bullets. She would have to be more careful or else she'd be back to standard rounds. Ignoring the vicious part of her that gleefully suggested using the normal bullets – all she'd have to do was wound them… so long as they didn't die it didn't matter – she ran for the reactor.
There were other operatives lining the road to the reactor, but she ignored them, running and dodging them. She had to get to the reactor.
At the end of the street there was another operative blocking the way to the open space that would lead to the reactor. "You're not getting past me!" the brown suited operative shouted belligerently. Without stopping Rosalind raised her hand. "Lightning!" she yelled. A bolt shot down and struck the operative, who fell to the ground, twitching.
Grabbing him by the collar, she asked him who he was, but he was just as recalcitrant as the rest of his comrades and wouldn't answer. Frustrated, Rosalind knocked him out and moved on.
Sprinting, she headed once more in the direction of the reactor. She was almost there…
The PHS rang. Again. Picking up, she heard Tseng's voice. He sounded terse, verging on frantic. "The doors to the reactor's underground entrance have been blasted open."
Rosalind's eyes widened. No…
"It's my fault. I'm sorry." She hadn't been fast enough to stop them. If she hadn't wasted all that time with operatives that didn't matter, she might have gotten here sooner.
"Don't worry about that right now," Tseng said. "Now listen to me. The intruders are aiming for the reactor itself. Stop them from reaching it."
"Roger." She wouldn't fail this time.
Running out in front of the operatives standing guard in front of the reactor, she made quick work of them. Attracted by the ruckus, three more of them boiled out of a side street. Quickly forming the targets in her mind, she screamed out the lightning spell, satisfied as three bolts found their mark. Her satisfaction was short lived, because at that moment even more of the operatives came rushing in, surrounding her. Doing a quick head count, she realized that she now had a dozen of them against her. This wasn't good.
So be it. Rosalind closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. If she was going to die, she was going to die fighting. She raised her gun. "Come on then," she said lowly.
There was shouting coming off to the right. Just then two of the men fell. A tall, thin man with a shock of long red hair stood in their place. Her eyes widened. Reno?
He grinned at her. "Hey rookie! Looks like you've gotten yourself into a hell of a mess on your first day, huh?"
She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Trying again, she blurted out the first thing that came into her mind. "I thought you had other orders…?"
He shrugged, casually kicking aside one of the fallen men. The other operatives watched him, shocked into stillness. Coming to join her, Reno gave the remaining men an appraising look. Immediately, two more operatives filled the spot Reno had just vacated. He seemed amused at that.
"I've been called in to be your support," he said casually, as if they were talking about a Sunday walk in the park, not a life and death situation. At her stricken look, he laughed. "Don't worry about it." He clapped her on the shoulder. Then, turning away so his back was to her, he tapped his EMR against his shoulder. "All right, rookie – let's finish this up as quick as possible!"
The good thing about having Reno on your side was he was fast. He'd taken down about three of the men before she'd even gotten one down. The bad thing about having Reno on your side was you didn't get much of a chance to do anything for yourself. Spinning around almost casually, he knocked one man down before ducking and taking a swipe at another. In the end, Rosalind only had to deal with two of the operatives. When all was said and done, he winked at her. "Mission complete."
Or not. Three more men came rushing onto the scene with cries of defiance, fists flailing.
"They just keep coming," Reno said, the exasperation creeping into his voice.
"At this rate, they'll get to the reactor," Rosalind muttered tightly. "That's what they want."
"Seems like it." Reno tossed her a look. "Okay then, rookie. You go on ahead. I'll take care of these guys."
Rosalind blinked at him. It wasn't that she doubted that Reno could deal with their opponents, but… She nodded. "Yes sir. Be careful."
She ran into the reactor.
To be continued…