DECEMBER 9TH, [ ν ] - εγλ 0007
SECTOR 1, MIDGAR PLATE
The headquarters of the Shinra Electric Power Company loomed over Midgar, omnipresent, omnipotent, unopposed; how could such a beast, so confident, so arrogant in its dominance, even dream that this very night, far below its watching eye, defiance sped across its surface?
Rails sparked and thundered as the train charged up through the city. Barrett, his one good hand gripping the bars on the carriage roof so tight his knuckles showed through his dark skin, turned and called back to the four figures clinging on behind him. "Hold on! We got work to do and fallin' off ain't it!" Up ahead the sky glowed, illuminated by glaring cyan fire. The sun never set in Midgar; it just turned green at night. "Sector One Reactor straight ahead!"
Despite the rushing air dragging at her, snatching at her long dark hair, threatening to loosen her grip at any moment, Tifa couldn't help but smile. This was it. Finally.
It had been months since Barret had first talked to her about his plan. "Sendin' a message," he'd called it. "Showin' those dogs in Shinra that folks like us ain't jus' gonna stand by and watch 'em destroy everything! We'll show 'em there's more important shit than jus' money!"
It hadn't taken much to persuade her; Tifa had spent too many nights down in the slums surrounded by the poor folk Shinra had left far behind. If there was anything she could do to get them some justice she was going to do it.
Barret's plan was simple; take out the Mako reactors, one by one. "Take their power right from 'em, right up there on the Plate."
Tifa had been sceptical. "Surely someone's tried that before. They're going to be well-guarded."
"Right now they think they're invincible, which means they ain't gonna be watchin' too closely. Think about it," Barret had said, a wide grin on his face. "Who'd be stupid enough to take on the Shinra?"
Tifa still wasn't certain it'd be as easy as Barret was imagining; these were the Mako reactors he was taking about after all. If Midgar was Shinra's crown, the reactors were the jewels set in its silver rim. Even if they pulled this off Shinra would hunt them down like rats. It would be worth it though; they all deserved a chance at something better.
At least they weren't facing the risks alone. She turned to the others, her hands still clinging to the rail. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie. They were friends of Barret's, easy converts to the cause, but believers none the less. Biggs smiled at her. "Looking good, Tifa!" She grinned back at him, heart pounding, adrenalin racing through her. Whatever happened, they'd be fighting together.
Brakes screeched as the train began a slow, curving bend. Up ahead the reactor stood silhouetted below its own glaring discharge. Tifa braced herself, getting ready to jump.
Barret raised his fist. "On my mark! Three… Two… One… Now!"
Tifa leapt, and for a moment it felt like flying; the train spinning away, the air speeding by… In all that followed Tifa would sometimes think of that moment, remember that feeling; how, looking back, that jump really felt like the start of everything. Sometimes that's all it takes. You open your eyes; take one last breath; forget your fear; and make that leap, no matter where it takes you.
A moment of wind, noise, chaos; then the ground rushed up to meet her, hard and steady. She landed fast, skidding, knees bending. A jolt of pain shot up her legs; unpleasant, but nothing compared to some of the punches she'd taken over the years. She grimaced, turning back to the others. "Is everyone okay?"
"Just peachy," Wedge wheezed. He'd stumbled as he landed and was looking a little worse for wear. "Next time, can we have a plan that doesn't involve throwing ourselves off a moving train!?"
Jessie pulled him to his feet. "Face it Wedge, of all the things we're doing tonight that's probably the least dumb."
"This ain't the time to stand around yakkin!" Barret was already up and running towards the reactor entrance. "Now the mission really starts!" Tifa started after him, closely followed by the others. Up ahead two figures stood by the doors, weapons in hand. Shinra guards, infantrymen. Tifa gritted her teeth, her fist clenching. Barret was already raising his metallic right arm, its gun barrels spinning into life. "Alright people, this is it! Let's show these planet-killin' bastards what we can do!"
"Stay back! Stay back or I'll-" A blast of machinegun fire from Barret's arm cut the infantryman off mid-sentence. He crumpled to the ground, blood pooling around him. His companion raised his rifle, but before he could even fire a single shot Tifa was on him. Her fist spun out, too fast to follow, smashing the rifle barrel away before rising to the infrantman's jaw. His head cracked back, teeth and bone crunching. He staggered away, arms dropping. A second violent blow to the solar plexus sent him finally tumbling down.
Catching up, Biggs punched her playfully on the arm. "Leave some for the rest of us, eh Tifa?"
"Keep up with me and they're all yours!"
Through the doors; along corridors lit by sickly yellow light; out on a series of gangplanks; and once again there were voices calling, stronger this time. Barret cursed. "Watch out! It looks like this place has got itself a SOLDIER infestation!"
Up ahead two figures stood ready, swords raised. They were dressed in matching blue combat uniforms, heavily developed muscles showing through the tough fabric. The way their large helmets obscured their features gave the pair a mechanical, robotic feel. Tifa couldn't help but imagine they'd been constructed, not born; they stood before her, horrible automatons built with a singular purpose- her and her companion's extinction.
Machine gun fire roared once again; Barret hefted his spinning prosthesis, arcing a stream of fiery shots across the gangplank towards the two figures. They leapt in unison, dodging the attack with ease. It was all Tifa could do to throw herself out of their path as they smashed down where she had stood just moments before, cascades of sparks flying as their blades struck metal. She scrambled to her feet, desperately kicking out towards the nearest of the two. He spun away from the blow, bringing the pommel of his sword down in a savage cracking hit to her exposed ankle. Tifa screamed as pain flashed up her leg. Gloved fingers gripped her as she staggered, too tight to pull away, and before she could even gather her senses she was moving, lifted, flying, thrown through the air. She landed hard on the grated floor; slid; grabbed for purchase; found none; began to fall…
"Tifa, hang on!" Hands seized her once again, just as tight as before, this time from care rather than cruelty. Tifa slowly opened her eyes. She swung above a chasm that stretched down into abyssal black, lit far below by the glow, where the reactor had punched into the very Lifestream of the planet itself, pulsating like a seeping wound. Massive as it was from the outside, nothing had prepared her for the sense of scale in here. The interior of the reactor was almost too large to comprehend, a cathedral built to honour gods of dark industry.
Above her Jessie lay, arms outstretched, holding her aloft. Relief flooded through her, but it was short-lived. In a flash of steel the SOLDIER that had thrown her was before them once again, sword aimed for Jessie's unprotected back. "Look out!"
Out of nowhere Biggs and Wedge crashed into the SOLDIER. With a cry of surprise and fury he fell against the rail; began to tip; and with one more vicious strike from Biggs fell, screaming, disappearing far below them.
Grunting with exertion Jessie and Wedge pulled Tifa back onto the ledge. It wasn't over yet. Across the gantry Barret was still grappling with the second SOLDIER, the metal of his arm locked with the cruel edge of his opponent's long sabre. Ignoring the other's protestations Tifa stood and ran towards them. Taking the SOLDIER by surprise she slid into a low spinning kick, colliding with his legs. He stumbled; fell; crashed down, his helmet falling away.
Tifa was surprised by how young he seemed behind the metal, just a kid really. Young… And scared.
His face exploded into a burst of spraying crimson and shattered bone as Barret's arm screamed out a final deadly chorus.
For a moment, silence; then Wedge coughed. "That was a little extreme."
"Monsters," Barret spat. "Mako-beasts the lot of 'em. Puttin' 'em down is doin' 'em a favor." He turned away towards the central column that climbed before them. A console imbedded in the wall blinked and whirred. "Come on. We're not done yet."
To Tifa, with her white top still marked with blood, the next minutes seemed to pass like a blur; the bomb being planted; them sliding along walkways; running back through corridors of yellow light; out onto streets still alight with glowing cyan and the stars dancing far overhead.
For just a moment the night was impossibly still. Then…
It started small; just a rumble at first, but it grew, the earth shaking as they ran. Then, with the furious roar of a dying monster, fire exploded outwards, consuming the entire towering structure in a single scorching blast. Tifa felt the terrifying heat on her back, heard the groans of twisting, falling metal; and there, in the distance, slow, rising screams.
Barret stopped, turning back towards the sounds. "You hear that? That's the sound of what's gotta be done. It sure ain't pretty but it's the only way Shinra is gonna be stopped." They stood, watching the chaos, each lost in thought. Smoke had begun to coil far above them, fat, snaking blotches of billowing vapour; it would not be long before pursuers caught up.
After a while Wedge broke their contemplation. "Now what?"
"We stick to the plan. Split up and make for Seventh Heaven." Barett nodded towards a nearby alley. "I'll head this way. Wedge, Biggs, you go east, Jessie west. Tifa-"
She cut him off with a hand. "Don't worry. I can handle myself."
He smiled knowingly. "I believe that. Don't be late!" With calls of encouragement they split away down their routes, heads down, feet pounding, as if President Shinra himself was at their backs.
A minutes' desperate sprinting and Tifa found herself alone at an intersection. The effects of the reactor blowing were starting to show; street lights exploded into sparkling shards; cables, broken by power surges, fell and danced, flashes of electricity cascading down; the very ground seemed to dance beneath her feet. She stood in the centre of it all, and for a second she was lost; just for a second, in the midst of the carnage, Tifa was afraid.
A hand on her shoulder. Then a voice, young and sweet: "Are you okay?"
She was stunning; that was the first thing that Tifa registered about the girl. The way her carefully arranged brunette curls fell to her shoulders, perfectly accented by a single pink bow; the way her blue eyes seemed to silently whisper that everything would be alright; despite herself, Tifa felt her shoulders relax, tension she hadn't even noticed falling away. The girl smiled at her. "Hey there."
"Hi…"
"You looked a little out of it. I just wanted to make sure everything was alright."
Another cable tumbled to the ground, sparks flying just inches from them. Tifa flinched, reality rushing back in. She pushed the strange girl back. "I'm okay, but you've got to get out of here! It's not safe!"
"Not without my flowers!"
"What?"
The girl dodged around Tifa's outstretched arm, snatching up a basket sat on the sidewalk. It fell open as she lifted it, revealing a flash of brilliant colour.
A single flower drifted to the ground, settling at Tifa's feet. She reached down, taking it gently by the stem, her eyes wide with astonishment. "You grew these? How?"
The flower girl smiled. "It's easier than you'd think. You just need to give them a little time, a little love, and they turn out beautiful, even in a place like this. Just like people, really."
Tifa turned the delicate specimen in her hand, her wide eyes taking in the gentle curves, the bright colour of the petals. She could almost taste the sweet aroma, more intoxicating than anything she served back at the bar. It was hard to picture something so elegant, so natural, existing in Midgar. In the distance the sky was still alight with orange fire; in the glow, the flower seemed more real, more alive.
Her reverie was broken by the clatter of feet on cobblestones and the calling of angry voices. "There she is! Don't let her get away!"
Tifa clenched her fists, dropping back into her well-honed combat stance. "Get out of here," she called back over her shoulder. "It's me they want!"
A crowd of infantrymen burst into the intersection, guns raised. Tifa ducked, shielding the girl as shots rang out. Chips flew around them, bullets striking stone. They'd been clever; every exit was blocked. Tifa gritted her teeth. Fighting their way out wouldn't work; too many of them, no way she could fight them all. More shots- if she stayed still her and the girl would be dead in seconds. Tifa stared about, desperately looking for any way out, any possible escape.
Then, in the distance, a train horn sounded…
Behind her, far below the street, tracks raced away, headed for the slums. Without thinking, Tifa jumped up onto the edge. The girl stared at her, her face full of fear. "What are you doing!?"
"Trust me," Tifa yelled, more shots ringing out. "It's our only chance!" She dragged the girl up onto the ledge. Time seemed to slow; men closing in, guns raised; the girl, pressed against her; Tifa's eyes blazing; and at last the train, thundering out of the darkness towards them, lights glaring out. Without thinking Tifa leapt, pulling the girl with her-
In the night-time glow of Mako reactors, burning fires and the ever-watching towering lights of Shinra, the train thundered away, towards the darkness of the slums and whatever future lay there waiting.