Final Fantasy 7: The Enemy Within

by ilMaestroAmadio

Gaia is threatened by a catastrophe and Yuffie Kissaragi joins the WRO again under the command of Reeve Tuesti, who pairs her up with a unique fellow. Things will turn out to be drammatically different than they seem as the duo races to save Gaia. And themselves! (first fanfiction ever;M for violence/steam; post FF:DC;) (REVIEWS APPRECIATED);

20. Junon

JUNON

1.

The landing skids of the Shera touched the ground of the landing pad and a sudden jolt ran throughout the entire frame. Most of the crew stationing near the loading bay of the ship nearly lost their equilibrium as the landing was rougher than expected

"Fuck that!" Cade shouted as he nearly stumbled. He had his hands tied behind his back and was far from the walls of the loading bay so he had nowhere to grab to in order to prevent himself from tumbling down. He eventually managed to stand on his feet despite the unannounced shock.

Beside him, Yuffie easily managed to keep her balance without having to resort to anything resembling a mad flitter, much to Cade's amazement

"How did you do that?" he asked, staring at her

Yuffie winked at him "Ninja training!" she simply replied

Cade smiled back. He glanced at the girl next to him, who had almost fearlessly volunteered to tag along in the plan he had devised to sneak into the Junon penitentiary and free his uncle. She was wearing worn out combat boots around her feet, sorted by a stash of used equipment which served to the purpose of suggesting she had endured a hard time being withheld by Cade. Her legs were wrapped up in the SISF trousers and she wore a white tee over her shoulders.

She was beautiful, even with that second hand clothing upon her. Cade could not think of anything else during the hiatus just before the official beginning of their operation. He was wearing pretty much the same apparel as Yuffie, with the short-sleeved tee revealing the fresh bandages on his arms

'And I'm about to throw her into that mayhem' he sternly scolded himself 'Not only she's beautiful and with a heart as big as the moon but she is also a princess with a throne waiting for her at home. I shouldn't let her run into such risky situation…' he thought to himself as the consequences of bringing Yuffie with him were slowly surfacing to his mind

"Yuffie" he suddenly told her

"Mmmh?"

"You don't have to do this" he explained her "I'll find a way to get you back home safe and clean. You don't have to do this!"

Behind them, Lieutenant Farron was arraying the whole SISF across the bay, with the airship's crew behind them. They were trying to stage a genuine prisoner handover. The special operations operatives were in full battle dress, helmets on their heads and masks on their faces

"I'm doing it" she resolutely replied "Reeve is my friend too. And I want this thing to end!"

"You have a kingdom to look after…" he reminded her

"If we don't do this I'll have nothing to look after!" she firmly replied "I'm going in. Mark my words!"

Cade smiled again "You're sure are a brave girl…"

Yuffie beamed "If you're with me I'll be safe" she reassured him.

Cade felt a surge of warmth in his heart upon hearing these words. How could it be that she trusted him so much?

It is because you always downbeat yourself…

Again that voice. It sent a shiver down his spine as Cade promptly shrugged it away. He hadn't had visions or heard voices since he had shared the bed with Yuffie that night. Evan was right: a sound sleep was all it took him to regain strength and patch up his mind. Not that Yuffie did not do her part, albeit involuntarily…

Cade shook his head again. He needed to focus

"Hey, are you all right?" Yuffie asked him, with concern

"Oh, nothing" he reassured her "I just got lost in a couple of thoughts…"

Behind them, Evan and Cid appeared as well in the hull

"Hey, cranky old man" Cade smiled teasing him "What was that landing just before? Were you nervous?"

"Fuck you!" Cid bitterly replied. Much to both of them, Cid had donned a pristine WRO uniform he had probably never worn in ages. Apparently he was donning that piece of equipment for the sake of adding more veracity to the act

"You are throwing yourself in the arms of the enemy like a blindfolded man, I have all the darn right to be entitled to be fucking nervous!" he shouted, trying to lit up a cigarette "As far as you are concerned Yuffie, you'd better stay alive otherwise Godo will kill us all if they won't…"

"Thanks for your concern, Cid" Yuffie replied "Nice suit by the way! I bet your wife would die to see you wearing that…" she poked fun at him

"Fuck the both of you!" Cid simply retorted , throwing the cigarette to the ground and lighting up another one. Behind that mask, both Yuffie and Cade knew that behind the raspy face, Cid was genuinely worried for them.

In the distance Sarah smiled behind her balaclava. The tactical apparel would have used to both intimidate the lay WRO infantry and to be ready to get in action at once

"You have to pardon him" Evan sighed "you know he's jumpy when he's nervous"

"And not just when he 's nervous…" Cade remarked

"How are you?" Evan asked, turning serious all at once

"A lot of different things all together…" Cade shrugged, smiling

"You are unbearably jolly instead, even when you're nervous!" Yuffie noted

"I'm not nervous" he replied

"I beg to differ" Evan teased him

"Come on" Cade changed subject himself this time "Are you all ready?"

Evan shook his head "We can be as ready as ever but nothing like that has ever been attempted before…"

"There's a first time for everything!" Cade said

"And a last time as well…" Yuffie caustically remarked

"What about you?" Evan turned his attention towards the ninja

"I'm fine" she said "Not feeling a hundred percent comfortable without my weaponry but close enough!"

Evan rolled his eyes "You two are terrible"

They both shared a laughter. They were about to be apprehended by a full size division of the WRO and they had to try to reach Reeve inside the most guarded correctional facility on Gaia and evade. And yet they had the will to laugh. Sarah looked at them from behind, not believing what she was witnessing. Cid pretty much felt the same.

Yet for most of the people sharing the space with them, their attitude had the power to whisk away the tension. And for most of the SISF members, it was a very welcomed diversion

"Listen" Evan told them, after the laughter died "the intelligence specialists will be in touch with you once fireworks will begin. Try to find a way to communicate with us and you'll have Ruding's voice in your ears in no time!"

"Good!" Cade nodded "Else?"

Evan opened his arms, as to tell him that he did not know what else to tell him "You will be in the hands of destiny from the moment you'll be apprehended onward"

"What about the Shera?" Yuffie suddenly asked "What will you do if the guards will eventually storm the ship?"

"We'll come up with something. Now go!" Evan cut short as he backed off and readied his side weapon

"I hate the concept of destiny" Cade muttered. A clang echoed in the bay as the gears handling the opening of the hatch were set in motion. A beam of light made its way inside as the nook between the hatch and the frame widened

"Why?" Yuffie asked, curiously

"It makes me think I have no control on my life" Cade answered, as the door finally lowered, touching the tarmac

At a site opposite the one where the Shera had landed, a rather small plane was landing vertically on a pad. The jet was a liaison aircraft usually reserved for top officers of the WRO. It had never been used before, actually, but Brad Clawbourne thought that the occasion was well worth it and the small, powerful, VSTOL-based jet deserved to be rolled out of the hangar where it had rested for too long.

As he stepped down the aircraft, immediately followed by a party of WRO soldiers earmarked for his own personal protection, he was met by another WRO officer who rushed towards him. The man eager to meet him was older than Brad, and sporting the ranks of general on his uniform.

Once they met, they saluted each other

"Quit it, colonel" the general immediately spoke "we don't have to carry on these idiocies!"

"Appearance is everything, Sir" Brad replied

"How it is to deal with the General Staff?" the general asked

"If only we would not need them…" Brad angrily sighed, as he was led inside a building, going through security checkpoints staffed by WRO personnel who immediately stood at attention once Brad Clawbourne and Jeremiah Reed, general in charge of the Junon WRO Facilities, passed through. The respect they bore for the WRO general was equalled if not overtaken by the respect Brad had for him: Reed was deemed instrumental for this second phase of the plan, as he was the supervisor of a number of facilities all located in Junon which would have immensely served Brad's ends

"Patience, Colonel. Patience" Reed told him "We have all the pieces of the jigsaw at their place, now that the Tuesti family is reunited. It will be only a matter of persuasion and the third phase will be in motion in no time…"

"So is it true, at last?" Brad enquired "The crew of the Shera has captured Tuesti and lady Kissaragi?"

"Apparently they gave themselves in" Reed explained "Plus the Shera was with the newly established special forces team onboard. A piece of cake, apparently…"

"Who was commanding them? They are still on trial status, as far as I know…" Brad wondered

"Major Evan Kallstrom" Reed recalled "A field officer of the WRO. Too close to Mr. Tuesti. Both of them actually…"

"What do you mean?" Brad asked, as they found themselves in a corridor leading to a giant hall that could be seen in the distance

"Nothing" the general shook his head "Nothing at all. But, you know, with the WRO on the verge of breaking apart due to the tensions in the peripheral regions we must be confident and paranoid at the same time. Anyway, the whole facility is at your disposal"

Brad briefly pondered over the words of the WRO general walking beside him

"What about the harbour?" he asked, pointing in the direction of the shoreline

"Just finishing the last tuning up. Enough with the chatter anyhow" the general soon cut short as they were escorted to a lift "I bet you are anxious to meet the prisoners. The old ones and the new ones"

Brad nodded, as the elevator doors opened and they walked in. One of the soldiers belonging to the protection party commanded the lift up to the top floors

"Will there be issues regarding the status of lady Kissaragi? She's the heiress apparent to the throne of Wutai after all…"

As the doors closed and the lift began ascending, Reed made a gesture with his hand "This is a concern not worth worrying. On the other hand, that could be a pretext to drag that anachronistic relic of a country down the sinkhole once and for all…"

Brad marvelled at willingness of General Reed to carry on the plan to its full potential and extent. Reed and his father had always been close friends since they were originally part of the Shera Infantry Corps. If there was someone Brad trusted outside the General Staff, that was him.

"Does someone in the General Staff even suspect a thing about the true nature of our plan?" Reed suddenly asked

"At all" Brad grinned as he shook his head "At all!"

"Good" Reed nodded "You've worked your ass around, Brad. Guess here it comes the time when you can allow yourself some fun…"

The lift stopped. The doors opened again and the twos, plus their escort, were welcomed in the detention wing of the Junon Prison.

"Looking good from here?" Ruding asked one of his specialists, still on the main deck of the Shera

"Pretty much" he replied "It will be risky hacking the system from here. If they found us out we will be a sitting duck…"

"Leave it to the ones tasked with handling the guns" Ruding told him, while patting the side of his belt where he kept the holster. Evan had insisted on issuing a personal weapon, for any eventuality. After a prolonged discussion, Evan got the upper hand. Ruding never like weapons

"What can we see from here?" he resumed, asking his subordinate

"So we've got the landing pads, the main CCTV of the exteriors and the harbour…" the technician cycled through the screens as additional images appeared

"A submarine?" Ruding paused on the section of the screen displaying the recordings from surveillance cameras from the dock

"Something wrong?" the technician enquired

"Nothing, it's just…" Ruding stood still for a moment. Upon seeing the sleek silhouette of the greyish vessel moored at the pier, and the great number of people swarming around it, a bell rang in his brain

"Let me take a look at the operational status of every ship in the WRO arsenal right now…"

The technician's fingers danced on the keyboard and a list scrolled on the display

"What's the hull number of that boat?"

The question raised another issue. No hull number was painted on either side of the submarine

"There isn't…" he finally replied, after a pause

"No submarine results moored in Junon right now" the technician echoed, lightly alarmed by the discovery "and all the other vessels are either sailing towards area marked by unrest or engaged in the search and rescue operation for…"

Ruding instantly snapped from his stasis as soon as a nightmarish hypothesis came together in his mind. As soon as the hypothesis grew more and more realistic, it also came to his mind that taking care of the mysterious submarine was something they did not have enough manpower for.

2.

When the ramp was finally lowered, they were welcomed by an army of WRO infantrymen which rushed to surround the side of the airship looking towards the compound. A sizeable detachment dismounted from two vans parked right in the middle of the opening and, led by an officer sporting the ranks of captain, jogged towards the vessel

"No red carpet, huh?" Cade observed "I'm disappointed…"

"Well" Evan inhaled "there we are. Your plan starts here…"

"Let's hope it doesn't end here as well…" Yuffie whispered

"Be as cruel as you can be, Evan" Cade recommended

"Whatever… but don't bug me because of that if you make it out alive!" Evan replied, then he turned towards the black-suited special operatives behind him

"Prisoners exchange procedure. Everyone at their place. Come on!" he shouted, making sure to be heard from the soldiers who had just stopped at the feet of the ramp. Kewell and Perkins emerged from the SISF formation and flanked both Cade and Yuffie

"Good luck, guys" Kewell whispered "You'll need it!"

"You too!" Yuffie replied, before being dragged forward by Perkins

"Airship Shera!" a loud voice came from a loudspeaker, probably mounted on one of the vehicles not too far in the distance "Prepare to trade prisoners. Follow standard procedure as described by Operations Guideline 177…"

"The hell with that jargon…" Cade muttered

"Shut up!" Evan scolded him, then he addressed the officer standing at the feet of the ramp "This is Major Evan Kallstrom, WRO. Presently detached on the airship Shera. We have the prisoners in our custody"

The officer returned the salute while his men kept the rifles pointed at Cade and Yuffie, whose faces were expressionless

"This is Captain Ted Vrees, Junon Correctional facility" the man presented himself "We are ready to receive the prisoners! The withheld subject are asked to proceed down towards us. Comply or bear the consequences of you insubordination!" he concluded, with an intimidating tone

"Hey" Yuffie silently caught Cade's attention, as they were gently pushed forward by Kewell and Perkins

"What?" Cade replied

"What if they will shoot in our head right here, right now? Point-blank…" she asked, alarmed

"They won't" Cade simply replied as he began to step forward

"How can you be so sure?" Yuffie questioned him

"I've got a feeling…"

"Anything else?"

Cade shook his head "Nope…"

"Oh, good" Yuffie sighed

"I told you, you could dropout anytime" Cade reminded her

"I've got a feeling" she retorted, stressing that last word "that right now I cannot!"

"Shut up, you two!" Captain Vrees menacingly told them. Without even realizing it, their feet had left the steely surface of the ramp and were now resting on the concrete of the landing pad. They were surrounded by the group of soldiers led by Vrees, who walked up to Yuffie

"Are you Yuffie Kissaragi?" he asked, towering her

"Yes…" she meekly replied. Vrees' hand swung down on her. The sound of the impact of the captain's hand on Yuffie's cheek echoed throughout the landing site. Evan grinned, while Cade could not fight the urge to run against him. The reaction of the guards and a firm grip on his handcuffs by both Kewell and Perkins prevented him from being shot on the spot

"It's 'Yes, Sir' for you, you Wutaian bitch!" the captain exclaimed, angering Cade even more. The whole theory about WRO soldiers guarding the place unaware of what was truly happening crumbled down. These were all sadistic beasts, judging from their commanding officer.

Vrees came face to face with Cade

"And you must be Cade Tuesti…" he grinned

"Yes, Sir" he dutifully replied "How did you get that at the first attempt?"

Vrees did not reply. He snapped his fingers and two soldiers dealt Cade a blow on his back with the butt of their rifles, pushing away the special operatives already holding him. Cade ended on the ground, bruising his face as he landed on solid concrete

"What are those bandages?" Vrees asked "Never mind! Remove them and check those constraints!" he ordered as the bandages were ripped off from his skin. Surprisingly, the wounds looked pretty much clean and healed. Nevertheless, Cade let out a brief shriek of pain

"You two will learn very soon how things works in the Junon prison" Vrees told him, bowing on Cade, who was lifted back on his feet by the guards who had just removed the gauzes and tested the firmness of the handcuffs

"Major Kallstrom" Vrees then addressed Evan "your men are relieved from any duty regarding the prisoners. You are ordered to report immediately to the office of the local General Staff envoy for reporting"

"Yes, Sir" Evan replied "What about the SISF and the crew of the ship?"

"The ship is currently barred from taking off, along with the crew" Vrees informed him "Wait until cleared to depart" he explained as Yuffie and Cade were led to the vehicles. They exchanged a last look of mutual assurance as their path separated and before they could disappear Cade made sure the last thing Yuffie would see was his smiling face.

The vans had left the landing pad and were now proceeding on a path leading to the prisoners drop-off area, a road which sunk underground and proceeded thorough a tunnel. In his mind, Cade was mentally revisiting all the blueprints he and Yuffie had studied before landing. He guesstimated his position and guesstimated Evan's location along with the SISF team as well. They must have been about to report to the local command any second now.

The vehicle slowed down as they approached a manned security barrier. According to the plan, and according to their guesses, Evan and his team would be inside the perimeter of the prison in no less than ten minutes. Five minutes had past already, and the SUV had finally gone past the barrier, with one last final stop at the unloading bay.

The Junon prison had a very simple layout. An octagonal perimeter with minor auxiliary buildings on the outside. The main defences were located on the main walls and once they were breached, the worst part was over. Unfortunately, it was still heavy guarded by WRO soldiers who were probably just doing their job and that made the task of opening up a path quite challenging. Not that Cade still believed that much, after the rough treatment they had been subjected to on the surface. Yet he still resolved to kill only if strictly necessary.

Two more minutes (roughly) had gone by. He looked through the slits of the rear doors of the vehicle, taking a look at the truck following them. The one which was carrying Yuffie. The lights of the tunnel rhythmically gleamed on the dashboard as they flew overhead.

Cade spent the last three minutes thinking about the WRO soldiers who were escorting them. Apparently, now that he rested his mind upon it, there was something unsettling in their behaviour: they were too brutal and professional to be WRO good-intentioned-at-the-bottom-of-their-soul soldiers. Not that after the prolonged peace Gaia had enjoyed the WRO soldiers had grown lazy and plump, generally speaking but the ones sharing the passenger compartment with him had a different light in their eyes. Maybe it was working in an environment like the correctional facility. Or maybe it was the fact that Brad and the General Staff had personally assigned their worst elements (in terms of attitude) to guard his uncle.

The truck slowed down and finally came to a halt. It parked next to a raised section of the floor leading to a series of open doors

'About time' he thought to himself. Right now, Evan was supposed to be inside the compound as well. If not, it mattered naught. He would have gladly fought for the both of them.

'Oh, God… the rush of battle and of action' he thought, concealing his grin 'I missed it! The more bustling the endeavour, the more fun it is!'

Back there, the second van stopped along the raised section as well, a couple of metres from the bumper of the first one. A party of WRO soldier was approaching the vehicles from the doors

"Transport 1 and 2 at destination" the driver spoke via an intercom. Was he talking through a radio too?

"Roger" one of the men next to Cade said "Preparing to unload passengers!"

Cade had previously marked the efficiency of the WRO soldiers deputed to carry them. Maybe he had overestimated their wits, because they had failed to notice the small cord connecting the right handcuff to a spot on his wrist were a tiny, pink cone rose from his skin

"Hey you!" a guard addressed Cade "Fucking stand up. Or I'll make you stand up with the bad ones!"

His colleague opened the door.

Mistake number one.

The third guard lazily pushed the other door.

Mistake number two.

Enough mistakes for today.

From Cade's wrist a flash of light erupted, followed instantly by a bang. The passenger compartment was soon saturated by a thick, grey smoke coming from Cade's arms. A similar chain of events took place in the van carrying Yuffie as well.

Cade took advantage of the confusion to regain full control of his arms, as the handcuffs had broken into pieces. He rushed for the holster of the soldier next to him and swiftly dealt him a blow on the head with the pick-pocketed pistol, knocking him unconscious. Without any regret, he pounded a couple of shots in the legs of the two soldiers in front of him, leaving them crying out in pain. He then darted outside the van, emerging from the smoke.

He turned towards the front of the vehicle and quickly opened the door, swinging another blow with the grip of the pistol on the driver's head and yet shooting a round in the knee of the guard on the passenger seat, who opened the door on his side and fell on the concrete howling out in pain.

He then took shelter behind the truck, as the WRO soldiers on the raised section took cover behind the pillars separating the door and began firing and shouting orders.

He was soon joined by Yuffie, who slid next to him panting

"How come I did not hear a shot from your van?" Cade asked her, grabbing a rifle and shooting a volley at a panel he thought controlled the closure of the doors

"They are called martial arts" she replied "Was it really necessary to shoot at them?" she asked concerned

"Worry not. I just prevented them from walking for a month or two!" he replied

"Whatever…" Yuffie jumped on the roof of the van and somersaulted in the air, landing on the raised section. Cade sprinted forward and took cover as he climbed on it. Yuffie emptied two weapons she had salvaged from her captors, forcing the WRO soldiers to retreat from their positions.

The leftmost door began closing but got stuck halfway. The other two stood open. Apparently by disabling that panel Cade had made a lucky guess. He shoot in the direction of the WRO soldiers retreating between two booths and through a door which closed up instantly

"Send backup! Condition red!" one of the guards shouted before disappearing behind the closing door.

Cade inhaled, scratching his skin were the flash had generated

"So it really worked" Yuffie noted, scratching her forearms too

"Yep" Cade nodded "Cid is one step ahead of the devil himself"

"When he first talked about these explosive band aids I thought the years of drinking and smoking had finally taken their toll on him…"

"…on the other hand he is as smart and cunning as ever!" Cade continued, as he picked up a radio earpiece from and unconscious soldier. He slotted it into his ear inviting Yuffie to do the same. As he lodged in into his ear the voices of the WRO personnel anxiously chatting could be briefly heard

"…regroup at the bottom floor. Prepare a line of defence there. They must be taken alive…"

Cade switched frequency as Ruding had instructed him

"Ruding, do you copy?"

"Who is it?" a familiar voice replied from the other side "Identify yourself, caller!"

"I'm the one responsible for all the mess down here…" he replied

"Cade? Oh, shit!" Ruding moaned

"Is there something wrong?" Yuffie intervened, having changed the frequency herself upon Cade's direction

"You are running ahead of the schedule" Ruding explained "Evan and the SISF have yet to report to General Jeremiah Reed, the commander of the facility"

"Then were are they?" Cade enquired

"They are stuck in the lobby, several stores above you" Ruding told them "They are withheld there because the prison is in lockdown. But they are still good to go and their cover is still solid"

"What do we do now?" Yuffie asked

"Proceed as usual" Ruding told them "By the way, Cade. Brad is here too!"

"What?" Cade exclaimed "Where?"

"I'm tracking the movements of several key characters currently located within the prison. He is still in the office of General Reed. And I'm afraid there's more…"

"Like what?"

"I'll tell you later. Move on now!"

"Let's move on then!" Yuffie spurred Cade, as she heard the conversation on her radio. In a split second they were past the booths and in front of the door leading to the place where, judging from the broadcasts, quite a number of WRO soldiers had set up a barricade

"What's behind the door?" Yuffie asked via radio

"The lift to the detention wings" Ruding answered

"Where is Reeve?"

A pause and then Ruding's voice was heard again on the radio "Level F, wing 6. All you can do is fight your way through the defences and reach his cell. I'll tell you if something interesting pops up"

"Start by telling us how to open that door" Cade impatiently asked

"Stand back and I'll have it opened in no time. And by the way, if kneecapping these soldiers is too laborious, don't hesitate on killing them. The records show that a massive change of personnel has taken place since Reeve has been brought here"

Cade paused and looked Yuffie in the eyes. None of them ravished at the idea of killing people. But if it had to be done as a last resort, then so be it.

"All right then" Yuffie nodded in unison with her teammate "Ruding, get this door open!"

As soon as the alarm started ringing throughout the entire complex, Brad was taken on a detour inside the situation room of the penitentiary. There, an alarmed surveillance staff had briefed him on the new development of the situation, much to his anger

"How could it be?" he thundered "They had been searched before boarding the transport, haven't they? How did they got free so easily?"

"The guards were taken by surprise by an explosion…" a soldier offered to explain

"Bullshit!" Reed said "Send there the containment team, and order them to use non lethal weapons. They must be captured alive!"

Reed and Brad walked away from the surveillance stations

"We can work something even if they should be accidentally killed" Brad told him "After all, they have still tried to storm a WRO facility trying to set a dangerous individual free…"

General Reed stood silent thinking about Brad's proposal. It made sense. A dead scapegoat was better than someone who probably knew too much and was free to roam wherever he wanted. Let alone two

"All right then!" he said "What about Major Kallstrom and the SISF?"

"They are up to their neck in this" Brad told him "It would be wise to arrest them and get them to tell us what exactly they were planning to do"

Reed walked up to an operator

"Where are Major Kallstrom and all the crew of the Shera due to report to my office?"

The serviceman tapped a command into the screen and a window popped up

"Near the officer's quarters" he read "Section 13, floor H"

"Not far from the detention wings" observed Brad

"I want a team to apprehend them" Reed announced out loud, standing at the centre of the room "Send there every unit available. We are dealing with more than regular infantry there. Again, use non lethal weapons if possible"

"What about the airship?" Brad asked

"Disable it and send a unit to board it before it takes off" Reed ordered, as his command was relayed down through the chain of command

Back on board the Shera, Ruding and his team had been eavesdropping on the conversation in the situation room of the Correctional Facility, thanks to the hacking the intelligence crew had performed earlier.

As General Reed issued the order of arrest Evan and the SISF, Ruding quickly rushed to notify Evan of the impending ambush

"Evan" he shouted at the radio "I think you are about to have some company…"

"The good one or the bad one?" he replied

"Definitely the bad one…" Ruding said

"Sir…" a voice could be heard on the radio in the background "… I have to ask you to surrender your weapons and follow us to…"

The conversation ceased. A loud bang saturated the microphone and gunshots were heard against the solid background of static.

Ruding began sweating as he witnessed, albeit only by radio, at the confrontation between Evan and his team and the WRO squad sent to arrest them.

As he urged his operators to work hard to re-establish a communication link, he hoped Evan's voice would be the next thing coming from the loudspeakers of the radio.

Cid hated wasting time. So he exploited the prolonged period of inactivity to get rid of that ridiculous formal uniform and get back in his fatigues. Hell, they might be far from being catwalk clothes but at least he felt at ease in the grease-soaked weave of the trousers and in the heavy duty jacket.

He had emerged from a hatch on top of the airship, trying to reach for the proximity alert system, a component which had gave him some trouble lately. At least he had now the chance to have a look at it.

He reached for the panel hiding the wiring he intended to inspect and removed it. Then he started gazing at every inch of every wire and every square thumb of every motherboard to see if he could find a fault.

Five minutes into his careful and meticulous work and he immediately had to swore to maintain calm, as the sound of an incoming vehicle grew more and more intense, annoying him to the highest degree. He took a peak down on the apron to shout a couple of expletives to whomever had dared to interrupt his activity, but as soon as he recognized the vehicle, his mouth shut.

An infantry fighting vehicle, armed with a 40-mm turret had sneaked at firing distance from the Shera. Behind it, WRO soldiers swarmed around trailing behind the vehicle.

The turret rotated and the gun was raised

"That bastard is aiming at the engines!" Cid shouted. He rushed for a section of the frame where a yellow panel stood. He hastily removed the safe and took a brief moment to praise himself for his foresight.

He emerged with a rocket launcher between his arms.

He took position behind an engine cowling. He snapped the reticule up and aimed right at the vehicle

"Let's see now who's got the biggest stick around, you ass!" he grinned, as he prepared to pull the trigger.

3.

After walking though the doors, Yuffie and Cade found themselves in a hall divided into three lanes by a pair of rows of columns. At the opposite end, three lifts stood behind an unmanned checkpoint

"Strange" Cade murmured "I thought we'd have some company expecting us!"

Yuffie readied his rifle. She surely missed her traditional weaponry but she was disregarding automatic weapons less and less.

A chime echoed from afar as the lifts opened

"Sound like you called for it" she smiled

From the elevators, WRO officers poured in the hall, some carrying steel riot shields, covering the advance of the ones behind them. The formation of enemy soldiers stopped halfway through the hall, with riot shields sealing off the passages between the pillars.

Two infantrymen leapt forward from the line of shield-welding officers, carrying two oddly-shaped weapons with them

"What are those stuff?" Cade asked

"Freeze!" one of the soldier wielding the bizarre spear-like weapon shouted "Hand in the air! Now!"

Yuffie and Cade exchanged a brief look. They nodded and they slowly started to raise their hands.

The soldiers carrying the weapons relaxed and moved forward. It was the window Cade and Yuffie were waiting for.

In a split second, they jumped sideways, taking cover behind the respective first column of the row. When the soldiers realized their bluff it was too late, but they fired anyhow.

A bluish bolt erupted from the tip of their spears, missing them by a wide margin. The pulse hit the aluminium frame of the door in front of them, exploding in a multitude of sparks. Behind them, the formation loosened letting the WRO soldier march forward.

Cade grabbed his rifle and fired from behind the column. A he sprayed a salvo over a group of soldiers running in the central passage of the hall behind their shields. Sparks flew all around as the bullets ricocheted on the shields, making their carriers falter behind, but they eventually stood their ground. Cade's initiative was countered by a pack of soldiers firing against his position. Pieces of concrete were scalped away from the pillar as he was forced to crouch and take cover.

On the other side, Yuffie did not lose time: she fired at the formation of soldiers closing on her position, then, putting her ninja skill at work she leapt against the wall. The WRO soldiers aiming at the base of the pillar where shocked by that endeavour and now Yuffie was practically running on the wall, followed by the eyes of the WRO infantrymen who were following and getting ready to spray her with their rifles.

A soldier who had ventured too close to her was the first to receive a deadly kick on the side of his head. Although wearing a helmet, Yuffie's right feet powerfully smashed on his jaw, sending him flying high towards the centre of the hall. The order of capturing the escaped prisoner alive was reminded by the shouts of a commanding officer, so the party of soldiers closed in on her, only to be met by a series of punches and kicks graciously swung around. It soon turned out into a lopsided close-quartered combat, Yuffie's favourite environment.

The ensuing fight provided a diversion for Cade, who managed to emerge from the column and hit two soldiers in the chest with his rifle. The soldiers collapsed to the ground, while their team-mates retreated. Cade sprinted forward the corpse of the fallen infantrymen, sliding behind the next column as the retreating WRO officers began firing again to cover their retreat. He recovered a compact-size machine gun and a couple of grenades from the dead soldiers and took the chance to fire against the huddle of WRO personnel around Yuffie, who was making use of every ninja move in the textbook to keep at bay ten enemies at a time. Cade's salvo hit a soldier in the back and another one in the torso, forcing them to retreat

"Thanks" Yuffie said, preparing to face another round of enemies

Cade decided to employ the salvaged grenades. He hurled two flash-bang grenades in two opposite directions. As soon as they went off he darted towards the group of enemies blinded by the detonation and took the chance to put them to sleep with a firm blow in their heads with the butt of the machine-gun. Two other soldiers emerged from the column, apparently unscathed by the grenades. Cade threw the weapon aside and engaged them in a hand to hand combat that lacked the graciousness of Yuffie's moves, but equally effective.

Back to Yuffie's side, she had barley prevented one of the soldier from recovering the taser-spear lying on the floor by stomping on his hands. As soon as the bones of the WRO soldier cracked, she picked up the oblong weapon herself and spun on herself, leaving a both a gashing wound and bad burn on an infantryman's face with the scorching end of the weapon. Behind her, another soldier was apparently tired of the order of capturing these two fugitives alive and lifted his rifle to shoot at her. Yuffie somehow sensed the danger behind her and quickly grabbed the officer in front of her by the holster. She turned on herself, putting the semiconscious soldier between herself and the rifle. Bullets erupted from the weapon, hitting Yuffie's human shield on the back. As the burst came to a halt, the incredulous soldier witnessed his teammate being pounded by his own bullets. The lifeless body of the WRO officer was thrown aside and Yuffie pointed the pistol she had drew from his holster at the soldier who stood in fear and shock in front of her. The hand-held weapon shouted three times and the infantryman faltered behind.

By his own side, Cade threw on the ground the last enemy. He pointed at him the rifle, only to hear pleas from the unfortunate WRO fellow

"Please don't…!" the WRO officer cried while laying on his back on the floor, hands against Cade. The butt of the rifle landed heavily on his forehead, knocking him unconscious.

After a prolonged battle which seemed to have lasted for hours, the hall was a mess of lifeless, collapsed bodies strewn across the entire length. Spent bullets carpeted the floor, as well as chucks of concrete from thinned out pillars.

Cade turned towards Yuffie, panting and throwing the sub-machinegun away. Yuffie returned from his guarding stance and meet him with her eyes. Cade was about to smile when an alarmed expression suddenly appeared on his face. Yuffie wondered why but she soon realized.

An arm swirled around her neck and the cold metal of a pistol pressed against her temple. A soldier had emerged from his hideout and managed to catch her by surprise

"Drop on your knees!" the soldier, no, a sergeant shouted "And lie on the ground. Or I'll send her brains all over the place!"

Yuffie gritted her teeth as the lock around her neck tightened. Cade could swear the WRO officer was having pleasure by inflicting pain on Yuffie. She did not utter a word, though.

Cade was about to follow the sergeant's orders when suddenly Yuffie swung her leg behind her, hitting the captor on his flank with the heel of the boot. The soldier was taken off guard enough for her to liberate herself, twist his arm into an unnatural position, steal the gun from his hand and shoot him point blank right in the middle of the face.

The sergeant fell down with a thud that echoed in the room. Yuffie stood there, arm straightened out and the pistol still smoking from the tip of the muzzle.

She finally lowered her arms, taking a moment to think about what she had done. She had fought and killed before, but in all her past adventures she took life away from creatures that were nowhere as near as humans. Back in the Northern Crater, then, it was sheer self-defence and so it was here. But something unknown made her feel sick in this occasion.

Her breathing grew more shallow as guilt and remorse nearly overwhelmed her.

Cade grabbed her by the shoulder. She turned with a shriek

"Hey, calm down!" Cade said "It's me!"

"Sorry" she apologized "I'm…" she chocked on her word as her eyes lowered

"I know" Cade told her "It's the ugliest feeling in the world. I've already been through that…"

"What?" she exclaimed "You mean you already…"

"It's a long story" he shrugged, picking up equipment form the ground, checking if it was still functional. Yuffie was slowly regained a healthier skin shade after having paled out after her last kill

"God, I hate you!" she bolted towards him "You…"

"Me… what?" he asked, walking towards the lifts and making sure that Yuffie was catching up

"Nothing" she said, then in a more conciliatory tone "I'm sorry. I did not think before talking. I just need to let it out…"

"It's all right" he replied "And beside, I know it's not true…"

Yuffie smiled, as Cade wrapped her arm around her shoulders

'You don't even know how much you are right…' she thought

In the officer's lounge, some levels above, Evan lowered his gun and looked around. He asked himself why on Gaia of all the people who had to come out with a plan, that had to be Cade. His ideas were always rife with unknown variables.

Once the WRO officer manning the checkpoint separating the lounge from the officers' quarters had come forward asking them to surrender their weapons, hell did really break loose.

It was evident their cover had been blown up. A grenade had flown past Evan, landing at the feet of the incredulous soldier. The whole team went to the ground as the flash-bang hurled by Lieutenant Farron wrecked havoc in the room.

WRO soldiers behind the counters of the surveillance booth had rapidly returned fire, as they emerged from the makeshift shelter unaffected by the blast.

The WRO soldier who had politely asked for Evan's weapon was strewn on the ground, caught in the crossfire and hit by bullets fired by at least five different weapons. The whole space around them was trashed by a massive rain of projectiles, fired wherever a WRO officer stood.

The emergency doors shut closed immediately, trapping them inside the room. Several alarms started ringing altogether.

Evan's hand rushed to his earpiece

"Ruding, come in. Things are gone awry here!" he said

No reply came

"Ruding, Shera! Come in!" he repeated

No reply again

"Why aren't they answering?" Sarah asked, as the SISF members rushed to every door to find a way to get them opened again and getting ready for an eventual assault by security forces. All around panels were dangling from the walls and the ceiling, lights were flickering and furniture and all sort of stuff was sprawled on the desk and on the floors.

"I don't know" Evan shook his head "But I've got the feeling things will get a bit more complicated from now on…"

On the Shera, back at the landing pad, Ruding thought exactly the same thing. After a massive blast came from outside, Ruding had gone looking for Cid to enquire about the noise, only to find the pilot climbing down a service ladder all in a hurry

"What was that explosion?" Ruding asked

"Fucking WRO tried to ground the ship" Cid explained, his hands fiddled inside a pocket. Every intelligence officer turned to witness the noisy and colourful reappearance of the pilot "I blasted them out of the pad, but they are going to beat us on our backs real soon…"

"What do you mean?" Ruding stood up as the intelligence officer at the workstation next to him switched to the CCTV circuit of the pad. On the screen, the images of a knocked off infantry combat vehicle appeared, with soldiers around it backing down

"I mean that those pricks are going to burst through the main door without even minding to knock before" Cid replied

"I'm opening up the arsenal!" he announced, then "All of you nerds not manning a vital workplace come with me and get a weapon. Time to show you how we put up some serious gunfight!"

Ruding's hand rushed to his waist, were the pistol was

"I'll get you something better than that" Cid told him as the crew on the main deck lined up to get his piece "but for now keep your eyes on the computer. We need to get this thing done as soon as we can. Everybody, follow me…"

Ruding and his assistant switched back looking at the screen

"Have you managed to re-establish a connection yet?" he asked

"Not yet" the assistant replied, tirelessly fingering on the keyboard "there is quite a mess in here…"

As he launched a look at the crewmembers emerging from the weapons vault with their weapons in their arms, Ruding thought he was luck to be in a quiet corner, all in all

"Come on" he said, taking a seat next to him "Let's try again! Or we'll have to take a rifle in our hands too!"

4.

As the lift soared to the upper level, Cade tried to contact their allies on the radio

"Still nothing?" Yuffie asked

Cade shook his head

"What's next?" she asked again

"The lowest level of the detention wings" he explained "Basically the reception of this hotel"

"Security will be tight…" Yuffie guessed

"Do your worst!" Cade ordered her, as the elevator came to a halt and the door slid open.

They were not greeted by a phalanx of gun-toting soldiers as they expected. Instead, the WRO soldiers on that level were all clustered at the centre of a circular-shaped room, with empty offices on the perimeter separated by glass walls. An officer stood amongst the other figures, sketching diagrams on a washable board, apparently holding a briefing of some sort. None of the guards had their weapon ready.

After the initial surprise, Cade and Yuffie resolved to fully exploit the bombshell factor. As the officer standing and giving the briefing immediately froze upon seeing the unexpected intruders, all the other soldiers turned towards the lifts

"I thought the containment squad had the lower level under control!" the officer shrieked. As he finished his sentence, Cade pulled the trigger.

The bullet flew in a straight line, right through the huddle of WRO guards, lodging in the officer's thigh. As the bullet impacted his leg, all the soldiers backed down and tried to reach for their rifle

"Don't fucking move!" Cade thundered, as the WRO officer moaned in the background "or you'll be next! Everyone of you!" Cade hissed

"Better do what he says" Yuffie shouted "down there looks like a slaughterhouse…"

The WRO soldiers all

gulped upon these words

"Everybody against that wall!" Cade commanded "I mean, that way" he pointed at a space between two glassy cubicles, waiving with his rifle.

They both walked up to the wounded soldier still standing partially knelt hands on his thigh in the middle of the room. He was complaining less about his hole in the leg, now

"You!" Cade pointed his weapon at his face "you give the orders here? Are you in charge here?"

The officer paused before speaking up

"Answer him" Yuffie intervened "or the next bullet will be a bit higher than the last one…"

Cade's left eyebrow arched, surprised as he was by Yuffie's line. She was enjoying this as much as he did, apparently

"I do…" the officer finally replied

"Good" Cade made a slight nod "get the doors to the detention wings opened!"

"I can't…" the officer uttered

"Sorry?" Cade leant over him

"I can't!" the officer explained "These doors are controlled by the Central Command room now. We cannot do a thing from here…"

Cade sighed. Then an idea crossed his mind. A silly idea, but an idea nonetheless

"Then get up and walk up to the radio" he told him, pulling him up by the arm "and tell them you've captured us…"

"I'll do my best…" the officer offered as he limped to what looked like a communication device on a desk. He had obviously no choice

"You don't move!" Yuffie shouted at the soldiers confined at the opposite side of the hall "or I'll paint those glass and walls red!"

'Fucking degenerate!' Cade thought, amazed

"Well now" he made him sat before the radio "now play your part or I'll blow your spine off and you'll spend the rest of your sorry life on a wheelchair…" he threatened, thrusting the muzzle at the base of the officer's neck.

The WRO soldier gulped, then pushed the intercom button

"Command Room, this is Lower Security and Handling Station" he spoke

"Security, come in!" the Command Room replied

"Situation normal, alarm revoked" the guard announced "Intruders apprehended. Requesting clearance to prisoner's translation to detention facility"

The radio fell silent again. Then a voice replied

"Please, requesting visual confirmation"

The WRO guard stood petrified as Cade laid the butt of his rifle on his head, knocking him unconscious for good

"Not one of your best ideas…" Yuffie commented with a grin

Cade silently convened with her. As he threw the unconscious WRO officer on the ground, his gears started grinding to work out a solution.

Unexpectedly, Yuffie spoke first

"What about the fire alarm?" she proposed

"What do you mean?"

"Follow me" she invited him "I'll explain everything on our way…"

In the Command Room, Brad and Reed witnessed Cade's attempt at accessing the detention facility

"Fool me once, shame on you" he said "Fool me twice, shame on me!"

"What's the status of our IT security?" Reed asked

"The breach has been contained" an officer explained "apparently they were trying to hack our system from the airship itself"

Reed walked towards a series of monitors portraying different areas of the compound. Apparently, something weird was going on at the landing site were the Shera was stationed but the vessel was the last of his concerns.

He walked back to Brad

"I'll tell the squad at the landing site to remain on standby status. They won't go anywhere anyhow!"

"What about the situation in the detention wing?"

"Both intruders are isolated and we are recalling every detachment to converge on their position" an officer announced

"We won't be hacked again, right?" Brad asked "If something else happens to the IT network…"

"No, Sir" a technician shook his head "Apart from the security protocol, we have complete control over the interface…"

He could not finish his sentence that a quadrant of the dashboard turned red, accompanied by an alarm

"And what is supposed to be that?" Reed asked, alarmed

"Fire in the Security Station at level…" the officer analyzing the cause of the alarm fell silent as soon as he discovered where the emergency was

"What is that?" Reed pressed, raging "Why is this alarm ringing!"

"They have torched the Security Station…" Brad whispered, as General Reed began slowly but inevitably to lose his temper. Images from the displays began whiting out as flames engulfed bigger and bigger portions of the room, eventually wrecking the video recording devices and terminating the feed.

Brad quickly reconsidered his options. The importance of having Reeve Tuesti and his gang into his hands was becoming secondary. The plan was near full completion, lacking just the final push.

'I'm not getting away from here without doing just on thing!' he thought, though. He extracted his handgun and pushed the barrel backwards, lodging a bullet ready to be fired. The bullet with which he would have executed Reeve Tuesti

"General" he said to Reed "I'm going to the detention wing. I'm bringing a detachment with me?"

"Are you insane?" Reed replied

"I know what I'm doing" Brad reassured "Just make sure the doors leading to the cells are closed by the time I arrive there"

"I'm afraid I can't" Reed shook his head

"Well, I suppose that's bad…" he sadly told him.

Nobody expected the pistol to fire. And nobody even expected General Jeremiah Reed to fall on the ground with a huge hole in his forehead, from which blood was oozing out, forming a pool under his head.

Everyone stared at that scene petrified, momentarily forgetting the hell that was breaking loose in multiple points of the facility

"General Reed has produced a disappointing performance today" Brad announced to the astonished personnel in the room "He pays on behalf of everyone here, but I wouldn't sit back and relax if I were you. Get the helipad secured and tell the harbour to get the submarine ready!"

The security crew slowly but firmly reverted back to their own workstation, putting Brad's orders into action.

He made a bee-line for the exit of the Command Centre, followed by his close-protection party. As the doors of the security room closed behind him, he gave instruction to his bodyguards

"Send a message to the forces in Edge to apprehend, arrest and eliminate the General Staff members" he said "Our plan has just reached the final step"

He reached an elevator and entered an override code in the keypad next to the door. The fire alarm had grounded the lifts but entering that command on the small dashboard made the door open and bring the elevator back into function.

As his bodyguard pressed the button of the floor of the detention cell, Brad checked his pistol again, while his bodyguards readied their submachine guns. It would have been a shame to falter on the most climatic event of the day.

In the officer's lobby a door was busted by a sudden explosion. Kewell was hurled away as he stood next to it. He rapidly got back on his feet as Perkins discharged his weapon against the plum of smoke erupting form the disclosed passage. A series of shrieks and cries told him that his bullets had actually hit something about to descend on their position

"Damn it" Sarah swore "they're already here!"

"How about those doors?" Laura asked "Did someone found a way to get them open?"

Evan was pivoting a steel beam found on the floor around the cranny that had been left by a two-closet sliding door after the fire alarm had gone off. He had momentarily left his current occupation as the WRO guards had commenced the assault by forcing their way into the room but apparently they instantly retreated as the salvo of bullets had quickly decimated their vanguard.

Finally, after prolonged efforts, the cranny between the two doors widened and the passage was clear. Evan threw the beam away

"Here it is!" he shouted "Let's move!"

Sarah helped Kewell to get back on his feet

"Come on, you're our medic!" she reprimanded him "We need you in operational"

"I know!" he replied, shaking his head and patting away the dust form his uniform.

Behind them, another cloud of excited voices preannounced the arrival of a further assault. Perkins swung his rucksack before himself and produced a bulky, olive-drab painted object from it.

Laura's eyes bulged upon seeing that

"Do you really want to use that?" she asked, with a bit of apprehension. Behind her, the rest of team was sneaking through the opened door

"I think it's a good chance to put this thing to work, for a change…" Perkins replied.

Laura shrugged, leaving Perkins and his explosive Claymore device at the centre of the room. He activated the triggering circuit and shoot another round of bullets in the direction of the voices, to momentarily repel them as the mine's triggering circuit worked. Then he left following the trail of his teammates, mentally foretasting the havoc that green box would have brought about.

Not that Perkins was a blood-thirsty beast, of course. He simply liked a well done job.

On the landing pad, things were taking a turn for he worst. A WRO soldier, concealed by the smoking wreckage of the infantry fighting vehicle, had loaded a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and aimed at the cowling of one of the engine. The missile took off and left a trail of smoke as it hit the airship with an explosion, nearly dislodging the whole engine. An enormous jolt ran through the frame of the Shera

"FUCK!" Cid shouted, as he had to dive to take shelter from the shockwave and the storm of steel debris projected by the explosion "Unbelievable pieces of shit! That is a fucking low!" he shouted towards the soldiers. They were pounding the outer hull of the vessel with small-arms fire, in an effort to hit the crew firing back with their automatic weapons from portholes at starboard

"Ah damn it!" Cid angrily resumed "If I was looking for a reason to kill these fuckers now I've got one!"

Next to him, Ruding thought that they were lucky that the WRO soldiers had decided just now to use the heavy artillery against them. Apparently, the order of capturing them alive was still in effect

"Did you get the SISF in contact? Or Cade? Or both of them?" he asked to an assistant, who had came on top of the vessel bringing a field radio with him. On the tarmac, soldiers were closing on in, taking repair behind heavy riot shield of mobile barricades

"Not at all" the assistant replied "It's all white noise down there!"

"You'd better get your wits together, son" Cid told him, peeking to fire down at an approaching formation of WRO guards "or I'll kill you and use your corpse as a diversion!"

The radio operator gulped

"Don't worry" Ruding said "that won't happen. But you'd better try again. This time it was just a missile…"

"Just a missile?" Cid intervened, pointing at the burning gash in the hull caused by the grenade. Bullet holes dotted the whole right flank of the ship

"… next time it will be dynamite all around this pad!"

The radio operator nodded. He resumed twitching the knobs of the transmitter as the Shera crew valiantly prepared to fend off another assault.

Behind all his thunderous swearing and trash-talking, Cid only wished that someone down there would emerge alive and with good news. As staunch their opposition could be, it was just a matter of time and their position would have been overwhelmed

'If you don't pop up before my ship is broken apart, kids' he thought, referring to Cade and Yuffie 'you'd better hope these fuckers do kill you first, because I'm going to kill the hell out of you!'

5.

After making contact with Cid and Ruding, Cade and Yuffie finally got to the last level of the detention wing. They had managed to pacifically and bloodlessly subdue the few guards they had encountered on the way, dispatching the freed prisoners up to the landing pad where the battle still raged.

They had not yet managed to get in touch with Evan and the SISF though

"With this pace, we will meet them before finding a clear frequency" Yuffie commented, as she twitched the earpiece she had found for herself

"We're almost here!" Cade said, as he had not even heard her. As soon as they had risen through the levels. Cade was becoming more and more robotic. Yuffie thought it had to do with the high levels of anticipation he had. He obviously could not wait to meet Reeve and see for himself that he was alright.

They finally emerged at the last level. They expected it to be packed with prisoners, just like the others. Instead, an eerie silence welcomed them. Even the booth at the beginning of the row was unmanned, but that could have meant that the personnel manning that floor had simply already escaped or it had been dispatched elsewhere

"Nobody's here" Yuffie scoped the surroundings

"He must be here!" Cade sharply replied. His skin was gleaming with sweat and Yuffie swore she could feel his accelerating heartbeat pulsating as they approached the exact cell where Reeve Tuesti was held.

"Cade" Yuffie tried to ease the pressure Cade was building on himself "he is alright. He may be a bit battered and all but he's all right! Did you hear me?"

Cade stopped his incessant crawling along the flanks of the corridor. He let down his guard for a moment and did something Yuffie did not really expect, not even in her most ludicrous fantasies.

Cade leant on her, closing the gap due to their height difference, and kissed her on the forehead. Yuffie blushed instantly, as Cade resumed his path towards the cell

"What was that for?" Yuffie finally managed to ask

"It was simply a different way to say 'thank you'…" he answered

"Why didn't you just tell me 'thank you' then?"

Cade sighed "I must have told you a thousand times… I wanted to tell you in a way I could show you I still appreciate your help" he said

The reply caught Yuffie by surprise. Giving how tense Cade looked, she did not expect him to pull such a poignant response. She immediately reminded herself of her disposition towards him, and she started to appreciate his gesture from before

"Oh, I see! Well, thanks…" she said with a light but sincere smile "Let's get back at finding Reeve now!"

"Right!" Cade swiftly replied

They resumed their walk along the seemingly endless row of cells. Grated gates went past them as they reached the centre of the level, taking a turn into what was labelled as the 'F' wing

"Cell 59…" Cade counted, peeking at the placards over the cells "55…, 56…, 57…, 58…"

His heart, who was racing at unprecedented rhythms, momentarily stopped as he came to a halt himself before cell 59.

There inside, sat on a bench, stood Reeve.

The momentarily disgraced WRO Director raised his head upon hearing the approaching steps. He was wearing the same blue trousers he wore the day he had been arrested in Edge. He had been stripped of his suit so he had only a dark shirt covering the upper part of his body. The cells must have been quite cold, as the linen from the bed opposite the bench had been removed and placed upon his shoulder.

His eyes, dull and void, lit up upon gazing at the figures who had appeared on the threshold. Despite having lost much of his strength as a consequence of giving up eating due to the tense atmosphere inside the detention facility, he managed to get up and walk towards them

"Cade…" he said in a feeble voice "how could it be…?"

Cade made a step forward, with a smile on his face and a faint laughter forcing its way up to his mouth. Yuffie knew it must have been the way he reacted to situation like these. He wasn't just repressing a laughter, he was also fighting back the tears forming in his eyes

"Uncle Reeve!" Cade finally leapt forward, throwing his arms around him

"Cade, they told me you were dead…" Reeve gasped, as Cade's hold proved to bee a bit too enthusiastic for him. His eyes were becoming awash with tears

"Me? Dead?" Cade replied, separating and silently apologizing for the excessive strength of the hug. He rubbed his eye with the back of the hand "I wasn't dead at all… I was wanted, yes, but not dead"

"So I'm not dreaming, am I?"

"Did they tell you I was dead?" Cade pressed

"Yes, they did" Reeve nodded "You and… Yuffie" he said, turning towards the ninja and welcoming her in his arms as well

"I'm glad you're ok, Yuffie!" he told her

"I'm glad you're ok too, Reeve!" she replied

"Cade" Reeve told his nephew with a reinvigorated sense of urgency "may I ask you why are you here?"

"Oh, I came to pay the bail!" Cade mirthfully replied "It took me some time to collect the money. The judges struck a pretty hefty amount of money, this time…"

"Quit it!" Reeve shut him up "I can only imagine the kind of situation unravelling out there, without you being…"

"Hey!" Cade protested, offended "Next time I'll leave you here…"

"You tell me the same thing about putting me in a retirement home when I'm done, I'm not giving in to your threats…"

In the middle of what turned up to be a family argument taking place in the most unexpected place, Yuffie was waiving her hand as to attract attention on herself. She raised her voice

"Guys, I know you are all excited and all that kind of stuff but I think we should get going!"

"You're right, Yuffie!" Reeve said "Anyway… thanks for coming guys. I owe you much"

"Not as much as I owe you" Cade replied patting on his back "Can you walk?"

"I can be as fit as you" Reeve noted

They finally exited the cell, smiles on their faces. They took a turn towards the exit but the sound of a gun being readied made them stop and freeze on the sport.

Cade slowly turned. His eyes were immediately filled with rage upon lowering his eyes on Brad Clawbourne, who stood right in the middle of the corridor pointing a pistol towards them

"What a nice family reunion!" he grinned "Cade, why don't you ever invite me? You guys seem like having so much fun…"

Cade let the rage wind down in his body

"If you quit shooting at my girlfriends, maybe I could arrange something for you as well… such as a four-way date!" he replied. Yuffie almost stood jaw-dropped. Cade surely was not afraid at allowing himself to humour even the most painful events of his life. Reeve stared at him with amazement too.

Brad laughed "You do sure know how to get past the junk in your life, Tuesti. I acknowledge that". His eyes and pistol turned towards Yuffie

"Look, look!" he exclaimed "The last time I saw you, you were agonizing on the ground with a hole in your belly…"

"I've got more lives than a cat!" she swiftly replied "And someone who cares about me…"

Cade swore he had nearly blushed upon what Yuffie had replied

"Good for you!" Brad then turned his attention to Reeve "And you Reeve? Care to tell me something new? Did you enjoy your stay at the Junon Sheraton"

"You are wasting your time, Clawbourne" he barked "If you have to kill us, do it now!"

"Wait!" Cade intervened, casting Reeve apart with his arm "If he's a real villain, he will tell us why he had orchestrated all this. You obviously did not devise everything by yourself, right?" he smiled

"Your sarcasm is useless, Cade" Brad replied "You have no way to escape the facility, now that the airship that brought you here is totalled and the crew apprehended. You are surrounded, no matter your efforts at digging and escape route. And no, I haven't laid out the scheme all by my own. I just gave my father the idea he put the wheels in motion…"

"And why?" Reeve asked

"You dare to ask, Tuesti?" Brad replied, suddenly grinning his teeth, irate "You and your pack of rats going by the name of Shin-Ra level an entire town by mistake and you forget it?"

Cade and Yuffie turned their heads to Reeve, who sighed

"It wasn't my fault" Reeve replied "And as you said, it was a mistake!"

"A mistake that cost thousands of lives, included the one of my mother and my whole family, except my father? Whose only luck that day was to be out of town on a mission?"

A moment of silence ensued

"Please explain, uncle Reeve…" Cade muttered

"Back in the days before Meteorfall, we were dealing with the AVALANCHE terrorist organization. It was all part of a massive search we… the Shin-Ra infantry Corps was carrying out all over Gaia. Apparently, one of their hideouts was rumoured to be located in the outskirts of Kalm…"

"The place was ordered to be bombed to assist the ground forces" he continued "but the wrong co-ordinates were sent in. And the unmanned bombers, they carpet-bombed the town instead…"

"And then Shin-Ra deported and tortured the survivors, experimenting on them. Just to cover up the whole affair!" Brad shouted, the hand holding the gun falling pray to tremors "Does this sound even remotely familiar to you, Cade?"

Cade had to deal with a sudden lump in his throat as he heard Brad's question. It was true, unfortunately. Brad and Cade had shared a similar fate in their lives. How similar, though?

"It does. Sure, and I'll be a fool to say otherwise. Shin-Ra stuck our lives and took what was most precious to us" Cade calmly replied "Damn it, Reeve! You were dangerous back then…" he added, with a faint chuckle

"What's so funny?" Reeve replied

"Care to share the reason of you laughter with me, too?" an enraged Brad asked too. His face was beyond reddish, in striking contrast with the white knuckles tightly around the stock of the gun

"Nothing, actually" he replied, thumping Yuffie's hand behind Reeve's back. Yuffie fought against the instinct to look divert her look, as she was at first puzzled by Cade's gesture. But as soon as she recognized the cold, sharp object Cade was trying to pass on to her , she immediately went for it

"What about your plan now? Is it going to continue? Does it have any other chapters? Or is it over yet?"

"Of course not" Brad told him "But I'll doubt you'll live enough to see how it will develop…"

"I guess I'll have to spare you the lecture about solving your own issues without taking other people's lives as a repayment…"

Brad laughed again "Like you acted like an angel the day you left Shin-Ra…"

"It was all fake" Yuffie intervened, after shaking off the urge of knowing more about Brad's cryptic references about Cade's past "the survey data, the Mako singularity…"

"You are pretty smart for being a Wutaian dumbass" Brad angrily said, tipping her off "It was fake, from the meteor in the Mythril Desert, crafted in a mine somewhere in Niebelheim, to the Singularity, passing through the Meteor Purification Movement. All made up to bring the WRO into paranoia and use the key figures who stood in my way as scapegoats, all wrapped up in a massive scandal and witch hunt that would have broken the WRO apart… and the world!"

"Well it did not work out to its full extent, I see…" Yuffie countered

"I'm wasting time here…" Brad said, regaining his composure "Cade, say 'hi' to Kayla for me!" he grinned, cocking the pistol

"Strange enough!" Cade replied, unfazed by the taunt "the last thing she told me was to kick your ass for her, instead!"

It all happened very fast then. Yuffie and Cade did not spoke a word between each other but the ninja knew what to do from the moment Cade had slipped a miniature shuriken he had stashed in his pants before descending from the airship. Somehow it got past the initial, shallow search from the guards and Yuffie felt a surge of delight as she finally felt the familiar touch of the tempered steel on the skin of her hand.

The same hand that now was thrown forward at the end of her extended arm, and that opened in time to send the weapon spinning towards Brad.

At the same time, Cade sheltered Reeve with his body. Cade noticed both moves but that only made him less responsive. The shuriken pierced his left eyeball with one of its sharp edges as it reached its target. Albeit not being heavy or the throw being much powerful, Brad stumbled backwards, eventually falling on his back and screaming in agony as blood flowed from his punctured eyeball. He discharged his weapon blindly as Cade, Yuffie and Reeve fled the scene.

They took a turn as they ran past the centre of the level, going for the lift. Brad's shrieks echoed throughout the corridors

"No matter what he's up to" Cade observed "he is, he was and will always be a moron!"

"Can somebody die of a wound like that?" Reeve asked, as they frantically pressed the caller button of the elevator

"Probably" Yuffie guessed "but that guy has a skin as hard as a honey badger!"

A chime informed them the elevator had arrived. The doors slid open and they walked in. The doors closed behind them and the elevator rushed upwards again

"What do we do now?" Reeve asked

"I don't know" Yuffie replied "If the Shera is actually wrecked, I think we are pretty much trapped…"

"Wait!" Reeve shook his head "Are you telling me that you broke into this prison without a plan? Without basically knowing how to get out?"

"It was his idea" Yuffie pointed at Cade. A slightly annoyed Reeve darted a menacing look towards him

"Relax!" Cade assured "I may have not a plan on how to get out from here but the place is falling apart…"

"So?"

"We will try to meet up the SISF headed by Evan" he told him, meddling with the earpiece "…if only I could make it work…!"

"Why don't you turn it on, for a start?" Yuffie observed

Cade removed his earpiece. The led was not lit. He was briefly caught by embarrassment as he promptly switched it on

"Look, Cade" Reeve told him "I immensely appreciate that you came to save me but…"

"Shut up!" Cade cut his sentence "I'm trying to talk here… Evan, do you read me?"

Static came from the radio, but it was soon replaced by a familiar voice

"Cade, please tell me it is you!" Evan begged

"It is me" Cade replied "I've got Reeve with me!"

"Thank the Maker!" Evan exulted "Cade, we have some issues here… and Brad Clawbourne is headed your way!"

"Brad is out of combat! And I guess the Shera being damaged beyond repairs?"

"Precisely" Evan confirmed "The SISF is with me in the main hub of the facility but I don't know how much time we will be allowed…"

"Look" Cade told him "I'm linking up with you. Send an emergency message to any WRO unit outside, except the one in Edge…"

"What?" Yuffie gulped "This is insane. It will turn us into a bird dressed in orange and jumping in front of the hunters!"

"I appreciate the metaphor, but I have to remind you that the WRO is currently split in two. We have a fifty-fifty chance of picking up the right guys…"

"Say eighty-twenty, instead" Evan intervened "the situation is the one of a worldwide mutiny by now!"

"Cade is right!" Reeve thought "We need some allies, and we need a ride…"

"I'll do it then" Evan replied "By the way Cade, I have to give you a bad news. Apparently we have found the Dragonette"

"The what?" Cade asked

"The Dragonette?" Yuffie and Reeve echoed in shock

"The disappeared submarine…" Evan clarified

"Oh, that one" Cade said "Where is it?"

"Right here. It is moored at the harbour down by the seaside…"

Reeve still had to come to terms with what he had just came to know "What the hell is it doing here?" he uttered.

6.

"I won't kill you just because I'm too tired to even harm a tick" Cid shouted ferociously at the address of Cade, who reached for him across the landing pad, holding Reeve with his arm.

The landing pad was more crowded than it had ever been during the whole day. The entire detachment of prison soldiers who were about to seize the Shera had finally surrendered. The request sent by Evan had reached the right ears, in the form of Colonel Zansteid.

The aide-de-camp of Director Reeve Tuesti had taken off from Edge as soon as Brad's henchmen were taking control of the WRO headquarters and had gathered a sizeable fleet of airships with which he had set off to Goblin Island. There he had waited for the situation to normalize but the message from Major Evan Kallstrom had prompted him to rush to their help.

Two airships had landed in two separate landing pads opposite the Shera, and the WRO infantrymen that had rumbled down their ramps had quickly subdued the guards on the opening. Meanwhile even the freed prisoners had reached the surface, showing great prowess despite several days of confinement.

Last but not least, it was the SISF and Reeve himself. The crowd had erupted in a spontaneous applause as the figure of Director Tuesti appeared. He had been briefly medically checked by Kewell upon their meeting in the Command Centre and he had been given the green light, pending a more accurate examination to be held soon

The only unhappy face in the whole crowd was Cid, of course. He was staring at the pitiful image of his wrecked airship, whose right cowling had been torn open and was still spitting smoke while a fire-crew was still dousing the already extinguished fire. Panels had been pried from the frame and bullet holes were ubiquitous

"C'mon Cid!" Cade patted him on the back "If this one is beyond repair, we'll get another one…"

"You just don't understand, don't you?" Cid mumbled, before walking away, followed with the eyes of everyone

"The Shera and its crew surely gave an immense contribution to the operation" Zansteid considered "we'll provide Mr. Highwind with all the assistance we can provide to restore the airship"

"Thank you, Colonel" Yuffie replied "On behalf of Mr. Highwind, who is too unsettled to talk right now…"

"That's Cid" Reeve said "take it or leave it…"

"I'll take him anytime…" Evan smiled

Everyone laughed. Even Cid, in the distance could not be indifferent to the chuckle that had erupted as he turned away from his sorrow-filled inspection and towards the huddle of people sharing a laughter

"Surely if it wasn't for you and Cid, Evan" Cade continued "all of this would not be possible"

"We were just lucky" Evan shook his head "Surely Brad and his associates devised a terrific plan, but it had its weak points and we were able to exploit them"

"You know, the fact that not all of the WRO did immediately swore its allegiance to Brad it's something that makes me feel proud of being human again…" Yuffie mused

"Oh, sure" Cade replied, laughing "that's a really good beauty pageant speech!"

Yuffie's smiled died out instantly, replaced by a contemptuous scowl

"Maybe you forget something, you all" a voice intervened. It was Ruding

"Where were you?" Evan asked him

"Off to check the ship's mainframe" he explained "luckily it has gone through the whole ordeal unscathed"

"What's so important in the ship's mainframe, if I may ask?" Zansteid enquired

"Oh, sure you can, Sir" Ruding automatically stood to attention "We have collected a great deal of data that will support our version when we will confront the General Staff and the populace"

"Such as?"

"Recordings, eavesdropping transcripts, tampered data…"

"Tampered data?" Zansteid frowned "What does that mean?"

"Apparently" Evan explained "we have been given wrong data from the very beginning. Members of the Scientific Department have modified the figures we have collected from our surveys on the Singularity. Not everyone of them of course…" he added, as he glanced over to Cade, who looked just like someone who was about to shout someone's innocence. He did not, eventually

"So, if I've understood correctly" Zansteid guesses "the Singularity is a hoax"

"It could be" Ruding nodded "but we still have to analyze the bulk of them"

"I see…" Zansteid said, staring down on the floor

"And there's more!" Ruding added

"Like what?"

"The Dragonette…" Evan told him

"The Dragonette?" Zansteid uttered, in disbelief "Have you found it?"

"Yes, but it's gone again" Cade shook his head "if I got the picture clear…"

"Where to?" Zansteid asked again, losing his composure

"It matters little, right now" Reeve intervened "If we don't unite the WRO again, whatever Brad will do next it will be devastating again, regardless of our efforts to contain it…"

"Well said!" Yuffie agreed "By the way, don't tell me Brad is still…"

"Alive?" Cade terminated for her

"I'm afraid he is" Evan told her "Right, Colonel?"

Zansteid nodded "Our squads are patrolling and searching the compound room by room. There's no sight of him yet…"

"He has probably boarded the Dragonette" Cade said "now that he's got a patch on his eye he'll be perfect for the playing the pirate" he added, looking at Yuffie with a mixture of pride and amazement

"It was a lucky shot" Yuffie shrugged

"I prefer my opponent half-blind" Reeve intervened "it's easier to trick him!"

"So where are we heading now?" Evan asked "Edge?"

Zansteid and Reeve exchanged a brief look, then they nodded in unison

"We'll have to be careful anyway" Zansteid warned "although I have the feeling that we will be warmly welcomed"

"The only thing we'll have to take care of is the General Stuff…" Evan said

"Ah, just a bunch of grey-haired crooks…" Cade dismissed

"Not if they will hole themselves up inside the HQ with a fully equipped bunch of followers…" Yuffie countered

"We will see once we will take care of that matter, which will be soon. Now all you have to do is, in my humble opinion, take a rest" Zansteid instructed them

"I think I agree with him" Reeve concurred "you both look strained"

"Strained?" both Yuffie and Cade replied at unison

"Come on" Evan invited them "I've got your bunks ready on the airship over there. Get some sleep and once we'll reach Edge you will be ready to join the bandwagon once again"

"Ah, this is a conspiracy" Cade whined, as he was pushed away from both Zansteid and Reeve and towards the airship, along with Yuffie

"I could use some rest" Yuffie thought instead

"Hit the bed and you'll change your mind instantly, believe me"

The three of them jogged among the people occupying the space: WRO soldiers, prison guards being gathered at the centre and counted, former prisoners being treated or who simply stood there helping their comrades, and the huddle of black uniforms of the SISF operatives who were simply loitering around checking their equipments. Sarah waived at them once she caught them with her eyes. A low, rising sound over their heads was announcing the arrival of a third ship, currently hovering in the sky over them and manoeuvring to find his place to land.

It was a reassuring sight. At least to Cade, who enjoyed what it looked like the fruits of a risky guess and a haphazard plan. But it did not matter now. It had worked out indeed

"Man" he whispered "today we did something great…!"

"We did it" Evan nodded "but I wasn't really that confident, I have to admit. At least not until I finally saw what we were really capable of!"

"I bet you finally enjoy being on the field, right Evan?" Yuffie asked

"Well, a walk out in the fresh air with a gun in your hand surely makes your job more interesting"

"I'll take it as a 'yes' then…" Cade poked at him

"Hey, I'm not into stunts like this. Not for quite some time, at least…"

They laughed as they approached the ramp of the airship that would have taken them aboard and, then, to Edge

"Well, here you are. Now get onboard and don't make us worried no more. Do something other than running around…"

"I know" Yuffie told him "something that pertains being laid on a bed"

Probably, the ninja was not even aware of the double-entendre she had unintentionally just crafted on the spot

"Wow" Cade whistled "did you really say that?"

Yuffie looked at him with a puzzled face, before realizing what Cade was talking about. She blushed instantly and to the highest degree she was allowed to blush

"Pipe down, Yuffie" Evan grinned "I recommended the crew to get you separate bunks…"

"And right when I thought things would have turned out interesting…" Cade replied, insincerely beaten down by the revelation

"I think I'll go to sleep in a minute" Yuffie finally resolved

"Good for you" Evan greeted them, before stepping back in the direction of the Shera "See you in Edge. And behave!"

They waved at each other for a couple of seconds. Then Cade and Yuffie looked at each other. Cade was somehow trying to restrain a fain chuckle

"What's so funny, now?" Yuffie asked

"Nothing, really" Cade shook his head "I think we had our fair share of excitement for today…"

"Hey, if that's a joke I'm…" Yuffie protested

Cade nearly pressed his finger against her lips, in an effort to silence her. It worked though, as Yuffie finally relaxed, letting her arms dangle along her sides. After a beat, they proceeded to board the ship

"It won't be the same as being in the Shera, but it will do…" Cade observed

"Oh, a bed is a bed" Yuffie replied "more or less…"

"You were great down there" Cade abruptly changed the subject "I really mean it"

"Oh" Yuffie paused "Well, thanks. You did good too!" she said. Then something strange happened in her brain. Her speech neurons rushed to search for something to say, like it was the most urgent thing to do in the whole world. She regretted the result of the search as soon as the words came from her mouth

"Kayla would be proud of you" she finally said

'Why on Gaia? WHY!' she cried in her head, as she stood watching hapless, waiting for a reaction from Cade's side. If there was even a flicker of joy, her words made sure it was swept away. Yuffie knew that, even if the signal he was sending her were not so evident

"I… think so" he finally replied, his voice far away from the one he had spoken with seconds before "She would be proud of you, too…" he added, nodding. Then he rushed inside. Not running, but with a pace that suggested impatience and urgency to shelter himself away from the world. Yuffie decided to mend her mistake, at the cost of making a bigger one

"Cade wait!" she ran after him, nearly grabbing him from the rim of his shirt. He stopped and turned, feet on both the ramp and the floor of the cargo bay. Busy crewmembers were running around them carrying out their tasks at hand

"I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have said that…" she begged him. Her eyes were wide open, almost gleaming in the light of the afternoon. Cade took a moment to lose himself in those dark, brown eyes staring at him. Yuffie somehow did the same. She could not think of anything else but imaging all the things those green eyes had seen. She reminded herself of the things Reeve had told her, of the pain and joy they had shared so far and she wondered how come so little things had happened in such a small amount of time

'If only there was a simple way of doing this' she thought 'Instead I keep him reminding of… her!" she sternly scolded herself

"Hey, are you with us?" Cade's voice dragged her back on earth

"I'm sorry, Cade" she pleaded again "I have the annoying habit of talking before thinking!"

"Don't be too nasty with yourself just for that!" Cade reassured her

"Are you serious?"

"Listen" Cade patiently explained "I know what you mean. And, yes… it hurts. And a lot. But I think you already know that, don't you?"

Yuffie nodded

"We have to carry on" he told her "what happened has already happened. And, unfortunately, we can't change a bit of it…"

Yuffie marvelled at the fact that his voice did not crack

"The only thing that matters now" he said, throwing his arms slowly but firmly around her "is that we are all right… that you are all right!"

Yuffie responded at his gesture by grabbing his shoulders from the back and gently resting her head on his breast. She felt a great relief upon his words. She couldn't ask herself if those last words were a hint to something, though

"Thanks Cade!" she said "That means a lot to me!"

"You're welcome" he said seemingly detached all of a sudden

"Let's go and get some rest now, ok?"

"Sounds good…" he replied, squinting his eyes and pinching the nose. Apparently something was causing distress to him

"Are you all right?" Yuffie asked, alarmed by his gesture

"It's nothing…" he automatically replied, although the reality was far from it.

A sudden ache had taken his head. He felt like his head had been caught in a vise and a blacksmith was slowly but inevitably closing the gap between the two pieces.

Suddenly he felt like he had to puke, albeit it had been ages since he had last had a meal. His head started spinning around like mad as he began to lose sensibility at his hands.

His vision began to blurry and all the sounds around him felt like an indistinct mass of noises, unintelligible one from the other.

He faltered backwards and landed on the cold floor of the cargo bay.

Crash landed was the right word though. He felt a sharpening pain running all along the face from the check that hit floor. It was the last thing he felt before slipping again in the realm of unconsciousness again, while a blanket of heat crawled on him, covering his skin with a layer of sweat.

That, and Yuffie reaching for him and begging him to wake up and calling for help.