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);

22. Kazafun Islands

KAZAFUN ISLANDS

1.

A jolt woke him up.

For an instant, he thought that it had just been a nightmare.

There was nothing such as a bunch of derelict, delusional sociopaths trying to rip Gaia apart by setting of a powerful Mako bomb next to a fault ready to crack open.

He would have gotten up in a bed. He would have opened the window and smelt the scent of a sunny morning somewhere in a peaceful corner of the world.

He would have walked into the kitchen and hugged the woman he was calling his girlfriend. Or maybe even his wife. Kids were still out of the picture, as of now.

In short, it had been just a nightmare.

But maybe, his life, his real life was a nightmare itself. It had been a nightmare all along.

As he had fallen asleep in the passenger compartment of the Shera, and fastened on his seat along with the other members of the expeditionary force dispatched to infiltrate the harbour and thwart Brad Clawbourne's plans, images of his life jumped before his closed eyes, quickly and vividly as if the film of the reel had stuck upon his eyes.

Reeve giving him a firm handshake before seeing him walking upon the ramp of the airship. All the SISF members getting ready to take off, exchanging looks of encouragement in a show of pure camaraderie.

The night spent sharing the bed with Yuffie. Both of them.

Yuffie being shot in the chest by Brad.

Kayla confessing her love for him, right before dying.

And his entire life before joining the WRO.

Last but not the least, the last words Jessie had whispered him, before dying along with all the other inhabitants of the Sector 7, crushed by the falling plate.

One day you'll understand…

That day was still far from here, apparently. Cade had still to understand a thing about how the world worked. He had still to understand why people had to suffer and why people had to die so others could try to carry on.

The heavy pace of a woman dressed in full battle uniform brought him back into reality again. That and the loud, low-frequency hum of the airship engines, permeating the air inside the hull

"Are you sure you are ready?" Lieutenant Farron asked him "You look like someone who is about to say 'Fuck you all I'm out of here!'"

"Who, me?" Cade stood up, unfastening himself from the seat "That's not something to say about me. And you should know it!" he sternly told her

"Hey, relax!" Sarah laughed "I see it takes something extreme to shake you off…"

"What? Was it a…" Cade looked at her, perplexed

"Don't worry" Sarah shook her head "Touching a nerve is the best way to wake the dormant spirit of a fighter"

"I see" Cade replied, scratching his forehead "Well, that worked for sure. I'm better now" he assured her, shaking off the numbness from himself.

He looked around him. In the passenger compartment or , better, the cargo which had been hastily converted into a passenger compartment in the newly refurbished Shera, SISF soldiers were checking their equipment and doing some exercise to keep their bodies ready to action.

Kewell was stocking his medical bag while Ruding and his assistant where calibrating the communications equipment on their vests.

Corporal Biggs and Sergeant Perkins stood apart from the main group, having a quiet talk between themselves. Cade looked at Yuffie, still asleep on her seat, her beloved shuriken between the back of the chair and her own back. Her eyes had lit up like fireworks when Evan had handed her the complete set of weaponry she was so fond of and so deadly with.

He looked back at the couple at the corner of the space and wondered how on Gaia they managed to keep their relationship working

"Are you sure there is nothing between you two?" Sarah asked

"Me and who?" Cade played dumb

"Come on!" Sarah sighed "You and the princess still asleep here…" she said, indicating Yuffie

"What?" Cade said "Is that another trick to make me roll my punches or…?"

"At all" she replied "It's a real question!"

"Is that so important to you?"

"It could be…"

"They could be non of your business, Lieutenant" Cade coyly told her

"So you admit there is something, actually?"

Cade was about to counter that insinuation again, but it seemed like there wasn't anything that could make her quit her questioning. Cade sighed, as he let his arms fall down

"All right, you won" he said "me and Yuffie are… fond of each other! Why so insistent, then?"

"I don't know" Sarah said "I thought you maybe wanted to hear something about how to manage relationships on the workplace…"

"Well, thanks Lieutenant" Cade replied "but it will not be a relationship on the workplace. At least, not after this mission…"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to quit the WRO"

"Are you serious?" Sarah replied, baffled

"Why not?" Cade shrugged

"You could do a lot here in the WRO. We surely need someone like you…"

"I see" Cade replied "but I feel like I need something else"

Sarah slowly nodded, thoughtfully

"In that case" she finally spoke "who am I to take a decision on behalf of someone else? Still, you will be missed. That's for sure!"

"You talk like we've been working along for ages. Instead, we only met, how long was it?"

"It's irrelevant" she said "some people are born to impress others, for good and for bad, I suppose… Take Yuffie, how long have you been knowing her?"

Cade blushed. He had to admit that Sarah had a solid point, though

"Not much more than you…"

"And we all know what happened then…" Sarah made a cunning smile

"We do!"

"And that brings us to the second reason I've been so nosy regarding your relationship"

"What would be?" Cade asked, fearing for the answer he'd get

Sarah did not utter a word. Instead she turned towards the catwalk over the hull and whistled. A familiar figure climbed down the ladder. It was Evan, who promptly handed something to Sarah, looking like a small wad of banknotes

"This is the last time I bet with you…" he complained "Waiting for the next pay-check will be painful as fuck now!"

'Bet?'

"You would have a lucky shot every now and then if you chose the playing field correctly!" she countered

"You are the most subtle girlfriend ever!" Evan complained "No wonder they put you to lead this pack of daredevils"

'Girlfriend?'

"You two owe me an explanation…" Cade said, eyes bulged

"An explanation?" Evan made a puzzled face

"There is nothing to explain, really" Sarah shrugged "What do you think me and Evan are?"

Cade was left dumbfolded. That was something truly unexpected. He chuckled as he shook his head

"Evan" he cackled "this is…"

"Don't think you're the only cool guy in the house!" Evan patted him on the shoulder "Everyone is entitled to make some conquest…"

Cade stood jaw-dropped. Evan and Sarah. No, Lieutenant Farron. He still couldn't believe that

"You treated yourself too, I see" Sarah told him, pointing at Yuffie, who was moving and mumbling in his ever lighter sleep. She would have woke up any second now

"Well, is that wrong?" Cade asked

"No, at all…" Evan calmly replied, delighted by his friend's reaction

"How long has it been going on? And how it happened?" he asked, in a frenzy. Now Cade was beginning to understand why Yuffie was so keen on gossiping

"Later" Evan gestured with his hand "Now we have something more urgent to take care of, don't you think so?"

Yuffie yawned as she outstretched her arms. She got up all pepped

"Damn it" she said "I hate sleeping on stuff like that. My back is a block of stretched nerves… oh, hello everyone. I'm glad I got up on time!"

"We are all getting ready" Evan told them "We will be flying over the drop zone soon!"

"All right then!" Sarah replied "I'll marshal the rest of team. We will be ready in less than five minutes. Don't miss the mark!" she turned and proceeded to inspect every member of the team

"Cade!" Evan got closer to him and caught his attention again "I know you have your own matters to deal with but would you mind… keeping an eye on her?"

Cade smiled "For you, this and beyond, although I have the impression she'll have to look after me instead…" he said, as he vigorously shook hands with him. Evan nodded, as he walked back to the ladder leading to the catwalk

"You are surrounded by wonderful people" Yuffie whispered him "I hope you are aware of that"

Cade stared at her

"Now I am" he replied

"All right everyone!" Sarah harked, standing in the middle of the bay "We will be over our designated landing zone soon. The plan is to descend by parachute at the other end of the island, opposite the naval facility. We have darkness and the terrain conformation on our side. They have the unexpected. But we like to deal with the unexpected more than they imagine, right?"

"Right!" the whole squad replied at unison

"Ok, I'll be leading the operations on the ground. We'll be closely monitored by the sky by our INTEL team, so we will have an additional pair of eyes looking around for us. Remember what we discussed during the briefing and don' t be afraid to improvise. Provided it yields some results… Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir!" the squad roared

"Good, let's put the full stop to this whole affair. In position for jump!"

Cade and Yuffie fell in line as the soldiers formed two rows leading to the rear ramp. Yellow lights from beacons flooded the bay

"Get ready to chill!" Sergeant Perkins shouted

"Just don't forget to zip yourself up and you'll be fine!" Biggs countered him

"Hey, kid!" a voice roared via an intercom "Remember to open the parachute if you want to land safely. And be sure to come back alive. We have a few things left to settle…"

Cade shook his head, amazed by the fact that Cid could not ever sound convincingly menacing at all, even if he wanted

"I don't know if you can hear me, Cid" he shouted over the alarm that had begun to ring throughout the bay, as he picked up his rifle "but I'm surprised this piece of junk is still able to fly after the rough treatment it had received!"

"Mind your mouth, kid" Cid warned him "It's one more thing to add to the list!"

Yuffie put a hand over his shoulder. He turned his head behind, to meet her smile

"Together!" she said

He put his own hand over hers

"Together!" he repeated, with a smile

The gears that put the ramp in motion suddenly unlocked, and from an ever widening gap, the violent gusts of the cold winds of the southern seas swept the hull. The soldiers bent against the oncoming shears as they fought to stand still. Cade instinctively patted his parachuted bag and adjusted the rifle behind himself

"First section" a flight crew member shouted "Ready to jump in five!"

After five seconds, the first soldiers were running towards the ramp and jumping down

"First section, confirmed clear! Ready with the next one!"

As the crewmember lowered his arm, the second group of SISF members dashed towards the ramp and disappeared against the backdrop of the dark sky

"Third and last section! Ready to go!"

"Watch out for any straddling soldier" Sarah instructed them "If you land anywhere outside the designated area consider yourself lost!"

"All right then!" Cade nodded. He lowered the night vision goggles on his head, ready to turn them on upon jumping into the darkness

"Ever jumped from an airship?" he asked Yuffie, while they slowly walked toward the ramp

"Not really" she shook her head "and honestly, I was not looking forward to it!" she said, with a bit of concern in her voice

"Come on!" Cade encouraged her "After all, this has been the week of the first times, right?"

Yuffie turned to him, eyes bulged and skin as red as blood, a mixture of embarrassment and rage as Cade produced a nervous laughter

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Sarah laughed "So much for that 'we are fond of each other' stuff…"

"With all due respect, Lieutenant" Yuffie rebuked her "you should stick with Evan and leave this matter to us"

"I see" Sarah replied, surprised at the degree of Yuffie's feistiness

"Wait!" Cade told her, metres away from the brim of the ramp. Winds swept the space "You knew that all along?"

"Look! When we'll be back, you'll have to deal with me other than Cid…"

"Last section!" the crewmember shouted "Ready for launch!"

"Why don't you forgive me now?" he offered "It will help clearing my mind…"

"We'll see…" Yuffie hissed

"Now!" the crewmember shouted

Cade made a few steps and dived into the sky. All the sounds he was hearing seconds ago being sucked out by the void of the night and replaced with the howl of the wind against as he glided with all the others towards the island that had appeared in front of him.

2.

Yuffie splashed her feet as she landed just metres short off the shoreline. She hopped in the shallow water, dragging the parachute along with her. As she felt the steadier ground of the shore under her feet she increased her pace, reaching for the centre of the sand crescent where most of the SISF members where gathering.

Lieutenant Farron stood at the centre of the huddle. Soon all the faces began to appear in the faint dark of the early morning. To the east, a bright shade of vivid orange was appearing just above the horizon

"… five, six, seven…" Sarah began counting, as the servicemembers were getting rid of their chutes and inspecting their gear "… and ten! Damn it, there are three elements missing!" she swore

"Who are they?" Perkins asked

"The demolition section" Sarah realized "And Cade?"

"Cade!" Yuffie exclaimed "Where is he?"

"That's a good question" Sarah replied, as she switched to a device fastened to her wrist "let's see if we can track them with their beacons…"

"Save the effort!" a voice called from behind them. Everyone turned towards three figures who where crawling towards them. Leading the trio there was Cade

"Oh, there you are!" Sarah exclaimed. Yuffie let out a sigh of relief as he took his place in the circle

"Sorry for the delay!" he apologized "I brought some friends with me!"

"What happened?" Biggs asked

"I don't know, I wasn't able to negotiate the traverse winds at some points. So much for those damn weather forecasts…" he explained.

Although it felt cool, humidity was beginning to seep through the air. Soon, it would have been unbearably hot in the small subtropical island

"Thank the Maker the monsoon season is already over" a man commented "otherwise it would have been the worst landing ever in ages"

"Enough of that!" Sarah cut the conversation. She twitched her earpiece "Shera, this is Ground Team. Landing complete. All operatives present and accounted for…"

Everyone stood watching her, waiting for the response from the airship

"Ground Team this is Shera" Evan replied at the other end of the wire "We have a visual on your location. We are currently hovering seven kilometres northeast of the island. The WRO force is afloat below us…"

"Roger that!" Sarah replied "What's our current mission objective?"

"You current objective is to infiltrate and secure the compound in the north of the island. Once the compound will be sanitized, the WRO force will descend and occupy it. Further details will be streamed to your device"

"Are we expecting resistance?"

"Not much. But be careful anyhow. Shera out!"

As the conversation fell silent, Sarah stood up

"All right everyone!" she exclaimed, minding to raise her voice too much "We have ten minutes to reach the facility. There's a trail up ahead. Resistance should be light but keep your eyes peeled. All right?"

Everyone nodded

"Once we'll reach the compound, we will perform a reconnaissance of the perimeter and of the hostile elements there. Then, we will give the WRO force the green light to descend and permanently occupy the facility. Our priority is to reach the dock and prevent the submarine from leaving. Any questions?"

Nobody replied

"Good. Let's get going then!"

The group set in motion towards a narrow track that disappeared in the thick foliage. Cade walked up to Yuffie, who was the only one not to sport a silenced machine gun as a personal weapon. She had a small gun in the holster by her side but the ninja primarily relied on her giant shuriken fastened to her back

"How was the landing?" he asked, standing by her side

"It was fun, actually. I was worrying for nothing" she replied

"I'm glad to hear that" he told her, keeping as quiet as he could

"You owe me an excuse…" she whispered to him, after a pause

"What? You mean, for before?" he tentatively asked

Yuffie nodded, with an expression halfway between serious and joking

"Well the, I'm sorry" he meekly said "but I had to vent out a bit of nervousness…"

"I hope this won't be an excuse for the future"

Cade shook his head. Sarah had taken point of the squad, blazing a trail with a machete-like sword, cutting off branches and bough which stood on the derelict path.

Suddenly, she stopped swinging her knife. She raised a hand and all the team came to a halt. Cade instinctively readied his rifle while crouching. Yuffie rushed to caress her shuriken, ready to unleash it if needed.

Apparently, Lieutenant Farron was waiting for a broadcast from the Shera. Cade guessed they had been walking for roughly five minutes by now, so they were halfway to the compound

"Ground Team, come in" a voice ranged through the earpieces of the team members, all tuned to the same frequency. It was intelligence specialist Ruding this time.

"Shera, Ground Team here" Sarah replied to Ruding's voice "Give us a situation report…"

"You are almost at the eastern perimeter of compound. It looks like activity in the site is scarce but Mako reading are pretty high throughout the entire site…"

"The entire site?" Sarah asked "How can this be?"

"We are running a detailed enquiry but it appears that the site has been used to store and discards nuclear waste from submarine reactors. If the dirty bomb should explode there, it would cause a disaster!"

"Say goodbye to a precision strike from afar…" Cade commented

"That's why we think Brad chose this location in particular" Ruding said "The nuclear waste scattered here and there would create and environmental disaster if dispersed in the air and the sea. It's his backup plan"

"Damn it!" Sarah swore "We have to hurry. And exercise caution!"

"Sarah, judging from our satellite pictures the enemy presence on the site in almost non-existent" Evan took the microphone back in the Shera "but you know better than me not to trust something like that. Proceed with the recon once you reach the perimeter. Be careful, over!"

The conversation fell again. Yuffie and Cade exchanged a brief amused look upon hearing Evan s' last word.

Without uttering a word, Sarah raised her knife again and, together with the rest of the group, walked forth once again.

Back in Edge, Reeve was nervously walking back and forth in the room which had been set up as a command centre for the mission. The circular layout of the space hosted an array of officers monitoring every detail of the undergoing operation behind computer screens, while other servicemembers carried pieces of news and updates from one working station to the other.

Reeve stopped, as an officer stood in front of him

"Sir, we have just received confirmation that the SISF squad has touched ground and is heading to the facility"

"What is the current location and status of our other assets in the area?" Reeve asked.

The officer tapped on the screen of his tablet

"The Shera is orbiting in a circular patter seven kilometres off the island, right above the landing fleet. All our assets are operational…"

Reeve nodded, walking away from the officer who returned to his duties without missing a beat. The WRO director walked towards a desk at the centre of the room, where Colonel Zansteid was contemplating a digital map of the island, filled with pop-ups about the status of the SISF squad and enemy elements

"The operation is underway…" Reeve sighed

"The team is due to report with the results of the reconnaissance operation in a couple of minutes" Zansteid briefed him "then the infiltration will commence. Plus, the submarine looks like it is still at anchor"

Reeve nodded again

"Sir, judging from the satellite readings, the facility is rife with spent nuclear fuel discarded from nuclear submarines" Zansteid continued "If the infiltration and the eventual assault will fail, are you sure you want to carry out the last resort plan?"

"Do we have any other options?" Reeve immediately replied

"I'm afraid we don't have any, Sir"

"Then we will do it" Reeve solemnly declared "We will do what is expected of us to do"

"Even if that means spilling an indefinite amount of nuclear waste into the sea?"

"The environmental damage can be contained" Reeve said "a massive series of earthquakes all around the globe cannot be, on the other hand. Beside, the energy released by the Mako if we hit the submarine while still close to the island will be less than a hundred of the energy freed if detonated over the fault…"

"Even if that means sacrificing the whole Special Intervention Service Force?"

Reeve halted. The question that had just come from the mouth of his adjutant was expected, to some degree, but Reeve felt uneasy as he tried to sound assuring and resolute

"Even if it will mean that" he finally replied "we'll eventually do it!"

Zansteid looked somehow satisfied as he returned to examine the digital map on the desk.

Reeve instead resumed walking back and forth. He sincerely hoped that Cade, Yuffie and everyone else involved would not fail.

Lieutenant Farron had just led the team out of the foliage. The track was now wider and let them proceed more rapidly.

Out of the foliage, though, the path took a steep ascent up a hill. When they finally reach the top of the mound, Sarah called for the squad to halt and gather around.

She quickly glanced at her watch. Luckily, they were ahead of the schedule. She took her binoculars and aimed somewhere in the distance. To the east, the orange shade was growing bigger and bigger as it tuned into a bright yellow right above the horizon.

Cade followed Sarah's gaze into the distance. A group of abandoned buildings stood in the distance, partially obstructed by a series of hills. If that was the facility they were meant to secure, it surely looked like it was abandoned

"Can you see the harbour?" he whispered to Sarah

"Nope!" the lieutenant replied "But it's all beyond those hills"

She looked back through the binoculars, then she put them back away

"Cassman, Juniper" she called, while two soldiers stepped forward. One of them was carrying a sniper rifle "You will be our eyes while we infiltrate the facility. Take the hill over there" she said, pointing at a rolling hill lying next to building, east of the compound. Form there, a sniper would have had a good visual of the entire harbour, plus being able to scope the moorings too

"As soon as you reach your assigned location" she continued "begin the recon operation!"

"Yes, Sir" the men replied at unison, while Sarah pinned a location on the map displayed by the device on her wrist

"All the others" Sarah told the rest of the team "follow me. We will try and probe the perimeter to see if there is a secluded passage. We did not encounter anyone so far, but be careful anyhow…"

"What's the plan?" Yuffie asked

"We will provide a diversion by advancing to the main command centre of the enemy while a second team will aim for the docks. Remember that the moment we will cross the perimeter of the base, the WRO will descend en masse upon the harbour…"

"Who will lead the detachment?" Biggs asked

"Well, guess who?" Sarah replied, looking at Cade, who shrugged

"How do we prevent the submarine from sailing away?" Perkins asked "Its crew will not stand idle while we barge into the base!"

"According to the readings the submarine is idle in the harbour. It takes time to fire it up plus an intervention from the crew ashore. It won't sail away by its own accord. If we control the piers, the submarine will be caged…"

"I'm ok with that" Yuffie replied

"Me too…" Cade agreed

"Let's go then. Cassman and Juniper, you are free to proceed to you assigned location. Everyone else, on me..."

Everyone nodded as they stood up and prepared themselves to resume their trek downhill towards the harbour

Onboard the Shera, Evan Kallstrom had momentarily left the main deck and all the crew to duck into the cockpit. There he found Cid, who was busy keeping the airship in its circular pattern, ready to divert the course upon short notice. Below them, a fleet of WRO warships and a couple of landing ships featuring long flat decks were patiently waiting their turn to roll into action upon being given the signal, lights shut off and disappearing in the dark canvas of the ocean only to reappear against the rising sun to the east

"What's humming in that head of yours, major?" Cid asked him, without taking his eyes off the sky ahead of him "Don't tell me you're nervous too…"

"In fact I'm not!" Evan shook his head

"Take it easy as much as you can , then" Cid grumbled "This mission is going to be a piece of cake. Ruding and all the others egg-head down below told me that the place is as empty as a brothel after somebody puts out the word a hooker's got crabs…" he laughed

"Whatever…" Evan sighed, as he momentarily slumped on the seat next to him

"When are the fireworks expected?" Cid asked, turning serious again

"Soon" Evan answered

"How soon?"

"Any second now…"

"The heck are you doing here then?"

"Am I bothering you, by chance?" Evan asked

"At all, but if those brats on that forsaken piece of land are going to wreck havoc soon you should get back in the deck. Besides, the sooner this whole ordeal ends, the quicker we go back home. Like I really crave for my frigging homestead these days…"

Evan shook his head. He wondered how the grumpy technician could put up such a convincing front of imperturbability. Surely cynicism was a great ally in facing the trials of life, although he could sense that even the thick-skinned Cid Highwind was worried about what was about to happen on the island

"How is your wife back home, by the way?"

"My wife?" Cid turned his head "She's fine. If she means to complain, well… she hasn't so far" he answered, bursting out cackling. He killed his own chuckle as soon as he noticed that Evan had a somber look on his face.

Cid let go of the flying stick. The Shera somehow kept its route. He turned towards Evan with his whole seat

"Look, I can read it from miles and miles that you are worried for your bird…" he told him

"Bird?" Evan grew a confused expression "What do you mean my bird?"

"Your girlfriend, damn it…" Cid exclaimed "Your girlfriend is about to wipe some asses but obviously you are still worried for her despite, sorry if I let that out, she is more badass than you…" he said with a smile

"I'm ok with that" Evan shrugged

"Anyway, Cade is down there. He'd rather be killed than letting someone else die. That is all" he reverted back to the cockpit "So don't get upset more than necessary, would ya?"

Evan sighed. He stood up and made his way back into the cockpit. In his heart, he wished he wouldn't be forced to say goodbye to anyone today.

3.

"The hell is that?"

As Kewell nearly shouted, everyone crouched as they scoped the surroundings. The trail had left the hill and had led the team into an open grassland punctuated by bushes. In the distance, a thick row of trees marked the beginning of the perimeter

"Where? Where?" Sarah anxiously asked as she looked around trying to point out the source of Kewell's apprehension

" Twelve o'clock, right before us" Kewell explained. The SISF squad arrayed in a semicircular formation as the medical officer indicated a short column partially surrounded by a group of bushes.

Cade took a look at it. Now that he looked better, he could spot several others similar objects scattered all around the grassy meadow they found themselves on. If they were supposed to be some kind of defence system, like proximity sensor or automatic turrets, it did not look like it was active. He made up his mind and slowly walked towards the nearest object

"The hell are you going?" Yuffie scolded him, as she caught wind of his intention

"Cade, turn back!" Sarah let a muffled shout out. Cade did not heed any of these calls as he carefully approached the rectangular-based booth in front of him. It wasn't a turret for sure.

He turned towards the rest of the team, waving his arms as to invite them to come closer. Sarah reluctantly agreed, with everyone else following suite, including Yuffie

"It's a terminal of some sort, nothing active anymore though" Cade explained them as he detached a panel form the booth, revealing bundles of weed growing inside the interior of the turret "The weeds and the rushes have turned into a useless monolith…"

"What about the others?" Sarah enquired

"Same here, lieutenant" a soldier replied from a turret not far from them "these devices have been left unattended for years!"

"Well, we had a luck shot then" Sarah commented, as he gazed towards the trees concealing the perimeter of the naval facility "we should get going and perform the reconnaissance from upon those hills over there. The WRO force is probably waiting for us…"

Cade nodded while Sarah gestured to order the team to follow her. As they resumed walking, Yuffie sprinted next to Cade

"Do something like that again and I swear I kill you myself…!" she bitterly hissed. Cade worried upon hearing the tone of hear voice but could not prevent himself from teasing her

"How are you going to explain that?"

"Spontaneous bullet discharge" she said, patting her side-arms "things that happen…"

"Are you even serious?"

"Cade, that thing could have been dormant and killed you the moment you touched it!" she told him, anger trading place with concern

"Well, it did not happen…"

"Jeez, what happened to the Cade who was almost crying like a toddler because he was afraid of dying right when things seemed finally ok for him?"

Cade stiffened at those words. For a moment, it seemed like an invisible spell had frozen him as he was about to thrust his feet into the soil while taking on the climb to the top of the hill from where they were meant to observe the site below them.

The following second, he continued walking, seemingly ignoring Yuffie's retort. The ninja walked behind him

"Sorry" she whispered "I shouldn't have said that"

Again, Cade ignored her

"Cade, you and Yuffie take this position here!" Sarah instructed them "This will be your observation point…"

"Got it…" Cade nodded, getting on the ground prone as he draw his set of binoculars while Sarah brought the rest of the squad further along.

Yuffie followed suit, standing next to him

"Cade" she quietly pressed "I told you I'm sorry…"

"I heard it…" he replied, deadpan. He looked through the lenses of his binoculars. The hill was tall enough to let them peek above the row of trees growing along what it appeared to be a fence with barbed wire on top of it. On the side of the perimeter facing their position, a series of warehouses stood. Beyond them an opening featuring a checkpoint separating the warehouses from the main dockyards. To the west, additional facilities rose, the ones that probably hosted the facility personnel when the base was operational. Floodlights stood on poles conveniently placed around the surface of the facility which, as Cade looked better, doubled up as sentry towers.

The whole place looked deserted.

"This is Lieutenant Farron. Has anybody made contact with anything or anyone so far?"

"Negative" Cade promptly replied on his radio "Not a soul in sight. It looks like the place is almost a fake…"

The rest of the team gave out a similar answer

"Ground team this is Shera" Evan's voice rang in the earpieces "do you confirm that the facility is empty?"

"It looks empty" Sarah corrected him "I can't shake the feeling there's something strange going on…"

Her words sent Yuffie chills down her spine. The place looked haunted as the first rays of the sun began casting eerie shadows on the square at the centre of the facility

"We have no contacts from the satellite images either" Evan told them "but the submarine is still anchored at the pier and it looks like it hotter than usual. Do we have to send in the WRO force anyway?"

"Please do" Sarah replied "lets' see how long are they going to play hide and seek…"

"Yuffie here" the ninja suddenly tapped into the broadcast "I think I found a place where we can infiltrate. A gash in the fence where a tree has fallen…"

Cade turned towards here. He admitted to himself Yuffie's sudden remark had startled him a bit

"Give me the position…" Sarah asked

"One o' clock from our observation point, less than three hundred metres down the hill"

"We're tracking your movements from here and we have complete control over the theatre. The WRO force is on its way…!"

"Roger that" Sarah exclaimed "we are now proceeding with the infiltration. We're heading towards the submarine. Cade, Yuffie, wait for the rest of the team to gather around your observation point. We will proceed from there. Ground team, out!"

The radio turned silent again. Cade paused a while before putting his binoculars away. Yuffie looked at him

"Cade… about what I told you before…" Yuffie tentatively said

"It's all right" Cade shook his head "Things that happen!" he smiled, echoing Yuffie's own words from before. She slapped him on the back, smiling

"You really made me feel upset back then…" she said

"Well it's not my fault if you talk before thinking" he replied, suppressing a laughter. Yuffie's eyes bulged

"Damn it, sometimes I wonder if I hate you just as much as I love you…"

Cade smiled again. He threw a quick look towards were the rest of the team was supposed to come from but still no one was coming

"Listen Yuffie" Cade asked her "I know it isn't maybe the most appropriate circumstance to ask something like that but… what would you like to do, I mean, after we get back home?"

Yuffie arched her eyebrows. Surely it wasn't the most appropriate circumstance to ask something like that, as he said. She was nonetheless struck by the fact that Cade was still able to cut himself some time to think about their future as a couple, even in a tense setting like that.

She thought upon an answer, then she replied

"First of all, I get things settled with my father" she told him "then, there is a place near Costa del Sol. It's not as tacky as the main town so it became a kind of haven whenever I wanted to take a rest away from home… we could spend some time there"

"Sounds cute…" Cade replied

"Me and you and the smallest amount of other human beings around, and finally a chance to enjoy the sun…" she gaily added

"Sounds nice…" Cade replied again

"So it's Costa del Sol then?"

"It is" Cade finally replied with a smile.

The sound of grass lightly treaded came to their ears and they turned to their left. The SISF team finally appeared, with Lieutenant Farron leading the way

"Let's go! The WRO force is on the move. If we don't get to the submarine in time they could make it sail away before we can incapacitate it…"

"Not that it looks like anyone is down there…" Biggs commented

Cade sighed, shaking his head "I've got the feeling it won't be that easy…"

"Feeling or not we have a mission to carry out. Come on!" Sarah finally spurred them, as they negotiated the rather steep descent toward the hole in the fence

"Why didn't they made us infiltrate by sea? It's seems more logic to me…" Perkins complained

"Because the water around the piers is so polluted by the radioactive waste that it would turn you sterile in a matter of seconds…" Kewell explained him

"…and make you die among atrocious suffering within minutes" Biggs completed the sentences. Perkins raised his head, as to let her know he had understood the matter all too well.

4.

The team quickly poured through the gash in the external fence, stepping over the fallen tree that had crushed the net beneath it before slamming into the aluminium sheets of a nearby warehouse. Cade thought to himself that even during its heydays the place might not have looked much better.

Above them bright, cerulean streaks were tearing the night sky apart. Soon it would have been daytime, with their chances of sneaking to the harbour undetected decreasing as minutes passed by

"Let's stick to the perimeter as long as we can" Sarah ordered, while fiddling with her PDA "I'm trying to plot a path to the harbour…"

"Any chances we can find a subterranean passage?" Biggs asked.

Sarah stopped. Her fingers tapped the screen of her device and a smile appeared on her face

"Good idea, Biggs!" she said triumphantly "In fact, there's a ventilation shaft that communicates with the harbour. The only problem is that it's located across the opening in the middle of the facility…"

"As if the place is heavily guarded…" Perkins puffed

Cade and Yuffie exchanged a concerned look. The fact that none of Brad's henchmen had appeared so far was eerie

"I'd better radio in and ask the Shera if they have some sort of reading" Sarah said

"What about the radioactive waste? Is that passage environmentally safe?" a soldier asked

"The spent nuclear fuel is stored elsewhere closer to the shoreline" Sarah shook his head "as far as that is concerned, the passage is safe indeed!" she replied, as she tapped her earpiece "Shera, do you copy?"

Her face grew worried as statics was the only answer she received. She tried another call and then another one, but the results were the same

"What's wrong?" Yuffie asked

"The frequency is jammed" she nervously told them. Sarah changed channel, trying to contact the sniper team back on the hill. The radio was fizzing with statics again

"Damn it!" she swore, gesturing with her arm as the whole team took cover sticking to the walls of the warehouses around them

"It began right when we stepped into this place" Kewell commented "they must have a jammer of some sorts here!"

"All right, but where?" Perkins hissed

"Calm down!" Sarah erupted, keeping her voice as muffled as she could "We can trace the disturbance but it will take time…"

"But the WRO force is already on the way!" Briggs noted "If they arrive before we get a hold of the harbour things will go awry!"

While witnessing the exchange, Cade tried to peek through the maze of alleyways before him. He subtlety changed his position, creeping until he found a place where he could have a partial visual of the opening. Parked vehicles stood lined up next to a stack of red and yellow striped barrels that caught his attention. Inside him, the instinct of the havoc bringer had suddenly awoken.

It was time to pull out a trick of his own.

He walked back to Yuffie

"Do you have your magic goblets with you?" he asked her

"Why? What do you have in mind?" she replied, without hiding her worry. Cade had just showed a strange light in his eyes. The ninja instinctively patted a leather pouch on her belt

"So you've got them…" Cade said with a smile, noticing Yuffie's reaction

"I brought them not a hundred percent willingly" she whispered

"Why not? Last time they saved your life…"

"You did" Yuffie smiled. Cade felt a wave of warmth relieving him from the chilly breeze of the early morning, despite the fact that his combat dress was tight and let no room for nasty gusts to seep through his garments. He put a hand on Yuffie's shoulder

"When I'll give you the signal, put one of these balls into your shuriken and throw it against that stack of barrels over there…"

Yuffie squinted her eyes trying to pinpoint what Cade was indicating her

"Which Materia do I have to use?"

"The same you used back in the Northern Crater to make everything explode…"

"What's up with you two?" Sarah sneaked upon her. Cade stood up

"With your permission Lieutenant" he said "I'd like to take command of the squad"

Sarah's eyes bulged. Everyone stood there, eager to listen what Cade had come up with this time

"I beg you pardon?" the lieutenant asked

"I think I found a way to reach the harbour…"

"You forgot to add 'unnoticed'" Biggs noted

"I did not forget anything" Cade shook his head "We'll have to ditch the stealth aspect of the mission. At least to some extent…"

"What makes you think I'll relinquish the command to you?"

"Because, dear Lieutenant" Cade told her "my plans are ugly and inelegant but sometimes they work. And with the WRO force on its way and probably only a couple of minutes away from here, we need to act fast and resolutely"

"Then go on" Sarah surrendered "I'm open to suggestion from my colleagues"

"Just tell me were the shaft is supposed to be" Cade said "I'll take care of the rest"

"Shit!"

Perched on top of the hill, his belly on the wet soil, corporal Cassman, the spotter of the sniping team, gritted his teeth

"What?" Juniper, the sniper, jolted at his team mate swearing "And where?"

"The building just beyond the security post on the northern side of the opening!" Cassman pressed, sounding excited and nervous at the same time. Despite his skills as a spotter that had led him to a prompt assignment to the newly-born SISF team, this was his first real assignment as a spotter. Of course, he would naturally fall prey to the nervousness generated by the desire to test his skills and do what he could do best to give his contribution to the mission.

Juniper on the other hand was more the cool guy. He was taught since he first got a hold of a hunting rifle back in the countryside around Niebelheim that a sniper's most prized virtue was patience, rather than aim.

He scoped the location below him with the eyesight of his long-barrelled sniper rifle. At the top floor of the building his spotter had pointed him, a shadow passed in front of a window. Juniper kept his sight on that spot, trying to tell if it was the genuine shape of someone going back and forth or maybe just an illusion from the tricky light of the sun about to rise in the distance.

The shadow reappeared again. And then again. It wasn't an illusion

"I see it!" he said "We've got company at last!"

"Yeah, but we're in deep shit if we can't contact them!" Cassman told him "The radio is dead on their side!"

"Then what are we going to do?"

"Let's wait some more. The lieutenant is not dumb, she will think of something…"

"So that's your plan? Waiting? What if they expect us to fire the first shot?"

Cassman put his binoculars back on. A movement in the opening, barely noticeable, had caught his attention. Surprise and amazement caught him as he stared in the distance at the event unfurling before his incredulous eyes

"I don't think so" Cassman replied to his teammate "In fact, I think they just gave us a signal…"

Back on the Shera, the atmosphere was hectic. The moments the communications with the SISF team were lost, Evan had personally grabbed every communications specialist and not by the collar and urged him to re-establish a connection with the ground team, all while the first landing ship had left the fleet, followed by the second one

"Can someone tell me what is going on?" he shouted, on the verge of becoming purple "And why can't we have their voices back on our radio?"

Ruding put a hand on his forehead "I already told you. The frequency is jammed. There must be a jamming device hidden somewhere…"

"I know that!" Evan interrupted him "I want to know why it happened!"

Ruding stared for an instant at the enraged officer, on the verge of combusting because of the anger and rage he was building up

"I don't know" he bowed his head "but we are working tirelessly to restore the communication link. Otherwise…"

"Sir!" an officer interrupted their dialogue "Five minutes to the landing of the main WRO force on the target!"

"That mean…" an alarmed Evan wondered

"They have five minutes to secure the spot before the landing force arrives" the officer nodded

"Can you delay them?" Evan asked almost begging "Buy the SISF a couple of more minutes?"

"I could, but we might put the kibosh on the entire operation if we lose tracks with the schedule!"

"Then do that!" Evan ordered "There's something amiss down there…"

"There's something else too!" Chipperfield called for Evan's attention. The assistant of the chief intelligence specialist was sporting a plaster over his left eyebrow, a memento from the stunt pulled back in Junon

"What's that?" Evan asked, rushing at his station

"Something has moved on its own…" the crewmember pointed at the screen before him. An orangey dot, against the blue background representing the layout of the naval base, had strayed away from the cluster of heath sources representing the SISF team. Another dot followed him closely

"What is that, again?" Evan bulged his eyes "What the hell is going on down there…"

He immediately sealed his lips as his mind had promptly provided for an answer

'What the hell are you doing this time, Cade?' he thought to himself.

6.

Lieutenant Sarah Farron closed her eyes and prepared to move through the alleyways between the warehoused. Just metres away from her position, hell had broken loose, more or less.

It all started with her, surrendering the task of finding a way to reach the piers to Cade. That guy had taken Yuffie with her and then, for reasons known only to him, had walked in the middle of the opening as if it was like strolling through a park on a Sunday walk.

Suddenly, hordes of thugs holding rifles equipped with laser scopes had appeared over the roofs of the buildings surrounding the open space. They had hesitated for an instant, as they had expected many more people to appear, but they swiftly cocked their guns as the surprise subsided.

Somebody shouted something. Voices overlapping in an effort to convince Cade to probably surrender and drop whatever weapon he had with himself.

Pretty naïve by their side.

Then something else happened, something more spectacular. Sarah did not see Yuffie's shuriken, loaded with a pack of fire Materia, whirling in the air as it glided just inches away from a stack of barrels containing vehicle fuel. It ignited as the gleaming shuriken passed by, sending a wave of heath across the whole facility as a yellow, bright column rose in the twilight sky, casting light where shadows still dwelled.

Sarah ignored what Cade and Yuffie would have done later on. All she had to do was to move forward and rapidly comb the warehoused on the eastern side of the facility in order to find the microwave jammer and disable it.

As her team burst into the first warehouse, they spotted a group of enemy soldiers climbing through a staircase. Sarah did not have to think twice: she opened fire soon followed by Perkins and Biggs, always ready to shadow her every move, and the enemy party quickly took the opposite route towards the floor.

Someone from above fired from the skylight

"I'll take care of that…" an SISF soldier made his way into firing position, toting his machine gun. He let loose a salvo of bullets which nearly sheared the skylight frame from the roof, along with the enemy soldier falling down. The machine gun erupted again, spraying the ceiling, in an effort to hit as many enemy as possible with its piercing bullets flying through the tin layers they encountered

"This place is cleared!" Perkins howled

"Let's move to the next one then" Sarah replied, as they went through a side door, ready to barge into the next building.

At the other side of the facility, Yuffie was asking herself why she could not resist to follow Cade's machinations, even when they seemed death wishes rather than plans. She also asked herself how come they turned out to work so often.

Cade had walked right in the middle of the opening, luring the enemies who where probably planning to ambush the SISF team once it would have been on a spot suitable to be trapped. Cade must have messed with their plan somehow. He had then given her the signal and Yuffie had dutifully thrown her shuriken at the stack of barrel. The result was a thunderous explosion which had nearly threw her off her feet.

They had both rushed then to take cover in the middle of the row of parked trucks. A couple of them had been damaged by the explosion, while two more had been charred beyond recognition. The remaining truck seemed still fit for duty. Cade opened the door and dragged Yuffie with him. Outside, a fierce exchange of rounds was taking place between the two rows of buildings

"And let's add up this one to the list of times Cade has saved the day…" Cade enthusiastically chanted as he removed a lid under the steering wheel

"I hate to clip your enthusiasm" Yuffie replied "but we have still a couple of more days to save…". She put her shuriken, collected has it landed safely back into his hand, back at his place strapped behind her. The engine of the truck roared as Cade coupled the wires he had pulled from the compartment

"Let's roll then" Cade told her "the day has just begun!" He pushed the gas pedal downward, with the engine roaring again and setting the vehicle into motion. A rain of bullets and projectiles was pounding the rear compartment, as the vehicle's start had not gone unnoticed

"What are you planning to do next?"

"Strange, I expected you to ask me that with a bit more of fear in your voice…"

"Oh, never mind that" Yuffie shook her head "I get used to certain things pretty quickly"

"Such as?"

"Such as you trying to ram a truck through a security checkpoint!"

Yuffie pointed her arm towards the security gate, barely visible through the windowpane. The glass was still intact but bullets had cracked it on multiple spots. The same went for the windshields. If those soldiers had hit the tires too, that had gone past unnoticed.

The truck charged against a lowered barrier, hurling plastic barrels and wooden stands away as it made its way into the harbour section of the facility, crashing against a pile of crates covered by tarpaulin. Apparently the road bent sharply leftwards just after the checkpoint, but the truck, already launched at full speed, was not manoeuvrable enough to negotiate it.

Cade slammed the door open and fired a salvo with his rifle towards a bunch of enemy soldiers running outside from the security booth. Yuffie did the same by his side. Both enemy parties fell down.

"This way!" Cade gestured towards the ninja, who followed him

"So, what's our plan now?" Yuffie asked him

Cade took a glance at his watch

"The WRO forces is just a couple of minutes away. I'd say we take and hold a spot at the piers and we wait for them and the rest of the team…"

"What if the submarine sails away before we meet up?"

"That must not happen…"

"You didn't answer my question!" Yuffie noted

They took cover behind a giant spool. Cade peeked and shoot two or three times at someone in the distance

"I told you!" he said, reloading his rifle "That must not happen. And it will not happen!"

"Whatever…" Yuffie shrugged, as they left their cover heading down to the pier. Behind them, explosions and cracking rifles where breaking the stillness of the dawn

"Look!" Cade pointed eastward "It's sunrise already…"

Yuffie slapped him on the back "I'll pretend I did not hear that…"

"I was just trying to be nice" Cade moaned, eyes still down the sight of his rifle though

"Be nice when this ordeal will be over, okay?"

"Fine" he replied "Have you noticed that this section of the facility seems deserted?"

Yuffie looked around. Somebody may have appeared behind them, retreating from the battle raging on at the warehouses. Provided it was the SISF the one with the upper hand. Other than that, the piers where basically empty.

They kept walking side by side, still keeping themselves on edge ready to welcome any undesired apparition. Then, they finally reached the piers.

Three concrete strips protruded from the embankment. A vessel was moored at the rightmost of the three docks. It was the Dragonette

"There it is!" Yuffie exulted. Her mind challenged the fact that such a small craft was harbouring a power capable of topping the whole world. They took cover behind a stack of discarded material as they stared at the eerily silent scene

"What is happening back there?" Cade asked, head towards the smoke pillar raising from the warehouse quarter of the naval facility

"Your friends are killing time while they wait for the fireworks to go off" a voice replied. At the same time, rifles clicked and crates and other props were pulled aside as enemy soldiers appeared around them

"Cade, enough playing hide and seek" the voice contemptuously continued "it's time for you and your friend to step forward!"

Cade and Yuffie froze there on the pier. A figure moved forward in open air between the gun toting soldiers. Needless to say, it was none than other than Brad Clawbourne

"Sorry, Brad!" Cade apologized "You don't mind if we crashed your party"

Brad shrugged. He was wearing a black tactical suit. Something was eerily off in his demeanours. He was calm and composed but menacing nonetheless, with the patch on his eyes only making his appearance more foreboding.

Brad's eye rested on Yuffie "It was a nice shot back there in Junon. I wouldn't have done better myself" he said, pointing at the patch

"You wouldn't have hit the water in the ocean with a rock even with both eyes working, Brad" Cade teased him

Brad laughed out loud, his laughter overshadowing the noise of the battle still going on at the warehouses section

"Cade, I hate to say that but you will be missed. At least the part of you that does not meddle with my plans" he said "Are those supposed to be the… things they gave you to cripple the submarine?"

A soldier walked next to Cade, seizing the explosives. Cade opposed no resistance. Yet he and Yuffie were still grasping their weapons

"You look so self-assured Brad" Cade spoke "what makes you think I won't try to kill you here right on the spot?"

"Who said you can't do that?" Brad replied "Of course, nothing will prevent the submarine to set sail, should I be killed here. Or the spent fuel depots to go off and bringing the worst environmental disaster in years about…"

Cade and Yuffie stared at the submarine with apprehension

"That's right" Brad nodded "the submarine is all prepped up and ready to leave at my signal. And I have a little insurance should your friends over there decide to even slightly touch it…"

"I doubt I will be able to convince you to desist…" Cade shook his head

"You got it right" Brad nodded "And you, my dear Cade, will have a seat in the front row, witnessing the show we have prepared for you all…"

"You are a twisted man, Brad Clawbourne" Yuffie spat "Nothing will ever justify what you were planning to do. Nothing!"

Brad shook his head "I'm not looking for your justification, you pathetic sore twat. I'm just looking forward to see this world crumble, and with it every meaningless soul treading its surface"

"But why?" Yuffie cried "Do you really think this is going to bring back whoever you lost?"

"As Cade brilliantly pointed out" Brad replied, unfazed by her comment "there's no point in convincing me to do otherwise. Better brace yourself. It's not going to be an easy ride from here"

Then Brad walked up to Cade "Hey, cheer up Tuesti! If you will be so lucky to die you'll be able to meet Kayla again. Are you looking forward to it? Damn it, don't tell me that you haven't been able to fuck her in all the months you…"

A sudden movement cut Brad's words almost as suddenly. Cade swung his arm and landed a well placed fist right on Brad's lips, opening them up, blood spurting from a gash on his upper lip.

The soldiers tightened their ranks. Brad raised a hand, as to instruct them not to respond. He spat a reddish speck of gob on the floor

"Ah, I can't even joke with you, Tuesti. You are deadly serious…"

Cade took a fierce stand, fist tightly clenched

"Anyway, if my calculations are corrected, your friends should land here any second now. By the time they'll have devised the position of the charges in the spent fuel depot, we will be already at open sea"

Brad grinned, launching a smug look at the two of them. In the background, rifles were still cracking in the distance. Although outnumbered, the SISF was still putting on a hell of a fight

"So, how does it feel to be powerless, Cade? Looks like your nightmares have turned into reality…"

"Are you going to kill us or what? You're boring the hell out of me…" Cade protested

"Of course not" Brad shook his head "For the same reason I shot her instead of you back in the crater. Remember?"

"You are so spineless you made someone else do it. Remember?" Yuffie echoed him. Somehow, her reply struck a chord in him, as Brad draw a gun from a holster on his belt. His arm outstretched as he aimed at Yuffie

"You want me to do an encore of that pretty little tragedy? You know, I might not kill Cade, but if that would mean make him suffering I can shoot you instead…"

Yuffie gulped. Cade's eyes bulged. Brad was bluffing, sure as gold. But to what extent?

Suddenly a man appeared on the dockside, emerging from the ladder leading to the quays below

"Sir, the submarine is ready to set sail!" the man shouted from afar

Brad slightly turned his head. He lowered his arm

"Ah, fuck it" Brad suddenly grumped, raising his gun again "I'm going to give myself a present before I sail!"

He cocked the handgun. Yuffie stared in disbelief at the muzzle of the gun pointed towards her. On his side, Cade nearly rushed to his gun. He was aware of the fact that by killing Brad nothing would have really changed but at least he would have saved Yuffie.

Provided the fellows around them did not gun them down shortly afterwards.

All those calculations proved to be futile, eventually. A whistle filled the air. Everyone turned around as the mysterious sound grew in intensity.

Then a bright flash erupted not far from the quayside, engulfing a building which stood right on the boundary between the piers and the warehouses.

The powerful explosion knocked everyone on the ground. Yuffie saw a giant flash wrestling her sight before falling on the ground unconscious.

"Are you sure it was surgical enough?" Evan asked

"It's a radiation seeking missile" Ruding explained "It goes all the way down a chimney. Besides, no one is near the jamming facility, at least no one we care about…" the IT specialist added with a grin

"Whatever it was" Evan replied "we are about to discover it first hand!"

7.

Yuffie slowly regained consciousness.

She felt a pat on her shoulder which grew more relentless as she refused to wake up. Tasting the concrete in her mouth, she finally opened her eyes, realising she was laying prone on the ground. There were no more sounds of gunfire in the background, only people shouting orders and the noise of helicopters flying above

"There it is, she woke up!" a voice spoke "Tell the lieutenant we found her"

Yuffie rolled on her back. Feeling an eerie sensation over her face, she passed a hand on her cheeks and forehead, only to irk as the palm of her hand turned out

"Don't touch your face m'am!" the same voice that had woken her up urged her "You are full of scratches on your face. You don't want to put even more dirt on your wounds…"

Scratches? How did she got them? It all felt so confused and hectic…

Yuffie turned towards the medic who was tending to her

"What happened?" she asked him

"You were caught in the blast of the explosion…"

"Which explosion?"

"One of our gunship launched a missile to destroy a jamming facility" the medic explained "We thought nobody was near it…"

Apparently, judging by the number of soldiers roaming around the piers, the WRO had finally landed in the facility. Did it mean that the mission was over? Perhaps accomplished?

She quickly got up, startling the corpsman, who was deep into dressing her wounds. She felt a bit dizzy as she jumped on her feet all of a sudden

"Hey calm down!" the medic protested. Yuffie did not care about him. She took a look at the moor where the Dragonette stood the last time she saw it.

Now the vessel was not there anymore

"Where is the submarine?" she frantically asked, towering the medic who was still knelt on the ground "Where is it?" she almost begged to know

The soldier was about to voice his obliviousness, but a call came from behind her shoulder

"Yuffie!"

Yuffie turned and saw Lieutenant Sarah Farron running towards her

"Yuffie!" the lieutenant walked the last bit up to her "Thank God you are here. I was looking for you everywhere!"

"Sarah! What happened?" Yuffie frantically asked

"What is the last thing you remember?"

"I was at the dock, right there" she explained "We were… ambushed by Brad and his gang…" she faltered, as she felt the urge of sitting down again. She felt like all her stamina had left her all of a sudden "The submarine has disappeared again…!"

"Can somebody give me a stretcher please?"

"A stretcher?" Yuffie replied, puzzled. Meanwhile two corpsmen were already rushing to her spot with a orange "I don't need no goddamn stretcher!"

"Whatever" Sarah shrugged "I'll have you taken on the Shera right now, though. Get yourself checked a bit, will you? Do you manage to walk?"

"What? The Shera is here?" Yuffie asked

"Of course" Sarah nodded "It landed right after the main contingent had seized the entire facility"

"I can walk" she assured her "Where is Cade?" she suddenly asked

"We are looking for him" Sarah replied "We honestly thought you could tell us where he is. Wasn't he with you?"

Yuffie stopped on her tracks upon a path carved by the explosion of the missile against the building which hosted the microwave jamming device. Around them soldiers were corralling prisoners and evaluating damages to the facility.

Yuffie heart momentarily stopped beating as she recalled the events leading up to that moment: they were making their way towards the piers when none others than Brad Clawbourne had appeared. He was just about to kill Yuffie on the spot when the missile had struck, saving them from a point blank execution.

But apparently Cade was nowhere to be seen. It was not like him to hide out in such a circumstance. And the submarine had definitely set sail, maybe in the aftermath of the chaos brought by the explosion and the landing of the WRO forces.

Things were not looking good

"Let's get in the Shera" Yuffie suddenly burst "We'll look for him later"

She took point and ran towards the opening amidst the warehouses, a space large enough to allow the airship to fit in. She ran to the back of the hull, finding the SISF team loitering at the base of the ramp

"Hey, look who's there!" Perkins greeted her

"Jeez Yuffie" Elena marvelled at her face "Did you shave your face with barbed wire?"

"Has anyone seen Cade?" Yuffie frantically asked, panting

"Cade?" Kewell frowned "He was with you last time we saw him…"

"Yuffie!" a voice called her from inside the ship. It was Evan

"Evan!" Yuffie shouted, hopping towards him "Cade is… nowhere to be found!"

"That guy surely can't have just disappeared into thin air…" Perkins wondered

"Yuffie, we thought you know where he was… we lost contact with him the moment the missile struck. We didn't know you were close to the jamming device!"

"What about his beacon?" Yuffie enquired. Her heart was beating faster than ever. Cade had to be somewhere. And possibly safe and sound

"We are trying to locate him as we speak" Evan made a gesture inviting all the special forces team inside the hull "Him and the submarine?"

"What about it?" Sarah enquired "What are we going to do now that we couldn't prevent the submarine from setting off?"

"We have sent a naval squadron to chase and stick to its tail…" Evan explained as they made their way to the main deck "Even if we fire on it, the Mako bomb would explode and catch our ship in the explosion"

"And the detonation would still be dangerous as the submarine is still into the hazard area…" Ruding met the party as they set foot on the main deck "Glad to see you safe, Yuffie. We lost you for a second…"

"But there is no sight of Cade…" she helplessly replied

"Don't worry" Ruding reassured her "If he's out there, we'll find him"

"Sir, Edge is online" a servant had rushed to Evan, who nodded

"We are expecting to report to Reeve" he announced, as a giant screen appeared in the middle of the deck. Reeve appeared on screen

"Shera! Do you copy us?" Reeve asked

"Loud and clear" Evan replied "We are ready to report!"

"Come in, then!"

"We were unable to prevent the submarine from sailing away" Evan bowed his head. Behind Reeve, a murmur erupted

"The submarine has just entered the hazard area" Evan continued "That means that if the explosion takes place right now, we will have to face the consequences of a massive seaquake"

Reeve, at the other end of the wire, paused

"Did we suffer any casualties?"

"No, Sir" Evan replied "No casualties on our side…"

"Although…" Yuffie offered, shutting herself up quite instantly

"Although what?" Reeve amicably enquired

"Cade is missing" Evan said

"What does it mean?" Reeve asked

"In the aftermath of the missile strike and the mass landing of WRO forces, we lost contact with Yuffie and Cade. Yuffie has been retrieved, as you can see…"

"…But there is still no sight of Cade" Yuffie finished for him

Reeve stood silent for a while. He turned to Zansteid

"Colonel, the situation is critical" he told him "Please notify all units stationing on the Oceanic Rim area to evacuate all the people from the coastline as much as inland as they can"

"What will you tell them? If a mass evacuation is ordered, there will be mass panic everywhere" Evan asked

"We are prepared to deal with it, don't be worried…"

"So it is over?" Yuffie wondered

"I'm afraid there is nothing more we can do" Reeve shook his head "We have missed the chance to strike at the submarine while it was still at anchor, but that would have meant killing the entire SISF team along… and up to that moment the situation looked like it was still manageable"

"But somehow, Brad managed to sneak the vessel under our eyes"

"So we give up, right?" Yuffie feistily replied "Everything we have done, everything we fought for… it was all for nothing. Now we simply stand here and watch the world crumble. Isn't it?"

A spooky silence fell on the deck of the airship. Yuffie couldn't believe that they had all reached the end of the road. It couldn't be. Not after what everyone had been through. That was simply unfair. Millions of people dying, cities and towns razed to the ground…

And Cade was nowhere to be found, either.

"Yuffie" Reeve spoke "I'm sorry. All we can do is try to contain the damage…

This was quite the opposite she had envisioned. There was hardly a future from now on. And then the irony: she had fought enemies thousands and thousands of times more powerful than a bunch of depressed, delusional terrorist, yet she couldn't keep up with the most human adversaries she had encountered so far

"Maybe we can override the submarine mainframe and divert it to a safer spot…" Ruding was proposing to one of his aide

"Forget it" his subordinate swiftly replied "They have busted the mainframe through to through…"

Maybe it was better for the world to end. At least , for the world as she used to know it. She was a failure. There was no chances her actions could have left a positive mark. There was simply no place in the world for her. Nor for her dreams, nor for her aspirations.

She walked and took a seat. She felt like she really needed to shout and cry. How would have Cade reacted to the perspective that the world was about to end? Maybe he would have welcomed that with a smile, knowing that, after all, he was about to reunite with the countless people he had lost during his life

'Cade' she thought to herself 'Why have you disappeared right when I needed you the most?'

"What's with the nuclear stockpile?" Evan asked a subordinate

"We are almost done with it" the WRO officer replied "Most of the ordnance has been disposed and taken care of…"

"Good" Evan nodded "Get ready to evacuate all the WRO personnel. The bomb might explode any minute now…"

"Sir, incoming transmission!" a technician suddenly announced

"Well, what's with all the excitement? Just pass it on the secondary channel…"

"Sir, the transmission…" the WRO officer explained

"The transmission, what?" Evan spurred him, translating next to his station

"Sir, it's coming from the Dragonette!"

Even Reeve jumped on his seat, thousands of kilometres away, picking up that announcement. Yuffie sprung up too

"Sir" another technician echoed "We have located Tuesti's beacon"

"What?" Yuffie shouted "Cade! Where is he?"

"Too much stuff all at once…" Sarah shook her head as the sudden turn of the events acted like a catalyst, hyping up the morale of the whole crew of the Shera

"The hell is happening here?" a grumpy voice thundered over the voices of the crew shuffling throughout the main deck "Are they giving away free beer to celebrate the demise of Gaia? That's the only reason I could figure such a brawl…"

"We found him!" Yuffie cheered, running towards Cid

"Found who?" Cid asked

"Cade! Who else?"

"What? Did he even disappeared?" Cid scoffed

"Ah, fuck you Cid" Yuffie punched him on the torso, with no tangible effects on his side "They could take the ground off your feet in one fell swoop and you would only feel a draft at your arse…"

Cid shook his head, drawn to the workstation were the technician who was tracking Cade's beacon was sitting at

"So" Evan pressed him "Where is he? Ruding, go manage the incoming communication"

Ruding nodded, flying to the console next to the one Evan was staring at

"Well, the signal comes from…" the WRO officer explained, before being struck with disbelief "It can't be…"

The mark corresponding to Cade's position was right were the Dragonette was supposed to be

"Cade is on the submarine…" Yuffie realized, eyes bulged

"What?" Reeve shouted from afar

"Sir, we are ready to copy the transmission"

Yuffie felt hope punching through the lumps of sorrow in her sound

"That can't be…"

"It's Cade, everything can be when he is around" Evan smiled

"Wait, wait" Sarah claimed their attention "what if somebody accidentally brought his beacon onboard? And what guarantees do we have that he is still alive…"

"Lieutenant Farron" a voice went off the loudspeakers in the deck "I am sorry to hear you still doubt my skills…"

It was Cade.

8.

Owing to his outstanding sight, Cade had caught wind of the incoming missile just in time to brace himself. That allowed him to drop on the ground and better withstand the effects of the explosion.

While the harbours were swept away by the shockwave, he had stuck to Brad and his posse, who were making a run for the submarine. The vessel had been promptly started up, its engines now running at full power.

Surprisingly, Brad was focused on reaching the submarine and did not realize that someone was still after him. Battered by the explosion and trying to ignore the loss of equilibrium that came with every step forward he made, Cade was running towards the pier where the Dragonette was moored, gunning down and taking care of any obstacle who stood in his way.

Brad leapt down on the submarine's bridge, reaching for the main hatch. For some inexplicable twist of fate, the auxiliary hatch was still open and seemingly unguarded.

Gunship had appeared in the sky above, strafing huddles of enemies with their machineguns in an effort to help soften resistance before the WRO forces landed. While Cade reached for the passage, head had appeared inside the hatch. Without second thoughts, Cade shot him point blank and the corpse of the unaware sailor fell down the staircase.

Cade dived into the submarine's interiors, closing the hatch behind him. He leapt down the ladder and without even thinking, he emptied his weapon gunning down the party of soldiers he met upon landing down below.

Cade had guessed that he could not expect any of them to cooperate. It was better to wipe that scum from the face of Gaia and prevent Brad from achieving his goal. He would have settled scores with his conscience once back on the land, when it would have been all over.

When he would have been finally able to see Yuffie again.

Spurred by that thought, he made his way to the commanding room while the roar of the engines echoed throughout the hull. The crew was apparently kept at a bare minimum, that being a suicide mission, and he met no further resistance.

Once he found himself in front of the door separating him from the command room, he checked and reloaded his weapon, draw a breath and readied a grenade.

He knocked on the door

"What's up with them guys now?" he heard a voice asking

"We have a problem with one of the engines" Cade replied "I think it's about to explode"

"Explode?" the man asked incredulously. Cade could hear steps coming towards him. The man slammed the door open.

He did not even had time to utter a syllable: Cade's rifle shouted, thrusting him back at the centre of the command room. He hurled the grenade in front of him taking shelter behind the door.

The grenade went off, blinding and stunning everyone inside the compartment. Cade burst in and mowed everyone down. With the back of the eye he could see someone making a run for a passage opposite his position and closing the door behind him.

The whole action had lasted less than five minutes. Cade, still panting, contemplated the gory scenery of bodies strewn across the floor and blood on the panels. It looked like a slaughterhouse.

He checked every corpse, hoping to find Brad among them. Maybe still alive. Just to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Unfortunately Brad was not there. And apparently, no one was alive enough to ask.

He sprinted towards the stern of the vessel. If he remembered correctly, the compartments ahead of him ultimately hosted the small nuclear reactor powering the submarine. The Mako was probably stored there as well.

The door that led into the nuclear reactor room was open. Cade carefully trespassed the threshold, finding himself immersed in a bluish and greenish light. The nuclear core was slotted into a wall at the end of the room opposite the entrance. At its feet stood a black box rife with caution tags emanating a sinister green light.

And next to it stood Brad

"Well" the man said "If this isn't an unexpected visit. Cade nice to see you…"

As a reply, Cade aimed his gun and fired. A bullet hit Brad in his leg. He collapsed with a groan

"Civilized people usually say 'hi'" Brad teased him, holding tightly to his wounded leg "but who am I to judge the customs of the North" he laughed

"If you hope you are going to get killed wit a snap, forget it" Cade bitterly replied "You are going to pay for this, Brad. All of it and tenfold!"

"Cade!" Brad laughed hysterically "You can do me whatever you want. Like I care about a thing…" he patted the black box "This jewel will change the world. For the worst I hope. Too bad you are stuck here, it would have been pretty interesting to see how things would have turned out on the surface…"

"What makes you think that it will eventually go off?" Cade retorted

"Come on. Can't you see all this red signs on the panel?" Brad pointed at a console whose display was all red "The core of the nuclear reactor is about to give in. The nuclear fuel will eventually spill and react with the Mako. It's not me, it's physics…" Brad cackled, but his laughter was cut short by another bullet on his other leg

"Oh, Cade" Brad marvelled "I didn't expect you to be such a sadist. Guess I had the wrong idea about you all along… I bet you were excited watching Kayla slowly die in your arms"

Cade froze upon these words. He was really tempted to kill Brad right there on the spot. But it would have been too easy

"Cade, I have an idea" Brad smiled "Why don't you join me? You know, I've carefully thought upon the matter and I've realized that we are identical as two drops of water: we both lost something we loved and we had to fend off the world while we finally reached our private heavens… Does it sound familiar to you? Join me and let's put our differences aside. It will be fun. I promise it…" he said, followed by an hysterical laughter.

Cade had enough of that. Even on the verge of death, Brad's hysterical malignancy was starting to have a negative effect on himself. He fired a volley right at his chest. Brad jolted as bullets lodged in his stomach. Blood spurted from his mouth

"Ah, fuck" he protested "that's a mess…"

"That was for Yuffie, and thank whoever you like that she's still alive and better than me"

Cade made a step forward

"And the next one is for someone you'll meet soon" he continued "Any wish before dying in a way that, still, I consider too dignified for a maniac piece of shit like you?"

"Ah, well if you insist…" he told Cade "Then you don't mind if I fuck Kayla in the Lifestream…"

Cade fired a single shot in the middle of the forehead. Brain matter and blood were splattered on the wall behind him.

That was the end of Brad Clawbourne

"Creepy to the very end!" Cade exclaimed, contemplating the liberating way of a lifeless Brad strewn against the nuclear reactor "You know, we might be two drops of water, Brad. I'll give you that. But unlike you I ended up in a pool of water instead of a pool of shit" he finally remarked.

Now what? Brad's plan was still rolling, despite his demise. The air in the reactor compartment felt hot and heavy, almost poisonous. Cade figured that it wasn't a sound idea to remain in that room for long.

He dashed back to the deck, leaving Brad's corpse behind him. As soon as he found himself in front of what he thought was the radio console, he started tweaking the knobs and entering codes, hoping to dial up the Shera somehow.

Luckily enough, after a couple of tries, he managed in his intent.

"How did you end up in the submarine?" Evan asked, still coming to terms with the pleasant discovery

"It's a long story…" Cade cut short

"Cade! Are you all right?" Yuffie asked, apprehension in her voice

"I'm all right Yuffie" Cade replied "Sorry if I left you behind. There were some stuffs to take care of, you know…"

"Cade, what's the status of the submarine?" Ruding asked "Reeve is here with us, at least virtually"

"Oh, really?" Cade said "Marvels of the technology… well, the submarine is devoid of any human presence I think. Except for me of course…"

"You mean the crew…" Reeve intervened

"They are all dead. Brad too" Cade told him "Sorry uncle. If you wished to organize a trial, I think there will be no defendants at the bar"

"That's not a concern" Reeve smiled "We have to take care of the submarine and its dangerous load. Public relations will have to wait for now"

"Cade, did you find the Mako?" Evan asked

"It's right next to the reactor" Cade explained "And that's were the bad news begin: apparently the reactor is in shambles. They planned to use a nuclear fuel leak as a primer"

"Can you do something from there?" Yuffie asked

"There's little I can do" Cade pondered "Apart from steering this thing away from the place it was supposed to blast off"

"We are plotting an area where the detonation will yield the least damage" Reeve announced "It will be uploaded to the Shera in no time"

"Besides" Cade noticed "I've never sailed a submarine like this before. I could use some help…"

"Don't worry" Ruding announced "We have the instruction manual for that submarine and possibly the entire catalogue of the WRO fleet at hand. As soon as we have the new course…"

"Sir!" a technician announced "We have just received the set of coordinates"

"Wonderful!" Ruding exclaimed "Chipperfield, have the manual for the commandeering of a Seagull-class light submarine ready…"

Yuffie witnessed that exchange without speaking a word

'Please, Cade, for the sake of both of us and everyone in this world' she thought 'take that thing away from there! And make it back in one piece!'

Ruding carefully guided Cade in the procedure to set the submarine autopilot on the course to the coordinates the Shera had just received. The vessel glided underwater as it steered towards the designated safety area

"Submarine changing course" somebody announced, much to the delight of everyone involved. Yuffie was overwhelmed by excitement and hope. The sudden and welcomed twist in the events was something only Cade could have been capable of

"Well, now the autopilot is set" Cade announced "I think that the only thing to do is getting out of here…"

"The Dragonette is supposed to have a couple of escape pods astern. Go check them out. We'll tell you how to operate them if needed…"

"Sure thing. I'm on…" Cade was about to talk but a sudden shock interrupted him. The whole hull of the submarine trembled and screeched as the deck plunged into a temporary darkness. Half of the illumination came back almost instantly, along with a plethora of warnings. Popping up in the panels not damaged by the gunfight earlier on. The commotion was felt back in the Shera too, as a burst of static momentarily cut the communications between Cade and the airship

"What's happening now?" Evan asked, fearing the worst "Cade, are you still with us?"

"..I am…" his voice emerged back from the statics as the broadcast cleared up

"Sir, the submarine is going down" an officer announced "It's on collision course with the bottom of the ocean!"

"Cade, what the hell is going on there?" Yuffie shouted

"I don't know" Cade replied "There are a lot of warnings going off al at once…"

"The damage control panel!" Ruding urged him "Look at the damage control terminal, it should tell you what's happening…"

Cade rushed to a terminal while thrusting his feet on the floor to negotiate the sudden listing of the submarine

"Damage control terminal, damage control… here it is…" he started reading the feed being scrolled down on the screen "Main generators offline, skeleton mode on… The hell is a skeleton mode?" he shouted

"Cade!" Evan shouted "Pull the bar towards you! The submarine is going to plunge at the bottom of the sea!"

. He rushed to the seat in front of a control stick and pulled them with all the strength he could apply. At last the submarine seemed to respond to his action and it levelled back again

"Damn it, that was close…" Evan sighed

"I've got bad news, everyone" Ruding meekly announced

"What?" Yuffie asked "What is it now?"

"The submarine reactor is failing" Ruding explained "All the main systems are being disconnected but Brad and his gang must have tampered with the submarine's mainframe…"

"What do you mean?" Yuffie pressed on

"The mainframe is making only the vital system run. It has disconnected everything but the engines and the controls…"

"Wait!" Evan intervened "That doesn't mean that…"

Silence engulfed the deck of the airship once again. Yuffie again stood petrified. She feared what was coming up, although she had already, realized that good news were over.

Cade was doomed.

With no energy powering the escape pods, there was no way he could have escaped the submarine. Maybe he could have made his way out from it and swam to the surface, but that was a suicide attempt.

He was fated to be trapped into the vessel, which would have turned into his coffin any minute now

"Are you trying to tell me that without power the escape pods won't work?" Cade asked. His voice was genuinely concerned. Evan himself had never heard him so worried in all his life. And neither Reeve

"I'm afraid so" Ruding shook his head

"Maybe if I pop out of the hull and swim to the surface… there might be some breathers around…"

"The worst part is that the autopilot will be off too. We must have someone stuck to the controls otherwise the submarine will plunge again…"

Silence came from the submarine, interspersed with Cade's heavy breathing. He finally let a sigh out

"And that would make the whole story pointless" Cade pondered "Everything we have made and done. Everyone who has died…"

His voice has slightly cracked on the last word

"How long to the safety zone?" Ruding asked

"Less than three nautical miles…" an officer replied

In the control room of the Dragonette, Cade reverted back to the pilot's seat

"Basically I'll make a last stand and keep this tin can on its tracks" he sighed "Everyone will be safe. Even if that means sinking with it…"

"No!" Yuffie stood up "That can't be! Cade, there must be a way to get out of that thing. Just think! Isn't you who always told me that there always a way out?" she cried, tears in their eyes

"Yuffie" Cade replied "I'm afraid this time there isn't"

Only the Gods knew what was crossing Reeve's mind right now. The man he had virtually raised and protected as if he was his son was about to die. The screen definition wasn't high enough to tell his emotion by staring at him.

Likewise, none on the deck was considering the fact that millions of people were out of danger as the submarine covered the remaining distance separating it from the safety zone. Nobody was thinking about the fact that they were about to accomplish their mission. With minimum casualties, on top of that. Not when that single casualty was someone like Cade.

Everyone was thinking about the loss that they were about to experience.

They were about to lose a friend

"Come on kid" Cid begged, eyes wide open "You can't die here… You owe me several rounds at the Headquarters' Bar"

"Damn it Cade!" Evan shook his head "I've never had a reason to hate you. And honestly, if you want to give up and sacrifice yourself for the sake of everyone of us… I won't stand in your way. I'm not going to hate you for that. Still…"

A relative. A nephew. A son, virtually

"Cade!" Reeve told him, with a seemingly otherworldly composure "Before you go, do you happen to have a minute for your uncle?"

"I surely do have, Reeve. I think I've got time for everyone" Cade calmly and joyfully replied, nowhere like a man who was about to die "Come on, speak first. I've never been able to properly start a conversation, you know"

"Well, this will probably enrage you but let me tell you I'm sorry for what happened to your family. Please don't chastise me for apologizing once more. I have to. Let me do that. Please!" he begged

"Conceded!" Cade nodded

"I've never been… graced by the gift of a family, unlike my brother. Unlike your dad and mom. He was always telling me to leave Shin-Ra and raise a family, and then he would tell me how wonderful it was to have you as a son. I had always thought that he was a bit exaggerating but since when I came to your rescue after you left Shin-Ra yourself, and after witnessing the man you turned out to be, I realized that if I ever had a son, I really would like him to be like you. Again, I might have committed something terrible by letting your parents die, but somehow fate still graced me with the gift of your forgiveness and your company. So, thank you Cade. You returned everything I gave you. Multiplied by hundred…"

Cade stood there speechless. He was averse to praises and staff but, faced with the fate of dying at the bottom of the sea, he took all of them. He felt glad that he would have left such an image of himself

"Thanks uncle Reeve" he replied, voice broken by the commotion "I… you would have been a great dad. To me, you surely have been the closets thing to a father. And I really needed… someone like you. You saved me and gave me even the closest thing to a family. I was not always the model son and I sure gave you headaches from time to time but your support was always unyielding. Again, thanks…" he concluded.

Thankfully, nobody could see him sitting there all busy wiping tears away from his eyes. Cade had known death early in his life and came to deal with it in several other occasions. Therefore, he had gladly accepted his fate, since it also meant sparing the life of several other innocent people. But every time his mind raced to the people he was about to leave on Gaia, a sadness enveloped him in a firm and unavoidable grasp

"Well, quick before this thing explodes" he urged "Anyone else?"

"Ah, damn you kid" Cid intervened "that's a very sly way of running away from your debts. And with the excuse that the world is about to crumble… pathetic" the grumpy mechanic smiled, not without being able to wash away the veil of tears covering his eyes

"Cid, you were the closest thing I had to an uncle. The bad uncle, though…"

Everyone laughed. Even Yuffie. It was the saddest laughter of her entire life

"Take care of yourself, Cade" Evan told him "We'll miss you"

"Take care of Sarah, Evan… whops" Cade realized his faux-pas too late

"Ah, who cares" Sarah replied "It was anybody's secret, anyhow…"

Next, it came the most painful of them all

"Yuffie!" Cade gulped. He felt weak as he was about to talk to a girl he had known and loved too late "I'm sorry. We won't be able to spend that week in Costa del Sol as we had planned…"

Yuffie, marshalling all the courage she could muster, stood up

"It's all right, Cade…" she faintly replied, tears running down her cheeks "I'm just… this is unfair! It's plainly unfair! Somebody like you should live for a hundred years, or more…" she shook her head

"I know… life is a bitch" Cade replied with a grin. A burst of static blurred the broadcast for a while "If that makes you feel better, I'm not dying in vain. Thanks to me lots of people will wake up tomorrow and their major concern will be providing food for their families and getting money to bet on the Chocobo races. I think this is quite an achievement…" a laughter cut his speech. He was not laughing at all. He was actually crying.

Yuffie felt his sorrow thorough the ether. She burst into tears

"Cade! I don't want you to die!" she shouted, face buried in her hands. Sarah stepped next to her, providing her some comfort

"Me neither, Yuffie!" Cade replied, his voice trembling "I would trade my place with anyone in this world. Believe me I really would like to be somewhere else. Anywhere but here… And the reason is simple. It's because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you…"

"Please Cade!" Yuffie implored "Don't make it harder than it is!"

"I'm sorry Yuffie" he continued "But that's how things are. I'm about to die and I won't be able to live long enough to fulfil my dreams. But then, I think of all the people that I… that we are saving from a certain death. Damn it, we are saving an entire PLANET! Isn't that great?"

"Sort of…"

"Yuffie, I couldn't face myself if I had to live with the thought of being someone that someday, was able to make the world a better place but missed his chance. And it's not about how much I love you, or Cid, or Reeve or anyone else, for that matter… There are people who depend on us. We both knew that, way before this whole ordeal started. Some things are even bigger than love itself…"

An arrow pierced his heart. It was an arrow shot from afar. From the past.

'I think I've understood now…' he thought to himself

"Cade!" Yuffie brought him back to the present "Do you realize that my life will be a living hell without you?"

"Don't be like that" Cade shook his head "You are strong, though and smart, other than beautiful. You'll find someone better than me and you'll live the life of your dreams…"

"Nobody is better than you, and you know it" her words dodged her tears

"Yeah, you're right… then pick someone who will be the closest thing to me!"

Again, incredibly, everyone laughed. It was a bitter laughter, though. There was little room for joy and exuberance in a moment like that

"Say hello to Kayla for me…" she recommended

"I'll do"

"It's in the safety area" a technician discreetly announced

Ruding and Evan nodded

"Cade?" Yuffie asked again. But no answer came from the speaker

"He must have turned the speaker off" Evan told her, placing a hand on her shoulder "This is too much for him, too!"

"I see…" Yuffie nodded, taking a seat

The deck fell silent again. Seconds passed and a tremor caught the Shera, making everyone run for cover. Sarah ran outside

"Hey it's not just the ship" she said "It's an earthquake"

"Look at that!" a technician pointed his finger outside the porthole. In the light of the early morning a second sun had appeared low on the horizon, raising in the cyan sky in a bright bowl of light

"Lost contact with the submarine" a technician said "It exploded eventually"

"Seismographs are off the charts!" another WRO officer chimed "Brace yourself!"

The quake came again, stronger this time. It nearly lifted the Shera from the ground, but it passed away as soon as it came.

When jolts finally subsided, everything that was left from Brad Clawboune's scheme was a pillar of water and smoke on the horizon. It was humongous but it was already waning off

Reeve was awaken by an officer who urged him to focus on the seismic reports and the tsunami monitoring feeds

"So, the quake that was to happen according to Brad's plans amounted to just that…" Evan wondered

"We confirm that the earthquake has subsided. There might be aftershocks but they will be negligible. As per the tsunami warning, there might be waves up to one metre in some areas" Reeve told them

"One metre? Ha!" Cid laughed "Take this bad guy! Life goes on!"

"Of course it does" Evan shook his head "And we know who to thank…"

In a corner, Yuffie stood there, sitting. She was petrified from head to toe, unable to feel or express anything.