Cid, Coomer, Bubby, Barret, and Vincent were all climbing the hill that led up to Fort Condor. They had landed the Highwind a good distance away from the fortress. At Coomer's suggestion, only those who had firearms (with the exception of Cid, who was the group's leader) should go to the Fort while everyone else stayed behind.
"Alright, so here's the game plan," said Cid,
"We'll grab the passport and destroy it, hopefully the Fort's residents will be cooperative enough to give it to us."
"Who even inhabits this place?" asked Bubby.
"From what I understand, resistance fighters who are in opposition to Shinra." said Barret.
"Resistance fighters? Like AVALANCHE?" asked Vincent.
"Nah, these guys ain't with AVALANCHE." replied Barret,
"From what I understand they're groups of people who had their towns destroyed by Shinra as a result of Mako reactors failing on them. They aren't exactly well equipped and well trained though."
The party entered the fortress. Around them were groups of people who were all tending to their own tasks at hand, some were moving supplies around such as munitions and explosives, while others were planning out defensive fortifications for the next Shinra attack. Most didn't even bat an eye at the group as they entered.
"Huh, that's weird." said Barret,
"They seem more equipped from what I heard."
"Well whatever." said Bubby,
"Let's just get the passport and get out of here!"
"Hey," a male voice said.
The group looked over and saw a man in a black beret and what looked like a uniform a military officer would wear approaching them.
"What are you all doing here?" He asked.
"We're here for a……passport." Cid said, feeling weird saying that,
"Are you the base commander by any chance?"
"That I am." He replied,
"And are you talking about this?"
He then pulled out a small booklet that had the Black Mesa logo on it.
"We found this as we were excavating through the Mako reactor that's here. No idea why it was in there but Shinra has a keen interest in it, at least from what we intercepted through the comms."
"That's exactly what we're looking for." Cid said,
"We're more interested in destroying it though."
"Huh, so you want it too?" The base commander said,
"Shinra said they wanted it destroyed too."
"Well whatever concerns you have about us working for Shinra you can throw those out the window, we have no love for them either." said Cid,
"But what you have needs to be destroyed, as weird as this is going to sound but destroying that is one of the keys to destroying Meteor."
"What?" The base commander said, giving Cid a bizarre look,
"What the heck do you mean by that?"
"HE'S LYING!" Benrey's voice boomed from overhead, causing inside the fortress to jump.
But at this point Cid and the others were more or less used to it.
"DON'T DESTROY THE PASSPORT! GIVE IT TO ME AND I'LL ADD YOU ON PSN! WE CAN PLAY MAG AND HEAVENLY SWORD TOGETHER!"
"What the- what the hell was that!?" The base commander said, clearly shaken.
"That is what we're trying to destroy." said Cid,
"Just give us the passport and we'll-"
"Sir!" A resistance fighter said, as he went up to the base commander,
"Just received a report from the scout team, a large Shinra attack force is heading this way, and they're bringing the heavy artillery."
"Crap." said the base commander,
"I'll tell you what," He said, facing the party,
"If you help us hold off Shinra, I'll give you this and you can do whatever the hell you want with it, deal?"
"You got yourself a deal, good sir!" Coomer said, as he already had his M249 SAW out.
"Damn Coomer, didn't even wait before pulling your gun out." said Barret.
"Of course I'm ready Barret! Ready to unload some hot death!" Coomer said enthusiastically.
"I'm ready too!" Bubby said, as he had his Tau Cannon out.
"Alright, alright," said Cid, as he began to form a battle plan,
"Coomer, Barret, and Bubby you guys are on the frontlines holding off the Shinra attack force. Vincent, you're with me. We'll stay here in case any of them breach the interior."
"Understood." Vincent replied.
"You all have your assignments." said Cid,
"Now let's do this."
Coomer, Bubby, and Barret we're all positioned at the top of the mountain at what was essentially the last line of defense. Cid, at the base commander's suggestion, told them to stay as close to the entrance as they could, seeing as they were the strongest combatants out of everyone there.
"Why the fuck do we have to stay up here and not towards where the war is gonna happen!?" Bubby complained,
"That's no fun!"
"This isn't about fun!" Barret retorted,
"We're here to act as the last line of defense in case any of Shinra's forces are able to make it past."
"That doesn't make any sense!" said Bubby,
"And besides why not just send Coomer out to handle all of this, we've all seen what he can do!"
"While that is true Dr. Bubby. Even though my skills would be best suited at the very front, we need to take in the possibility that Shinra could slip by me and penetrate the fortress's entrance." said Coomer.
"Oh whatever," said Bubby,
"Let's just get this dumb battle over with so we can get the passport and continue on this damn quest."
It wasn't too long before gunshots and explosions could be heard from the bottom of the hill.
"Sounds like it started." said Barret,
"Hopefully the resistance will be able to hold off Shinra for us and we won't even have to lift a damn finger."
"That's my kids name!" said Coomer, as Barret gave him a weird look.
"It's still stupid we have to stay up here," said Bubby.
"OH THIS IS AN EPIC BATTLE!" Benrey said from overhead, looking down at the fortress,
"IT'S LIKE THE BATTLE OF HOTH MIXED WITH CALL OF DUTY AND TITANFALL!"
"Did he say Titanfall!?" Bubby said excitedly, Tau Cannon now in hand,
"I love Titanfall!"
"Now Dr. Bubby," said Coomer,
"It's clear that Benrey is trying to appeal to your sense of fandom so you'll go running into battle and-"
"OH YO THEY GOT SCORCHES AND RONIN'S ON THE FIELD!"
"Don't listen to him Bubby!" said Barret,
"He's just trying to-"
"THEY GOT LEGION'S TOO!"
"Oh that's it!" Bubby shouted,
"I'm going in!"
Bubby then full sprinted down the hill toward the battle below.
"BUBBY NO!" Barret shouted,
"Coomer," He said, turning to face him,
"Stay here and guard the entrance, I'm going down there and getting Bubby back!"
"Not a problem at all Barret!" Coomer replied,
"Just hurry back in one piece!"
"I'm reloading! Cover me!" A resistance fighter said, as he emptied his magazine from his assault rifle and loaded in a new one, while his squad provided covering fire.
An explosion went off just a few feet away from them where they were crouched behind, causing all of them to brace.
"Shit that was close!" One resistance fighter said,
"Check and see what that was!"
One of them looked down with their binoculars at the Shinra forces that were pushing up the hill and saw they had several mortar units set up at the bottom.
"They're using mortars!" He said, as ducked behind cover.
"Crap," The squad leader said,
"Anyone have any suggestions?"
"Don't worry, I'm here to save the day!" A voice from above said.
They looked up and saw an old man with glasses and a white lab coat running down the hill with a futuristic looking gun in his hands.
"What the hell?" One resistance fighter said dumbfounded.
"I'll take care of this! Just stay here and twiddle your thumbs you scrubs!" Bubby shouted, as he ran past them.
"What the? What the heck was-"
"Bubby!" Another voice shouted.
They looked up again and saw another man, this one dark skinned and muscular with a chaingun on his arm, running down the hill as well.
"Bubby get back here!" Barret shouted, as he ran past the resistance fighters.
"Uh sir? Should we-"
"Just leave it." The squad leader said,
"I'm not dealing with whatever that was."
As Bubby continued to run down the hill, he got more and more excited at the prospect of being able to fight and or pilot a Titan.
"They all better still be down there by the time I arrive!" He shouted,
"Or I'll send Respawn a nasty email!"
He was close to the bottom, a rock blocked his path, he excitedly jumped over it, ready to fight whatever Titans were at the bottom.
And there were none.
"Wait, what the!?" said Bubby.
What he saw at the bottom were platoons of Shinra troopers along with SOLDIER's. There was a battalion of tanks and several mortar positions set up as well.
"Where the fuck are the Titans!?"
The Shinra forces quickly noticed Bubby, and opened fire on him, forcing him to take cover.
"What the fuck is this shit!" Bubby said, getting angrier by the second,
"They got rid of all the Titans!"
He then pulled out his Gluon Gun.
"They're gonna fucking pay for this!"
He then jumped out of cover and charged down hill at the Shinra attack force.
He fired off his Gluon Gun at a platoon of Shinra troopers that were closest to him. They were all turned to a pile of bloody goop as Bubby continued his assault.
All nearby platoons soon focused all their attention at Bubby as he advanced on them.
His Gluon Gun soon ran out of ammo so he pulled out his Tau Cannon and began firing that off at them.
"What the hell is this guy!?" One Shinra trooper shouted.
"I don't kno-" Was what one Shinra trooper was about to say, before Bubby blew his head off.
A nearby tank turned its attention towards Bubby and aimed its cannon at him. Bubby, sensing it, quickly jumped out of the way as the tank fired a round off of him.
He then pulled out his rocket launcher and fired a rocket at the tank. The tank rocked backwards as Bubby quickly began to load another rocket in.
The tank was also loading in another round but Bubby was faster and shot off another rocket at the tank. It rocked back again as it now had another round loaded into it.
It fired off another round as Bubby tried to dodge out of the way again but was, but he was to slow as the round sent him flying into the air.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" He screamed, as he flew into the air and landed hard into the ground further away from the tank.
The tank, thinking Bubby was now dead, turned its attention towards going back up the hill.
Bubby however, from where he was laying, aimed his rocket launcher at the tank and fired off a rocket. It hit the tank and instead of rocking back the tank blew up in a huge explosion.
As Bubby slowly got up he stashed the rocket launcher away and pulled out his Tau Cannon.
"Alright," He said, still roughed up from the the fall he took,
"Now to finish off the rest of you!"
As Barret continued to run down the hill, his worry for Bubby grew more and more.
"Dammit Bubby, why couldn't you just stay with the rest of the group like you were told!?" He said, as continued to run down the hill.
He was then nearing the rock that Bubby passed.
"Please don't be dead!"
As he he passed the rock, what he saw surprised him.
At the bottom of the hill were the bodies of numerous Shinra troopers, most of which were reduced to a bloody smear on the ground as a result of Bubby's Gluon Gun. Several tanks were also destroyed and the mortars that were stationed at the bottom of the hill were destroyed as well.
At the center of it all was Bubby, who began walking back uphill.
"Bubby!" Barret shouted, getting his attention,
"Did you do all that?"
"Wha?" Bubby asked, as he looked back at the carnage he caused,
"Of course I did! Those guys were nothing!" He said, as he walked past Barret,
"They were just as easy as those ratfuck meatheads we fought at Black Mesa!"
Barret, after a few moments, shook his head and followed Bubby back up the hill.
"Was that all of them?" Bubby asked, as they continued back up hill.
"Don't think so." Barret replied,
"I think some were able to slip past, hopefully Coomer was able to hold them."
Although Barret already knew what the answer was going to be when they got back to the entrance.
And to his not surprise, when they got to the entrance they found Coomer with several dead Shinra troopers around him. Some were dead by the way of Coomer's machine gun, while some looked like they were ripped in half.
When Coomer saw them he walked over to greet them, a friendly expression now in his face.
"Ah, it's good to see you both!" He said as he greeted them.
"Yeah, you too." said Barret.
Truth be told, while Barret should've been more freaked out at what he was looking at, after what he saw Coomer do at the Gold Saucer and what he did to Corneo, he was more or less desensitized to it.
And that slightly worried him.
"Well, I believe we've completely wiped out the Shinra attack force!" Coomer proclaimed,
"Which means we've now fulfilled all the requirements to get the passport!"
"Yeah, I guess." said Barret,
"Let's head back inside."
As the trio made their way back into the base, they walked past several resistance members who were tending to their own tasks, whether it was repairing the fortress' defenses or tending to the wounded.
They walked over to Cid and Vincent who were conversing with the fortress' commander.
"Ah, here come your friends now." The base commander said, nodding towards them.
"Huh, so you guys made it back in one piece." said Cid, as he greeted them.
"Yeah," Barret replied,
"Although someone had to be wrangled back to the front gate." He said, as he nodded towards Bubby.
Bubby didn't respond, but instead stood there grumbling to himself.
"So can we get the passport now?"
"Got it right here." said Cid, as he pulled out a booklet with the Black Mesa logo on it.
He opened it and revealed the contents inside: a picture of Tommy along with his employer (Black Mesa) and occupation (Human Resources).
"Huh, guess this must be Tommy's." said Barret,
"Lay it on the ground and I'll destroy it."
Cid tossed the passport onto the ground.
Barret primed his chaingun and aimed it at Tommy's passport. He unloaded a hail of bullets onto it as several resistance fighters looked over to see what was going on, before continuing their tasks.
"That do it?" Barret asked, as he stopped firing.
"Looks like it." said Vincent, as he and the others were now looking at the passport which had now become a mangled mess.
"CAN YOU GUYS STOP PLEASE?" Benrey's irritated voice boomed from overhead.
"IT WAS SORTA FUNNY AT FIRST BUT NOW ITS STARTING TO IRRITATE ME. SO STOP PLEASE."
"Well at least we know it's working." said Cid,
"Now we just gotta get Bubbs' and figure out what we're gonna do next."
"You know, speaking of Tommy," said Vincent,
"I think we should visit him and Tifa to see how they and Cloud are doing."
"Yeah, good idea." said Cid,
"Let's head back to the Highwind."
As they began to head for the exit, they noticed Bubby wasn't with the group. They looked back and saw he was still standing in the same place.
"Bubby?" Cid said, as he walked over to him,
"Bubbs, what's wrong?"
"There were no Titans." Bubby said, his head down.
"What?"
"There were no Titans!" Bubby repeated, this time louder.
He then looked up into the air with his fist raised in anger.
"THERE WERE NO FUCKING TITANS!" He shouted,
"DAMN YOU APEX! DAMN YOUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
