Chapter Five: The Sheathe

A true Paladin would sheathe his sword.

The words in the book stuck out to Cloud. He read it repeatedly and could not get it from his mind. Looking from his bed, he checked his Buster Sword, Zack's sword, and realized he had no sheathe. It had been forged on orders from Hollander for his son, Angeal. Thus representing his family's honor.

Cloud had never liked Angeal; he'd found him pretentious and hypocritical. Then again, Angeal had felt the same by the end. He'd passed the sword to Zack, who had loved Angeal as a mentor as he had Sephiroth. Now Zack was dead, and the sword was Cloud's.

Hollander.

Words truly failed Cloud regarding the contempt he'd had for that animal. Genesis had been insane. Angeal had tried to live his code to an extent. Sephiroth had been... like a god. But the memory of indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Junon and Midgar. All just to cover his escape. The escape Lazard set up...

Over a promotion.

Getting passed over for Hojo.

What could a person do in the face of such absolute contempt for life? And that was the sword that Angeal had inherited. The family honor drove his Mother to suicide, which broke him. Which had broken Zack a little more every day as days passed. His happy-go-lucky attitude became a facade and a habit.

Until one day, they were caught in a wasteland of misery and hatred.

Cloud remembered the glint of a hundred firearms as Zack stood defiant, sword in hand. He had died defiant, with no hatred in his heart.

'If this works, we'll all be heroes.' He had said.

"Breakfast should be on time," said Tifa with a smile. "Don't drink the water. The pipes are dirty and need cleaning. We've got water bottles and a purifier."

"A true Paladin would sheathe his sword," said Cloud.

"What?" said Tifa.

"It's something I was reading," said Cloud. "A voice which spoke to Cecil when he faced his darkness.

"I went down to the local library, looking for histories yesterday. Cecil, a Dark Knight, faced his darkness long ago. That darkness manifested in himself, the Dark Knight he had been.

"It unleashed all the waves of evil on him with the Dark Sword.

"But Cecil, he endured the darkness. He let it pass through and over him, allowing the pain to be inflicted. And at last, the darkness was spent, and the evil within him could not endure. It consumed itself."

"I never knew you were a fan of chivalry ideals, Cloud," said Tifa in surprise.

"I'm not," said Cloud with a sigh. "Not anymore. There doesn't seem to be a lot of reason to have them. And I don't have a sheathe. Even if I did, I don't have any skills besides fighting."

"Well, we need you for a lot of that," said Tifa. "Think about getting a hobby? You could transfer careers someday."

Cloud considered it. "I always wanted to be a knight, you know. A knight in shining armor, like Cecil. Only without flying the Red Wings across the world to burn everything down.

"So much for that idea."

"We've got time," said Tifa. "And there isn't anything wrong with a bit of fantasy, Cloud. Sometimes, it is all that gets me through the day." She paused. "Listen, Barret should be arriving today. I want you to meet me with him at the train station.

"This is important. He'll want to get a look at you and judge you for himself. If he wants you for the job, he'll say it. Just... be honest, okay. He's a lot smarter than you would think at first glance. Don't try to trick him.

"Jessie should be there already."

"Who is Jessie?" asked Cloud.

"One of our people," said Tifa. "She's been here this whole time, but we didn't have a reason to introduce you. You don't want to make a spectacle of who you know. Also, well..."

"Weren't sure you could trust me?" asked Cloud.

"You have to be careful in the slums, Cloud," said Tifa. "Not everyone is nice down here. People have tried to scam me before. You never trust anyone completely until they prove themselves.

"This is just how things work."

"Understatement, I bet," nodded Cloud. "When do we go?"

"After breakfast," said Tifa. "He'll be here on the next train."

The gates of the Sector 7 Slums were kept open from ten o'clock in the morning to ten o'clock at night. They cut the place off from the rest of Midgar and it could only be opened with special authorization. They stood, vast gates of Iron that barred all the pathways out. Cloud did not remember passing through them.

The train station was the only way out that wasn't on foot. One more subtle method of control. And it was here that they headed. There always seemed to be a crowd, with people coming and going. Cloud had hardly noticed them before, and he wondered why Tifa had been out here when she had found him.

Fate, perhaps.

If there was such a thing as fate. Cloud had read enough history to understand that something was pulling strings. And Genesis had seen something down there where Zack had fought him. Something which had rejected him.

Jessie Rasberry was sitting on a bench, checking a gun. She was a pretty, voluptuous woman with brown hair tied above her head in a headband. Her clothes were brown, and she had keen, green eyes. "Tifa, you're here.

"And this is your friend, I guess. Cloud Strife, right?"

"Yes, that is me," said Cloud.

"I've seen the work you've done for the bounty office," said Jessie. "You're doing a lot to help us out down here. People have been pretty scared lately."

"If there is a steady paycheck in it, I'll give you any help you want," said Cloud.

"Smooth, Cloud," said Tifa.

"A contract is a contract," said Cloud.

"Maybe later, Cloud," said Jessie, putting a finger to her mouth. "Maybe later.

"How good is he, Tifa?"

"Very," said Tifa. "He'll be a major help to us, Jessie."

"Then let's see what Barret thinks," said Jessie.

"Where are Biggs and Wedge?" asked Tifa.

"Double-checking the routes," said Jessie. "It's a long hike. So they'll be back in a day or so. Barret wants everything marked out ahead of time. No chances taken."

A train was pulling in.

The red-clad conductor, with his fancy buttons, went forward to meet and greet the new arrivals. The train came in, driving on the tracks and pulling to a halt in the station. Doors opened, and people began to file out. Jessie, Cloud, and Tifa waited as they filed out and Cloud. He wondered what this Barret Wallace would look like.

He arrived, coming slowly from the doors. The man was built like a lighthouse, with black skin and black stubble. His left arm was a gun, and Cloud knew him by which one. Had he seen this man somewhere before? Barret was wearing sunglasses and wore a black trenchcoat. But his one good arm was holding the hand of a young child.

"Will the city be nice, Daddy?" asked the child, who was lighter-skinned.

"I'm sure it will, Marlene," said Barret. "Just stay near me and remember you don't want to wander off. There are many strange people out there, and we want to get indoors first."

"Wow," said the child, looking up in awe at the ceiling. "Look at that."

"Barret, Marlene, you're here," said Tifa, moving forward.

"Jessie, glad to see you," said Barret. "Tifa, everything set?"

"Everything," said Tifa. "I want to get indoors, though. Shinra might be sniffing about after the firefight out there."

"Yeah, heard it was a hell of a fight," said Barret. "Whole battalion killed. Good riddance."

"Those guys were working for a paycheck," said Cloud.

"Maybe they were," said Barret. "Are you?"

"My name is Cloud Strife," said Cloud. "And I'm in the market for a job."

Barret eyed him doubtfully as if wondering where he came from. "How do you know this guy, Tifa?"

"He's a childhood friend from Nibelheim, Barret," said Tifa. "I've done some good work with him while we work. A lot of monsters have been taken down by him, and he knows how to work. He was in SOLDIER."

"What rank?" asked Barret.

"Somewhere you wouldn't have heard of me," said Cloud. "If you want 1st Class, I recommend Genesis. He was alive last time I checked on him."

"We're not interested in psychos," said Barret. "You know him."

"I survived him," said Cloud. "Higher tier SOLDIERS tended to be unstable."

"I guess you'd know," said Barret, pausing. "...Never gets easier, does it?"

"Not really," said Cloud. "I don't even remember Nibelheim that well. I remember it one way, sometimes another. My past is multiple choice."

"That doesn't seem like a good way to think, Cloud," said Tifa.

"I don't forget," said Barret. "Marlene isn't gonna be any trouble, is she, Tifa?"

"No, not at all," said Tifa. "I can use her help. Now, come on. We can go over the plan when we're here."

And they headed out.

Tifa led them back along the beaten, rocky path, keeping a flashlight handy as they did. No one talked, and Cloud wondered what Marlene was doing here. She was obviously not related to Barret by blood; her skin color was a dead giveaway. Likely, he was responsible for her and had nowhere else to go.

Where had he seen Barret?

Cloud went over his old missions, what he'd done as an infantryman. Where had he seen a man with a gunarm? He hadn't, but he remembered Scarlet had gone to North Corel.

Oh.

The miners on the bridge. Everyone had fired above their heads until Scarlet grabbed a gun.

"Here we go," said Tifa as they arrived.

Opening the door, they entered, and Tifa went over to a pinball machine in the corner. Drawing out a key, Tifa turned it in a lock, then, finding a switch, turned it. The floor descended beneath it to reveal a ladder down to below.

"A pinball machine?" asked Cloud, crossing his arms. "Really?"

"Jessie and I installed it myself," said Tifa proudly. "It was a lot harder than you'd think."

Cloud watched them scale down the ladder. Getting onto one, he slid down to the bottom and saw a hideout. You had a computer that looked to have been put together from spare parts. There was a bulletin board with a whole series of maps on it, a punching bag. A table stood over to one side.

And the walls were of concrete.

"This is impressive, Tifa," said Cloud. "You've been preparing for this for a while, right?"

"Oh yeah," said Barret. "We're in for this. Now, before we go any further, once we go on, you are in. If you want to back out, you can walk out that door.

"Cause I'm about to tell you stuff.

"Stuff that involves you. You got it?"

"As long as you pay me, I'll look after your interests," said Cloud. "I don't share client information; it's bad business."

"Good," said Barret. "Jessie?"

Jessie peered at him. "I think he'll work for us. Biggs and Wedge agree."

"Then you're in on probation," said Barret. "Set the plans."

Jessie nodded and went over to the desk. Unrolling several maps, Cloud saw what looked to be a series of schematics for Mako Reactors. There was also a printed map of several sections of Midgar, both on the upper plate and below. As well as the area between it, hanging just under the plate.

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Where did you get these?"

"Got some teams who worked many shifts at these reactors," said Barret. "Shina likes to rotate out staff with layoffs to keep people from getting complacent. The hiring procedures are about as good as the safety standards.

"We got it all mapped out. And my buddies and I used to build these things before Shinra decided to firebomb us to save rates. So we know more or less how it all operates."

"Corporate security, right?" asked Jessie.

"No such thing," said Cloud. "Money can't buy security. It can buy guards. Guards are loyal based on things which have nothing to do with money."

Barret nodded. "right.

"These are the Mako Reactors which line the upper plate of Midgar. They provide power and energy to Shinra Corporation throughout the city. Just one of these things provides enough power for entire automated factories.

"And Shinra has been building them like crazy. The war in Wutai started over the right to make one."

"And right now, they are literally sucking the lifeforce out of the planet," said Jessie. "Mako doesn't last forever, and neither will we. That wasteland out there used to be green fields and farmland. Now it's a ghostland, and all-cause Shinra just keeps taking from it.

"At this rate, we ain't gonna have a planet to live on."

"That isn't my problem," said Cloud. "I'll probably be dead by the time the planet withers up, and I'm not a member of your group yet. I don't share your ideology.

"Who are you?"

"AVALANCHE," said Barret.

Cloud paused. "Right, the extremist eco-terrorist organization. He would argue that the planet is a living, breathing entity. We're draining the lifeblood of the planet with the reactors, so they need to go.

"What's your solution?"

"We're gonna blow them up," said Jessie.

Cloud tried to avoid doing a spit take.

Memories of North Corel came to him after the last time someone had hit a Mako Reactor. Then he thought about how Wutai had kept trying to hit these reactors in Midgar repeatedly. How often had Zack gotten called in to protect them, with Cloud trailing behind as a rear guard.

The idea of one of those blasted into a plume of green came to him. Of vast chunks of scrap metal flying away to crush a house. To set fire to entire crowded apartments filled with thousands of people. A picture of that happening came to him. He reminded himself Reeve had ordered precautions.

What of it?

Shina had probably half-assed those, knowing their record.

"How?" asked Cloud.

"We've arranged false ID to get us onto a maintenance train. We can use it to get into the Sector 5 Reactor. Once we have that, we set a bomb on this," said Barret. "This pipeline is where all the Mako Runs. A small bomb, set in the right place, should cause a chain reaction. One that will make the machinery go critical and hollow the thing out from inside."

"Collateral?" asked Cloud. Had Barret thought through exactly what he was planning?

He seemed to have thought through the plan and the ideology. And it seemed like a good plan, and it would work. Cloud wasn't sure he wanted it to work, though. Then again, walking out at this stage wasn't an option. He'd have to go along with it, change the plan, or kill everyone in this room. And he wasn't willing to kill Tifa.

"Minimal," said Barret. "Probably anyone inside is a dead man, but we want an implosion. There will be some power outages and a lot of rolling blackouts. High-energy factories will shut down for weeks, and assembly lines will be disrupted.

"The rebuilding will be expensive, and the drain on the planet reduced. It'll also send a message."

Oh, thank Goddess and Gods.

Barret Wallace was planning on making sure the bomb wasn't too extreme. Going for a gradual collapse would ideally just lose Shinra a lot of money. Well, Cloud didn't give a damn about that. Though he'd feel bad about killing all the guards in the reactor.

"And the second reactor?" asked Cloud. "Shinra is going to tighten security."

Barret smiled. "We know the inner workings of this place inside and out. We can take some of the old maintenance tunnels upstairs to get into it indirectly. Rinse and repeat.

"We finish the op, pull out, and rendevous at the escape route."

"Which is?" asked Cloud.

"That's my secret, and you don't gotta know that," said Barret. "You do your job; you get pay and extraction. That's the same deal everybody gets. We operate on need-to-know, just like any military op."

"Fair enough," said Cloud. Barret was obviously smart. "How are you going to deal with Shinra's reprisal? They'll know you're operating from the slums."

"If Shinra tried to come searching out here, they'd be wasting their time," said Barret. "Nobody talks to them. And if they try to force the issue, we'll show them a thing or two. Everyone here is armed and dangerous. They ain't got the manpower for a search and think the fight is over with Genesis gone."

Cloud shook his head. "Don't fool yourself.

"Heideggar would never commit to that kind of half-measure. They've probably done something a lot more grand and deadly."

Silence.

"Like what?" asked Tifa.

"Like burning down the slums to get you in the collateral," said Cloud. "This place isn't as valuable for them as it used to be. They don't need us for manpower, and we don't spend as much.

"What do they care if everyone here goes up in smoke?"

"Cloud, are you saying they'd kill everyone here to catch us?" asked Tifa, shifting with arms crossed. "There are fifty thousand people in Sector 7 alone."

"Look at me, Tifa," said Cloud, pointing to his eyes. "Look at these eyes.

"They did this to me without my consent. And I was one of the lucky ones. I should have been getting a medal and debriefed. But Hojo decided I'd make a decent pet project, and here I am. Nobody gave a damn whether I'd done anything wrong.

"You know what they did at North Corel. You know how much they care about Nibelheim.

"You look me in these mako eyes, Tifa, and tell me that Shinra isn't insane enough to do something that evil. Once you start cutting into their profits, they'll burn everything and cover it up.

"I've seen how they operate."

"When?" asked Barret.

"Ever hear about Genesis' hometown?" asked Cloud. "Shinra waxed the place with fire after Genesis killed a lot of the townspeople. I was on scouting and nearly ended up dead.

"They only held off for an evacuation because Zack insisted on it, and they were tight on SOLDIERs. Tseng always liked Zack."

"North Corel, too," noted Barret reluctantly. "Lost my arm there. But the fight has got to go on. If we don't, a lot more than just Sector 7 is gonna get drained dry. Hitting the Mako Reactors is gonna hurt Shinra more than anything.

"And it'll mess up a lot of those nice little experiments they have going, too. If we don't hit back, they'll just keep taking until we're all dead. They'll find another excuse for another North Corel."

"Maybe," said Cloud. "But you might be able to fight them a better way. Something that loses them a lot of money without them realizing they've been hurt."

Silence, and Jessie raised an eyebrow. "Like?"

"Well," Cloud realized, all eyes were on him. "What if you hit two reactors at once and then ran for it. The chaos might be enough that they don't have time to respond. And if we're not here, they won't have to hunt us."

"That'll increase risks on the operation a lot," noted Jessie.

"Risk is part of the job," said Barret. "Survival chances are pretty low. And they might be a bit less prepared. If we had people for the job."

"You could also hit them differently," said Tifa suddenly.

"What you got in mind?" asked Barret.

"Give me a moment, I'm thinking," said Tifa. "The water this morning was bad. I think the pipe system needs work."

"Tifa, this is war," said Jessie. "Not bartending."

"No, no, it's logistics," said Cloud. "Everyone needs water. Go a few days without it, and everyone dies." He paused. "Tifa, you're not thinking about-"

"I'm just saying, maybe there is something we can do with that," said Tifa. "I mean, obviously, poisoning the water is completely out. It'd kill everyone in Midgar, and anyway, we couldn't do it. You'd need a lot of trucks of stuff and time enough to pour it all in large amounts.

"And I'm pretty sure they'd be able to lock it down hard. Plus, it'd completely destroy Avalanche's reputation."

"Yeah," said Barret. "We're not poisoning the water supply. We want to liberate Midgar eventually. Not kill everyone here."

"Well," said Jessie. "We're terrorists? Why don't we use some terror?"

Silence.

"What do you have in mind?" asked Barret.

"Shinra is downsizing troop numbers right now. They'll be short-staffed. If they have to put people to secure the water supply, that will cost them money and resources," said Jessie. "It'll also draw attention.

"We don't actually have to hit the water supply. Just make them think we might. If we do, they'll control the story to avoid panic. But they'll definitely increase security and go on high alert. Give them a couple of false starts and keep them paranoid, and it'll get them scared."

"The Wutaians had a strategy during the war," said Cloud. "When they wanted to take us off guard, they'd sometimes hit hard and fast. But sometimes, they'd just make a sound. Keep making us go for our guns and get ready for a fight.

"Then nothing.

"You do it again and again, and everyone would get complacent, and they'd hit us when we didn't man battle stations. Or they'd wait until we got so worked up we were exhausted. They could deny us sleep for weeks."

"It could work, Barret," said Jessie. "Maintaining a garrison costs a lot. And our plans could still work even after doing that."

"We also shouldn't kill anyone if we can avoid it," said Cloud. "Bodies are bad PR. And most SOLDIERs are just working for a paycheck and don't know what they were getting into. No point in shooting to kill."

"You got affections for the military?" asked Barret, raising an eyebrow.

"Bodies are messy," said Cloud. "And I used to be in it. So, I know how the grunts get treated. I'm not saying we have to treat them with kid gloves. Just don't shoot anyone if you don't have to."

"Jessie, is this an option?" asked Barret.

"Shinra is pretty lax," said Jessie. "We could delay operations for some replanning. Anyway, I've been keeping my head to the ground, and we have options.

"Some lower-level stuff could be an option to build up.

"Set the stage for an operatic grand finale? Blow the Mako Reactors right after they think the whole thing is a hoax. Could make for a fun finale song."

"You still going with opera?" asked Barret.

"I can dream, can't I?" asked Jessie.

Barret nodded. "Figure out if it'll work. If it will, we'll talk plans and manpower."

"Hang on a sec," said Jessie. "I'd like to keep our merc busy. So, Cloud, I guess you wanted some work. How about this;" She drew out a green materia, radiating healing energy. "For a job."

"What do you have in mind?" asked Cloud, cocking his head.

"Um, excuse me?" asked Marlene. "Is anyone reading this?"

Cloud looked up to see her holding his book on Furion and Emperor Palamacia.

"Marlene, you can't go around taking people's books," said Tifa.

"No, it's alright," said Cloud. "I salvaged that anyway."

"Can I read it?" asked Marlene.

"No," said Cloud.

"Cloud?" asked Tifa, raising an eyebrow.

Cloud didn't like looking like a jerk in front of the eight-year-old. "Someone can read it if you want.

"But books are hard to get. And that one is out of print. Plus, there are a lot of scary moments I don't think you want to read at your age."

"What is it?" asked Barret.

"History," said Cloud. "Palamacia was a real piece of work, okay. You don't want kids reading about him without someone being in the room. Have you read about the cyclone?"

Barret considered that. Jessie shared a glance with Tifa. "Yeah, um, Palamacia is kind of extreme to start with. And that's coming from me."

"I'll read it with you later, Marlene," said Barret. "I want to see our merc in action first. Jessie, what you got in mind?"

"There have been some machines operating out in the scrapyards," said Jessie. "Old Shinra mechs which are starting to cause trouble for passerbys. They tossed them out without disassembling them properly, and now they're wandering."

"Fine," said Barret. "We'll check out our new recruit. Tifa, you're here. Jessie, Cloud, you're with us."

"What's the pay?" asked Cloud. One materia was not a contract.

"Standard rates," said Barret. "And the materia. Let's call this an exam."

"Whatever you want," said Cloud. "But I still say Shinra will firebomb this place into ashes just in case. Tifa, can you handle things here?"

"I've been handling things for years," said Tifa. "Marlene, I've got a lighter and softer book I could read you if you like."

"Yay," said Marlene.

Tifa went up to the pinball machine, and the rest of them followed. Tifa had a book ready, though she checked out a window on reflex. Then, she sat down at a table with Marlene. "Once, long ago, there were Four Crystals of Light which kept the darkness of the world at bay. But over time, people's hearts started to darken, and four fiends emerged. In the moment when all seemed lost, four warriors of light emerged bearing four crystals.

"Their names were Arthur, Merlin, Gwenevere, and Lancelot..."

"Let's go," said Barret. "Being Tifa's friend ain't good enough anyway. I want to see you for myself."

"I don't expect it to be enough," said Cloud. "Just get me a target."

"You'll get plenty of those in this business," said Barret. "You'll get plenty of those."

Cloud smirked.

He liked this guy.