Deep within Midgar in the bowels of Shinra, years before the fated journey of Cloud to Midgar, the soldier program began choosing the best of the best. Shinra used propaganda of a young Sephiroth barely 15 years old to inspire and get citizens around the globe to join Shinra's soldier program. Several hundred candidates applied, but only a fraction of them made it. Three notably soon to be well known were Glenn Lodbrok, Lucia Lin, and Matt Winsord. Not too far behind were another trio that were no less remarkable, but not celebrated. Laurel Heartwick, Doran Raider, and Jacob Wheeler. The three young men were waiting patiently for their superior officer to give them orders and were passing the time trading stories getting acquainted.
Laurel Heartwick
A gray haired young man with blue eyes and a talented swordsmen who envies Sephiroth since he resembles him and grows tired of being compared with whom he thought was fake. He moved a lot as a child as he has stated during his initial interview that he had lived a number of places. His family hails from Junon, but grew up in Rocket Town due to his father's engineering skills. Not interested in following his father's footsteps, he decides to try his hand in Soldier. Even though Laurel didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps, he had an affinity for mechanics and fixing vehicles. For him, it was a means to an end to pay for his true pursuits.
His father often scolded him for playing with "large knifes" (swords) and not focusing enough on improving his engineering skills. His mother on the other hand was neutral on the issue. His family fell on hard times and ended up selling their small cottage home in Rocket Town due to a disagreement with Shinra about taxes and his father losing his job. His father landed a job in Junon, but it didn't pay as much. When they took a trip to Junon to find a suitable home, they were aghast at the prices of the condos above where all the "upper class" people lived. A small one bedroom town house was nearly three thousand gils a month which was exactly Laurel's father's salary at his new job.
"It's either lower Junon or we move to the slums of Midgar... or we can..." Laurel's father trailed off.
"What about Kalm?!" his wife jumped in.
"A small town house there is no less than 2,000 gil a month, unless you want to get a job perhaps?" Laurel's father began putting all options on the table.
"Hmm..." Laurel's mother began thinking but had always been a house wife obsessively keeping the house clean and whose cooking skills were second to none.
"There were some places in lower Junon available for a thousand gil" Laurel chimed in.
His parents were both realizing their standard of living was about to take a hit.
"I could get a job at a restaurant or an inn" Laurel's mother suggested but realized those jobs didn't even pay a fraction of what her husband earned. Perhaps eight hundred gil a month if she found a good place to work.
They went back and forth until finally they settled on moving into an old house in lower Junon which a resident had passed away without any heirs. It was a creepy two bedroom home near the edge of the town. There was only a couple hours when they actually got sunlight. The house looked like an old cottage, but was built with strong oak beams. The home was nearly 100 years old and the interior despite its welcoming atmosphere, made him feel uneasy. Even his mother felt times like she was being watched, but his father dismissed both of their claims as silly superstition.
Laurel practiced with a fairly balanced longsword swinging and swiping with it. He had actually managed to slay a couple of monsters when they lived in Rocket Town protecting his mother from a rogue orc that wandered in the town late one night by passing the security. When his mother was outside checking on her flowers that evening, Laurel heard his mother scream. Being the good son that he is, he grabbed his blade and ran to her aid. The orc seemed rather rabid as it could not be reasoned with. Laurel was fast and was by his mother's side in less than five seconds. His father still had not arrived home from work. Laurel waved his sword menacingly, but it didn't phaze the orc. It wasn't a huge lumbering orc, but a skinny malnutritioned creature. It wore animal hides carried some tools, and a heavy iron axe which it too waved.
"Be careful Laurel!" his mother pleaded. Laurel kept his eyes on his opponent and watched his every move as it growled and yelled drawing attention of neighbors nearby, but no one brave enough to come and dispatch it.
"You will not harm my family! Leave or die!" Laurel snarled coldly at the wretched thing.
The orc instantly charged at Laurel, but he was quick and slashed the beastly creature on its thigh enraging it. It swung its axe twice as Laurel nimbly dodged each swing. The frustrated orc decided to go after Laurel's mother which proved to be the fatal mistake. The moment it decided to pursue Laurel's mother, he plunged his blade into the back of the creature ending its life just in time for his father who was now arriving, to witness the last move.
"Now what do you think of large knives?" Laurel taunted, but yet still amazed he was able to pull off such a battle.
"I don't know what to say..." his father looked on flabbergasted as finally some of the town watch had arrived.
Laurel's father had agreed to get him a teacher, that was two years ago with minimal instruction. His father realized his son had a natural talent for it and could no longer deny his son's abilities. Laurel was pleased.
A month later was when his father had an issue with a Shinra tax collector who had a crush on his wife. Laurel's father put the man in his place after making repeated passes even though his wife had firmly rejected him. A week later they received a letter from Shinra that there were back taxes on the property totaling over fifty thousand gil. His father tried to take it up with a magistrate, but the system was corrupt and it stood. They lost their home and sold what they could in order to move away and start another life elsewhere. Thus their life in Junon which brought Laurel closer to Shinra where they had recruitment stations. He saw the ad with Sephiroth on television and envisioned himself as being Sephiroth.
He was immediately accepted into the program but was told there would be a series of tests to weed through the candidates and only the best would advance. As a recruitment bonus, he received a thousand gil which half he gave to his mother. He had made money on the side helping a garage as a mechanic, but it was very tedious and the owner was an alcoholic and could be a bit unruly at times. He had arguments with his boss about his pay, but in the end decided to just keep his mouth shut and take it as his penance until he could do what he really wanted.
He was shortly sent to Midgar for his "bootcamp" training which was rigorous and intimidating. There were young men and women from all over gaia and realized now he was a little fish in a big pond. The harsh training continued for four weeks until the battle simulations were started which was a free for all last man standing kind of war game. Laurel didn't shy away from the challenge and was quite formidable and in two campaigns came in the top ten. Over the next couple weeks he was tested among his peers and with the training he had received his talents only increased. The final week came and he was notified that he would be remaining with Shinra as a member of Soldier. Laurel was proud of himself but knew that the real challenges lied ahead.
Laurel was ushered into a room with a large group of soldiers like himself in Shinra uniform as a commanding officer came by dividing them up into groups of three, four, and in some cases five. Laurel ended up with two other young men, one was a lite brown skinned man with black dreads who stood just over six feet but wasn't too bulky. He had deep brown eyes and had a pretty hard demeanor. The other man was slightly shorter, but slightly bigger than himself. His dark brown hair was kind of a windswept style and he had deep blue eyes. His demeanor was a bit more friendly.
"Hi I'm Doran" the man with the dreads greeted giving Laurel a firm gripped handshake.
"I'm Laurel, well met" he replied trying to match the grip.
"I'm Jacob" the third man said greeting both of them.
"So what's the deal?" Doran asked them both.
"Your guess is as good as mine, I guess we will be waiting until further instruction" Jacob said watching the few commanding officers going back and forth between computers and files and giving orders.
"So Doran where are you from?" Laurel asked curiously but also wanting to keep himself occupied while waiting.
Doran stopped for a moment to think and nodded, "I'm from Correl"
"Wow, that's out in the middle of the desert isn't it?" Jacob asked a bit impressed.
"Yeah, but I'm used to it and..." Doran began telling his story.