They carried Shinra military can openers, pocket knives, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, shit that masqueraded as rations, and canteens of water that had the red company logo emblazoned on it. Most recently, they also started carrying a fire materia, issued to every man as part of the survival kit. They carried tools for digging foxholes and olive colored rainproof tarps. They traded their old helmets, with the visor that blocked harsh city spot lights and Shinra identification for uncovered steel ones that provided better peripheral views and camouflage cover. But the security of a heavy helmet was traded too, as the Lieutenant would learn. He died from a bullet to the head. It ripped through the side, where it would have glanced off the old helmet, and ricochet inside, tearing into soft tissue with bullet shards and shrapnel. His men wrapped him body up in the tarp and left him to the forest.

V. Resurface

Gun glanced nervously at Reno, who was leaned up against a wall on his third cigarette. They breathed a colelctive sigh of relief when they received a call from Cloud that he made it back to his dorm in good health. However, their prisoner was giving both Turks some very bad vibes. He wasn't reacting to all the questions in any usual manner and had strange and dangerous mood swings. Through the one way mirror, Veld was already on his second hour with the chained prisoner and had only manage to extract the name- Thomas Durden- which was a fake one. No electronic records existed of him.

"Let's go through this again …why were you at the bar tonight?"

"To watch the race. Shinra hasn't outlawed that have they?"

"Then, why did you run?"

"My wife was waiting on me."

"You said you don't have a wife," Veld replied, shuffling through his notes absently. Everyone in the interrogation room knew that it was all an act. Veld remembers every detail of every suspect from face twitches and micro expression to contradicting lies. And Veld had tried every trick in the unwritten Turk handbook and then some on this guy from the good cop bad cop routine to straight up intimidation.

"Oh? I said that?" Durden paused and blinked as if confused, then grinned unrepentantly, "It must have been the alcohol talking."

The door to the observation room opened and Rod stepped in before silently closing the door.

"We need to get the boss out of there now," He said without preamble, and then handed the two Turks folders that had the unknown man's picture and profile, "Background checks matched his DNA and description to an escapee from a sector two asylum. He is certifiably insane and known to be violent during his mental breakdowns. Plus, his last know affiliations were to a now disbanded anti-Shinra criminal organization called Project Meteor that had plans to bring down every Shinra building in Midgar using demolition material. We cracked down on them three years ago and the believed ring leader died in the crossfire. If he is who we think he is though, we are not going to get anything out of this guy."

"Shit," Reno cursed, "Do you want to interrupt the boss during an interrogation, yo? He'll have your head."

"This is important," Rod said seriously, "We've seized serious amounts of explosives, mostly trinitroglycerine, and a fully stock arsenal at his hide-out in the condemned district. He's probably been making it from left over animal fats he siphoned, probably from restaurants in the district, and illegally discarded chemical wastes. No one knows yet how he's been under the radar for this long."

"Boss," Gun spoke into her ear piece, "Are you listening?" Veld gave no indication he heard but gathered up the papers spread out before him into a manila folder and stood up.

"Wait," the prisoner said with sudden clarity, "I'm in Shinra tower, aren't I? What floor?" Veld didn't answer and simply opened the door to the interrogation room and slipped out, nodding to the armed guard behind it. Seconds later, the door to the dimmed observation room opened.

"Let's move to my office. I want everything you have on this man."

"You called me in Lazard?" Zack started as soon as the door slid open.

"Yes," Lazard answered, "The latest intelligent report from Veld indicates a surprising number of terrorist activity both on and below the plate. After the most recent breach in security and a subsequent security sweep that has turned up a bomb planted in the presidential suite in Honeybee Inn of all places, we have no choice but to act decisively."

"So…" Zack hedged, "You want me to beat up some thugs in the slums or something?" Lazard chuckled.

"Nothing quite so simple," he shook his head, and then tapped a few keys to bring up a screen that featured a zoomed in map of Junon and the surrounding area. "Heidegger has actually already increased presence of infantryman below plate and around the Shinra district. We are sending Soldiers to Junon instead." Zack tilted his head in puzzlement.

"Huh?" He raised an eyebrow, "Why Junon?"

"We traced unusual activity on the islands off the coast of Junon. The Turks still have the man with this information in interrogation over a separate set of issues, but asked that we investigate this area immediately, since they currently do not have the man power to do so. We believe that it might be one of the bases of an eco extremist turned terrorist group that is calling itself Avalanche and possibly abducting people in Junon."

Zack scratched the back of his head.

"I hate to break it to you, Lazard, but I can't search an area that size by myself unless you are, like, sending me out for a year or something. Is this a punishment? From Genesis for something I said?"

"Oh, you aren't going alone," Lazard slid a pile of personnel files across the table, "We are sending three squads of fourteen infantrymen each, led by third class Soldiers. You should use this time before deployment to become familiarized with your subordinates and fellow squad leaders."

"And if we find them?" Lazard waved a negligent hand.

"Veld wishes to capture the ring leader alive if possible. However, I will tell you now that I have no wish to sacrifice my men for information on a soon to be defunct organization. So my orders, off the record of course is…"

"Yes? Yes?" Zack asked eagerly.

"Go in and indulge yourself."

"Yes! That's what I do best! Thanks, Lazard." Lazard chuckled softly.

"Thank Angeal. He recommended you took some leadership positions. Don't disappoint him."

"Of course," Zack sloppily saluted, "mission accepted, director."

Veld looked up when there was a knocking on his office door. He and the other three Turks exchanged a look and Gun, Reno, and Rod all stood up and opened the traditional oak door Veld still used for his office instead of the electronic access one that had replaced the other doors in the headquarters. The man never really trusted technology. Given what he knew about surveillance, it was with good reason.

"General Sephiroth," Veld greeted with a tight smile as the door closed on his three subordinates, "Right on time as always."

"Do you have information for me?" Sephiroth cut in.

"Unfortunately," Veld began gravely, "I have only questions for you."

"Don't waste my time, Veld," Sephiroth remarked, but pulled up a chair and sat, anticipating a long chat, "I have told you all I know. The rest is up to your department."

"You have told me all I know, Sephiroth," Veld grumbled, his face dark and grizzled, "But I now seriously doubt it is everything you really know."

"What do you mean?" Sephiroth asked coldly, crossing his arms and leaning back on the chair that Gun had vacated mere moments ago.

"Here are the files that my Turks have managed to recover from your computer after the perpetrator scrambled everything," Veld said and rotate the screen of his personal terminal to Sephiroth. "Look familiar?" He asked rhetorically, "Inside, we have detailed documents of all of Professor Hojo's past and current projects. Projects that are considered top secret and until this serious breach of protocol, has been located on a separate server by permission of President Shinra."

Sephiroth was silent for a while. Veld examined the General's expression but like always, Sephiroth was like a brick wall when he wanted to be, and Veld could not determine if the general was disturbed by his accusations or amused.

"I admit," Sephiroth began, "That I do have certain files in my keeping from Hojo. However, many of those files are highly personal in nature, Veld. And I ask you do not divulge any information you found, as they essentially amount to my medical records."

"You-" Veld exclaimed, shocked.

"Yes," Sephiroth interrupted calmly, "As you well know, I am perhaps the only remaining example of Hojo's machinations on the human body, and much of his research revolves around my conception and his and my mother's union. I think, then, that considering this man is my father, I would be privy to at least some of his research, especially when it involves me." Sephiroth said the last part with a deep disgust, and Veld could not really tell if it was at Hojo or at himself. It was Veld's turn to be silent.

"You have my word that I will not reveal this information easily, Sephiroth," Veld finally promised. It was weighty information indeed. What experiments were conducted to produce Shinra's Soldiers and the elites of the likes of Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis were unknown even to the Turks. The only persons who had access to the full scope of Shinra's secret were a handful of scientists, a man currently labeled deceased, and now it seems, the General himself who precipitated the enhanced Soldier program. However, Veld still had his doubts. For the sake of Company interest, he will grudgingly trust Sephiroth. At least more than the rest of them.

"Is that everything?"

"Yes actually," Veld shifted gears, "Other than the sensitive information we had discovered from the science department, we recovered paper correspondence in your office from Godo that negotiated cease fire up until a year ago."

"Yes." Sephiroth admitted easily. "It was hardly a secret."

"The President never ordered such a thing."

"Which is precisely why the correspondence fell apart- when Godo realized that whatever agreement he might reach with me cannot be done in full confidence."

"And now?"

"President Shinra wants full unconditional surrender of Wutai, which had been within Shinra's reach up until a few months ago," Sephiroth answered, "You know this already. This may mean that President Shinra would be more amenable to hearing an agreement, but not before many more lives are lost."

"What do you support?" Veld inquired. Sephiroth gave him a depreciating look.

"What I think does not matter. I only command troops to win battles," Sephiroth answered disparagingly, "Now then, I do have to return to my office, if this chat is done?"

Although Sephiroth formed it as a question, and although Veld and Sephiroth were technically equals, Veld could hear the clear dismissal in Sephiroth's voice. He nodded.

"We are done here. Thank you for your cooperation, General."

Sephiroth nodded and rose from his chair. He paused at the door with one last parting shot.

"The Wutai people are proud and they are desperate," he though out loud, "We will ultimately win, but we will fight them to the last man, woman, and child. And we will be tired."

"And vulnerable."

"Good evening, director."

"Good evening, general."

The soft click of the door behind the faint swoosh of a leather trench coat left a thoughtful director in his dimming office.

"That's preposterous," Roscoe argued with finality between pulls from his cigar, "I don't give my access codes to anyone."

"Mister president," Tseng protested, "The only access codes used during the night of the break in where in fact yours. If you would consider changing them to something besides your son's birthday-"

"I pay you to prevent these problems and plug up leaks," Roscoe interrupted firmly, his face growing ruddy with anger, "Not criticize me on what I can and cannot do. You tell Veld I said that."

Tseng paused, and then sighed. "Yes, sir."

Roscoe grunted.

"Good. Now get out of my office. I have several appointments waiting." With call girls, no doubt, Tseng thought spitefully, but trudged out of the office. Once clear of the reception area, he dialed the first number in his phone.

"Veld speaking."

To Tseng's surprise, the voice came from both the phone and around the corner. When Veld caught sight of his subordinate, he shut his phone.

"Tseng."

"Sir, I briefed the President on the security breach situation, but his has remained …obstinate on the matter." Veld sighed.

"Rufus Shinra's birthday is nearly a matter of public record with the way Shinra celebrates it every year. Of all the things to use as the master password."

"Yes sir."

Tseng worked closely with Rufus on several occasions. In many ways, Rufus was completely different from his father. Much more interested in being in the middle of the action rather than being seated in some high throne. It wasn't perfect however. He was perhaps even more willing than Roscoe to sacrifice people for his own gain, and much more ruthless when doing so. And that was speaking volumes, since Roscoe was no philanthropist. In this case, the apple didn't fall very far from the tree at all.

"We should change the access codes to all places but the main office of the President. I have doubts the president had or ever will enter any of the areas we have investigated, so it is very doubtful he would recognize that his key codes are no longer universally accepted."

"That is what I had considered as well." Veld agreed, "See it done, and also make the assumption that any access made using the President's codes to any part of the building except his office was not done by him. We will start eliminating from there."

"Sir, those records are only backlogged by three months."

"It is still better than nothing," Veld answered. "Also, check the records room on floor-"

Veld was interrupted by his cell beeping.

"Boss," Reno spoke from the other end, "Our resident crazy is asking to call a lawyer. Says he doesn't remember why he's here and is threatening to sue."

Veld sighed. Tseng, who listened in, recalled that Rod had mentioned their suspect had some kind of mental disorder, like he was constantly changing personalities.

"Okay, we have what we can get from him. Let him 'lawyer-up' and call the asylum. Wait, I want to hear what he says. Keep me on speaker."

"Got it boss." On the other end the two of them heard Reno address the man.

"Yo, here's the phone. Make it quick."

"Yeah, yeah," a surprisingly lucid voice said. "Just get me the phone."

Veld could hear the soft beeps from the other end and knew that Reno had given the man a company phone the Turks could easily trace. Two seconds later, a muffled ring sounded in the room. Tseng tensed beside Veld.

"Is that-?"

"What the fuck? Why is that coming from my stomach?"

"Shit! Everyone get out!"

"Hey wait! Help me! HEL-"

"OUT-" "BOOM"

The building rocked under their feet, knocking both men over. Moments later, office workers and security guards filled the hallway. The sprinkler system released, deluging the hall ways. The klaxons blared. Tseng and Veld picked themselves up, suits soaks and hair plaster to their faces.

"That was the floor sixty-seven detention area. Cordon it off and don't let anyone but the Turks near there. I want a casualty count. Go! Make sure Reno made it out." Veld ordered sharply, yelling over the alarms. He headed for the stairs when a second explosion rocked the building.

"Shit, what is it this time?" Veld growled, and ran faster toward the stair case. Just then, the building fire system kicked in full force, dumping hundreds of gallons of high pressure water onto screaming employees and the klaxon for a science department breach in monster detainment blared in a series of short coded sequences, overriding the previous evacuation alarm.

"Sir, we have discovered several sea caves to the south with recent signs of human activity."

"Excellent work, Lee!" Zack complimented boisterously, "Report in once you can secure the entrances. We will go in when the other team is in position."

"Yes, sir." The helmeted corporal nodded.

While Junon was a famed vacation destination and seaside retreat before it became a naval installment, much of its surrounding terrain was rugged. Located between jagged mountains to the north and treacherous straits with steep seaside cliffs and shifting wind and currents to the south, it was really one of the few viable spots to establish a harbor on this side of the continent. And strategic in both its reach and natural protection. The cliffs to the south, however, house a network of labyrinthine caverns formed by the continuous pounding of waves against rock. Most were dangerous to navigate because they flood at high tide and cave-ins were frequent. The ones that stayed mostly dry gave birth to a number of old pirate legends. One set indeed housed an outpost two hundred years ago. Rumors that some of the caves led right into the bottom of Fort Condor were proven false, but it was true that several caverns contained viable amounts of mako.

"Sir," the corporal said into the radio amongst static from the interference of the cliff walls, "We have secured the entrance."

"Excellent, corporal. We are right behind you."

"Yes, sir."

Zack's black combat boots crunched against the wet sand as he waded through the shallow tide pools formed on the floor of the cave. His scouts indicated that this one seemed most interesting and that other than the mouth of the cave, most of it did not flood at high tide, since the elevation of the cave actually slope upwards. He gestured his hand over his head and his men fell into a nervous formation as they advanced, the beams of the flashlights bouncing off the glistening cave walls. The sound of waves beating at their back grew more distant as they advanced into the caves.

Something about this seemed fishy, and Zack wasn't thinking about ocean water. They found a recently abandoned fire and abandoned lean-tos early in the cave, but no signs of human life outside of that. Probably fishermen, but that didn't seem right either. This coast wasn't exactly friendly to fishermen and most needed to launch out either from Junon or Costa del Sol. Junon was not exactly a major fishing port either. Naval movements both polluted the waters and killed much of the marine life.

"Corporal? Blue team? Come in," Zack spoke into his radio. There was static on the other end. Either something was jamming the signal, or something happened to the corporal. Zack was hoping for the former. Caves don't exactly bounce signals well. And, he had gotten to really like the reliable infantryman that was essentially his second in command.

"Come with me," Zack gestured to the private on his right, "I'm going in. Follow close but don't shoot. Bullets ricochet in here."

Soldiers were better at seeing in the dark than most men. The mako treatments somehow mutated most of them to have an extra membrane in the back of the eye to reflect light and concentrate it, much like a cat. That was in part what gave Soldiers their characteristic "glowing" eyes. However, the ability came at a cost, since the glowing eyes could give away a Soldier's position in the dark and their peripheral vision is almost nonexistent in the dark. Sephiroth once said to Zack that it was because Soldiers were made to be predators. Eyes in front of the head- on the prey. No predators to fear. Right now, Zack was not too sure.

"Sir," a private said from behind as they walked deeper into the cave, "The tide will be coming in soon."

"I know. But we've lost Corporal Lee and his team, and on my honor we aren't leaving him," Zack looked back and smiled amicably at the private, "And none of you either, 'kay? Angeal would have my hide." He thought for a minute. "Entrance team. Has anyone come out of the caves? Come in, entrance team." Static on that end too.

"Yes sir," the private nodded.

"It's strange though," Zack murmured as he walked forward again, "We haven't seen a single monster. Caves like these should be crawling with them."

This team stopped in front of the first fork they had come across. Zack frowned.

"Sir, should we split up to search?" Zack shook his head.

"No, there seems to be some problems with our radio. We don't want to lose any more people down here." He tilted his head in thought. "Private, turn off the lights. I want to see something."

Zack's orders were passed to the back of their eight man group. When the flashlights beams were gone, Zack's eyes took mere moments to adjust. He trained them on each of the forks. Small amounts of light reflected back to him.

"Anders, these tunnels don't surface do they?"

"Not that I know of sir. Shinra maps report that none of the sea caves have a land terminus."

"We'll take the right fork then. I saw some light. Must be the blue team, but keep your wits about you."

The flashlights came back on. In front of them, the caverns opened up to a large chamber illuminated by mako. Toward the back of the cave, Shinra backpacks and flashlights lie on the ground. The corporal's radio played static.

"Shit. Where could they be?"

"Sergeant Fair!" Someone cried out behind Zack. Zack turned around but his vision doubled. He tried to throw off what he recognized as a very strong-impossibly strong- Sleep spell. Leaning onto the cave wall, he looked around trying to find the source. "Fall back," he turned to find his men stumbling. Some already succumbed to the magic being weaved and had fallen to the floor in loud thumps. "Stay awa-"Before he could finish, he was seeing the inside of his eyelids, and knew nothing else.

Thank you all for the reviews.

I am still looking for a beta, to help me keep writing and to help keep track. When I started it, I did not realize how difficult it was going to be to do a story piecemeal with no one character knowing everything. Especially since the "main" character essentially will have no voice. As a result, linearity is lost. If anything is extremely confusing, please voice it in reviews. Thanks.