Chapter 15: Headquarters Under Siege
A young girl, seemingly ten years old, typed away at a computer as Azul the Cerulean approached her from behind.
"What is the status of our keeper?" he inquired.
"His location remains unchanged since the confrontation," the girl replied. "We can assume this is the WRO headquarters."
"Good," Azul complimented. "Two birds with one stone."
He then turned and walked off.
The girl continued to type for a few more moments. Then, she stood up, picked up some materia that was laying on the table, and walked off herself.
MEANWHILE…
Shalua was sitting at a table across from a computer. Vincent was standing across from her, while Reeve was pacing behind.
"So Rosso the Crimson told you that Protomateria is the 'key to controlling Omega?'" Reeve asked.
"Yeah," Vincent replied.
"Any ideas?" Reeve inquired.
"Soul wrought of terra corrupt," answered Shalua, "quelling impurity, purging the stream to beckon forth an ultimate fate. Behold mighty Chaos, Omega's squire to the lofty heavens."
"Where did you...?" began Reeve.
"A passage from Dr. Crescent's thesis," Shalua interjected. "But that's all I know. Unfortunately, I only saw a fragment of the document. However, Chaos and Omega seem to be connected to Dr. Crescent in some way. There's no other explanation."
She then looked at Vincent.
"I think we need to interview your girlfriend about her thesis," Shalua continued. "It seems like she knows more that she's telling us."
Suddenly, everything began to flash red, and an alarm went off.
"What now?" Reeve exclaimed.
Looking at a surveillance screen, Shalua could see Deepground soldiers marching up the stairs to the entrance. Azul suddenly appeared, and pointed to the camera, whereupon a soldier blasted it.
Shalua's eye was greeted by static.
"Damn!" she muttered.
She quickly sealed the complex, but Vincent was skeptical.
He quickly left the room.
MEANWHILE...
"Move," commanded Azul as he approached the sealed door.
He raised his fist, and pounded a big hole in the door.
"Painless," he said. "Go."
The soldiers stormed into the building.
MEANWHILE...
Reeve observed everything from the control room.
"Vincent!" he exclaimed. "The enemy has breached the main gate! Hurry!"
Meanwhile, Shalua was scanning the video feed when she spotted the young girl.
Her eye widened.
"What?" she whispered. "It couldn't be."
MEANWHILE…
Vincent circumvented the foyer, shooting Deepground after Deepground. He stayed behind the pillars, taking as much protection as he could.
Gunfire soon began to come from above; he could see that some of the Deepground soldiers had made it to the second floor balcony. He quickly shot two of them dead. He then took the ramp up to the second floor balcony, eliminating two more Deepground soldiers when he got there.
He took the ramp up to the third floor, where he found three more Deepground soldiers on the catwalk with their backs turned to him. He killed the first one by shooting him in the back of the head. The other two turned around, but it was too late; Vincent put a bullet in each of their foreheads.
He then made his way to the ramp to the fourth floor. Once there, three Deepground soldiers were standing several yards away, pointing their guns at him.
"It's over, Vincent Valentine!" one of them announced.
And then, an explosion appeared in the middle of them, and limbs flew everywhere.
Someone had thrown a grenade.
When the smoke cleared, Lucrecia was standing behind ground zero.
"How did you get up here?!" the surprised Vincent inquired.
"Easy," Lucrecia replied. "I took the elevator."
She then looked down to see another Deepground soldier threatening Shalua with a knife. She kicked him in the crotch and threw him to the ground. Then she shot another Deepground soldier dead with her gun.
"That chick can kick some serious ass!" Lucrecia commented.
They made their way to the fifth floor, and through a door, where a WRO member was waiting frantically.
"Mr. Valentine!" he exclaimed. " A sizable enemy unit is headed straight for the command center. Please, sir, you have to help the commissioner!"
Vincent nodded before darting down the corridor. Deepground soldiers appeared from around the corner, which Lucrecia quickly dispatched.
They came to a stairwell, where they hesitated for a few momenets before mounting the stairs. When they were halfway up, Lucrecia began to shout.
"Shit! Vincent! What's that coming toward us?!"
Vincent looked up to see a barrel rolling down the stairs.
He aimed Cerberus and fired, causing it to explode, and Lucrecia to scream.
"Don't tell me that was a premonition!" she exclaimed.
"I'll keep my mouth shut," Vincent said.
"Shut up," she reprimanded.
Once at the top of the stairs, they turned down the hallway, dispatching several more Deepground soldiers.
Rounding another corner, they found another Deepground soldier standing there, ready to attack.
"Fuck," muttered Lucrecia.
The soldier cackled, knowing he had them.
Suddenly, a hissing sound rang out, followed by a gunshot.
The soldier fell dead.
"Take that!" shouted Cait Sith as he emerged from the hall, followed by Reeve.
Both Vincent and Lucrecia sighed in relief.
"Don't worry," Reeve assured them. "I'll be fine here. But Vincent. The Tsviets...Azul is still on the loose."
They turned back down the hall.
"I guess he didn't need our help after all," Lucrecia sighed.
With nothing further ado, Vincent and Lucrecia descended the stairs, meandered around the corridors, and returned to the foyer.
Looking down on the ground level, they could see Azul the Cerulean lugging around, with a strange sound of footsteps following him into a side door.
Vincent and Lucrecia quickly took the elevator to the ground floor. Once there, they passed through the doorway Azul had passed through.
Once through there, they found themselves through more corridors. Eventually, they came to a flight of stairs, with three Deepground soldiers lurking about.
Lucrecia took out two; Vincent took care of the remaining one.
They then descended the stairs to the basement. Around the corridor, they took care of five more Deepground soldiers.
In the next room, they encountered a familiar face.
"Shalua!" Lucrecia greeted.
"I guess this makes us even for saving Vincent's ass," she said.
Before Lucrecia could respond, she heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
They stopped next to Lucrecia.
And then, the figure began to decloak.
Shalua immediately drew her gun.
"Don't move," she commanded.
The figure finished decloaking, revealing herself to be a ten-year-old girl.
"Very perceptive of you," the girl said nonchalantly.
Shalua staggered back, and slowly lowered her gun.
"I knew it," she said in surprise as she scanned the girl. "Shelke."
"I have no acquaintances in the WRO," Shelke dismissed.
"We've both changed so much," Shalua said. "No, you haven't changed at all. Not in ten years."
Shelke was silent.
"Shelke," Shalua continued. "It's me. Shalua."
Shelke continued to ignore her.
"I've been searching for you for so long," Shalua continued as she began to walk toward her sister.
In response, Shelke pulled out a laser sword and aimed it at Shalua.
"Don't take another step," she warned.
"Shelke?" asked Shalua nervously.
"It doesn't matter who I am or who you are," Shelke explained as she displayed a second sword in her left hand, revealing both swords were connected. "My current mission as a Deepground soldier is all that is relevant."
"Even though ten years have passed, you're still Shelke, my only sister!" Shalua protested.
Shelke withdrew her laser swords.
"Ten years," she began. "Has it been that long?"
Shalua nodded.
"The day they came to take me away, I was told I had potential," Shelke continued. "But those words were nothing but a precursor to a decade of suffering. They manipulated my mind until I was a shadow of my original self. The pain. The fear. For ten years I lived in a hell far deeper than any you could imagine."
Vincent looked on in empathy. Lucrecia had something else on her mind.
"But look at me," Shelke sighed. "I should be nineteen this year. If I don't receive my daily dose of mako, this body wouldn't last a day. However, I don't consider myself the least bit unfortunate. Except that for so long I held on to a foolish thread of hope that someday, someone would come to save me."
"I'm sorry, Shelke," Shalua sobbed as she fell to her knees. "I'm so sorry."
"It's time to put the past behind us," Shelke said solemnly.
She suddenly reactivated her weapon.
And then, Lucrecia drew her gun.
"Hand it over!" she demanded.
"Hand what over?" Shelke retorted.
"The Chronus Wand!" Lucrecia continued.
"I didn't take the Chronus Wand," Shelke defended.
"Bullshit!" Lucrecia insisted. "You broke into the national Museum and took it. How else could you go unnoticed without your cloaking bracelet?"
"Stop this!" Reeve interjected as he entered the room.
Shelke turned to face him.
"Reeve Tuesti," she greeted.
"So you are Shalua's younger sister," Reeve presumed aloud.
"Excellent," said Shelke. "Now I can terminate both of you at once."
Reeve did not show any signs of fear.
"Look at her," he began as he pointed to Shalua. "That's the price Shalua has paid fighting Shinra for the past ten years. She has given more than her arm, more than her eye. She has put her life on the line time and time again. All to find her lost sister. More than half her organs have been reconstructed. Not a day goes by when Shalua doesn't suffer the pain of a hundred souls. But still, she-"
"Enough," Shelke interjected. "I've...I've heard enough."
She reactivated her weapon.
Vincent drew Cerberus.
"Stop!" commanded Reeve before pulling out his own gun and aiming at the sprinkler in the ceiling.
The sprinkler activated.
Shelke charged at Shalua.
Vincent pushed Shalua out of the way.
Shelke, in confusion, deactivated her weapon.
"Vincent!" Reeve called.
He quickly rushed Vincent, Lucrecia, and Shalua to a secure room. Then, he reached into his pocket, withdrawing some bullets, which he handed to Vincent.
"Use these," he commanded.
"Shelke?" sighed Shalua. "Shelke!"
"Don't worry," Reeve assured her. "The bullets will only sedate her. Let Vincent handle this."