FF VII Redux: SOLDIER Edition

Chapter 6: Mission 1 Part 1

AN: Hello all, it's been a while. Firstly as always I want to that everyone who reviewed the previous chapter, as well as those that followed and favorited the story. Next as you can see I changed the name, I was never really sold on the New Game Plus part of the name and finally it annoyed me so much I changed it. Also this chapter took a while as I kept changing parts of it, making it easier and harder or both based on how tired I was at the time. Eventually I decided to make it a 2-part story since the chapter length was starting to kick my ass and I didn't want to compromise my vision for this.

Finally I've started cross-posting my stories on AO3 or backing them up there rather. If you check out the version of the story there you'll find pics to go along with it since I seem to suck at giving descriptions. Anyway that's all I have for now, here is the new chapter.

Start Now:

September 1999

For Cloud so far, the life of a SOLDER wasn't everything he'd thought it would be. At least for him it had been mostly a lot of training including a few training missions mostly dealing with the random monster that made it into Midgar's upper levels. He didn't complain though, adjusting to the changes from the Enhancement had taken a fair bit of time. His generation of SOLDIERs were all physically superior to the data obtained from the previous generation, at least the initial data recorded. It had taken time to learn to control themselves and in truth sending them out into the field too soon would have been incredibly irresponsible.

His birthday had come and gone, meaning he was now 14, and while he hadn't tried to make a big deal of it those around him still acknowledged the occasion. The only bit of celebration had been the dinner he'd had at the Gainsborough house. It wasn't all training though as he'd had a bit of free time in his schedule during which time he'd created his own hidden blades though he'd made two different versions. One was simple enough in that a blade would emerge for a quick stab of an enemy, the other was different in that the knife could be removed and wielded in hand.

Now nearly 10 weeks after his time in SOLDIER had begun they were nearing the end of their training period. Currently he found himself seated on a plane that was already in flight. Training had by this point transferred from using the Matrix virtual reality system to pure physical training which was done in full uniform. He wore his purple SOLDIER uniform including the black facemask that covered everything up to his nose and the helmet. His katana was as always secured to the left side of his waist and the G-360 military pistol was holstered on his right thigh. On his right arm he wore the Supreme Bracer he was awarded after the SOLDIER exam beneath which was his modified hidden blade with the knife detachment while he wore a standard bracer on his left arm with a standard hidden blade beneath it.

His idea of including the Hidden Blade had been accepted though more widely than he had expected. Lazard, after hearing his pitch had somehow made it an optional piece of equipment for not just SOLDIER but for all armed services members. All 14 members of his 'class' had a hidden blade though some had opted to have two like he had, though the blade attachments varied. Lazard and Rufus had also worked out a contract on his behalf to allow Shinra to produce designs on his behalf while he still maintained ownership of the design including any future variation based on it and he was collecting what Rufus told him was a very generous amount of gil on a regular basis. The first payment, almost 100,000 gil, he'd taken and invested in the Gold Saucer, though he also took a bit for a few other investments.

Over the past few weeks his group had all grown kind of close with Cloud being the youngest looked at as the little brother of the group, despite the fact he was also amongst the most dangerous. Aside from him two other people had also jumped directly to SOLDIER 2nd Class. They earned the level skip due to a combination of their skills and experience including leadership capability. The first was Eko Capah or Tank as he asked everyone to call him who was a Staff Sergeant in the Marines until he made SOLDIER. The enhancement process clearly showed an effect as he'd gone from 5'6" to 6'3" a rather nice increase height wise. At 19 years old he was the oldest of the new SOLDIER class.

Then there was Captain Madeleine Gamble, a woman with long black hair and dark eyes. Before the enhancement he remembered she'd already been tall for a woman at 5'7" but now he knew she stood at 6'1" with a busty and curvy body that even the SOLDIER uniform couldn't hide. Madeleine had joined the Marines at 15 after graduating from the Shinra Military Academy and was now 17.

"Alright we're coming into the drop zone. Get ready."

Cloud stood from his seat and waited tensely as they neared the drop zone. After what felt a strange mixture of a short time and forever the back of the plane opened, and they were given the go signal. Considering it was barely 5 in the morning this was a hell of a way to start the day. As his team began jumping out Cloud waited a few seconds when it was his turn, took a breath and jumped.

Claudia Strife was a proud mother and while this was true for many mothers for Claudia that pride was now at an all-time high. Her son at only 14 had not one but two fiancés both of whom were lovely girls that she'd known and had watched grow up. Furthermore, he had at the young age of only 13 years old accomplished something that many, especially young men dreamed of doing as her son was a SOLDIER. While she personally didn't think highly of Shinra as a company even she would admit that those who were members of SOLDIER had a rather sterling reputation even in her rather remote village.

The Mayor of Nibelheim kept two pictures of Cloud on her desk, one was with Cloud, Aerith and Tifa from the day they accepted the betrothal necklaces. The second was of Cloud on his own standing in his red SOLDIER uniform that designated him as a 2nd Class Soldier with his helmet in his hand. The SOLDIER standard edition longsword was hung up at her home on the wall of her living room. She'd thought about hanging it in her office but thought better of that, the pictures were more than enough.

Currently she was taking a bit of a break from work and listening as her friend Iris Gainsborough gushed over the date she'd had the previous night with Diego. The two of them had started seeing each other not long after Aerith left the village to help care for her adoptive grandfather and Claudia was honestly happy for her friend.

"So, what about you?" questioned Iris causing her to blink.

"What do you mean?" returned Claudia

"When are you going to find someone for yourself? With Cloud gone you've got to be a bit lonely." Said Iris.

"I'm not lonely. I have you, Tifa, Diego and Brian whenever he's in town." Said Claudia.

"Okay, let me rephrase that. You must miss having romantic company." Said Iris causing Claudia to shrug.

"I'm much too busy to worry about such things. Besides we both know this town still suffers a bit from a lack of eligible partners." Said Claudia.

"True, the men you would go for are either married or widowers with children. What about a woman?" Said Iris though the look she got in return told her the last idea would never happen.

Honestly she wasn't even surprised. She'd been in the village long enough to realize that it held very traditionalist values which were boosted by the fact that it was quite isolated. It had only been in the last few years that they'd accepted that some young women would want to actually leave the village and find a life outside. From what she'd learned Claudia voicing such a thing as a youth had not been taken well by the village populous. Lucrecia living in the village had the effect of inspiring several young girls to follow her example. Cloud sharing his inheritance also helped broaden the minds of the people consequently inspiring some to leave the village for other pursuits such as becoming entertainers.

"Well, I'm sure someone will catch your eye in time." Said Iris.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Right now, it doesn't matter." Said Claudia.

A line of Shinra military motorcycles awaited them at the drop point for the trip back to Midgar. As part of their training, they were taught how to drive and ride motorcycles then after successfully learning the basics and proving that they were taught tactical driving in case they needed to deal with vehicle combat. At this point the only vehicles that they hadn't been trained for were helicopters, but it was reasoned they didn't need that training as they would have designated pilots for those. They had one member of the group who was a Navy Pilot, Lennox James, but Cloud doubted he would be the only one judging by the looks a few people had when they learned that.

Upon their return to Midgar they met at the gate to section one by PSF members and informed they were being immediately summoned back to HQ. Handing over their bikes they were quickly piled into a personnel transport truck. The car was silent as they traveled through the streets of Midgar none of them sure about what was happening but all positive that it was nothing good for them to be summoned like they were. Arriving at Shina HQ through the underground parking garage they filed out of the truck and into the elevator splitting between the two elevators to go up.

"SOLDIER floor."

Kunsel's voice was tense as he spoke the destination for the elevators AI. For a moment nothing happened as the group was scanned for their ID's and the doors shut before the elevator began rising. When the doors opened on the 49th floor they were quickly ushered into the Briefing Room and told to take seats. The room itself was large with a couch that ran the length of the room in front of the window separated into sections by plants. In the center of the room was a large table with only a single chair. Filing into the room they spread out though none of them spoke. The room was tense and silent for several minutes before the doors opened and Lazard stepped in with a serious expression on his face.

"Training time is over people. Shit just got real." Said Lazard making his way to the table.

"The situation in Wutai has just turned decidedly against us. 3 hours ago, we lost control of our entire robotic force in Wutai. Sweepers, Cleaners, Sentry Guns, all of it. Not only was control lost but before our people could even realize what was happening simultaneous attacks were launched on all the bases we had in the area. Furthermore, we've lost communications with the entire area. As if that wasn't bad enough I've just learned that we've sprung a leak somewhere and the existence of the 3rd generation SOLDIERs is now known by the enemy. Assassination teams have already been dispatched from Wutai and thus far we know that they are after President Shinra and Dr. Crescent." Said Lazard to the stunned silence of the room.

"While the Turks work on plugging the leak we must assume all information is compromised. Both President Shinra and Rufus Shinra are scheduled for a personal trip in three days and the President has refused to put it off. Fawley and James, the two of you will be joining their protective detail since you have prior experience in that area. James, Archer, Hill and Chambers you'll also be joining protective details for the duration of this threat. Director Verdot will brief you all, he's waiting in his office Floor B4 go." Said Lazard.

Without a word the six individuals named left the room to be briefed on their own missions. With those people gone that left Cloud, Zack, Kunsel, Madeleine Gamble, Nathaly Hart, Eko 'Tank' Capah, Chloe Marshal and McKenzie McKee. 8 people amongst which two hadn't even reached 16 and one of which was his cousin. Lazard massaged the bridge of his nose but knew he couldn't afford to second guess himself.

"You all will be going immediately to Wutai. I won't lie to you this mission will be incredibly dangerous for even a 1st Class SOLDIER but it's vital. We'll be flying you in but with our bases compromised the planes won't be landing so you'll be diving." Said Lazard motioning with his hand over the table causing a holographic map to pop up.

"We don't have a full map of the area. This is just what we have been able to gather over the time of the war. Our presence in Wutai has never been strong but over the course of the war we have been able to take command of certain key points. At present all eight points have gone dark. The first point is here on the far west of the map in the mountains with the second point nearby. The Third is in the east within the forest here with point number four located here. Points 2 and 4 are research bases from my understanding, I was of the mind to take them as losses but have been informed that was unacceptable. The fifth is the largest located within this center area, this one I suspect is still in in some control as Sephiroth and Genesis are both there and the two of them along with Angeal are special even amongst other 1st Class SOLDIERs.

The final three are here and as you can see form a line. These points are also the most critical, they are well within distance of the fighting but within what was considered a safe zone as the area was controlled by Shinra forces. The loss of this line means that our forces will eventually be pushed back to the other three points and without those pushed out of the area entirely, effectively losing the war. The eight of you will split into teams of 4. Team one will be Madeleine Gamble, Kunsel Bailey, Cloud Strife and Nathaly Hart, you will be handling the west side base.

Team two Eko Capah, Zack Fair, Chloe Marshal and Samiyah McKee you'll handle the east side base. Once those are handled you'll meet up at the central base and secure it. Once that has been accomplished you will then need to push forward into the combat zone and more than likely regain command of the line. Gamble and Capah will be in command of operations since you already have experience in the area. Questions?" said Lazard getting several hands to raise.

"McKee." Said Lazard.

Samiyah 'Mac' McKee was the tallest of the lot of them at 6'3" she was slim with caramel brown skin, short cut platinum blonde hair and absolutely covered in muscles. She was an absolute powerhouse and had been even before she underwent the enhancement. She was also the least experienced of those who came from the military as she'd only been in the army for a little over a year before making the jump to SOLDIER.

"Sir will we need to worry about the anti-air defenses for the dive?" questioned Mac.

"Normally I would say no, but in this instance it wouldn't be out of line to assume they have seized control of those systems as well with everything else." Said Lazard.

"That means we'll have to come in at a low altitude, enough to put us under the radar of those systems. Our radars pick up anything over 1200 feet, so we'll probably have to go in at 1000 just to be safe." Said Tank.

"That's not a lot of space." Said Zack frowning.

"What if we do the dive over water. Our bodies are strong enough to take that and with our training getting to land shouldn't be too much trouble." Said Nathaly.

Nathaly was another dark skin woman. Standing at 6'0" she had long dark brown hair that she usually kept bound. She was slender but packed a lot of power in her frame. She'd been in the Army for nearly two years as a sniper before joining SOLDIER.

"They'd never expect something like that, it would give us some element of surprise." Said Tank.

"I'll inform the pilot. Any other questions?" said Lazard.

"What kind of defenses are we looking at? It's all our stuff right, so there's got to be some kind of inventory." Said Cloud.

"In wartime inventory is taken once a week, or whenever there is a major firefight. It's Tuesday so the bases should have been restocked on Sunday." Said Madeleine

"So, assuming they didn't blow through everything last night the bases should be well stocked." Said Kunsel.

"Fighting through all of that is definitely going to be a challenge." Said Zack.

"How about we don't. Sure, going in loud sounds fun but realistically we could be cut to ribbons and if not the bases probably won't remain intact." Said Cloud.

"You're suggesting stealth ops." Said Tank eyes narrowed.

"It could be done. I know The Hercules has the layouts of all the land bases since supplies go out from that ship. In fact, they could even give us the inventory per base." Said Mac.

"That enough." Cut in Lazard bringing attention back to himself.

"Cloud had a good idea. Go stealth, arm up with whatever you need for that job. There's a chopper on the roof to take you to Junon. By the time you fly out of Junon all the information you'll need will be waiting for you. You can plan things out further on the plane. Good luck and all of you had better come back alive. Dismissed."

Standing immediately the group headed out however instead of immediately heading to the elevators they detoured to the restrooms. Within five minutes the eight of them were exiting the elevator to find the chopper waiting for them with the engine already running. Filing into the helicopter and they quickly went about securing themselves in for the trip to Junon.

' Interface'

With just that thought the Edge System appeared before his eyes with the rest of the world fading into a blurred background.

Boot Camp: Complete

You have successfully completed the SOLDIER training mission line.

Rewards: Reputation increase amongst PSF personnel and Shinra staff. Reputation increased amongst the civilian populace.

Side Quests Completed:

Give Me A Gun: You have completed the PSF targeting training course in the top 10 percentile. Reward: Reputation increased with PSF military.

Time Used Wisely: You retrieved designs for and forged Hidden Blades. Reward: Hidden Blades unlocked

Rule #9: As quoted by the legendary Leroy Jethro Gibbs 'Never go anywhere without a knife'. 2 Hidden Blades have been equipped. Reward: Reputation increased amongst SOLDIER and PSF military personnel.

Hello Down There: PSF paratrooper course completed. 10 jumps completed successfully. Reward: Reputation increased with Air Force, Navy and Paratrooper personnel.

Let's Ride: Training completed for cars, motorcycles and small boats. Reward: Reputation increased with Army and Navy personnel. Reputation increased with the civilian population.

Kliqued Up: You have befriended and built ties with all 14 members of the 3rd generation SOLDIER type. Reward: The group is now known amongst Shinra personnel. You are more likely to be paired with members of this group for missions requiring a team.

New Mission Unlocked:

Counterpunch: Wutai forces have seized control of Shinra's automated forces and communications in the entire area are down. Proceed to Junon before transitioning to Wutai and retake control of the bases.

Closing the system down, Cloud watched the world come back into focus and continue as the helicopter took to the sky.

The flight to Junon only took 25 minutes, considering it was a military helicopter rather than a civilian model it made sense the trip was shorter than when he'd flown the opposite direction with Rufus. Immediately upon touching down and getting off the helicopter they were met with a military guide who escorted them to the armory. Once inside they were greeted by Captain Ida Armstrong, a blonde woman with serious brown eyes and hair that was cut short so that it ended around the nape of her neck.

"We've received the loadouts that were sent to all of the bases in the area from the Hercules." Said the woman almost as soon as they entered the room.

"Judging by the look on your face it's bad." Said Kunsel.

"It's worse than I think any of us thought it could be. The central base just received an Arsenal Prototype. I don't think it was up and running but I doubt we can count on that being the case by the time you arrive" said the captain.

"What's an Arsenal?" questioned Mac.

"The Arsenal is Director Chen's latest and greatest. It's pretty much what tanks wish they were." Said Kunsel drawing attention to himself.

"It's a robot so of course fully automated, its built upright and instead of tracks has four wheels each of which is designed to leave anything it hits resembling the aftereffects of a powered-up blender. It has two arms, the left arm is equipped with six rotating gatling guns, the right arm has a freaking plasma cannon that can fire beams and single shots. It can fire homing lasers from its back and its head has even more guns." Said Kunsel.

"How the hell do you know all of that?" questioned Zack.

"I told you; information is my thing." Said Kunsel.

"Remind me to get Lazard to add him to counter espionage." Said Cloud quietly to Tank who nodded.

"Do you have the specs for this monster?" questioned Chloe.

"They're included in the information packet." Said the Captain.

"Good if it has any weaknesses we'll find them before we touch down in Wutai." Said Madeleine.

"Any word from the bases?" questioned Tank.

"Nothing yet. Recon teams were sent out, none of them returned so no other teams have been authorized to go out." Said the Captain.

"So what do we need for extra loadouts?" questioned Chloe.

"If you don't already have one grab a Lightning materia. All machines are weak to lightning. I don't care how big and bad this new monster is I doubt it's any different." Said Cloud.

"Sniper rifles. We'll need to take out the people in the crow's nests." Said Nathaly already moving to the rifles.

"Anyone else have sniper training?' questioned Tank looking at Cloud.

"I didn't do sniper training, I can do handguns, shotguns, submachine guns and assault rifles." Said Cloud.

"Jeez Cloud I'm surprised you even did all of that." Said Zack.

"Better to know how and not need to than need to and not know how." Said Cloud

"Well said, Cloud was it?' said Captain Armstrong.

"Yes, ma'am. Cloud Strife." Said Cloud

"Well Cloud I think with that mindset you'll go far. I won't be surprised to learn you make 1st Class in the future." Said the woman giving him a once over.

"He just turned fourteen and he's engaged." Whispered Madeleine quietly to the captain causing her to blink rapidly.

Cloud did his best not to smirk and pretended that he didn't hear that little exchange.

Not long later they were boarding the plane. Cloud, like everyone else, equipped a silencer to his pistol and grabbed a few extra clips. Nathaly and Chloe both had sniper rifles that they were carrying in bags and that was it for extra weapons as no one wanted to be weighed down. Plus, if things turned into a big fight none of them were above taking supplies from defeated enemies. As they moved to exit the room Cloud maneuvered himself so that he was walking alongside Madeleine.

"For the record both Tifa and Aerith expect me to sleep with other women. They want me to learn how to please them more apparently." Said Cloud quietly.

"Does that expectation go both ways?" questioned the woman.

"Apparently guys are easy to please, so they won't do that, but they are not averse to sleeping with other women." Said Cloud

"You've got some luck kid." Said Madeleine.

"You don't know the half of it." Said Cloud.

They were led swiftly to the airfield where a Relnikha was already prepped and awaiting them. The Relnikha were the main transport vessels for Shinra, at least when air travel is needed. They were leftovers from the days of the Republic of Junon before it collapsed and Shinra took control of the area. Shinra despite the size of its brain trust had never been able to figure out Republic technology and thus there were only a few of the vehicles remaining. They were able to board quickly and by 7:15 were taking off.

The war with Shinra had been going on longer than any of them expected. For Wakiya Hideyori, the Leader of Wutai, this was especially vexing as he had not expected to be embroiled in a 7-year war that still had no end in sight. After such a long time of fighting you would expect most would be sick of it and just ready for it all to end, but the people of Wutai were a proud lot. Not only that but they were a nation of warriors with many of them trained in the way of the ninja and as such there would be no backing down from their invaders.

Despite their superior training and prowess compared to the regular forces of Shinra's military they found that they were outmatched when compared to the might of the SOLDIER members deployed by Shinra. Thankfully Shinra didn't have them constantly in the battles as Wutai would have long since lost the war were that the case. Shinra was not a foe that would be vanquished easily, they simply had too much manpower as not only did they already have two continents worth of people to throw into the battles, but they were bolstered by the mechanical units they continuously shipped out to join the war. The forces of Wutai had been forced to evolve in their methods to combat these two threats.

The mind behind this evolution was that of Godo Kisaragi, Head of the Kisaragi ninja clan and the man who had throughout the course of the war had risen to become Lord Commander of Wutai's military forces, a position that placed him second only to Hideyori himself. Godo also had the distinction of being counted amongst the Wusheng, The Five Mighty Gods, all of whom were considered the five greatest warriors Wutai had to offer. Hideyori had no illusions that should they somehow manage to win this war and force Shinra out of their lands that Godo would succeed him as the leader of Wutai, and he'd have certainly earned the position which was even more impressive as he hadn't even reached his mid 30's yet.

Currently the two of them were seated within his office joined by another man. This man, Brett Sloan, was not of Wutai and was in fact a former member of SOLDIER though he was of the non-enhanced type and had long since left the unit and Shinra behind him. It had been Godo that reached out to the group that Sloan represented a move that was proving to have been correct considering their recent success.

"I must admit when I accepted this job I didn't think that things would go as easily as they have. We didn't lose a single person when taking the bases and now have full control of all of them. The communication systems have been taken out and as such not only is Shinra blind and deaf in those areas, but we also have command of their robots." Said Brett.

"Will you be able to maintain control of those bases?" questioned Hideyori.

"Easily I have a couple guys that are trained to handle Shinra systems. I already have them reworking the codes so we can maintain control of the everything." Said Sloan.

"What about the SOLDIER forces?" questioned Godo.

"Most of them are dead." Said Sloan shrugging.

"It seems the 2nd and 3rd class guys were as susceptible to the gas as anyone else would be. First class seems to be made of stronger stuff as Sephiroth and the one identified as Genesis managed to survive though they weren't able to put up much of a fight." Finished the man.

"I want you to have samples taken from both of them and have some of our people bring them for analysis." Said Hideyori.

"I'll send the order once I leave here." Said Sloan.

"Have your people ready to defend those bases, Shinra won't accept such a loss easily." Said Godo.

"No, they won't but as I've proven my guys can handle them." Said Sloan.

Lazard sat calmly ignoring the looks that he received from people as they arrived within the executive conference room. Currently the executive committee except for the Directors of Urban Planning, Aeronautics and Rufus Shinra had all arrived, and those three had not been invited. Also joining them was Verdot, Head of the General Affairs Division, which included the Investigative sector. He understood as he himself had never called for a meeting of the executive committee and he was usually the last to arrive for the regular meetings. As Doctor Crescent entered the room he gave a simple nod to Verdot.

"Initiate Lockdown Protocol." Said Verdot the words causing several eyes to widen.

The words caused a large steel barricade to rise and cover the doors while steel grates covered the windows before the room flashed red and then green before the regular lighting returned.

"The rooms clean, 2 bugs were zapped though." Said Lazard after several long moments after looking up from the screen of a tablet.

"What exactly is going on?" questioned the President slowly.

"A little over four hours ago we lost all control and communication with all assets within Wutai. The only contact we have left is from The Hercules which is anchored off the coast of the continent." Said Director Heidegger.

"Unfortunately, that is not why you were all called here." Said Verdot.

"We have also received intel that Wutai is aware of the 3rd Generation SOLDIER type. Furthermore, assassination teams have already been dispatched from Wutai and you are all being targeted." Explained Verdot.

"Due to the very real nature of this threat, you are all being assigned bodyguards until the situation is handled." Said Lazard

"You mean aside from our normal details?" questioned Director Chen.

"Yes. Security within the building is being increased as well. While that service is usually provided by General Affairs, SOLDIER is working in concert with them for this one. Angeal has been assigned to your personal detail along with two members of the 3rd Generation at least for the duration of your upcoming trip." Said Lazard looking towards President Shinra who frowned before nodding shortly.

"Are you sure we need that kind of muscle on hand. Wouldn't they be better served in Wutai?" questioned Lucrecia.

"Yes. The assassination of its leadership is the reason that Junon collapsed. I'd rather not repeat that part of history." Said Verdot looking across the room and locking eyes with each person.

"Vice-Present Salvatore and Doctor Crescent will also both be receiving two members of the 3rd Generation. The rest of you will be receiving at least one 2nd Class SOLDIER added to your details." Said Lazard.

"That's fine. What of the situation in Wutai?" questioned President Shinra

"I've already dispatched the remaining members of the 3rd Generation to Wutai." Said Lazard.

The flight from Junon to Wutai took just over 17 hours, meaning it was nearly midnight which consequently gave the group both plenty of time to rest and to figure out their plans for reclaiming the bases. As they arrived in the area they did so within the cover of night and flew in low at 1,000 feet with Team One making their dive from the plane and into the ocean below. Instead of immediately surfacing Cloud stayed under the water checking the HUD in his helmet which told him the entry point was 700 feet behind him with the rest of his team surrounding him. Turning he finally swam up and broke the surface of the water and into the center of the group.

"You ok Cloud?"

Kunsel's voice came through his helmet thanks to another nifty bit of tech, a communications device that Diego had designed for the helmet that had been included in the designs he'd given him. It was coming in handy now as it ran on both a different network and frequency than the rest of Shinra's communications. Another piece of tech already at work inside the helmet was night vision which due to the darkness of the late hour was the only reason he could even see anything with the helmet on.

"Fine, just got a bit turned around." Said Cloud softly.

"Hercules this is SOLDIER Unit One reporting in." came Madeleine's voice over the comms.

"Unit One this is Hercules operations, you are cleared." Came the response, the voice of which was clearly female.

"Affirmative."

That was the end of the chatter and with a signal from Madeleine the team moved out going back beneath the water and swimming to their entry point. Thanks to the Enhancement they'd undergone their bodies were now beyond even peak human efficiency which made it possible for them to cover the distance of 700 feet in just over one minute. Climbing out of the water they found themselves at the base of the backside of the mountain and found that the intel they received was true as the backside had numerous cliffs.

According to the intel they received the mountain peaked at 20,000 feet with the entrance for the first base being a cave entrance at 3,000 feet. There was also a communications relay built into a plateau at 5,300 feet on the back of the mountain, which is why they decided to go from the back of the mountain. The base itself was built on a plateau about 4,200 feet up.

The idea was to use the relay and shut down the machines in the area, removing the major threats to their discovery. As for reaching the relay they had no choice but to climb the mountain the old-fashioned way. Grappling hooks had been considered and discarded as the makeup of the mountain's backside made it impossible to grapple, the distance was simply too great to toss the hook. While mountain climbing hadn't been a big part of the SOLDIER training they'd all had training in it simply due to how many places had mountainous regions.

"Wow they really don't have anyone posted back here." Said Nathaly, her voice coming through their private comm network while she looked around the mountain with her rifle.

"I told you. Shinra troops and SOLDIER especially have developed a reputation. They expect a fight to be loud and from the front. If we don't go away from that too often we can take advantage of those expectations when it matters." Said Cloud.

"You sure you can make those climbs?" questioned Kunsel.

"Easily. I've been doing this for years, it's simple chakra control. I don't know why it wasn't included in the VR training, but I'll teach you guys after we get through this." Said Cloud.

"Let's do this. Anyone got eyes on the supply box?" Questioned Madeleine.

"Got it, base of the mountain." Said Kunsel.

Following his gaze the group soon found a grey chest sitting about three feet from them. Soon enough they had the chest open revealing several bundles of climbing rope marked for 600 meters which would be around 1,970 feet. A quick count revealed there were twelve bundles along with 50 climbing pitons. While he doubted he would need to use that many pitons he was sure he could figure out a use for the extras. Thankfully his Inventory had been updated as things he stored on his person were automatically added to it and he didn't have to physically add to it anymore.

Moving away from the chest and away from the mountain for a few feet he turned and took off at a run before taking a chakra propelled leap at the mountain and landing with his feet clinging to the mountains surface. Not even looking back he began running up the mountain channeling a steady stream of chakra from his feet to cling to its surface the entire time.

Reaching what he felt was an appropriate height he removed one of the rope bundles and allowed it to untangle itself as he tied one end into the piton. Channeling a small portion of his enhanced strength he drove the piton into the rock before leaving it behind, as the end of the rope reached the bottom of the mountain Madeleine gave it a few experimental tugs then satisfied motioned for Nathaly to start climbing before following her with Kunsel bringing up the rear.

It took ten minutes for Cloud to reach the cliff where the relay was located with the rest of his team arriving only a few minutes after. The device itself was a small device that looked like a small chest only it was clearly high tech.

"That's it?" questioned Nat in surprise.

"That is a Burnell Geo Communicator, it's more powerful than the computers in the actual base." Said Kunsel.

With that said he approached the device and hit a button causing a holographic keyboard to emerge from its side while a screen emerged on top of it. For several minutes they simply watched Kunsel work, none of them speaking as even Cloud couldn't keep up with what he was doing and no one wanted to distract him.

"Right, I'm in. Good thing we used this, looks like they rewrote the internal system, I'd have been completely out of luck doing anything in there." Said Kunsel.

"Can you fix it?" questioned Madeleine.

"Easily. I can trigger a master reset from here which will basically flush the system and restore the original settings." Said Kunsel.

"I have a better idea." Said Cloud surprising all of them.

"What are you thinking?" questioned Kunsel.

"You said this system was more powerful than what's in the base. How powerful are we talking about?" questioned Cloud.

"Very. From this terminal I can pretty much do anything. This is linked directly to the communications dish at the top of the mountain and can link to the other terminals and bases." Said Kunsel.

"Wait, you can access everything? Cameras, robots, everything?" questioned Cloud.

"It's not really set up for that, but maybe. Why?" Said Kunsel.

"Okay here's what I'm thinking. First you fix it so the internal base cameras play on a loop while the live feed goes to The Hercules, then I'm thinking you shut down the robots, sentry guns all of it." Said Cloud.

"Brilliant while doing that see if you can access their comms so we can listen in on them." Said Madeleine.

While Kunsel worked on the terminal Cloud decided to remove the rest of the rope and pitons he'd held onto. He'd only had to use one full rope and half of another to make the climb which meant he still had ten full ropes left. Tying the end of one of the ropes together with the remaining bit of the one he'd cut in half he planted one of the pitons into the cliff and tossed the rope down for a quick way down.

Taking a new bundle, he cut off about twelve feet and tied one end into one of the pitons. Frowning at it he channeled his chakra directly into the piton coating it completely for nearly thirty seconds before withdrawing the energy. Looking over the piton revealed that it had been sharpened considerably with the edges now resembling a double-edged knife.

"What you got there?" questioned Nathaly bringing Madeleine's attention to him as well.

"It's a makeshift version of an old-world ninja weapon called a kusarigama. It's meant to use a chain with one end weighted while the other holds a bladed weapon. The rope and piton will just have to work for this. Now that I think about it this is actually more like a rope dart." Said Cloud ending on a thoughtful note.

It took time, nearly a full hour, during which time Cloud made 3 more of the makeshift weapons, but Kunsel was able to get almost everything they wanted done. The cameras had all been looped in the internal systems with the live feed going to The Hercules. Shinra communications were back up and running on a closed network, while the enemy forces comms was now being patched into The Hercules. The robots and sentry guns had been shut down and taken offline as well. Using the link to the other terminals he was able to do this with all the bases except for the central base which he'd only been able to handle the cameras and communications for.

"The defenses for that base are on a closed network, I'd need to actually get into that network on location to do anything else there." Said Kunsel.

"You get all that Hercules?" questioned Madeleine.

"Affirmative Unit One. Good to go here." Came the response.

"Right then, on to Phase Two." Said Kunsel after stretching out his arms.

Phase Two of the plan was the infiltration of the base. In this instance Madeleine and Kunsel would circle around back to the main entrance at the front of the cave while Cloud and Nathaly would use the maintenance entrance built into the mountains side that was already near them. Personally, Cloud thought that he and Kunsel should switch roles but since he was the best they had in terms of stealth this was the role that he was assigned. Kunsel and Madeleine meanwhile would give the base occupants what they would expect to see from members of SOLDIER with their frontal attack.

"Remember you two don't take any chances." Said Madeleine.

"See you when it's done." Said Kunsel.

With that the two began making the climb back down the mountain leaving Cloud and Nathaly on their own. Rather than wait for them to make their way down and around the mountain Cloud and Nathaly immediately began their own infiltration. Leaving the cliff, they moved towards the mountain where they found a steel stairway had been connected to the mountain and went down the left side at the end of which was a door. They were surprised however to find someone sitting against the door. The person was a woman in what looked like a flight suit though the right sleeve was ripped though and wrapped around her midsection like a makeshift tourniquet.

"Hey wake up." Said Nathaly nudging her slightly before quickly backing up which was good as the woman snapped awake and immediately had a pistol pointed at them.

"Easy now, we're here to help." Said Nat causing the woman to blink.

"Who are you?" demanded the woman.

"We're SOLDIER." Said Cloud

"Bullshit. Those guys were all taken out." Said the woman.

"It's true, my name is Nathaly Jennings, this is Cloud Strife." Said Nat causing the woman to blink.

"Oh, I've heard of you guys." Said the woman putting her gun down.

"You have?" questioned Cloud.

"You guys are kind of famous. You're the guy that broke the exam scores and you're one of the chicks who passed the exam and made SOLDIER no longer an all-dick zone." Said the woman.

"You mind if we take a look at that wound?" questioned Nathaly

"Sure."

Rather than remove her top like the woman expected Nathaly used an Assess Materia to find out what the damage was.

"GSW to the left side, went straight through and didn't hit anything luckily." Said Nathaly

"What's your name?" questioned Cloud.

"Lieutenant Alex Mercer." Said the woman.

"Alright Lieutenant you'll need to hold still. We've got Healing Materia which should patch you right up." Said Nathaly.

"Cura." Said Cloud invoking the spell from his own Healing Materia surrounding her briefly in green light as the spell took effect.

"How's that?" questioned Nat.

"So much better. It's like I never even got shot. That should be standard issue." Said Lieutenant Mercer.

"Unfortunately using materia even low-level ones takes a lot of energy, most people would collapse after using it just a few times. They're still trying to figure out how to make them more energy efficient." Said Cloud.

"Can you tell us what happened?" questioned Nathaly helping the other woman to her feet.

"They struck before the sun came up. From what I heard they gassed the SOLDIER barracks; poor guys never even had a chance. As for the rest of us we thought we were doing pretty well holding them off, then the robots turned on us and it was all downhill from there. They swept through the place quickly after that. Once we realized comms were down things got more desperate, but we still lost. A bunch of us were being held captive but Commander Shepherd set things up so I could make my way here with a communicator, but we got hit on the way and they didn't make it." Said the Lieutenant.

"Any idea who these guys are? We were able to get back control of the cameras, so we know they aren't locals." Said Cloud.

"They call themselves the Wild Bisons. They cut some kind of deal with Wutai leadership from what we overheard." Said the woman.

"The Wild Bisons?" questioned Nathaly.

"Mercenaries or rather a Private Military Company." Said Cloud.

"So, Wutai is contracting outside forces." Said Nathaly.

"This is going to draw out the war even longer." Said Cloud physically shaking his head.

"You get all that Hercules?" questioned Cloud.

"Loud and clear Unit One." Came the response.

"Anything else you can tell us?" questioned Nathaly.

"Well, I didn't hear it directly, but rumor among the Bisons was they captured a pair of SOLDIERs." Said Lieutenant Mercer.

"We're sending Lieutenant Mercer down; can you send a pickup for her?" questioned Cloud before being told to hold on.

"Pickup is on the way, ETA 8 minutes." Came over the line after a few minutes.

"Roger that."

"Also, Unit One the retrieval of the remaining hostages has just become a priority. They have two groups one in the briefing room near the command center and one in the maintenance bay." Came over the line.

"Roger that, Unit one out." Said Cloud.

After a few more questions with Lieutenant Mercer, Cloud silently created a clone to be her escort and guard until her pick up arrives. Putting the woman out of mind for the time being the two returned their focus to the door and after testing the handle were unsurprised to find it unlocked. As Cloud silently opened the door Nat had her pistol drawn and after a few moments checking things out slipped inside with Cloud following and closing the door behind him.

Going through the door led to a tunnel which they followed slowly. The tunnel, while simple at this point had numerous branching paths deeper inside and while he wanted to explore the tunnels he would have to wait for a more appropriate time. Following the directions given to them by Lieutenant Mercer they emerged onto a small cliff overlooking the base.

"Nice. I'll set up here, you can keep going." Said Nathaly.

"You sure?" questioned Cloud.

"Yeah, this spot is high enough that I have a good visual of the entire base. This works better than I was expecting." With that she removed the sniper rifle from her back and began setting it up.

Looking himself Cloud couldn't help but agree, their position on the mountain put them at the back of the base near the edge of the plateau and about 100 feet up where he could see a line of helicopters waiting. He could also see a few tanks, though what the hell they were going to do with them on an elevated plateau he didn't know. Pushing that thought away he focused his attention on the layout of the base and while he couldn't make out a lot of detail in terms of architecture he could tell just the place had been there longer than Shinra had been occupying it.

From the exterior he could see it had four levels with the lowest, ground level, being the maintenance level, where they worked on robots and vehicles according to the intel report. The next level was the Officers level with both offices and private rooms for senior level officers. Above that was the SOLDIER floor, the rooms that had been set aside for the use of the SOLDIER operatives that had been stationed here, which also boasted a balcony that circled the building.

Finally at the top was the Command level which like the lower level jutted out but rather than as a balcony it was because played host to not only the command center and briefing room but was also where the Base Commanders office and private room were and unlike the lower levels was almost fully covered by windows except for a small bit that formed a pillar that ran up to the roof.

Silently he created a new clone that immediately began making its way back through the tunnels. It would secure the tunnels so that the base personnel had a place to evacuate to. As for Cloud himself he took a breath before jumping off the cliff and into a chakra powered run as soon as his feet touched the mountain. Near the bottom he spotted a pair of mercenaries walking towards the mountain causing him to pause for a moment allowing them to get closer before jumping the rest of the way down catching both by the helmet and slamming them to the ground on their backs. Landing in a crouch between them he didn't even hesitate to stab into their throats with his hidden blades.

With a closer view he could see that they were fully covered from head to toe. Turning one over he found the helmet covered the entirety of the head with orange lenses for the eyes and even included a breathing mask. While the head was fully enclosed and thus protected the neck wasn't as it looked to only be covered by the material of the shirt that rose up to the jaw. The torso was covered by armor that was most certainly made of some kind of composite alloy that covered everything from the collar bone down to the abdominal area most likely due to the pouches strapped to their waist. The arms and hands were fully covered in cloth though bulky which spoke of some kind of ballistic protection within the fabric. Two pistols were strapped to the legs in holsters and further down the knees were covered by metallic knee pads and the trousers tucked into combat boots.

"That won't stop me." Said Nat over the comm, voice full of confidence after he finished giving the description.

"I'll relay that to Team Two." Said the operator.

"Will that stop swords?" questioned Madeleine.

"Won't even slow them. That's why we link the swords with materia. Lighting or fire will cut through that armor like it's not even there." Said Kunsel.

"Alright good work, Cloud. Now let's get back on task." Said Madeleine.

"Nat, rooftop." Said Cloud quietly.

"One second." Was the response.

"Go." Said Nat

Pushing himself to his feet Cloud burst into a sprint towards the corner of the building and without slowing ran up the wall to the next level. Reaching the top instead of running for the next wall Cloud channeled his chakra to his legs and jumped easily clearing the railing for the balcony and landing in a crouch.

"Move!" said Nat sharply.

With a grunt he launched himself forward scaling the wall and perching at the top beneath the floor of the next level and on an 'L' shaped pipe that emerged from the wall and ran up to the roof. Looking down he watched as a patrolling mercenary rounding the corner and removed the rope dart on the back of his waist. Unravelling the rope, he waited for the mercenary to pass him for nearly a foot before tossing the sharpened piton adding a pit of chakra to his arm to give it extra force.

The makeshift blade penetrated the back of the helmet easily embedding itself in the back of the mercenary's head. Tying a loose not around the pipe Cloud allowed himself to fall backwards off the pipe using his body as a counterweight and pulling the mercenary off the ground leaving the body hanging from the pipe even as he released his hold on the rope and landed lightly on the ground.

Moving back to his former position he looked up finding he was under the one portion of the next level that formed the pillar to the roof. Moving over to the wall he scaled it once more this time slowly walking the length of the wall and transitioning so that he was standing upside down on the ceiling and continued in this manner until he was perched on the top of the pillar overlooking the roof. Up top he could see several bodies crumpled on the roof, no doubt Nat's work as they covered three of the building's corners.

Moving across the roof he found the briefing room quickly; it was the one with the most people in it. Thankfully a couple of people were still awake, and he was able to get their attention by rapping on the glass of the window. Opening the window, he released the latch on his helmet and lifted it so his face could be seen, and more importantly be easily heard but also putting a finger over his lips in the universal sign for silence.

"Wake everyone up, quietly. We're going to evac all of you before I go for the other group. I'm going to get the doors open so be ready." Said Cloud before backing out of the window and securing his helmet back in place.

Moving over to the command room he found only three people, none of them wearing their helmets, two of whom though sitting up looked to be asleep while the remaining one was occupied by a tablet. The room itself was large, which was understandable as it was the operations center for all of Shinra's forces and handles all communications on the continent. It was similar to the offices he'd seen in the science and research division. There were individual workstations set apart from others only instead of holding two monitor screens these desks held four pretty much forming a wall around the user. A number of screens took up the top of the wall at the front of the room which were currently showing each section of the base.

Opening the skylight window, he slipped inside, once again using chakra to cling to the surface of the ceiling as he closed the window softly behind him. Slowly he moved across the ceiling until he was above but just behind one of the sleepers. Dropping into the room he landed lightly on his feet just behind the sleeper and in the next instant his hands darted forward one locking itself to his face covering the mouth while the hidden blade emerged from the other and stabbed into the throat from the side. Immediately they stiffened but Cloud held firm until the body slumped a few moments later.

"Checkpoint reached. Waiting on you." Came Madeleine's voice next.

"Roger that, stand by." Whispered Cloud.

Drawing his pistol and leaving his first mark behind Cloud made his way to his next target who was sitting at a desk on the left near the front of the room. Crouching he stepped lightly through the room until he was behind the target though still several feet away and after turning slightly to the left in a smooth motion he lifted the pistol and fired a single silenced shot the struck the back of the head. Finally, he turned to the front of the room where the last of the mercenaries was sitting in front of the screens that were supposed to be monitoring the base and still looking into a tablet. Turning slightly to the right for a better angle he fired yet again this time hitting the left side of the head.

With everyone taken out he stood but rather than immediately leaving the room he moved over to the console at the front of the room as he knew rooms on the command level of Shinra bases could only be locked by electronic command. Finding what he was looking for he had the room unlocked quickly before hitting a few more things punching a few more commands into the console and moving quickly to leave the command center.

"Command center clear. Did that work?" Said Cloud.

"Sure did, doors open. We'll handle the maintenance level." Said Kunsel.

"Roger that heading for the briefing room." Said Cloud turning away from the console and moving quickly to the rooms exit.

From the command center he walked down the hall to the left. The door for the briefing room wasn't even guarded, which made things easier for him as he simply had to open the door. Striding inside he found everyone was awake and standing with some people supporting others. That would definitely slow them down, so he engaged his Cura spell on the injured ones, all of whom were surprised by the results of materia healing.

"Let's go." Said Cloud turning quickly.

"We can fight." Said someone quietly causing Cloud to scowl, he didn't have time for this.

"That's not your job. Your job is to evac. We'll clear the base and initiate lockdown. Now keep up and keep quiet, we don't want to alert anyone." said Cloud.

He hadn't stopped moving while he spoke forcing them to keep pace with him. Remembering the layout, he led them to a stairway that went down to the ground. Nat had him stop just as they reached the bottom while she took care of a patrolling mercenary but quickly informed him they were clear.

"Lets move, quietly." Said Cloud.

"What's the evac strategy?" questioned the man closest to him.

He paused as his last clone chose that moment to dispel consequently feeding him the information it obtained while getting Lieutenant Mercer out.

"You're following the tunnel that leads to the bottom of the mountain's backside. Boats are already on the way." Said Cloud.

"Plan 4 people." Said the man his words being echoed quickly behind them.

Nodding his head once the man began running directly to the tunnels entrance with everyone else following after him. Cloud watched them and followed once the last of them came off the stairs. After the last person entered the tunnel Cloud looked up in time to see Nat sliding down the side of the mountain and stepped to the side so he wouldn't be in the way of her landing.

"Cloud I've got another job for you." Came the voice of the operator over the headset.

"I'm listening."

"Cloud this is Captain Hoffman. I've just learned that Commander Hogan was in possession of the designs for a weapons prototype. The designs were on her mobile workstation, and we need you to head to her office and retrieve it."

"We'll head up now. Captain can you do us a favor and make sure she didn't have access to anything else like missile launch codes." Said Cloud causing silence to come from the other end.

"I'll call you back in five minutes with an update." Said the Captain.

(One Hour and Ten Minutes earlier)

Team Two dropped from the plane only 30 seconds after their comrades yet that was still enough for them to emerge in a completely different area. Zack was thankful for the increased training program he'd undertaken with this group; he hadn't been able to swim before doing the Navy portion of the training something he hadn't been keen to let people know being from a region like Gongaga. As he broke the surface of the water he had to fight to resist his urge to remove his helmet, he hated hiding his face, after all how could you become a Hero if no one knew who you were?

By this point, however, he'd had the point driven home that the mission was more important than his personal desires. Plus, it helped that the new helmets were actually useful, the heads-up display, night vision and the communication feature were all things the old gear lacked, as it truly had just been a helmet.

"Hercules, this is SOLDIER Unit Two reporting in." said Tank over the comms and catching Zacks attention as well.

"Unit Two, this is Hercules operations, you're cleared." Came a new voice surprisingly male as most of the operations agents he dealt with were female.

Clearance given his group made their way to their entry point which was a small piece of shore in front of a wall of rock that went up about 25 feet. A supply box was there which they found held several lengths of rope and grappling hooks. Rather than each of them getting their own rope they only used a single one and went up in a file with Zack leading and Tank bringing up the rear. After making the climb they emerged at the edge of a forest that looked to be pretty dense.

"So where's this base, I've never been to this part of the country before." Said Zack after all of them had made it up.

"From this point it's a little over 24 clicks straight ahead." Said Tank.

"That's 15 miles." Said Chloe and they could all hear the frown in her voice.

"Now you know why we did all those hikes." Said Tank.

"This is going to suck." Said Zack.

"It gets better, if we want to take advantage of the darkness we'll need to be quick but still maintain stealth. That means if we run across any patrols we only use either the pistols since they are silenced and the hidden blades, preferably the latter." Said Tank.

Of their group Tank and Mac were the ones who actually preferred hand to hand combat so the hidden blades enhanced their preferred styles. Zack preferred his sword and Chloe actually preferred guns over blades, though she had also been training with guns for years longer.

"Let's go, I want to be on site within an hour and thirty minutes since we aren't going full speed." Said Tank.

Members of SOLDIER before this current generation weren't trained for stealth. That part of the training had actually been the hardest part for Zack to adapt to initially but once he'd been given the idea to think about it like playing hide and seek it had been easier for him to get into the mindset. The military members of the group who had previous stealth training had thought they'd known what they were doing only to be proven wrong quickly as well. Their initial training in the Matrix on the subject had only been a start, Cloud had actually scoffed at it and put together his own simulations before they were then forced to implement it in the real world.

Part of that training was on how to move in different environments. Training in parkour had been a huge part of that and even after all the time training Cloud stated they'd only covered the very basics. Even still the training had been very helpful, and they were falling back on it as they set out towards their destination. They were lucky in that they didn't come across any patrols as they made their way through the forest and as such were able to reach their destination in just over an hour.

The base was one that Tank was actually familiar with. The base was more of a small Army camp where guys were stationed when they were first sent to the warfront before they actually hit the battlefield. The camp was mostly barracks for both fresh troops are those who would rotate out. It also played host to ground vehicles in this case being armored jeeps with mounted gatling guns on the roof.

"Hercules, this is Unit two, we are on site." Said Tank after they arrived at the edge of the forest near the base.

"Hold position unit two." Came the quick response.

Frowning Tank motioned them back and into the trees where they quickly took cover.

"What's going on?" questioned Tank.

"Unit one is trying something, stand by." Came the response.

They waited in silence for several minutes watching the base before finally the comm came back to life.

"Operator to Unit Two" came the voice of the operator

"Unit Two online." Said Tank.

"Robots and sentry guns have been shut down and taken offline, cameras are looped, and comms are ours. You are clear to proceed." said the operator.

"Acknowledged." Said Tank.

With a single signal from Tank, the team split with Zack and Mac moving through the shadows in a crouch to the left so they could handle that side of the camp. Chloe and Tank headed to the right with the latter leading the way. As they swept into the first of the barracks it was to find everyone asleep, a situation that repeated itself with each one they visited. By the time they met up with Zack and Mac the mood amongst the four of them was somber, understandable considering they'd run into the same issue.

They had been trained for this type of situation within the Matrix, but even still what they'd done didn't sit right with any of them. The camp consisted of eight barracks each of which housed twenty bunks meaning they'd just killed 160 people in their sleep. They'd been so secure with the knowledge they had command of the robots they'd been content to simply bunker down without even establishing a guard patrol.

They'd simply used their pistols, each of them equipped with a silencer and giving them taps to the head so it would at least be quick. Of course this was war, people died in war and all of them knew what would need to happen for them to retake command of the base that however didn't mean that they had to like it and in this instance none of them did. Silently they piled into one of the jeeps with Tank in the driver's seat and silently drove away.

AN: That's it the chapter is over. Hopefully I can get the next one out a bit faster but no promises. Thanks for reading and please review. Until next time, LATER!