Well, I said I'd have it ready in September, and somehow I managed to stick to that. Big thank you to Glitch for beta reading and helping me edit this monster of a chapter. This chapter has gone through a lot of work, and it is far and away the longest chapter in this fic to date. More on that in the post-chapter notes. We're two days after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and it's still a raw wound for me right now. I know that she was not and is not the catalyst for freedom and equality, but without her and others like her, I honestly would not have the legal right to exist in public. Aside from how much I owe her personally, I also have a lot of respect for her and for how much she has managed to do for everyone over the course of my life. May her memory be a blessing, and may we all have the time we need to mourn her in our own ways.

Comments
cyde - Well spotted. The... let's call them the renegade Turks, for sake of distinction, will be popping up here and there. Some of them may be important as time goes on. Legend is kind of... well, he's been around a while, to say the least. As far as Yuffie goes... she's got her plans still, but they're not necessarily the same plans as the original story. Wait and see.
KurokawaTaizen: Welcome to the fic! Hope you enjoy your stay, because as you can probably tell already, this one's in it for the long haul.
doraemax: Yeah, getting that visceral reaction with Yuffie was something I wanted to give a moment to shine. Between him, Angeal, Genesis, and a handful of others, they turned a populated island nation with a powerful military force into... well... what it is today. And that's the kind of thing that leaves scars. As for the Bottomswell terror attack, yeah, it hit the others too, but Ranma wasn't focused on how the others were dealing with that at the time.

Looks like new schedule is maybe one chapter per month until I get my groove back completely. But I have been trucking along in future chapters, and I honestly can't wait to show you what I've got planned. Some of it is pretty darn crazy. Until then... well, read on, and we'll get there when the train pulls in.

Chapter Thirty

The Wall

[ ν ] - εγλ 0007, December 17

One day previously...

Rufus Shinra looked down at Junon Port from his helicopter, the barrel and bulk of the mako cannon gleaming in the sunlight. "How much longer?" he called across the intercom to the pilot.

"Seven minutes, sir," the pilot replied. "The crosswinds coming off the mountain can be tricky this time of day, so we have to descend slowly coming into the airport."

Rufus nodded his understanding, and glanced out the window at the other helicopter. Heidegger was visibly remonstrating the pilot of his craft, and Rufus rubbed at his brow with one hand in frustration. "How Father ever put up with that man is beyond me," he muttered, the mic on his headset picking it up and transmitting to the pilot, who wisely said nothing. He flipped the channel on his headset to the passenger compartment. "Seven minutes," he called in.

"We're ready, yo," a voice called back, the drawling tone audible even through the aircraft comm system.

"Remember the mission," Rufus said simply, adjusting himself in his seat. "Sephiroth was reported by one of our agents in Junon two days ago. He's already killed a dozen troopers and one SOLDIER. If you spot him, call for reinforcements. Do not engage on your own. If you don't have reinforcements, or can't get them, then you run. Our goals are to sweep the city, home by home if we have to, but we have to confirm if he's still here or if he's jumped transport off the continent. If he's here, we corner him and take him down. If we can't spot him, assume he's left."

"And if he's left," a much deeper voice called out over the comm, "we get one of the transports loaded and ready to fly."

"Yes," Rufus confirmed. "Two transports, in fact, and as many troops as are ready from the Junon barracks. Once we know where he's going, we're going to box him in. I'll take half the forces…" Rufus glared across the intervening space between himself and the other helicopter, watching as Heidegger berated the pilot further, "...and Heidegger…" he growled in disgust, "and come in from one side in the Highwind. Amon, you will take command of the others and make your landing in the Gelnika. If we manage this right, we can sweep in from both directions around any landing point in range of Junon, cut off any retreat he has, and take him down."

"What about AVALANCHE?" a dignified voice asked. "They've been a thorn in our side for a while now."

Rufus grinned. "That they have," he admitted, flipping through his handwritten notes. "Fortunately, Tseng, as of about six hours ago, First Class Lars reports that they have been neutralized." Rufus paused for a moment, as he read the summary of the report again. "Good to know you can stop an AVALANCHE by dropping a mountain on it, wouldn't you say?

There was a beat, followed by a few low chuckles over the cabin channel. "Sir, while I would hesitate to doubt First Class Lars' report of a successful mission," Tseng replied over the comms, either oblivious or undeterred by the presence of humor, "I would also like to point out what this group has already managed to survive, and the damage they've caused while we believed them eliminated."

In the cockpit, Rufus' grin faded to a humorless smile. "Agreed, though his report was most emphatic." He paused, glancing across at the other chopper, where Heidegger was now being forcibly restrained into his seat by two MPs, the pilot visibly relieved even at this distance. "It's a shame we could not learn more about the girl."

"Once we locate Hojo, I'm sure all of the data on the Ancient will-"

"I don't mean the Ancient," Rufus interrupted. "The fighter. Ranma Saotome."

There was a pause. "Eh, fuck her," Reno cut in. "About the only thing I regret at this point is not kicking her ass myself. She deserved it."

Rufus gave a huff of amusement. "Setting aside your injured pride, Reno-"

"Don't forget my injured body," Reno quipped.

Rufus gave a small smirk despite himself. "In any case, there's a lot we could have learned from someone so capable. Possibly enough to help create the next generation of SOLDIER. But it seems that opportunity has now passed. I wonder why you never took her up on her offer, though, Tseng?" he asked lightly. "She seemed amenable to talk. According to you, she even offered to tell us the whole story."

"Stories can be true or false, sir," Tseng responded evenly. "I'm interested in the facts."

Rufus smiled gently. "Quite," he said simply. "Very well. Today, we have bigger fish to fry. You all have your orders, you know what you need to do."

"Yes, sir," a chorus of voices came over the comms.

"Seal the city as soon as we land."

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Now…

Ranma followed the others through the narrow tunnels, the dim lighting providing just enough illumination to avoid clocking one's head against the stone roof. The cramped quarters kept their focus tuned to the path ahead of them. Dirk's instructions had been thorough; a few flickering lightbulbs hung suspended from girders and supports at various points, many of them down side tunnels which were somewhat obviously branches from the main path, but only in one direction; coming down the tunnel from the city would look like a maze of forked tracks and switchbacks, and there was no telling what lay at the end of them.

Tifa was in line just ahead of her, but seemed quieter than usual, her expression pensive. "Hey," Ranma called forward quietly. "You okay?"

Tifa ran one hand through her hair, and forced a smile. "Yeah, I guess," she said quietly. There was a pause as they continued shuffling through the tunnel. "No, I guess not," Tifa revised. "I've known Barret a long time, and he never told me any of that… I knew Shinra had done something to him, but he was always quiet when it came to the details."

Ranma blinked in surprise. "So… what, none of that?" she asked. "He never said a word?"

"Not one," Tifa confirmed, ducking her head for a moment to avoid a sharp outcropping as they passed. "I mean, of course Marlene's adopted, but that doesn't matter at this point. She's his daughter, he's her daddy, and neither of them would change that for anything at this point. But…" she let out a low sigh. "We… well, mostly him, but I was there when he decided to form AVALANCHE, along with Jessie, Wedge, and Biggs. I've known him since about the middle of last year. I know he's… a very private person… Goddess, he's even worse than Cloud that way. Suddenly getting all that dropped into the middle of what you know about a person…" She paused for a long moment as they shuffled sideways through a particularly narrow section of the tunnel. "It's jarring."

Ranma walked in silence for several seconds, mulling that over, before Aerith cut in from just behind Ranma. "Yeah, but he's still Barret, isn't he?"

"What?" Tifa looked taken aback.

"He's still the same person he was ten minutes ago, or yesterday, or even last month, right?" Aerith asked quietly. "He hasn't changed. Your understanding of him has."

Tifa took a breath, but paused, considering Aerith's words. "I guess you're right," she answered finally. "I guess that means I'm the one who has to adjust."

"Now you're getting it," Aerith confirmed with a smile.

"Hey back there," Cloud called cautiously. "Keep it down, it looks like we're near the exit. Don't want to spook anyone."

"'Bout time," Barret's voice sounded from the back of the line. "Felt like we've been in here forever."

Cloud reached a sharp turn in the tunnel leading to what looked like a solid metal plate set deeply into the stone on all sides. There was a small red button on one side of the rock face, and lacking anything else to do, Cloud pressed the button. After a few seconds, the wall began to slide noiselessly to the side, and daylight appeared ahead of them.

Cloud emerged from the tunnel onto a narrow alleyway, just as Dirk had described, followed shortly by the rest of the group. Ranma glanced around as they came into the city, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light of day. The single largest landmark by far was a massive metal building that dominated the skyline; to which was attached an equally long cannon that pointed out to sea, supported by an enormous system of gears and struts. The stale smell of fish, long since past any consideration of freshness, permeated the area. A handful of homes sat in a row along the alley opposite the disused factory, brickwork and mortar buildings that had been set directly into the mountain face somehow. As Barret stepped out of the gap behind them, there was a soft ding and the metal wall slid closed again, the edges pressed almost seamlessly against the mountain face, leaving no sign it was there and no obvious way to re-enter.

"Well, at least Dirk was serious about how out of the way we are," Cloud commented, holding a hand to his head briefly as he adjusted to the intensity of the light after the darkness in the tunnel. "I've been in Junon before, back when I was still in training... Upper Main Street is about a kilometer that way," and he pointed down and to the west, away from the mountain they had just crawled through.

Tifa nodded her understanding. "So we should be able to stay out of sight by using these back alleys, right?"

Cloud shook his head. "Only to a point," he began, gesturing for the others to circle around him. As they grouped up, he used his fingers to sketch out an imaginary map in mid-air before them. "Junon's divided into sectors, kind of like Midgar, but they're in big square segments instead of a circle. The sectors are tiered out to four or five levels, with side roads that border the sectors in long inclines. Each sector is separated by a long wall that extends from the mountain face all the way up to Upper Main Street," he continued, drawing a thick line at the 'top' of the map with two fingers. "The back alleys only go so far, and even the side roads terminate either at the sector border or at Upper Main. Eventually we'll have no other option but to go out on the main road. We might be able to minimize the risk until then by staying on the back roads and footpaths, but we'll run out of those long before we run out of Junon."

Barret ran one hand under his chin in thought. "So we gotta expose ourselves no matter what," he summarized.

Cloud inclined his head in response. "Best we can do is choose when and where," he answered, raising his voice slightly over a distant rumbling sound, "and even that's going to depend on the patrols."

Ranma peeked around the corner. "Like that one?" she asked, pointing down the street as the distant rumbling sound became less distant.

Cloud followed Ranma's finger to the source of the sound, a large armored vehicle wheeling down one of the streets, and turning into the mouth of the alley they were sitting in. "...oh hell," he muttered, motioning for all of them to silence. Each of them pressed against the modest cover afforded them by the shadow of the building they had been standing near, and remained still and quiet as the mechanical sound drew nearer.

After about ten seconds, a large vehicle rolled past at low speed. Ranma was not familiar with military vehicles, but to her eyes it looked like an oversized pickup truck, except with all traces of human comfort stripped out. The passenger seat was instead a rotating turret on which a heavy machine gun had been mounted, and was manned by an alert-looking trooper who was thankfully facing in the opposite direction. The rear flatbed had been hollowed out significantly and now held seating for six more troopers. The outer shell was heavily armored. Even the glass looked to be thicker than on a civilian truck.

The vehicle passed, none of the troopers calling out in alarm, and all seven of them moved to the opposite side of the street to keep out of sight. A long, tense quiet passed over the group as they waited, and after several more seconds Cloud peeked his head out of the dead end and glanced back and forth down the street. "This is bad," he muttered after the sound had faded into the distance. "Shinra military policy doesn't have an active gunner in a patrol vehicle unless there's a known threat. Looks like you made the right call, Aerith. Sephiroth was here."

Tifa shared a grim look with Cloud. "We need to find out if he still is."

"How're you gonna do that?" Yuffie interjected, waving one hand for attention. "Can't just walk up to the nearest SOLDIER an' ask them if they've seen him."

Red gave a canine smile. "The girl has a point," he added. "We are, unfortunately, wanted criminals. It will be difficult for us to gather information in a place such as this."

Cloud shrugged. "We'll have to do the best we can, hope we get lucky," he admitted. He glanced around for a moment. "Our top priority right now is to stay out of sight. We gather what information we can, as quietly as we can. If we find out Sephiroth is still here, we track him down and end him. If he's already left, we find out where and we follow him if we can." The others nodded their understanding. "For now, let's start moving, we won't find anything standing around here."

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The group had been walking along the first sector for almost 45 minutes, playing hide-and-seek with the regular patrols, and staying out of sight. However, they were nearing the far corner of the sector and their chances to stay in the alleys were rapidly dwindling. Barret and Red were taking turns pulling anchor duty for the group, making sure they stayed together and keeping a watchful eye or nose on their flank, while Aerith, Tifa, and Yuffie followed the leaders. Cloud set the pace and the direction, with Ranma close on his heels.

"Hey, Cloud."

Cloud turned to Ranma as they continued to walk. "What's up?"

"We need to leave soon," Ranma replied softly.

Cloud shook his head. "We haven't found Sephiroth-"

"You wanna risk their lives on that hunt right now?" she hissed back, keeping her voice low to avoid worrying the others. "We're deep in the lion's den right now-"

"The what's den?" Cloud asked, confused.

Ranma waved it off. "Earth phrase, guess you don't have those either. Fine, we're in danger. Every minute we spend here, we're gettin' closer to caught. We can fight the troopers, we've all proved that. But right now I think you an' me are the only ones in the group who can keep up with SOLDIERs in a fight. An' you said there's a whole school for SOLDIER here, right?"

Cloud paused near the end of an alley facing a larger street. "What are you getting at?"

"What I'm gettin' at," Ranma continued, counting off on her fingers, "is that you can probably handle a SOLDIER. And I can probably handle a SOLDIER. Yuffie… might be able to fool a SOLDIER into thinking she can handle 'em, but that just raises the risk. So when SOLDIERs three through ten show up, who's gonna handle them?" Cloud hesitated, but Ranma continued, gesturing briefly down the alley. "They ain't ready. An' that means we ain't ready."

"What do you want us to do, leave him here?" Cloud demanded. "He could be on his way to the Promised Land right now, and-"

"And wherever it is, it ain't here, right?" Ranma cut him off. "Does this look like fertile soil, flowers and life everywhere?"

Cloud hesitated for a long moment before he took a breath and nodded his head in understanding. "What's your idea then?"

"You said there's a harbor here, right?"

"Yeah."

"So let's stop chasin' this guy and try ta get ahead of him instead," Ranma explained. "We find a ship, we get the hell out of Shinra's city, and we land somewhere else that Shinra isn't runnin' either. Worst case, we're out from under the choppin' block here, and if we get lucky Sephiroth'll end up bein' on a boat headed right for us after we land. If not, we get info from somewhere less dangerous and head out from there."

Cloud considered that for a few seconds. "There's two problems with that. One is that Shinra basically runs the planet at this point, but I get what you mean about somewhere lower-risk. And two-"

Ranma cut him off as a rumbling sound approached. "Ssh, get down!"

All seven of them quickly stepped into the shadow of the alley as another fully loaded military transport rounded the bend. "...shit," Cloud muttered, waving the group back a little at a time, until they were fully on the other side of the building. "A bit close for comfort. And yeah, that's the second problem."

The trooper vehicle had stopped at a gated guard station halfway down the road, and three armed troopers debarked from the rear of the vehicle, along with an absolute tower of a man carrying what looked like a rectangular plate of steel strapped to his back, nearly as tall as himself. His skin was dark and his hair shaved close into a traditional military-style buzzcut. He wore a black sleeveless tunic and a leather girdle above black fatigues, the uniform of a SOLDIER. The troopers entered the guard station and raised the gate, letting the transport past, but they and the SOLDIER remained at the post.

"The hell are they doin'?" Barret wondered, peering back around the corner.

Yuffie leaped up, grabbing onto a windowsill, and hauled herself onto it, using it as a perch, getting her own vantage point for the troopers around the corner. "You think that Dirk guy sold us out?"

Barret growled in response. "If he did, Imma break down that gate an'-"

"Will you two quit yammerin'?" Ranma hissed under her breath. "Gonna give us all away."

Cloud pulled Barret back and peeked out himself, taking in the current situation. The SOLDIER appeared to be speaking over a wired telephone attached to the guard post, and directing the other troopers to take positions in and around the post. "Looks like he's reporting to someone. We should move while we can."

Tifa stared out across the width of the street between them and the next building. "Do you think we can make it without being seen?"

Cloud watched as one of the troopers pointed directly at his exposed head and tapped the SOLDIER on the back, who had just hung up the telephone in the guard station. "No. I don't."

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Seconds earlier…

"Very well, if the Highwind and the Gelnika are both out of commission, then we'll have to go by sea," Rufus directed the listener over the phone line. "Beyond that, the plan doesn't change. Get two sea transports ready to sail. I don't care what kind, and I don't care who you have to line up to make it happen, but I want them both ready as soon as possible." There was a moment of silence as the person on the other end of the phone line responded. "Good, see you again when we begin the operation." He set the phone back on the hook and turned to Heidegger. "Our two most valuable airships, out for the count. The airstrip communications lines, all down. And if your military reports have any merit to them, then Sephiroth has managed to evade capture from an entire army of troops and SOLDIERs while hidden within our seat of military power. Well done, Heidegger," he concluded with a gentle clapping of his hands.

Heidegger gave off a nervous laugh, though it sounded identical in almost all respects to his normal bleating. "Gyeh-heh-heh… Can't be helped, sir," he responded. "The main driveshaft for the Highwind-"

"Yes, you said." Rufus frowned. "I find it difficult to believe that not one but two aircraft independently suffered mysterious, difficult to diagnose, and even more difficult to repair mechanical failures, within hours of each other." He stepped around the table with a disarmingly slow pace to his movements, hands clasped behind his back. "Compounded on this is the fact that the seawall at the naval yard has been very blatantly sabotaged, which means that here, surrounded by thousands of your finest troopers, SOLDIERs, and officers, one man managed to worm his way into what should be the most secure locations on Gaia and lock us within our own city. Either you have recruited the most inept guards possible, or you have trained them to ineptitude. Either way, your performance in this matter is appalling."

Heidegger said nothing for a long moment, his gaze shaky, keeping himself steady as Rufus came to a halt directly in front of him. "Sir, if I may say so-"

Rufus was already mid-swing at the word 'may'. The haymaker collided squarely with Heidegger's left jaw, sending the man sprawling to the ground in a heap "What are you still doing here?" Rufus demanded, shaking his hand in discomfort from the impact. "I've already told you, I want you to commandeer sea transport for our forces. Your failure to secure the airstrip and the naval yard has led us to this situation. I'm not interested in your excuses. I'm interested in results. Go and make something happen."

Heidegger rubbed at his jaw in disbelief for a moment, still half-sitting on the floor, before remembering himself and where he was. He stumbled to his feet, straightened his uniform jacket, began with a nod that awkwardly transformed into a low bow, and scurried off out of the room, slamming the oaken doors behind him. Predictably, within ten seconds of the office door closing, he heard Heidegger's bellows of anger, taking out his inferiority on some lowly worker who had happened by.

"Subtle… sneaky… this is an odd combination for you, Sephiroth," he said aloud to himself, turning to the large window overlooking the port of Junon, rubbing at his knuckles. "If the records are to be believed, you're much more direct than this. So what are you playing at?"

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"You!" the SOLDIER shouted, his deep bassy voice reverberating down the street. "This area is off limits! Identify yourselves, now!"

Cloud glanced back at the others. "We're made, move it!" All seven dashed out from cover, running as fast as they could across the open space. Cloud skidded to a stop halfway across the street, holding his Buster Sword horizontally as a barrier against any stray shots, but none came. As the others reached the next building, he turned and ran after them. He was scarcely ten meters down the path before the SOLDIER had rounded the corner. Cloud turned and stopped again at the entrance to a large empty yard between several houses, holding out his blade in challenge, but the SOLDIER ignored him, gesturing with one hand. A second later, a tremor struck beneath the feet of the other six, the Quake spell knocking them all to the ground.

"Ranma Saotome!" the SOLDIER bellowed, shifting the giant plate off of his back. Cloud stared the man down, but he appeared unfazed. Ranma hopped to her feet and helped the others up. "It appears that you all survived your encounter with First Class Lars," he commented, giving a genuine-looking smile.

Ranma stepped over to Cloud's side. "He wants me, he can have me," she muttered to the blond. "When I go in, go with the others, get them somewhere safe."

Cloud tilted his eyes down to the redhead. "You sure about that?"

"No, but if he calls for help, in this town, we're all screwed." Ranma answered in a low tone. "I'll decoy for ya. Keep them safe. Get to the docks if you can, I'll catch up. If Aerith argues with it, tell her I said 'glow stick,' she'll understand." Cloud gave a slight nod in acknowledgement, but didn't move. Ranma turned back to the giant. "Who the hell're you s'posed ta be, anyway?"

The SOLDIER gave an amicable smile in response. "You can call me Amon the Wall, if you must call me anything," he responded lightly, setting the enormous slab of metal down to one side, leaning it against the brick wall that formed the alley. "I take it you wish to make a mess of this city? Or have you decided to surrender yourself to my custody?"

Ranma rolled her shoulders, dropping into a low stance. "Neither, thought I'd just kick your ass instead." And she darted forward, landing a sharp kick against the man's knee, turning the momentum of the attack into a flip-kick that connected with his chin. Cloud took the cue, and dashed back to the others, pushing them down the alley and out of sight as they rounded the corner to the right. As Ranma landed, Amon lowered one arm in a sweeping right hook that managed to clip nothing but air. Ranma ducked beneath the next long, sweeping punch and countered with a flurry of blows to the midsection. "You're makin' this way too easy, SOLDIER boy," she commented, another hammer-blow snaking through what accounted for the man's guard and turning his face sideways for a moment.

"Indeed?" he replied, his deep tone still disarmingly light. "Well, then." In an instant, Amon's body posture changed. As if flipping a switch, his stance went from 'man trying to swat lazily at a fly' to 'seasoned fighter', and with it his expression went from 'casually interested' to 'lethally focused'. He stepped forward, and Ranma was surprised to see the man almost vanish from her sight with his speed. She managed a quick inhale, and blurred just in time to see Amon's fist hurtling towards her in a brutal uppercut, clearly intending to end the fight in a single blow. Far too late to dodge, she instead raised both arms into the path of the attack, pushing off of the ground with both feet just as the blow connected, sending her flying down the alley in the direction her friends had gone.

Of course he was holding back! Ranma berated herself, twisting her body in midair to reorient herself for a better landing. He's a SOLDIER, not a Furinkan athletics club member. Well, I nearly got suckered by that one, but you only get one chance to catch me off guard!

Amon came charging after her in the blink of an eye. By the time her feet touched down on the pavement, he was already on her other side, briefly doing little more than shoving her hard in the opposite direction, but Ranma realized that the move was simply to make sure she didn't run for it. "You still believe you have my full measure, then?" he taunted as he advanced, arms moving like pistons in precise, calculated blows.

Ranma snorted out a laugh as she evaded a right hook that followed with a spinning kick at hip height, which she barely leaped over. The SOLDIER's speed was nothing short of astonishing, but she still felt as if she had the upper hand with her aerial agility. "Buddy, you'd need a good tailor and a ladder to get your full measure," she quipped with a grin, waiting for a solid opening to present itself, "but, yeah, I still don't think you're any match for me."

"You're here to do the same thing you did in Midgar, and that means I'm here to stop you." He strode forward again, his fists striking out in rapid succession, giving no refuge from his assault.

"In Midgar?" Ranma demanded, swaying back from two lightning-fast jabs, and catching a hard straight with one hand, turning the attack's momentum into a throw, sending the huge man flying face first into the wall of a building. "You jerks abducted my friend, tried to do the same to me, sicced some freaky experiment on us, threw me in prison, and have done nothing but do your damndest to kill me for the last three weeks! You wanna talk to me about that?"

"Don't you dare talk to me about anything done to you," Amon snarled, leveling a spinning side kick at Ranma, which managed to clip her in the side, sending her tumbling to the asphalt. Amon pressed the assault as Ranma pushed herself to her feet, the redhead narrowly sliding out of the way of an overhead chop. "Not after you ended the lives of thousands of ordinary citizens. The lives of every soul in Sector 7 is on your head. You gave up your right to bitch about anything after that."

Ranma let out a growl of disappointment as she evaded another heavy straight. "Get real!" she shouted, her own fist meeting the inside of Amon's elbow, turning the blow aside as she performed a spinning aerial kick, pushing off with both feet, knocking the SOLDIER back a few meters and giving her precious breathing space. "That was your damn Turks! We did everything we could to stop 'em takin' the plate down on top of our heads and everyone else's in the slums!"

"Bullshit," Amon retorted in a caustic tone, leveling one finger at the girl. "I've seen footage of your little technique, the one that turns reinforced walls into empty air. Wouldn't be hard to collapse the pillar with somethin' that destructive, now would it?"

Ranma stopped short, realizing exactly what she was being accused of. "You really believe I did that," she stated in shock, her arms falling to her sides for a moment. "Shinra just told you I brought down the plate, and you bought that?"

Amon ignored her emotional turmoil and advanced again, taking advantage of the redhead's lowered guard, renewing his offensive with a rapid flurry of jabs and swift kicks. Several hard blows connected, knocking Ranma aside before she renewed her defensive stance, but Amon's assault continued regardless, doing his level best to penetrate the girl's guard. "I joined SOLDIER to help people!" he shouted as he connected with an air-tearing left hook. "To keep them safe from people like you! Setting off bombs, blowing up reactors, turning homes into rubble, destroying everything that regular folks build with their own two hands? That ain't right!"

Ranma did her best to counter the vicious onslaught, but the tide of the fight had turned and it was clearly an uphill battle at the moment. The SOLDIER fought with brutal, mechanical precision, and each blow she landed against him seemed to do nothing. "The hell are you even made of, anyway?" she muttered to herself. She leaped backwards, evading a spinning elbow that would have struck her in the head. She stood her ground as he charged, and inhaled sharply. "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" she shouted, both arms moving in a nearly invisible blur, raining dozens, hundreds of blows against the giant of a man. Amon managed to raise his arms, but not in time to stop the hailstorm of strikes. Despite the sheer number and ferocity of attacks colliding with Amon, Ranma might as well have been batting at him with a feather duster for all the apparent damage he seemed to be taking.

And then she saw it.

As each blow landed, there was a momentary flash of something just over top his skin. A second skin, metallic in tone, which appeared in a honeycomb pattern anywhere her strikes made contact. Whatever it was, it seemed to be absorbing most of the force of her attacks, leaving little to actually connect with Amon directly. "Hah, no wonder this fight wasn't goin' anywhere," Ranma remarked, giving the SOLDIER a once-over glance. "The hell is that, anyway?"

Amon grinned. "I'm called 'the Wall' for a reason," he boasted, closing the gap between himself and Ranma. "I stand between the people and the monsters." He punctuated this statement with a fierce backhanded punch that Ranma barely blocked, the force of the blow still causing her to skid for a few meters along the asphalt. "I protect the citizens from the lawless," he continued, thumping that same fist against his own chest in boast. "And I..." he raised his voice as he snatched the giant metal plate he had left leaning against the brickwork, raising it up between himself and Ranma, "...never..." he reached into what Ranma now realized was a massive tower shield and pulled on something, withdrawing an enormous metallic club from inside the shield, swinging it down in a deceptively fast strike, "...fall!" he concluded with a shout, the mace smashing into the asphalt where Ranma had been, shattering it into pieces.

Ranma grimaced as she landed a few meters away. "Great, another Ryoga," she muttered, squaring her stance and pulling her arms close. "Well, then, good thing I know how to tear down a Wall." She took a deep breath and faced the SOLDIER as he began charging towards her, the weight of the shield and mace slowing him from unbelievable to merely blistering. It was enough though. She took aim and threw out her arms with a shout of "Yama-Sen Ken: Kijin Raishū Dan!"

Amon pulled his shield forward as the air in front of him bent and warped, his enhanced eyesight seeing the individual blades of pressurized air flew towards him. The bottom lip of the shield slammed down and dug into the asphalt. Amon pressed his shoulder forward, bracing firmly against the shield. A fraction of a second later, the first blades impacted against the shield. The sound was deafening, sounding something like a length of heavy chain impacting repeatedly against a cloister bell. The asphalt and concrete around Amon scored and lifted away slightly, the brick walls on either side of the alley carved deeply by the pressurized air.

After several seconds, Ranma dropped her arms to her sides, staring in disbelief. Amon's shield bore a handful of shallow scrapes, but appeared no worse for wear. "You gotta be kidding me," she muttered, taking a deep breath and pulling her arms up in a defensive posture in case Amon decided to attack. "The hell is that thing made out of, anyway?"

The shield shifted slowly, lifting up from the heavily-damaged street. "I have to admit, woman," Amon remarked, a smile in his voice as he pulled the shield back to his side, holding the mace ready in his other hand, "that's one dangerous ability you've got there. Something like that might turn a pillar support tower into noodles," he added meaningfully.

Ranma let out a sigh, keeping her stance firm. "Fine, you're dead set on blamin' me for the pillar, and I can't change your mind about it," she answered in a low tone. "But you better know that I've been holdin' back, and I think you're still doin' the same. I don't want to hurt anyone if I can avoid it. And I can tell if both of us went all out, we'd be standin' in a flaming crater right now."

"You want me to believe you're protecting these people?" Amon called out in a mocking tone, leveling his mace at her. "Don't try to spin that story here. I know your type. Only one you're trying to protect is you."

"Buddy, you couldn't be more wrong." Ranma started mentally cataloguing her bag of tricks, thinking about the best option to deal with Amon and his apparently indestructible shield. Before she could do more than consider setting up for a full-powered version of the Kijin Raishū Dan at point-blank range, a small egg-shaped object landed near her feet. Eyes widening in alarm, she turned and made it to the corner of the building, diving for cover as the grenade went off.

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"Excuse me, Mr. President?"

Rufus turned from the window and met the helmeted gaze of a man wearing the uniform of a Second Class SOLDIER, along with a heavy helmet which obscured part of the man's face. "Yes, what is it?"

The SOLDIER cleared his throat. "We've just received a report that First Class Amon has engaged an enemy inside the city."

"Sephiroth?" Rufus demanded, reaching for the telephone on the desk.

"No sir," came the reply, the SOLDIER remaining at attention. "It appears to be the remnants of AVALANCHE which escaped from Midgar late last week."

The young president's brow furrowed at the news, his hand paused just over the handset. "Where in the city?" As the words left his mouth, there was an explosion somewhere below and to the left of the large window. The SOLDIER appeared to be about to respond to the question, but Rufus waved him off. "Never mind, I believe I can discover that for myself."

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"Lars, what the hell are you doing?" Amon demanded, shifting the tower shield out of the way now that the blast had dissipated.

First Class Lars now stood between Amon and Ranma, a twisted look upon his face. "Sorry, but I called dibs on the ants," he sneered, holding another explosive device at the ready.

Amon shook his head. "Not here," he pointed with the metal club to the grenade Lars had prepared. "Not like this. Too many civilians. You know the rules, Lars."

"And you know I ain't ever been good with rules," Lars gave a mocking grin before pointing in Ranma's direction. "They're here in the city with her, and I'm gonna do what it takes to stomp the little shits." Amon stared in the direction of his pointing hand in silence. After a moment or two, Lars turned and faced that direction as well. "What the hell?" Where Ranma once stood, there was now a startling absence of anything Ranma-shaped, or in fact of anyone at all.

Ranma continued to move silently past under the cloak of the Umi-Sen Ken, keeping her motions smooth and even, her emotions held carefully in check. Performing the technique under ideal circumstances was difficult enough. Pulling it off in the heat of battle was a feat even she historically had a mixed track record with.

"You..." Amon accused, his eyes narrowing. "You allowed the target to escape. I had her right here! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Ranma wasn't too keen on using the cloak to run away from a fight like this, but despite her misgivings, she realized that there were times when one needed to employ the Saotome Secret Technique. Fighting against even one SOLDIER had given her a lot to chew on, especially with that shield of his being strong enough to stand up to the Kijin Raishū Dan without a significant mark. She needed to get some distance, regroup, and come up with a plan-

Lars snorted in derision. "Oh, get over yourself, Amon," he called back. "All we gotta do is round up the girl's friends and wait for her to show up. They're bound to be here too. Maybe I can get in a session with the beatdown buddy while we wait."

Like hell you will, Ranma thought, her temper flaring briefly, before she managed to regain control of herself. Not lettin' someone like you anywhere near them again if I can help it.

"Or maybe that mousy brown-haired girl with the stick can keep me occupied," Lars continued with a laugh.

Ranma stopped, her cool restraint and measured self-control replaced with cold, calculated rage, as she considered for a moment all the various methods she could employ to shove Lars' arms up his own ass. Unfortunately, this was more than enough to cause the cloak to waver and fall, leaving her clearly outlined against the mouth of the alleyway. Amon turned away from Lars in disgust, running the back of his hand across his forehead, clearing a few droplets of sweat from his brow. "You're sick, Lars," he muttered, facing the end of the alley. "They never should have let someone like you into SOLDIER, let alone promoted-" he stopped as he finally processed the silhouette of the redhead at the end of the path between the buildings. Ranma glanced back at them, her eyes wide as she took in their reactions. "There!" And Amon took off after her, followed closely by Lars.

Ranma didn't bother to think about it. She turned out of the alley to the left and ran. "Dammit, Lars!" she heard the behemoth of a man shout as she sprinted down the side street. A second later, another explosion detonated where she had been standing, the bulk of the blast absorbed with a resounding gong as Amon's enormous shield pressed down upon the grenade.

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"Lars, I swear on the Goddess, if you don't put those damn explosives of yours away this second-"

Lars growled in response, but pocketed the two grenades he'd pulled out. "Yes, mother," he drawled in a mocking tone, reaching for one of the sabers strapped to his back as they rounded the corner out of the last side street, and onto Upper Main Street.

Upper Main was currently loaded with the tail-end of the early rush hour. A few cars were still on the road, and large groups of pedestrians had already begun lining the sidewalks in preparation for the parade. Shinra had apparently combined their efforts, using Rufus' inauguration as an opportunity to put their military might on display, thus emptying the majority of the households in Junon under pretense of viewing the parade, but primarily to be searched for signs of Sephiroth. As a result, nearly all of Junon's considerable armed forces were on alert in some capacity.

The upshot of all of this was that, despite being in plain view of nearly all of Junon's citizenry, Ranma's slimmer frame was able to weave in and out of the dense crowds. Her reduced height kept her out of line of sight for the MPs and patrolmen cordoning off the street in preparation for the parade. The two bulky, heavily armed SOLDIERS, on the other hand, were having a slower time of it, having to sidle and squeeze between the throngs of people to avoid knocking them all to the pavement, and were rapidly losing ground to the redhead.

"Man, fuck this, Amon," Lars shouted over the crowd, and reached towards one of his belt pouches with his free hand.

Amon turned briefly and glared at him, the intensity of the stare causing Lars to halt his hand a few centimeters away from the pouch. Amon turned again towards the chase. "Lars, you reach for your bombs again while we're in this crowd and I promise you, that hand will never reach for anything ever again." His eyes scanned the crowd, and spotted the redhead in the red tunic again as she disappeared into an open door at the end of the street. "She just went into the airstrip entrance, come on!"

"Ha!" Lars cackled as they pressed through the last of the crowds. "She'll be trapped in there. The only ways out are down the loading elevator to the city guard post, or up to the airstrip. She's got nowhere left to run!"

The two of them approached the entryway, Amon slowing to a walk and shouldering his shield. "Wait," Amon said, grabbing Lars by the shoulder, before he peeked into the entry hall to the airstrip's guardpost. "You stand watch here, make sure she doesn't double back somehow."

Lars grinned and gave a nod of his head, and took a step in, drawing his second saber as he slid into the corner of the L-bend in the hallway. Amon stepped past him and peeked first into the checkpoint guard station, which was key-locked as per regulations. Two troopers wearing the blues of the Shinra regulars stood behind the reinforced plate glass, observing the hall and monitoring the security devices. He gave an eyes-open hand signal through the glass, and received a pair of sharp salutes in response. Continuing to the end of the hall, he opened the heavy hatch to the service lift, which was still at the raised position, with no sign it had been used in a few hours. Turning one ear towards the darkness below gave no indication of anything beyond the insistent whistle of airflow down the several-hundred-meter shaft. He doubled past again and peeked into the locker room. Empty, except for someone in the shower. "Not fooling us that easy, Miss Saotome," he muttered, ducking through the doorframe. Amon took a few silent steps forward, reached out, and pulled aside the privacy screen-

-revealing a young teenage boy with platinum blond hair and a tattoo in the shape of a barcode on his wrist. "Sir!" the boy snapped to attention with a salute, despite his nudity.

Amon shook his head, returning the salute after a moment's hesitation. "Looking for an intruder," he said quietly. "As you were." The fresh-faced boy saluted again, and Amon closed the shower screen, tugging open the lockers, finding nothing but uniforms and body odor. He walked back out to the hall, and turned left out of the checkpoint to the airfield. Four airmen in bright orange vests and hats stood watch near the entrance, two more at the cargo lift to operate it. He turned to the nearest airman. "Has a woman come this way?" he asked, holding up one hand to approximately Ranma's height. "About yea tall, red hair, red shirt, black pants?"

The airman shook his head. "No, sir," he replied evenly. "Been on watch since the Highwind was reported damaged. Not a soul's been through here aside from the repair crews, but the last of them came in over an hour ago and they're still on board."

Amon glanced around suspiciously, peering into the shadows below the constructed airstrip. Six men couldn't all be lying, and they couldn't all be this girl he was chasing. "Very well, resume your duties," he responded, turning back into the checkpoint hallway. "Tell me she's cowering in the corner over there behind you," he said to Lars.

Lars shrugged. "So now you lost her too," he commented with a snide chuckle. "Don't that suck."

Amon glowered at the unruly SOLDIER, striding forward purposefully and grabbing him by the braces of his leather girdle, hauling him upwards and against the metal wall with a thud. "You interfered in the apprehension of a fugitive from justice, Lars," he berated his comrade-in-arms. "Everything from that moment on is a result of your actions, including this, and will be so noted in my report to Director Heidegger and the President. I suggest you depart Junon at your earliest opportunity," he warned, his voice ringing with menace. "I will not see these people harmed by another of your stray devices." Lars remained silent, pinned to the wall a half a meter off the ground. After a moment, Amon released him, letting the man drop to the ground. "I have duties to attend to, I trust you can see yourself out?"

Lars didn't respond as Amon turned and left the hallway. He stared after the dark-skinned man and waited for him to be well out of sight before muttering to himself, "No sense of fun, that one." He glanced about, still seeing nothing worth his attention in the checkpoint area, and turned towards the exit. "Fuck this place, I'm gettin' a drink."

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The shaft holding the freight elevator continued its soft howl as the cooler air descended to the bottom of the mountain, just as it had for several minutes. Ranma clutched at the underside of the lift platform, spread-eagle and suspended between the steel girders that provided structural support to the platform, waiting until she was certain the SOLDIERs had either broken off their search or taken it elsewhere. She'd been waiting nearly ten minutes, and after a brief reach-out with her senses, no longer felt the chaotic chi she'd grown to associate with SOLDIER-types.

She cautiously flipped herself up from the underside of the platform, careful not to make any loud noises, and returned to the hallway, ducking beneath the checkpoint window and sidling past the single camera in the corner. It was then that she heard the sound of a shower. She peeked into the trooper locker room, and saw the silhouette of a man behind a privacy screen, and a second shower next to it, open and unoccupied. "Finally," she muttered. "Been waitin' to change back all morning."

As she approached the shower, she noticed a number of Shinra trooper uniforms hanging in the lockers outside the showers. She stared at it for a long moment, considering her options.

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"Goddess, I still can't believe he said 'glow stick' to Cloud to win that argument," Aerith muttered, leaning against the alcove wall, one hand fiddling with her staff nervously. The six of them were less than two hundred meters away from the entrance to the wharf, currently taking refuge in an overlooked alley between two storehouses facing the wharf. Cloud was looking out between a towering stack of crates blocking one end of the alley; Barret had taken up guard at the back of the alley, watching their backs carefully in case a patrol decided to be thorough. The three girls and Red were keeping themselves in cover in an alcove in the alleyway created by the parallel support pillars that edged out from the sides of the storehouses.

Tifa glanced at the brunette, adjusting the coiled leather thong that held her hair in place behind her. "What's it mean?"

Aerith opened her mouth, paused, and closed it again, considering her words carefully. "It's... one of his chi things," she explained after a moment. "Apparently I'm easy to find that way."

Tifa nodded her understanding, turning to Cloud. "So, we wait for Ranma to find us, then?" she elaborated.

"That's the plan," Cloud confirmed, peeking between the stacks of crates at the civilian cargo vessel that Shinra had apparently commandeered out of the wharf. "We find a ship that's going anywhere but here, and we get on board as quietly as we can."

Barret turned his head to peer back at the others. "Not gonna try ta find Sephiroth here?"

Cloud shook his head. Ranma was right, he thought. "Too dangerous now," he answered aloud, his tone frank. "I know that's why we came here to begin with, but that was before we knew the city was at this high level of alert. And with that First on our trail, it'd only be a matter of time." He turned and paced back towards the others. "We stay here longer than we have to, either he'll run us down, or he'll call in support and everyone will run us down. We get the hell out of here, we regroup wherever we end up, and we make new plans there."

Yuffie looked up at Cloud as he passed. "Cut and run?"

"Not without Ranma," Aerith maintained, gripping her staff more firmly as she said it.

"We know," Tifa reassured her, resting one gloved hand over the other girl's shoulder in acknowledgement. "We stay together. Especially after Ranma kept that SOLDIER off our backs. He sure is brave..."

Yuffie snorted. "You call it brave, I say stupid."

Tifa turned to face the young ninja. "I don't suppose you had a better plan?" she asked. "Ranma's out there risking his life for us, and-"

"No, he's not," a muffled voice joined in from the end of the alleyway.

A figure stood there at the mouth of the alley, dressed in full Shinra trooper gear, helmet covering the man's face. One hand rested on the SMG hanging from a strap over one shoulder. The party reacted quickly to the sudden presence, but Barret was the closest, and managed to grab the trooper by the neck, lifting him bodily and slamming him hard against the solid concrete wall of the warehouse. "Ya know something, Shinra dog," Barret growled, brandishing his gun-arm meaningfully, "ya better spill it."

The trooper struggled with Barret's grip briefly, the SMG clattering to the ground beside them both. "'s me," the voice beneath the helmet croaked out, slapping weakly at Barret's wrist. "'m Ran...ma!"

The others lowered their weapons slowly, and Barret relaxed his grip slightly, keeping the trooper pinned to the wall but no longer cutting off his air supply. "...Ranma?" Aerith said quietly, taking a step forward and reaching for the straps that secured the helmet to his head. Unbuckling them, she pulled the helmet free, revealing Ranma's dark-haired male half underneath.

Barret went wide-eyed and released Ranma immediately, the boy dropping to the ground, as the larger man shook his hand loose at one side. "Sorry, shrimp," he said in an apologetic tone, as Ranma took a few deep breaths. "Didn't realize it was you."

Ranma waved him off. "It's okay," he replied between coughs. "Didn't realize how much those face-masks of theirs muffled the voice."

Cloud looked Ranma over, as he unzipped the blue jacket, showing off his familiar Chinese-style red tunic beneath. "You defeated the SOLDIER?" he asked, a note of incredulity in his inquiry.

Ranma snorted, glancing away for a moment. "Nah, he had something... I dunno what, but it was like a second skin that ate up the force from my blows," he explained, gesturing over his own body as if to demonstrate the effect. "Couldn't really make anything stick. Then that asshole from the mountain pass showed up too, and that was when I called quittin' time."

Red gave a huff from below. "Good to know you are, in fact, still human."

"Hey, I might be able to hold off one SOLDIER," Ranma insisted, leaning against the alley wall. "Or at least make a good showin' of myself. Two... not so much, I guess, 'specially when one of them's chuckin' bombs at me. Took off runnin', gave them both the slip near the airport. Found a guard's locker room, grabbed a hot shower, and stole one of their uniforms so I could get through the city without bein' spotted again. Worked a bit too well, almost got roped into some kind of parade-ground send-off for Rufus."

Red looked up at Ranma again. "No offense, Ranma, but your demonstrated social skills do not lead me to believe that you possess very much guile," he commented wryly. "So how did you manage to talk your way out of that?"

Ranma gave the wolf a grin in return. "Yeah, you'd be right, I ain't a great liar," he said softly, "but I overheard some of the other troopers talkin' about how Shinra's loading a bunch of stuff onto a coupla boats to get themselves overseas. When one of their sergeants tried to pull me into the parade line, I told him I'd been ordered down to the wharf to help load the ship by Heidegger."

Barret gave Ranma an appraising look. "You told'em you were on orders from Heidegger?" he raised an eyebrow with his inquiry, before his lips curled up in a reluctant smile. "You got big brass ones, kid."

Cloud blinked at the young man in silence for the moment. "Heidegger has a record of ignoring chain of command, and taking out his anger on random passers-by, so you probably managed to tell the most believable lie there you could have done." Ranma gave a smile in response. "Don't suppose you found out where they're going with all those crates?"

Ranma shook his head. "No idea," he admitted, running one hand over his hair. "Didn't think I could get away askin' without sounding suspicious."

The blond gave a nod of understanding. "All right, give me a minute, I need to figure this out," he said, and paced back over to the gap between the crates.

Yuffie had been staring at Ranma doubtfully the entire time he had been talking. "So... if you can do all that, whyja get grabbed?"

"Huh?" Ranma asked, perplexed.

"Whyja let Barret grab ya just now?" she repeated. "You coulda broken his arm, you coulda ducked his arm, you coulda-"

"-coulda done a buncha stuff that'd make a hell of a lot of noise and get us discovered," Ranma finished, dusting himself off and returning Yuffie's pointed gaze. "Lemme know when you have a different end to that sentence." Yuffie lowered her eyes, but didn't respond. Ranma turned back to Barret, and gave a smile. "Gotta hand it to ya though, Barret, you got one hell of a grip."

Barret grinned back. Aerith took a step forward and threw her arms around Ranma's neck, embracing him warmly. "I'm so glad you're safe, Ranma." She looked into his eyes, saw his wide-eyed surprise, and then realized exactly where they were and what she had done. "Oh!" she gasped, pulling her arms back to her side with a slight blush, and turned away. "Uh... sorry, sensei, I... I was worried about you."

Ranma had the good grace to look embarrassed. "I... uh..." he muttered. "I'm okay, yeah. Wanted to make sure you stayed safe- all of you... stayed safe..." He took a moment, regained his composure, and looked around. "You guys picked one hell of a hidey-hole, I probably never woulda found it if it hadn't been for Aerith's chi."

Tifa watched the two of them for a moment, then turned to Cloud. "So, what do you think?"

Cloud shrugged. "You know me, Tifa, I don't usually bother to talk about other people's relationships."

Tifa shook her head. "I know that, I mean about us getting out of here."

Cloud nodded, peeking back out the gap in the crates for a moment. "Well, as insane as it sounds, I think us getting on that ship Shinra is loading is probably our best option," he said quietly, shifting his weight slightly from one foot to the other to change his viewpoint through the gap in the shipping containers.

"Wait, you want to do what?" Tifa protested, coming to Cloud's side and looking him in the eyes.

Cloud held up a hand to forestall her questions. "We know they're leaving soon. If we manage to get aboard, we can get out of here without the SOLDIERs knowing we've left. They'll sit here and comb the city for days looking for us. By that time, we'll be anywhere other than here, and we'll have a good lead on them," he continued, counting off his talking points on one hand. "Besides which, think about it, even if Shinra knew we were on a boat out of Junon, why would they expect us to hop on board the same boat they were using? We'd be able to hide in plain sight, they'd never search for us there."

Tifa stared, jaw hanging open, as Cloud's words sat in the air between them. After a moment, she recovered her senses and ran one hand across her face. "This is, without a doubt, the second-dumbest idea I've heard come out of your mouth, that still has a good chance of succeeding."

Cloud turned to face Tifa. "What was the first-dumbest idea?"

"You, joining SOLDIER," she teased. Cloud paused for a moment, then let out a little huff of breath. It was the closest Tifa had seen him to a genuine laugh in some time. "All right, then, what's the plan?" she asked.

Cloud leaned against the wall, cupping his chin in thought. "I could pass for a SOLDIER pretty easily, but that'd raise too many questions and draw way too much attention down here at the wharf." He glanced around at the others, his eyes lingering on each of them in turn for a second or two, sizing them all up. "Ranma's already dressed for the part. We're going to need some more uniforms. We'll work out what we're saying once we know who'll fit into what. And Ranma?"

"Yeah?" the boy responded, standing in a close approximation of 'at ease'.

Cloud smirked at Ranma's natural talent for mimicry. "Need to teach you how to salute properly."

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The Junon wharf was one of the busiest places on all of Gaia, and it was not shy about it either. Dockhands went to and fro, securing and releasing mooring lines and guiding cargo nets down to the unloading areas. Freight trucks moved in organized chaos, merging into the flow of traffic without so much as a second's hesitation, but not obviously paying attention to the existence of vehicles behind or ahead of them. Dozens of vessels were lined up and hurriedly accepting or disgorging their shipments to make way for the dozens more in the harbor and beyond. The sound was akin to a rapidly modulating The entrance to the wharf had an inspection post and a pair of gates, one for vehicles, and the other for foot traffic.

The seven of them approached the pedestrian gate, dressed in their stolen uniforms. Ranma stepped forward, helmet obscuring his face, and snapped out a smart-looking salute. "Sir, requesting entry, sir!"

The guard looked up sleepily at them from a clipboard. Four troopers, privates all of them from the lack of decoration, escorting three sailors. One of the sailors was being held up by the other two, and frankly looked drunker than he'd ever seen anyone be in his life. A large sailor's hat had been pulled down over the drunken sailor's face. "Reason for entry?"

"Sir, returning AWOL party for review, sir!"

"Knock it off with that 'sir' crap, I'm only a corporal," the guard reprimanded, flicking the bars on his collar. "Who ordered the review?"

"Sir, we were ordered to bring these three in by Heidegger himself," Ranma barked out. "And sorry if the 'sir' bothers you, just protocol. Sir."

The corporal gave Ranma a Look. "...you're new here, aren'cha?"

"Yes, sir, don't want them to toss me out before I get the shine off the buttons, if ya know what I mean," Ranma replied.

The guard looked them over. The big one in the sailor outfit looked like a mean sort, the kind that'd drink you drunk on the good days and knock you flat on the bad ones. The short one, on the other hand, looked like he'd wait for someone else to drink you drunk, then fleece your wallet while you lay unconscious under the table. It wasn't hard to imagine either of them doing something to get into trouble, but even with everything going on in town it was pretty impressive to imagine something bad enough to demand Heidegger's personal attention. On the other hand, questioning the necessity of something requiring Heidegger's personal attention was the kind of thing that was likely to get you in Heidegger's personal attention, so...

"Granted," the guard said simply, scribbling something on his clipboard. "Get them outta here. If Heidegger's lookin' for someone to be his punchin' bag, then I don't want the hammer comin' down anywhere near me."

"Yes sir," Ranma answered as the guard pulled a switch nearby, opening the main gate. They passed through, carrying the limp form of Red between them, and continued until the cargo vessel's entrance stood before them. Timing their entry to be as isolated as possible, they managed to work their way into a corner of the ship and took refuge behind a tall stack of crates. "Cloud… I can't believe that worked, but I'm glad it did."

"So am I," Red said from between Barret and Yuffie. "Now please put me down." They helped him down, and Red made a significant show of stretching his limbs out as he slipped down to all fours again, the sailor suit on him still looking somewhat ridiculous. "I swear, the number of plans you all come up with that involve me being carried by the rest of you is truly absurd."

"Don't get too used to it," Cloud said quietly, standing at the entrance keeping one eye out for anyone passing by as they waited for Red to recover. "We'll have to wait until the ship gets underway to keep up the ruse. After that, you can switch uniforms with Aerith."

"Hey, coulda been worse," Yuffie grumbled, fidgeting with the collar of her shirt. "These things are itchy. Do sailors never bathe?"

"If they're anything like in my world," Ranma piped up, "probably not."

Yuffie snorted. "Not makin' me feel better about puttin' this thing on."

"Ssshh," Cloud urged them. He snapped a salute as two troopers walked by on patrol. Fortunately, they continued on. Cloud turned back to the others. "We get aboard the ship, we get Red situated, then the rest of us pull duty loading the ship. Red, I'm going to ask you to keep an eye on any nosy guards as best you can. The rest of us pair off and keep each other in check. Barret, you're with me. Tifa, stick with Aerith. Ranma, keep an eye on Yuffie. Keep your heads down and stay quiet." The others nodded their understanding. "Stowaways aren't exactly welcome on civilian ships, but unofficially, most crews will look the other way if you help out at the docks."

"Helps to grease some palms," Yuffie added.

"That too." Cloud glanced around again, but the way was clear. "Anyone starts poking around in an official capacity, we're new recruits, we haven't been assigned a superior yet, and we've been ordered to help load whatever Shinra's got in the crates. That ought to keep us busy and out of anyone's hair. Oh, and before I forget, Ranma?"

"Yeah?" Ranma asked.

"I know you say the curse attracts water," he continued. "Try to stay below decks, and don't start any fights you can't finish without punching holes in the boat."

Ranma swallowed as he took in Cloud's meaning, and nodded, pulling off a sharp-looking salute. "Aye, sir."

-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-

"Heidegger."

The commander turned sharply at the calm but deadly tone, and saw Rufus approaching from the entrance of the docks, a small folder held in one hand. He fired off a quick but smart salute, and signaled the troops to prepare for their send-off routine. "Sir, I've commandeered two cargo vessels from the civilian docks. The troops are loading them up as we speak." Rufus stood before the larger man, but did not respond. "Amon has reported in-"

"Ah," Rufus interrupted, taking a step forward. "That was, in fact, the topic that brought me here. Tell me, do you know why Amon was unable to supervise the loading of the second vessel himself?"

"Er," Heidegger hesitated for a moment, his eyes flicking back and forth between the troops and Rufus, before letting out a nervous laugh. "Gyeh-heh… I believe he was dealing with some minor issue in Upper Junon. In the meantime, Sergeant Willard has prepared a small but adequate military departure for you-"

Rufus cast his eyes up at Heidegger, then turned to the assembled troops. "Sergeant, you and your men are dismissed," he declared calmly. "Please see to the loading of the vessel, and then attend to your assigned duties from there."

"Sir!" the red-clad sergeant replied with a salute, and motioned for his subordinates to follow.

As they passed out of earshot, Rufus turned to Heidegger. "I believe I made myself clear. What I am interested in is results, Heidegger. Putting on a parade is not 'results'. Diverting military manpower to practice a color guard routine is not 'results'. AVALANCHE is here in Junon, Heidegger. And Ranma Saotome is with them." He grabbed Heidegger by the collar of his shirt and pulled him roughly to one side, sending the larger man stumbling into a nearby wall. "And you are out here wasting everyone's time with this shit."

"But-" Heidegger hesitated, taking a moment to regain his feet and his breath. "Sir, Amon has always been a bit of an alarmist-"

"Fourteen," Rufus countered, interrupting Heidegger again. He held up the folder, pulling out a thick stack of official-looking papers and shaking them through the air. "Fourteen individual reports confirming the presence of members of AVALANCHE inside Junon, not counting Amon's initial contact, corroborated by security cameras and two other SOLDIERs. You ignored every single one of these. Why?"

"Because of Sephiroth, sir!" Heidegger blurted out.

Rufus paused. His cold gaze met Heidegger's eyes, and the larger man flinched slightly. "What about Sephiroth?"

Heidegger took a deep breath, and straightened his jacket before answering. "My intelligence network has reported that Sephiroth is no longer in Junon, and that he has boarded a vessel heading for the Western continent. I came down here to the docks to speak to the agent myself and confirm." He withdrew a few sheets of neatly-folded paper from one pocket and passed them to Rufus, who unfolded it immediately. "Some of the agents are a little paranoid, they don't trust the PHS network. I had to come down to the docks to confirm it in person. I'd planned to mention this during the sendoff, but…"

Rufus scanned over the intelligence report, which had two photos attached. The first, rather fuzzy, image held the unmistakable profile of Sephiroth, standing in the middle of the deserted civilian docks with a timestamp which marked it as well before dawn. The second image was of a medium-sized private yacht bearing the name 'Manaclipper.' Sephiroth's outline could be seen again, this time standing on the deck, descending into the lower cabin of the yacht. "This is four hours old," Rufus muttered, eyeing the timestamp. "What was the delay?"

"The agent attempted to communicate this prior to the vessel's departure this morning," Heidegger explained, "but a security door was triggered and he was locked in for over ninety minutes before the repair crew could free him. By the time he was out, the vessel had already left. The agent commandeered a radio station here at the docks and made several attempts to radio the Manaclipper after it was out of port, but hasn't heard a single response from the crew." Heidegger took a step forward and pointed to the details on the third page. "Her captain lodged a voyage plan that sent it towards Mideel, but radio traffic picked up from two other vessels spotted her and both report that she was heading due west."

Rufus gave a smirk. "Costa Del Sol," he commented, looking over the projected route. "Can't imagine he wants a tan. Do we have any resources in that area?"

Heidegger shook his head, his beard swishing slightly through the air. "You already know the Costans wouldn't consent to a base after we took over… said it would spoil the beaches. Closest thing we have to Costa Del Sol's the Corel Reactor…" he paused in consideration, but shook his head again.. "Can't imagine there's anything there that'd interest him. Maybe Rocket Town?"

Rufus let that idea sit for a moment. "I can't think of what he might want from there… aside from if there's something hidden at the graveyard that we don't know about." He lifted his eyes to take in Heidegger again. "You've redeemed yourself, somewhat. No more parades, no more celebrations. We are on a mission, and it will be seen through."

Heidegger came to attention and snapped off a salute. "Understood, sir."

Rufus nodded. "See to the boats, and make sure the helicopter is ready on the deck before they shove off. When Amon arrives, have him take charge of the second vessel and head to the port south of Gongaga. I'm going to announce myself to the captain of the…" he turned and looked up at the faded letters on the side of the hull, his face screwing up in confusion, "...the 'Grace of Ifrit?'"

Heidegger chuckled. "A bit of a sailor's joke, sir, or so I'm told," he offered, lifting his gaze to the same spot on the vessel's stern. "The cargo barges are hardy vessels, they can weather almost anything, but they're not known for speed and they don't turn very well."

"I think I can spot that one, now," Rufus gave a faint smile. "You have your orders, Heidegger. Make it happen." Heidegger gave a salute and marched off to the second vessel, as Rufus boarded the Grace of Ifrit. The trooper standing watch at the loading ramp snapped to attention as he approached, firing off a textbook salute. "As you were, trooper," Rufus said, passing by.

"Sir," Ranma Saotome replied from beneath his trooper disguise, his voice muffled by the face-covering helmet. He waited until the President of Shinra was out of earshot, and then mumbled to himself, "Aw hell…"

At a certain point in my writing, well after I was past this point, I decided that the original draft of this chapter was not going to accomplish what I needed it to. So I rewrote it, and moved on. And then I came back here about eight weeks ago, and looked at it again after I had finished the edits to chapters 28 and 29. And it still felt like it had missed the target by a long way. So I trashed it again, and started over once more. You're reading the third version of this chapter. It took a lot of effort to remove not one, but two prior versions of this chapter, over five thousand words each. Elements of both prior versions are still in here, but it's mostly unrecognizable from the previous iterations. And, critically, I think I finally have it this time. And even though I threw a lot of it on the trash heap, this version is *double* the length of either previous version, and is to date the longest single document I have ever written outside of a NaNoWriMo event.

I mention this because I know some of you reading this are writers too. Don't be afraid to be critical of your writing. You may write something down and weeks later look at it, and realize that it's brilliant but needs a bit of polish, or you may realize you've written something not very good. Salvage what you feel is important, and discard what doesn't work. I know sometimes it feels like those words are your babies, but honestly it's more like they're construction materials. Build with them. :)

Hope you like it! Feedback and comments, as always, are welcome.