"You're the one with the plan, big guy." I noted, as we made our way towards the main station. The platform was now empty, aside from the two corpses on it. "I'm just the muscle."
"S' yer sayin' ye' got nothin'." Barrett answered. As we walked into the station, I spied my objective. It would be a very simple thing, to simply hit the alarm and raise all hell. I could bring every Shinra officer in the area to me almost immediately.
"Not quite. Get a move on."
"Wha'?"
"I'll give security the run around. Meet you at the Mako Reactor Entryway." Memories flickered through my head of a time long since past. I had been in front of the reactor a few times. I knew that much. Had I ever been inside it?
I wasn't sure.
"Yer' not lookin' to run back te' Shinra, are ye' Stamp?"
"Compare me to a dog again and I will." I shot back. "Get a move on. If there's a SOLDIER around here, you won't make it."
"Won't I no'?"
"No, you won't." For a moment, it was like a clash of wills. Then I took the decision out of his hand. I seized the Hollow Blade and I smashed it into the security terminal. Sparks and glass went flying. The fizzing of broken circuitry was oddly satisfying, all things considered.
Barrett looked mortified for a moment, before his face hardened.
"Well. We better move."
"Take the alleys. I'll see you there."
"Ye' know the way, boy?"
"I know the way." I let out a long breath as I saw too many flickers of blue running above us. Screams of guards readying themselves for a fight that they already knew some wouldn't come back from. Barrett lifted his right arm, gun spinning on the end, and shot a few warning shots upstairs.
"Well. Our exit seems blocked." He noted.
"Our?"
"Yer' think I'm lettin' you be a distraction on yer' own!?" He stepped to the side for only a moment, a finger tapping something on the side of his sunglasses. "Biggs, yer leadin'. We'll meet you at the reactor."
Oh, his sunglasses had a radio in them. That was cool.
"I kno' it's not the plan! We're improvisin'!" Barrett's hand left his face, with a huff. "Yer sure about this?"
"Standard garrison is twenty-five men. We're too close to the Reactor to be on the grid. Anything we deal with now we don't have to deal with later." I answer. Barrett's lips twisted into a sinister looking grin.
"Well. Ain' that somethin'." He noted. "Righ'! I'll cover ye' an'-"
Whatever else Barrett was saying was drowned out in my head as I flicked out one of the Side Blades. I briefly considered combining some of my sword, but the extra cutting power wasn't worth the added length. We were still in a train station, after all. The blade unfolded with a flick and I let my knees buckle.
Then I jumped, clearing my way straight to the second floor. The ground cracked under my weight as I smashed through the railing.
"W-what the hell!?"
"He's a SOLDIER!"
I didn't correct the assumption. My swords started swinging. At the end of the day, anyone working in the area would die when we blew up the reactor anyway. That was just the price of destroying it. Ruptured mako would ensure a relatively slow death for those who were in the immediate vicinity.
The rest of the plate would probably be luckier. It was a Generation Three Reactor, after all. Fallout would be limited to about three kilometers. Unfortunately, that meant the guard garrison was probably already dead anyway.
One, two, three. With three slashes, I sent two more men to oblivion. My eyes scanned to my left. Seven more were forming up.
"H-hands in the air! You are surrounded!"
"I guess I am." I muttered. "Surrounded by dead men." It was bitter and morose, but at least they would die quick.
"YEAAAAAAARGH!" Barrett's roar from downstairs brought a bitter grin to my face as machine gun fire shrieked from below, tearing through the railing and ripping into several of the guards. I took that as my cue to lunge. Metal danced and blood flowed, splattering against the walls, the floor, the ceiling.
It was a twisted dance. They stood no chance. Six died in less then twenty seconds. The last was left crawling away, his arm dismembered. I bit my lip, considering for a moment as the lift clicked behind us and Barrett strode out.
"I's too easy." He declared. "Ye' sure there won' be more?"
"My arm, my a-"
*Bang*
Barrett silenced him with a bullet.
"There will be more." I muttered. "Unfortunately."
"Dam' right I's unfortunate! But this is war, merc!" Barrett declared. "Ther' no place for soft heartedness here!"
"… Hypocrite."
"Hu'?"
"I'll do the killing." A single glance at Barrett told me enough. Despite the tough demeanor, he was not a fighter. I was. I would sleep easy tonight. He would not. In the end, he was exactly the kind of soft hearted man he was describing.
I flicked the side blade behind me, as I clipped it into the Main Blade of my sword, pulling it forth. Another side blade joined it.
"Wha', yer' got a lego sword?"
"Something like that. I hope you know how to use that materia of yours." I retorted. I could see the green gem in the man's arm. Barrett's face twisted.
"Yer' callin' me stupid?"
"No." Just inexperienced.
We strode onto the streets as if we owned them. There was technically no direct access to the Mako Reactor. The main gate would already be sealed. I could already see four humvees barreling down the street towards us.
"Tha' party is here!" Barrett declared, taking aim. "Well, merc, it's time t'-"
"Fira." I thrust the Main Blade forward, tip pointing at the humvee in front. Flames danced along its blade and lanced forth in a jet of fury. It made contact and everything erupted in a pillar of fire.
The explosion was spectacular. The shattered remains of the humvee landed on another, and sent it spiraling into a building.
"… Holy shit."
"That is why I asked." I muttered, taking a few steps into the center of the street. This section was restricted. Only Shinra Reactor Management employees lived here. Many of them were innocent of any real wrong doing, but they were in our way all the same. "Incoming."
"Righ' back at ye'!" To his credit, Barrett recovered almost immediately. His arm lifted and he opened fire on the humvee on the left. It twisted, spun, and crashed.
I shot forward, Hollow Blade flicking onto the Main Blade. Now I needed the cutting power. I skidded, spun, and slashed.
Sword met car, and car gave way. Steel and iron screeched as I ripped through the engine bay and through the side of the humvee. The steel mess that was what was left of it screeched as it spun out of control, flipping, spinning and smashing down the street like a derby of death.
"Fire! Fire! Fire!" I turned to the Humvee that crashed. My group would not get out of the Humvee under best circumstances. They were effectively dead. Barrett's, on the other hand…
I counted five. Five kicking open the doors and opening fire the second the cleared the sides. The Hollow Blade clicked off as I swung, batting bullets absently out of the air. I heard a scream behind me. Barrett probably was hit.
"YEEEEEAAAAARGH!" Thunder and lightning shot past me. That told me what materia Barrett had, at least. I shot forward, ignoring the man whose chest caved in. He would die on his own.
The quickest way to them was up, so I jumped. Bullets whizzed past me. I swung and cleaved a man almost completely in two.
"Monster! Your a monster!" I blinked as one of the guards lunged. His hand had something small, round and gr-
Wait, that was a grenade! I abandoned the Main Blade, shoving my hand forward.
"Blizzara!"
The magic shot forth, racing through the ground and erupting in ice. The poor man and his grenade were imprisoned in an icicle. I was pretty sure he was dead. He wasn't magically strong enough to be able to come back from that.
I winced at the huge splatter of blood behind him. The erupting ice had forced a huge geyser of blood to rip out of his back.
"Please… please…" A moan of pain. A glance around revealed the only survivor was a man who's leg merely had been caught in the blast radius of my ice spell and been frozen. His gun had skidded too far away. I just sighed, taking the Main Blade and sheathing it absently as the Hollow Blade swung.
"Brutal, merc." Barrett noted. "Tha' all of them?"
"One or two may have held back to physically raise the alarm." I noted. "It just means less will be in our way when we leave."
"Wha' you mean?"
"It's a third gen reactor. Anyone within three kilometers probably won't make it." I noted. "But you knew that already, didn't you?"
"Yeah. We' leavin' through te' maintenance tunnels. I've al'eady made the plan."
"I see." I motioned for him to follow. "Keep an ear out. We ma-" I paused as several gunshots rang out. Barrett's hand went to his glasses.
"Biggs, spea' te' me… Uh huh… righ', we're on our way." He glanced at me. "Ye' didn' mention the dogs."
"… You have a mole." I answered. Barrett glared.
"Wha'?"
"Shinra Darkhounds are only deployed in limited numbers. They take too much effort to train and very few recruits can work with one. That they are here means only one thing. Someone knew you were coming." Barrett stared for a long moment. I was sure he was about to say I was lying.
"Shi'." He did not, breathing out heavily. "We can' back down now."
"No. You can't." I agreed. "Let's mosey. We don't have long at this rate. I guarantee a SOLDIER is coming." I began to jog down the street, when Barrett burst out laughing. "Something funny?"
"Let's mosey?"
"…" I just ignored him.
Our little massacre did its job. We had no opposition at all as we made our way to the Reactor main bridge. As we approached the main gate, we had to duck into the alleys, but it wasn't an issue. In the end, we were all at the bridge, glowing green liquid boiling and roiling directly beneath us.
Barrett had a mole. That was the simple truth. A quick glance at those he was working directly with didn't present an obvious candidate for his mole, either. That led me to suspect that his mole was someone further up the supply chain.
A thought for later.
"Jessie, Biggs, Wedge! Wha' have I told ye' about stayin' in a group!" Barrett roared. "Wedge, secure the'…" He paused, before his hand grabbed my shoulder. "Actually, how many d' we need down there, merc?"
"Good question." I shot back. "Who has the codes?"
"That's me." Jessie spoke up. I nodded, glancing down the bridge. Third gen reactor. It reminded me of…
"Die! Die die die die die!"
Blood everywhere. Too much blood. A giant katana in my hands. A dead bisected body.
I blinked. The world burned. My arm burned.
"Merc?"
"I'm fine."
"Ye' dun' look it." Barrett retorted. "Well, Jessie, ye' with us. Biggs, Wedge, secure the exit!"
"Changing the plan boss?" Biggs asked. Barrett nodded.
"Maintain radio silence. We dun' say anythin' except what we need te' know." Barrett shot back. "Le's go guys."
We split our separate ways there, as Jessie, Barrett and I made our way into the reactor. Jessie was almost skipping as she stopped at the entrance terminal, pulling several pieces of computer kit from her pack and inserting a cable between them.
"We're lucky." She muttered. "The code looks valid. Looks like our friend in HQ didn't screw us, Barrett." Barrett just hummed at that.
"I's like te' planet is screamin'." He muttered. "Can' you hear the planets cry?"
"No." I shot back. Jessie just rolled her eyes.
"Mako's te' lifeblood of the planet!" Barrett roared. "Ye' know that right!"
"Not interested." I shot back. The door opened.
"Wha'!? Tryin' te' be a tough guy and say it doesn' concern ye'!?" Barrett's right arm lifted and opened fire into the doorway. My left arm rose and fire erupted from it. The eight or so guards inside went down screaming.
[ ] "Not interested."
[ ] "Get help."
[ ] "Got no idea."
[ ] "All I know is mako tends to hurt people."
[ ] Write in.
Barrett Wallace is assisting you.
Cloud has access to level two magic.
