The two SOLDIERs crumpled under Lapin’s charge, revealing just how false they were. A red streak appeared across the Shinra Trooper’s thigh, when suddenly in a burst, his leg faltered beneath him falling to the ground on a spurt of blood. The false-trooper screamed, dropping the grenade as his body collapsed. He grasped the stump that continued to shoot ropes of arterial blood, wailing in agony.

By the time Rowan had leapt and rolled into the helicopter, the lab coat had secured himself into a chair had his arms wrapped about the case protectively. The false-Turks’ and the lab coats’ faces paled when they saw that one of the SOLDIERs had actually managed to board the helicopter. The Turks’ hands went for the pistols at their hips as they prepared to defend themselves. Before anyone had a chance to do anything, a wave of water slammed into the helicopter, throwing the aircraft into a dangerous spin.

The crash alarm started to beep and red flashed throughout the cabin. The pilot gripped the cyclic stick as he tried to regain control of the aircraft, but it was spinning too fast.

“WE’RE GOING DOWN!” he cried.

The helicopter descended. The propellers clipped the tops of the trees and blades started to snap against the sturdy trunks. Boughs broke against the machine that went clattering down into the Sleeping Forest. The helicopter struck the ground, the blades continued to throw dirt, clipped branches, and blade fragments into the air as they whittled down to nothing. Because the trees had broken the helicopter’s impact, the force from the crash knocked the AVALANCHE personnel unconscious. The suitcase had fallen from the lab coat’s dangling arms and was lying on its side in a bed of dead leaves and brush.

When Rowan managed to compose himself (if he had managed to remain in the helicopter during its crash), then he would find that he was no longer where he thought he was. Bone Village had mysteriously vanished, and no radio signals could reach or escape his location. The forest appeared endless, he was in a dead zone for communication, but in the distance was a mystical aura shining through the trees leading to a Forgotten Capital.

Alain had even more of a reason to be upset as Damian retracted his demi spell in time to throw the kill switch. Caius executed his heroic fail-safe, passing between the legs of the deactivated Metal Cricket and severing the joints with his sword. The joints sparked and the cricket collapsed on its belly on top of the barrel. The SOLDIER’s blade then pierced its red eye, cracking it and taking it out. As Alain’s fist slammed into the back of the Cricket, the machine’s feet groaned against the metal beneath it as it began to tip. The Metal Cricket was tumbling from the barrel and was going to go clattering down the Sister Ray’s foundations to the tide rocks below.

Boldly driving down the residential district streets, weaving between SOLDIERs and Shinra Troops and running over AVALANCHE terrorists that got in its way, was a white limousine. It was no normal limousine for the white vehicle was tanking the fire from several Rovers and even returning fire like some vehicular weapon from Twisted Metal. Seated comfortably in the back on a red leather seat was a blonde woman. She wore a matching form-fitting red dress that did nothing to hide the cleavage of her impressive breasts that gently quivered to the turbulence the limo faced running over terrorists and dodging around Rovers. Her mirror was raised before her baby-blue eyes. Her lips puckered as she ran a crayon of lipstick across them.

“They better not have damaged my baby,” she muttered, rubbing her lips together to evenly coat them before she popped them twice. Closing her mirror, she tucked it away into a purse at her side. Suddenly, the limo stopped, causing her to rock forward a little against her seatbelt. Frowning, the woman known as Scarlet, Head of the Weapons Development Department, growled, “Why did we stop?”

The driver rolled down the back window and answered fearfully, “Uh…Ma’am…you should see this.”

Scarlet huffed, her breath blowing a stray bang of her blonde hair out of her face. She unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out from the safety of her vehicle onto the battlefield, and her blue eyes swelled in horror at the sight of the Sister Ray’s barrel falling free. Her mouth fell open and after a long ten seconds, she said nothing. Her face then flushed red as she stamped a heel into the asphalt. She yelled back in the limo, “I want to see all the SOLDIERs who were responsible for protecting the Sister Ray. NOW!”

“U-uh, yes ma’am!” the driver exclaimed. The 1st Class SOLDIERs would soon receive a radio command, ordering them to meet with the Shinra Head in District 39.

---

The Turk had spent longer if not equal to two minutes in the apartment building. Abruptly, the third floor exploded in a burst of fire, glass, plaster, and force. The bomb Jessie had left in her room detonated, and the Turk paused on the roof to gaze back at the column of black smoke that rose into the sky. The brunette smirked triumphantly, wondering if whoever had been pursuing her—if her suspicions had been right—was destroyed in the blast. Running away seemed too easy, and she felt she no longer had to cross the rooftops. Climbing down the next fire escape, she vanished into the alley way.

---

Sigurd had been just about to warn Cayde about the Giga Hunter when another explosion, which sounded like a detonating bomb followed. The soundwaves shook the ATV, but it hadn’t struck. The First Class SOLDIER seemed to have the situation handled.

GET OUT OF THE ATV AND GET TO SAFETY NOW!

Where was safety in this chaos? Sigurd removed his knife and cut himself from his seatbelt. He dropped to the ground, his legs collapsing beneath him as he literally fell on top of the charred body of a troop. He stared at the clearly dead trooper, the corpse’s eyes wide in panic—the last look he had worn on his face. Sigurd grabbed his rifle and raced out of the ATV, hugging close to its side for cover as he tried to stay out of the crosshairs of the Giga Hunter and Rovers Cayde was quickly dispatching. He was panting frantically. He had thought he was going to die. Everyone was dead and somehow he had survived. His rifle was trembling in his hands. That had been too close.

Swallowing the dry lump that had been forming in his throat, Sigurd scowled and regained some of his composure. Rounding the back of the ATV, he saw the third Rover that was galloping toward Cayde. He squeezed off a couple of rounds to get the Rover’s attention until suddenly, a fiery energy erupted under his booted feet. His black hair rose on an ethereal breeze, his golden eyes shining with determination. The power that filled his body mixed with his adrenaline and Sigurd screamed as he emptied an entire mag on the Rover. The rounds pelted and sparked off the machine’s face and as it started to fire back at him. Sigurd ducked back behind the ATV’s sturdy chassis. He crouched, setting his rifle on the ground. Drawing a grenade, he released the safety clip, and pulled the pin. Holding the spoon with his thumb, his free hand went for his pistol, drawing it from its holster. Once the Rover stopped firing, and the ground started to tremble beneath Sigurd's feet from its approaching gallop, he whirled back around lobbing the grenade at the machine. He saw the machine’s eye dilate as its cross-hair settled on him. The grenade was still in descent when Sigurd aimed upon the Rover with two hands grasping the pistol.

The Rover started firing and Sigurd jumped back into a dive. He bore his teeth as the scream of a round ripped through his shoulder. His left hand left the pistol going limp as he fell toward the ground and baring his teeth, closing one eye, Sigurd squeezed the trigger of his pistol, firing off several shots until finally one of them struck the grenade. The grenade exploded in the Rover’s face, causing the machine to stagger backwards as its head wildly began to spin to clear it of the smokescreen. Sigurd collapsed upon the ground, his chest rising and falling with his panicked breaths. His hand was covering the gaping hole in his shoulder that was creating a pool beneath it.

You just had to get involved, his conscience told him. You didn’t have to do anything. You could have just hid there.

I don’t hide, Sigurd returned.

Name: Lapin Delacroix
Role: SOLDIER 2
Location: Bone Village
Tags: @Sarcelle Renard @Renny

---

Lapin barely acknowledged the two downed imposters at her feet before turning her attention to another imposter currently engaged with one of her men. She had taken note that Rowen had passed her to make his way to the helicopter; he was doing his job. Excellent.

The fake SOLDIER that had caught her ire leapt away from the SOLDIER he was engaged in Melee against and drew a concealed pistol and raised it. Lapin’s SOLDIER paused, having been caught off guard. Lapin gritted her teeth at her SOLDIER’s lack of reaction as the yellow materia in her shield glowed, and in the blink of an eye, she was between the two combatants with her shield raised. The fake pulled the trigger, not even realizing that Lapin was now there, and the bullet bounced harmlessly off her shield. The imposter had just enough time to raise his eyebrows in surprise before taking the edge of her shield to the side of his head.

She was about to admonish her SOLDIER but just then, she saw a deluge of water slam into the side of the helicopter, sending it into the forest.

”No...”, she gasped. She quickly scanned the battlefield for another SOLDIER wearing the same colors as her, a fellow Second Class. She found one quickly, and sprinted over to him. She grabbed his sleeve and turned him toward her, making sure that he had Mako eyes. She spoke quickly, but clearly. ”One of my men was in that chopper! I’m going after him and recovering the package. Finish things up here!”

As she started running toward where she last saw the helicopter go down, she called out to Beryl, who had just asked her for orders, ”With me, we’re going to recover the package!”

---

---

Name: Landon Milonas
Role: Turk
Location: Junon Residential District
Tags: @Tenma Tendo, @Fuzzybootz

---

Landon jogged down the hallway and put his finger on the buzzer in his ear. ”Hey, it’s good to hear from ya, Short-Tank! If you could give me a room number, I’d really app-“

*BOOM*

A ball of fire suddenly burst forth from a room close by, knocking Landon from his feet. He slammed into the wall on the far side of the hall and his vision went white briefly.

When he recovered, he was in the reactor from roughly 4 years ago. Flames surrounded him and his ears were ringing. He caught a few muffled sounds of people crying out around him. He knew that there were people who needed his help. He stood bolt upright, but swayed off balance, falling against a wall. Strange, he couldn’t feel his right arm...

He looked downward and saw a stump where his arm should be. He caught a scream in his throat; he couldn’t show any weakness. He was suppose to be the strong one.

He shook his head and looked down again, seeing the familiar sight of his robotic arm. He clenched his fist, beginning to regain his composure. He didn’t have to save anyone, he had already lost his arm and gotten a new one... He was supposed to be on the trail of a hacker. That was his mission now. He shook his head, his ears were still ringing and his mission had gotten just a bit harder, what with presumably the hacker’s room blowing up.

He made his way into the room, coughing through the smoke. He spied daylight at the far end of the room, overlooking the street. He leaned out the new hole in the wall and pressed his buzzer. He didn’t care who he contacted, he needed a direction. ”Hey, I’m not dead. Anyone got eyes on the hacker? I’m lookin’ for some payback.”

---

Before Alain could offer a reply, a groaning noise from the Cricket told him to get off the machine's back and to do it right the hell now. Just as the machine fell off the barrel, but before it fell too far out of view, Alain's form seemed to shoot up from it like a rocket. He jumped with enough height to land safely back on the Sister Ray barrel but left it at that. He shot a silent glare in Damien's direction, and then broke that silence with a retort.

"Oh no you don't." Alain snapped back at the older SOLDIER. He took a few steps forward as if ready to throw a punch. Thankfully he restrained himself from doing so, "You're not pinning this crap on me! You are the one who butted in, cast a Demi spell without even fully assessing the situation. That laser weapon was aimed squarely at you, responding to you're actions. So no, this is on you, not me. And I'll make sure Scarlet knows exactly who is responsible for this debacle." as if by perfect timing, that was when the Radio Command came in, "And speak of the devil, let's see what she has to say about this."

Inwardly, Alain was mentally bracing himself. Of course they would all be getting reprimanded, that went without saying. To think otherwise would have been foolish, not to mention naive. Still, as long as Scarlet was made aware of who was most at fault then that person could at least catch the brunt of her ire compared to everyone else. Honestly, the whole damn company was a broken mess the closer to the top one looked. People who either didn't care or were actively just in it for themselves were running the show. That much was common knowledge. And that fact was something Alain was seriously considering seeking to change somehow, though how a single SOLDIER - even 1st Class - could change anything about a company whose dirty laundry likely went all the way up to the top was a question to be pondered another day.

Even if it has to be by the tip of my spear, I can't just sit idly in my position any longer... I have to climb higher.

Sticks cursed loudly as it appeared that Logan wasn’t going to answer his com. She hoped he hadn’t gotten him self into trouble as he often did. It wasn’t as though he couldn’t handle himself but from time to time he charged body first into a situation; consequences be damned. She was working to curb his impulses but it was not easy to make a tiger change his stripes.

Her pace quickened and her eyes darted from place in search of that something out of the ordinary. That’s when she noticed out of the corner of her eye a leg appearing from a window up above. The body to which the leg belonged followed only seconds later. Her eyes narrowed as she watched the form of a woman climb out onto a ledge and pull herself up onto the rooftop.

“Pendul…ahhh.” Sticks began to speak into her Com, but a blast of static erupted from the device. Something was up with the coms and Sticks hoped that Pendulum was working on it. She then returned her focus to the fleeing person.
Sticks quickly reached under her suit jacket and gently touched the wood of her Bastons, which were holstered on her right hip. She took in a deep breath and reached out to take hold of power within her Time Materia. Suddenly a wave of green light and energy rippled out from her. Her heart raced with the exhilaration of it. She took off immediately, heading down the ally in the direction that she saw the woman go.The woman would eventually come down from the roof and Sticks would be there waiting.

That’s when a loud voice boomed in her Com ear. It made her and Pendulum both curse loudly, though Sticks remained on course in her pursuit.

“Get out of that building as quickly as Possible….” Pendulum yelled at Landon and then confirmed that the Hacker was indeed the woman escaping across the rooftop. For the moment the hacker had yet to realize she was being pursued, but Sticks growled in frustration as she had nearly lost the hacker twice.

Then a deafening explosion rocked the Residential District.
Sticks came to a sudden stop when she realized where the explosion had originated.

“Pendulum, what was that? Is everyone alright? Landon?” she asked calmly touching the com in her ear. At that point her haste had worn off and she had lost the Hacker. She need to know her team was alright. If there was one thing she had learned from Jax, it had been never leave a team mate behind.
“hey I’m not dead” came Landon's voice again. Which meant he had gotten himself into trouble. “ Anyone got eyes on the Hacker? I’m looking for some payback.”

Sticks looked up to realize that what ever advance she had gained was now lost. “ Pendulum? Do you have a visual on the hacker? I was right behind but I’ve lost her”

---

Penn could only watch as the hacker's original location exploded. There...was a bomb? Pendulum tried to act like she was surprised by the whole thing, but actuality she should have known. It was obvious that the hacker knew about Landon's location and would want to get rid of evidence as well. It should have been obvious from the get-go, but why hadn't she thought of it fast enough? Penn placed a hand on her aching forehead. At the moment, it was just her and a few others tech-savvy enough to handle this. With so many Turks and so little of them, it was getting overwhelming...to the point that she made such a stupid mistake as not alerting the others of a possible bomb.

She could hear Sticks pestering her about what the explosion was and if Landon was alright. Fortunately, she didn't have to say anything as Landon spoke to them. Although she didn't show it, a wave of relief washed over the young Turk, replacing her guilt and overwhelmed mind with determination and strength. She could do this.
"She's no longer on the rooftops and is instead using the alleyways to escape. Sticks, you're the closest, so enter the alleyway to your north followed by a sharp left turn. Keep going straight and you will cross paths with her. L-Landon..." Penn trailed off as the guilt made her voice crack. "Landon, the fastest way to get to the hacker would be to head to the west via rooftop. You might be able to spot the hacker from up above." She cursed herself, knowing that she couldn't leave the communication tower. Maybe that was for the best...

---

---

---

Laphicet let out a shaky sigh as they lowered their head in shame, attempting to hide the tears with their bangs. Almost above all things, Laphicet hated being yelled at. They could hear it now, the shrill voices of the higher ups assaulting their eardrums, almost to the point that it made them want to vomit.

Still rooted in place, Laphicet noticed a familiar pair of legs walk past them followed by a gruff voice that was the closest thing to comfort. Astral was right, they had gone and will go through much worse. But just the mere thought alone was enough to make them weary. Nodding in slight acknowledgement, knowing that Astral probably didn't see it anyways, Laphicet wiped their eyes with a bandaged arm.

As they doing so, their communication device sprang to life, causing them to jump from the shock. They just let it ring for a little bit, hoping that Scarlet wasn't the one on the other side. With a little bit of praying beforehand, Laphicet picked up.
"Y-Yes..?" They responded with a wavering voice as they looked up and sniffled quietly. They could definitely hear noise in the background, and that coupled with the stern monotone voice was stressful. Laphicet quickly mumbled their confirmations before cutting the line off and letting out a little sniffle. They took a look at the others that were still there and opted to move towards Alain, seeing as he would probably be the most possible to be injured than anyone else. Once he was close enough, Laphi waved a hand in the air before giving Alain his undivided attention. "Are you a-alright, Alain?" They asked softly, arching their eyebrows almost curiously. They knew that they should probably be going soon, but everyone's safety was far more important.

Name: Lapin Delacroix
Role: SOLDIER 2
Location: Bone Village
Tags: @Sarcelle Renard @Renny

---

"The package or our teammate?"

Lapin stopped in her tracks and gritted her teeth. What the hell kind of question was that at a time like this? As she considered her answer, she could still hear swords clashing and spells being fired off around her. This was not the kind of place where one could stop and think. She glanced back up toward the smoke from the downed helicopter rising in the distance.

"It looks dangerous? are you sure we should follow?"

She turned her attention to Beryl, and spoke as plainly as she could, but a slight waver could be heard in her voice: "The... The package is the most important thing right now." She then removed her helmet and let it fall to the ground, giving Beryl a stony glare. "But rest assured, if Rowan is alive, we will be bringing him back, am I understood? With this, she turned back toward the forest and, with all of the poise and professionalism that many had come to expect from her, she made her way into the treeline.

---

---

Name: Landon Milonas
Role: Turk
Location: Junon Residential District
Tags: @Tenma Tendo, @Fuzzybootz

---

Pendulum's voice rang loud and clear through Landon's headset. His mission was clear: head to the rooftops and get the drop on the hacker, unless Sticks got to them first. Landon smiled wickedly as he leapt from the hole in the wall to the roof above. That hacker, whoever he was, was going to have a bad time if either Sticks or Landon got to him. Effortlessly pulling himself up by his robotic arm, Landon glanced up at the sky to get his bearings, then began sprinting along the rooftops in a westerly direction, keeping an eye out for either The Boss or the AVALANCHE goon. As he leapt across a rooftop chasm, he put his finger on his ear buzzer and in between breaths said, "Yer doing a great job, Short-Stack!" Then, he added, "Hey, Boss, if ya get the hacker before I do, save some for me, huh?

Name: Rowen Tuesti
Role: SOLDIER 3
Location: The Forgotten Capital
Tag: @Holy Soldier

---

Rowen hardly needed the flashing red lights and blaring alarm to tell him what was about to happen, as the turbulent spin the helicopter had adopted had already been quite vocal in that regard. And since the initial impact had caused the white haired SOLDIER to come dangerously close to spilling out of the helicopter, just barely missing being thrown out into the open air by mere inches, he could also hear the whipping wind howl all sorts of promises that he had no interest in.

The force of the aircraft’s rotation pressed Rowen painfully flat against the hard metal wall. His right hand just barely managed to grasp onto something solid before the bird crashed into a tree, filling the air with all sorts of awful sounds of wood snapping and metal screeching. A second impact quickly followed, forcing Rowen to bash his head violently against the wall. Before the spots in his visions even had a chance to introduce themselves, what was left of the helicopter made landfall. It felt as if an eternity had passed before the wreck stopped spraying up dirt and shards of metal and come to a much welcome halt.

Consciousness kept trying to scamper away from him, but after some time Rowen managed to will his eyes open and keep them that way. When his eyes finally managed to focus, he could only marvel at how well the metal deathtrap had kept itself together, all things considered. With a pained grunt, the SOLDIER managed to pick himself off the ground. The deed was rather unappreciated by his body though, evidenced by the new assortment of bruises he had accrued announcing their presence with each slight movement he made, but he would live.

The imposters that had caused the mess all seemed to be unconscious. Rowen couldn’t help but think of the lives that had been lost because of their actions, his lips curling into a disdainful scowl. An awful impulse to put the cowards down in their sleep briefly crossed his mind, but the idea was simply too repulsive for Rowen to act on it. Besides, Lapin would almost certainly want these men alive for questioning later, so with sluggish movements he got to work ensuring they wouldn’t be going anywhere as he got his bearings, starting with the pilot.

But when he finished with the lab coat, he was struck by a stark realization. The case holding the artifact was gone. Green eyes frantically swept across the wreckage, but it was nowhere to be found.

”You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he muttered, the scowl on his face deepening to new levels of displeasure.

A glint of light caught his attention. His head jerked towards its direction, his gaze falling on something outside of the aircraft. Rowen approached the object carefully, eyes scanning the tree line for any unannounced guests. A deep sigh of relief left him though once he got closer, as nestled in a patch of brush and dirt was the artifact.

A weary hand reached for his communicator. ”Lapin, this is Tuesti. I have the package.” It was hardly one of the most proper of transmissions, but Rowen figured that even someone as strict as Lapin would cut him some slack considering what he had just gone through.

Except… His ever dutiful commander hadn’t replied.

”Lapin? Did you hear me?” His voice was tinged with apprehension. It wasn’t like her to let such an important message go unanswered. Another few moments of silence passed. ”Come on Bunny, talk to me.” Rowen’s face twisted with consternation as even the nickname that Lapin despised failed to get a response.

”Wait a…” His voice trailed off as he realized that the scene surrounding him did not look at all like they should. The trees were completely different, not to mention the fact that no forest near Bone Village stretched on quite like this one.

A nervous hand reluctantly retrieved the case next to him. ”Oh, what have you gotten yourself mixed up in now?” The question went unanswered by the eerily silent woods, except for a mysterious aura shining through the trees that almost seemed to be beckoning him. Rowen cast a wary glance backwards to the wreck he had emerged from as the grip on his rapier tightened. The options before him were hardly appealing, but with no way to make contact with anyone else, staying in place hardly seemed to be the right call.

Rowen did not particularly care for the idea of leaving his detainees unguarded, but leading them any significant amount of distance would be far too impractical. His teeth grit, unsatisfied with the reality of the situation, but his best bet was to try and break through whatever was blocking his communications and to double back to the helicopter with reinforcements.

With his mind made up, Rowen began walking towards the strange aura.

The forest began to warp the deeper Rowen ventured into it. The trees became stark-white, glowing in a mysterious aura. If he ventured further, he would find unusual formations of reef as though he were suddenly traveling the ocean floor. The reef gave way to an open circular chamber with a pool of crystal clear water before a giant conch-shell abode. The shell appeared to be a temple of some sort and from it radiated an energy; a power that he would be able to feel but not comprehend. If he ventured further within, there were winding stairs. There were steps that ascended and descended to various ledges, but the ledges surrounded one place. In the center was an altar and it was guarded by an endless waterfall of water. The water poured enough gallons to damage a vehicle. At the center of the pillar of water was a white light: the source of the power. Being this close, it had a warm and breathtaking presence—a holy presence.

There were islands he could hop across to get closer to the altar, and if Rowen attempted to do so, he would be met at the center of the pillar by a mysterious old man who appeared from nowhere. He sat upon a green sphere and seemed harmless enough—as harmless as an old man who manifested from nothing would seem.



As for Beryl and Lapin, their exploration of the Sleeping Forest would seem fruitless. Had they been to this location before? Was that tree familiar? Had they passed the same tree five times already? There was no sign of the helicopter crash for miles, and it hadn’t crashed that far.

Ignoring Alain's rant, as it didn't matter who was truly at fault with Scarlet, they were all going to get reamed for the damage to the barrel, the older SOLDIER set to investigating the area from his viewpoint. AVALANCHE and the Metal Cricket had more than adequate time to not only damage the Sister Ray, but also to destroy it to the point of heavy repair if they'd tried. He just couldn't figure out why they hadn't and was still puzzling it out in his head when his phone rang. He answered it without any tribulation since being nervous about it only fed the weapon designer's ego. "Hello?" He could hear Scarlet in the background, raging at the damage to her "baby," which even he found to be a disturbing thing to call the giant gun, as the man spoke. "Tell Scarlet it's not mission complete yet. Something's not right here." Another pause as the man on the other side speaks.

"I know she's mad, but a barrel is more readily replaced than an entire cannon. I'm not convinced that AVALANCHE hasn't set some kind of trap, so I'm going to do my job and investigate. Scarlet cam ream me for it later." He snapped the phone shut, ending the call, and leaped down to the bars near the stairs, sliding down them. He would start his search from the bottom and work his way up, even if the others didn't want to help.

Name: Lapin Delacroix
Role: SOLDIER 2
Location: Sleeping Forest
Tags: @Renny

---

This mark looks familiar... Lapin turned in another direction, noting a broken branch on the tree she was now looking at. All of these marks look familiar. She stopped walking and threw up her hands in frustration. this walking around in circles had gone on for some time, and while Lapin was generally a patient woman, her patience was beginning to run very thin. She looked into the sky and through the thick canopy, she could make out a now thinning plume of smoke. It was coming from the same direction they were going, but she couldn't smell the smoke. She looked back and could still see the tree line behind them, despite walking for what seemed like several minutes, maybe even an hour. He grip tightened on her shield and she suddenly slammed the edge against the side of a nearby tree.

She stayed in this position for quite a while, wanting to vent her frustration. Getting lost only happened to other SOLDIERS, not her. She didn't allow herself to succumb to such foolish things. She was better than this. Lapin Delacroix simply did not get lost in the woods. No, this couldn't possibly be her fault.

Then whose? Was it Beryl's, for casting the water spell in the helicopter, causing it to crash? No, he had no idea that could happen. Was it Rowan's for leaping into the helicopter in the first place? No. He had only done that because...

Because...

Lapin dropped to her knees, the weight of her realization finally crushing her spirit. Everything that had happened up to this point happened because of her. It was her complacency that allowed AVALANCE to so easily take advantage of them, killing who knows how many of her soldiers... Rowan had gone into the helicopter on her orders, and Beryl, too, had attempted to bring down the helicopter because she told him to.

"DAMMIT!", she cried, punching the ground with her shield. "DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT!" She stood up more quickly than she should have and accidentally knocked herself off balance, backing into a tree. She thrashed away from it, and pointed in the direction they were supposed to be heading. She shouted, Rowan, I swear to whatever gods are listening, you had better not be dead, because I will NOT have that on my conscience!"

She took a step forward, but stopped. She huffed and straightened her uniform, then turned to meet Beryl. Her voice was shaky; she was obviously trying to cover up for her earlier outburst. "Whatever is preventing us from moving on...there has to be a way past it. Rowan is out there somewhere; he made it past whatever barrier this is. We must as well.

---

Beryl let out a breath of angst at The Commander's outburst. It was hard to look at but only because he knew the visceral feelings tearing her up. If not completely apart. His once youthful eyes had dipped into that narrow darkness, where the mako-light had hardened and became dangerous. He allowed himself that much as she stormed and took her anger out on the sleeping trees around them. He hadn't even realize had tightly he was gripping the hilt of his katana.

The moment her composure had returned, Beryl was swift to set aside his own anger. Instead of some stony cutthroat, she would see Beryl standing still, respectful of his Commander's rank, if not a tad fidgety. "You have to admit that this forest doesn't seem normal. It feels alive. Not only because its baffling but because of... of something else too."

Beryl drew closer to The Commander and risked placing a hand on her shoulder. "This isn't all on you, Commander. None of us saw it coming. Though I can't help but wonder what was in the briefcase. The forest route is doing us no good, perhaps we should go back to base and get answers."

“Leave the Celebrating until AFTER we’ve caught the target Landon” Sticks said authoritatively as she jumped back into action following the directions that Pendulum had given. She didn’t for an instant let team know that she had for the briefest of moments been worried.

Once again Sticks activated her Time Materia and placed Haste on herself. She found the speed exhilarating, as she ran past dumpsters and piles of trash. The ally way’s chaos was the last thing on her mind however. She had an overwhelming need to catch this target, almost as if it were an addiction. She pushed herself even harder.

Then she caught a motion up ahead of her. She was sure it was the target. In one breath she quickly reached down and un-holstered her Bastons, one in each hand. With another breath she reached out towards her Contain Materia. She had enough Mana to cast Tornado, but it would deplete the rest of her stores.

With a heavy sigh she decided to take the risk. Just as her Haste wore off, another wave of green light emanated from her as she cast Tornado at the moving target.

---

Penn resisted to smile from Landon's praise, despite knowing that the others wouldn't be able to see it. She was lucky that Landon was a quick to forgive. And the time that she gave herself to relax was just as much as she needed to focus back on the job at hand; Stick's words of warning also sped up the process.

Now that there were two people on the hacker's tail, Pendulum got to work on requesting help from those around them. They needed all the help they could get: Turks, SOLDIERs, troops, anything. The girl took a seat next to her laptop and sighed, getting to work. Amping up the signal to the highest radius possible, Penn called out to all of those who were within her range.
"The hacker has been spotted. I repeat, the hacker has been spotted. If able-bodied please assist in the capture of said hacker. Coordinates will be sent after this prompt." As she clicked off, she sent the coordinates out to everyone. While she knew that the coordinates changed the second she sent them, bringing people together who she had originally asked to cover the perimeter to one spot should corner the hacker in no time.

The trip ended abruptly for the SOLDIER about half way down and, with a sigh, Damian dismounted the bars and continued down the stairs, looking in every room and every nook and cranny he could find. But no matter what, nothing stood out that didn't seem to belong to the current situation. He made a decision to stop in the Sister Ray's control room, where he began to rifle through everything. First he searched all the places that were out of sight, including some of the more obvious ones, starting with underneath one of the control desks with their computers. Sometimes it's the most obvious place that one never looks that hides the most dangerous threat. He found nothing in the first row, nor the second or the third. He then moved on to search the trash bins, all of which also turned up empty of anything useful. Sighing in annoyance, Damian moved out of the control room and resumed his descent.

"Alright," he said quietly to himself, "let's think about this. AVALANCHE hacked into the mechanized units stationed here, including the Metal Cricket, and then launched an attack on Junon. Now, if simply destroying the Sister Ray had been their goal, well, between all the Mechs and their own troops, they had the fire power. Hell, they had more than enough in firepower. So then why didn't they..." His journey and inspection of the rooms lead him to the base of the Sister Ray and looking around the its legs. He simply couldn't understand why they didn't just do the job before all the SOLDIER 1st Class showed up. Finishing his search around the second leg, he started with the third and froze as he rounded the corner to the eastern side, because what he saw in front of him caused all the questions he'd had to suddenly find answers. They didn't waste time destroying the Sister Ray because that wasn't their only target!

Pulling out his phone, he scrambled to get a call out to the Turks, spitting words into his microphone as fast as he could while the timer ticked down. "This is SOLDIER First Class Damian Seran. AVALANCHE has planted a bomb at my position, sending coordinates. We need EOD NOW!"

Name: Lapin Delacroix
Role: SOLDIER 2
Location: Sleeping Forest
Tags: @Renny

---

Lapin certainly didn't expect Beryl to place his hand on her shoulder, but the emotional support it gave her was exactly what she needed. She placed her free hand upon his and listened to his words. She nodded her head and replied, "I appreciate the sentiment." After a brief pause, she added, "I, too, wonder what was in the briefcase, that AVALANCHE would want it so badly." She looked around and added, "I agree; going around in circles isn't doing anyone any good. Especially not Rowan. Wherever he is, he may be trying to find his way back to us. At least...I hope so. Let's return to the base. I'll take whatever...'flak', or 'heat' I suppose, is coming my way. You all are my responsibility."

With those simple words, she turned and started heading back into the base, looking as poised as always.

---

---

Name: Landon Milonas
Role: Turk
Location: Junon Residential District
Tags: @Tenma Tendo, @Fuzzybootz

---

They had to be getting close. After Penn's announcement that they knew where the hacker was, the poor sap was going to be cornered any minute.

As he dashed across the rooftops, he caught sight of something on the ground. At first he thought it was The Boss, but he quickly noticed that the figure didn't have The Boss' trademark hat. Was it the hacker? Seeing a fire escape up ahead, he leapt down onto it and shimmied down the stairs to make it to surface level, leaping down the last few feet to the ground. Without missing a beat, he started to dash toward the figure still a ways off in the distance. He was about to call out to the girl, but he caught himself. The Boss had made a point to tell him to not always be goin' off half-cocked. He was a Turk, dammit, and there was a certain 'finesse' to his trade.

And so, he continued running, trying not to make a sound.

The driver smiled sheepishly when Damian responded to him. He turned to Scarlet, hand cupping the voice box of the phone, “Ma’am, the 1st Class SOLDIERs believe that a threat still exists.”

“They had hours to secure this base! What is Hojo creating? Super-powered children? My droids would have had Junon secured in minutes if they hadn’t been taken over!” Scarlet screamed, her white-gloved hands clenched into angry fists. Mad was an understatement. She was furious! “Heidgger will hear about this! They will all be punished! They will perform 3rd Class duties!”

Scarlet whirled and strutted back over to her limousine. The driver didn’t have to worry about hanging up for Damian had already done so. The 1st Class SOLDIERs seemed lost and uncertain of their duties now that the Metal Cricket was vanquished. The Shinra Troop continued to evacuate casualties and suppress the rogue droids. Pleas for assistance were soon called from all around.

The Turks were requesting assistance catching the one responsible for the rogue mechas and Damian in his insubordination and persistence to get to the bottom of the attack discovered a bomb at the foot of the Sister Ray. Unfortunately, in the time it took the 1st Class SOLDIERs to gather and deal with the Metal Cricket, there wasn’t enough time for a proper bomb disposal unit to reach his location.



It wasn’t certain if the bomb was safe to be disturbed. Could a disturbance set it off? If the bomb wasn’t handled in two minutes, then the supports of the Sister Ray would be destroyed, and the damages to Junon phenomenal.

---

Jesse heard unusually swift footsteps behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see that a suit was chasing her. Frowning, she cursed under her breath and shoved her right hand into her pants pocket. Her fingers punched into the keys of her phone a message to her group.

JAY: I got a tail.
(she wouldn’t see it)
CHEESE: We’re close! Keep going!

Jesse withdrew her hand, balling it into a fist to power her run. The wind strangely started to pick up. It pulled on her clothes, slowing her until she was forced to stop and firmly plant her feet. She raised her arms before her face, her brown hair whipping about her head until the tornado threw her into the air. The hacker cried out as she was hurled in a violent rotation skyward. When the tornado faded, her body struck the hard turf, the blow winding her as she lay temporarily unmoving.

Before the Turk boss had a chance to apprehend her, a military jeep screeched to a halt before Landon, cutting him off from reaching Jesse. A driver with black face paint and a red headband grinned at the Turk as he aimed his pistol at him.

“Don’t get any ideas,” Biggs warned him.

Wedge was standing in the back. He had a gun to the head of what appeared to be a gravely injured Shinra Trooper. It was Sigurd! The trooper was barely hanging on. He had lost a lot of blood, and strangely, it hadn’t been the SOLDIERs to save him. No; they had abandoned him—probably too caught up in the fight. The baby-face Wedge frowned as menacing as he could muster at Sticks.

“You touch her and this trooper dies!” Wedge threatened.

Great; now I’m a hostage. Just what I wanted to be, Sigurd mused. He stared weakly at Sticks too exhausted to even feel scared. Am I gonna make it?...

---

Caius overheard an incoming message through his small, discreet earpiece, "The hacker has been spotted. I repeat, the hacker has been spotted. If able-bodied please assist in the capture of said hacker. Coordinates will be sent after this prompt." He hurridly looked at his phone to find the coordinates on the screen. Without so much as a goodbye to the other SOLDIERs around him, he set off sprinting towards the coordinates provided.

His initial briefing and call from his superiors was about bringing an end to the situation in Junon, but it gave him an opportunity to continue an investigation he was undertaking. For a long time Caius had become progressively disillusioned with his role in Shinra and of Shinra itself. He had been told stories by people from all over the world of things they had seen happen at the hands of the organisation, things that would make the hardiest men cry. He started by investigating the stories, first by checking news reports and then comparing these to mission reports. So many files were restricted, even to him, that he had to use contacts to release the files to him. Before long he had uncovered several instances of extortion, torture and murder of the innocent. While the number of stories that were accurate were small, each instance of truth he found had never once resulted in disciplinary action. It was almost as if Shinra was hugging the world with the left hand while slitting it's throat with the right.

The main perpetrators of the stories he had seen were the Turks. They operated in almost total secrecy even from the SOLDIERs watchful eyes, it meant that they only answered to their bosses. Caius knew that if he wanted to see the true Shinra that he had to watch the Turks operate. Luckily for him this operation was no secret as they were fully briefed of what the Turks were doing, meaning he would get his opportunity to observe them for himself.

After a few minutes he spotted a tornado in the distance, a female body could clearly be seen slamming hard into the floor as suited individuals approached. Before they could reach her a jeep with several people in screeched to a halt. At the distance he was he was unable to hear their exchange and so moved closer. He kept to the shadows to stay hidden, having no intention of helping the Turks capture the hacker. He wanted to see how they operated and whether they were what his research was showing them to be, they couldn't be allowed to continue to act against the innocent or defenceless with total impunity...