Rain...and a sheer drop. Talk about taking him out of his comfort zone.

They'd put him in a spot beneath the still-unfinished Sector 5 Plate to patrol the underside maintenance area...which was exposed to the weather. Home base was concerned of the possibility that these monster complaints were not unfounded, and that a serious infestation could lead to the overrun of a Mako Reactor by dangerous creatures, thus making it impossible to use and provide energy to the city of Midgar. Eh heh... They weren't so much concerned for the wellbeing of anybody, but rather the loss in profit and resources. Joe took to the lighter side of it, though. As a result of his work, people would be protected, be able to work in safer conditions, and life goes on. The truth is, the complaints were quite justified, though. He'd already carefully executed about a dozen Grashstrikes, and they did indeed infest. They had queens and hunter-killer breeds, a dangerous mutagenic species brought forth by extreme Mako exposure to a species previously more benign. Mac had told him that in the early days of Midgar an Shinra, the reactors were far less efficient than they are now, that huge clouds of the residue in the air would gather like clouds and rain down in the mountains. That was how that massive swamp to the East was formed. That was how the Midgar Zolom was born.

"Proceed to the target."

He was coming across a less-than-sturdy area of catlwalks now. Probings into this area revealed heavy web content in this area, as well as signs of large movement, but no heat. Well, the Queens were like any of their kind: Insectoid reptile-things. The wouldn't show on thermal. They'd be nothing but-

Wait! That noise!

Lots of rotorblades suddenly...and a spotlight!

"What the hell?!"

"GYAA HAH HAH HAH!"



He took off, running along the catwalk as the Shinra robot opened fire. He was an armored and helmeted silhouette in its sights, trying but not quite locking on. Dammit, he'd done it to him again! Sent him on another wild chocobo chase so he could set some death machine on him! Last time, it was a prototype for the new Custom Sweepers, now this! The Valkyrie was an air support unit of great speed and decent firepower, definitely not something he should take on alone, even as a SOLDIER. The thing flitted into view over his path, gunfire pinging against his oversized blade and the metal grill under his feet. He had to get under the plate proper so it couldn't bring so many of its weapons to bear. He had nothing on him that could immediately attack it without taking...a substantial leap of faith.

Despite the loud laughter in his radio, he proceeded on. He couldn't linger anywhere too long, as the machine would simply reposition itself and make whatever cover he found worthless. Only with a big overhead 'ceiling' would the machine fall back, as its rotors would easily get damaged there. The Queen leapt out of cover to attack him, suddenly, and he just leapt past it, letting the ugly creature take the damage intended for him.

"Get out of the way, you worthless beast..."

"The Valkyrie is currently on 'Search And Destroy Mode', sir!"

"Then, give me manual control."

A'say what? The flying robot suddenly arced overhead and slammed down, breaking catwalk and platform rather than operating its guns. Joe leapt high, grabbing the lattice-work and structure holding some of this stuff up, and began climbing.

"I have you now."

"Sir, don't!"

KZZZANK!! Too late. They were just under the undamaged part of the Sector 5 Plate now, and Heidegger had pushed the Valkyrie too high, causing the machine rotors to hit the effective ceiling and ricochet tha machine downwards. Seeing this as a prime opportunity, Joe flung himself down at the thing, arrow-headed sword first down at the middle area between all rotors. With a scream, he struck, jamming the end of his blade in and causing all rotors to lock up, depriving the robot of flight power. They fell...





He hit the ground with a grunt, surrounded by images rapidly fading into darkness.

"Simulation ended! SOLDIER, report to Chairman Heidegger immediately!"

"Fine, fine..."

This is Midgar, the city of Mako, jewel off the Eastern Continent, the most advanced human settlement in the world. There are many towns and other cities, but none quite so grand and humungous as this. If you're a citizen here, you're in luck...unless you live down in the slums, that is. The Plate structure making this a two-level city makes it a massive metropolis on top and a heap of squalor beneath. The man leaving the simulator area now, Joe Hockner, tends to favor a guards barracks so he can be ready to act as need-be. He is engrossed in the security aspect of running the city, but there are many other way to live by, in and out of this place, for...and against Shinra Inc. For instance...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Maddie!"

The voice penetrated the silence like a bullet after the dooor had been opened. Whatever she had been doing here down in the office of the Turks, whatever assignment she'd been busy on, it was interrupted by the red-headed man suddenly bursting in with a smile on his face. Reno... Out of all the Turks, he was the loudest and quite possibly the most boisterous. He was still good at what he did, of course, but you wouldn't be very well inclined to put him on a stealth mission, say. How he got along with Rude, who would just cough politely when getting your attention, was anybody's guess. Strangely, Rude wasn't even with him, this time, as he walked over and held up a disk.

"Boss man wanted me to give you this while he's busy investigating something. Rude and I will be breaking in a new recruit, so it's all on you, for now."

He handed off the disk and left the room. New recruit? Okay, granted, the Turks were spread a little thin, as of now, but really? In any case...yeah...new assignment.



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Elsewhere...



Help...me...

It was always the same.

That sensation of cold and the feeling of dread.

The sounds of something made of flesh dragging itself in the dark.

Something large...

Someone...anyone...

The area was dark, always dark and always metallic.

The voice called out, pleading for aid...

...and the horrible flesh-on-metal sound would continue.

Let me out...please...

It...couldn't be human...could it?

Wha...? What? Oh, she must've dozed off for a second. It happened every now and then, especially when she was at low power. Naturally, she always made sure she wasn't at risk of running out, sometimes...just sometimes...she would doze off...and the dream would return. Naisha did not always dream this dream, but it was most-certainly one that reminded her of the years she had lost to Shinra's experimentation...and yet this dream only started some years back, the same year - in fact - the Gongaga Reactor exploded. The voice was a woman's, but it was neither her own, nor that of her mother's or anybody she knew, so...what was it, then?

More to the point, though, what was she doing right now? Right now, while...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

...Aiko got another goddamn message from those two bastards that ran the Corneo Colliseum. Let's be clear here: There wasn't anything wrong with the money. That was never an issue. They paid up if you won, hands down. However, there were other considerations to be made. As a pro rollerblade racer, her focus was in the races, and in supplimenting the gil she earned from those with a series of jobs that had not included that place for certain reasons. Oh sure, she could probably compete, but to be perfectly honest, you never knew would would happen under Scotch and Kotch's roof, 'cause it was really Don Corneo's roof. There were no rules, and no guarantee that the injuries you got wouldn't be potentially crippling. You took your life into your own hands in that place. That was a damn good reason alone for someone who lived for speed and acceleration. The other reason was, of course, that the Don was scum, and you don't want someone like that looking you over. Don Corneo's other habits were well-known... Still, it was up to her, whatever she was doing right now. After all, she made a living as is, did she not?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

And these were but a few off the lives to be found in Midgar, but now...let us focus our attentions external to the greay city...and instead focus on...the boat. Here, on Shinra Transport #18, were some people of certain interest. They were all bound for the same location and had boarded this boat to get there. West to East, they were on their way from continent to continent, their purposes all different, yet all aimed in one particular direction.

For Tace Delviro, a mercenary he! He was looking to take some bounties or hunt some monsters, the likes of which even Shinra high-rollers may pay to be rid of.

For Ezekiel Cross, answers doth he seek! He returned to his home to find it no longer his to live in. Someone, probably Shinra, had taken everything from him, right under his nose!

And for Kanade Toragami, it was the Avalanche meet! At last, word had come down. They wanted her in Midgar, but there was a problem to handle before that: Junon.

They were all passengers on this boat, perhaps aware of each other in the capacity AS travelers, but not as what they truly were underneath that. Would you know that the bounty hunter was a Wutai sympathizer not attached to Avalanche? Would you know that this Wutai girl WAS a part of that anti-Shinra group? Would you know that the man with a partially-burnt face had avoided death in his hometown by nearly dying to a rare breed of Northern Dragon, the Dark Dragon? Even HE didn't know about that! Kanade would meet a pair of agents in Junon. Ezekiel and Tace might be on their own, assuming they hadn't spoken to anyone else who could possibly help them out. They were now coming into the port at Junon, Shinra's naval and airforce base.

Nobody here is on any wanted posters or anything...right?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Because, you see, there is a problem, a special kind of problem. Namely, there is a kind of specialIST in Junon at this very moment who has been pulled from whatever duties he had in Midgar to follow the lead of a certain man. Said man was the well-suited, quick-witted, and utterly calm Mr. Tseng of the Turks. Following him through the base's halls is a man and his dog, specifically Ranger Krait and Wasteland. The Turk Leader soon found an unoccupied room, led the pair inside, and closed the door.

"You understand, of course, that the need for secrecy is necessary, even within the base itself, at times. There are concerns of Avalanche members possibly infiltrating Shinra with the intention of betraying much information, and this is one particular item which must remain unknown. You have been pulled from your regular duties to assist me in locating a particular person, or rather a type of person. We do not have all of the information, but certain leads quietly gathered through intel require action, and that is why you are here."

From a briefcase he was holding, he produced a damaged and bloody shoe that was currently wrapped in plastic, as well as...a blood pack? Placing it and the case on a nearby table, Tseng then produced a picture of a man on his phone.

"This man is an Ancient, a member of the Cetra people. However, we are not looking for him, but his offspring, whom we believe to be of Wutai descent. I have no picture of that person, I'm afraid, but the information and samples I have provided should allow you to pick up on the trail of a related person such as that, tracking them via the ancestry that makes them so unique."

He put his phone away now.

"The reason I am telling you this is because we have reason to believe this person may be linked with Avalanche, making them a danger whom we must contain and take in for questioning, among other things. I don't want you to intercept them at the boat we believe this person is coming in on. There will be plenty of normal guards for that. No, you will be far more subtle. If you pick up a trail, you are to follow it carefully, report your findings, see if we need to mobiize forces to take down a cell of Avalanche, and - if possible - bring the target to us...alive."

This was, therefore, an important mission, and...the materials given would have indeed been a great help...but there was a problem. The picture in the photo was not Desmond, the father of Kanade Toragami. It was Kirin Ayumu...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Speaking of which, we bring you to a briefing room in Fort Condor...

He had been here since his mother dropped him off to infiltrate Midgar, searching for his father, who had been taken by Shinra for reasons unknown. It was supposed that it was due to his - their - heritage as a Cetra, one of the Ancients, that this had occurred, but it wasn't exactly something you could ask about. Not without exposing oneself. No, Akira Ayumu remained hidden here, in a Shinra tower fortress that had gone against Shinra. Their reason for such was perhaps the kindest one of all: To save lives, rare lives even. Sitting atop the reactor-laden fortress was that of a giant - and we mean bloody massive - condor, a creature which could cause windstorms by its wingbeats alone. In fact, this was the very reason Shinra couldn't just send in some kind of air support to remove it from their precious reactor, which it used to warm its eggs. The beast was so powerful that any air vehicles would simply be flung far away, crash into the ground, or...it would actually get off its perch and wreck them immediately. The avian beast seldom moved, but after the first few attempts to bring a plane or helicopter over failed miserably, Shinra gave up and tried to attack the fort itself from the ground. Difficult going, of course. Apart from the denizens who lived here defending the tower structure, they hired mercenaries whenever they could - paid by the fight - to handle things. Akira himself was always welcome to earn his keep that way or in other ways, and was thus able to sit in on meetings like this one as the Commander began to speak.

"We've received information ahead of time that another Shinra attack is incoming. We weren't expecting it, but since you who are here are here, it's pretty much all hands on deck, as they say. Everyone will be compensated fairly, of course, and we are fortunate to have an agent of Avalanche with us, who brought the information herself upon learning of it. Avalanche has, as you know, always tried to send a little money our way, if not support. Young lady?"

The gathering of mercenaries and Akira would watch as this young lady stepped before them now, giving them a quick wave and a smile.

"Hey there. I'm Jessie. Let's get started, shall we?"



A quirky sort of girl, she was, but...she also knew her stuff as she pointed to a crudely-drawn strategic map of Fort Condor that was on slide projector.

"Right! So, this is our layout...ish. It's not drawn to scale, but basically this is how it is. As some of you already know, the area leading up to the fort has a number of chokepoints that have been used to protect the area from Shinra forces. Now, normally, they've been just sending in the troops and a commander to try and handle things. Unfortunately, that's not the case here."

The next slide was inserted and...oh crap. That's not good. It was a Shinra mech-unit, a Sweeper.

"These have been used primarily in Midgar, but they're coming out with new ones that are programmed to operate outside of Midgar and handle more-extreme conditions. This is a Custom Sweeper Prototype, and I saw these being loaded on a heavy transport. Could be just a few, but they don't call 'em Sweepers for nothin'."

No, they call 'em Sweepers because they sweep their guns around and kill everything in sight under a hail of gunfire.

"Fortunately, I've been uhh...wandering 'round your battle grounds and planting a few surprises for them. Just look for the sign of the cartoon dog and you'll know where they are and how 'splodey they get. And don't worry about tripping them yourselves. The bombs are set to go off with a reading of heavy weight. Just don't get too close! Oh, and I'll be joining you this time around."

With that, she went back into her chair as the Commander of the place took center stage, once more.

"Alright then, you all know the situation. The attack could come at any time. Take your positions and keep a sharp eye out."

Get prepared and get out there... It's gonna be a bumpy night with alot of booming!

Akira Ayumu

Akira was prepared to earn his keep - The young healer had earned a name for himself in previous battles alongside his mother, healing rapidly enough to make the difference between victory and defeat. Nevertheless, he felt intimidated about how it was his first time fighting alone - Well, not really alone, but beside strangers, and he understandably felt nervous. As Jessie told the assembled mercenaries about the explosives set up in various choke points, as well as the Sweeper prototypes, he knew that his fighting style and skills were not optimized for such a foe, which meant another day hanging back in the medical tents unless some emergency happened.

Either way, once the meeting had ended, Akira would go to his allotted room to prepare for the battle, and by that, he was going to commune with the Planet and with his fellow Half-Cetra, Kanade.

Inside his room, Akira knelt on the bed and began to pray to the Planet, slowly opening up his consciousness to its voices. Pain. Suffering. Slow death - The Planet is undergoing all three. If only we can save it, if only we can stop Shinra from draining it...

<Kanade… Kanade…> Akira called out to the former noble, now member of AVALANCHE, <I need to talk to you… This has to be secret… Mother… Mom is dead. Shinra killed her when she tried to get into their HQ, and now I am all alone in Fort Condor and I don’t know what to do! Shinra’s going to attack and while I know we’ll beat them, I’ll still be stuck here. Kanade, please help - You’re the only family I have anymore!>

Tears fell from his eyes, even as the door opened - It was one of the officers, telling him that it was time to fight. That meant no tears as Akira reluctantly ceased the communion - It was time to fight.

Timeskip

Despite Jessie’s explosives, Fort Condor casualties kept mounting due to the Sweepers, making Akira’s job in the medical tents even harder. Stress was building up, although not enough to create a Limit Break.

“Cure!” Akira shouted as he healed another wounded mercenary just enough to put him back in action. Then he downed an Ether provided by a fellow member of the medical staff, even as the sounds of battle and explosions drew ever closer to the medical tents - The group needed to evacuate soon, but with the large numbers of wounded and Shinra’s pitiless approach to problems, that’d cause almost as many problems as staying.

A noise can be heard outside - It clearly wasn’t friendly. Akira, sighing, took out his Naginata and said to the Head Medic, “Evacuate the place - I’ll hold off the enemy!”

Without waiting to see if his recommendation was followed, Akira walked out of the tent, his Ninja training kicking in as he scanned the area around him. He then said as he faced a rocky outcropping, “You can come out now, you know - I’m on to you...”

The response was a bullet aimed at his head, which was parried by his Naginata’s blade. Several Shinra grunts then broke out of cover, daring to charge the boy in melee. Big mistake.

“Aero!” cried the boy as he surrounded himself with a small tornado, a small tornado which broke up the enemy’s cohesion and allowed him to launch a flurry of attacks (his ‘Flurry’ skill) on the temporarily-helpless soldiers, leaving them bleeding out on the ground.

“You brat!” said the Grunt Commander as he shot at Akira with his sidearm, only for the young man to run in zig-zags, dodging the bullets with his ninja training as he launched another Aero, this time a gust of wind which ought to blow the enemy off his feet. It did, and Akira was now on him before he can get up.

“This. Is. For. Mother!” he shouted as he brought his Naginata down on the Grunt Commander’s head, dealing a final blow to the helpless man...

Three floors below the lobby of the Shinra Electric Power Company’s headquarters, in a dimly lit office marked “General Affairs: Auditing”, a young blonde woman barely in her twenties sat alone, enjoying the last few sips of her mediocre cup of vending machine coffee while seated between two plastic plants. She often came down here on her breaks or lunch just to enjoy a little peace and quiet - a rare and precious treat in the sea of lights and bodies called Midgar. There used to be a time when the office would always have somebody around, but nowadays she was alone more often than not. That was fine. Solitude suited her well.

Taking the final sip of the lukewarm, bitter drink, the woman reviewed her notes neatly arranged upon the table before her. To most anyone who would read them, the words upon the pages would seem little more than the mundane musings and observations of a bored journalist diligently jotting down every detail of her day. Yet hidden away in the depths of the author’s mind was a cipher that could reveal the journal behind the journal. A list of names, locations, dates, and times that tie very bad people to their dirty little secrets. It was a list that proved oh so very helpful when it came time to write up her reports.

Because that was her life now - snoop around where she didn’t belong and expose the skeletons thought long hidden in forgotten closets. With a few flicks of her pen, she would effectively be signing the death warrant for some poor foolish soul who dared to believe that he or she could oppose the will of Shinra. Or perhaps it would be for some menace to society? Was there really a difference between the two anymore? Her eyes glanced over towards the vacant desk which sat just beyond the head of the table. A morbid thought crossed her mind.

Would her own death warrant cross his desk one day? And if so, would he struggle to sign it like she did now?

A hollow laugh escaped her. No, he wouldn’t hesitate. Not in the slightest.

When she had been recruited, there had been no fewer than twelve other members that would frequent the cozy, little office tucked away in the basement. Now there were only four. The others had turned traitor and it fell upon the department head to eliminate them. Which he did. A chill ran down the woman’s spine, causing her to shudder. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how much that must weigh upon him.

He had once told her that the job was often unpleasant, but necessary. The woman found herself often thinking on this when her determination wavered. It helped steady her. The job was necessary and would be completed, no matter what. That allowed her to distance herself from her actions. She didn’t act on her own decisions, she was merely a tool to be used as the company saw fit. It was dehumanizing in a way, but it served to smother the guilt she could feel festering within her.

She turned her gaze from the desk back towards her blank report and resigned herself to her fate before beginning to paint the portrait of a man’s secret life as a terrorist operative.

“Maddie!” a familiar voice cracked through the silence like a whip. The woman tensed, her eyes narrowing at the man’s disrespectful entrance. Reno. Of her remaining colleagues, Reno was probably the one she liked the least. He was loud, abrasive, and unprofessional. And he was much too quick to use her actual name. Granted, they were in the Office, but such carelessness could endanger not only her, but her assignment.

Still, he was her senior within the department and that demanded a certain level of respect. She hopped to her feet and offered the man a customary bow. Maddie met his smile with a face carved from stone, unwilling to show either the uncertainty she had been wrestling with only moments before or her general disdain for him. “Sir?” she asked.

"Boss man wanted me to give you this while he's busy investigating something. Rude and I will be breaking in a new recruit, so it's all on you, for now." he explained, handing over a disk. Maddie quickly placed the disk securely in the front pocket of her lab coat, nodding in acknowledgement. As quick as he appeared, he left once more, restoring Maddie’s precious peace.

So four would become five, huh? Well, to say they were short handed at the moment would be putting it lightly. Even the head of the department, Tseng himself, was out in the field. Quite frankly, Maddie was surprised that they hadn’t brought in any new recruits before now. Although she could understand Tseng’s hesitation to do so. If he even had any say in the matter nowadays.

Her mind lingered on the disk as a mix of both excitement and dread overcame her. Still, she resisted the urge to check it out immediately. There was no guarantee that even here, the department’s office in the Shinra headquarters, was truly secure. She would check it out later, in the privacy of her own home.

But for now, she needed to finish condemning a man to death.

---

The train ride to Sector 6 was uneventful, if not a bit crowded. But when was it not? Maddie had toyed with the thought of purchasing a vehicle, but ultimately decided against it. The highways almost came to a stand-still at peak hours. It really wouldn’t be that much faster than the train in the long run, despite being waaay more expensive. It just didn’t seem worth it.

At the station, she had little trouble flagging down a cab to take her the rest of the ride home. She lived halfway across the Sector, which was a pain, she had to admit. But what could she do? Moving wasn’t an option. She got dropped off at a drug store a couple blocks from her home and, after making a quick trip inside, walked the rest of the way.

From the time she got off the train to the moment she entered her apartment building, Maddie could feel a presence nearby. Somebody had been following her. Again. The person had been on her trail for about two weeks by this point.

And he was, to be honest, quite shit at this whole stalking thing.

He was a younger man, maybe twenty or so. Dark hair, pale skin, baggy clothes. Telltale signs of a slum rat. Maddie had first noticed him trailing her on her way home from a dropoff in the slums. Then again the next day on the train to work. He tended to stare. It didn’t take an expert in espionage to make him as Avalanche. He wasn’t the first tail the group had put on her, but he was easily the worst. Which was encouraging - a group like Avalanche often prioritizes putting their best assets on the biggest threats. This clown’s presence suggested that she was rather low on their list. Considering her cover as a Shinra scientist, it was to be expected.

After entering her apartment building and climbing four flights of stairs, Maddie finally reached her apartment. A sigh escaped her as she stood at the door collecting herself for a few moments before finally unlocking it.

“Hey Mom? I’m home.” she called out as she entered the dark apartment. There was no reply, but judging from the flashes of lights and the entirely too loud droning of the local news anchorman coming from down the hall, her mother was at least out of bed. Which was a good thing.

Maddie made her way down the hall, stopping by her room to remove her lab coat. She hung it neatly on a hanger on the back of the door before continuing down the hall towards the living room, but not before transferring the disk from her coat pocket to her pants pocket. It was much too valuable to leave unguarded. Even here.

“Mom?” she called again as she got closer.

“What?” a woman replied curtly. Maddie could tell by her tone that her mother was not exactly in the best mood. Still…

“I picked up your medicine.” she announced, using the cheeriest tone she could muster. As she reached the living room she held the discreet baggie holding the pill bottle up to show the woman on the couch.

“Flush ‘em. I don’t need them.” she groaned, not taking her eyes off the face of the man handing out the daily dose of Shinra-approved™ news updates. Maddie’s mother often spent most of her time in her bedroom, but occasionally she would drag herself out to the living room to hear all about how the world was going to shit, which would just reaffirm her decision to spend most of her days in bed. It was a vicious circle, really.

“Mom, I really think you should take them this time. Doctor Faris said -” Maddie attempted to appeal to her mother’s reason, but she slipped. Shouldn’t have said the doctor’s name. That drew her mother’s gaze for the first time in the conversation. The look of pure disgust in her eyes was enough to twist Maddie’s stomach into knots.

“Doctor Faris can kiss my ass. Those pills don’t do nothing but make me a zombie. I ain’t taking them.” she spit out with pure vitriol. Maddie could feel a bit of resentment aimed towards her as well, but it was her fault. She knew better.

“Mama, you...I...they help you. You really need to take them. If you don’t, he’s going to drop you as a patient.” the daughter whined as she joined her mother on the couch. Getting her to take her medicine was more or less a lost cause. But still, she had to at least try. What kind of a daughter would she be if she just ignored her mother’s suffering?

“Let him. I don’t need them.” she replied very matter-of-factly. She had returned her attention to the television. The conversation was over.

“Just think about it? Please? For me?” Maddie pleaded while pulling her Mom into a hug.

“Yeah yeah…” the older woman muttered while enduring the hug. Roughly translated, it meant ‘I don’t want to talk about this anymore’, which Maddie could understand. She was being rather pushy.

For a few moments, the pair sat watching the news in silence. The main story was a fluff piece on President Shinra. He spoke about his dream of a brighter future through mako energy. To Maddie he spoke a lot of words but said very little. The sentiment was nice though. Eventually Maddie got up and stretched before beginning to make her way back down the hall towards the kitchen. She paused at the doorway, however, and turned back.

“Have you eaten anything today?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“I ain’t been hungry.” Mom answered, confirming Maddie’s suspicion.

“Mama, you have to eat.” the daughter nagged.

“I said I ain’t been hungry.” the mother rebuked.

“Well I am. I’ll make something.” Maddie announced. “Salmon sound good?”

“I don’t like salmon.” she stated.

That caught Maddie rather off-guard. “Oh, come on now. I know you like salmon.” she said. “You used to cook it all the time.”

“I don’t like your salmon.” her mother replied curtly again. That one stung a little bit - Maddie was rather proud of her cooking - but she didn’t let it show. Her mother was brutally blunt. It was part of her charm.

“Okay, how about fried rice?” she offered up as an alternative. It was Dad’s favorite. She couldn’t help but feel a little dirty about pulling that one, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

“Whatever. I ain’t hungry.” the cranky woman replied. For her, that was about as enthusiastic as she got, which helped Maddie rebound from the salmon comment.

“Fried rice it is.” she said with a grin before disappearing into the hall. On her way back to the kitchen, Maddie stopped to grab her laptop and a pair of earbuds. While she prepared the meal, she booted up the computer and inserted the disk.

She was greeted by Tseng before he would go on to detail an additional assignment. She was to identify and locate a rather nasty little hacker. As luck would have it, a couple of the handles included were ones that she recognized. She had suspected that they might have been the same person, but hadn’t actually needed to confirm that for any reason.

Until now.

A small groan escaped her. It’s not exactly a small request to hunt down an anonymous individual from the WWN, especially if they’re the type to REALLY enjoy their anonymity. But it wasn’t impossible either. She had a hunch that her hacker was most likely somewhere here in Midgar. Some of the interactions she’d had with the suspected alt-handles seemed to suggest that anyway. And besides, the truly prolific ones liked to be at least somewhat nearby so that they can enjoy the chaos they’ve created.

In any case, it couldn’t hurt to try to get a lead. After memorizing the list of handles, Maddie deleted the file, ejected the disk from the laptop, then proceeded to break the disk into four pieces that she would discreetly dispose of across the city. She then went about connecting her company phone to the laptop, transferring over some files, replacing her company phone with her Burner #1, and finally transferring the files over to it. Once copied, Maddie connected to an unlisted network. While the exact details escaped her, from Maddie’s understanding the unlisted network was exceptionally difficult for Shinra to monitor. It was the closest thing to a truly anonymous network that she was aware of at least. And, due to this, was pretty popular among the cyberterrorist crowd.

She dropped a message in a chat room, advertising the code used in Shinra’s prototype Sweeper mech as well as detailed blueprints for sale. The Advanced Weaponry Division had already moved on to a newer model using a different code base, but that wasn’t exactly public knowledge. She had gotten the greenlight to leak the information if need be. And need, as it would happen, seemed to be. It would be a reach - Maddie had no way of knowing if her hacker had an interest in Shinra mech tech, but it was worth a shot. All she could do now was hope for a bite.

With the “ad” completed, Maddie finished preparing the meals and took them to the living room. Mom wouldn’t eat unless it was in front of the television…

---

After her dinner, Maddie showered and changed into her streetwear before heading back out. She took another cab back to the station and this time took the train down below the plate. Her destination would be the slums of Sector 6. She had an arrangement she had to make at one of the seedier bars in the Wall Market. Of course, she had to hope that her contact wouldn’t mind her bringing a plus one. The tail was following her once more. Maddie had noticed him slinking around a convenience store near her home on her way out. And here he was again, riding her train. In a way, she pitied the guy. If he pulled this on someone less composed, he was likely to end up dead.

Maybe that was just what fate had in store for him? It was cruel.

She got off the train at the station in Sector 5 and walked the rest of the way. Her pursuer lagged behind, but shadowed her nonetheless.

Once in the bustling and extravagant shrine to decadence lovingly referred to as “Wall Market”, it was easy for Maddie to lose her tail in the crowd. She doubled in and out of various stores and restaurants before finally making her way to the bar. It was seedy dive with an equally sketchy clientele, but it served the purpose. For a Shinra employee to step foot inside, they’d either have to be insane or have a death wish. To be honest, Maddie hadn’t yet figured out which of those camps she quite fit into just yet.

She ordered a cheap drink and found a table to herself where she would wait for the contact. In the meanwhile, she kept checking her burner. She found that if it seemed like someone was approaching her, she could fake a phone call to dissuade them. It didn’t always work, but it served its purpose well enough.

The contact she was to meet was a high ranking individual in one of the local Avalanche cells. It wasn’t often that he made appearances in public. It was also his decision to have the meet in the classy joint Maddie now found herself in. While she had no way of confirming it, she suspected that a number of the clientele were not actually here for a cheap drink and a good time. If not Avalanche outright, then likely Avalanche sympathizers? It was hard to tell.

The man had arranged a meeting with one Naomi Chambers, a disgruntled Shinra scientist detailed to the Advanced Weaponry Division who had leaked information regarding a Shinra operation on Fort Condor, including their big bad Sweeper prototype that would be utilized in the raid. She also assisted in the assembly of a number of explosive devices that would be used in the fort’s defence. So for the meet, that’s who Maddie would become.

Unbeknownst to the contact however, the “prototype” was already outdated before it ever saw the battlefield. And the explosives? While hers were made to spec, she spread a less effective formula to a number of other explosive specialists among the cells. It shouldn’t have been enough to raise any red flags - the bombs would still work - but ‘Naomi’ would sleep better at night knowing that she put some soldiers in the hospital rather than the morgue.

The department labeled much of what she did as “acceptable damage.” It made her sick sometimes, but it was the job. If it wasn’t her, it’d be somebody else, so she might as well do it. At first she merely dropped leaks. Small but frequent. Then, as if she were growing more unsatisfied, the leaks grew more substantial. Eventually somebody had reached out to her to arrange a meet. And at that meet, she was officially “recruited” to Avalanche.

In the three months since then, she’s developed a bit of reputation for making high quality explosives in a rather timely fashion. Apparently it’s a rather in demand skill set, with Naomi only knowing of a few others within the organization. A woman with the cell based out of the Sector 7 slums. An elderly man in Sector 2. Some whiz kid in Junon. There were likely more, but those were the only ones on which she had any intel.

Naomi caught herself glancing more and more at the clock on her phone. The contact was late. She didn’t like late. It was disrespectful. Still, she would wait. Rumors suggested that the man she was to meet was putting together something big. Something that would “shake the Shinra fatcats to their core.” There was a chance that he was just full of hot gas, but Naomi would hear him out nonetheless. If something big were truly to be in the works, Maddie would love to hear all about it.

So she would wait, nursing her drink and checking her phone. She was getting a lead on a terrorist tonight damn it, be they cyber, eco, or otherwise.

Naomi Chambers had all the time in the world.

Naisha groaned as she stirred awake from her dream." That dream again..." She mumbled, placing a hand on her face, hiding her eyes from a blinding light. After a few moments, the blinding light proved to be the screen on her computer terminal. She was still in her wheel chair, sitting in front of the PC. Seemed she had fallen asleep while browsing the web. The sound of faint music could be heard from the headphones that had slipped off her head in her sleep." Aghh... ugh..." She groaned and pulled away from the desk, resting her back against the chair, letting her head hang back as she stared at the ceiling for a bit.

She was in her home, a somewhat cozy little place in the slums. Cozy might be an overstatement, but it had what she needed and was cheap to get through...a hmm completely legal means. Her home consisted of 2 garages that had the wall between them demolished to form one big space. Cheap, sturdy and well... hard to find. It also served as a convenient place where she could freely work on all her drones and machines since a decent part of her income came from repairing machines. As such one of the garages was her living space and the other was the work area." What time is it...?" She mumbled, looking at the clock on the screen, grimacing and pulling the wheel chair away from the desk, moving it over to the small walled off area that served as bathroom and rest room. It had convenient railing for her to hold for support and after, with quite a few struggles, pulling herself up to a standing position she walked to the sink, washing her face, before deciding to get a shower. She still smelled like machine oil and turpentine.

About an hour later, she walked back to her bed with her cane for support and picked one of the spare sets of clothing she kept folded in the nightstand. As she started putting on her new set of clothes, her eyes lingered on the big scar that was on her chest. The uneven darkened skin and the sharp edges. She could recall the moment her mother's blade pierced her back then... Why did she hide her away back then? Naisha often wished that her mother stayed with her even if it meant getting caught. She was fine with dying with her parents... now she was alone... all alone. Shinra took everything." ...SHIN...RA..." She ground her teeth, as she clenched her hand and fingers across the scar, leaving deep red marks where her nails slid across bare skin. With eyes filled with bloodlust, her heartbeat sped up. She could hear the pulsating sound inside her head. It almost hurt to be honest, but eventually she calmed down enough and resumed dressing up. It's been so many years... yet she wasn't close enough to getting revenge. She wanted to speed up, but then another side of her stopped her. If she got sloppy, she'd die before killing anyone of importance. She needed to get a grasp to kill one of the high operatives... yes. One step at a time.

Standing up once more, with a bit of a trembling hand she pulled the wheel chair over and settled in it just as she felt her legs starting to strain." I... should be resting more." She eventually concluded at the apparent general lack of energy she was facing. Lack of sleep and not too great diet often left her with somewhat of a lacking health, even more so. With a frown she moved to the fridge and pulled an energy drink and a store bought sandwich, not the most classy meal, but beggers can't be choosers. Besides she wasn't a good cook. With those in place she moved back to the computer terminal. In a way it was her baby, she made sure it was tapped into the network at a place that wasn't close to here, in fact just for that she had set up a few hundreds meters of cabling. Origin of the signal if it was actually ever traced should lead to another building some distance away, giving her ample time to bail. Of course she never planned to be traced to begin with.

Putting on the news to play, she started to browse the usual networks after going through the security motions of setting up the system to appear as if accessing from another town, setting redundant fake traces and all the other good stuff. Finally accessing with a fake ID, she started to look through an anonymous network. She had snatched some Shinra data last time she got into their network, a bunch of banking data, she made utmost sure they hadn't realized that one. She hadn't touched a gil from those accounts. The moment she did, they would be all over it and the banking codes would be changed. So it was use once only deal. Of course it was also possible they were aware of it and were waiting for someone to use those bank account codes for them to crack down and capture. She had felt she gotten them a tad too easily after all. So for those reasons she preferred to just sell those off, if someone else got snatched, not her problem... maybe she'd sell it to AVALANCHE... they likely needed the funds. So she set up her own post to advertise the need of people who could launder big amounts of stolen Shinra money.

After dealing with that annoyance, she was just about to leave the network and go dig around the junkyard for parts when a specific post caught her attention." Prototype Shinra Sweeper? Really?" She mumbled to herself and investigated the post, rather... well crafted post. The code also seemed authentic for Shinra. She knew, after hacking into their networks so many times, if she couldn't recognize the coding style she'd be blind and might as well retire. So... from the avaible preview, authentic code and possibly authentic sweeper schematics. The code itself she didn't really care that much about. She could code her own, the schematics however did pick her interest. Somehow she felt iffy however, it was too... coincidental. Why on earth would Shinra schematics clearly prototype appear on the market. However Naisha did see herself using some of the mech's elements to incorporate into her own drones. It didn't hurt to at least get some info about the offer if she was careful. So she sent a message to the person who set the offer, expressing her interest and giving them the address to a secure anonymous chat where they could discuss further along with a time to begin the discussion. With that she took her phone, set secure access to the chat and headed for the junkyard where all manners of machinery and metal scrap were tossed at daily basis. She wasn't after anything specific, she'd try her luck and see what pops up. Going out of her place she locked the door behind herself and started slowly moving down the streets. She wasn't using the chair's motors and controls, better save those for when they really mattered after all. Batteries couldn't be recharged on the fly and if she needed to escape from someone or something she'd need all the juice in them she could get.

Some of the people whom she met were familiar faces from living here for such a long time so she waved at them and exchanged greetings and other pleasantries like asking what was going on, where they were going and so on. All in all, she was a slum kid after all.

Aiko couldn't help but to tighten her grip as she read the message on her smartphone with an annoyed, and slightly angry expression. She knew very well who that message was from. Scotch and Kotch, the owners of the Corneo Colliseum and scum that worked for Don Corneo... The biggest of them all... The Colliseum was a big place with a lot of money to be made and a good place to earn recognition and respect, but in the other hand, your very life was held as a collateral if you failed... Aiko had competed and raced in the Colliseum a few times before. Unfortunately she ended up attracting the attention from people she shouldn't have due to her skills. Scotch and Kotch were already worrying as they are but the most worrying of them all was definitely Don Corneo himself. She only had to deal directly with him twice, but she was painfully aware of the type of person he was... What made her even more angry was that he also knew who she was. He knew how skillful she was, he knew that sooner or later she would end up going back to his Colliseum when she needed money and more than anything... He knew that she liked the adrenaline... and she hated being played by Don Corneo and his dogs like that.

"I can't stand these guys..." Aiko said with long sigh as she slumped on the metal chair she was on before throwing her smartphone on the couch, a few meters away. While it would be considered small for a family, the small apartment that she lived was perfect for someone who was living alone, especially with her petite frame. Another good point of it was that since it was a small apartment, the rent was pretty cheap for the location it was, being in a rather good part of Midgar, it wasn't as good as the places in the upper cities, by far, but it also wasn't as bad as the slums.

Aiko sighed again before turning back to the well lit table where all her tools and a half disassembled motorized rollerblade was lying over, it's pieces carefully organized besides it while the other one was already on one of her feet. The model of rollerblade in the table used to be a professional grade one but after so much tinkering, it was almost a completely different and unique model. Carefuly and precisely calibrated and regulated to fit Aiko's preferences, replaced internal components in order to handle the impact, pressure and to fulfill Aiko's ever growing need for speed, it was certainly not the work of a beginner. Just like most personal rollerblades from true racers, it was considered a treasure by their owners, but almost utterly useless for any other rollerblader. After completely reassembling the rollerblade and making sure everything was in the right place she turned to the side, sliding the metal chair a bit back to wear it. Standing up and going towards the couch, she grabbed her smartphone and wrote a quick reply to the message she received.

"Will think." she wrote before she putting the smartphone into her pocket. She hated herself for giving that answer but the truth was that she would need the money, sooner or later. The real question was if she was desperate enough to go the the Colliseum or not.

Heading towards the door, she locked it behind her as she calmly got down the stairs. Most of the people that lived nearby already knew very well what Aiko was going to do when she got out of her apartment while wearing her rollerblades and the special suit. She had just finished tweaking them and making a few upgrades to their internal components and she really wanted to test it out and there was no better place to do it other than the maze-like city of Midgar. Since she was also known around the area, it was never hard to get information about what was happening in the streets, people seemed to like her due how chill she was and never got into problems with anyone. For that matter, she had a few people in mind. In a city like Midgar, information was important. It could lead her to potentially profitable jobs or tell her if someone had their eyes on her... Like that damn Don Corneo...

It's an interesting thing being a Ranger. You could be trailing a suspected Shinra detractor one moment, and the next running down an Avalanche terrorist in the underplate workings. Other times it's alot of waiting and watching and cold stale coffee while on a stake out or boring intel. gathering. Or there are times like this, when you're pulled off a solo patrol of the more rugged slums of Midgar, trudging through some of the more seedier parts of the city, making sure none of the gangs or people down there are trying to create trouble for Shinra assets down in the Slums. As he'd been following Wasteland into a supposedly gang claimed area, his phone had rung. A Shinra Handler telling him to expect a helicopter extraction within moments. The big Shinra heli had landed in a clearing among the slum tenaments he was in. Soon he'd boarded up and off to Junon he had been taken.

Wasteland had been the first of the pair to hope down out of the helicopter. And promptly mark one of the rear wheels of the chopper before it lifted off after Alexander Krait, Shinra Ranger had stepped off as well. He chuckles, "Come on girl." He says but he doesn't get far as he sees the right hand of his immediate boss. Tseng, leader of the Turks. Lex takes a moment to look around to see if Rude or Reno are about, he's always liked the pair, they're great guys.

Soon though they are striding down the halls of Junon, Wasteland pacing at Lex's feet, sniffing as they go but staying close. And soon the room. As Tseng began to detail the situation, Wasteland made a lap around the room. Until a grunt and a motion brought her back to Lex's side. As the shoe is produced then the blodo pack. Lex knows it's not just his skills in tracking and intell gathering that are needed but his canine partners natural senses. This is a tracking mission that they both are needed for. He looks at the pair of items then back and looks at the picture. He brings out out own PDA, quickly tapping it to Tseng's, copying the image to his own. He looks at it on his own PDA briefly then blinks, "Wait...this man is a Cetra? An Ancient? What's an Ancient doing working for those Terrorists, Avanlance?" He narrows his eyes, "Never mind, that's not a problem for this mission." He nods and picks up the items, "We'll find him sir. Find, Track, Observe and Capture. Should be simple enough." He nods then turns away, "With your leave sir. We'll get started. Head on out, and get Wasteland a scent."

The pair walked back down the hall ways, picking their way past guardsmen, and skirting around a trio of SOLDIER Threes who were jabbering about something. Finally they are out, into the open, the front muster yard of the Junon base. Lex looks at the picture he copied from Tseng's cellphone, then pulls out the shoe first, taking it out of the bag. He looks to Wasteland, "Hup..." He calls, their command for attention. Wasteland gives him her immediate and full attention. Lex nods giving her a pat, "Alright? Scent..." Another command. Simple and to the point. Wasteland leaning forward to take in the scent, and also licks at the bloody shoe, getting a taste for it too. For a moment she huffs at the shoe, gaining as much as she can. Lex stands there waiting. Then with a ruff Wasteland lets him know she has the scent. He places the shoe away, "Alright." He looks around, and spots a Shinra long range recon jeep. He walks over and calls to one of the guards, "Keys for this? It's being requisitioned by the Ranger/Canine Division." One of the guards almost falls all over himself to cough up the keys, and soon with a huff from Wasteland and a roar of an engine they are off, this is how his mission begins. Driving down to the port, Mr. Tseng had said this target is arriving by boat, best place to start? Junon Port of course. Watch, Track and Capture. They can do that.

"ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS! WE HAVE ARRIVED AND DOCKED IN JUNON. ALL PASSENGERS WHOSE DESTINATION PLEASE GET YOUR BELONGINGS AND PREPARE TO DISEMBARK!" The PA system blasted out with a chirpy female voice. The sudden and loud noise would startle awake Tace who had been napping for the past several hours during the boat ride. He rolled off the seat and onto the less than sparkling carpet of the ship.

"Finally I can get off this ship and stretch my legs." He'd think to himself as he got up. Tace would pick his belongings up and throw the various bottles of drinks and snack wrappers away. He was almost done, but he had one extra step involved in getting off the transport. He walked around the transport ship and went from where the people where and closer to the cargo. He presented the ticket and was let in. "I'm here to get my ride out."

The clerk would eyeball it and then show him where it was. "Wait, you paid Gil to transport this piece of shit?" The clerk would say incredulously as the shutter rolled up showing the vehicle locked in place.

"Yup. Now let's see if it got banged up on the ride here." Tace replied without any embarrassment. Meanwhile the clerk would continue to stare is disbelief. Nothing was damaged that already wasn't to begin with. He'd then request aid in taking out the restraints and then he'd roll the vehicle out. Once it was out of its box, he'd then would be able to drive out out of the transport and into the docks. The engines would sputter loudly like if they had roused from a long slumber and then his engine would rumble quite pleasantly. His car was something looked like something cobbled from trash. But little did they know this thing handled like a dream; and could haul ass faster than its rusted and patchwork chassis looked like it could handle.

However, there wasn't much to show off as he was moving real slowly what with all the traffic around him. He was also partially busy with looking up some eateries nearby. Even with all that he ate, he desired something more substantial than soda, energy drinks, and various snacks he ate on the transport. His current plan was now thus: get out of this area, find a place to eat, and then find the next job. Jace would tap away at the tiny buttons of his phone with one hand as he inched closer to where the exit was.

If you're in this city, you're doing one of two things: You're working for Shinra or you're working in spite of Shinra. Sometimes, it's even both. The Shinra Power Company came to be some years ago, revolutionizing power usage with the bedazzling Mako Reactors and all the applications to be found with that power, and it carefully steamrolled or absorbed so much in the world that it became a kind of corporate government power over regions and much of the East and West Continents, holding sway over those who live as far north as Icicle and as far south as Mideel. The last great holdout had, of course, been the country of Wutai, the mysterious nation of untold wonders and secrets. As a people, as a culture, they didn't really see much value in the ways of Shinra. No desire for the mechanisms or power reactors. No wish for the distractions of their normal lives that their presence would bring.

So, Shinra forced their way. Enter the Wutai War.

With that came the influx of the SOLDIERS who would be considered war heroes, at least until such time as they burnt out from what you might call 'Mako Exhaustion'. Some SOLDIERS suffered from the breaking down of their bodies as the surge of energy coursing through them from the day of their Mako exposure either ran its course or overburdened the body's natural system. Some say that Sephiroth, the miraculous and undefeatable warrior, may have felt this happen at a critical moment during a monster attack, causing him to be killed and eaten.

Now, as stated, the surviving SOLDIERS of the war were considered heroes, although some were not so sure. Sephiroth was the SOLDIER with the highest kill ratio on that assignment. Joe's mentor was a man with one of the lowest, finding himself not wanting 'to bathe such a beautiful country in blood'. His views were unpopular, but his skill landed him as a First Class SOLDIER, better known for his durable force and sudden strikes. That was the man that Joe had traded swords with, a good man. Naturally, the likes of Heidegger - who would rather see to it that no fists of opposition could be raised ever again - didn't like him. That, and because the burly military man was a pain in the ass, was the main reason Joe hated him.

"Is there some reason I'm always hit with surprises when it's my turn for these sim evaluations?"

"A SOLDIER is expected to deal with the unexpected at all times. You should know that."

"The Valkyrie, though? That's on my side."

"I'm not at liberty to discuss why or why not a Shinra robot on-location might decide to attack. Perhaps it malfunctioned. I don't care. It's not as though it's my division. I run the might and manpower of Shinra Inc., and I command the obedience and respect of my men."

Well, he was half right. The men were afraid of him and obeyed him and all the executive staff out of fear of being canned or worse. Heidegger may look like an aging general on his way out, but the fact is that he could still punch a man flat out or toss such a man one-handed, and he didn't take any SOLDIER enhancements. Even a SOLDIER like Joe would be on-guard around such a man.

"You're a Third-Class because, while you have the strength, your mind is undisciplined and you lack the common decency to even salute your superiors."

Joe knew that most of the senior staff didn't like him, and the feeling was mutual because of it. Mac, Captain Gonovich, had vouched for his innate skill and something clicked in their minds that this was a good idea, that ANY veteran of the Wutai War from SOLDIER should pass on their abilities to the next generation before it was lost. However, Scarlet couldn't care less about it, Heidegger objected to seeing 'some upstart kid' getting fast-tracked without time in the guard company first, and Hojo... Well, the Professor had objections to him being alive, so maybe Heidegger was trying to get him killed on that man's behalf.

"You're an insubordinate mess and I don't like you, but we've invested you, so you'd better be worth your weight in gil, understand?"

It was about this time that someone decided to "Ahem." their way into this hallway browbeating. It was a lady's voice, but...as you can guess, this was no lady. Scarlet was - no question - an attractive woman, but...you wouldn't want to have anything to do with her. She treated men as objects...literally, sometimes...and cared more about how her own projects came along than any humane concerns. The blonde was head of the Advanced Weapons Division, something of a business rival to the Public Safety Division...which is why she and Heidegger got together like oil and water. Where he was rage and strength, she was biting and cutthroat. They deserved each other.

"If you're quite done talking down to your man, I need to borrow him."

"Not happening. This one's going into the brig for his insolence."

"Again? So predictable of you. And yet, if you do place him in the brig, I can't send him on this assignment for me, which the President would like handled sooner than later."

"Really now...?"

Uh oh... I don't like the sound of this.

"He's all yours! Do your worst! GYA HAH HAH HAH HAAAAH!"

Shiiit...

Truthfully, Joe wasn't afraid of the directors of Shinra Inc. like so many other people, but rather that they might decide to really throw the army at him, instead of only 'testing him'. Something was going on. Most days, he did patrols, smacked down some bandits, traced a thief or two, and generally kept the peace. It was when the higher-ups got involved that life took a serious wobble...

"Is this about the mission in Gongaga-"

"No, not even remotely. We haven't found evidence of your claims, so you just keep quiet about that and follow me."

Grumbling, he did so and was led to a break room where Scarlet told everyone to shove off and had him close the door. Soon after, she'd used her remote uplink via phone to activate the room's TV and show off...weapon schematic.

"As you may be aware, the Shinra Weapons Division has developed a new Sweeper Prototype for use in the field, the Custom Sweeper. The current line-up has been dubbed as the X-Series, and they're being used as test subjects to iron out all of the kinks before we go into full production. However, one of these devices has gone rogue, the X-1 Prototype. A fault had developed in the programming and I want you to take it out."

"You don't want to retrieve it for study?"

She put her hand over her mouth and let out a "Kya hah hah hah hah hah..." before saying "Why would I want that? The other nine are running perfectly fine!", aaand that was the end of that. The schematics were deleted from the screen and he was told to get to work. An app for receiving tracking data would be uploaded to his phone.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sweepers... They were one of the most successful mech units produced by Shinra, to date. They and their sister mechs, the Cutters, were highly-mobile killing machines, bipedal engines of destruction. The basic Sweeper is a makes one immediately think of a truck on legs. It's heavy, like a vehicle, and its feet have wheels to move it along when footpower isn't enough. They have complex programming that allows them to self-activate when an intruder is in proximity, and they self-DEactivate when the job is done. A machine with a modocum of reasoning power - to determine friend from foe automatically, and to make combat decisions based upon opposition, terrain, personal status, etc. - is a dangerous thing indeed. And this was only the version made chiefly for Midgar. Once it was clear that Sweepers outside of the city often got lost or confused in field tests, they built a further model. Thus, the Custom Sweeper Prototype - or the X-Series of Sweepers - was born.

From the leaked file that Naisha had seen, the CSP was a dramatic improvement upon the basic design. The dimensional reasonings of your basic Sweeper, you'd compare to a Roomba. The X-Series understood the changing dynamics of a contoured land and how to deal with them. More than that, it had greater suspension, greater speed, stronger guns, the missle volleys, the flame projector, and the grapple chains meant to stun and capture...along with a knock-out-gas spray. The Custom Sweepers were going to be able to search and retrieve, longterm, which meant that you could have a machine that never slept and never stopped pursuing you straight from Midgar or Junon...and that was a problem. Whoever was leaking the schematics knew what they were putting on the market here. It was a warning to some, a delectable prize for others. Buying Sweepers and Cutters on the black market was always expensive. Imagine if you could just build them yourself...

But for now, Naisha was headed for the local junkyard, in which patrons are cautioned of the presence of monsters The usual riff-raff creatures tended to live here: Wererats, Gorgers, Lesser Drakes, etc. A woman in a wheelchair might be considered easy prey by them, but then they didn't know about her special drones. This was also good for the human side of things. For while plenty of slum dwellers knew her by face and by chair and were generally accommodating...some of the local toughs would see her as a vulnerable wheelchair bound woman and may try and take advantage of her...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Maddie - or rather, Naomi - received a number of erm...ahem...invitations to join people drinking or potentially more than that by several men and at least one woman. This was probably frustrating for her, like she was being set up, stood up, and let out to dry. It was still yet after this, after patience had been well-and-truly tested, that her man showed up. He arrived...shortly after another person had moved on, just sat down and took a drag of his cigarette that could only be described as...methodical. He looked like he was either enjoying it too much or...slightly on-purpose. The act was not great, but then again...in this place, it may not have even mattered. Shinra security coverage around here was light, if present at all. She was now facing an adult male who may have seen some combat fairly recently, dressed in a dark clothing with a dark green vest. Unless Maddie had agents here waiting in advanced, which he would have used this time to determine if indeed watchers were around, they were alone in this place. He let out a sharp stream of smoke.

"We're going to need stronger explosives. I've already got men pulling together the materials. We need you to make ready use of them for the next mission."

He gave her a look that suggested something big on the horizon, and his next words confirmed this fact.

"We're going to strike at the very heart of Shinra power, literally. Blow the Midgar reactors, one after the other, and leave nothing behind but their shattered dreams."

This was... Some time ago, Avalanche had taken out the Mt. Corel Mako Reactor. In response to this, during the battle to kill all members of the group on-site, many of the people of Corel died in the crossfire, or under suspicion of having been Avalanche themselves. The Head of Shinra's Weapon Division herself had been there that day, and personally executed quite a number of people. Still, this would certainly make for a credible threat to Shinra, to say nothing of the city itself! The amount of people who might be killed was ghastly. But then, Avalanche had ever been squeamish about killing others. To them, the Wutai War wasn't over...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Elsewhere in the Wall Market, Scotch and Kotch had received the message from Aiko stating that she will think about it. That seemed promising to the two men, and they reported such to their boss, but he was not entirely pleased. Don Corneo, Aiko did not like, but Don Corneo wanted that racers to be fighting in the upcoming Corneo Cup. She was fierce, she was popular, and she was skilled. Against the others lined up, it was altogether likely to be a spectacular tournament. But if they couldn't get Aiko, then who the hell would take her place? Some dating couple they just find on the streets? Well, perhaps a more desperate rival of hers...but still...

"I want that girl fighting down here. Have some men start taking up all the available jobs in her area for a while. That'll being her to heel."

That...was about Corneo's style. When he pushed, he shoved. That said, though, Aiko had a decent headstart on any thugs of his, SO...she would naturally find a number of various options and tasks, small jobs that included working with tools, delivering this and that, and other things that were generally her speed. One woman actually noted her as an extremely good roller-racer and wondered if she might teach her kids to rollerblade well. Lastly, there was a man who appealed to the probably-not-legal end of the spectrum. He was dressed casually, but he seemed to be all business, with a crewcut and a scar from an old fight, possibly someone's knife. His offer? Well...

"Rapid parcel delivery, payment upon completion. It's well-suited to someone of your talents. Put simply, the backstreets and the alleyways of this city are both problematic and yet ideal for the quick transportation of goods. In order to avoid traffic or problematic stoppage, it would be a good plan to use them...to quickly move some materials from one truck to another in these back alleys, which cannot be easily monitered nor pursued through, especially if you happen to have a setup like your own. This is an on-call sort of thing, but we'll make sure to notify you ahead of time so that you can get into position."

He wasn't saying who he was working for or why, and the question wasn't really suppose to be asked either. It was possible, though, that Aiko could guess who and what this man represented...and why he felt that it was alright to approach her about this.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Meanwhile...yes, there HAD been problems at Fort Condor regarding the Sweepers. A couple of them had faultered and were rendered disabled or destroyed, but it turns out that a group of grunts would just as easily set off Jessie's explosives...and some of the machines learned the fine out of jumping. These Sweepers, the X-Series of Prototypes, had overcharge devices installed, allowing them to exceed normal levels of output for a limited time to perform certain feats, like powering through or jumping over a hazard. This was one of the reasons that casualties were mounted high and that Akira needed to engage the enemy directly instead of just healing people. It was after such an action that the young Wutai boy would hear "Nice work, kid! Now, run for it!" as Jesse swept by in retreat from an approaching Sweeper that had a pair of thrown bombs stuck to its chasse, beeping unto the inevitable-



A Sweeper that had been marked as X-5 now lay in rubble. However, not far behind, rolling in a bit more casually, were X-2 and X-10. Using their remote uplinks, they had been able to ascertain the means by which the destruction of the other two and now this one had occurred. And to answer the 64K Gil Question, there were seven sent to this battle in total, with two still in Junon. Way in the back lines, still on-board the transport that brought it here, the X-9 Prototype was battle coordinator for this sortie. No one on the field had any knowledge of what it was thinking. Only those technicians examining its behavior and testing for rogue behavior knew what was going on inside of its CPU.



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

In Junon, disembarkment from the Shinra Transport occurred. There WAS some confusion as to where the scarred man had actually gone. Some say he was wearing a mask of his face...on his face, OR...that he had jumped ship and was now swimming with a particularly-friendly dolphin, since he was a master of beasts and all. All we know is that he wasn't on board anymore! That left Kanade and Tace, the latter of whom clattered out of here in his car of questionable make while Kanade was leaving on foot.

From the POV of Tace...well, there were plenty of places to get a bite to eat, and the only suspicious glances his way were at his car, which was often a topic of conversation, but never really a problem for him. What he was gonna do for a job...well, that depended on if there were any outstanding contracts on people, monsters to kill, or anything like that. At least he eventually found a parking spot and could walk back to somewhere to get some proper food in his system.

Kanade wouldn't apparently get anymore trouble than the usual looks that a Wutai person on this continent would get. She had that look that she might be trouble, but there were men with guns all over the place, and a bunch of people were trying to get off, so as long as she wasn't doing anything right now, there was no issue. The only problem was that...Fort Condor had to be a ways from here, a long walk and even a pretty substantial drive. Akira was waiting, and she innately knew where in her mind, if not by any look on a map, but was there any way to get out of this town and over to there quickly...? Well, it just so happens that a pair of men, one of them rather stocky and pudgey, who happened to be following her might be able to help.

That left Alex and Wasteland...who had the scent, but...something had to be wrong here. Wasteland wasn't finding their guy, or gal. Tseng hadn't specified gender, so naturally it could be either/or. This was a problem. His dog's nose couldn't be the problem. The hound had picked out people from a crowd before, even barked to get them startled enough to run from a group before doing the takedown. But this bustle of people... He wasn't reacting, which meant they weren't there. But did that mean their intel was wrong? No, they were certain that someone of Wutai descent would be...wait. Wasteland didn't seem positive on this, but there was this one girl. She was definitely from Wutai. Ah, what to do? Call it in and get further orders? Prepare to home in on her scent now? This one might be squarely on Alex's shoulders, and if he got it wrong, the home office would not be pleased.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

And speaking of which...heading down the hallways of another part of the Shinra Building...



...were two men in black suits: Reno and Rude of the Turks. They were heading for one of the training rooms now, even passed Joe along the way, Reno giving him a "Yo." as they did. The Turks kinda' knew Joe from a previous mission where he'd been sent to investigate the reactor at Gongaga...and they had some intel-gathering on potential Avalanche movements. They all thought that Avalanche had blown the reactor, but Joe had another claim, that there was a monster involved. That one's on the hush-hush list, though. Only Tseng and up were allowed to look at 'File-ME', and it was locked in the system to prevent access. Honestly, Reno wanted to get Maddie to hack her way into it so he could see. Only Tseng had been allowed to interrogate Joe, and only the Execs had been allowed to hear. Tseng had even asked that he keep whatever he was claiming to himself back on the helicopter, as they couldn't allow things to devolve into hysteria. Maybe not, but that just made Reno curious. In any case, that was in the past, and in the present was this thing about a new member joining their ranks.

"I'm not sure I like this. I mean, I know we're short-staffed, but hiring from the guard pit?"

"Did you read the file?"

Reno made a wild gesture.

"Of course I didn't read it!"

"I didn't think so, but you'll like this one."

"And why would that be?"

"Her loyalty is 100%, and her fighting skills are at least comparable to her sister."

"Ah, I see. Yeah, that's probably for the b- Wait, her sister?!"

"This is why you read the file."

The training room was littered with broken Shinra robots, shattered turrets, and shot-up targets. Standing amidst the huge mess was a single blonde woman with a very determined - if angry - expression on her face. She was dressed as a Turk, though she had been part of a guard unit previously, and appeared to be geared for martials arts fighting and gunplay, a cold aura softly radiating off of her as she now finished the last of her targets off and got her scores. Rude informed Reno that she was told about what happened with her sister in the Turks in order to motivate her to work harder for the position. The two men now approached her, Rude smiling now.

"Greetings, Elena."

Akira Ayumu

“Thanks, Jessie!” Akira said as the Sweeper exploded behind him. The medical tent which had been set up had now been evacuated, but the boy still thought of covering their retreat… Only to take one look at the remaining Sweepers and find out that no, those were not foes he could take. So he had to go back to another line and hope that the Catapults and Stoners (Contraptions which rolled rocks down the mountain) would take out at least one Sweeper.

How was he going to avoid being hit by the Catapults and Stoners himself? Well, being attuned to the Planet had its perks, and Akira’s next action was to tap into that connection as he ran, asking the air, the earth, and the mountain itself how -

“Jessie, duck!” Akira shouted as one Catapult tossed a large stone at one of the Sweepers, a large stone which, if Jessie ducked, would most certainly hit said Sweeper.

Assuming Jessie ducked, Akira would gesture at her to come with him, even as he ran towards a side path, a narrow trail which led through a bunch of large rocks, a trail which he had used before to get in and out various parts of the battlefield during previous attacks. This also allowed him and the AVALANCHE Agent to avoid another large, round stone that had been rolled down the main roadway up the mountain. As for the trail’s destination, it was one of the defenders’ fallback lines, where he hoped to find support for himself and Jessie -

“Duck again!” Akira said as he himself crouched while several large rocks flew overhead, more evidence of the primitive-but-effective artillery used by the Condorians. He then proceeded, with or without Jessie in tow, to the collection of fortifications which made up the fallback line… Only to find that a bunch of Shinra Grunts and a few Mako-mutated Hounds were locked in fierce combat with Fort Condor’s mercenaries, trying to storm the line.

“Damnit!” the boy said as he ducked and weaved among the interlocked fighters, curing the injured defenders and staying behind their ranks. He’d also give Jessie a cure for if she needed it, even as he built up the energy from adrenaline and stress which fuelled a potential Limit Break - If done right, a Healing Wind ought to turn the tide of this specific engagement.

Hopefully, a Sweeper would not show up and the previously tossed and rolled rocks had already taken out the ones pursuing them. But alas, Akira knew that hope was not the only factor in battle.

Planet, give me strength... his thoughts trailed off as he waited for enough energy to well up for his Limit Break.

Lex had parked the car, much to Wasteland's annoyance, between two warehouses along the port front. It was from there that the pair headed out and did the ranger thing, mingling with the people on the docks waiting for ships to come in or go out. They'd checked the Port Authority and seen several ships coming in, but many of them were cargo haulers or bulk cruisers. Only two were carrying passengers and one wasn't coming in until much much later, that left the one just offloading now to be their target. Or so Lex hoped.

The pair had gotten close to where the offloading ramp had come down. Close enough that Wasteland's lovely doggy senses can be put to use. Passengers began to file off one by one. Every one Lex would give the quiet direction to scent. And Wasteland with give a few huffs and snuffs, but made no motion to having matched the scent from earlier. In fact as more and more people filed off the boat Lex is getting worried. Was the intel wrong? No, there's no way in hell. Tseng worked with the Turks, the Turks worked for Rufus Shinra, no one who was in that line could be wrong right? Shinra isn't wrong. No way in hell. He's reaching for the walkie talkie on his belt that will get him in touch with the Ranger division handlers, and through them to Mr. Tseng.

As he's about to close his hand on the walkie, Wasteland lets out a low growl, and gets to her feet. Lex lowers his hand and kneels beside his partner looking along her field of vision. He saw it just as clearly as Wasteland did. Wutain, female, but doesn't have any resemblence to the source picture. He hums, then whispers, "Eyes on..." Wasteland giving a soft rup and begins to carefully trail the girl, staying in cover as the large bulked up canine watches the girl. Lex in the meantime reaches for the walkie talkie clicking the send button and says into it, "Ranger Krait for Mr. Tseng, relay now..." The handler on the other side soon responds, "Patched through. Send." Alexander speaks quick and clear, "Mr. Tseng, Ranger Krait, no joy on the primary target no scent and no show, but have eyes on another Wutian person, doesn't match the profile, Partner is watching her. I'm notifying intent to follow and observe. Request Quick Reaction Force made ready just in case I need to extract her." He waited to see if he'd get a response while watching Wasteland pace along just out of the girls line of sight.

Naisha's trek through the chaotic streets of the slums weren't too different from usual. People walking up and down, heading to do their thing. Aside greeting the people she knew here and there, she mostly kept to herself, silently moving herself forward. It was hard not to notice the looks some people were giving her, especially the riffraff. There were always people who saw her as easy prey. It was the nature of things in the slums. Admittedly she had already taught many the errors of their ways when they came after her, or rather her drones did, but it seemed there were always new self proclaimed thugs all the time that weren't aware of who was who around these parts. Part of it was probably her general attitude of laying low and not making her presence known much. She sighed as she pulled her phone and checked her messages, the time and other misc info while moving herself over to a street stall that was selling junk food.

It was generally slow going for her because the streets in the slums weren't all quite properly layered with asphalt if at all in some cases. It was the reason why she had made her chair with slightly wider wheels as to not get stuck in dirt and mud quite as easily. That and few people generally were accommodating to her and stepping aside so she can pass more easily. Most were out for themselves only after all. With a bit of difficulty and after waiting her turn on the waiting line, she finally next to order herself some food. It was a familiar stall owner and the older man recognized her right away. He was selling hotdogs of some kind or another, she never bothered to ask what exactly was in it. Growing up on the streets made one forget such stupid questions after a couple of nights sleeping on an empty stomach." The usual, Naisha?" The man asked with somewhat of a tired voice as he rested his hands on the stall for a moment.

"Mm, yes. Just make it two and in a bag for later." She replied as she rummaged through her pockets and pulled a small wallet rather than a purse. From it she pulled enough gil to cover the price for two hotdogs and put them in the small tray for coins. The gil made a clanking sound as she dropped it and put away the wallet again.” Everything fine these days?” She asked the man while he was preparing her food.

“You know, the same old.” The man replied to her.” More patrols maybe, dunno. It doesn’t really matter too much for us in the slums at the end of the day, it’s mostly those fellas upstairs that should be concerned. As for me... I'm getting old... I'm guessing I won't be running this stand for too much longer.” He shrugged his shoulders. Shinra controlled the area, but the slums were generally left alone for the most part. Also with the literal hive of people down here, it was nearly impossible to find anyone. What better place to hide than here under Shinra’s very noses.” Here you go, 2 plain hotdogs without any sauces or spices.” The man suddenly said and handed to her a plastic bag with the food. She smiled to him, thanked him and after putting the bag away into her bag, she started moving away again.

The junkyard was already in view in the distance. Honestly it was a dangerous place if you ventured too deep into it, towards the edges it wasn’t overly big problem however. However she knew of the rather wild critters that liked to fill that space and she by herself wasn’t in the mood to fight with them. As she had finally broken away from the crowd and headed for the entrance, she suddenly stopped her movement.” I’d advise you to stop what you are planning right now.” Her voice echoed to the man who was walking with fast pace towards her just moments ago. He was frozen mid step.” It never ends well… Just leave me alone.”

“Hehe… what are you talking, girlie? I’m just trying to help ya.” The rough unkept looking man said. He had a very unlikable look.” Why don’t I help you move about and we can get to know each other better, what do you...” His words were interrupted by something metal flying into an arch and then nearly hitting him in the head. He barely caught what it was at first as a metal looking disc was now flying around between him and his prey. He was about to reach for his weapon before a the disc flew in direct line for him at low height and whacked him right into the legs, causing him to fall to the ground. A rather loud cracking sound was heard when the drone hit the man's leg. It then hovered for a bit, before returning to Naisha.

“Sigh… well let this serve as a lesson to you. And anyone else watching today.” Naisha stated and started moving back into the junkyard. Some parts of the junkyards would be guarded and patrolled sometimes, but as far as she was aware this one wasn’t. She didn’t plan to enter deep into it, but as she rolled her chair into it, she activated her main utility drone. It had a gun and a camera and she had programmed basic watcher function into it similar to old security measures. It took a record of the area and if something changed into it, it gave a signal. Her defensive drone was also hovering still, so she had choices on how to proceed if the need for those arose. With those ready, and hovering on both side of herself, she started moving down between the mountains of different junk, looking for parts. Today she was mostly here for electronics, looking for good chips and boards she could repurpose for her needs. In this case she wanted to build a new drone and needed a lot of parts for it also in general simply so she could live. She mostly made her gil by repairing things like computers and other electronics. She also got gil by messing with Shinra, but that was a slow burner and she had to be extremely careful to not leave an easy money trail right to her doorstep, as such money gotten by messing with Shinra was usually only digital, she rarely cashed it out. She used it also digitally, making sure to leave no trail leading them to her directly. This is why her living expenses for food and the like came from her job of repairing stuff.

“Hmm… maybe?” She mumbled as she went to a nearby pile of different junk and rummaged through it, she thought she had seen something but it was a bust. In any case there was a lot of junk to go through, she was bound to find a thing or two of use. Though now the thought of that sweeper schematic was buzzing in her head. If she could get it and build one of those… granted her to do because of it’s sheer scale, but… if she did it would be great tool to use. What’s more she could always make it a more of a transport thing than simple automated weapon. Now her head was filled with thought of her riding a modified sweeper as a combat mech right through the front doors of Shinra and rampaging.” Hehehe...” She started giggling, which probably to any outsider viewer would look rather offsetting cause a grown up woman was randomly giggling in a maniacal creepy manner. Nothing she could do about it though, the thought of using a massive machine to crush her enimies, drive them before her and hear the lamentations of the Shinra officials brought her untold delight.

Aiko spent at least one hour and a half testing her new internals. She did spend a good deal of time both looking for those particular pieces and calibrating them, so she hoped they would do justice to the hassle she had to go through. Fortunately her time and effort were well spent. Her rollerblades were as smoother than ever. Normally, in a few specific situations, especially in high speed, tight curves, her rollerblades would start vibrating. Although it wasn't impossible to deal with it, it was very annoying, as it forced her to reduce her speed and required a good deal of effort to keep them in full contact with the ground. After these modifications, that didn't happen anymore. Even though the new pieces didn't offer that big of a raise in performance, it meant a lot for Aiko, whose style mainly consisted in speed and precision. After being satisfied with the results, she slowed down her speed, riding in a much more 'agreeable' and tranquil manner. Those last few pieces she bought did cost a good amount and her money reserves were starting to get close to the limit as she always liked to keep some 'emergency' money in case something happened.

One of these places was a small pub, right in the border between the slums and the middle cities. On surface it was just a 'less reputable' pub for those who lived in the middle cities and one of the better ones around the slums but in reality it was used as a hub for those who were searching to make some money with odd jobs and requests and for people who needed services for all sorts of tasks or those who wanted to be a bit more 'discreet'. Usually they would have plenty of jobs, which at least a few that perfectly suited Aiko's skills.

"Hey Lewis." Aiko said, as she opened the pub's door, being careful to stop before entering and cleaning the wheels from her rollerblades on the front rug. She knew how much Lewis, the owner of the pub hated when she left skid marks all over the floor. She also quickly learned that wiping her rollerblades before entering was the easiest way to avoid getting an earful from him.

"Hey little lady! Lemme guess, ya spent more than you should with yer rollerblades again, right?" Lewis asked with a hearty laugh.

"Yer certainly not here for a drink. Ye know I can't give alcohol to minors." Lewis said with a chuckle and a mischievous grin.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny, Lewis. You know I am not a minor anymore..." Aiko said, rolling her eyes.

"But yeah. Need some cash" Aiko said as she approached the counter. When she finished saying that though, Lewis expression changed as he sighed. Aiko knew very well that it wasn't a good sign.

"Sadly, some shady looking folks been' taking most odd jobs round these parts. Strangely enough, they seem to be targeting specifically the type of jobs ye normally take..." Lewis said as he looked to Aiko, raising an eyebrow.

"What did ye do this time, lassie? Ye attracted the attention of people ye shouldn't 'ave." he finished, nodding towards her disapprovingly.

Upon hearing those words, her expression changed for a moment, a small semblance of anger passing through it before she gave a long, hard and tired sigh.

"Corneo..." she muttered to herself. Even though Lewis was able to hear it too, Aiko was smart enough to not curse a powerful man like Don Corneo out loud. Besides that, the man himself knew very well that Aiko didn't like him even one bit. Even if she didn't say anything, her stares when he did stuff like the one he was doing right now was enough to convey what she thought about him.

"Dammit Aiko... You mean that Corneo?" Lewis said, opening his eyes wide for a second before looking at her with a worried expression.

"Wish ah could help ya but... Corneo... he always get what he wants... Ya have to find a way to make him tired of ya..." Lewis said with a rather sad expression. Lewis was the first person Aiko went when she was looking for jobs after her mother died. At first he thought little of that but as she continued going, the old barkeeper ended up taking a personal liking to the girl, going as far as to actively searching for jobs for the girl to take when she needed money.

"Aiko lassie, I'll keep an eye open for any jobs I might find, will try to keep them hidden for ya." he said, looking to her with a kind smile. It was clear that Lewis wanted to help her but his hands were tied when the matter was Don Corneo.

"Thanks, Lewis... For always helping." Aiko said, looking to the man with an honest smile, which she reserved only to those she really considered close to her before she headed out.

She knew that Corneo was targeting her, but Lewis' pub was one of the most known hubs for those kind of jobs around the area. There were still a lot of other places and some direct contacts Aiko had. It would take more than that to drive her into a corner.
After searching around for a bit more, she had two options. One was from a woman that wanted to hire Aiko as a tutor to teach her children, the other was a strange man with a scar on his face. It didn't take much to realize that the offer he had wasn't exactly 'legal'. His explanation only confirmed that. That said, it didn't seem to be something that bad. It was a delivery service. A type of service she knew well. Taking an important package from one place to another. Fast, quietly and precisely. She also knew that those type of people wanted secrecy and confidentiality above everything else. Questions from her were expected to be kept to a minimum, but in exchange, she could expect them to be as quiet about her services.

"I only need confirmation that the package isn't something that could cause direct harm to myself when transporting it." Aiko replied. Despite her not saying, it was clear to the man that she knew those types of services and that the client could expect her to follow the 'rules' as long as he followed his. That meant, being quiet about all that, not speaking further about it and not contacting her for some time afterwards in order to avoid connection between both of them.

Tick. Tock. Tick.

With each passing moment, the dread gnawing at Maddie grew stronger. The contact hadn’t arrived yet. That was a problem. If he had gotten spooked then she was in a very dangerous situation. If not, then the delay was likely intentional - perhaps meant to either scout her out or unnerve her. It was highly probable that she was currently being watched. Still, the woman remained stoic, feigning boredom to glance about the dimly lit bar. As far as dives went, she had seen worse. A number of patrons sat at a scuffed and scratched bar, with a few hovering about a billiards table watching a couple of older men take turns taking shots at both the cue ball and each other. Maddie wouldn’t go so far as to call the place packed, but it was still more people than she would have preferred.

It turned out that she was, in fact, being watched. Albeit, not quite in the manner she had thought. A number of patrons had approached her, offering drinks and...other services. She politely declined them all, claiming to be waiting on somebody. She was careful to keep up the warm Naomi persona however. She couldn’t afford to allow the wrong person to notice any discrepancies.

She had little want to remain within this den of vipers any longer than was necessary.

After turning down yet another hopeless suitor, however, the woman’s phone vibrated. She was just about to check it when it seemed as if her wait was finally over. She smelled the man approaching before she actually saw him. Even with the dive’s air reeking of a dozen different brands of tobacco, his was particularly strong. It was a sickly sweetness that stung her nose and clung to her throat.

Now, Naomi had never met the contact before. She only had a vague description of what the man looked like but the man before her was unmistakable. He might as well have been carrying a sign reading “Mr. Subversive” or “I am a Terrorist.” Or perhaps she was unfairly judging the man - seeing knives in the bouquet.

"We're going to need stronger explosives. I've already got men pulling together the materials. We need you to make ready use of them for the next mission."

Or perhaps she was right on the money.

Maddie was stunned by how brazen and nonchalant he was. To openly discuss something of this magnitude in a seemingly public place? Even if they were on his home turf, it came across as careless and dangerous. Was she dealing with a madman? Maddie silently kicked herself for not setting her phone to record or even wearing a wire of some sorts. She had been so sure that she might be taken to a secondary location - the bar’s backroom, a warehouse, SOMETHING - that she decided against it. It seemed too risky at the time...but now? Was she simply too paranoid, or was he not paranoid enough? Either way, Maddie didn’t like it.

"We're going to strike at the very heart of Shinra power, literally. Blow the Midgar reactors, one after the other, and leave nothing behind but their shattered dreams."

His clarification left Maddie speechless, although she managed to retain her composure and nod along while feigning complete adoration. That dread which had been building within her wrestled for control. This man was not only dangerous but deranged. He wasn’t just a terrorist, he was a butcher. She could eliminate him right now. That would leave seven shots. One for the bartender, one for the doorman. Five shots. She replayed her memory of the bar. The older gentlemen playing billiards had arms. Three left. Two holdovers for any agents not accounted for plus one for herself if things went south?

No. It wouldn’t be enough. It would be too close. Besides...the way he spoke suggested that the plan was already in motion. Even if she eliminated him right here and took herself out of the equation, Avalanche still had the resources to move forward with the operation.

She would do more damage than good were she to burn herself right now. Her best course of action would be to go along with the mission, pass on information and do what she could to minimize the destruction.

“That’s...massive. If we could pull this off, it would change everything. It would show them what we’re truly capable of.” ‘Naomi’ added, barely containing her ‘excitement’ [disgust]. “Just so I know for later, uh...do we want to just disable the reactors or…?” she asked, miming out an explosion with her hands and mouthing a boom.

Tace would be sitting in the car waiting as the traffic cleared up to get out. He continued to tap away at the phone to while away the time. In that time he managed to catch up on current events and begin to look at the various bounty bulletin board systems or BBBS for short. However, such searching would be cut short as the crowd thinned enough to finally drive. "'Bout time!" He'd thought to himself. He'd drive to the exit and while waiting on the road to clear he'd look at the phone.

"Hey, I'll give you 500 Gil, if you can take me as far southeast as you can. I'll give you 1000, if you can get me all the way to Fort Condor."

He'd glance up and see some kid. Who the hell was this? And why was she trying to hitch a ride. Five hundred for the ride, and another for hitting Fort Condor? "Make it three-thousand and you got yourself a deal kid." He'd say to her. Either she'd rightfully tell him to go fuck himself and leave, or he'd make 3k for the taxi job.

What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you in pain while hearing the lamentation of the Shinras?

We shall see.

The issue of the Shinra Electric Power Company - big and overpowering as they are - is a tricky one, indeed. They have, to be fair, advanced technology and the way of life for humankind a great deal. There can be no question of that. But...for whose benefit was that advancement? Was it for all, or for some? Does not the thought of your livelyhood, to say nothing of your life, hanging by the say-so of some corporate exectives not give you pause for concern? In the beginning, when things were still getting underway and the dreams were still huge, it could be said that nobody gave this any thought. Certainly at the time, Mac never worried about it. The infrastructure to help people had to be put in place. Even if that wasn't the intent of the owners OF that infrastructure, it was there and it could do some good. That was the wisdom of his mentor. the wise words of a man who went to war only because he had to, not because he wanted to.

Joe barely noticed the passing-by of the turks as he focued on his cellphone, specfically on the app that gave him tracking data on the X-1 Prototype. If they had its tracking coordinates, why did they even need him to handle it? Truthffully, he'd go and deal with it anyway because it was a danger to others, being out of control like that. But this was just odd... It was so close, right under their noses! Why not just send a team to clean it up and be done with it? Unless...eh heh heh heh...

Unless, of course, they already tried and failed, and simply haven't told me.

That made sense, and that made him a little wary. Sweepers were dangerous as is, and obviously a stronger and smarter one was going to be worse, but they already knew what it was capable of, so why couldn't they nip it in the bud? This concerned Joe as he reached an elevator, hitting the down button before making a call on his cell to hail in a chopper for pick-up at the Lobby level. According to his information, the X-1 Prototype was still in Midgar...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Of courrse, Naisha was free to giggle to her heart's content as long as her drones were on active duty, driving off the odd monster. A Hedgehog Pie bounces into view? Immediately strike, not even waiting for his shenanigans. This sort of thing would happen every now and again in the background, but while Naisha was scavenging for new parts - and some parts of interest DID show up - there were certainly two things of importance that would crop up. First, there were signs of someone having scavenged some of the larger machines in the area by cutting them open and extracting the parts, the action having been performed by a large saw instead of using tools to remove the casing, say. There were even signs of a heavy machine having traveled through here recently. Some kind of tractor? These were tread marks. This in of itself was odd, but then, out of the blue, she heard it...

SSSZZZZZZZ...SZZZZZZZZZZZZZVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV!!

The sound was unmistakable, a large buzzsaw in use not far from here. Sounded like it was on the other side of the junkyard...or a little bit closer. It was hard to tell for sure, but most-concerningly...it was too loud to be handheld tools. More like big heavy industrial blades or...oh shit. There was a rumor from the Wall Market that Chocobo Sam let Cutty and Sweepy out in places like these for their training before a big match. And as Naisha now began to hear powerful machine gunfire as a Lesser Drake was blown out of the sky, it seemed as though there might be some truth to those rumors.

Except...

Well, if that were the case, what was with the scavenging for parts going on around here? Those two were black market Shinra robots programmed to fight in the colliseum, maintained by their owner. They wouldn't be going for parts like this. So, what was this? Some new device? Or the lashed-together jury-rig of an old one? What to do with this, then?

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Meanwhile, AT the Wall Market, we can assure you that Cutty and Sweepy were in their storage and maintenance area underneath the chocobo pens. That wasn't them out in the junkyard, but let us not dwell on this fact, just yet. Instead...to the meeting of the Turk and the member of Avalanche! The man was brazen, alright. Avalanche was not known for its subtle behavior, men walking around in combat fatigues waging open combat and pitched battles with Shinra Security... But then again, he had made sure with a glance that nobody was paying attention, and at the Wall Market...nobody would. This was a place of everyone doing their own thing, the Sector of Sin. Nobody would interrupt them or cause them any harm here.

Besides, there was another reason he was here, talking like this...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The warnings of a man most-recently hired by Avalanche, back at their current hideout...

"Listen to me, all of you. You're all brave and bold, but stupid! You fight like you're in a war, but Shinra doesn't work that way on its home turf, or even in another man's home. They slither and sneak their way in, playing with your thoughts until they've got you. You think you're gonna beat them, but I tell you that with a plan like this, you're gonna find yourself sold out by a spy, someone they've turned against you...or someone they've always had. It happened to me, it could happen to you all..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A good reason. Naomi had always been something of a flake, and a bit of a fringe operative. She wanted to maintain her position at Shinra in order to pass along information and still benefit from her job until the time Shinra was torn down, she said. Yeah, she said that, but it was kind of iffy, thinking about it. That was why they were a bit more confident in this newer recruit who'd learned pyrotechnics at Gold Saucer and had studied to become her own demolitions. There were some grumblings about using Naomi right now, so...they'd sent him to poke her sensibilities and see how she responded to the plan. So far, so good, but now came the big one.

"That's been a question floating around the group for a while, but inevitably the answer had to be that we need to knock out Shinra power, period. Not inconvenience them with a repair job, but ruin it, destroy it. Their power must be broken so they have nothing to lord over others with."

Break the Shinra power infrastructure and they have nothing to support their army or machinery with. They will be brought to their knees in agony, screaming for mercy...but they will find none. They only find an Avalanche waiting for them. First, however, they needed the materials put together for them to make the explosives, and that meant either making sure that Naomi was all on-board...or having to wait for the other one to return...

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And what of those materials, then? Well, they had gotten it all into Midgar. It wasn't easy, but thanks to a quiet smuggling operation headed by their budding bomb expert, the right materials were sequestered away and transported here by stolen helicopter, then taken to a stolen Shinra truck to make it all look legitimate...until they staged a disappearance of said truck until they were ready to move it to the place they were constructing the explosives before use. Not their base in Midgar, but somewhere accessable enough to them. The only problem was that they were finding these checkpoints here and there, places searching for stolen goods and black market materials. That was gonna be a problem unless they could get around them. And well...there WAS A way. During the highpoint of Midgar traffic, a truck could be stuck in an area for a while and - in order to get some materials to a place faster while not wasting fuel - hire a runner to bring the goods, bit by bit, to the place in question. In THIS instance, they'd be hiring a really fast runner to take materials through the back alleys to another truck, one that was already past the checkpoint that could then reach its destination without incident.

The issue was with convincing the girl (Aiko) that it was safe, and fortunately for all of them...

"We wouldn't transport it ourselves if that were the case. Packages are secured parcels, no real harm if they're dropped or even pierced or shot, but naturally we'd prefer it if they were undamaged. Speed is key, and of course...not getting caught. You'll be going back and forth a few times, at least. Payment on completion. I'll need a solid confirmation that you'll take this job before giving details, you understand."

Because, after all, she would be helping Avalanche transport the not-explosive-yet materials that they're keeping in separate packaging and away from the detonators - which they already have, anyway - in order to bring the project to destroy the reactors to fruition.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

But in any case...down to Junon, then, where things were getting just a little bit...interesting. It all started with a call to Tseng's phone, or rather a message delivered via Shinra Dispatch to inform him of the situation. He apologized to the person he was talking to for taking the call, but it was a necessity, and he sent Krait a reply that an interception team would be standing by and ready, so he may proceed. Once he hung up, he gave a polite bow to the room's other occupant.

"Again, my apologize, Vice President."

Yes, they were in Rufus' Junon officer, with the man himself looking out to sea via the large window. He had, of course, overheard everything. The room was quiet enough, and he smiled at what he'd picked up.

"Was that a report on your quarry?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid our man cannot confirm it's the target. At this time, he's playing a hunch."

The blonde man turned with a smile on his face.

"And you're letting him play it? Interesting..."

"You know the man, his instincts and his skills-"

"And I agree. So...let's go."

Rufus was now opening his desk drawer and pulling out his guns.

"You're certain about this?"

"I'm bored as hell, and I'm going to do something about it."

He headed for the door, giving a quick whistle as Tseng followed behind. The monster hound who'd been silently resting in one corner of the room soon followed. They were going on a little hunt...

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The orders had been that the girl would be on the next boat in, and that they were to make sure she safely made it to Midgar to help them in their cause. To that end, the three operatives who had been in charge of the smuggling operation on this end would be there to intercept Kanade and help her along. One problem, though. Well, two problems. First of all, Jessie was gone. After having seen a load of Sweepers loaded into a transport to be taken to battle zone at Fort Condor, she headed out to get ahead of them to help out in matters any way she could. The people there had opened their doors to Avalanche, so they couldn't very well shut them out now. That was the first problem. The second problem was that the two other operatives - a fairly-tough man and a large pudgy man - had spotted the opposition following her. They saw him and the hound from THEIR angle while carefully following her.

"Hey, do you see what I see?"

"Yeah, I see it. Shinra Ranger, trying to keep out of sight."

"What do we do? If we open up here-"

"We're not gonna do that. We're gonna distract the doggo so she can slip away."

"Aw man! My rear is still sore from the last time!"

"Hey, all our butts are on the line here, Wedge."

"I know, I know... Let's just get it ov- Wait, look!"

"I see it. Let's go!"

Lex received his go-ahead to pursue, which was a good thing because his target was trying to get a ride. She'd gone to a driver to proposition him with some coin...and that was when he and Wasteland would see two men - one fat and one athletic - quickly hurrying up to the car, as well. That wasn't a quick extraction team! She was either about to be kidnapped or she was their target after all and she had help!

Over at the car, Tace had made his expensive counter-proposal to the Wutai girl when he'd see two men suddenly flank her. At first, it looked like there might be trouble, but this was Mr. Delviro's lucky day, as the skinnier man spoke up.

"We'll make it five thousand if you take all three of us."

"C'mon, Biggs! That's snack money you're getting into!"

"I'll make it up to you, but for now we need to go. Well?"

Any minute now, some amount of shit was gonna hit the fan. Would this man help them out or wouldn't he?

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Akira had been right to run from a frontal assault with those Sweepers for two reasons. Number one, he and Jessie alone weren't enough to combat them without taking severe harm or at least one of them dying. And number two, the Catapult DID hit...one of them. Specifically, the rock pounded X-10 down flat, sparks lit as burn juice sloshed out of its front grill, and there was an explosion that knocked X-2 aside. There was no further pursuit, as the Sweeper actually needed a second to get oriented and such. Jessie didn't need any warnings to duck, as she was quick and limber herself, knowing the lines of defense herself. When they came to the conflict line, she whipped out her gun and started firing at anyone in a Shinra uniform from the sidelines, often aiming low to kneecap someone at a critical moment so the merc who was engaging 'em could survive to beat the hell out the enemy.

But while that was going on...there was some activity at the bottom of the hill.



X-9 suddenly became active and rolled out of the transport, much to the surprise of the technicians.

"Hey, what're you doing? We haven't deployed you yet. Get back in the- HEY, GET BACK HERE!"

The Sweeper ignored the commands, as the active battle strategy overrode the command structure allowing low-level figures to order it around when it while it was set to the task of winning this fight. Out of the immediate sight of most Fort Condor personnel and defenders, the plan had begun. X-2 overcharge-leapt up onto a hill of rubble and began firing upon Catapults and Stoners. X-4 waited for X-9 at the mid-point it had reached while it had been detonating mines with its missles. The three Prototypes would soon join up and conduct a coordinated and rather cutthroat assault on those that remained, staying in hard-to-reach places that they reached only with their enhanced mechanisms.

Akira Ayumu

As all three Sweepers came into view, Akira froze up in fear for a split-second before turning to Jessie to ask for help. But before he could speak, an entire squad of mercenaries were shredded by one of the Sweepers, torn apart by bullets and rendered beyond help by healing magic. This caused the remaining friendly troops to begin running up the mountain, their morale broken.

Obviously, this rendered them sitting ducks before the Shinra assault, which resumed with new vigor especially as the mercenaries were also in a position to be picked off by the Sweepers’ guns. Akira had to do something to turn the tide, to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but how? Even as stress and fear built up within him, he knew that his Healing Wind was not going to be useful when his allies were just going to be shot one second later -

“Run, boy!” one of the last mercenaries to flee shouted at him (and maybe Jessie), and Akira was snapped out of his thoughts. Zig-zagging to throw off the enemy’s aim, the boy ran upwards, hoping that Jessie was safe. As the carnage escalated into new heights, such that there was a dead body every few meters, Akira focused on surviving, knowing he could not let himself die or fall into Shinra hands. Even if they kept him alive for vile experiments, they can use him to get at Kanade... No! He’d survive this! He’d call upon every reserve of strength he had left, everything given to him by his mother’s Ninja training!

And so the boy continued running, hopefully glimpsing Jessie from time to time to see if she was still safe.

The sound of the shooting seemed to fade as they got closer to Fort Condor and its reactor - The last fallback position was the Fort and Reactor itself, where the Condor Egg was being incubated. On the way to the reactor door, ruined Catapults and Stoners were strewn all throughout the ground, more signs of a near-total rout. But from what Akira remembered, there was cause for hope. For the Fort Condor Leader had said to him and the other mercs before...

The enemy won’t want the Reactor damaged, so they’d send their Commander - Grand Horn, if I recall correctly - To take it personally. On the rare occasions where we got beaten all the way back to the Reactor, they’d send the Commander to duel our best mercs, and if the Commander was killed, Shinra retreats to fight another day.

So Akira was betting that the Sweepers won’t be sent against the Reactor itself, or if they were, they’d be on unfavorable ground. For two things had changed: One, he was now stressed and pissed, and that meant his Limit Break can be used. And two, he was planning to stand with the best of the best of Fort Condor’s remaining mercs, as well as Jessie of AVALANCHE, against Grand Horn or the Sweepers.

Assuming that Shinra was going for a duel. Assuming that he was right. Assuming that Shinra wasn’t prepared to let its honor dip further into the negatives.

A sense of foreboding swept through the boy - Something important was going to happen here, and not just because Kanade, his fellow Half-Cetra, was coming. A new narrative was going to be woven soon, a new narrative for the Planet...

Naisha’s drones were on their usual active high alert as she was doing her thing, scavenging for parts. She was just getting into the groove, maybe allowing herself to venture just a tad deeper into the junkyard than her initial desires, but she couldn’t help it. Some good parts did show up, she found a few rather well preserved computer terminals that at some point or another were a part of a bigger system. She pulled the control boards and storage from those at lightning fast speeds as they were the most precious components and hid them away in her bag. Generally storage could be wiped clean and repurposed, but on occasion you might find interesting data in it. As for the motherboards and other similar computer boards, well she needed those and their chips for repairs and to craft new boards. If she wanted to build new drones, she’d have to assemble her own boards from scratch after all. Not that hard if you know what you were doing and had the right control board as well, though a decent CPU was always a must. This is why finding such well preserved parts made her very happy.

As she put away some decent parts away, filling her bag to a decent size, she heard the sound of rather loud buzzsaws.” … “ Naisha nearly froze at the extremely loud sound as her hands moved to the controls of her wheelchair, ready to switch to it’s motorized state to be ready to escape. It was obvious the sounds weren’t from a small tool. It was too loud and too noisy. Coupled with the signs and traces she had found across the junkyard, it proved something heavy weight was working in the junkyard, but she hadn’t seen any heavy crews operating here with heavy machinery equipment for that to be the case. A hunch was telling this was not a good sign.

When the sound of buzzsaws was followed by machinegun fire and a drake shot down from the skies, Naisha’s expression crumbled. This had the trade marks of a certain set of machines, but it didn’t add up, it couldn’t be the colliseum ones, at least not the old Cutty and Sweepy. They had no work here… finally she decided it was time to play it a bit safe and check what was going on with the current situation. Why would whatever was causing this noise be scavenging for parts though? She turned the wheelchair around and started moving in the direction of the exit for a little bit, making sure to put some more distance between her and whatever was making the noise, when she had a decent straight line to reach the exit of the junkyard, she took manual control of her Hound Drone since it had a camera and all that. She very slowly made it aim in the direction of the noise and very slowly ascend. Whatever was shooting down the drakes could very well shoot it down too, so she planned to raise it’s altitude very slowly as to not be easy to pick on any sensors and hoped that the distance and all the junk piles would provide ample cover for it in case it went wrong.

“Let’s see...” Naisha mumbled, controlling the drone in search of the potential problem in the junkyard. She was half tempted to send the protection drone to shield it, but if she did, she’d be defenseless herself and she wasn’t a fan of that option.” Where are you, you bastard… I swear, the noise came from that direction.” If this was a rogue shinra mech, this could be a good target to attempt to hack and acquire, if it was someone's possession, depending on whos it was, same good option. First to find it and check for the potential owners though. She didn't have the intention of stepping on any of the local slums power houses toes for the moment.

It's the sharp bark of Wasteland that catches Lex's attention, and then he sees the two men, one tall and athletic the other slightly rotund and out of shape. And they are heading towards the potential Wutian target. His eyes narrow, he could make for the jeep, get it prepped and pick up Wasteland, or he could take this up and escalate this. Either way would mean a potential problem. He looks to the jeep then back. And then barks out it's not a command it's just a sound a sharp clear coughing sound. And Wasteland ducks, waiting, it's clear to the canine. This has turned into something else. Lex, gathers himself and changes directions, from inside his coat he pulls out his Shinra military ID clamping it in plain sight on his belt. And makes for the vehicle. Pushing back the left of his coat reveals his holstered shotgun, he rests his hand on the handle of it. Not because he intends to use it, well he fully intends to use it if it gets that far, but also for some form of mental fortification.

As he gets closer he's abotu to raise his voice to stop his mark and the man in the car. When he sees the other two making for Wasteland. Wasteland being in ready position for the car lets out a bark of surprise as the two are approaching her. Lex looks at his mark then at the pair, "Ahhh crap." He pulls the shotgun and shouts out, "Shinra Ranger Special Forces, don't move!" A moment later his second gun the modified winchester is out, the shot gun aimed at the Wutian and the truck, the winchester on the two approaching his partner, "This is a special unit situation, you two by the dog back up hands high, you in the truck and you the Wutian hands high as well. I'm placing you all under arrest for suspicious activities." He stops in a place he's nominally able to cover both groups, "Touch the dog and I blow you down." He calls to the two near Wasteland, then his gaze turns to the pair at the vehicle, "Don't make this harder then it needs to be." Lex hums, unable to reach for his walkie talkie now, and weighing his options how well he can cover everyone with on weapon. "No one move..." The shot gun sliding into it's holster as he reaches for his walkie talkie, speaking into it, "Ranger Krait to Dispatch, send extraction team to my location ASAP. I have potential dissidents on site."