Final Fantasy VII: Reflections - Book 2: Ascent

ELEVEN

The train screeched to a halt at the Sector 1 station with a loud hiss of steam and a squealing of brakes. On the platform, two Shinra guards armed with rifles walked over to inspect the disembarking passengers. I nodded to Biggs, and he nodded back, slipping quietly out of sight to get into position. One of the guards made his way over to a junction in between two cars while the other headed toward the front of the train. I braced myself to move, my muscles tensed.

As soon as he got close enough, I sprang out and slammed my fist into his stomach before he even knew what was happening. The guard barely managed a startled grunt before I dragged him out of sight. And by then, Biggs had already grabbed the second guard from behind and was holding him steady for me. With a smirk, I ran down the platform and hit him square in the chest with a flying roundhouse kick just like Tifa had taught me, knocking him out cold.

As Biggs dragged the guard out of sight, Barret and Wedge quickly hopped off the train. Barret nodded to us, and after we'd done the same to him, we hurried back up the platform and slipped into the shadows on either side of the station's entrance, Biggs on the left and Wedge and I on the right. Once we were in position, I watched as Cloud did a high somersault off of the roof of the train and landed neatly on the ground, shouldering his sword and looking every bit like the complete and total sexy badass that he was. Damn, he was hot.

Barret beckoned to him. "Get movin', merc. This way."

After a pair of guards hurried outside and right past us to see what was going on, I nodded to Biggs and Wedge. We snuck into the station, keeping out of sight of more guards inside and hiding behind the brick walls on either side of the turnstiles. Amidst the sounds of fighting and gunfire, Barret joined Biggs on the right while Wedge and I hid on the left. Only a moment later, Cloud strode calmly into the station as well, sword in hand. The two guards rushed him at once.

"Who in the hell...?" one of them gaped.

As soon as they passed us and Cloud started slashing away, the rest of us jumped over the turnstiles one after another and hurried onward. But as I made my leap, I couldn't resist looking back for just a moment to wave at Cloud and flash him a little grin.

"Have fun!" I laughed.

Once I reached the other side, I turned and ran after the others up the stairs, hearing Cloud kicking ass behind me as I did. The upper exit was on the far side of the second level, off to our left across a large area where passengers usually waited until it was time to board the train. As we hurried outside onto a brick walkway overlooking the platform, the train stood still and silent just below us.

A moment later, we reached the gate at the far end, and high above the concrete outer wall of the reactor complex, that huge furnace stood in the night billowing thick clouds of smog. My nose curled as soon as the acrid smell of mako hit it, but I did my best to ignore it as I quickly knelt down in front of the gate with Biggs to get the lock open. Taking out a little electronic device with a dialpad, I plugged it into the control panel mounted nearby and got to work.

"So far, so good..." Biggs murmured on my left.

I nodded. "Yeah. Don't jinx it now."

Wedge was standing watch nearby. "Don't worry! We can pull this off. Kinda hard to believe we're here, though."

"I know what you mean," I agreed, my eyes on the panel.

"Gonna take a look 'round, guys," Barret said, adjusting his shades. "Be back soon. An' spread out. Don't let people see ya hangin' 'round in a group. That'd look pretty suspicious."

Biggs gave him a thumbs up. "Right, boss."

Satisfied, Barret lumbered off to the right down another section of the walkway to look at another closed gate and make sure no one could come through that way and surprise us. We had enough trouble ahead already. I tapped a few buttons on the dialpad and watched closely as it scanned the panel's memory for the passcode.