Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Bullets
First time on a train? Hardly. So why does it feel like it is?
"Just nerves," I tell myself. "Shake it off!"
Being suddenly thrust into such a big job must be messing with my head. I've hardly had time to process the past few days, and anything before that feels like a blur. Time to process and think is a luxury, and I won't be afforded it today either—A pleasant pre-recorded voice interrupts my thoughts to announce our arrival at Sector 1: Mako Reactor Maintenance Station.
This is it...
The others are quick to exit the train before I can even act. I hear muffled noises of struggle from the platform as I'm left alone on the train car with the leader of the mission.
"Come on. Let's see you earn your gil." Barret's voice was guttural and biting. He opens the train door nearest to us with his right hand...rather, his only hand. He ducks as he exits the train. I wonder how hostile this cramped city must feel for a man his size! I slip out the car after him.
The station guards are bloodlessly strewn across the platform. A clean knockout, by Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge. Barret walks ahead and I swear I can feel the weight of his heavy steps against the pavement. He stops, before the station house, and raises his right arm to the night sky.
Brrrrrrang!
Rapid gunfire. The steel, rotary machine gun grafted to that man flickers as it revolves under the harsh blue light of the station's mako lamps. What is he doing, making so much noise!? His face peeks over his shoulder. Those beautiful eyes are hidden behind ballistic shades, but his smirk is clear as day.
"Here they come."
Three guards jump over the turnstiles and rush out of the station house. They demand we freeze, but point the cold, black barrels of their rifles like they plan to shoot. My heart demands my muscles act.
One, two, three. A fling of the foot and a thrust of the fist is all it takes for me to secure our safety. I stretch, and try to shake off my growing anxiety. I must be rusty; the feeling of punching and kicking is natural, but making contact with flesh feels foreign.
Barret grunts. "Why didn't you bring that big ass sword along?"
"I didn't need it," I reply.
"Cocky, ain'tcha?"
I hadn't meant it like that. The sword in question is heavy and burdensome, so I left it behind in Sector 7. It wasn't a matter of arrogance. Before I can reply, he's already gone ahead; if it wasn't for the tense air, the sight of a burly guy scrambling over locked turnstiles might make me smile.
Up the stairs and out the exit, the other three are waiting for us by a massive metal wall. 'Authorized personnel only' marks a door in a harsh yellow font.
"Thanks for the diversion, Barret. And Tifa," a young woman remarks as she fiddles with a security console outside the iron gate. She's tall and slender, but you wouldn't be able to tell from the way she's slumped over! She's transfixed with that computer. A red ribbon wraps around her forehead and over her soft, brown hair. That same headband is worn by Biggs, that tall, dark, and handsome type man to her right, and Wedge, a portly guy with the friendliest face I've ever seen. I wonder why Barret doesn't wear one too?
"Real shame I didn't get to see you in action, Miss SOLDIER!" Wedge grins at me, casting his hand forward with a thumbs-up.
My blood boils. "Ex. Ex-SOLDIER."
"Right, right. Don't piss her off, Wedge," Biggs chimes in. He fiddles with the strap of his black messenger bag. The payload is in there.
"...And, done." Jessie finishes her job, and the gates screech as they creak open. "So much for stealth, though."
I should take the lead now. I run ahead and scan for threats. Instead, I notice that the tall station clock is installed here. What an odd placement!
"Halt!"
A bullet grazes right past me. I sprint, and lunge myself over a chain link fence to pounce on the patrolman that sent it. One more is ahead, by the service tunnel we're looking for. His hands are shaking, so his aim won't be steady. I zigzag towards him and knock the rifle out of his hands with an upwards jab of my knee. Removing the threat is simple after that.
"Way's clear! Come on, guys."
I hear a catcall-like whistle from behind. It's Jessie, carefully mounting the fence.
"So that's a professional in action! I feel safe now." She signs off with a wink, and runs past me into the service tunnel.
The five of us finally arrive at our target: Mako Reactor 1. The first built in this glorious city of Midgar. A giant, curved chimney with a chilling turquoise light smoking out of the top. I've only seen it from afar; these Reactors are hard to miss. Being so close, however, makes the hairs on the back of my neck rise in fear. The air itself is tense and afraid. I can smell the Mako. It bleaches my nostrils. Acrid, that's the word the village elders used. Apparently, Mako had a different smell once, but I was too young to remember it.
A narrow T-shaped catwalk is the only pathway, connecting two service tunnels to the Reactor proper. Below, is a few-hundred meters of nothing, and the undercity slums as a cushion. Wedge pushes past us and runs to the other service tunnel.
"I'll secure our escape route. You guys go on ahead," he says. The smile on his face is out of place here, but not out of place for him. It breaks the ice a little, and pushes me forward. The rest of us make for the big #1.
The inside feels...strange. It's sterile. These Reactors can run autonomously, aside from routine maintenance. Even the security inside is automated by machines. Jessie and Biggs take the charge leading the way for us.
"You're not going to show us around, Shinra girl? Be our guide?" Barret snarks.
"Don't call me that!" It's like he wants me to lose my cool! Subconsciously, my hand strokes the leather cord on my wrist. A bit of a habit. "Every Mako Reactor has a different interior, anyway."
"Damn worthless." His voice is like a growl. For some reason, I start to get the feeling that his anger is directed somewhere else.
A few obstacles try to hamper us: AI-controlled sentry guns, and laser wires straight out of a spy novel. None of these things are nearly as hair-raising as human guards...
Biggs stops.
"Past here is the core, looks like," he runs his hand through his jet black hair as he speaks, "Think I'll hide in that control room we spotted. Try and keep you all safe."
"Plan E, huh?" Barret snickers, and grabs the satchel Biggs was carrying. It looks tiny against his broad torso!
Our little squad of five was quickly shrinking. The core of the Reactor is an open, circular pit. Scaffolding and ladders around the perimeter mark our way down. The 'floor' of the core is liquid—water serves as the coolant. With its heavy sloshing and subtle teal glow, even water can feel removed from nature.
It feels...quiet. I hear mechanical pumps, swirling waves, and whistling machines, but all those sounds seem drowned by a strange stillness. We make our way down the scaffolding, and Jessie shatters the silence.
"Tifa, thanks for coming. I really mean it when I say I feel better with you here."
I'm caught off-guard. That kind of earnestness is hard to respond to even when you aren't surrounded in suspense!
"Just trying to lighten the mood," she continues, "Sorry. I'll wait up here. The bomb goes just below!"
Barret's eyes follow Jessie's finger as she points to a platform just above the water level. An imposing piece of machinery is installed there, connected to several pumps and wires. Barret and I descend that final pipe ladder and, just as we reach the spot Jessie pointed at, Barret grabs my left shoulder. His hand is rough and calloused, and my shoulder bone is just a marble to his palm.
"Show me. Show me how much you hate Shinra." He rips the bag off, breaking the strap, and thrusts it at me. This is the third time it's changed hands.
I unzip the bag, and inside is a cold, black box with a digital interface and a big red button. Yellow-caution tape lines it, a touch misaligned, and a warning label is glued below the button. Signed: With Love, Jessie Rasberry.
The bomb is light, but feels heavy. I try to kneel to install it, when a wave of vertigo strikes. My vision fades to blue at the edges, and I bruise my kneecap as I fall to the platform. My brain comes to life, rife with a buzzing, ringing noise. Above it, I hear a voice call out to me: Open your eyes.
"What's wrong!?" Barret barks.
I snap back to the present, and shake my head.
"Nothing! I'm just...wondering how long to set the timer."
"30 minutes? Your call, Shinra expert."
...Fine. 20 minutes. I touch the display panel to set the time, then hit the button. The countdown's started, so no time to waste. We make back for that last ladder.
I make the climb up, but Barret's a little slow to climb thanks to his gun-arm. On the last rung, an alarm rings.
"Shit! Did you do this!?" A large metal gate on the platform, opposite end of the bomb, slides open. A colossal mech, shaped like a scorpion plated in red sheets of metal, scurries out onto the platform. Barret instinctively starts to shoot, but the bullets bounce right off.
"Damn it damn it damn it!" Barret shouts.
The scorpion swipes its tail, made of interlocking robotic joints, at the puny ladder holding the massive Barret. He falls, landing square on top of the mech.
"Just make a run for it, Tifa!"
What!? I yell out, "Barret! Hold on," before I can even process what happened. Think, Tifa, think. Barret's stuck below. Do I jump to help him? What good can I do if I join him? The scaffolding I stand on quakes from the movements of the mech as I try to sort my thoughts.
Right. It's a machine. That's why I brought materia along. I gaze at a small, green orb inlaid in a dome-like indent atop my glove. With this, I can...
Barret stares up at the scorpion's rising tail. A beam-gun appended to the end points down to aim at him. It spins, matching the rhythm of Barret's rotating gun arm, and prepares to fire. Just before it strikes, a bolt of lightning flies from my fist to the narrowly-exposed wires hiding behind the tail's shifting plates.
Just in time!
The tail's aim is thrown off-course, right when the beam is fired. It squirms and wiggles as the force of the beam propulses it every which way. Pipes and gauges explode from the tail-laser's impact, and the platform the two of them are on becomes destabilized.
No, damn it!
Did I make it worse for Barret? Is he going to die, because I had a smart idea? As soon as I think that, a heavy force shakes the metal beneath me. Barret Wallace pats me on the back. He had run up the tail, as it was slowing down, and made a leap of faith to me.
"Thanks, kid. Saved my ass. Now get yours in gear, let's go!"
That hand that was just patting me pushes me. I run, tuning out the explosions around me. My muscles fire on their own. The two of us nearly make it back, when we hear a shout for help.
Jessie is stuck. Her leg is trapped beneath a fallen sheet of metal. I leap into action, even as Barret tries to stop me. Getting the metal off of her is easy; I'm pretty strong. But I'm just as soon as I get her on her feet, that stupid scorpion strikes again. Even as it sinks into the Reactor water, its writhing tail finds it in itself to aim a beam at the two of us; was Barret trying to warn me? I place a hand under Jessie's thighs, and another on her back, and scoop her up as I sprint back to Barret. We narrowly graze the beam just as we exit the core.
Barret, frustrated, mashes on some buttons trying to close the channel to the core off. I place Jessie on the floor, and she looks at me with a pained smile. I notice her wincing as she puts a hand on her leg.
"Watch out! We've got a party incoming," says Biggs, rushing to rejoin us.
Before long, I see what he means by 'a party'. A retinue of troopers storm into these just-humanless halls, trying to block our escape. They're hardly a match for me and Barret, even those elite Shock Troopers Shinra sent in. Shinra is our enemy, but I can't help but feel a little bad for the humans behind the masks as we lay waste to them.
"There's an elevator that'll get us back to the top faster," Biggs says, dangling keycards on a keyring. "I found this bad boy that'll let us in."
An elevator, huh? Well, it beats fighting more and more soldiers, so we all nod, and make for it. As soon as those elevator doors shut, I can hear the sound of my heart beating like a gatling gun. I slump against the wall and breathe, and Jessie moves to soothe me by rubbing my upper arm. Biggs leans against the wall, arms crossed as he studies the two of us. Barret, however, can't keep still. He paces back and forth, looking up at the ceiling and shaking his hand around as though he's reciting a speech in his head. The elevator ride feels long. And that annoying alarm won't stop ringing, either.
Infantrymen are waiting for us once the elevator door opens. Barret makes quick work of them.
"You could have left them to me. You'll run out of bullets," I chide as we exit the Reactor.
He pauses for a moment, then resumes his step as he responds, "All of my bullets have Shinra's name on them. And they deserve more than I've got."
Shinra has done terrible things. All five of us agree on that point. I spot Jessie and Biggs nodding at Barret's remark. Where's the fifth member, Wedge? We enter the service tunnel, our escape route, but I can't see him anywhere.
"Don't worry. He may not look like it, but he's great at hiding," Biggs comments, probably noticing the look on my face. "He's like a cat in a box."
Sure enough, we find him further down the tunnel, hidden perfectly underneath an empty metal drum.
"You guys! You made it..." Wedge casts another thumbs up.
He's right.
We made it. Relief washes over me. I notice how dry my mouth is. How much sweat is glistening my skin. How much I want a shower.
"Damn. I need a shower," Barret pipes in. Mind reader!
The five of us chuckle a little, all linked by that thought.
"So, how long until my baby goes boom, Barret?"
"She set it for 20 minutes. Arrogant."
"So..." Jessie tilts her head.
"We've got about seven more," I chime. Math isn't my strong suit, but I'm good at keeping time. It's like there's a rhythm inside me.
"Seven more, huh?" Barret scratches the back of his head. "Seven more reactors in Midgar..."
Seven more times...When will our luck run out?