Promises

Capitulus I

                                                                                       6 YEARS EARLIER-

"One down. Sixty nine more to go." Phoenix ran through the streets of Midgar, fighting off Wutai troops. Her gunblade swung through the air gracefully as she cut down another enemy. As the blade went down she pulled the trigger next to the hilt of her blade and BOOM! An iron bullet, lined with cadmium, was ejected out the short barrel and swirled through the air at three thousand miles per hour before piercing a Wutai trooper's chest, and out the other side.

With an eloquent follow up of the first swing, her arm veered behind her as she turned to her right, causing a trooper to be caught of guard. No shotgun was going to be shot at her today. The shotgunner gurgled, blood spurting out from the deep slit to his neck. The trooper had his hands gripped around his neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but blood oozed onto his fingers and dripped off his elbow. His figure fell to the floor, his hands resting calmly by his sides as blood pooled underneath him.

Another soldier appeared behind and she quickly spun around, slicing the male's chest. A sickening, strangulated growl left his mouth as he staggered back. She pushed her blade through his body completely before withdrawing her blade again. The look of agony on the soldier's hidden face take her all due needed to know. A blow to the liver. One of the worst, if not the worst, injuries to contend with. Heavy bleeding, complete agony and blood poisoning. All a slow death. Phoenix thought about showing mercy, poising the tip of her blade above his heart. She was going to plunge it into his chest, but her phone rang before she had a chance. With a sigh, she went into her back pocket and took it out, flipping open the device and pressing the green phone symbol as she raised it to her ear.

"Yes?" She asked, her tone showing nothing but her slight annoyance.

"There are another ten groups of five on your current path. When you near the sector 6 train station, you'll see another SOLDIER. 2nd class this time." A deep, gruff voice answered. She knew it all too well.

"Any time limit?"

The was a small hmph from the other end. "Half an hour. I'm sure you can keep up."

Phoenix took the phone away from her ear shut her phone after the beep from the other end, thus ending the call. The Wutai soldier looked up to her, his helmet covered eyes almost pleading, and reached out to her like he was begging. She closed her eyes and looked away.

"I'm sorry." She all beit mumbled as the blade sank into his heart. When he let out his last groan, she withdrew her blade and ran. Eyes were narrowed and blade sheathed at her side. All she wanted was the war to end.

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Train arriving at the sector 6 station in five minutes.

Phoenix was five minutes early. Or the train was five minutes late. Whatever the reason was, she was bored out of her mind. Really, she couldn't understand why she had to get up at an absurd hour in the morning to do this two hours early. In the time that she got ready, she could have had an extra hour and a half in a warm bed. Or she could have sat beside her friend at breakfast and found out their schedules for the week so they could meet up on breaks. But no, instead she was awoken by her brother's mentor, telling her to get up. It was five o'clock in the morning.

Phoenix wasn't a morning person and that was something everyone knew. Even the President knew that, no thanks to Captain Justin Thorpe. How she knew him was a very long story. And only her friend and brother knew the whole thing. But what everyone also knows about her relationship to the Captain is that it's a very bad one. And she never looked kindly at him when he tried to alter her team. She built it up upon who she could work with, who she trusted and who had potential. But the Captain would always try to destroy it. And she was already planning on what she was going to do if he tried to again.