Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 1: Arrival

TEN

The train shot out of the tunnel and screeched to a halt next to the Sector 1 station with a hiss of steam. I knelt out of sight atop one of the cars closest to the back and watched the platform closely as two Shinra guards, each armed with a standard-issue assault rifle, approached the train to inspect the disembarking passengers.

Or so they thought.

The two guards split up, one going toward the front of the train as the other went to check the back. Once they did, Jessie leaped out from her hiding spot behind the first car and flattened the guard with a swift punch to the gut. He made barely a sound before she dragged him out of sight. By the time his partner turned and realized he was gone, Biggs or Boggs or Bill, whatever the hell his name was, had already crept out onto the platform and snuck up behind him.

The guard struggled as the guy in green grabbed him and held him steady just long enough for Jessie to rush in and take him down with a single spinning midair kick to the chest. While Buggs or Baggs moved the unconscious guard off to the side, Wedge and Barret jumped down onto the platform to join them. Barret nodded, then Jessie, Wedge, and the guy in green ran off and disappeared around a nearby corner. Time to move. I dropped to the ground in a leaping somersault, straightened up, shouldered Buster, and stood ready.

Barret turned and beckoned to me with one sweep of his arm. "Get movin', merc. This way."

He stomped away without waiting for an answer. Before I followed him, though, I knelt by the downed guard and searched his pockets for anything that might be of use. I found a few potions he'd been carrying for emergencies, but that was it. I hadn't expected much else. Call me a thief if you want, but when your life's on the line, the niceties can have a way of disappearing on you. I slipped the potions into my pocket and stood up just in time to see two more guards rounding the corner, guns in hand as I drew Buster.

"Halt!" one of the guards ordered.

Not likely, I thought, charging right at them. As they opened fire, I spun and ducked, slicing open the first guard's abdomen with a vicious backhand slash, then quickly reversed the stroke and impaled the other guard before he could react. His gun slipped from his nerveless fingers and clattered to the pavement as I pulled Buster from his chest and slid it back over my shoulder. I moved on as the bodies collapsed limply to the ground, and when I reached the end of the platform, I ran up a few stone steps and darted into the station itself.

The others were inside, hiding from another pair of guards. There wasn't anyone else here at the moment since it was later in the evening, just after 9:00, and the train we'd been on had been all but empty by the time we'd arrived here. The guards spotted me at once, which had been the whole idea, while the others snuck over the turnstiles and raced up the stairs to the second level, Jessie giving me a smile and a wave as she went. The guards never had a clue. Or a chance.

One of them stumbled back a step. "Who in the hell...!?"

I answered with Buster, drawing it again and sweeping it in a wide arc in front me, catching both guards at once. They staggered and tried to shoot, but I was already moving, thrusting the blade into one guard's chest, kicking him off, then blasting the other one with a jagged fork of lightning from my materia. He fell to the floor, smoke rising from him, and didn't get up again. So far, so good.

I jumped over the turnstiles and ran up the stairs after the others, making my way across the upper level until I reached the exit along the far wall. Jogging through, I emerged onto a brick walkway overlooking the platform, and only a short distance ahead of me, Jessie and the guy in green were working on getting the gate to the reactor complex open while Wedge stood off to the right. He was our lookout, his eyes on our surroundings, but when he saw me coming, he grinned and gave me a thumbs up. I ignored him, folding my arms in front me while I waited, and he sighed and lowered his hand, deflating like a balloon with a bad leak. Barret was nowhere to be seen.