Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 3: Pursuit

TWENTY

I heard the airship before I saw it. The roar of its engines filled the air as Cloud and I climbed higher and higher, and by the time we made it to the top, it was almost deafening, all but drowning out the cheerful fanfare playing all across town. When Cloud and I pulled ourselves up onto the tarmac of the Junon airport, we saw the huge airship hovering above us, sleek and beautiful, and my jaw dropped.

"Oh, wow!" I gasped.

I'd seen it about a year ago on a mural when I'd snuck into Shinra's aviation museum with Biggs and Wedge to steal some engine parts for the secret lift in Seventh Heaven, and I'd been impressed then. But that was nothing compared to seeing the real thing. It must've been at least two hundred feet long and maybe half that wide, held aloft by a pair of large horizontal propellers parallel to the ground with their drum-like engines beneath them. It also had two wings, one on each side halfway between the main body and the long, narrow nose.

Just behind the main body where the forward propellers were, the fuselage split in two, and each side stretched backward with a small tail fin and cubelike stabilizer below it mounted on the far end. Each of the stabilizers was divided into three sections. There was also a long, open deck suspended just below the main body, with a second, smaller set of propellers extended right behind it, and enclosed in front of it was the bridge with its clear, curved forward windows.

Cloud gazed up at the airship. "Pretty impressive."

"She's gorgeous!" I squealed. "I saw a picture of her back in Midgar in the museum last year, the one I told you about, remember? But that was nothing compared to this! How cool!"

He nodded. "Yeah. When you stole those engine parts."

I giggled. "Right. That was a fun mission."

"And now we're here with the real thing, Jessie," Cloud murmured. "She's really big. What was her name again?"

I thought for a moment. "Um... Highwind. That's it."

He glanced at me. "You sure?"

"Yeah," I said. "It was on the mural. Damn, I'd love to go inside and take a peek at those engines! I wonder how fast she can go? How much fuel she takes? What her cruising altitude is? I—"

"Excited much?" Cloud asked.

I laughed. "You bet! Oh, I wish I could fly on her someday, Cloud. Wouldn't it be great? Speeding through the clouds together? The others could all be there with us, too! It'd be so much fun!"

"Yeah, it would," he agreed.

"Seems such shame for her to be stuck here," I sighed. "I guess her pilot hasn't gotten her back yet. I met him once, actually. When I was at the museum pulling off my little heist."

Cloud looked at the airship again. "I remember. Older guy with an attitude, right? Cranky and likes to smoke?"

"That's him," I chuckled. "He's alright underneath all that, though. Got me out of a jam that day and kept me from getting caught. He's not from Midgar, so maybe we'll run into him sometime."

"It's possible," he said.

I went on as I gazed lovingly up at the Highwind. "And who knows, Cloud? He wasn't happy with Shinra shutting down the space program, so he might even help us if we can talk him into it."

"Maybe, but right now we need to get going," Cloud reminded me. "We've gotta get to the cargo ship, remember?"

"Oh, right! I almost forgot about that!" I gasped.

He smirked. "Obviously."

Giggling sheepishly, I followed Cloud as we hurried off the tarmac. There was a large lift nearby, and we rode it to the airport's lower level. From there, we slipped inside a corridor with shiny metal walls. It bent to the right, but we saw another door ahead of us and on our left across from where the hall turned. Just as we reached it, we suddenly heard a voice behind us along with booted footsteps.