Final Fantasy VII: The Battle for the Planet

BOOK 1

A City on a Plate

_____The five members of the AVALANCHE assault squad staggered to their feet in a gloomy tunnel. The ceiling in front of them had collapsed and blocked the way to Sector 8.
_____"That should keep the planet goin', at least for a little while longer." Barret said triumphantly. Jessie nodded, signalling that her bomb was ready, and the gang ran as far away from the mess as they could. Seconds later it exploded. They jumped through the flames into a small courtyard in Sector 8.
_____"Awright, let's get out of here." Barret suggested as they brushed the dirt from their clothes. "Rendezvous at Sector 8 station! Split up and get on the train!"
_____"H, hey!" Cloud said to Barret.
_____"If it's about your money," Barret said. "Save it 'til we're back at the hideout."
_____With that he ran off into the streets.

_____Cloud wandered into a second courtyard. A giant girder had fallen from the sky and crushed Goblin's Bar after the explosion. He knew many people were going to die because of his actions, but he still took the job. He had killed before and he would do it again. He was a mercenary and he needed the gil.
_____Three young men were panicking in the courtyard, still holding empty glasses of alcohol. A girl was standing in the open wearing a pink dress and holding a small basket of flowers. She looked about a year older than he was; about the age of twenty-two.
_____One of the drunkards ran into her and she fell down into the dirt. As Cloud wandered over to help her, she stood up calmly and brushed her dress clean.
_____"Excuse me," she said, spotting Cloud. "What happened?"
_____"Nothing... hey, listen..." Cloud said, trying to change the subject. He noticed the bundle of red and yellow flowers in her basket.
_____"Don't see many flowers round here."
_____"Oh, these?" the flower girl asked. "Do you like them? They're only a gil....?"She held out the basket for Cloud to see. He tossed her the coin and took a yellow flower with large petals.
_____"Oh, thank you!" the flower girl smiled. She slipped the money into her jacket pocket and walked off, leaving Cloud alone. He placed the flower in his belt and made his way to the largest courtyard of all. As he passed under a huge archway, electric cables crackled and buzzed, sending random showers of sparks down to the rubble-littered ground below. A fountain was set in the middle of the courtyard. The water had turned murky with all the ash that has rained from the explosion. Cloud looked up at some graffiti on the wall, reading the words:

Don't be fooled by Shinra! Mako energy doesn't last forever!
Mako is the planet's lifesource! The end is in sight!
_______________Protectors of the planet: AVALANCHE

_____AVALANCHE, that was the name of Barret's rag-tag 'army'. How could anyone believe they were going to overthrow a corporation as powerful as Shinra with such a pathetic group of fighters? Then again, they had done well so far.
_____As Cloud reached a bridge over the train tracks, he felt a sudden danger in the air around him.
_____"Hey! You there!" cried a voice. He spun around and saw a group of three Shinra soldiers. They opened fire with their machine guns, advancing upon Cloud, bullets pinging off the ground. He shook his head and hoped for the best as he threw himself over the railings. A train thundered beneath him and he landed with a thud on the roof. He was carried away quickly into a dark tunnel and away from his enemies, to safety at last.

_____The last few carriages were used to carry cargo and other heavy goods. They were filled with crates and boxes and other such containers. Sitting amongst the crates were Barret, Wedge, Biggs and Jessie.
_____"Wonder if Cloud was killed..." Biggs said to himself.
_____"No way!" Barret cried. Then he paused. What if Biggs was right? His thoughts were shattered by a repeated banging on the roof, which ceased after a few seconds. They all looked up, then turned back to the crates they were gazing mindlessly at.
_____"Do you think Cloud's going to fight to the end for AVALANCHE?" Biggs asked.
_____"The hell would I know?!" Barret bellowed. "Do I look like a mind reader?"
_____He brought his fist down heavily on the crate next to him. There was silence again except for the rattle of the train's wheels.
_____"Hey, Barret! What about our money...?" Wedge cried, then noticed the foolishness of his question as Barret hit the crate again. "Ahh... uhh... nothin'... sorry." he added.
_____They all looked up again as the banging started for a second time. Much to their surprise, the carriage door slid open and Cloud swung from the rooftop and inside.
_____"Cloud!" cried Biggs, Wedge and Jessie in unison.
_____"Sorry, guess I'm a little late." Cloud said, shrugging.
_____"Damn straight! Come waltzin' in here, makin' a big scene!" Barret snapped.
_____"It's just what I always do, no big deal." Cloud said.
_____"You don't give a damn 'bout no one but yourself!" Barret cried. "I'm takin' it outta your money, hot stuff!"
_____He turned to Wedge who was grinning at Cloud in admiration.
_____"WAKE UP! We're movin' out! Follow me!"
_____He jumped over a set of crates and left the carriage. Biggs and Wedge followed but Jessie walked over to the door and shut it.
_____"Cloud, your face is pitch-black!" she laughed as she wiped it clean. "Say, thanks for helping me back there at the reactor." She turned and the both followed Barret.

_____The next carriage was for passengers. Only a few people caught the evening train for fear of gangsters and thugs. The intercom buzzed into action.
_____"Last train out of Sector 8 Station. Last stop is Sector 7, Train Graveyard. Expected time of arrival is 12:23 AM, Midgar standard time..."
_____"It seems this train hasn't switched to security mode yet." Barret said.
_____"I'm sure that will change by tomorrow." Biggs added.
_____Jessie ran up to the other end of the carriage and pressed a button next to a computer screen.
_____"Hey, Cloud. You want to look at this with me?" she asked. "It's a map of the Midgar Rail System. Let's look at it together. I'll explain it to you. I like this kinda stuff. Bombs and monitors... you know, flashy stuff."
_____A green wireframe image of the city was displayed against a black background on the screen. It rotated and zoomed in and out.
_____"This is a complete model of the city of Midgar." she explained. "It's about a 1/10000 scale. The top plate is about 50 meters above ground. A main support structure holds the plate up in the center, and there are other support structures built in each section... The No. 1 Reactor we blew up was in the northern section. Then there's No. 2, No. 3 all the way up to the No. 8 Reactor. The 8 Reactors provide Midgar with electricity. Each town used to have a name, but no one in Midgar remembers them. Instead of names, we refer to them by numbered sectors. That's the kind of place this is."
_____Cloud nodded to show he understood and looked at the monitor again. A dotted line appeared around the central pillar that he had just heard about.
_____"This is the route the train is on. The route spirals around the main support structure. We should be coming around the center area, right now. At each checkpoint, an ID sensor device is set up. It can check the identities and background on each and every passenger on the train by linking it up to the central databank at Shinra headquarters. Anyone could tell that we look suspicious, so we're using fake ID's."
_____Suddenly, a red light began to flash inside the train.
_____"Speak of the devil..." Jessie whispered. "That light means we're in the ID Security Check area. When the lights go off, you never know what kind of creeps'll come out. Anyhow, we're almost back now. That's a relief."
_____Cloud smiled at Jessie and walked over to where Barret had just been woken up from his snooze by the alarm. He was staring out of the window up at the sky.
_____"Look... you can see the surface now." he said. "This city don't have no day or night. If that plate weren't there... we could see the sky. The upper world... a city on a plate... It's 'cuz of that &^#$# 'pizza', that people underneath are sufferin'! And the city below is full of polluted air. On topa that, the Reactor keeps drainin' up all the energy."
_____"Why doesn't everyone just move on to the plate?" Cloud asked.
_____"Probably cuz they ain't got enough money. Or maybe they just love their homes no matter how polluted it gets!" Barret replied.
_____"I guess... no one lives in the slums because they want to." Cloud said. "Just like this train, it can't go anywhere except where the rails take it."

_____The train slowed right down and stopped in the Sector 7 station. About a dozen people got off and made their way back to the shabby housing area of the slums. Also in this sector was the train graveyard and the Pillar.
_____"Awright, come 'ere!" Barret cried. The members of the demolition squad all assembled around the big man. "Good work, but don't get lazy now! The next one's gonna be even bigger! Meet back at the hideout!"
_____Cloud wandered after the AVALANCHE members as they ran for their HQ. The Sector 7 Pillar towered high above him, supporting a huge steel plate. It was about 50 metres high if he remembered what Jessie had told him correctly. If the Pillar ever collapsed, everyone and everything in Sector 7 would be destroyed. It was as simple as that. Midgar City was a very dangerous place to live, but for most people it was all they could afford. On top of the plate it was a different story. Men and women lived in aristocracy, disgusted by the people living below them. They often referred to them as 'Slum Scum' and there had been many incidents in the Shinra Times of petrol bombs being dropped down in an attempt to cleanse the city. Not that the media could be trusted. Shinra would twist the papers and television to their advantage, trying to brainwash everybody into thinking that they were the world's salvation. The truth was that they were the world's executioner.