What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you in pain while hearing the lamentation of the Shinras? We shall see. The issue of the Shinra Electric Power Company - big and overpowering as they are - is a tricky one, indeed. They have, to be fair, advanced technology and the way of life for humankind a great deal. There can be no question of that. But...for whose benefit was that advancement? Was it for all, or for some? Does not the thought of your livelyhood, to say nothing of your life, hanging by the say-so of some corporate exectives not give you pause for concern? In the beginning, when things were still getting underway and the dreams were still huge, it could be said that nobody gave this any thought. Certainly at the time, Mac never worried about it. The infrastructure to help people had to be put in place. Even if that wasn't the intent of the owners OF that infrastructure, it was there and it could do some good. That was the wisdom of his mentor. the wise words of a man who went to war only because he had to, not because he wanted to. Joe barely noticed the passing-by of the turks as he focued on his cellphone, specfically on the app that gave him tracking data on the X-1 Prototype. If they had its tracking coordinates, why did they even need [i]him[/i] to handle it? Truthffully, he'd go and deal with it anyway because it was a danger to others, being out of control like that. But this was just odd... It was [i]so close[/i], right under their noses! Why not just send a team to clean it up and be done with it? Unless...eh heh heh heh... [color=39b54a][i]Unless, of course, they already tried and failed, and simply haven't told me.[/i][/color] That made sense, and that made him a little wary. Sweepers were dangerous as is, and obviously a stronger and smarter one was going to be worse, but they already knew what it was [i]capable[/i] of, so why couldn't they nip it in the bud? This concerned Joe as he reached an elevator, hitting the down button before making a call on his cell to hail in a chopper for pick-up at the Lobby level. According to his information, the X-1 Prototype was still in Midgar... >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Of courrse, Naisha was free to giggle to her heart's content as long as her drones were on active duty, driving off the odd monster. A Hedgehog Pie bounces into view? [i]Immediately[/i] strike, not even waiting for his shenanigans. This sort of thing would happen every now and again in the background, but while Naisha was scavenging for new parts - and some parts of interest DID show up - there were certainly two things of importance that would crop up. First, there were signs of someone having scavenged some of the larger machines in the area by cutting them open and extracting the parts, the action having been performed by a large saw instead of using tools to remove the casing, say. There were even signs of a heavy machine having traveled through here recently. Some kind of tractor? These were tread marks. This in of itself was odd, but [i]then[/i], out of the blue, she heard it... [b][i]SSSZZZZZZZ...SZZZZZZZZZZZZZVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV!![/i][/b] The sound was unmistakable, a large buzzsaw in use not far from here. Sounded like it was on the other side of the junkyard...or a little bit closer. It was hard to tell for sure, but most-concerningly...it was too loud to be handheld tools. More like big heavy industrial blades or...oh shit. There was a rumor from the Wall Market that Chocobo Sam let Cutty and Sweepy out in places like these for their training before a big match. And as Naisha [i]now[/i] began to hear powerful machine gunfire as a Lesser Drake was blown out of the sky, it seemed as though there might be some truth to those rumors. Except... Well, if that were the case, what was with the scavenging for parts going on around here? Those two were black market Shinra robots programmed to fight in the colliseum, maintained by their owner. They wouldn't be going for parts like this. So, what was this? Some new device? Or the lashed-together jury-rig of an old one? What to do with this, then? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Meanwhile, AT the Wall Market, we can assure you that Cutty and Sweepy were in their storage and maintenance area underneath the chocobo pens. That wasn't them out in the junkyard, but let us not dwell on this fact, just yet. Instead...to the meeting of the Turk and the member of Avalanche! The man was brazen, alright. Avalanche was not known for its subtle behavior, men walking around in combat fatigues waging open combat and pitched battles with Shinra Security... But then again, he had made sure with a glance that nobody was paying attention, and at the Wall Market...nobody would. This was a place of everyone doing their own thing, the Sector of Sin. Nobody would interrupt them or cause them any harm here. Besides, there was another reason he was here, talking like this... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [i]The warnings of a man most-recently hired by Avalanche, back at their current hideout...[/i] [b][i]"Listen to me, all of you. You're all brave and bold, but stupid! You fight like you're in a war, but Shinra doesn't work that way on its home turf, or even in another man's home. They slither and sneak their way in, playing with your thoughts until they've got you. You think you're gonna beat them, but I tell you that with a plan like this, you're gonna find yourself sold out by a spy, someone they've turned against you...or someone they've always had. It happened to me, it could happen to you all..."[/i][/b] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A [i]good[/i] reason. Naomi had always been something of a flake, and a bit of a fringe operative. She wanted to maintain her position at Shinra in order to pass along information and still benefit from her job until the time Shinra was torn down, she said. Yeah, she [i]said[/i] that, but it was kind of iffy, thinking about it. That was why they were a bit more confident in this newer recruit who'd learned pyrotechnics at Gold Saucer and had studied to become her [i]own[/i] demolitions. There were some grumblings about using Naomi right now, so...they'd sent him to poke her sensibilities and see how she responded to the plan. So far, so good, but now came the big one. [b]"That's been a question floating around the group for a while, but inevitably the answer had to be that we need to knock out Shinra power, period. Not [i]inconvenience[/i] them with a repair job, but ruin it, destroy it. Their power must be [i]broken[/i] so they have nothing to lord over others with."[/b] Break the Shinra power infrastructure and they have nothing to support their army or machinery with. They will be brought to their knees in agony, screaming for mercy...but they will find none. They only find an Avalanche waiting for them. First, however, they needed the materials put together for them to make the explosives, and that meant either making sure that Naomi was all on-board...or having to wait for the other one to return... >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> And what of those materials, then? Well, they had gotten it all into Midgar. It wasn't easy, but thanks to a quiet smuggling operation headed by their budding bomb expert, the right materials were sequestered away and transported here by stolen helicopter, then taken to a stolen Shinra truck to make it all look legitimate...until they staged a disappearance of said truck until they were ready to move it to the place they were constructing the explosives before use. Not their base in Midgar, but somewhere accessable enough to them. The only problem was that they were finding these checkpoints here and there, places searching for stolen goods and black market materials. That was gonna be a problem unless they could get around them. And well...there WAS A way. During the highpoint of Midgar traffic, a truck could be stuck in an area for a while and - in order to get some materials to a place faster while not wasting fuel - hire a runner to bring the goods, bit by bit, to the place in question. In THIS instance, they'd be hiring a [i]really fast[/i] runner to take materials through the back alleys to another truck, one that was already past the checkpoint that could then reach its destination without incident. The issue was with convincing the girl (Aiko) that it was safe, and fortunately for all of them... [b]"We wouldn't transport it [i]ourselves[/i] if that were the case. Packages are secured parcels, no real harm if they're dropped or even pierced or shot, but naturally we'd prefer it if they were undamaged. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbcNIGH3nts]Speed is key[/url], and of course...not getting caught. You'll be going back and forth a few times, at least. Payment on completion. I'll need a solid confirmation that you'll take this job before giving details, you understand."[/b] Because, after all, she would be helping Avalanche transport the not-explosive-yet materials that they're keeping in separate packaging and away from the detonators - which they already have, anyway - in order to bring the project to destroy the reactors to fruition. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> But in any case...down to Junon, then, where things were getting just a little bit...interesting. It all started with a call to Tseng's phone, or rather a message delivered via Shinra Dispatch to inform him of the situation. He apologized to the person he was talking to for taking the call, but it was a necessity, and he sent Krait a reply that an interception team would be standing by and ready, so he may proceed. Once he hung up, he gave a polite bow to the room's other occupant. [b]"Again, my apologize, Vice President."[/b] Yes, they were in Rufus' Junon officer, with the man himself looking out to sea via the large window. He had, of course, overheard everything. The room was quiet enough, and he smiled at what he'd picked up. [b]"Was that a report on your quarry?" "Yes, but I'm afraid our man cannot confirm it's the target. At this time, he's playing a hunch."[/b] The blonde man turned with a smile on his face. [b]"And you're letting him play it? Interesting..." "You know the man, his instincts and his skills-" "And I agree. So...let's go."[/b] Rufus was now opening his desk drawer and pulling out his guns. [b]"You're certain about this?" "I'm bored as hell, and I'm going to do something about it."[/b] He headed for the door, giving a quick whistle as Tseng followed behind. The monster hound who'd been silently resting in one corner of the room soon followed. They were going on a little hunt... >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The orders had been that the girl would be on the next boat in, and that they were to make sure she safely made it to Midgar to help them in their cause. To that end, the three operatives who had been in charge of the smuggling operation on this end would be there to intercept Kanade and help her along. One problem, though. Well, [i]two[/i] problems. First of all, Jessie was gone. After having seen a load of Sweepers loaded into a transport to be taken to battle zone at Fort Condor, she headed out to get ahead of them to help out in matters any way she could. The people there had opened their doors to Avalanche, so they couldn't very well shut them out now. That was the first problem. The second problem was that the two other operatives - a fairly-tough man and a large pudgy man - had spotted the opposition following her. They saw [i]him[/i] and the [i]hound[/i] from THEIR angle while carefully following [i]her[/i]. [b]"Hey, do you see what I see?" "Yeah, I see it. Shinra Ranger, trying to keep out of sight." "What do we do? If we open up [i]here[/i]-" "We're not gonna do that. We're gonna distract the doggo so she can slip away." "Aw [i]man![/i] My rear is still sore from the [i]last time![/i]" "Hey, [i]all[/i] our butts are on the line here, Wedge." "I know, I know... Let's just get it ov- Wait, look!" "I see it. Let's go!"[/b] Lex received his go-ahead to pursue, which was a good thing because his target was trying to get a ride. She'd gone to a driver to proposition him with some coin...and [i]that[/i] was when he and Wasteland would see two men - one fat and one athletic - quickly hurrying up to the car, as well. That [i]wasn't[/i] a quick extraction team! She was either about to be kidnapped or she was their target after all and she had help! Over at the car, Tace had made his expensive counter-proposal to the Wutai girl when he'd see two men suddenly flank her. At first, it looked like there might be trouble, but this was Mr. Delviro's lucky day, as the skinnier man spoke up. [b]"We'll make it [i]five[/i] thousand if you take all three of us." "C'mon, Biggs! That's [i]snack money[/i] you're getting into!" "I'll make it up to you, but for now we need to go. Well?"[/b] Any minute now, some amount of shit was gonna hit the fan. Would this man help them out or wouldn't he? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Akira had been right to run from a frontal assault with those Sweepers for two reasons. Number one, he and Jessie alone weren't enough to combat them without taking severe harm or at least one of them dying. And number two, the Catapult DID hit...one of them. Specifically, the rock pounded X-10 down flat, sparks lit as burn juice sloshed out of its front grill, and there was an explosion that knocked X-2 aside. There was no further pursuit, as the Sweeper actually needed a second to get oriented and such. Jessie didn't need any warnings to duck, as she was quick and limber herself, knowing the lines of defense herself. When they came to the conflict line, she whipped out her gun and started firing at anyone in a Shinra uniform from the sidelines, often aiming low to kneecap someone at a critical moment so the merc who was engaging 'em could survive to beat the hell out the enemy. But while that was going on...there was some activity at the bottom of the hill. [hider=X-9 Readout] [center][h3][b]X-9 Status:[/b] [b][color=39b54a]GREEN[/color][/b][/h3][/center] [b]X-10: [color=ed1c24]DESTROYED[/color][/b] [center][b][color=39b54a]ALL POINTS: ACKNOWLEDGE.[/color][/b][/center] [b]X-2: [color=fff200]READY.[/color] X-4: [color=39b54a]READY.[/color][/b] [center][b][color=39b54a]PREVIOUS STRATEGY DISCARDED. NEW STRATEGY TO READ AS FOLLOWS: X-2, retreat to nearest accessable high position and destroy enemy defenses. X-4, await rendevous and follow this unit. Goal is the systematic destruction of all Fort Condor defenses through exploitation of inherent weaknesses.[/color][/b][/center] [b]X-2: [color=fff200]Acknowledged.[/color] X-4: [color=39b54a]Acknowledged.[/color][/b] [center][b][color=39b54a]BEGIN.[/color][/b][/center] [/hider] X-9 suddenly became active and rolled out of the transport, much to the surprise of the technicians. [b]"Hey, what're you doing? We haven't deployed you yet. Get back in the- HEY, GET BACK HERE!"[/b] The Sweeper ignored the commands, as the active battle strategy overrode the command structure allowing low-level figures to order it around when it while it was set to the task of winning this fight. Out of the immediate sight of most Fort Condor personnel and defenders, the plan had begun. X-2 overcharge-leapt up onto a hill of rubble and began firing upon Catapults and Stoners. X-4 waited for X-9 at the mid-point it had reached while it had been detonating mines with its missles. The three Prototypes would soon join up and conduct a coordinated and rather cutthroat assault on those that remained, staying in hard-to-reach places that they reached only with their enhanced mechanisms.