[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df6YYlTYmZs[/youtube][/center]

There was a man making the rounds in a restricted area in Junon.  Among his duties, it was his job to inspect ammo storage for all the heavy ordinance, all the military-grade material they use for demolitions or armored vehicles or even the robots.  Furthermore, there was a section that even [i]he[/i] didn't have clearence to inspect, only to make sure there are no signs of tampering with the doors, the locks, or that any means of entering were possible.  He didn't know for certain what was in there, but given that it was just past the area where the materia was stored on this base, it had to be something big.  The Executive Vault, as they called it, was only for this: The highest-grade deterents known to man.  That was all he knew.

Now then, you may be curious as to who they gave this job to.  Did they hand it off to some grunt because they just didn't care, or to someone with a little experience who would know what the hell he was doing?  Well, the answer...was the latter.  A single SOLDIER walked along the halls, entering each room to make certain that everything was there, including the clipboard that stated what was suppose to be there.  If anything was missing and not recorded on that clipboard, he had the authorization to take any action he thought appropriate, up to and including a complete lockdown of the area.  This SOLDIER had a First-Level rank, and in fact was titled 'Captain' for his training of the younger SOLDIER units, the ones who joined [i]after[/i] the Wutai War.  He is a robust sort of man with a [url=https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/289dad51-2b85-43b6-94f2-c956c4be4a28.png]Hardedge[/url] on his back and a little gray in his hair.  Not that you'd see it, of course, while in uniform.  He had a unique helmet on with a crescent across the brow area.

As he came upon the Executive Vault door, he checked the numerous sensors - such as the scanner pad in front of the door, the retinal scanner, and palm print analyzer - to make sure none of them had seen any damage or tampering at all.  He then leapt up, suddenly, to stick himself to one corner of the room, all to make sure that the mounted turrets in the area continued to track him.  They wouldn't shoot, of course.  Any SOLDIER could walk down these corridors.  Lastly, he was about to jump up to and inspect the local air vents when...[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxW-jKcxy7k]he received a call.[/url]  Awkward timing.  Maybe it was from Surveillance, finding a problem with one of the cameras...  Ah, nope.  Different number.  One on his all-time top-ten.  He hit the button with a smirk, going [b]"Hello, Joe."[/b], then removing his helmet when the caller complained about the reverberations of his helmet in the speaker.

[b]"That better?  Good.  What's up?"[/b]

A small pause as the caller explained.  The Captain's brow furrowed.

[b]"That's strange.  Haven't been any complaints around [i]here[/i].  Well, if they say you have to destroy 'em, then...  Ohhh."[/b]

There wasn't any confirmation on the X-Series going crazy at Junon yet, but Joe was anticipating that it [i]might[/i] be the case, and that they should be prepared.  The man said he needed to check something, and then quickly activated the app on his phone to check regional alert status.  What the...?  The lower areas had an intruder alert?

[b]"Joe, we may be getting something here [i]already[/i].  I'll have to check up on it.  I'll talk to you later."[/b]

He hung up, then dialed Junon Central Dispatch.

[b]"This is Captain Gonovich speaking.  Ya mind telling me why I just got warnings of a problem here in Junon from someone [i]not even in city limits?[/i]"[/b]

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Meanwhile, at the Junon airfield, where a heavy Gelnika was about ready to take off, Rufus Shinra addressed the Head Turk, the chopper pilot, the repair technician, and anybody else who happened to be around.

[b]"So then, let me make sure I understand the situation, then.  This is an airfield...correct?"

"Correct, sir."

"The largest, in fact, in the world.  You agree?"

"I do, yes."

"So...when I ask for a helicopter, it is not unreasonable to have one ready for me immediately, which...I will say...you have not failed in.  But, to my understanding, it should [i]equally[/i] have been possible to secure a [i]second one[/i] within a moment's notice that the one we were using developed a fault...correct?"[/b]

Tseng of the Turks bowed his head, slightly.

[b]"Regrettably, that is not the case, sir."

"Kindly explain [i]why[/i]."[/b]

The man in the black suit nodded, and spoke plainly on the matter.

[b]"At a recent board meeting at the home office, it was decided that the majority of helicopter coverage was best-spent in the patrolling of city sectors in Midgar, as opposed to that of the already-militarized sections of Junon.  Thus, there are actually very few chopper units to be found here at any given time, less if there has been any necessary transport from Junon to Midgar, specifically, which is currently the case.  The helicopter that we took is held in reserve for all other uses, such as Executive transport.  The situation we find ourselves in - with no [i]second[/i] reserve helicopter - is the result of prioritizing where to cut the budget."[/b]

And that was probably Heidegger's field.  Rufus shook his head, keeping calm, but nevertheless maintaining an air of disappointment.

[b]"This must not be allowed to happen again.  I will see to it."

"Yes, sir.  Fortunately, there is a chopper incoming, so we will not have long to wait."

"That will do, I suppose."[/b]

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Down in the tunnels, Ranger Krait and the AVALANCHE members were still on the move.  Mostly, it was just them and whatever robot drones happened along their path, since those could keep up.  Occasionally, they'd also pass some worker or security guard who would be like [b]"Hey!"[/b] and draw their gun, only to be too late to do anything and just be forced to call it in.  On this [i]particular[/i] occasion, his phone got back a [i]different[/i] alert, one that read thusly...


[hider=From Junon Security]
[center][h3][color=ed1c24][b][u]ALERT[/u][/b][/color][/h3][/center]

[b][color=00aeef]Authorization: Captain Gonovich[/color][/b]


[color=00aeef][b]Report status/movements of Custom Sweeper Prototype units (X-Series Sweepers) immediately.
Do not engage unless units' actions are openly hostile.
They are to be retired at the earliest juncture by SOLDIER.[/b][/color]

[color=00aeef][b]End of Line[/b][/color]
[/hider]

This is fairly-important, because...as the pursuit was continuing, Ranger Krait would naturally be getting this message on his phone.  But whether or not he had the time to look at it, what happened next was certainly happening.  Lex was closing in, Kanade had asked Wedge to open fire at the jeep, instead of the Slug-Rays, Wedge went [b]"Ow! Ow! Ow!"[/b] as he opened fire and got zapped by the robots, Kanade was preparing to throw, and then...things got a little [i]crazy[/i].  How [i]much[/i] crazy, you might ask?  That split-second 'Oh Crap' kind of crazy.  Biggs looked ahead at an intersection, shouted at Wedge, Wedge suddenly panicked, and swerved to avoid the...larger robot that just rolled into view.  He collided with Biggs, who was thrown off-balance and almost hit the tunnel wall, and...well, due to [i]that[/i] business, the Jessie bomb went flying from Kanade's grip as they passed the pair of Sweepers in the tunnel.

This is where the 'Oh Crap' come in.  First of all, 'Oh Crap, there's a pair of Sweepers here', which Wedge nearly collided with on the bike, but narrowly missed.  Second, there was 'Oh Crap, I dropped the bomb!' for Kanade specifically as it bounced along in the tunnel now.  Third, there was 'Oh Crap, there are these Sweepers in the way!' for Lex, who had of course been pursuing at speed and now couldn't get by.  And in ALL of their cases, that would be 'Oh Crap, that bomb looks like it's armed', followed by [b][i]BOOOMMM!!![/i][/b] as it blasted through said tunnel area!

Finally, the [i]last[/i] 'Oh Crap' would be for anybody at all who realized that these units were X-6 and X-7, having just gone rogue.

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With things having calmed down considerably at Fort Condor and the process of rebuilding having gotten underway, Jessie Raspberry found herself paying more attention to the needs of this young man, Akira Ayumu, who was pretty sure that his last name alone was problematic, since he looked at least [i]part[/i] Wutai.  Yeah, that was definitely a problem for him, considering there was plenty of anti-Wutai sentiment, and that people who seemed like they were from there might be badly received.  Fact is, and she told him this, his whole name might've been a bit of a giveaway, and if he was [i]that[/i] worried about capture...

[b]"I think you might seriously need to lie low for a while.  This was a good refuge away from Shinra, but if you're really that much of a target, it's time to step out of the limelight entirely.  Trust me, I know what I'm talking about."[/b]

His contribution here at the fort could not be denied.  They might not have pulled through here if not for his support and a bit of heroics thrown in.  They tried really hard, this time, and while it might be a while before any serious attack happened again, it was a guarantee that Shinra would be back.  So, now that there'd been a battle with a serious death toll on both sides, now was a [i]great[/i] time to slip out quietly and find some place to hold up for a while.  Jessie had a suggestion or two on where, asked the people living and working here to give Akira his pay in supplies, and sent him on his way.

[b]"Don't worry about me.  I'll be fine.  You just look after yourself until the heat dies down."[/b]

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Of course, way ahead of THEM was Tace, who was now back on the move and no longer being harrassed by evil birds.  He had decided, once he recovered from the shock, that maybe his services were badly needed at Fort Condor, which was also the destination of that Trio.  He stepped into his car and gunned it for the Fort, which was still a ways away, but hey...he had a nice goddamn car.  He could get up to speeds those Shinra bike patrols couldn't manage, and he could put the music on and everything.  Though, what he'd be listening to was on him.  Along the way, as he began to see the distant tower and that [i]whoa-massive[/i] bird on top, he found a curious sight.  He had been avoiding monsters in general by speed, but in this area...maaaybe he didn't have to, and maaaybe he might've wanted to be just a bit quieter.  Ya see, in the distance, there had been this circle of flying predators, and then some of them would jerk suddenly as flying lead was rammed through their bodies.

Halfway to Fort Condor, there was a Sweeper out there, going the other way, shooting at the wildlife.  Whadya think of that?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

In the alleys of Midgar, there was a [b]"Whoops."[/b] as the molotov went over Aiko's head.  That was Burke.  Burke had no idea that was wrong with the situation, only that he'd missed, and that Beck was gonna shout at him for missing.  He had no idea what the actual problem was when Beck shouted [b]"[i]Now[/i], look whatcha did!"[/b], apologizing to get their leader off of his back.  He didn't like getting shouted at.  That was usually reserved for Butch, which was a relief.  That said, the screeches got [i]all[/i] their attentions, and he immediately blurted out [b]"I don't think we wanna be here, boss!"[/b] right as [i]giant rats on fire[/i] came out all over he place!  Yeah, no worries, kid.  They know when the hell to run!  In fact, the last thing Aiko would hear as she got out of the range of their shouting was Beck going [b]"Everything!  Just toss everything and RUN!"[/b], followed by the deployment of mines and molotovs.

To her own credit, Aiko still knew these alleyways like the back of her hand, so while there [i]had[/i] been this detour, and that she WAS in full retreat mode for a while to get the hell out of Rat Country, it was easy for her to get back on track after the fact and resume heading for her destination.  The only problem was that when she got back on track to go into her prep work, there was that feeling of being watched, even though there was no immediate sign of being around.  That was a problem.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Maddie was alone with Naisha.  Naisha was alone with Maddie.  Who was the one really threatening whom?  Thr Turk may not be pleased that the SOLDIER wasn't around anymore, but to be fair...she was a [i]Turk[/i].  She could handle things, and also Joe had not been aware of any actual [i]problems[/i] with the wheelchair woman, apart from her being aggravated by people in Shinra.  Well anyway, he was no longer a part of this scene as the two ladies began the act of verbal parry and thrust.  They might eventually see another [i]different[/i] helicopter - a cargo chopper - touch down at the junkyard that they had gotten the hell away from.  Looks like Joe had gotten a team to do something about this mess and they weren't going to destroy it.

If Naisha wanted the thing for herself, she might recall that she was still connected...