Hope: Ideal of Fools

[Cloud Strife]

(Word of warning before you read any further - this work was a sudden and unexpected burst of inspiration. It is not in any way meant to be interactive (apologies for that), only a one-shot post deal that I thought the rest of you would likely enjoy. Assuming it doesn't turn out to be as horrible as I'm anticipating. Anyway, here we go!)

Looking at the unassuming building in front of himself, the blonde-haired mercenary shifted his weight from one foot to the other, both warming up and trying to put the pieces together. Every clue he had followed thus far had led him to this point, and yet still there was hesitation. By all accounts, there was absolutely no guarantee that what he sought would lie behind those doors. And yet, the promise that even another step on the path was only minutes away from him had him eager. Foolishly so. A smile spread across his lips.

Some prep work was in order. Feeling his blood pumping, he belted on two of his shorter blades, checked to make sure his vest was properly situated over his vital areas, and ran through his materia one more time. He was anticipating a short trip in and out, thanks to the facility's age and unofficial shutdown years before. Hopping up and down in place and trade a few blows with his shadow upon the wall, he nodded to himself. Time was up. Now or never.

The door blew in with a burst of fire, far more than what was necessary, but then Cloud wasn't known for his restraint. Stepping in to see the elevator as he'd expected, the young man punched the button and drew the longer of his two blades. When he got to the bottom of the shaft, he discovered just how underprepared he had come into this place.

The front room the elevator deposited him in was literally falling apart. Vegetation was beginning to reclaim the subterranean facility quickly, bending steel and strewing rubble across the floor where walls and ceilings had caved in. As he had somewhat expected, he was not alone, but it wasn't the monster fare he'd been expecting. Far from it, in fact.

Amidst cries of halt and warning, the mercenary drew his other blade and went to work. Dropping his shoulder and rolling to the right as he advanced down the short staircase leading away from the elevators, he could feel the bullets grazing his back and shattering what little marble remained on the facade behind him. He came up on his feet, cutting low at the knees of the first guard to fire. As he cried out, Cloud came up from his roll, grabbing the man by the collar. Shot after shot pounded into the doomed man's back as Cloud ran forward with him, eventually spinning and hurling the bullet-ridden corpse into two shooters side by side.

Wincing as this had caused him to nearly lose grasp of his sword in the same hand, the young man lost his balance and hit the ground nearly as hard as the pair he had just disabled. Looking up in time to see his only remaining threat bearing down on him with a stun rod, Cloud elected to fight fire with fire. Lifting his hand, a massive crack rent the stale air as blue tendrils of lightning overloaded the rod and the guard's heart in an instant. Grunting, Cloud forced himself to his feet just as the pair of guards hoisted their fallen companion off themselves. Bringing his blades to bear as they drew their own, Cloud knew he was in for a tougher fight.

Still, he refused to allow them to take the first move. He rushed forward, both blades raised high in a threatening stance. The guards faltered for just a moment, and that was precisely what he needed in order to gain his advantage. The trick would be in keeping it. Knowing the first steps of the dance they were entering would be critical in evaluating his opponents properly, Cloud could not afford any missteps. He cut and chopped and parried, never allowing either one of them to circle around his sides as they were constantly trying. Each ring of their blades was significant in his mind, detailing things about his opponents that he would never get any other way.

The one on his right was leaving just slightly more lag between his attacks than his partner, and so Cloud pressed the attack harder. Sure enough, the man began to grow slightly panicked, his parries harder than necessary. Cloud took his advantage and gave up his footing for just a moment, raising his knee. The man chopped down and hit his thigh-guard, allowing Cloud to put his blade through the man's chest. He spun around the dying guard and forced him into the other man's blade, ending the fight while he was still looking down in horror. When the bodies hit the floor, the blonde haired mercenary had already reclaimed his blade and started heading for the hallway.

Nothing was going to stop him from getting his answers.

(Shorter than I was expecting, but time constraints forced this on me. There is definitely more to this story, but I won't have a chance to write it for a while. Send me your thoughts in PM, I'd be more than happy to serialize it faster with enough positive feedback. ^^ )

[Cloud Strife]

(Well, I have to say, I'm rather surprised by the rapidity and enthusiasm with which some of you responded to this. o.o; Somewhat embarrassing/flattering, really. In any case, if you all are going to be so dedicated to reading, then I suppose I have to be dedicated to writing it. Don't expect replies this quick in the future, but I'll certainly try my best.

Away we go!)

The mercenary wicked crimson rust-inducing liquid off the ends of his blades with the heel of his palms, examining the hallway ahead as his heart and breathing rates fell back toward resting. He hadn't been expecting that much resistance in a facility so old, let alone in the very first room. Debating momentarily about doubling back, he shook his head slightly. He wouldn't have time to double back and pick up more supplies without allowing any further resistance inside to gain firmer footing. Best just to press on and hope he had enough to scrape by.

Once this thought was firmly entrenched in him, he took a moment to examine his surroundings. The hallway was certainly in no better state than the entry room, tiles littering the ground in shattered piles interwoven by the dark greens and browns of roots and fungus moving in. The facility had clearly been neglected for a very long time, but why? And why would the information he sought still be in a place that had been allowed to run into the ground anyway?

It didn't matter now. There was too much evidence pointing here to back out now, especially after that fiasco in the front room. He'd never get another chance to be sure. Picking his way through the rubble, he made his way to the end of the hall and shouldered open a door that resisted his attempts to breach the room beyond.

A loud squeal peeled through the air as the hinge almost threatened to snap rather than opening easily, though it didn't matter overmuch. The room beyond was every bit as dead as he'd been expecting - somewhat literally. No wonder the guards in the first room had been so prepared for violence. The computer consoles that had once been housed in this research lab were shattered, shorn through, or otherwise rendered forever inoperable. As he picked his way through overturned chairs and still bodies, the mercenary frowned deeply. Something about this scene wasn't right. The gouges in the walls and terminals were all alike, so much so that he had to wonder if they had been made by the same creature.

He gave paused when he noticed one man, probably allied with the group he had just taken out, laying gasping for breath under a partially overturned desk. His eyes were glassy, and Cloud knew he had little time left, but there was nothing the mercenary could do for him. Instead, he knelt and pressed his hand to the man's forehead, tapping into his Regen materia in order the make the doomed soldier's final moments a more peaceful end. Before rising, he took the datadisc from the soldier's helmet and placed it into his phone. The last several communication logs were sure to be of interest, and would hopefully explain just what had happened here.

As he listened, Cloud's expression fell. The only understandable dialogue occurring was all mundane. Only moments after kill orders began coming through, the audio became little more than static with the occasional scream. The mercenary shut it down before his stomach could turn. Whatever had done this must surely still be in some lower level of the facility. Judging by the pattern of shattered doors lying ahead of him, there was only one way it could have gone. Cloud needed to take care of it before he could focus on his mission properly.

As he forged ahead, the rubble behind him was momentarily disturbed as the wisp of a shadow crawled across the floor after him. The Hunt was on.

[Cloud Strife]

As Cloud continued to make his way deeper into the facility's ruined halls and demolished rooms, further scenes of violence began to make him feel like he was picking through the ruins of something that should have been left locked up. In some rooms, the only thing to indicate the presence of any soldiers at all were the crushed remains of helmets and weapons, occasionally a smear of crimson across a wall. In one room, the ceiling dripped with such horrid rancidity that Cloud had to turn back and take several deep breaths before his resolve found him again. Even in the height of all his madness, Sephiroth and his progeny had not prepared Cloud for barbarism of this magnitude. Whatever was here had to be sentient - no mere monster was this purposefully vicious.

After picking his way through the carnage for a time, the mercenary finally came across something of interest - a computer bank which was still working, if flickering and in its final stages of viral breakdown. Stepping up to the operations console, Cloud frowned as he tapped in a few simple commands. The screen flickered and buzzed in protest before finally bringing up a directory.

://}sss9922, - USER, STATE INQUIRY

Scratching slightly at his chin, Cloud tried several times to bring up pertinent information on various command structures and information reliquaries.

(333koosiu33m ERROR CODE 319 - ACCESS RESTRICTED TO LEVE

The remainder of the message broke off into a panel of the screen which was no longer projecting anything but blackness with the occasional flicker of blue. Grunting in frustration, Cloud punched in a basic function inquiry.

://sss ANSWER - RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAK

Again the remainder was lost in the blank space. Kicking the console, the mercenary growled and turned away, only to turn back when he heard more command lines being printed.

MONSTER MODIFICATIONAL FACILITY
STUDIES OF LONG TERM SOLDIER MEMBER DEGRADAT
FUSION OF ENERGIES DIVISION

___WARNING___
FACILITY SECURITY COMPROMISED IN SECTIONS E THR
BIO CONTAINMENT BREACHES DETECTED IN ALL SECTOR
IMMEDIATE EVACUATION AND TERMINATION OF ALL
LOCKDOWN CODE 12 IN EFFECT
KOS PROGRAMMING APPROVED

"Well. That answers a few questions." Cloud mumbled, looking up to the broken cameras and mangled security guns. Whatever had been happening here was clearly a deep undercover Shinra operation. One that was never intended to get out - except it had. And this had been the result.

A rumbling boom from down a nearby corridor stole Cloud's attention then, blades leaping into his hands as he prepared himself. He was not alone.

[Cloud Strife]

The blonde mercenary stared down the corridor from which this most recent source of noise and possible worry had emanated, squeezing the hilts of his blades in anticipation. Nothing good would be coming, that much was sure, but he could at least hope that it wouldn't be anything horrible. Another loud, rolling boom dashed that hope to pieces, especially as it was followed by the horrendous noise of metal being rent.

Casting his gaze quickly about the room, the survivalist in Cloud kicked into overdrive. The computer bank was useless at this point except to deliver a quick shock to a powerful enemy if he could trick it. Minimal importance. There was a large broken down metal-top table in the middle of the room that he could potentially use as an obstacle. He'd keep it in mind. Some chairs could easily be kicked or thrown into his opponent's way, but nothing worth planning over. The rest of the room was frustratingly bare, leaving him little to rely on save his own strength. Odds he was rather used to, in all honesty.

Once he caught a glimpse of what was coming up the hall, however, the mercenary's usually unshakable resolve began to crack. He wondered briefly if it would be better to run or fight. Then, their eyes met, and a horrible cry of unrestrained rage filled the room. If he ran now, it would only follow him out and possibly hurt or kill innocent people. Cloud needed to stop it here. Rocking back on one heel, he set his stance and lifted his blades in a mainly defensive posture. This was going to be a battle of wills to survive and strength to hold on long enough for the other to wear down, and he needed to force his opponent into wasting more energy than he did.

As his opponent burst through the door frame, literally breaking it open and causing the ceiling to buckle behind it, Cloud instantly regretted his decision. This beast was positively massive, as broad at the shoulders as Cloud was tall, and standing so tall that the top of the mercenary's spikey hair barely hit the middle of the beast's chest. Its skin appeared to be made from some sort of fluid, modular metal, the color shifting as it rippled along the surface of something more solid beneath.

This was going to be a bigger struggle than he had prepared for.