“ Red?” Questioned Cloud.
“ Yes, I’m back.” Answered Nanaki.
“ But we haven’t seen you since,”
“ I know, I was busy.”
“ Well, that’s just lovely Red, but while you’ve been gone all hell’s broken loose almost literally and all you can say is “ I was busy.” Like you don’t care.” Cried Barrett in a moment of rage.
“ I’m sorry you feel that way Barrett, but I had to find out what’s happening out there.” Sympathised Nanaki.
“ Listen, right now we don’t need a fight between ourselves!” Shouted Cloud. “Barrett, I don’t care what you think, but whatever Red has been working on could stop this whole charade. It could help me get Liol back.”
“ Liol, what happened to Liol?” Asked Nanaki.
The room went silent.
Vincent spoke up.
“ Possessed, by Sephiroth.”
“ Oh God.” Cried Nanaki.
“ Exactly.” Stated Barrett.
“ Excuse me, but exactly who is Sephiroth?” Asked Kole.
“ Oh sorry, Red this is Kole, we found him outside, he was going on the space program with Cid.” Introduced Cloud.
“ Hi,” Greeted Kole.
“ Hello.” Replied Nanaki.
“ Kole,” Asked Cloud.
“ Yes,”
“ You know, five years ago when the meteor almost destroyed the planet?”
“ Uh Huh. How could I forget.”
“ Sephiroth created that. That’s the kind of power he has at his disposal.”
“ Right, damn.”
“ Exactly.” Stated Vincent.
Barrett, Vincent and Kole left the autopsy room after Kole had cleaned up. They left Nanaki and Cloud to it.
“ I’m sorry about Liol, Cloud.” Supported Nanaki.
“ Thanks Red,” Answered Cloud solemnly.
“ How is Tifa holding up?”
“ Alright I suppose, considering what’s happened.”  Nanaki could tell the sadness in Cloud’s mind.
“ We’ll get him back I know it, I don’t care what that lunatic Sephiroth thinks. We beat him last time right?”
“ Yeah but,”
“ Right.”
“ Right.” Cheered up Cloud
“ I don’t care how impossible it seems, I think we can beat him this time.” Said a strong willed Nanaki.
“ You’re right Red, I’m sorry.”
“ And I think you could end up better after this, think about who could be brought back.”
“ Aeris, Cid, Zack.”
“ That’s right, all you have to focus on is Aeris, Liol and all the others and I know you’ll succeed.” Encouraged Nanaki. “ I know it.”
 

*
 

Barrett left the Turk Headquarters in a state, the sight of his dead friend on the autopsy table had, apart from traumatising him, had made him think about things; was the crusade to stop Sephiroth and evil really worth the death of so many friends?
It used to be, but not anymore. Now the crusade had gone cold for Barrett, sure he did want to get Sephiroth an all, but not at the cost of his friends dying. It was Cloud and Tifa who wanted to get Liol back, not Barrett.
He walked past the street and into the local off-licence; the streets were wrecked from the fighting between the possessed and well, everyone else. The streets were quiet at night, as the possessed seemed to hide at this time.
Barrett bought the last bottle of wine in the shop, Barrett grinned, it seemed a lot of people were drinking away their problems in these most desperate of times.
“ That’ll be two hundred and fifty gil please.” Said the frightened shopkeeper; it wasn’t everyday a man with a gun arm walked into your shop.
“ Oh, I’m sorry, I forget about the whole gun thing now and then.” Barrett handed over the money and the shopkeeper calmed down.
“ Don’t worry about coming back, if things stay the way they are we probably won’t be here in a couple a days.” Said the Shopkeeper as Barrett left the shop.
Barrett sat down on the curb of the street and opened the bottle of wine, took the bottle to his lips and drank from it. A sweet elixir. The drink trickled down his throat and Barrett smiled, he hadn’t had this feeling for at least seven years. He enjoyed the bottle of alcohol for a while and had almost finished it before realising something; he remembered the reason why he hadn’t had the feeling for so long. In the years before Avalanche he had gone too far, way too far. In his drunken rage he had got angry with Marlene and hit her, not hard, but Barrett didn’t want to hurt her in any way. He loved her. He couldn’t let that happen again, he had promised himself.
“ Damn!” He shouted as he threw the almost empty bottle to the City Street.
That moment one of the Turks walked out of the Turks building.
Reno looked at the broken bottle and made his own conclusions.
“ Bit too much too drink hay Barrett?” Asked Reno.
“ Shut up, damn Turk!” Answered Barrett, holding his gun to the Turks face.
“ Whoa! Barrett come on just a joke okay?”
“ Doesn’t seem so funny to me.” Said Barrett.
“ Come on Barrett, you’re not really thinking of killing me right?”
“ Don’t know, want to try me?”
“ Think about it Barrett, do you really think you’re gonna feel better after you kill an innocent guy like me.”
Barrett stopped and thought before lowering his gun and putting his head in his hands again.
“ No.” He answered solemnly.
“ Thank God,” Said Reno, dusting himself off. “ What’s wrong anyway?”
“ Why do you care?” Asked Barrett
“ You just pointed a gun to my head that’s why.”
“ Suppose you have a point.” Admitted Barrett. “ It’s Cid, well ever since he died it’s been like, like,”
“ Why bother.”
“ Yeah, we do all these things to help and all that happens is that we ourselves get killed. It gets to the point when I don’t think it’s worth it anymore.”
“ And you want to quit but you don’t want to let Cloud down.” Listened Reno.
“ Yeah. That’s about it.” Smiled Barrett
“ I’ve been in a similar situation before. So what you gonna do?” Asked Reno as he walked towards the Turk’s building.
“ Don’t know, probably sober up first.” Laughed Barrett.
“Yeah, good idea.” Said Reno as he reached the entrance.
“ Reno?” Asked Barrett.
“ Yeah?” He replied.
“ What did you do in the situation?”
“ What my heart told me to.”
 

*
 

Lucrecia walked down the hallway on her way to Elena’s office, giving the nod of her head to familiar people walking past her. Everyone was in a hurry, the possessed were quickly gaining in numbers outside and the possibility of evacuation was growing more and more likely. She turned the corner before approaching her destination.
“ Elena it’s Lucrecia.”
“ Come in.” Answered Elena. Lucrecia opened the door to the room and stood upright.
“ Hi Elena.” She said.
“ Yes.” Answered Elena as she rose from her chair to face her partner.
“ You called for me earlier.”
“ God yeah, with this whole possession thing, I’m rushed off my feet. Fine sit down.” Lucrecia sat down on the seat in front of Elena.
“What did you want me for?” She asked.
“ I just wanted to ask you something.”
“ Yeah, go ahead.”
“ Is there something on your mind at the moment?” Asked Elena.
“ Nothing really,”
“ Lucrecia, be honest. Ever since we heard about Sephiroth you’ve been acting strangely, we’ve all noticed it. I know about your past with him and if you want to take a back seat I’m alright with that.” Elena said.
“ To be honest I am a little cautious when it comes to Sephiroth and well, when he came back it was a bit of a shock. I told Cloud I would join him without really thinking about it, I thought I’d be able to escape my fears.” Said a saddened Lucrecia
“ Do you feel you can carry on with the present mission, if not you could prove a liability.”
“ I feel I could, but I don’t want to, I don’t want to jeopardise Cloud’s chance of getting his son back. I lost my chance.”
“ What do you want to do?” Asked Elena.
“ Would you mind if I took leave for a while, I need time to think things over.” Replied Lucrecia.
“ That’s fine, as long as you feel it’s the best for you.” Answered Elena. “ I personally think it’s time for a break for you.”
“ Thanks for your support Elena, after five years of working together, I’m glad you trust me.” She said as she handed over her card, releasing her of her duties for the while.
“ Thanks for co-operating with us and I hope to see you soon. I don’t want to see you leaving us now.” Smiled Elena.
“ Don’t worry about that.” Said Lucrecia as she left the room. “ I’ll definitely be back.”
 

*
 

“ So, do you really think you know what is causing this?” Asked Cloud.
“ In a way, yes.” Said Nanaki, in a slightly unconvincing tone. “ The books I have at my disposal are vague and unfortunately they may not be enough in this case.”
Cloud nodded, “ Go on.” He encouraged.
“ Insurrection,” Nanaki stated as he climbed atop the room’s only table.  “BugenHagen came to me one night, all he said was that it was “time” for Insurrection, that it was coming. You know the meaning of insurrection Cloud?” Asked Nanaki.
“ A revolt or revolution.” Answered Cloud.
“ Right.” Smiled Nanaki. “ A revolution, exactly, but whose revolution? And to what purpose?”
“ You’ve got me.” Replied Cloud.
“ It got me too, until I looked into BugenHagen’s extensive library. It seems that the Insurrection happens only when the planet is in grave danger or near to death, the revolution is a change in the way the planet works.” Told Nanaki.
“ The planet almost died five years ago could this be the cause?” Asked Cloud, eyes wide open.
“ Almost definitely, in fact,” Started Nanaki, before being interrupted by a crash outside.
“ It’s them.”  Spoke Cloud. “ He’s coming.” Again came a noise, the hundreds of footsteps clanging against the street outside.
“ God!” Cried Nanaki. “ Their numbers have grown!”
“ You’re damn right Red, We’ve gotta get outta here.” Shouted Cloud. “ Where’s everyone else?”
“ They’re all somewhere in this blasted Turk place,” Shouted Nanaki. “ Except for Barrett, I don’t know where the hell he is.”
“ Right,” Sighed Cloud. “ Follow me, we’ve got to get everyone else out.”
 

*
 

The possessed were coming, coming to take Rocket Town and all her people with her; Shera wasn’t prepared for that to happen, not after losing Cid to them.
She moved over to the front window of the small house to see the huge group only a hundred metres away; they were on their way to the Turks Headquarters where Cloud and the others were. She couldn’t let them kill them; she had to save them, get them out of there.
She grabbed the keys and locked the front door; she didn’t want them getting in here. She ran to the back garden, almost falling over as she jumped down the step. Looking up at the wonder that was the Highwind, Shera steadied herself before climbing aboard the airship that lay rest in the garden. Climbing to the top floor and turning the key in the ignition the engine that had been dormant since that day five years ago, once again ignited and the engine roared as it awoke from it’s slumber.
“ Don’t worry guys,” Cried Shera. “ I’m coming for you.”
 
 

*
 

They were coming and Elena knew it, There was no way out and Elena knew it. The only thing see didn’t know was how she and the rest of the Turks were going to survive.
“ Thank you for coming, in these most desperate of times.” Started Reeve. “ But the matter I Have to discuss with you is of the most utmost importance. With almost all of Rocket Town’s people possessed and the possessed forces close to penetrating the walls of this building, I have decided to leave the base here as a lost cause.”
The remaining five Turks nodded their heads in agreement.
“ Thank you for agreeing with me people.” Finished Reeve. “ All of you are to ride the elevator up the roof and radio for airlifting, I’m not having any of you dying on me.”
“ Thanks, Sir.” Replied Elena. “ We will follow our orders as told. Reno, Rude, Vincent, Yuffie, let’s go.”
Before the Turks could leave Reeve’s office Cloud burst through the door, “ Guys we’ve got to get out of here!” He screamed. “ The possessed, they’re coming.”
“ We know,” Said Yuffie slightly more calm than normal. “ Come with us to the roof, we’re being airlifted.”
“ I can’t.” Cried Cloud. “ I’ve got to find Tifa and Cherrie I came here to tell you to get to the roof.”
“ No problem, we were just going.” Reassured Vincent. “ You go and find Tifa and we’ll wait for you up on the roof.”
“ Agreed,” Smiled Cloud as he left the room. “ Thanks Vincent.”
“ Anytime.”
“ Everyone, to the roof.” Ordered Elena. “ We’re leaving.”
 

*
 

Cloud ran as fast as he could down the stairs, there had been at least four flights so far, two more to their room if Cloud remembered correctly.
“ Come on Cloud,” He whispered to himself, he’d lost Liol, he wasn’t prepared to lose Tifa and Cherrie too.
He got to her room, their room and opened the door. Tifa was there, suited up with her gloves and hiking shoes.
“ Cloud!” She cried.
“ I’m here darling it’s alright I’m here now.” Comforted Cloud. He hugged and kissed her, reassuring her everything was going to be okay. “ Where’s Cherrie?” He asked.
“ I’m on Mummy’s back Daddy.” Smiled Cherrie, she was sitting in one of Tifa’s backpacks.
“ Well done Cherrie, now you be good for Mummy on her back won’t you?”
“ Of cause Daddy, I’ll be good.”
“ How come you waited?” Cloud Asked. “ You seem ready to go.”
“ I waited for you Cloud, I wasn’t prepared to go without you.” Said Tifa.
“ Neither could I,” Smiled Cloud as he gave her another hug and kiss.
“ Where’s Marlene? Weren’t you supposed to be looking after her for Barrett?” Asked Cloud.
“ I’m here Cloud.” Whispered Marlene. She was also kitted out in her adventuring gear. “ Tifa told me to get ready for when we go.”
“ Good, now you hold on to Tifa’s hand and we’re gonna run upstairs to the roof to run away from the nasty possessed people ok?” Asked Cloud.
“ Okay.” Marlene replied.
“ Everyone ready?” Checked Cloud.
“ Ready.” Stated Cherrie.
 

*
 

Nanaki rushed to find Barrett, Cloud had given him the orders to do so and Nanaki was not going to disobey them, he had to find Barrett. He had already checked the lower floors and was now checking the higher, he just hoped to God that Barrett was still in the Turks Headquarters and not outside, if he was outside, well Nanaki couldn’t bring himself to think of what the consequences were.
On his way through the building, he found Kole, they had decided to stick together, besides two were better than one.
“ Kole.” Gasped Nanaki.
“ Yeah.” Replied Kole.
“ Can you find Barrett somehow?”
“ I’ll try, but I can never be sure, my computer isn’t always right.”
“ At least try,” Said Nanaki.
“ Computer.”
YES KOLE.
“ Execute search frequency.”
EXECUTING SEARCH FREQUENCY.
“ Computer, Find Human_3094 Barrett Wallace.”
SEARCHING,
“ It shouldn’t take long.” Smiled Kole.
“ Fine.” Replied Nanaki.
FOUND TARGET BARRETT WALLACE.
CO-ORDINATES (21, 46, 76, 34)
“ I’ve found him, follow me.” Said an excited Kole.
“ You’re the leader.” Smiled Nanaki.
After three corners and as many doors they reached Barrett, asleep in the doctor’s waiting area.
“ Wake up, Barrett, we’re going.” Screamed Nanaki.
“ What,” Replied a mystified Barrett.
“ We are going, get up.” Repeated Nanaki.
“ Why are you asleep here anyway?” Asked Kole.
“ Don’t answer that Barrett, right now I don’t even want to know.” Finished Nanaki.
 
 

*
 

Almost everyone was here and they had radioed for airlifting, almost everyone was here, apart from Lucrecia.
“ We’re here.” Shouted Cloud, bringing Tifa, Cherrie and Barrett’s daughter.
“ Thank God!” Screamed Yuffie, coming over to hug them. “ You took so long, we were worried.”
Vincent was happy, happy for Cloud and Tifa, he didn’t want to see them getting hurt.
But Lucrecia wasn’t here, Red and Barrett had come back long ago, along with Kole. Vincent was worried; she couldn’t stay here, not for much longer.
“ She’s not here Elena, what should we do?” He asked Elena.
“ I think we should wait for an airship before we get worried,” She Replied. “ I’m sure she’ll come.”
“ And you’re definite she left your office in a good mood.”
“ As definite as I can be.” Answered Elena. “ Don’t fret Vincent, she’ll come.”
“ I’m not so sure of that.” Said Vincent, putting his shades on and running towards the steps that led down into the Building.
“ Lucrecia!” He shouted as he ran down the steps.
“ I’m here.” She Replied. “ I may not be a Turk anymore but I’m not going to leave without you.”
“ Jesus, I thought you weren’t coming,” Said Vincent, kissing her on the cheek.
“ Sorry, I guess not being a Turk anymore means I just don’t have that finesse for timing.” Lucrecia said.
“ We’re going,” Vincent said. “ We’re being airlifted.”
“ Right.” Smiled Lucrecia. “ We’d better go then.”
 

*
 

“ Where the hell is that airship?” Screamed Reno.
“ It’ll come.” Said Elena, Lighting her cigarette.
“ We radioed in over twenty minutes ago, they said they would be ten.” Shouted Reno, beginning to panic.
“ He’s right Elena, with all the confusion tonight, the airship could have either been taken over or cancelled.” Spoke up Cloud.
“ We could always radio them back, see what’s happened.” Suggested Vincent.
“ We might as well.” Agreed Cloud.
“ I’ll do it.” Huffed Elena, throwing her cigarette to the floor and stamping it out, then she pulled the radio from her pocket and dialled.
“ Victor.” She shouted down the radio.
“ Elena,” He replied.
“ Yeah, where is your damn airship?” Elena said, getting angry.
“ I’m sorry, we lost contact only three minutes after it took off, there’s nothing we can do.”
“ Can’t you send another down? We don’t have much time left.”
“ The possessed have shorted out our main power supply, there’s no way we can send another to you in time.” Finished Victor.
“ Damn!” Cried Elena as she slammed the radio to the floor and lit another cigarette. “They lost the airship and can’t send another out, we’re stuck.”
“ From my scanner it seems the possessed have taken over floors one to twenty four, which at the current rate gives us around five minutes.” Stated Vincent.
“ What else can go wrong tonight?” Screamed Barrett.
“ How are we going to get out of here?” Said Cloud.
The loud rumbling of an airship’s engine got louder as it moved closer to the Turks Headquarters’ rooftop, everyone looked up to stare at the wonder that was the Highwind. The great ship that had come to save them in the most desperate of times landed on the roof, it was Shera.
“ Alright!” Screamed Yuffie.
“ Anyone want to come aboard?” Shouted Shera as the group of people ran onto the bridge.
“ Are we gonna be ok now Daddy?” Asked Cherrie as Tifa carried onto the Highwind.
“ Of cause Darling, the horrid possessed can’t get us now.” Smiled Cloud.
“ Thanks for saving us, it was starting to look bleak there.” Said Tifa to Shera.
“ I couldn’t stay at home with this happening could I?” She replied.
“ They’re coming.” Said Vincent. “ Only two floors away”
“ Oh God!” Screamed Tifa.
“ Shera, start the engine we’ve gotta leave, fast.” Commanded Cloud.
“ I can’t, the engines are jamming!” Shouted Shera.
The door to the rooftop shook and the possessed started pouring out.
“ For God’s sake, look Cloud! They’re here!” Screamed Barrett.
“ Sweet Jesus!” Cried Cloud. “ Marlene, take Cherrie somewhere safe!”
“ Okay Cloud.” Screamed Marlene as she ran off away from the deck, carrying Cherrie.
“ Everyone, get into attack positions!” Shouted Cloud. “ Shera, try and get that engine running and we’ll hold them off!”
“ I’ll try my best.” Replied Shera.
“ You’re gonna have to do better than that!”
The battle started with the sound of gunfire from Barrett, his arm firing the utmost amount of bullets he could muster. The Turks also used their personal bolt rifles to fend off the oncoming opponents. Man upon man fell as they got closer to the Highwind, Cloud and Tifa using Bolt magic to defend themselves. The possessed were falling, but they weren’t about to stop, wave after wave came, there seemed to be no end of them.
“ There’s too many of them!” Screamed Barrett. “ We won’t be able to hold them off much longer.”
“ How much longer for the engine Shera?” Asked Vincent.
“ I’ve let it cool off for a minute now, maybe another thirty seconds until I can start the engines again!” Shouted Shera.
“ Just enough time.” Whispered Cloud, he dove into his pocket and pulled out a shining red orb.
“ Bahamut Zero!”  Shouted Cloud, clutching the orb. He saw the Dragon appear from the sky and smiled. The Dragon swooped down from the clouds and began to charge it’s powerful beam, three seconds to charge. Then it let rip, killing the possessed instantly and almost completely destroyed the rooftop of the Turk building.
“ It’s ready!” Screamed Shera. She turned the key in the slot and the engine let rip. The Highwind lifted off from the roof and started to fly away from the possessed ridden building.
Cloud looked over the edge of the Highwind’s deck; the possessed covered the rooftop once more.
“ We’ve got to stop him Tifa.” Said Cloud as the Highwind drifted even further away. “ We’ve go to get Liol back.”
“ I know, we will, but not just yet, we’re not really ready yet.”
 

To Chapter 6