The Requiem: Nightfall, This is no mournful elogy...

[Sephiroth X]

Amidst the war-torn city of Kyoto, a beautiful death angel walked. Twice in the city's history had this happened; once when it was a shining pinnacle of human achievement, and once when it became little more than a city-sized memorial. If Mangetsu had half a chance, Tokyo would be like this after he was through with it. What came after that would be the fun part.

Sephiroth X, back in his days of unlimited glory, had done the unthinkable. Tore Kyoto from its foundations and brought it crashing back down upon its populace, leaving only one survivor. Mangetsu's attuned eyes saw countless DNA Souls wandering the area, slowly and steadily decomposing into little more than random bits of data or, as some liked to say, passing on from this world to the next. No one, even the technomancer, really knew if a Reploid went to Heaven or Hell. Then again, neither did most humans. All Mangetsu knew is that there were many creatures here who would like nothing more than to take vengeance, and it was these spirits whom Mangetsu had come for.

Ever since the castle had risen, Mangetsu had taken on a radiance and dazzling aura that he had not had since he first walked the earth, the ever-mighty warrior priest Daiken at his side. Walking smoothly with an unearthly grace, Mangetsu finally stood in the center of a burnt circle, one where anyone who didn't know better would have assumed a bomb had gone off. Of course, Mangetsu did know better, that this was the place where Sephiroth X brought down the Hunters' and the military's last stand and performed his final blasphemous act of destruction. No sooner than Mangetsu stepped into the scorched ring did hundreds if not thousands of angry souls suddenly rose in the air, a touch of hateful brilliance in their glow.

The souls twisted and contorted, hideously transforming into echoes of the Reploids they had once been. Their faces were deformed with their rage, and they spit their words forcefully, even though their voices were as if they came from the depths of a cavern.

"Death God!" They spat. "Murderer! Blasphemer! Death God!"

Mangetsu adjusted his silk tie and waited patiently. The serenity on his face did not sway the angry spirits and it was only when he raised his alabaster hand that they fell silent.

"In your misguided rage," he said, his voice resonant. "You have mistaken me for the man who slew you. A closer look and you would see that it was not I, but one who looked like me. My brother, my twin. Surely you would recognize clearly the man who killed you."

"Twin..." said one spirit, the Soul of a Hunter. "A pathetic excuse."

"Blasphemer!" cried one next to him. "You, who killed millions just to elevate yourself to a god!"

"Death God!"

Mangetsu smiled again, his dazzling white teeth gleaming even in the dim light from the Souls. He had expected this.

"Sephiroth X has gone down into the ground, finally weary of this world and his own weaknesses. I cannot give you vengeance against the one who killed you, but I can promise you this: vengeance on those who failed to save you. Those failures and their offspring."

Every spectral ear was turned to Mangetsu as he paced silently about in the scorched ring.

"I alone can grant you the gift of life again. I alone can grant you the gift of eternal life again. Immortality is yours if only you have the prudence to keep yourself from those things that can destroy you. For centuries I have practiced this art; the art of reanimating the corpses of dead Reploids. Some experiences have been more successful than others, but now, I feel I have perfected it. The edge of a blade and the blow of a bullet will do nothing against your deadened flesh and the armor you wear will be that of death.

You must trust me if you wish to return to this coil. You must give yourselves to me and my cause, for only I can fuel your righteous fury. Only I will wait with you until that terrible monster known as Sephiroth rises again. But first, we must set the stage. First, we bring down the humans and the unworthy Reploids. We will form a new race, a master race, of dark gods and death angels to be superior to all those who now call themselves the rulers."

"Tempting," said one spirit, his ethereal arms folded against his chest. "But that is foolish. What good would a God of Death be when there is nothing left to kill?"

The black-suited Reploid threw back his head and laughed.

"Excellent question! What would happen? I do not claim to wish to destroy them all. Back in the days of my creation, I decided I would be an equalizer, one who would force humanity to square one so that they may learn from their mistakes, but I have seen the foolishness in that plan. Humans are selfish, cruel, and stupid, and so are the creations they form in their image and try to keep under their command. Let them fall. Let them fall back into a dark age where all they know is fear. I will bring them down and with my brothers, I will rule that damned world."

"I thought you said that you would kill him! Kill Sephiroth X!" boomed another spirit. Soon, they all were caught up in that chant. "Kill Sephiroth X! Kill Sephiroth X!"

Mangetsu raised his hands again and bellowed.

"Silence! All will be explained in time! Just tell me now, do you wish to live!"

"YES!" came the overwhelming cry.

"Do you see me for the evil that I am?"

"YES!"

"Do you pledge yourselves to me, so that I may elevate you above those who failed you so that you may take your righteous revenge?"

"YES!"

The crime lord threw his head back and roared, his sonorous voice filling the air and drowning out the screams of jubilation from the wandering DNA Souls.

"THEN LET IT BE SO!"

Mangetsu glowed red, redder and deeper than any shade of crimson ever seen before. Only the color of blood could match it, a color which could never be really replicated. The ground trembled beneath him, and the ground shook and cracked with force. From Mangetsu's body flowed red rivers of power, striking the Souls in their chests and sending them into convulsions as if they had been struck by lightning. The ground around them split as hands came out of the badly-scorched earth. Bodies, the destroyed and ruined bodies of Reploids rose and dragged themselves into ranks. There must have been hundreds.

From back in a hiding spot, Charr's eyes widened.

"Wha' so few?" he asked.

"Because," replied the stony Lachlan. "If he made more, then there would be an overwhelming force. All those from which they would draw life would be gone too quickly, and all of Mangetsu's undead forces would return to death."

"Doosen' tha' kindeh cheat the oones who wer' wantin' to return and didn'?" asked Koal, his firey red hair spilling about his face.

"Mangetsu's a cruel bastard," replied Nikila, who had an equally cruel yet seductive smile playing about her lips. "And this way, for those who are destroyed, he has that many more as backup."

-------

Hours later, bodies filled the streets of Tokyo. This would not have been unusual, but two puncture wounds on their necks were the only real wounds. Everything, every last drop of energy had been drained from them. All, it seemed, but their souls, and even these passed away once the body died. In an alley, Gabriel performed a similar ritual. One which was more complete than what these bastard children of death did. His face was flushed with color and his eyes burned with the fierceness of a thousand suns. His voice was low. So low that the bricks of the walls around him shuddered as he spoke.

"I'm coming for you, Mangetsu...Your angel of death awaits."

[Omnicyde]

It was a textbook breach. The STRICERs used a sledgehammer to smash through the locked doorknob and rode through, trampling the door on the way in. They immediately split into their two-man cells, securing the immediate area and working their way outward. The TACPs went in next, not moving with the STRICERs and instead opting to head immediately for the roof of the school to set up a spotter nest. Line Mavericks followed, bringing supplies in with them and setting up shop while the STRICERs continued to clear rooms. Cloud and Klackern entered last, weapons out but not immediately concerned. They were content to let the spec-ops do their jobs while they waited.

"What next?" Cloud asked Klackern. As a Warrant Officer, Cloud technically outranked the sergeant. But Omnicyde had given him command of the op and Cloud wasn't going to get into a head-butting contest by trying to assume command. "We hold here until we're told otherwise." said Klackern. "Omnicyde says something big is going to happen later, and he wants his men split up so he can keep his options open."
"There's already something big happening." Cloud pointed toward the sky, indicating the holographic castle.
"I think he meant besides that."
"What could be bigger than that?"
"This is Mangetsu we're talking of here. Do we really wanna know?"
"Good point. Still wish I had a basic idea."
"Omnicyde mentioned to prepare for taking on Hunters. For what, I don't know, because as far as we know they're more concerned with defense that anything else."

Right on cue, Klackern's comm jangled. He opened it up. "Klackern."
"It's Omnicyde. What's your status?"
"Securing Outpost Bravo now."
"Good. I have intel for you, fresh from the frying pan."
"I love intel. Even better with a side of truth."
"True that, but this source is good."
"Who is it?"
"Never mind that." Omnicyde paused. "Friends I have not exactly in the Syndicate."
"Oh. What'd they say?"
"The Hunter's are prepping for an aerial evacuation of as many civilians as possible, using their troop transport helicopters. Their UNARMED troop transport helicopters."
"You want we shoot them down, yes?"
"I want very much so. Anything to keep them off balance. And it's a good time to test our new toys."
"You want to use the Contendors?"
"The Hunter's radar station is active. They'll see the Devastators coming a mile away. The Contendors, through, with their Plasma Stealth systems, will be able to slip through unnoticed."
"...The only objection I'd like to mention, Major, is that the Contendors have a limited amount of ammo and fuel. We'd planned to rearm and refuel from the tanker, but that's obviously no longer an option."
"Damn. Can they run off boat fuel? There must be a ton of that at the harbor."
"No, it's a different mixture of ethanol. They won't take it, and it would be suicide for them to try. And it doesn't solve the ammo problem."
"Hell."

Klackern paused. "There may be another way, though."
"I'm all ears."



Five minutes later every TACP was armed with a Stinger missile launcher and at least one extra rocket. They stood in front of Klackern as he spread a map of Tokyo over the wall.

"Our intel from Hunter HQ says that the choppers plan to lift off within the hour." Klackern was saying. "We know there are at least 10 choppers; the exact number is still a mystery. It is also unknown if there are any ground attack helicopters flying escort, although we doubt it." He removed a red marker from his belt. "We don't know their route, but we do know they're trying to slip through the military's barricade without being shot down, which gives them only a few places they can slip out... here, here, here, here, here, and... here." Cloud drew six circles around the edge of the city. "Lucky for us, these four buildings-" Four more circles-"are still standing, and will give us a good view of the airspace through which the choppers will have to fly."

Cloud stepped forward. "There are 12 of your, and four towers. Do the math; three Stingers per tower. This should be more than enough to shot down any and all Hunter choppers leaving their HQ."

"The only danger we can think of is that the Hunters may forsee this plan and send pre-emptive HERT units to secure these buildinge before you arrive. Which is why..." Cloud turned to STRICER team Bravo-Yankee. "You guys will also be split into three-man teams to go with them. Your job is simple. Secure the buildings and protect the TACPs. Turn off your suicide vests for this one; we can't risk one of you blowing up and killing everyone else. Any questions?"

One of the TACPs piped up. "Why aren't we using the choppers for this?"
"Because they have a limited amount of fuel and ammo. Once it's out, it's out. We never got a chance to stockpile extras around Tokyo."
Another hand shot up, from a STRICER this time. "It would take us 30 minutes to walk to these towers even before the quakes. But with the debris and destruction, i'd put the traveling time at about 2 hours now. How will we make it in time?"
"A Devastator is going to drop you here." Klackern drew an X on the map, a mile from the closest tower. "It's as close as we can get to Hunter HQ without tripping their radar. Also, we managed to hide a few technicals around the area..." Klackern looked at a second map in his hand. "We've got three of them here, in the lower level of this parking garage, and four more in this self-storage area, lockers 12 through 15. They are at your disposal. Any more questions?" Nobody answered. "The Devastator will land on the roof in 5 minutes. Get lost." The soldiers left for the stairs.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Cloud said after they had left. "Using over half of our Spec-Ops on one mission? The TACPs could have handled it by themselves." Klackern glanced back at him. "All respect for your men, Cloud, but the STRICERs are the only mavericks I know that can hold their own against the HERT. And the TACPs aren't really experianced in this sort of thing."
"Meaning?"
"TACPs usually operate with support. Even back in Africa, without Omnicyde there, the TACPs would have been slaughtered when you guys dropped on the AA base."
"You were there?"
"Under Lieutenant Evixion. Moving on. TACPs can't operate by themselves is my point." Klackern looked back at the map pinned to the wall. "Even if we're only half sucessful, we'll still be shooting down and killing hundreds of humans, not to mention that the Hunters will have those choppers. Right now, we need every advantage we can get over them."





There were seven people in the top floor of the office buildin at that time; three comm techs, the sergeant in charge of them, the two mavericks required to man the Stinger Anti-Air missile launcher, and Tahiri, who was standing over one of the commtechs, watching the storm with him. "It's getting worse." The tech said as he pointed to the data text flashing by on the screen. Tahiri didn't understand a word of it. "The wind speed has increased ten miles per hour in the last half hour, and the rain isn't showing signs of letting up. It's probably gonna become a Catagory 4 hurricane."
"Lovely." Tahiri replied as she watched the hurricane's colors change on the screen. "Talk about bad weather."
"I hope you're not complaining." said Omnicyde from right behind her. Tahiri and the comm tech jumped. Omnicyde was way too good at sneaking up on people. "No, sir, never. In fact, I love the rain. It's my best friend."
"Great!!" Omnicyde smiled. Tahiri immediately regretted her choice of words. "Because I need a sniper to watch Hunter HQ to tell me when those choppers start to lift off."
Tahiri's face fell. "Why am I going? Can't you just send some rookie?"
"I can't leave a mission this important to some rookie who doesn't know one end of the gun from the other. I want my best sniper out there."
"I'm flattered, sir, but still..."
"I missed the part where I said this was a debate, Sergeant. What are you still doing here?"

Five minutes later Tahiri was on her way across town. She was using her crossbow zipline and grappling hooks to move faster from building to building, and was already ten blocks over from the office.
"Train under the best sniper in the world..." She fired her crossbow again. The arrow penetrated the steel of the building next to her and she tied the other end of the rope around an antenna.
"Highest honor you can get... my ass." Tahiri kept muttering all the way across the rope as she shot through the glass of the next building. She stood, brushing glass off her arms and looked to see she was in a perfect spot; Hunter HQ was not three blocks over, and she had a great view of the helicopter hangers. They were still closed, though. She had some time.

She glanced around. No Omnicyde to tell her off, and no other Maverick to report her. Good. She had developed a habit of eating sunflower seeds while posting, but she had to be careful about where she did it; Omnicyde disapproved of anything distracting her from the target. But he wasn't here, so she didn't care. She snagged a rolled-up bag from the bottom of her duffel bag and got comfortable; she weas probably gonna be here for a while. She popped a handful in her mouth and waited.

[Sephiroth X]

"Of course, of all the things to happen..."

Gabriel stood atop the very building in which the Mavericks had stationed themselves. If not for his iron pledge to preserve balance and give the Hunters a fighting chance to fix things for themselves, he probably would have gone in and obliterated them without even blinking an eye. Such was the problem with being a Watcher. The thing was, not a single one of these thoughts crossed his mind.

The wraithlike-Reploid was more concerned with the approaching storm. Of all the things to come at such a time, a hurricane had to be the worst. Gabriel's cloak was like a tattered sail whipping about the mast of a ghost ship in the steady-blowing wind, and already he could feel rain and sea water misting against his cold skin. Mangetsu had near-perfect timing in such matters. That was the reason he had been called the Lord of Destruction, after all.

Off in the distance, keen bombardier blue eyes picked up the faint outlines of approaching ships making their way toward the docks. Massive crates and metal canisters were poised precariously on the freighter's decks, and even the sheer tonnage of metal could not hold off against the screeching wind and rain for too long. Omnicyde's order had arrived. Just sign here, please.

The Watcher looked back over at the Maverick Hunter Headquarters, once a glorious monument to justice and right back in the days of Megaman X and Zero, but now, ever since the heroes left, it had taken on an almost gothic, eerie feel from constant destruction and reconstruction. It didn't take an immortal to know that the building wouldn't last through too much more stress like that. Then again, that was what Mangetsu wanted, wasn't it?

The Hunters had been painfully slow in their mobilizations. Little to no Hunter activity could be found on the streets, and the body count was rising quickly. At the rate of death, Tokyo would be reduced to a ghost town in thirteen days. Thirteen days for the Hunters to get themselves in gear and defend their home against the Maverick onslaught.

Sounds of footsteps coming from behind Gabriel alerted him that he would not be alone for very much longer. His ears were keen enough to hear a pin drop, even amidst this monstrous gale, so hearing clumsy Maverick soldiers coming up stone stairs was like hearing the band at a rock concert. If not for years of training, the Watcher's senses would have overpowered him long before, but with a mere thought, he could heighten or lower his senses at will. Mavericks were interesting to watch. They had the uniformity of a military, yet the brutal savageness of starved lions. It was almost a pity how easily he could walk and interact with them without a soul realizing that he was not one of their own. Those who did notice, promptly forgot what had happened. Not even Mossad could catch Gabriel at work. He'd been with them as well.

The door swung open and Klackern stepped out onto the roof, his rifle poised and ready, with Cloud at his side. The two looked over the small scape, and looked at each other oddly.

"You didn't hear anything, did you?" Klackern asked, a look of suspiscion on his face.

Cloud shook his head.

"I think it was the wind."

And then there was no one on the roof.

-------

"RuhAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYN-JARS!" roared a large, mean looking drill sergeant, a 1st Unit pin strapped to his black beret. "ATTEN-SHUN!"

"SIR, YES SIR!" came the reply. A line of four 1st Survivalist and Guerilla Unit operatives, nicknamed 'Rangers', stood stock still, their obvious weapons at their sides. Very rarely did the Rangers have to engage in such formal practices, but before Cyano, everything had to be done to the letter. Rangers were rarely ever dispatched formally, but in times like these, every Hunter had to be accounted for.

Among this group of four was L'arc, who stood and moved in perfect sync with the other Rangers. This would be his first official outing with the group, but he still wasn't a true Ranger yet. Among the unit, it was common practice to take a novice, as they called a wannabe-Ranger, on a mission run with them 'to see if the kid had the right stuff to be in their unit'. Today, L'arc was the kid.

"YOUR SUPREME COMMANDER IS STANDING IN THE ROOM!" the sergeant bellowed. "GIVE HIM YOUR FULL AND UNDIVIDED ATTENTION!"

Cyano waved his hand and sent the sergeant on his way. The Commander of the Maverick Hunters walked back and forth in front of the Rangers, eyeing them up and down. Special attention was given to L'arc, due to his unusual circumstance and background, but a nod of the head told him that Cyano approved.

"At ease, gentlemen," Cyano said, his voice worn. "You are the first group of Hunters being dispatched into this mess. The reason I have picked the Rangers to go first is because of your number one rule of conduct. Major Newberry, would you care to inform your new officer what that rule is?"

"Sir, survive at all costs above all else, sir. In layman's terms, do not die under any circumstances."

For most units, this would be a given, but the Rangers held this very seriously. It was not uncommon for an older Ranger to survive over thirty battles, no matter what the odds were. In fact, the main reason so many Ranger teams were so small was that the 1st Unit was so effective in its mission, that a team of five could overtake a city while suffering no casualties.

"Correct, Major. You four are to scout the surrounding area and neutralize any threat you see, Maverick or otherwise. Report back here at 1400, no questions asked."

The Rangers nodded, stood at attention, saluted, then turned to leave the room.

((Not enough Hunter activity going on here...I never really realized how good our Mavericks are. ^^))

[Omnicyde]

Tahiri spat another seed out the window, wondering how big the pile on the sidewalk below was. She'd been here for about an hour now, and was running out of seeds, and still those choppers hadn't taken off yet.

Then she saw the ceremony. "What the hell?" She picked up her rifle and focused in on the procession. It was a formation of four Hunters and two additional officers. She couldn't tell who five of them were, but she did recognize Cyano. "The fuck is going on?"

They weren't from HERT, that was obvious. HERT traveled in teams of 12, not five. Hell, most Hunter units traveled in packs of at least 20. The only units that didn't were the fabled 17th Elites and the-

"Oh, christ."

Tahiri flipped the switch on the side of the scope and the shotgun mike fixed to the underside came to life. There was a lot of distortion from the pouring rain; the downpour had worsened since she had gotten here. But she could still hear most of the words.

"-to go first is becauHISSSSSSSSSSSumber one rule of conduct. MajHISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSto inform your new offHISSSSSSSSSSSSSrule is?"
"Sir, surviHISSSSSSSSbove all else, sir. In HISSSS terms, do not die under any circumstaHISSSSSS."
"Correct, MaHISSSSSSSSSSare to scout the surHISSSSSSSSSutralize any threat you see, MavHISSSSSSSSSSeport back here at 1400, no question-"

The voices dissolved into unintelligable garbage. But Tahiri picked up on the subtext. "Do not die." was the basic, hard-core motto of the 1st Survival Unit, the Rangers. She picked up her comm and dialed... waited... no signal. She looked at the display. The storm had worsened so much that her comm was useless. She pulled out a satelitte phone similar to Klackerns; also no signal. She ran over to a phone hanging on the wall and lifted the reciever; nothing. The phone lines were dead.

Hell, i'd give my rifle for two cups and a piece of string...

She debated. The only other option was to go back to the office building and tell Omnicyde in person. Unfortunately, that meant leaving her post. If Omnicyde decided that this information wasn't as important as her job, he would probably toss her out the top floor window.Of course, if she didn't go and he decided later that he NEEDED to know, he would probably toss her out the window anyway. Damned if she did, damned if she didn't. A swear seemed appropriate at that moment, and one came to mind, so she said it. Then she started repeating it, because she liked how it sounded.

After about thirty seconds she calmed down and looked around. "Come on, Tahiri, think..."

She saw a billboard on the roof next to her. She remembered also seeing the same billboard from Omnicyde's office. She also remembered that she had a can of spray lube in her sack. A minute later she was outside spraying words on the side of the billboard. Unfortunately, the lube was water soluble; it was washing off as fast as she could spray it. The rain was definately not working in her favor. Omnicyde would have to be looking at her whilest she wrote... but how was she going to get his attention?



Omnicyde was trying to raise Klackern on the comm and in the middle of discovering what Tahiri had found out-that the storm had worsened to the point where his comm no longer worked-when he heard something smack into the window. He looked and saw a spiderweb on the safety glass; a bullet impact. "EVERYONE DOWN!!!"

The three radio techs, the sergeant in charge, Linx, Vertigo, and Omnicyde threw themselves to the floor. Nobody spoke. Thirty seconds passe before Linx said "What the hell was that?"
"A bullet." said Vertigo as he cradled his OICW, as if he thought it would do any good at that range. "Did someone find us?"
"The Hunters aren't stupid." Omnicyde said as he crouch-walked to the window. "They know all office buildings taller than the third floor have safety glass installed. Why would a sniper try to waste a bullet?"

He scoped the direction the shot had come from, and got a hell of a surprise. "It's Tahiri." he said. "She's jumping and waving like a crackhead. I'm gonna toss her out the window..." Omniocyde cocked his head as she turned and started spraying something on the billboard next to her. "The hell? She's writing something..."
Vertigo came over and looked through his scope. "R...A...N... is that a G or an O? I can't tell... E... R...S... she stopped." Vertigo pulled his eye from the scope and looked back at Omnicyde. "Rangers?"
Omnicyde understood. "Her comm must be out, too." he said. "And she didn't want to leave her post... and she knew about the safety glass. Smart kid. Rangers... she must be talking about the 1st Survival. Bad news." Tahiri lifted binoculars to her eyes to looked back at the three of them standing at the window. Omnicyde took a permenant marker from the desk nearby and started writing backwards in big, awkward letters, "Where?"
Tahiri started spraying again. "H...Q, I think. Hunter HQ." Vertigo said. "The rain is washing it off pretty fast, it's hard to tell." Tahiri stopped to shake the can and continued. "S...W...E...E...P. Sweep. Wait. C...I...T...Y. They're gonna sweep the city." Vertigo lowered the scope. "This is bad." he said out loud, like everyone else wasn't already thinking that. Omnicyde couldn't help but agree, though.

Back when he had been in the Hunters, he'd heard of the Rangers. They were a secret unit back then, almost as much as the 17th, but they had still made appearances. Omnicyde had only seen Rangers three times in his life; Once, during a sting in Germany, he'd covered a team of Rangers as they'd entered a warehouse full of STRICERs. The second time, during an exercise which Omnicyde had participated in, they'd been there as observers, obviously looking for new recruits. The third time was a year or so after he'd been infected; he and his STRICER team had been fleeing from them in Kazakhstan. He was one of three survivors from that incident; the other nine had died at the Ranger's hands.

If he was scared of HERT, then he was terrified of the Rangers.

He drew a huge checkmark on the window and turned to Linx, who's face was also deathly white. "You and Vertigo downstairs, ASAP. Find out where Shadow and Tanchu are, and get them down there, too; I want you all on point for the entrance defense." Omnicyde snagged his LASARUS from the corner. "I'm heading topside to see if I can get a free shot at them before they reach us."

He headed for the rooftop and snagged the tarp Tahiri had left at the doorway. He lay down facing the street that lead to Hunter HQ and set up his rifle. "Dammit, Draxus..." he muttered under his breath. "Where the hell are you?"





The jet-black motorcycle sped through the urban sprawl that used to be Tokyo. It's rider took a right turn hard enough to rub his knee against the pavement and was forced to turn the swerve into a brake; there was a two-foot high wall of debris blocking his path. He wasn't going to be riding the bike any farther.

He dismounted and set the trap on his bike; if anyone tried to start it without hitting the kill switch, they would recieve a shotgun slug to the stomach. Not a clean way to go. He set off on foot, heading for the office Omnicyde had said he was staying at. He walked quickly; he'd heard the reports of the Rokinato inmates, and he knew there were sure to be a few lying around. So he was surprised when his first atack came from a gang, not an inmate.

All wearing yellow bandanas and strapped with pistols, seven gang members walked around the corner. They were all carrying duffel bags, the results of the day's looting, and were laughing while they pass around a bottle of liquor. They all noticed him immediately. "Dang, man, that be a nice coat." The big one in the middle said. "I wouldn't mind having one of them. Catch my drift, tiger?" Everyone else cheered and hooted. Draxus looked the man in the face. "Keep walking, pal." he said in a monotone voice. Of course this was greeted by "oooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh" and "You gonna take that man?" from the others. "You asking if I got game, bitch?" the big man pulled out a nickel-and-gold plated 9mm pistol and held it sideways, gansta-style, in a way that would guarentee he would hit nothing but the road if he started shooting.

Draxus sighed. He'd been hoping to avoid wasting ammo before he got to the office. But now it looked inevitable.

He threw his coat off and th gang went silent at the sight of his P-90s, shotgun, pistol, and katana hanging from his body. With the black t-shirt and urban camos, he looked like a movie-star spec-op. He snagged his P-90s and brought them up, blue lasers illuminating through the rain to the man's forehead. "Move and you're dead." Draxus said quietly, his words echoing through the rain. For a second nobody did anything. Then everything happened at once. The big man's biceps rippled; Draxus recognized the muscle twitch of someone about to pull the trigger and pulled his first, firing two single shots through the man's head.

The other gangsters drew their own weapons. They had a wide variety, from chrome and silver pistols to Mac-10s and even an ugly but powerful Skorpian machine pistol; they were all gunning for him. Draxus had been in stickier situations, though. He flicked the selectors on the P-90s to automatic and fired two bursts; three of the gansters dropped dead immediately. The one with the Skorpian held the trigger down; the crude weapon roared and spat lead that was aimed at Draxus' face. Fortunately, the gangster wasn't very good at controlling the pistol; the bullets, affected by the recoil, flew everywhere, while Draxus didn't move; he stood his ground and spun into a crouch, droping another gangster with his submachine guns.

A pair of bullets struck the ground near his feet; the other two gangsters had climbed to the top of the debris pile and were shooting at him with their pistols. Draxus dropped one P-90 and pulled his shotgun from it's holster. Firing it one-handed, he watched the two gangsters spin and fall from multiple hits of double-ought buckshot. He turned the gun on the last man-the one with the Skorpian-and blew him in half. The street went silent.

Draxus slipped two shells back into the shotgun and placed it back in the holster; if there was one thing he had learned, it was to always make sure you had a loaded gun, because one bullet could make all the difference. He quickl;y swapped out the clips on his P-90, used the two partial clips to make a full clip and a few extra bullets, and dumped the empty on the sidewalk. He glanced around, making sure all the men were dead, and moved on.

[Zazi]

Kitsen had finished the plans the helicopters and the decoys would take. She ejected picked up the disk with the map and went into the pre-flight briefing room.

"Ok, the choppers are taking the shortest route possible," She said as she entered the room. The hunter pilots nodded, as Kitsen walked over to the computer in the room and inserted the disk. The map was then projected onto the wall.

"We have about twenty minutes until the hurricane hits, and it is already horrible out there. Now we have four building here, here, here, and here," She explained.

"We will not be flying anywhere near them. The winds are just too strong and we can't risk being blown into them. Instead we are taking the shortest route out straight north. Any questions?" She said calmly.

One raised his hand "Why are we flying right into the bulk of the military line?"

"We are going to break it, with decoys. Specifically heat producing holograms will flying through these six slots," The slots became highlighted on the map.

"The projection point will be from the HQ itself, but by the time the military traces them you guys will already be over their heads and out of the city. Now you will fly below radar and then when you are 3 clicks south of the line you will increase altitude to highest possible altitude."

The pilots shifted and seemed very uneasy.

Then another pilot piped up, "How will you transmit holograms in this weather?"

"We are going to boost it and then relay off of the few standing builing and transmission towers, don't worry you guys are hunters and you will be fine, besides those humans need to leave the city. Dismissed,"

"Yes maam!" The pilots said as they stood up and left the room.

Kitsen sat down and rubbed her forehead and muttered softly "I pray to god this works.

((OCC: I will launch the choppers on my next post))

[Sephiroth X]

"Now listen up, lad," Newberry said. "The Mavericks know we're coming. That means they know that the Rangers are out in the streets and if they're smart, they know that they're going to take severe losses. You hardly spoke, so I doubt that they know about you yet."

The Rangers had left the HQ through a discreet location known only to the unit captains and Cyano himself. Not even the great Sephiroth had known where the door was, and he had been well-known for having scoured every inch of the building. The Rangers had split up, or at least, acted like it. To the lay person (which was virtually anyone who wasn't a Ranger), it would look as if the team had seperated into completely random directions. Tactics like this was what originally made the Rangers famous; it was not uncommon for a man to escape one Ranger only to find himself surrounded by the rest of the team. L'arc had asked how this worked and how the unit managed to keep all of this straight, but Newberry had solemnly told him that he was not cleared to know that sort of information.

"Wait, how do you know all this?" L'arc asked. "We haven't even smelled Maverick for the past...I don't even know how long. The people down in the Control Room haven't even-"

Newberry held up a finger, silencing the young trainee.

"I was fighting Mavericks before your daddy had even spread his wings, son. I've fought in over one hundred battles with the 1st Unit and know how Mavericks react better than some of them do. Omnicyde's in charge of this group. Hell, if he was still a Hunter, he'd be a Ranger right now. It's no secret that Mavericks fear us, and with good reason. Now, what do you do when you're scared of something?"

"Hide, of course. The question is, why? We don't even know where their base of operations is yet." L'arc paused, looking at the stoic expression on the team leader's face. "Or at least...I don't."

The major laughed quietly and rumpled L'arc's moonlight hair.

"If I know the Mavericks as well as I think I do, they're going to make sure we don't find their base. They're going to move. Since we've come, I doubt that they'll stay in any location more than 48 hours. It's almost guaranteed that they will make an error when they move. You figure out the rest. If you want to be a Ranger, you've gotta learn strategy and how to decipher what I'm thinking without a word being spoken."

Before L'arc could respond, Newberry vanished. The young recruit whirled about, his brown eyes searching his surroundings as best he could in the pouring rain. Even his keen ears were having difficulty picking up any noise. L'arc didn't even waste any more time looking. Newberry was gone. While he was studying up for the Ranger Entrance Exam, he had looked through some of the qualification tests he would need to take which had been made available.

Out of a comprehensive battery, only two sections were made known to prospective Rangers. One was nicknamed Predator/Prey, where the recruit would first be forced to evade a team of Rangers for one night and the next night, he would need to locate the head of his team. Only 1% ever actually completed this portion of the exam. Newberry was a master of stealth and tracking, so there was really no way for L'arc to even imagine hunting him down. The trainee was alone.

In the horrible weather conditions, even L'arc's stealth mode was rendered mostly useless. His cloaking device made him invisible, not immaterial. The steady downpour of rain would create a type of silhouette of him which could be picked out easily by a good enough Maverick. Other than that, little good could come of his stealth. Still, Newberry was gone without a trace. Nonetheless, L'arc popped an energy core into his left arm socket and headed out blindly. He, like most young Reploids, he was eager to test his strength, yet he was torn between looking for a fight or obeying his mother's advice about prudence.

L'arc gripped the edge of the Hunter HQ and pulled himself to the top, taking care to stay out of the line of sight. Upon reaching the top, he sat cross-legged, bowing his head and closing his eyes. One last, long, rattling breath, and L'arc died.

Or at least, officially. No one would have been able to pick up the bare trickle of energy the archer was using to sustain himself save for such powers as Gabriel the Watcher who now peered at L'arc from a nearby perch. As clearly as day, Gabriel watched as L'arc channeled his focus into one single sense, blocking out all other stimuli. The process took almost twenty minutes, but soon, L'arc was able to smell practically anything he set his mind to. About halfway between where Omnicyde's group was staying (something which L'arc hadn't noticed), he picked up the odor of a horrific smelling Maverick passing by what seemed to be a pile of sunflower seeds. That was all he was looking for. L'arc's arm slowly rose and he set a bead on the location of his target.

-------

The poor Maverick had been sent out in the rain to look for Tahiri, who he was supposed to question about any information regarding the Rangers. He grabbed the rails of the fire escape and hoisted himself to the rooftop, where the sniper lay in wait.

"M-ma'm?" the Maverick said, teeth chattering from the bitterly cold winds. "Omnicyde wanted me to ask you what you know about the Rangers and tell you something."

"Nothing except for the fact that they're out there or will be soon. After the procession, they all but disappeared. Now, your statement?"

"Yes. One of the Rangers is believed to be the son of a certain Captain S-"

The Maverick briefly felt the hair on the back of his neck begin to rise before he was instantly blown to pieces in a blaze of violet plasma. Tahiri was thrown backward, crumpling a metal chimney which had served as some cover as easily as if it had been paper in her hands. The sniper found herself lying on her back, mind reeling from the shockwave. She almost hadn't seen the projectile which had come flying like screaming death. It looked like an arrow, but the way it tore the air apart told her that it couldn't be so. Also, the "arrow" seemed to have changed direction at the last second as her informant moved toward her. No weapon she had heard of could do such a thing.

"TaHISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS -what the hell jusHISSSS-" Omnicyde was barking something through her comlink, but the transmission was breaking up too badly for her to make much sense of what had gone on.

"Spotted, sir. Location might have been compromised."

[Omnicyde]

Omnicyde wasted no time after this garbled transmission. "All units, Nova nova!" He said into his commlink; the emergency code that sent put every maverick in his unit on high alert and released the guards from the lobby. They moved fast to the outside and secured the four corners of the building whilest they scanned for attackers. Omnicyde moved as well, swinging his rifle around to track where the huge purple plasma bolt had come from.

He found it and settled his scope. It looked like a young reploid in a Ranger armor set sitting on the roof of the Hunter HQ. He didn't even appear to have his eyes open. The son of Sephiroth? Omnicyde wondered. There was certainly some resemblance. No matter. His finger settled on the trigger.

As soon as his finger moved to pull the trigger, he saw the reploid swing his outstretched arm toward Omnicyde and a purple haze began to form. Pure instinct saved Omnicyde's life; he quickly threw himself forward and the bolt shot over him, missing him by millimeters. Not even; the back of his armor was scorched. Unfortunately, he had a new problem; his lunge had thrown him off the roof of the sixty story building. He slapped his pockets; no grappling hook. He twisted his feet and fired his boosters; they worked for three seconds before the pouring rain killed them. He grabbed for the building and found his hands sliding over the safety glass. He looked down and saw he had twenty stories to go; he knew he was about to die.

CLANK!!

He looked and a bolt had been fired into his left shoulder. "The hell?!"

The rope jerked and he flipped in midair, rushing for the building next to the office. He covered his face with his hands just as he crashed through the glass and landed in a heap on the floor. he didn't even have time to recover before he was jerked back OUT the window and began to fly UP five stories before he stopped. He felt big hands grab him and yank him inside the room, where he again landed on a heap. "Owwwww..."

He looked up to see the massive reploid in the trenchcoat and camo trousers standing next to his face. The reploid wore an expressionless mask as he tapped a handheld MagHook back into his vest. He looked at Omnicyde for a few more seconds before smiling.

"That's six you owe me now."
"Six? That time in Uganda doesn't count, I told you."
"Five then."
"And in Germany..."

Draxus grinned as he wrapped Omnicyde up in a bone-breaking hug. "Don't push your luck, little brother."

Another explosion drew their attention back to the outside. "BLAST! That reploid is still shooting wierd purple stuff." Draxus said. Omnicyde looked over his shoulder and saw a burning hole in the side of the office building where a missile crew had been. Another purple beam flashed past their window and smashed into the sidewalk; one of Omnicyde's fireteams went up in purple flames. "We're not gonna be able to stop that." said Draxus. "Then i'll have to give him a better target." Omnicyde said as he grabbed the MagHook from Draxus' vest and jumped from the window. He fired the hook and swung for another building farther from the office but still within view of Hunter HQ. He retracted the Maghook and stepped to the ledge of the new building, firing the MagHook to the next target before he started yelling.

"HEY!! OVER HERE!!" He screamed over the rain. "I'm Major Omnicyde, third most wanted Maverick in all of Tokyo, telling you to KISS!! MY!! ASS!!"

Purple haze formed over the roof and Omnicyde jumped; the area he had been standing in evaporated in a purple flash a second later. A second plasma bolt sizzled past his back, followed by a third that flew a centimeter in front of his nose; the Ranger shooting at him was getting better aim.

But he was still no Sephiroth. Even over the rain Omnicyde heard the CRACK of a Crystal Shard Sniper Rifle as Tahiri, now fully recovered from the plasma hit, returned fire once before leaping off the roof on a zip line; a bolt of purple plasma followed up to destroy her sniper's nest as she left. Next came the BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM of Draxus' P-90s firing on single shot mode. The submachine guns were amazingly accurate from a distance. Bullets chewed up the rooftop around the mysterious reploid. The answering bolt of plasma flew at Draxus full speed. The reploid jumped at the last second, allowing the explosion to propel him to farther heights to reach the next ledge. The three of them were playing an excellent game of bait-and-switch, and were advancing on the enemy.



Tahiri had just landed and turned for another shot at the reploid when she heard a hiss as something flew through the air. A second later a throwing blade flew past her ear. She turned and raised her rifle in time to intercept the next knife with the stock; it stuck so hard it was quivering. And at the other end of the rooftop was a reploid, wearing Hunter-issue Ranger armor. One of the other three Rangers that had been assembled.

Tahiri's adrenaline level went from hyped to full-blown panic. She of all people knew she was no match for one of the feared Rangers in a close-range fight. But she would be damned if she didn't give him something to remember the fight by. She snapped her rifle up and fired. The bullet struck the armor and ricocheted off; their armor was too tough for the crystal rounds. Nasty surprise. Tahiri cycled the bolt and prepared for a head shot, but not before the Ranger closed the distance between them and grabbed her rifle, tossing it to the other side of the roof. Tahiri tried desperately to remember the hand-to-hand lessons she'd learned and tried to spin-kick, but the Ranger also easily grabbed her foot and twisted. She was on the ground with a broken ankle and leg in nothing flat.

The Ranger knelt down close to the gasping Tahiri. "Should've learned to never mess with the big boys, little girl." He sneered as he raised his knife.

Big arms wrapped around him from behind and he was lifted off his feet. He immediately did a three-quarters flip and face-planted in the tar roof, Draxus on top of his back. He held a P-90 to the side of the Ranger's face. "Should've waited until you'd become a bigger boy, fuckhead." Draxus said as he pulled the trigger and held it down, emptying 30 rounds into the Hunter's head. He stood and spat. "Fuckin' Rangers."



Omnicyde had run into a Ranger as well, but luckily for him he had caught him off guard. He had landed on the rooftop and been surprised to find the Ranger already there; he was smacking his comm unit, trying to get it to work in the pouring hurricane. He had turned at the sound of Omnicyde's landing and had hesitated in surprise for a half second. Long enough for Omnicyde to run for him and tackle him, knocking his weapon away but loosing his own as well.

The Ranger got a knee up and shoved Omnicyde off of him. Both reploids rose at the same time, the Ranger drawing a blade similar to the katana Draxus carried as Omnicyde flipped open his Thunder Nail. Omnicyde darted forward and slashed, which the Ranger blocked as recognition flowed into his face, finally remembering where he had seen this maverick before. "Major Omnicyde!" He blocked another slash before countering with one of his own. "Cyano is going to kiss my feet when I bring him your head, traitor." The Ranger leered as he stabbed for Omnicyde's head. Omnicyde parried and lunged, scratching the Hunter's armor. "Cyano wouldn't get out from behind his desk to do anything but send an acknowledgement mail." Omnicyde snarled.

The Ranger ducked under another one of Omnicyde's swipes. "What is a sniper doing with a melee weapon, anyway?" he taunted as he blocked a second attack. Now he was poking fun at Omnicyde's poor blade skills. He tucked one arm behind his back and kept blocking Omnicyde's blows with the knife in his free hand. Then he went ferociouc on the assault, stabbing and slashing with renewed vigor; it was all Omnicyde could do to block them. "Should've stayed behind that scope of yours, traitor!" He kicked Omnicyde's knee out from under him and Omnicyde went down in a heap on the rooftop, splashing in a puddle of water. He stood and drew his pistol for the fatal shot.

Omnicyde saw the ledge a few inches from his face, the puddle of water he was laying in and saw thr Ranger step into it to close in for the head shot. He sighed. "Oh, what the hell."

He grabbed the brick edge of the roof and pulled with all his strength, throwing himself off the roof of the building, but grabbing the brick on the way down. He hund there at his armpits while he extended the spikes of his Nail and stabbed them into the water. 30,000 volts of power raced through the puddle and into the Ranger; not enough to kill him, but enough to make him convulse while he flew into the air and away from Omnicyde.

Omnicyde hauled himself over the roof and walked over to the slowly rising Ranger. He wasn't dead, but he was hurt; he was barely able to stand, and just lay there on his hands and knees. Omnicyde delivered a viscious kick that sent him on his back. "There's something every Ranger needs to know about Maverick officers, me in particular." he said as he circled the Ranger. "We didn't get where we were by killing our old commanders or because we have good connections, like you guys did." Another kick, just as bad. "We got where we were because we're hardcore badasses to a degree that you Rangers will never reach. I've killed more Hunters, Mavericks and humans in my lifetime than any team of Rangers." This time Omnicyde punched the ranger with all his strength; he felt the teeth rattle in the man's head.

"And you know how I got my picture in the number 3 slot on the most wanted posters?" Omnicyde leaned down to the Ranger and smiled his trademark evil smile. "It's because I don't kill people because the virus makes me do it. I kill them... because I enjoy it. Just like i'll enjoy watching you die." With that, Omnicyde delivered one more kick to the Ranger's side, a hard kick that sent him rolling off the roof. Omniocyde stood at the edge and watched him fall all the way to the bottom.

Then he remembered. The purple plasma reploid fucker!

His glance shot for the reploid on the roof of Hunter HQ. He had held his fire on him because of the other Ranger. But with the Ranger dead... Omnicyde watched the purple haze begin to form. "Oh, SHIT!!"

Omnicyde grabbed his rifle and ran for the roof's edge and lept into open space, just as the roof beneath his feet vaporized. But he'd run fast enough so that, unlike before, he was flying forwad as much as down. He only fell about ten stories before he crashed through the window of the office building he had started out in. "Great..."



"ARRRRRRRRGH!!!" Tahiri yelled as Draxus poked her ankle. "That HURT!!"

"Sha-dap." Draxus stretched the word into two syllables as he twisted it some more, illiciting another yell. "You're lucky that's all you got, facing down the Rangers." Draxus nodded. "Broken. Figured. We'll get you back to... where did Omni set up camp at?" Tahiri's brow wrinkled. Nobody called the major Omni. Tanchu was the only one allowed to call anything other than Major or sir, and the extent of that privilage was 'sniper'. "The office building over the-LOOK OUT!!"

Draxus glanced over his shoulder and saw the purple haze form. He didn't hesitate; he grabbed Tahiri's ankle, ignoring her scream of pain, and lept off the roof, dragging her with him. He grabbed at his vest before he remembered; Omnicyde had swiped his maghook. Oh well. Good thing he didn't really need it. He gripped the plastic ripcord on his vest and gave it a yank.

A small but sleek parachute blossomed from his vest and he sailed down to the street, realizing how much of a target he really was for the mysterious reploid attacker. he started falling faster and he looked up; his parachute was not mixing so well with the rain. He yanked the handle and the chute changed direction, flying straight for the office building. His hands were full hanging onto Tahiri, so he broke the glass the only way he could; he swung Tahiri around and threw her through the safety glass. He came in right after she did, shards of glass and all.

Another purple plasma blast obliterated the rest of the chute that was still outside. Draxus detached the rest of the pack and threw it away. "That's three this month alone..." he grumbled as he poked his head out to get a look at the reploid. "You alright?" he looked at Tahiri. Her lips were compressed into a white line while she held her ankle, trying not to yell with the pain that Draxus' throw had cost her.

CRASH!!! Omnicyde went flying though the window next to them and landed in a heap on the floor. The building next to him exploded in a purple flash. "Great..." Omnicyde picked himself up and brushed the glass off, then did a double take at Draxus and Tahiri. "How'd you guys get here?" Draxus shrugged. "Fell. How are we gonna take that guy out?" Omnicyde grinned. "Grab Tahiri's rifle." He said. "We're gonna go play us some tag-team sniper."

Draxus took Tahiri's rifle and the two reploids lept for the next rooftop.

[Zazi]

The choppers were starting up when the call to abort came in.

"We have maverick activity outside." Cyano said.

"Then this is the most opportune time to go. They are busy with the Rangers." Kitsen replied.

Kitsen whirled her fingers around signaling the choppers to go. The choppers came out of the HQ at extreme speed and began to fly towards their destinations and no one could tell the difference between the real one and the fake ones. They were prepared to take fire from the mavericks and each pilot did not intend on returning to the HQ. They had more than enough fuel to fly out, but not enough to make it back. They were all to land in the same general area and keep moving the humans while keeping them covered.

"Goddammit Kitsen I said abort!" Cyano screamed.

"Sir, it is now or never, it has to be done. I already received news that two of our operatives are down, I'm going out."

"And do what? Where the rangers failed you think you will triumph? God you are just like him, headstrong and stubborn."

"Sir it has to be done, even if I am to just be cannon fodder"

"Very well."

Kitsen grabbed her guass rifle and different types of ammunition, along with her secondary weapons and she suited up.

She went to the top of the HQ and set down he ghillie suit and cloaked it in so its out line could be seen. She then found another hiding spot across a couple buildings over and scoped in. She caught Omnicyde and another maverick moving from building to building, both armed with sniper rifle.

"Hello." She mumbled as the thunderous noise of all the choppers still leaving could be heard.

[Sephiroth X]

The rain pounded on top of the son of Sephiroth mercilessly as he flicked open his arm guard and examined the readouts. L'arc cursed under his breath. The words 'ION PAINTER MECHANISM - DISABLED' burned angrily at him in a bright blue. No wonder he was missing so much. He'd never seen rain before, much less trained in it. His eyes were sharp, yes, and his arm as great as ever, but without that little bit of insurance, his effectiveness did drop by a percent or two.

Sharp brown eyes picked up activity from one of the office buildings from which the Mavericks had originally poured out. There were two now, the sniper, Omnicyde, which L'arc had researched from the Hunter database, and the large Reploid, who made L'arc shudder just looking at him. A few quick keystrokes on the keypad and L'arc's arm bow began running diagnostics for emergency repair.

Draxus and Omnicyde circled the rooftop, each taking up seperate positions on opposite ends of the roof. Omnicyde was the first to try and take a bead on Sephiroth's son, inhaling and carefully setting L'arc directly in his crosshairs.

"This little fucker's no Sephiroth, but damn if he's not a pain in the ass," he grumbled. Draxus laughed over his comlink.

"Amen to that. I never got to fight Sephiroth X...how'd that go?"

Omnicyde grimaced. "Never ask me that again."

The Maverick Major placed his finger on the trigger and exhaled. From across the city, L'arc felt a sensation like an electric shock run up his spine. Reflexes kicking into overdrive, L'arc's body hurled itself out of the way at blistering speed, quick enough to dodge a bullet going twice the speed of sound. It was almost painful letting his body go that quickly, but L'arc thanked his lucky stars that it happened. Sure, he'd experienced this in his VR home, but never in real life.

Omnicyde bit his knuckle and cried out. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHOLY FUCKING SHIT! There's no...THERE'S NO WAY!"

Draxus laughed in spite of himself. "I guess that's what makes him special."

"Special my ass...he's gonna be special after I blow half his brain out," Omnicyde grumbled.

-------

"L'arc!"

L'arc paused briefly. He'd never used his comlink before, and was almost astonished with the thought that someone had managed to sneak up on him that quickly. After regaining his bearings, he realized that Newberry was yelling at him.

"L'arc!...Rangers down. The big-ass Maverick blew one of our guys' brains out...It's just you and me kid, and I'm pretty much toast. Omnicyde got me bad with that lightning thing of his (L'arc had no idea what he was talking about in this respect, but listened anyway) and I think he fried my walking system...Get out of there kid, call for backup."

Immediately, the archer was torn. He was almost certain to get pummeled if he left his position. If Omnicyde didn't get him, that big Maverick would. However, he couldn't just leave Newberry out in the open, exposed and helpless.

"Dammit Mother..." L'arc squeaked, sliding down the back of the rooftop, out of the snipers' immediate line of fire.. "What do I do?"

"You never leave a fallen comrade, L'arc-en-Ciel Stanssen."

L'arc definitely jumped out of his skin this time. He whirled about, his bow readied. However, it only got about waist high before a powerful hand grabbed it. The young recruit couldn't see who it belonged to in the shadows, but he did see a hint of terribly scarred crimson armor hidden beneath tattered cloth. What scared L'arc about this man was his eyes, which held the terrible power and glacial might of a blizzard and his voice, which sounded like it came from across the chasm between life and death.

"Listen child, for I mean no harm to you. You are the son of Sephiroth X, and as such, you are my responsibility. Go now, and retrieve your commanding officer. I will ensure your safety."

"B-but who are you? I don't even know what you look like!"

If L'arc could have seen the figure's face, he would've seen the stony visage crack a tiny, almost invisible smile.

"The angel of death, L'arc-en-Ciel. One Who Will Never Be Seen."

L'arc wasn't sure what that was, but as quickly as he appeared, the figure was gone. The archer hadn't even felt the stranger's hand leave his arm, for that deathly coldness still clung as if the hand was still there. Again, the voice came, blossoming from the darkness around him.

"Wrap yourself in the shadows, L'arc-en-Ciel. Hide in them, pull them about you like a cloak, where no one can see you but God."

L'arc looked down at his hands, which had vanished. The rain seemingly passed through his body without obstruction. The ghostly voice dissolved into the rain, and L'arc had to strain to hear the last softly spoken words.

"...And He sees all."

[Omnicyde]

"There's just no way to talk to them, Sergeant."

Cloud was talking to Klackern in front of their comm unit. They'd been trying to get ahold of the TACPs for about an hour now, but the storm had pretty much rendered their comms useless. The hurricane had become a full-blown Catagory 5 storm and was flooding the subway tunnels; in some streets there were at least 6 inches of water on the asphault. Klackern and Cloud had moved their command post to the top floor of the school, just to be safe and to get the best reception they could. But their comms still weren't working. And Klackern was getting aggrivated.

"Can you guys do ANYTHING about this?" Klackern waved the useless comm to the techs. "'Fraid there's not much we can do, boss." One said. "It's not the unit's fault, it's the antennas. They're not powerful enough to work in this storm."
"Well can we get better antennas?"
"Doubt it. We need equipment that we don't have. A satelitte dish would be handy, but there aren't any around."
"Yes there are. I saw one on the roof of the school when we were entering."
"Really?" The tech's brow furrowed. He marched over to the TV and pulled a cord from the wall. "Hey, you're right. I think we can use the satelitte as a transmittor."
Cloud's eyebrow shot up. "Will that work?"
"No reason it won't. The entire satelitte system is a huge copper wire, and thats basically all an antenna is is a copper wire. I think this'll work... but it will only work one way."
"Why?"
"Because the recieving antennas won't be as powerful."
Klackern shrugged. "Do it. At least we can talk to Omnicyde's team."

The tech went to work.




Sergeant Richards, the team leader for the third STRICER-TACP team, was sitting on the roof of the empty bank that he was using as his perch. The TACP was getting a little more than annoyed that the Hunter choppers hadn't shown up yet, since every minute they didn't arrive was another minute he had to spend listening to the STRICERs talk. It was a well-known, but ignored, fact of life thet STRICERs and TACPs didn't get along at all. Not surprising, since they were complete opposites. The TACPs ran around with the rest of the grunts solely to call in air strikes; they always had plenty of maverick backup. STRICERs were proud of the fact that they never had to call on anyone else's help to finish the job, which was a lot more complex then talking into a radio. They unkindly refered to the TACPs as telephone operators who carried guns.

Of course, the whole thing wasn't helped by the fact that the TACPs were carrying a new kind of missile launcher that the STRICERs didn't know how to use, so the STRICERs didn't have much of a choice but to follow the TACPs lead.

Richards had gotten off to an all right beginning with the STRICERs, when they started their hike to the target building. The argument started when they arrived. "It's too tall. We can't stay there." Richards said patiently. "Whaddya MEAN, it's too tall? How can a building being used for an AA post be TOO TALL?!" The STRICER said.
"These things aren't Stingers." replied Richards. "These're new missile systems, Phoenixs. They take a second to track when they first launch, and if we're too tall then they'll overshoot the targets and we'll be fucked."
"Then shoot from a distance!"
"The rain'll down them before they travel a hundred yards. We need to shoot for height in this weather. Which means a shorter building."

It had taken them an extra half hour to get to the new building, which was a lot farther off than their original target. Richards only hoped the other TACPs would speak up if their buildings were unsuitable as well.

"So then the Hunter starts shooting at Wissa here..." The STRICER motioned to a second member of his team. "And he's pinned. So the Captain's dead, Wilburn's wounded and dealing with his own problems, Marks is still trying to hack the system with bullets flying over his head, i'm shooting back trying to cover his ass, and Mitch is just shooting at Hunters in general. So who does he call to help him, instead of dealing with his own problem? I tell ya..." Richards closed his eyes and prayed for a meteor to hit him.




"That's it! She's full up!"

The crew chief for the chopper at Hunter HQ slapped the pilot's shoulder. "We're full, sir. Let's get the hell out of here."
"Roger that." The pilot pressed the button on his mike. "Control, this is Echo Lead, requesting takeoff for Echo Flight to evac civilians from Tokyo."
"Roger Echo Lead, takeoff granted. Take a bearing of Two Seven Zero relative and make for the barricade. Good evening."
"Good evening, Control." The pilot goosed the collective and his chopper started to rise. A few seconds later all of Echo Flight rose behind him, 18 choppers filled with humans on their way out of Tokyo. They flew in a single file line on their designated flight path.

The pilots had all been briefed on the attack helicopters rumored to have been brought into Tokyo by the Mavericks, so they all kept an eye out for enemy gunships. So far the skys were clear, but the lead pilot made sure he stayed clear of the four taller buildings they had been briefed on. "Wonder if those Mavericks can see us from here." his copilot said as he glanced over. "Never mind them. Keep your eyes on that radar and watch our engines." The pilot responded while he wrestled with the rain.




"Look!!" One of the STRICERs pointed at the helicopters that were flying around the four buildings they were supposed to go to. "They're heading right for us!!"

Richards and the other two TACPs jumped up and grabbed their Phoenix launchers. "Wait for them to pass over us before getting a lock on them." Richards said. "They'll have lock-threat warning systems on board, so take your shot as soon as you have a tone. You guys, get ready with those reloads." he said to the STRICERs, who for once didn't argue. "I'll take the lead." Richards settled his launcher on his eye.




A warning buzzer sounded in the chopper cockpit. "Missile targeting!! Evasive maneuvers!!" The copilot yelled as he hit the chaff dump button. Packets of radar-deflecting foil exploded from the sides of the chopper as the pilot yanked the stick around, sending the chopper into a shallow spin. "Echo Flight, this is Lead, take evasive action, we've got SAMs active-"

The Phoenix missile shot through the chaff and slammed into the underside of the big chopper, tearing it in half and sending it into a death dive for the ground. Richards tilted the launcher back and the empty loader fell onto the roof. The STRICER behind him slapped a new missile into the tube and shut it. The other two TACPs fired their missiles as well. One scored a hit on the tail of his target, blowing the rotors off and sending the chopper spinning out of control. The third chopper was lucky; the Phoenix was distracted by it's chaff and it exploded harmlessly in midair as it lost it's target.

Six missiles left. The remaining choppers went haywire as they broke formation and flew in every direction. One hapless pilot dove straight for the rooftop level and sped for safety. He found himself too low and his landing strut caught on a building, swinging the chopper over and making it explode. Richards aimed for a chopper going straight up, seeking altitude. He aimed and got a solid tone as he pressed the trigger. The missile shot straight up, wobbling at first but straighting out as it got it's lock. It hit it's target right below the cockpit, blowing it clear off.

The other two missiles were clear misses; There was so much chaff in the air it was rendering them useless. "One more shot each." Richards said as the STRICER loaded his last round and Richards took aim at a new chopper. Unfortunately he never kept his eye on the last one he shot; nobody did. Nobody noticed that it was plummeting straight down until Richards heard a loud roaring noise and looked up in time to see the massive ball of flames come down on top of his head.




The next building over was STRICER Lieutenant Krono. "Negative, they're too far away to hit." his TACPs had told him, so he had been forced to watch the chopper procession from a distance with his binoculars. He had seen the whole battle, watch the four helicopters crash and burn, along with their civilian cargos. The other 14 choppers continued on their way to freedom. Still, Richards had done a good job. "Pack it in." Krono said. "We're out of here. Let's get back to base."




"Where the hell IS that little shit?" Omnicyde cursed as he scanned the roof with his rifle. "I'll see if I can go flush him." Draxus grabbed his Maghook off Omnicyde's belt and flew for the next rooftop. "He's not there!" Draxus came through on his comm seconds later. "I don't get it. There's nowhere for him to go, except a 60 story drop to the street. Where the hell is he?"

Omnicyde lifted his head from the scope and scanned the area. Nothing. "I still don't see him." He shivered and glanced at the sky. The castle looked somewhat brighter, more defined than before, and it was creeping him out. "Let's get back to the office." he said.
"What? With that crazy Ranger on the loose?"
"Can you find him?"
"No."
"Me either, which means we won't get him by sticking around next to Hunter HQ."
"Well, is it still smart to stay in the office? The Hunters must now know where we are."
"So? What are they gonna do?"
"Um.. storm us? Those can't be the only Rangers in town."
"There aren't that many of them in active service, and they're in high demand. Chances are they're all out of town on assignment."
"Even so..."
"Look, all the Hunters are too busy with their own defense to worry about us, not to mention that they don't have enough free people to storm us. We've got over 200 Mavericks here, not to mention several attack helicopters at the docks. And they know that we have them. With their precious Sephiroth and Zazi dead, they can't touch us. Now let's get back."
Draxus couldn't argue with that. They maghooked their way back to the office and made their way to the top floor.

There was a lot more activity now. One of the reploids plasma bursts had flashed past a window and blown it out, and it was blowing in the rain. Tahiri was sitting on a chair by the window, her bandaged leg on the table and a new sniper rifle in her hands, watching the streets. Tanchu was helping Vertigo move one of the heavy oak tables over to the window to provide some cover. Linx was sitting next to a computer, listening to a comm and coordinating the Maverick fireteams. The weather and communications techs were still at their posts, watching the storm's progress.

Tanchu noticed them first he started to snap to attention when he saw Draxus and did a double take. "Who the hell are you?" That comment drew everyone elses attention. Linx and Vertigo's hands strayed to their sidearms.

"Calm down, guys." Omnicyde said. "This is Draxus. I figured we might need some extra firepower, so I gave him a shout to see if he would come by." Linx and Vertigo's hands left their weapons and the mavericks sized up the newcomer. "Can he fight?" Linx finally said. Tahiri nodded. "Saw him toss a Ranger around like a puppet before he blew his head off." "Good enough for me." Tanchu said. "Where'd you learn how to fight?" "I spent a few years running around Israel and the Middle East killing people and blowing stuff up." Draxus replied. "Is that where you met him?" Linx gestured to Omnicyde. Draxus frowned at Omnicyde. Omnicyde shrugged. "Never came up."

Draxus grinend and slammed Omnicyde on the back. "Your CO is my brother."

Silence met that remark. "Say what?" Tanchu said. "I never knew you had a brother." "I kept it secret." Omnicyde said. "He used to work for the Syndicate too, but he took off during a mission to go work as a mercenary in Africa." Draxus nodded. "Hated the Syndicate." he said. "Too much backstabbing back in those days. It was down to me and another guy to go to OTS, and he tried to kill me so that it would be him. So I killed him back and took off."

"He's just gonna be helping us out until we're done here." Omnicyde said. "Think of him as another Lieutenant. Moving on, has anyone heard from Klackern yet?"
"Yes." Linx answered. "They found a way to broadcast an encrypted message to us about ten minutes ago."
"And?"
"They sent out the TACPs and STRICERs like you said. No word yet on how well they did."
"Can we send a reply?"
"We can try, I don't know if they'll get it."
"This comm problem isgetting annoying... tell them that when the STRICERs get back I want the whole team to get back over here. Also inform them that we have Rangers active inside the city, with two unaccounted for."
"Gotcha."
"Also... uh, how long has it been since that castle appeared?"
"Several hours... I wasn't looking at my watch."
Omnicyde frowned. When was that huge mecha gonna show up? Damn Mangetsu for not telling anyone. "Tell them to keep the choppers warm."

[Sephiroth X]

"Lord Mangetsu!"

Lachlan's shock-white form came streaming down the main hall of the castle toward his master. Mangetsu had been gone for almost seventy-two hours without warning or explanation. Now, however, the Lord of Destruction was back...and with company.

"Who are they?" Lachlan asked, his bristly voice like a winter's chill. "M'lord, there must be over a hundred of them."

Mangetsu stopped at the foot of the staircase which Lachlan now stood atop. He cocked his head to the side and looked up at his master of military duties and grinned widely, wickedly.

"These are your new soldiers, General," Mangetsu said, laughing. "I think you'll find them quite suitable weapons for our nightmare world down there, with all those bats and boogeymen and all that. You see, I've been practicing my reanimation procedures and I believe I've finally found a way to make them self-dependent and sentient rather than having to have me support them all the time."

Lachlan's eyes burned into the face of one of the new "soldiers" Mangetsu had been talking about. The man looked as if he had been pulled out of the grave and given extensive repair work; his skin was an almost unearthly waxyness. As if he didn't have in blood in him. Lachlan suddenly caught on.

He raised his right hand, which glowed with a great white aura. Before any of the soldiers could open their mouths, a bolt of lightning surged out of Lachlan's hand and through the torso of the soldier he had seen. The man dropped to the floor and upon hitting the great stone blocks, crumbled into dust. Lachlan looked at Mangetsu questioningly.

"These are your Nosferatu series drones, aren't they?" Lachlan asked slowly.

"Yes..." Mangetsu said, his vampire smile spreading. "And I think you'll find them quite suitable for the job. There are two hundred and thirty four here at the moment, but more can be summoned. I've got a whole city's worth just ripe for the taking."

The Syndicate's military general shook his head, his spiky white hair drooping over his eyes.

"Milord, never once have I questioned your intentions and I will not now. All I can say is this...What you have done now, if Sephiroth were still here, would be blasphemous at the very least. But as you have bid, I will lead them. Oh yes, lead them I will."

Mangetsu nodded and went up the stairs as easily as if he had been walking on smooth ground. Lachlan had noticed how Mangetsu had changed once the castle had been elevated. Mangetsu now seemed unearthly himself, as if the natural laws no longer applied to him. But did they anyway? He was, after all, not a natural creature. No Reploid was. But still...

"Also my lord," Lachlan said, never taking his eyes off of the crowd assembled before him. "You apparently have a nephew."

"I'm aware," Mangetsu said. "I'll deal with him later. As for you...get those scallawags to work. And see what you can do about getting Omnicyde to shape up. I hear he's got that infernal brother of his in town now, and that will only make him cockier."

"My lord."


Further inside the castle, Soluzar, Number Six of the Royal Guard, was working steadily on new tactics and equipment for those Mavericks down below. It was only his near intimate knowledge of his comrades's presence that alerted him to the fact that Lachlan was standing at the door.

"Is there some way I can help you, General?" Soluzar asked, his voice sleek and oily. "You seem troubled, for once."

Lachlan stepped forward, quiet and wraithlike, closing the door silently behind him.

"Mangetsu's done it. He's completed the Nosferatu program," Lachlan said, his voice low. "And they're the people whom Sephiroth killed in Kyoto."

"Ooh," Soluzar said, turning his chair away from his workbench. "Driven by rage as well as debt. Very sinister."

"Very Mangetsu," Lachlan replied. "These people undoubtedly hate the Hunters for failing to save them and God only knows what they would do if Sephiroth himself were here."

"Die again, would be my guess," Soluzar mumbled, the corners of his lips turned down in a frown. "But then again, almost everyone does against Sephiroth. Did, I should say."

"Soluzar, I need you to find out everything you can about what makes those abominations tick. They're powerful, I can tell that, and I've already struck one down with a thunderbolt just to see if my guess was correct. I want to know how one should kill these things. Just in case."

Soluzar looked up at Lachlan over his horn-rimmed glasses and grinned.

"Don't worry, General. I'll find out what you want to know. I'm sure Mistress Nikila would undoubtedly be willing to assist you if...if it came down to that."

Lachlan bowed deeply, the hem of his long white coat rising off of the ground. With that, he turned on his heel to leave.

"I'm sending them out after this hurricane is through," Lachlan said as he walked to the door. "That should give you a week's time or so if my estimations are correct."

"No need to be so humble, General!" Soluzar called back from across his dungeon. "Since when have they ever been wrong?"

The door slammed shut, and Soluzar turned back to his table, chuckling.

"The great General Lachlan fearing our replacement...How interesting," he said to the half-finished female Reploid head on his desk. "What say you, my dear? Do you think that those bastard Reploids will replace us? No? I thought not. Not with our beloved general and mistress on the prowl. We are, after all, the twelve most dangerous Mavericks alive."

If the head were alive or could have spoken, she would undoubtedly have reminded the doctor that Mangetsu was the first. But she could not and did not, leaving the doctor to work in utter silence.