When Cain rushed back into Seventh Heaven carrying a chill all over him, everyone was shaken by the icy killing intent radiating from his body.
“Cain?
What happened?
Where’s Aerith?” Tifa was the first to come forward, asking anxiously.
“She was taken by the Turks.” Cain’s voice was hoarse and low, every word squeezed out from between his teeth.
“What?!” The entire bar erupted in an instant.
Barret slammed his fist onto the counter with a thunderous bang.
“Those damn Shinra dogs!
They’ve gone too far!” he roared.
“We’re going to the Shinra Building right now and taking her back!” “No.
Going now would be walking straight into a trap.” Cain forced himself to calm down.
He knew recklessness would not solve anything.
“We need a plan.
We need more intel.
Barret, how is the analysis on those files you got earlier?” “Jessie’s working on it.” Barret pointed toward the girl in the corner, who was fully focused on operating a terminal.
Jessie raised her head, her expression grave.
“Things don’t look good.
According to these transaction records, Shinra’s Advanced Weaponry division recently had a batch of new weapons delivered to a testing site located underground in Sector 6.
Also…
the files repeatedly mention capturing a silver-haired test subject with ‘unknown power’ alive.
The target should be you, Cain.” Everyone’s eyes focused on Cain.
“Looks like one reason they took Aerith was to lure me out.” Cain’s gaze became even colder.
“No matter who they’re targeting, we can’t just sit here and wait to die,” Barret said in a deep voice.
“We’ll have to break into the Shinra Building sooner or later, but before that, we need to cut off some of their claws first.
Destroying that batch of new weapons will give us a bigger advantage.” After an urgent discussion, they drafted an advance operation plan.
Cain, Jessie, Wedge, and Biggs would form a four-person squad responsible for infiltrating Shinra’s weapons testing site, destroying that batch of new weapons, and stealing as much intel as possible about Shinra’s internal defenses.
“Why me?” Jessie looked at the team assignment, a little surprised and also…
a little delighted.
The injury on her leg had not fully healed yet, so her movements were still somewhat limited.
“You’re the best with tech.
We need you to crack the testing site’s security system and download the weapons data,” Barret explained.
“Cain will protect you, and Wedge and Biggs will handle perimeter support and fire support.
This is the best setup.” “No problem!
Leave it to me!” Jessie immediately patted her chest and promised.
Being able to carry out a core mission with her “hero” seemed to make even the pain in her leg disappear.
The operation began the next night.
Cain, Jessie, Wedge, and Biggs rode in an inconspicuous modified truck and silently headed toward Shinra’s underground weapons testing site in Sector 6.
Inside the truck, the atmosphere was a little heavy.
Wedge and Biggs were both nervously checking their equipment.
“Cain,” Jessie moved closer to Cain and spoke quietly, “are you…
still worried about that flower girl?” Cain did not speak.
He only nodded.
Aerith’s words kept echoing in his mind, “We will definitely meet again at the Shinra Building.” That was both a promise and the only force driving him forward right now.
“She’ll be fine,” Jessie comforted him.
“She looks really smart.
I’m sure she’ll find a way to protect herself.
And…
what we’re doing now is so we can rescue her more smoothly, right?” “Yeah.” Seeing that Cain was still in low spirits, Jessie thought for a moment and decided to change the subject.
“Speaking of which, I still haven’t properly thanked you.” She looked at Cain with sincere eyes.
“Back at Mako Reactor 1, if you hadn’t dealt with that big guy, we might all have…” “We’re companions.” Cain interrupted her.
What he meant was that it was only natural.
“No, that’s not the same.” Jessie shook her head.
Her gaze turned toward the neon lights flashing past outside the window, and her eyes grew a little distant.
“You know, my old dream was to become an actress.
I wanted to stand on the stage at the Gold Saucer and become the brightest star there.” This was the first time she had spoken of her dream to anyone besides Tifa.
“My father used to be a Shinra engineer.
He worked really hard, but in the end, because of mako poisoning, his body gave out, and Shinra threw him away like trash.” A trace of suppressed hatred entered her voice.
“From that day on, I swore I’d make Shinra pay.
My dream of becoming an actress stopped mattering.
I started learning mechanics, learning explosives.
All I wanted was to see their ugly buildings bloom in sparks.” She turned her head and looked at Cain, a complicated light flickering in her eyes.
“I thought I’d already given up on that dream a long time ago.
But lately…
I suddenly feel that maybe…
maybe after I see Shinra fall, I might still get the chance to stand on the stage again.” She smiled a little shyly.
“I’ll perform a play about us, about AVALANCHE.
You’ll be the male lead, a quiet but all-powerful hero.” Her confession was direct and passionate, like a warm spark dancing inside the cold truck.
Cain looked at the inextinguishable flame of dreams in her eyes, and his heart was deeply moved.
He thought of Zack, that man who had also dreamed of becoming a hero.
He realized that these seemingly ordinary people around him each had their own unique flame burning inside their hearts.
And he wanted to protect those flames.
“Your dream will come true.” Cain looked at Jessie, his tone more serious and firm than ever before.
“I promise.” Jessie’s heart skipped hard.
She looked into Cain’s sincere eyes, and her cheeks instantly became burning hot.
She felt as if she were about to be drawn into those eyes.
“Yeah!” She nodded heavily, her heart filled with courage and strength unlike anything she had felt before.
Just then, the truck came to a stop.
“We’re here,” Biggs’s voice came from the driver’s seat.
The four of them got out of the truck.
Before them stood a huge warehouse disguised as a waste processing facility.
This was Shinra’s underground weapons testing site.
“All right, everyone, stay sharp!” Jessie took a deep breath and pulled herself out of the warm atmosphere from earlier, returning to her role as a professional technician.
“Let’s make a mess and give the coming full assault the most gorgeous opening fireworks!” In her eyes, the longing for explosions and sparks burned once again.
But this time, mixed within that flame, there was also a different kind of radiance, one for her dream, and for someone special.