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         "We're here," Cain informed her proudly, his precious lap-top clutched underneath his right arm, as he led her toward a massive elevator, surrounded by six Shinra soldiers with very large rifles. "Wait here for a sec. Let me do the talking, okay?"

         "All right," Aeris agreed, still somewhat surprised at her young companion's sudden change in attitude. The moment Devin had left, most of his innate shyness seemed to have disappeared, and Aeris was beginning to think it wouldn't be long before he started hitting on her.

         "Halt!" One of the soldiers stepped toward them, his features cold, but his expression softened once he recognized who was approaching.

         "Hey, Cain," the soldier greeted, his stance relaxing. "What can I do for you?"

         "I'm here to see Dack," Cain informed him. "Dad--er, Admiral Highwind--is stuck at the Shinra building, so he told me to come get Dack at work and tell him what's going on."

         "That Dyson guy, right?" the soldier asked, his face hardening. "I heard about that. Speaking of which, I heard you had a run-in with some Dyson soldiers too. You all right?"

         Cain grinned, motioning for Aeris to approach. "Bastards didn't even know what hit 'em!"

         "And who's this?" The soldier gave her an appraising glance, a note of caution entering his voice.

         "Aeris Strife," Cain introduced her. "She's with me."

         "Uh huh," the soldier said noncommittally. "You do know, Cain, that civilians aren't allowed in the facilities?"

         "Oh yeah, I know." Cain spoke in an easy, unconcerned tone, digging into a pocket in his jeans and pulling out a folded sheet of paper. "Dad said it was cool."

         The soldier took the faked orders from his hand, studied them for a second, and then nodded. "All right, then." He motioned to one of the other soldiers to bring down the elevator. "If he thinks she's trustworthy, who am I to say no?"

         Aeris smiled gently at him, and he seemed to melt a bit.

         So easy to read it's pathetic.

         "Make sure and check in with us when you leave," the soldier cautioned as the two of them entered the elevator. "Don't forget, Cain."

         "I won't." Cain smiled confidently at him, and then the door closed, and for a moment they just stood there. Aeris glanced at Cain, gesturing toward the control panel.

         His eyes momentarily widened. "Oh yeah." He blushed and reached past her to punch a button on the elevator. "Sorry, I was, um, lost in thought."

         The elevator began to rise.

         "I take it you do this rather frequently," Aeris said patiently, as he moved away from the elevator controls to stand beside her.

         "What, give out faked orders?"

         "No, visit these facilities," Aeris clarified with a hint of a smile. "Is this what you're thinking of doing once you get out of school?"

         "I dunno." Cain looked away from her and frowned. For a moment, Aeris wondered if she'd asked an inappropriate question, but his discomfort didn't seem to be because of her. "Dack's already an Airship tech. Senior Tech, in fact. If I did come work here, I'd most likely have to take orders from him. That would suck."

         "Oh," Aeris said. "So, are you thinking of working with your mother, then?"

         "Nope, Kara's got that." There was an easily detectable trace of bitterness in his voice. "My sister. If I worked at the Shinra Building I'd have to take orders from her AND my mom."

         "Oh." Aeris didn't add anything to that, momentarily unsure about what to say.

         "I don't know what I want to do," Cain said without looking at her, staring instead at one of the walls of the elevator, as if fascinated by it. "School is boring, and they aren't really teaching me anything I don't already know. I've hacked just about every corner of the Shinra computer network, and Dad's never home . . ." He fell silent at that, as if worried he'd suddenly said to much.

         "Well, I'm sure you'll end up doing something you like," Aeris said reassuringly, as she noticed the bottom of a flat metal deck approaching through the glass ceiling of the elevator. "You're certainly smart enough to do just about anything you want."

         "Gee, thanks!" He stared at the floor contemplatively.

         She smiled to herself, amused at his response. He really was a nice boy. Just a few years too young...

         The elevator slid to a stop, and the doors opened, admitting a gentle gust of wind.

         "Is this the Construction Yard?"

         "Um, oh, yeah," Cain agreed, coming to his senses and stepping out of the elevator. "Um, Dack's over this way, I think, if he isn't on break."

         He led her out from behind a large metal tower, and she got her first look at the Shinra Construction Yard. It was impressive, she had to admit. Even though it was minutes from quitting time, a large number of orange-suited technicians were still hard at work on their respective projects, and sparks were falling from different points in the yard, where technicians were busy welding together a frame or repairing damaged armor. Aeris noticed the form of the Phoenix off in the distance, easily recognizable due to its distinctive shape, and saw a horde of technicians busily swarming over its pockmarked hull.

         Looks like it took quite a beating, she thought in dismay. I hope no one was hurt.

         "Um, he should be over working on the Phoenix, I think," Cain said, heading in that direction. Aeris followed, but they'd barely walked ten meters before she noticed Devin, striding along angrily behind an orange-suited Shinra technician, who was pushing a struggling Ada Dyson in front of him.

         "Aeris!" he exclaimed, seeing her, relief flooding over his features. "And Cain! Hey, tell this joker we're not trying to steal his Airship, okay?"

         Aeris gave the Shinra technician a cursory glance, and then one that was a bit less cursory. He was handsome, she realized. Quite handsome. He had somewhat wild black hair which spiked at the front and fell over one eye, much like her father's in his youth, the rest of which was pulled into a pony-tail that fell back over his shoulders. A pair of aviation goggles hung around his neck, and he had a square, clean-shaven jaw and clear blue eyes. A large metal pike was strapped to his back.

         He had little in common, physically, with Cain or his father, but Aeris reminded herself that this was because he wasn't actually a blood relation, though he certainly seemed comfortable enough bearing the Highwind name.

         I wonder if he even remembers his parents, she found herself wondering, recalling the story of his origin, one that she'd heard frequently from her parents. He was an orphan, had been a prisoner of an evil woman called Messiah for almost the entirety of the first five years of his life. She felt sorry for him, wondering what it was like to have that kind of a past, but he certainly didn't look like he bore any scars as a result of his traumatic childhood. And he is cute, a voice in the back of her head reminded her, which she quickly shushed.

         "Cain," the technician said, his eyes widening as he noticed his younger brother striding toward him. "What are you doing here? Did something else happen?"

         "No, it's fine, Dack," Cain assured him. "Um, I'm here to see you, actually. Dad sent me."

         "About what?" He grimaced as Ada tried to smack the back of her head into his face.

         "Let go of me, creep!"

         "Hey, why don't you let me handle her," Devin offered from his side, a trace of an easily identifiable emotion in his voice, which Aeris had no trouble recognizing.

         Yup, just like I thought. He's jealous.

         "Not here," Cain said, looking around the shipyard and noticing several technicians looking on curiously. "Let's head to your office."

         "Why?" Dack features darkened. "What's going on here, Cain? What are these two people doing here? You know them?" He glanced up and suddenly noticed Aeris.

         "And, um, who's your friend?" he asked, something strange in his clear blue eyes.

         "Aeris Caitlin Strife," she introduced herself. "This is my brother, Devin." She motioned with her eyes to the person she spoke of, who was still standing at Dack's left side, grimacing.

         "Strife," Dack muttered. "As in Cloud Strife?"

         "Yes, that's our father," Aeris agreed. "We really should find someplace less public before discussing this further, though."

         "Discussing what?" Dack asked, frustrated, then shook his head and sighed. "All right, fine. My office."

         He started forward, Ada still struggling against him. "Give it up," he warned her. "Even if you manage to get away from me, there's about sixty other men scattered around this Shipyard that would grab you before you made it ten feet."

         Ada gave him an angry glance, but did finally allow herself to be maneuvered forward without too much resistance.

         "So?" Aeris asked, falling into step beside her brother, who was following Dack, with Cain trailing. "I take it she's still a bit hesitant about helping us, huh?"

         "Well, actually," Devin said, wincing, "I haven't had the chance to ask her yet."

         "Well, this was your idea. And to tell you the truth, I still don't like it. What if she gets us caught?"

         "She won't." He motioned to a pocket in his riding pants. "If she gets out of hand, that SOLDIER gave me a tranquilizer gun to knock her out. Besides, I think she can be persuaded to help us."

         "Mmm hmm," Aeris replied, glancing again at Dack and Ada, who had managed to turn around and was staring acid at the two of them. "Well, I hope you're right. We can't afford to mess this up, Devin."

         "I know." He scowled at her. "I'm not a child, Aeris. You don't need to lecture me."

         "Fine," she agreed, giving him a warning glance. "Just try to keep in mind who she is, okay?"

         "What do you mean by that?" he asked, confused, but Aeris had already looked away, leaving him to process her words without further input.

         Upon reaching a large building near the center of the metal deck, Dack used his free hand to press a couple of keys on a computer pad stuck to the leg of his work suit, causing a door in the side of the building to slide open. He seemed to have no trouble keeping Ada immobilized with his other, keeping his arm locked behind her back under both of hers.

         I wonder if he's had military training, she thought, noticing the firm and efficient hold he was using.

         Ada looked like she was about to make a break for it, but seemed to decide against it, and soon they'd entered a small metal room, big enough for a medium-sized metal desk, a chair and little else.

         "Sorry, it's a bit small," Dack apologized, as he pushed Ada forward, finally letting her go, and turned to lock his door. She stumbled to the wall and turned around to face him, her features tight with anger. "So, we're here. Now, will somebody please tell me what the heck is going on?"

         "That's what I'd like to know," Ada spit from her corner. "What the hell do you people want with me, anyway?"

         Devin settled himself on a corner of the desk, pushing papers aside with little regard for their importance or merit as he did so, and gave her a reproving glance.

         "You, Ada, are our ticket to freeing our parents," he informed her, calmly.

         "What?" She stared around at them angrily. "What are you talking about? What do I care about your parents?"

         "Um, and this is?" Dack asked, from his post by the door. "And you still haven't answered my question, Cain."

         Cain opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, and Aeris glanced at him and smiled. He fell silent.

         "I'll explain it," she told him, and he nodded. "Okay, let's handle these questions one at a time." She caught the eyes of everyone in the room in turn, even Ada, who seemed to be willing to let her talk, before speaking again. "First of all, Dack, Ada, as you may or may not know, Dyson Corporation has taken our parents hostage."

         "They did?" Dack asked in disbelief. "I'd heard that they were holding something over the President's head, but hadn't thought it was anything like that. How'd they manage that?"

         Ada said nothing, but Aeris could see that she was a bit surprised at the news.

         Maybe she can be persuaded to help us after all...

         "We're not completely sure," Aeris explained with a shrug. "Regardless, Dyson has them in custody. And he's given President Reeve an ultimatum. As of this point, I believe he has about fourteen hours left to transfer his stocks and resources over to Dyson management. If he doesn't do that, Dyson is going to kill them both."

         "My dad wouldn't do that!" Ada protested, but then fell silent, suddenly blushing furiously. Aeris wondered at that, remembering what Reeve had told her. Hadn't her father tried to have her killed? If he had, it hadn't seemed to affect her opinion of him.

         "Your dad?" Dack was looking at her in confusion. She refused to meet his gaze, staring furiously at a filing cabinet.

         "This, Dack, is Ada Dyson." She motioned to the woman of whom she spoke. "My brother ran into her after she tried to rob him."

         Dack looked like he was going to ask something, but he refrained, and Aeris smiled to herself at his manners. Finally, someone else who doesn't blurt out the first thought that comes in his head.

         "She was in Shinra custody, but Cain printed out some orders for us in your father's name, and Devin went in to get her out." Seeing Dack's darkening expression, she quickly expanded on the subject. "I asked him to. A Dyson executive at the Shinra Building has put your father, President Reeve, and Red in protective custody, which means they can't leave the building or his sight. If they do, he's threatened to kill one of our parents."

         Dack grimaced. "I see," he muttered angrily.

         "That's not all," Aeris added, catching his eyes. She liked that shade of blue for some reason. "He's also informed us that Dyson Corporation has moved soldiers into position around a number of towns, including Cosmo Canyon and Kalm. He said that if any strikes are made against them by our parents or anyone else in Shinra Corporation, after they turn their resources over, he's going to order his soldiers in to destroy those towns."

         Even Ada's eyes widened at that.

         "You're lying," she exclaimed angrily.

         "Hey, watch your mouth," Devin ordered. "This is my sister you're talking about."

         "I don't care, hick. My father would never do something like that. She's lying."

         "Why do you say that, Ada?" Aeris asked evenly. "Do you know something about Dyson Corporation that you want to share with the rest of us?"

         Ada was silent for a second, staring at her defiantly. "I know my father," she said again, her tone leaving no room for argument. "And you're lying."

         "Fine, we'll prove it to you." Aeris sighed gently, motioning to Cain, who walked forward and produced a small disc from his pocket, onto which he'd copied some of the material from the Shinra computers. "Dack, do you have a viewscreen in here somewhere?"

         "In the desk," he acknowledged. "I take it you want to use it?"

         "Please."

         Dack reached down to the control attached to his pants leg and hit a few buttons, and a medium-sized viewscreen rose out of the desk, startling Devin, who quickly scooted to the side a bit as the corner snagged his posterior.

         "Hey! A little warning next time, please?"

         "Cain, put the disc in," Aeris ordered softly, and the younger Highwind quickly complied, inserting the disc into the open drive of Dack's computer and typing a few quick commands on the keyboard. Ada was suddenly looking less sure of herself, and Aeris hoped that was a good sign.

         Static. Then...

         "Greetings, President Reeve of Shinra Corporation," Faulk began calmly, as his image appeared on the screen. Like the rest of the people in the room, Aeris was seeing this for the first time, as they hadn't had time to watch it back in Cain's room before they'd left, wanting to catch up with Devin.

         Ada, arms crossed, stared at the image without any visible emotion, although Aeris could read her worry in her tense posture. She's beginning to believe, finally. But will she help us, or betray us?

         The room was silent as the transmission played itself through, and Aeris could feel the tension in the room, so thick that she could have pulled out her sword and sliced it in two. Faulk's calm monotone continued. And then her parents were brought out.

         "Don't do it, Reeve!" Tifa yelled suddenly, shrugging off one of the guards who tried to silence her. "Don't listen to this f..."

         Aeris winced despite herself, the worry she was keeping safely inside about her parents threatening to rise up and paralyze her.

         Mom, hang in there, please...

         Finally, Faulk gave his concluding words and threats. And the transmission lapsed into static.

         "You faked it," Ada said, her voice shaking. "That's a fake transmission."

         "Oh, please, Ada," Devin exclaimed, leaping up from the desk and stalking toward her. She could see how much the tape had affected him, and understood his frustration, worry and anger all too well. "Are you really that self-centered? Do you really think we'd go to all this trouble just to somehow trick you? Wake up! Your father's out of control! If we don't stop him, the world is going to go to hell in a handbasket."

         Ada did not respond, merely staring at him defiantly, but instead of lashing out at Devin or responding with an angry retort, she finally looked away from him and clenched her fingers into fists, staring down at the ground.

         "It's not my father," she whispered at last, speaking as a woman who had just lost her entire world. "I didn't want to believe it. God, I didn't want to believe it."

         "Believe what, Ada?" Aeris asked softly.

         "He's gone," she whispered, sagging back against the wall and sliding into a sitting position, staring into the space in front of her as if the other people in the room had ceased to exist. "They're both gone. That bastard Faulk has it all."

         Aeris processed that, and suddenly, like a flash of lightning, the insight came. Something about what they'd heard about Ada and Dyson Corporation had been bothering her, although she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She finally understood.

         "It was him, wasn't it?" she asked, although she already knew the answer to her question. "Faulk."

         Of course. It made so much sense in hindsight. The assassination attempt on Ada. President Dyson's reclusiveness. Dyson Corporation's slow metamorphosis from a mere competitor to Shinra Corporation into a force large enough and motivated enough to threaten everyone on the Planet.

         Reginald Dyson had not been seen in more than two years. Most had assumed that he had vanished from the public eye because he was hurt by the death of his wife and seeming death of his daughter-- that he was either angry or sick of the outside world and wanted nothing more to do with it. Not a single person had thought it strange that a mere business executive had risen into the most active role in Dyson Corporation, had turned into the mouthpiece for its President and started giving orders that seemed subtly different from what the company had been doing before. It was all clear now.

         Gerrett Faulk had killed Ada's mother, and tried to kill her. Then he'd probably killed Ada's father, as well, and taken the reins of Dyson Corporation for his own. And now he wanted the world.

         Ada was gently sobbing now, and Devin reached out hesitantly to comfort her, his anger gone. She knocked his hand aside angrily, but that at least seemed to bring her to her senses.

         "Yes, it was Faulk," she sobbed angrily. The change that had come over her was startling. "He sent those goons to kill me and-- and Mother. Because I knew. I knew what he was planning, and I was going to tell Father. I escaped, but I couldn't go back--he controls the entire military, and I knew he'd find me before I could get to my father and tell him what had happened--he'd kill me! I thought that Father was strong enough to resist him, I thought..."

         She shook her head despondently and buried it in her hands. "I thought that maybe someday he'd send for me, and I could go home."

         The room was silent as those inside took all of that in. Finally, Devin knelt by Ada's side, and she didn't seem to care.

         "Ada," he began gently, hesitantly, but he quickly moved forward. "We're going over there. To Wutai, and the Hive. We're going to rescue our parents."

         She said nothing, her head pressed against her clasped hands and her eyes closed.

         "I... didn't know what happened to you," he continued after a beat. "None of us did. And I know it must be hard, to live that way, and to find this out, now. But we need your help. You've got to know the Hive far better than any of us, and we can't just waltz in and expect to defeat the entire Dyson military all by ourselves. We need an insider, somebody who knows how to get in without triggering the alarms or alerting the guards."

         He glanced momentarily at Aeris for encouragement, and then turned back to Ada. "Dyson Corp, with Faulk at the reins, I guess, it out to destroy everybody, Ada. Not just our parents. Other innocent people too, towns full! We can't let that happen. We can't!"

         His voice was still gentle, but there was an edge to it as well, and his body was taut at he waited for Ada's reaction.

         "We need you, Ada," he implored softly. "Will you help us?"

         She pulled her knees closer to her body and kept her head buried in her hands.

         "Ada," Devin insisted softly. "We need you. We need you on this."

         Once again, silence enveloped the room. She could see the want and nervousness in Devin's face and posture, and glanced momentarily at Dack, who shrugged helplessly. Finally, Ada looked up, brushing the tears from her eyes and blinking.

         "All right," she said softly. "All right. I'll do it." Her face hardened. "On one condition."

         Devin, trying and failing to conceal the relief he was feeling, rose to his feet.

         "Sure. What?"

         Ada slowly pushed herself to her feet, staring hungrily at Devin.

         "If we go in to rescue your parents," she said, her eyes burning, "then we go in to kill Faulk. No compromises. If you want my help, then Faulk dies." She crossed her arms defiantly and stared out at the shocked faces around her.

         "That's the condition," she said again. "Take it or leave it."

         Dack was evaluating her with something new in his eyes, and Devin looked like a Chocobo caught in headlights. Aeris felt chilled.

         Yes, Faulk is evil. Yes, he's kidnapped our parents and threatened a great number of innocent people. And yes, if he gets in our way he's going to get hurt. She suppressed a shudder at the hate in Ada's eyes. But cold-blooded murder...

         "Ada...," Devin implored gently.

         "That's the condition, hick," she said again, violently cutting his protest. "Faulk killed my parents. Had them shot down like animals. And like you said, he's threatening everyone. Including your parents. You don't think he'd kill them at the slightest whim?"

         She shook her head violently.

         "You don't know Faulk. He's a butcher in a business suit. If you leave him alive, then nobody in your family is ever going to be safe. Faulk dies, or I stay here. Your choice."

         Devin glanced at Aeris again, still somehow believing that she would have the answer, but she shook her head silently and showed him she did not.

         Finally, Dack stepped forward, setting the end of his pike against the floor with an loud clang.

         "All right," he agreed, his voice hard. "I'm in." He seemed immune to the shocked expressions in the eyes of his brother and the rest of the room, save Ada. "Alot of my friends were on the Valiant," he continued, although he didn't sound like a man who needed to explain himself. "Faulk started this war. He's the reason they're dead. And like Ada said, he killed her parents, and he's going to kill yours."

         He closed his eyes momentarily, and Aeris saw a bit of pain escape through the hard mask that was his face.

         "I know what that's like," he said softly. "To lose your parents to a psychopath." His eyes opened, and the momentary vulnerability disappeared. "So I'm in. We'll take the Hammer. It's a new ship, one of the Kage class transports. Assuming you guys have some plan to get us past the radar, you're set." He hit a button on the panel on his pants leg, causing the door to his office to hiss open.

         "Most of the staff is leaving. I'm going to order all the regulars to go home for the day, and then find my crew chief and tell him I'm talking the Hammer out for a routine test flight. I'm also going to tell him to make sure that bastard in the Shinra building doesn't hear about it."

         He paused, his eyes lingering on Aeris, and then turned to leave.

         "I'll be warming up the engines just outside. Wait five minutes for me to clear out my people, and then head out. The Airship will be waiting." He turned away and started for the door. "Cain, if you're coming then you're coming now. Move it." And then, his long strides eating up the floor in his way, he was gone.

         Aeris exchanged another glance with Devin and Cain, but none of them could come up with a solution to their quandary. Ada waited, arms crossed, and Cain finally headed for the door, glancing back one last time at Aeris in confusion before he went after his brother.

         "He killed my parents," she said finally, tired of the silence. "If you guys have a problem with taking him out, then fine. Be that way. But if you want my help, and trust me, if you're going to try to sneak into the hive you NEED my help, then that's the deal."

         Aeris shook her head slowly. "But Ada, we can't just murder an unarmed man..."

         "You don't have to do it," she spit back. "Though considering what he's done to your family I don't see why you care anything for him. You just have to promise not to stop me." Her eyes were burning again. "You don't know what it's like, to spend your sixteenth birthday getting shot at, to see your mom gunned down right in front of you, to spend years living in the streets, staying alive by the skin of your teeth." She impaled Devin with her angry gaze, but he didn't flinch, looking almost numb. "You don't KNOW." Then she turned back to Aeris. "That's what he did to me. That's why he has to die. If he'd done that to you, you'd want the same thing. If you think that's a lie, then you're living in a dream."

         Seeing that Aeris wasn't buying it, she turned her gaze on Devin.

         "Promise me," she said. "You know I'm right. I can see that in you. He has to die. Promise."

         Aeris could see the war going on inside her brother's head, but was helpless to interfere, her own emotions too busy fighting with each other. It was wrong to kill someone in cold blood, even a man as evil as Faulk. But if they didn't do this, many people were going to die, including Cloud and Tifa Lockhart-Strife. Though she hated to admit it, a small part of her mind knew that Ada was right, at least about Faulk's ambitions. Even if they rescued her parents, there would still be Dyson Corporation to deal with. A war with Shinra and who knows what else.

         Finally, Devin seemed to settle his inner conflict, and seeing what was in his eyes Aeris suddenly knew she had lost the argument. She only prayed she had not lost a brother as well.

         A SOLDIER kills, Devin. He kills when others tell him, not in self-defense. He kills without remorse, without pity, without any regard for those who fall underneath his blade. Devin straightened and then nodded grimly. Is that really what you want to do with your life?

         Ada, satisfied, turned to Aeris. Devin did so as well, his face set.

         "I know what you're thinking, sis. But she's got a point. Dyson Corp isn't gonna' back down until Faulk is out of the picture." He shook his head. "You know me, Aeris. You know what I think about killing."

         He gave Ada a lingering, sidelong glance, and then turned back to her. "I don't kill innocents. But if someone had a gun against your head, if someone was threatening to kill you..." He held her gaze, trying to convince her as best he could.

         "You know what I'd do. I'd stop them. And that's what Faulk is doing. He's got a gun on everyone, our parents, those townspeople, Shinra soldiers--everyone." He looked as sure of what he was saying as she had ever seen him. "He has to be stopped."

         Can I do it? Can I let them... murder?

         She looked at the fire in Ada's eyes, and managed to see past it to the hurt that would never heal. She looked at the steel in Devin's eyes, and saw for the first time the little brother who had finally grown up.

         She looked inside herself, and saw the woman that was going to die inside no matter how this turned out.

         Silence fell over the room like a suffocating blanket.

         It was an odd sound, the sound of the new engines.

         It was much like the sound of a normal engine, something that one might hear on board a Gelnika or Airship or anything of that type, a sort of half-silent, hissing wind sound, yet mechanical, not natural. It was constant, rising or dropping only occasionally in pitch, and then only by a few degrees, the changes almost imperceptible. But there was something else in that sound too, something indefinable, something to do with the brand new, experimental crystals which had been placed in the engines making the noise. It was a humming--almost. A low, toneless humming like no song that ever had or ever would be invented, but despite himself, that was the only way that Dack Highwind could think of to describe it. Humming.

         It was so eminently noticeable, of course, because the rest of the bridge was so deathly silent.

         As inconspicuously as possible, his eyes rose from the bank of instruments at his station, his hands holding the controls of the Kage Class Transport Hammer steady, keeping the craft on the straight and narrow with barely any conscious thought. He stared toward the ceiling of the bridge for a moment, pretending to be reflective, but in actuality he was observing the people standing or sitting around him, silently sizing them up, even now.

         What an odd situation to be in, he reflected in a brief moment of wry amusement. Just another day at work, minding my own business. I always knew I'd go into action someday, knew that I'd be fighting for one thing or another, whether it be against something as big as Dyson Corporation or something as small as a thief in the street. Strange, though. I never thought the person showing up with my deployment orders would be my little brother.

         It did not seem odd to him that he had been chosen to fight. He had, more or less, been chosen at birth. Granted, he barely remembered the first five years of his life, and not much for the first year after he'd been 'rescued', for that matter. His mind had still been healing, held in chains and trampled for so long by a mind so evil it defied comprehension. He barely remembered those who had been his true parents. They were just brief images, a blurred face here, a barely remembered touch there. Although he didn't remember anything concrete about them, he had always assumed that he had loved them very much. And then, of course, they had been destroyed.

         By Messiah.

         He would never forget that name. He would always remember it, remember that beautiful face and those scarred, ruined masses of flesh that had been her eyes. It would never leave him. That soothing voice which in one moment had gently wrapped her arms around him, and in the next ordered the execution of a soldier who had, obviously through some momentary lapse of judgement, offered a very hungry and very young Dack a portion of his meal.

         He would never forget the way that soldier had screamed as another young soldier in flaming red armor, less than half his age and barely a teenager, stood over the helpless man as he writhed on the floor in agony, a sadistic, gleeful smile contorting his features as his eyes glowed with red energy, and he spent the next hour roasting the unfortunate soldier in his magic.

         You see, my dear child, Messiah had whispered, as her smooth, comforting arms rocked him gently against her chest and her beautiful voice whispered quietly in his ear, somehow audible over the ear-splitting, tortured screams and cries for mercy. Such is the way of the world.

         His eyes fell on the form of Devin Strife first, a barely noticeable look out of the corner of his eye, but more than enough to see how he was handling the trip in. He was pacing, pacing determinedly, his rough boots all but silent on the sound- absorbent, plastic covered floor of the Hammer. He paused in his pacing only once while Dack observed him, glancing toward the forward window but not really looking at it. It had been blatantly obvious to Dack from the moment he'd seen the dynamic between him and Ada Dyson that he was far more interested in her than the sky outside, and this glance was no exception.

         I barely know these people, he thought, hoping Devin still had some portion of his thoughts on the mission at hand and didn't have them all concentrated on the woman standing at the front of the bridge. And here I am, not only helping them to steal a top-secret Shinra prototype, but flying it for them. Flying it in toward the center of a giant enemy stronghold that the five of us have about a snowball's chance in Hell of infiltrating without getting killed.

         His eyes momentarily lingered on the silky brown hair of Ada Dyson, her bare upper back and shoulders, as she stood evenly with her feet spread slightly apart, her hands clasped in a tight grip at the small of her back. She was staring out into the sky ahead, and not a muscle in her body was making the slightest twitch. She was like a statue. He was male, and naturally he did take a moment to admire her fine backside and legs, but no more than a moment, as he really wasn't interested in her in that way. Granted, the tight, short skirt that she wore made such assets all too appealing, but it wasn't that which made him instinctively identify with her. It was something else.

         The weak are sheep, and the strong are their shepherds, that beautiful voice whispered inside his head as his thoughts drifted back once more. They need us, the weak. They live at our courtesy. They worship us. A flash of brilliant white teeth, so perfect they defied description. The weak are our playthings, dear child. They give their loyalty, their lives and their souls to us, and we do with them what we wish. Such is the way of the world.

         His eyes went next to Cain, the most active of the group, as the sound of rapid fire keypresses suddenly shattered the silence in the room. He acknowledged that, glad that his little brother, at least, had his mind on the mission. Whatever he was going to do to keep the Dyson radar from picking the Hammer up, Dack hoped it would work, as they would be entering the far edge of radar range in less than a minute. Cain's features were tight with concentration as he typed frantically for a moment, paused, typed for a few more moments, and then settled back in his chair, a satisfied smile breaking over his features.

         Dack felt a momentary surge of affection for his sibling, nothing special, just a brief, barely noticed response to the other's skilled neutralization of the most dangerous thing to them on this mission, the Dyson radar. They weren't what he would consider terribly close, perhaps not as close as a pair of true brothers might be, but Cain was still family, and it wasn't really his brother's fault that they didn't feel more for each other. The fault was his own, as it must always be. The simple fact was he could really only get so close to just about anyone.

         Even his adopted parents had never crossed that acceptable but firm line into the deepest levels of his affection, though they had of course more than earned it. That space was reserved for the only other person in his life who knew what it was to be what they were, and the space past that unbreakable line was hers and hers alone. It was a space reserved for Kara, his twin sister.

         You look so darling! that beautiful voice exclaimed in what might have been genuine amazement, as her strong hands pushed him and his sister closer together and then stood back to admire their forms, dressed in the finest garb available for the climactic event that was approaching. Visitors were coming. Messiah was going to introduce them to the visitors. And she had done so, holding her wicked, hot knifes against their throats as two of the strange trio of newcomers had moved forward to fight with Messiah's chosen, her second son and the soulless man, while the third of the newcomers, a woman dressed much like Ada was now, stood glaring at them in helpless anger.

         That was the first time I met Cid Highwind, Dack reflected with another barely noticed surge of affection. For some reason, I knew that our lives inside that dank hellhole with our beautiful keeper was going to end on the day he and those visitors came, one way or another. And I was right.

         "That should do it," Cain said confidently, glancing up to meet Dack's eyes and momentarily flashing him a grin. "We're hidden. Stealth-coded into the Dyson computer system. Unless you come within visual distance of any incoming traffic, Dack, I think we're home free."

         "That won't happen," Dack snorted dismissively, turning back to his instruments and silently checking the radar to see if any other ships were approaching despite his confident words. They were in the clear. "Don't worry, Cain. I'll get us in."

         "How long until we touch down?"

         The voice which asked that question was gentle and soft- spoken, beautiful in its own way, but nothing like the perfect beauty that still dominated his nightmares, whenever he was unfortunate enough to have them. He hadn't heard much of it on the trip, as she had said barely anything since she had followed a determined Ada and purposeful Devin onto the bridge of the Hammer, her own light-blue eyes looking genuinely lost.

         He didn't know what words had been exchanged in the office after he'd left, but he'd seen the stubborn resistance in her face when Ada had told them the price for her help. It was charming in its own way, beautiful even, but hopelessly naive. Then again, maybe that innocent perspective on the world was what he found so appealing about her.

         "Should be five minutes, six at the most." He took his eyes from the instrument panel and quickly brought them to meet hers, grateful for a chance to look at her. He hadn't covered her in his inspection of the bridge moments before, because he somehow knew that she would have noticed the moment his eyes had even brushed past her. She was just like that. She managed a sort of half- smile to thank him for his quick response, but her eyes quickly darted away to find another bridge object to focus on, and he regretfully turned back to his panel after a brief survey of her sweet, classically beautiful figure.

         Voyeur, he chided himself, somehow feeling that it was wrong for him to be regarding her perfect form with such familiarity, but hey, he was male, and that what just what his kind did to hers. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Keep your mind on the mission.

         The mission. There was an interesting concept. His mission, of course, was only to take the Hammer in and land it somewhere near enough to the Hive that the others could walk to it, but far enough away that they wouldn't be discovered by a Dyson patrol. Nonetheless, he certainly wasn't going to let the rest of them go in without him, even though he'd known them for less than thirty minutes, with the exception of his brother, of course. A fight was coming, and in its own way it would bring about a small bit of justice. So Dack would be there. And heaven help any poor fool that tried to stand in his way.

         Such is the way of the world, dear child.

         Devin ceased pacing for a moment, glanced quickly at Ada's back, and obviously thought about moving to the forward window to join her. He seemed to think better of it, taking a hesitant step forward and then grimacing, and then turned back to his pacing.

         He's got it bad. Dack smiled secretly, finding the younger Strife's obvious hormone imbalance amusing, to say the least. Still, she is a looker. I wish him luck.

         "Change course, Dack, forty-five degrees to port," Cain ordered crisply, jerking him from the comfort of his thoughts. "We've got incoming."

         "What?" he asked in confusion, glancing again at his radar screen and seeing nothing even close. "Cain, what are you talking about?"

         "ETA thirty seconds, Dack. Change course. It's stealth- coded. Invisible." Cain fixed him with a stony gaze that showed a good deal more backbone than he'd possessed barely a year ago. He measured the resolve in that gaze, saw that his brother obviously knew what he was talking about, and changed course.

         "Stealth-coding?" he asked curiously, as Cain breathed a barely noticeable sigh of relief, glancing over at Aeris, who was staring disinterestedly at one of the read-outs on the wall. His eyes took on a dreamy expression, and Dack momentarily grimaced. Well, he is fourteen.

         "Cain," he said loudly, and the other's eyes snapped from Aeris and flew back to his own, as he suddenly blushed furiously, realizing he'd been caught. "Stealth-coding?"

         His brother took a second to collect himself before replying. "Um, yeah. Yeah. They had a stealth-coded attack Airship moving on an intercept vector for us, though I'm sure it was merely coincidental. They've got a whole pattern going all around the Hive, obviously standard for a battle situation." His blush began to fade as he talked confidently about a subject in which he was well-versed. "It's clever of them, though I hate to admit it. If we didn't have their transponders, a Shinra fleet trying to invade would get caught with their pants down."

         "Damned sloppy of them," Dack remarked with a shake of his head. "Well, if you think we're safe, then I guess we're safe. Where do you want to put down?"

         Aeris seemed immersed in whatever she was looking at on the console, even though Dack knew she probably wasn't seeing it, but Devin quickly spoke up.

         "Somewhere inconspicuous. We can't land too far away, as we've got less than half a day to get in and get our parents, and cancel those attack orders. But we can't risk being seen, either." His head swiveled to face Ada, and having found a convenient excuse he walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. For once, she didn't bat his hand away immediately, but did turn on them with grim purpose.

         "What?"

         Dack smiled again despite himself. Born to be a queen, that one.

         Devin didn't miss a beat. "We're coming up on Wutai and the Hive. We need a place to put down, somewhere inconspicuous, big enough to hide this Airship from the casual observer, but close enough to the Hive that it won't be more than an hour's walk. Somewhere out of the range of normal ground patrols, too. So where are we landing?"

         Her eyes stayed locked with his for a moment, and Dack was surprised to see a trace of something in her gaze that hadn't been there before. Then it was gone and she brushed past him, heading for Dack's station.

         "I know a place, but I don't know the coordinates. I need a map. As accurate as possible." She glanced pointedly at Dack.

         "Consider it done," he said, bringing a keyboard up on a hissing arm from its resting place by his left ankle and tapping in the appropriate command. A large flat screen descended from the ceiling, just one of the many new features of the vaunted Kage class, and he brought an elevation map of the area around Wutai up on its surface.

         "No good," Ada said, glancing at it and turning back to Dack. "I need visuals. Pictures. I haven't been here in a couple of years, you know."

         Dack shrugged and switched the screen to an airborne photographic survey of the area around the Hive, spending a moment to appreciate the sheer scope of the complex. It was just, to put it simply, damned big.

         Devin whistled softly.

         "It's going to take us an hour just to walk to the center of the thing, and that's AFTER we infiltrate it. How are we going to find them in that mess?"

         "Computer terminal," Cain put in from Dack's right. "I've got all the passwords. Give me ten minutes with a secure terminal and I'll get you all the info you need."

         "Can you hack in and issue the troop recall orders from there?" Aeris asked, suddenly involving herself in the conversation, turning away from the console she'd been studying.

         Cain shook his head. "Nope, not quite that good. Obviously, troop orders are about their highest priorities now, what with a war going on. Only way I'm going to be able to safely change those and make it look convincing is from the terminal in old man Dyson's office.

         Ada twitched, but Cain didn't even notice. Devin did, and hesitantly squeezed her shoulder in what he assumed was an attempt to comfort her. She gave him an almost feral look, but didn't kill him, so Dack supposed that could be regarded as progress.

         "Well, we've hit coastline," he announced, anxiously checking his radar again even though he probably couldn't see about half the other aircraft in the sky. "As much as I'd like to hover here with our collective thumbs up our asses, we need to set her down before a Dyson ground patrol spots us, or one of their attack Airships does a fly-by. Where to?"

         Ada turned her attention to the map and took less than thirty seconds before she raised her hand and pointed, though Dack wasn't quite sure where.

         "Try this," he offered, rising from his seat and motioning her over. She came hesitantly, as he knew she respected his combat abilities a bit more than Devin's. "Move the pointer to the spot."

         She did as instructed, and Dack silently contemplated the distant look that was momentarily in her eyes. Something had changed in her when she'd heard the news about her father. He'd seen that as clear as day, even though he'd just met her at the time. He wasn't sure if that change was good or bad, but he hoped she was able to cope. She moved the pointer over what looked like a depression in between two raised areas and nodded to him.

         "There."

         "Um, Ada, that's not gonna' work," Devin pointed out gently, but Dack could see his patience was getting a bit frayed. "It has to be open field."

         "Chill out, Strife, she's picked a good spot," Dack corrected him, surprising the other man. He took his seat again and switched the map from photographic to topographical, marking the spot Ada had pointed out in his mind as well as in the nav-computer. "I'm setting her down."

         "Now wait just a minute," Devin protested, as the Hammer rocketed away from the coast and covered the space to their landing zone in a matter of seconds. It was a good ship.

         "That's rock, surrounded by mountains." Devin looked genuinely confused. "You set us down there, and the radioactives will fry the engines."

         "Hmmph," Dack commented, as he initiated the Hammer's landing sequence and they began to descend. "You'd be right, normally. But this isn't the Highwind. This is MY baby."

         They hit the level at which the ship would normally be rocking stiffly as the radioactives in the rocks destabilized the engine crystals, and the ship moved past it and settled smoothly to the rocky ground. Devin continued to look around in confusion, as if expecting to hear explosions from the engines at any second.

         "I've got prototype power crystals in these engines," Dack explained as he tapped a few keys, sent the screen rising back into the ceiling, and settled the keyboard back at his ankle before rising to his feet. "Not bad, if I do say so myself. Ten percent more power, total, and no destabilizing from radioactives. My baby lands just about anywhere she wants to."

         "Your baby," Cain muttered disapprovingly. "It's just a ship, big bro, not a fetus."

         Dack grinned at that, reaching down to grab his pike and strap it to his back. "So. Are we going?"

         Aeris took her eyes from where they'd drifted to another terminal and glanced at each of them in turn, and then nodded.

         "We're going. Ada, I guess you're leading the way." The way she said the other woman's name held not a small bit of conflict and a slight trace of disgust, but Dack supposed she couldn't help it. She just didn't see what had to be done. Ada, for her part, didn't even notice the tone and marched confidently for the exit, Devin right behind her.

         "After you," Dack said courteously, motioning Aeris forward, and the conflict in her features momentarily softened. She smiled gently and then started for the door, as it detected Ada's approach and hissed open. Cain was busily disengaging laptop wires from their jacks in the Hammer's computer, and Dack was halfway to the door before his brother hurriedly stuffed his lap-top under his arm and dashed after them.

         They need us, the weak. They live at our courtesy.

         Dack's face hardened as he considered those words, and then the landing ramp lowered and Ada led the way to the ground outside.

         That may be true, Messiah, for you. His hands unconsciously curled into fists as he descended the ramp. And so the fight begins.

Continue to Chapter 9