Chapter 71: A Ninja's Way

The gang were currently having a raid on a pretty major encampment they were able to find due to Bismarck roaming around the world.

Tifa, Aerith, Zack, and Cloud were fighting the mutated soldiers who are much better equipped and are stabilizing greatly.

Cloud blocked a slash from a werewolf that had a large sword just like the buster sword. "Tch, these guys are getting better and better!" Cloud put more strength on his hands, making it back off.

Aerith tapped her staff on the ground and created a barrier for the team as well as the civilians that will be caught in the crossfire.

"Zack! On me! We need to take care of those in the backline." Tifa glared at the rearguard of the enemies. They were using staves to fire a barrage of magic at them. A lot also used firearms to pin them down.

"On it! Come and get it you furry bastards!" Zack charged in, wielding two swords that glowed like lightsabers. Using lightning and fire to make superheated plasma blades.

He sliced the mages who were raising barriers. The blades in his hands going through them like hot knives through butter.

Tifa raised her hand and gathered Mako at her fist. She disappeared with amazing speed and punched the ground in the middle of the backline.

The ground erupted as an explosion of Mako annihilated everything that was nearby. She then whipped out her glaive and it crackled with lightning. She threw it at the last remaining mages and they turned to ash.

Her right arm crackled with lightning and her red eyes gave an ominous glow. Checking the area out for any more hostiles.

"Tifa, are you crazy! You almost collapsed the floor!" Aerith shouted at her and chided her. Tifa breathed deeply and let go of her focus, calming down.

"Sorry about that, but an aoe attack was the best there. And you were protecting the civies." Tifa sighed, thinking she just wanted to complain.

"Aerith is right, we should've just taken it more slowly. They might be much better now, but these things are still no match for us." Cloud commented on the side and Aerith had a smug expression on her face.

"Tell that to Alex-nee, she'd slice this place in half in a heartbeat once she knows that the targets have been shielded. It's called being efficient." Tifa huffed and they started quarrelling.

"Guys, guys, calm down." Zack tried diffusing the situation. "Fool, you've doomed yourself." Cloud shook his head on the side as he has learned not to come in between two arguing girls. Not to mention, superpowered ones.

"Hmmm? Did I hear that right? You're siding with Tifa aren't you?" Aerith put words in his mouth and he panicked. Realizing the situation he put himself on.

"That's right, Zack obviously knows that we should do this much quicker. Isn't that right?" Tifa and Aerith looked at him to side with them.

"I'll just report this to HQ." Cloud made an excuse and immediately started tallying the hostages they saved. They were in stasis and in good condition, so it definitely confused him why.

"This isn't over, we'll ask Alex-nee and Ramiel-nii about this later." Tifa squinted her eyes and thought that efficiency was much better.

"It's on! If they say I'm right, I'm getting that sweet wish that you still haven't cashed on." Aerith was confident and Tifa furrowed her brows.

"If I'm right, I'll be getting your milkshakes for a week." They started quarrelling again and Zack sighed.

"There's only a few hundred people that got kidnapped here. This is bad, we know they're getting more." Cloud broke their little squabble with his comment.

"Now that I look at them, yeah. This is one of the biggest raids we've done. But a lot are still unaccounted for." Tifa did a headcount.

"Let's just call for HQ and get these people back to where they belong. The amount of kidnapped people are getting reduced due to Wutai's support. But the black market and human trafficking is still a problem." Zack sighed, they could still get people there and syndicates are like cockroaches.

Ships started appearing and the people were sent to Wutai for now, being an island that could only be entered en masse through a beach. Deepground can't reach Wutai without using massive jets and planes that will drop off troops. And they will be sitting ducks in the air if that was the case.

The gang returned to Midgar and Scarlet accepted their report, with Ramiel being busy in speeding up Cid's space program so they could get tons more resources. Robots and mechs needed to protect remote villages are not enough. And repairs from attacks and raids will require more materials that are not easy to get.

Tifa and Zack showed the most growth, with Tifa being the tallest out of all of them from her rigorous training and super strict diet that yielded her the best results. She stood as tall as Zack who was 6'2 and was wearing a black leather suit, opting out of her cowgirl getup. (pic)

Aerith wore a red leather jacket, but she still didn't quite give up the sundress. Though she's wearing a pink one most of the times. Cloud and Zack wore the SOLDIER 1st class fatigues and thought that was their favorite attire. Reminding them of where they were now, achieving a part of their dreams. (pic)

Cloud was quite unlucky though, standing at 5'7. He was the 2nd shortest one among them. Just next to Aerith who didn't had a massive growth spurt like Tifa.

They waited patiently for another mission and were quite tired from doing a lot of them for some time. "Good work you four, you saved quite a lot this time." Ramiel appeared and congratulated them for a successful mission.

"Umu, did you read our report though? They're having a more structured army. They could use magic and guns that normal humans can't due to their physiques." Tifa mused and Ramiel nodded. "Yeah, I did. That's quite concerning yes. But their operations have dialed down a lot."

"But there are still a lot of people missing." Zack furrowed his brows and wants to save as many people as possible.

"You know we can't just roam around and hope for the best Zack, we need more information on where they are." Cloud noticed his agitation and grounded him so he won't get reckless.

"I wish we could find them though, any luck about research so we could find them quicker?" Aerith asked Ramiel as the technology and research department tried making seismic sonars that could map out possible underground bases.

"No luck there, we're able to find more people. But most of them are just abandoned in stasis." Ramiel sighed and was confused on what they were really after.

"They're not experimenting on the people they kidnap. Even if they do, it's just a small portion of them. I think they have another purpose for them." Scarlet chimed in and was suspicious of their motives.

"What though? That's the most logical choice, but it isn't right. What the hell are they kidnapping people for?" Ramiel wracked his brains and Scarlet showed him something.

"A message from the Ancients?" Ramiel looked at her and was confused, he then read the thing and it was their message that all people come back to the lifestream. "An energy source? Are they trying to use them to power up something later?"

Scarlet shrugged. "I don't know, but you're part Cetra right? Then you'd know if souls or whatever could be used for those kinds of purposes.

Ramiel thought that was plausible, but if there's something that needed that much power. Then they should've noticed it by now.

"Hah, let's just continue protecting the masses. Rescue everyone that we can as well. We're grasping at straws here, I'll just invest my energy in collecting resources with Cid's space program." Ramiel stood up and went to the research department.

"I think that things are taking a toll on him." Scarlet frowned and looked at his back, thinking of all the responsibility he was carrying. Tifa perked up a bit at her words and looked at Ramiel as well. Cooking up an idea in her head.

"Thanks kiddos, you're a huge help to his workload you know." Scarlet thanked them and went back to work as well. "We're doing everything we can, I think we should rest for now." Aerith suggested and they all nodded.

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After trying to make some rockets, Ramiel and Cid finally created one that would be able to travel for a round trip in just an hour to the Kuiper belt. "We can venture into space now Cid." Ramiel high fived with the man and they were cheering, hugging each other.

"Yes! All my dreams will come true! I couldn't have done it without you!" Cid laughed and was overjoyed. They after all used tons of materials for the rocket. Using the tech and engineering of Bismarck so the rocket can use Mako and huge Materias for propulsion.

Though Ramiel would be the only driver that can use it for now if they want to go fast. Because even though space is massive and consists mostly of nothing. When the craft enters the Kuiper belt, crashing through things at relativistic speeds will not be pretty.

"Want to come with me so we could gather some asteroids?" Ramiel invited Cid and he was visibly excited to go to space. "I was born ready! You don't even need to ask." Ramiel patted him on the back and they informed the base that they will be going for a quick run for supplies.

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Meanwhile, at Wutai. Yuffie was currently travelling on a VTOL that she stole and was intent on helping the twins with something. After researching about the Wutai war and the Leviathan attack. Her views on Midgar and Neo-Shinra changed.

She had a plan and it was quite fitting for a kid who is reckless as hell. Do a sting and infiltration mission. Yuffie would disguise herself as a normal villager, she stole the information about the villages that their soldiers were designated and found the least protected one.

"Wait patiently, Ramiel, Alexandra. I'll expose Deepground's location." Yuffie did a guts pose and was committed to helping then find the enemy. After a few hours of travelling, she arrived at a backwater village that didn't have much guards. Due to the low population of the area like Nibelheim.

"Okay, I need to avoid the guards of Wutai and the bots. They might expose my cover." She observed the village and waited patiently. She checked their clothes and started changing to match their outfits.

She lived quite far away for a few weeks, already getting bored. Thinking that Deepground must have quit in attacking already. "Man, they might have did such a good job in tracking the hostages that they stopped their kidnappings." Yuffie thought that all her efforts were in vain.

But she suddenly heard the sound of gunfire. Smoke started appearing in the village immediately and that was her cue to come in. "Okay Yuffie Kisaragi... Calm down, it's finally happening." She did breathing exercises and took her tools.

She looked at the shurikens that Ramiel gave her and hid it on herself. And she also took a pager that will send Midgar a signal for an SOS. Preparing Materia that could cleanse and heal, she ran to the village. Knowing that the victims were put in a chemically induced comatose to store them for unknown reasons from the reports she read.

She arrived at the village and saw that everyone was running away from werewolves and monsters. Yuffie gulped and saw the burning village, she stood there for a second and resolved herself. The robots and guards were quickly defeated, but she was spared from seeing their deaths.

Deepground counted every single person and took them. Every life that they could sacrifice to summon Omega later was important. She stood in front of a werewolf that noticed her and she threw her shurikens at it.

Testing her skills on the enemy so if she needed to try and escape, she would know something about them at least. The werewolf growled and just let the metal bounce on its fur. It lunged at her and was about to capture her, but Yuffie dodged with a somersault.

"They aren't so smart after al-" She looked at the one in front of her, but another one caught her from behind while she was distracted. 'Dirty cheaters, tch. I could've gotten more information about their abilities.'

Yuffie cursed inside her mind and acted, trying to struggle from the enemy's grasp. But she was sprayed a substance in front of her face and she started to lose consciousness. So she started using the cleanse Materia that was inside the chest area of her clothes and unceremoniously faked losing consciousness.

"This one, special. Able to dodge attack." The captor talked with an inhuman voice that sounded like a growl. No more words were said, but Yuffie knew that she was going to be sent somewhere else.

They were loaded up in vehicles and the villagers were quickly transported to the respective holding bases that they were going to be in stasis for.

After a few hours, They were loaded up in stretchers and she checked the place. It was a place that had glacial areas. Thinking they were up north, she quickly monitored the ones who were transporting them and saw that no one was looking at them.

She fiddled with her clothes and saw that her hidden pager was still fine and dandy. Relieved, Yuffie began sending a message, noting every part of the area and landmarks. 'I sure hope this works.' She closed her eyes and continued messaging multiple times for insurance. She then disposed of it while they were still outside the facility to not garner any suspicion.

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Ramiel and Cid travelled to space and due to Ramiel being there, he was able to get tons of asteroids that were in the Kuiper belt. Securing tons of magical metals as well as normal ones that would guarantee their metal and mineral reserves for centuries.

They returned unceremoniously to the surface and Scarlet was already there with Alexandra, raising a brow at his sudden departure.

"Please do explain why you were out there for a couple of days?" The two interrogated him and he shrugged. "We needed to check the most high value ones, we can't just take everything and break them down for low profit." Cid explained and Ramiel nodded.

"What? I even announced that we were going to space." Ramiel squinted his eyes and they let it go. "But you used up the time while I am in my off." Alexandra sulked and he sighed. "Sorry, we were running out on metals from creating tons of robots and meowfficers. Don't worry, I'll make it up to you girls. You'll like how I apologize." He smiled and they were happy with that.

"We better, you can't just ditch us here and go play hooky with Cid." Scarlet huffed and Ramiel rolled his eyes. "I was getting trillions upon trillions of gil's worth of metals. Not even including the magic ones."

"That may be, but we don't spend much time together." Alexandra looked at Scarlet and gave her a look. Proposing a peace treaty for now with their women's intuition.

"Yes~ I will be giving you guys some love, come here." Ramiel hugged them and gave them a quick kiss. "I'll be compiling the data that we got!" Cid immediately escaped the place that was having a pink aura and would like to research more.

While they were flirting, Lazard was asking for a conference call as their phone rang. "Ugh, this old man. Having such perfect timing." Alexandra groaned and Scarlet frowned at Lazard's call.

"Ladies, this must be important. He's calling me as well." They answered the phone and Lazard had a serious expression on his face. "We've got an anonymous message. And it's a huge lead." He went to the point immediately.

The trio listened and Lazard continued. "We might have found Deepground's main base." Lazard informed them and they were surprised. "Call everyone, we're going to have a meeting." Ramiel squinted his eyes and ended the call.

Alexandra and Scarlet nodded and they quickly ran off to gather everyone. "Hojo, it seems we've found your little hiding place, rat." Ramiel smirked and he went to the conference room with a wide smile.

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Thank you for reading everyone, ciao.