Before Crisis Chapter Summaries – Chapters 6, 7 & 8

Part 3 of the Before Crisis chapter summaries.

Following the initial attempts of the anti-Shinra militant group, AVALANCHE, to destroy part of Midgar and assassinate him, President Shinra orders a strengthening of forces to fend off any resistance or acts of terrorism against the Company.  The Turks, having already prevented AVALANCHE’s first wave of attacks at Midgar and Junon, are charged with stopping the terrorist group.  AVALANCHE operatives, however, are able to steal a data disc from one of Shinra’s scientists, allowing the group’s intelligence analyst, Fuhito, to learn the secrets behind the Shinra Company’s most powerful asset: SOLDIER.

Read on to find summaries for Episodes 6, 7 and 8…

6.  Tonight In Our Unspoilt World

Midgar  [ν]-εγλ 0001/12/22-24

Having completed work on an investigation at the Sector8 Mako Reactor, the player Turk, Reno, and Rude decide to finish their shift for the night.  When Reno asks if they want to do something, Rude shyly excuses himself by saying he has something to take care of.  As Rude leaves, Reno comments on how odd his partner has been behaving recently, and orders the player to follow Rude to see what he is up to.

Reluctantly, the player tracks Rude through Sector8 until they find him at a Goblins Bar with a beautiful woman named Chelsea.  The two speak of their feelings for one another and after a few hours, Chelsea says she has to leave, but insists that Rude cannot walk her home.

The following evening when the Turks again finish work, Rude uses the same excuse and hurries off to Sector8.  Reno asks the player what they found out, and the player explains.  Reno is surprised that his friend had not told him about this and decides to trail him.  Reno finds Rude and Chelsea at the same bar as the previous night, and listens to their conversation. After a while, Rude gets up to use the bathroom and while he is away, Reno sees Chelsea sneakily pick up Rude’s cell phone, but hesitantly place it back down.  When Rude returns, Chelsea explains that she has to leave and quickly departs, but tells him that she will meet him under the large tree the next night.

Suspicious, Reno follows Chelsea through the streets, growing more cautious when she climbs down into the sewers.  Trailing her, he discovers that she is meeting with AVALANCHE operatives.  When a man asks her if she was able to place the bug on Rude’s phone, she tells him that she didn’t have the chance.  Reno is confused by this, having witnessed her pick up the phone, but allows her to leave.

The next evening when Rude excuses himself, Reno reveals to the player what he had seen.  While the two go to follow Rude, they receive a phone call from Verdot to say that monsters have started appearing in Sector8 and that the nest is somewhere in the sewers, and must be destroyed.  Reno and the player make their way through the sewers and destroy the nest.  On their return, they find Chelsea pleading with some AVALANCHE operatives that she no longer wants to be part of the plot.  As the men attack her, Reno and the player step in and kill them.

Chelsea explains that as an AVALANCHE member, she was given the task of infiltrating the Turks via Rude’s phone, but as she got to know him, she began to fall in love with him.  She asks the Turks to tell Rude that she is sorry for what she has done, and that she cannot see him again.  Reno and the player find Rude waiting by the large tree and explain what has happened. Saddened by the situation, he reveals that he had his suspicions all along and was trying to deal with the matter alone, but begins to feel better when he is supported by his colleagues.

Read full script here, or watch video part 1 here and part 2 here.

7.  The Darkness That Obscures the Light

Icicle Inn  [ν]-εγλ 0002/01/14

Two Second Class SOLDIERs, Essai and Sebastian, arrive back at their base settlement at Icicle Inn after a long day of hunting monsters in the snow fields.  As they prepare to enter the lodge, the black AVALANCHE operatives Kyneugh and Kanos appear.  
The SOLDIERs are amused by the supposed threat but are stunned at the strength of the two black warriors.  Essai and Sebastian are knocked unconscious and taken to AVALANCHE’s lair.

Tseng raises the alarm at Shinra Headquarters that the SOLDIERs have gone missing and orders the player and another Turk to the site.  Arriving at the snow fields beyond Icicle Inn, the player discovers many of the soldiers to be missing.  Tseng calls and tells them that their partner has gone in search of an AVALANCHE facility, and that they to head north to help with the search.

The player does as requested and starts out across the snow fields.  After a short time they come to a series of ice-covered paths.  Negotiating the treacherous paths, the player arrives at the roof of a compound hidden in the snow.  Tseng orders that they stealthily search the building’s interior and make note on anything special that will aid in an assault.

Inside, Tierce appears to Fuhito who is standing in a room with strange capsules.  Fuhito explains that Shinra are destroying the Planet with their Reactors and that Tierce was created as a Raven to help put an end to it all.  He says that lives must be sacrificed in order to keep the life of the Planet going, and that those of the Shinra will be taken first.

Meanwhile, as the player Turk enters through the ceiling, an intruder alarm goes of in another part of the facility.  The player makes their way through the various areas, taking care not to be seen as they map out the building.  They come to a room with large capsules, inside of which are Essai and Sebastian.  The player rescues the SOLDIERs and learns that the capsules are those used to help regenerate the black AVALANCHE operatives.  As the SOLDIERs escape the compound, Tierce enters the room and does battle with the player.  Narrowly defeating him, the player is ordered to return to base.

As the player makes their way towards the entrance, they run into their Turk comrade.  Moving along the corridors, the alarm goes off again, and AVALANCHE soldiers begin to give chase.  Finally breaking out of the compound with many AVALANCHE on their heels, the two Turks run across the snow fields but are ambushed by Tierce.  The player fights Tierce again while the other takes care of the regular AVALANCHE combatants.  Both are successful, but as they regroup, Fuhito appears with another two Ravens, Kanos and Kyneugh.

Fuhito explains that the Ravens have the ability to regenerate and are unable to be killed like a normal man, given their powers by the scientist’s invention inside the capsules.  He scoffs that he has been able to use the secrets of SOLDIER but that not all are perfect and that defective ones should be returned to the Planet.  He shoots the grounded Tierce with a powerful Mako gun, causing him to disintegrate.  Fuhito fights the Turks, but as the battle rages on, a truck appears from over a ridge and skids to a halt between them.  A woman in a Turk’s uniform shouts for them to get on and they escape back towards the base.  She introduces herself as the newest recruit to the Turks, hired for her skills as an accomplished mercenary.

Verdot reports to President Shinra that the facility is indeed the AVALANCHE base they’ve been looking for.  President Shinra orders that Sephiroth lead the assault mission, but when Verdot reveals that Sephiroth is on another operation, he requests Zack be sent.  Receiving the mission details, Zack later stands before a number of new SOLDIER recruits and Shinra soldiers and briefs them with the Company’s assignment to destroy the AVALANCHE facility, telling them never to let go of their dreams and always protect their honour.

Read full script here, or watch video here.

8.  A Light Even Darkness Can’t Penetrate

Icicle Inn  [ν]-εγλ 0002/01/16

Squads of Shinra soldiers gather at the Shinra base at Icicle Inn, awaiting their orders from the Turks and SOLDIER.  The player Turk is confused that the assigned First Class SOLDIER has not arrived, but Essai and Sebastian laugh that he is probably just relaxing somewhere.  They find him asleep in one of the army vehicles, and he wakes to introduce himself as Zack. The player learns that Zack is good friends with Essai and Sebastian from a mission they once participated in together.

The squads begin north in the trucks.  They arrive at an old wooden bridge and try to cross, but are attacked by guard hounds.  As the vehicles make it across, the bridge collapses, sending the player Turk and Zack into the snowy valley below.  They begin to make their way through the sprawling icy caves in order to meet the squads again, defending themselves against more guard hounds.

Meanwhile, the trucks come to a place in the road where a tree has been knocked over the path.  Getting out, Essai and Sebastian and the soldiers are ambushed by AVALANCHE operatives.  In a quick battle, all of the soldiers are knocked out, leaving only the two SOLDIERs and Kyneugh.  Kyneugh defeats them and takes them to back to the AVALANCHE base.

Zack and the player Turk arrive at the scene of the ambush only to find a mass of bodies and Essai and Sebastian missing.  Learning from one of the soldiers what happened, Zack swears he will get his friends back.  The player calls Tseng to explain the situation, and his response is grim, saying that the information shouldn’t have been leaked as only the Executive knew about the mission.  Verdot tells them that the abducted SOLDIERs will most probably have been taken to the capsule room, and they should begin their rescue mission there.

Arriving at the AVALANCHE base, Zack and the player make their way to the capsule room.  They find the SOLDIERs inside the pods and the player lets them out, noticing that their uniforms have become more black than before.  Suddenly, the two attack the player, forcing them to do battle.  Zack intervenes, but is restrained by the two.  They seem oblivious to who their friend is, attempting to kill him, but Zack manages to return their memories to them before they collapse to the floor and die, happy in the knowledge that they were rescued from a worse fate.

The self-destruct sequence is activated in the facility.  Zack orders the player to leave, and when they do, he fights Kyneugh who has been hiding in the room all along.  Defeating the Raven, he runs out and meets the player in the corridor.  Together, they manage to get to the exit of the abandoned compound and escape into the snow moments before it explodes.  Zack tells the player that he wishes to stay a bit longer and, as the Turk returns to the Shinra base camp, Zack erects Essai and Sebastian’s swords in the snow to mark their grave.

Later, during an Executive meeting, Vice President Rufus demands to know what actions the President will take in regard to the supposed information leak.  The President states that is Verdot’s responsibility not to let that happen, and as punishment, he is being relegated to another department.  Gathering the Turks, Verdot explains to them that he is being held accountable for the information leak and that he has been given a role in the Surveillance Department.   Verdot informs Tseng that he is the new leader of the Turks, and leaves them all to ponder their futures.

Read full script here, or watch video here.

Intro and Episodes 1-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-17, 18-20, 21-22, 23-Epilogue, Rescue and WEAPON, Special Episodes