Crisis Core: The Female SOLDIER

30

Junon was in chaos, the city by the harbor had several areas on fire and the citizens were running around in a panic, rushing past Sera and Zack who had just arrived along with Tseng and Cissnei. Zack took a step back in shock. "This is terrible!"

They saw a group of Genesis copies coming towards them, dressed like Shinra's infantrymen except in red and black with cross marks instead, running towards them with rifle guns in their hands.

"Genesis copies here, too! They're just running wild! Let's take em out, Sera!" Sera nodded to Zack's words and they both proceeded to eliminate the group coming towards them, Zack swinging the Buster Sword around and Sera shooting them with her gun.

They were done in minutes.

"Hollander is currently in Junon," Tseng informed the two SOLDIERs as he crouched down to inspect a nearby dead copy. "His presence here and this attack can't be unrelated."

"It's not over, is it?" Zack asked, looking down.

"It never is."

"We'll begin evacuating the residents," Tseng said as he stood up once more. "Zack, Sera, you two will find Hollander and make sure he's kept safe. And don't kill him, we still need that man alive." Tseng directed the last sentence to Sera whose scowl only deepened.

"You're making us babysit Hollander? Don't you think we'd be put to better use on the battlefield?" Zack frowned. He wasn't happy about protecting that scientist any more than Sera was.

"Hollander has access to top-secret information," was Tseng's reasoning. "The President insists that his safety be priority one. After Lazard's sudden disappearance, SOLDIER's chain of command has been shaky at best."

"So the attack is meant to exploit it," Sera assumed, receiving a nod from Tseng. "That is why you two must go and protect Hollander," he told her.

"Hollander is currently being held in a detention center on the 8th level of Upper Junon," Cissnei added. "You can get there by using the emergency elevator. It's at the end of this path. We're counting on you, Zack, Sera."

"Hollander is still being interrogated. He can't fall into enemy hands now," Tseng told them.

"How do you know I won't just kill him and say a stray bullet from the enemy got Hollander?" Sera challenged. She still did not like the fact that she has to protect the cause of Angeal's death.

"It would be reported as insubordination. But so long as he's still in one piece and able to talk, we would be willing to look the other way. The company plans to dispose of him once they have what they wanted anyway," Tseng informed her and she nodded. She could deal with that.

Zack and Sera parted ways with the Turks and they made their way to the elevator, taking down the Genesis copies they came across until they entered the elevator to upper Junon. They got out once they reached the designated area only to freeze in their tracks at the sight of multitude bodies of SOLDIER 2nd and 3rd Class members scattered on the ground, a degrading Genesis copy standing over them holding a large gun.

"Genesis?!" Zack exclaimed, drawing his sword.

"No! It's a copy!" Sera unholstered her gun and started shooting at the copy, Zack rushing towards the copy as he swung his sword at him when Sera's bullets did not strike.

They took down the degrading copy just as a SOLDIER 3rd Class came out of the elevator, running towards them. "Hollander has escaped the detention center!"

"What?!" Sera exclaimed.

"They attacked the detention center?" Zack added.

The 3rd Class shook his head. "No, but security has been stretched thin after the attacks in the city, and he used the opportunity to escape."