Chapter 4: Headquarters under Siege (Dirge of Cerberus)

Vincent is inside a tube of water, much like the previous scene, but in the present day. He wakes up and stares forward; Shalua is sitting at a desk in front of him.

Shalua

"Well, look who's awake."

Vincent looks around.

Shalua

"Hold on. I'll release you."

He gets released.

Vincent

"Where am I?"

Shalua

"Safe inside the WRO headquarters."

Shalua

"I carried you back here from Edge after you collapsed during your fight with Deepground."

Shalua

"It seems like the beast inside you went a little wild back there. This happen often?"

Vincent

"Went wild? Do you mean Chaos?"

Shalua

"Chaos? Your body harbors the Chaos gene?"

Shalua begins to walk around as she talks.

Shalua

"So that explains your relationship with Dr. Lucrecia Crescent."

Shalua

"Were you the product of one of her experiments?"

Vincent

"Lucrecia's experiments? [He looks down]"

Shalua

"I apologize. That wasn't what I meant."

Vincent

"Wait. Lucrecia was researching Chaos?"

Shalua

"[looks at him] Don't tell me you didn't know."

She sits down at her computer and types in a few keys. Information appears on the screen.

Shalua

"Crescent. Shinra class A scientist specializing in biotechnology."

Shalua

"In her research thesis, "The Planet's Pulse," she refers to Chaos as one of the sentient xenoforms residing among us."

Shalua

"However, the theories that she presented in her work were so abstract and complex..."

Vincent zones out as Shalua continues talking in the background. He hears Lucrecia's voice once again say "I'm so sorry.", followed by "Awaken."

Shalua

"Are you alright?"

Vincent

"Can I see that thesis?"

Shalua

"Unfortunately, no. On top of being obscure, it was never even submitted to the Shinra database. All I know is what I saw while going through the company's archives."

Reeve walks in.

Reeve

"Vincent! Have you recovered already?"

Scene change; the little girl who accompanied Azul in Kalm is typing on a computer. Azul approaches her from behind.

Azul

"What is the status of our keeper?"

Girl

"His location remains unchanged since the confrontation. We can assume this is the WRO headquarters."

Azul

"Good. Two birds with one stone."

He walks away; she stands up, turns around and picks up an orange materia sitting on a nearby table, before leaving the room.

Back to Reeve, Vincent and Shalua; apparently Vincent has recited his story to the other two.

Reeve

"So Rosso the Crimson told you that Protomateria is the "key to controlling Omega"?"

Vincent

"Yeah."

Reeve

"Any ideas?"

Shalua

"Soul wrought of terra corrupt, quelling impurity, purging the stream to beckon forth an ultimate fate. Behold mighty Chaos, Omega's squire to the lofty heavens."

Reeve

"Where did you...?"

Shalua

"A passage from Dr. Crescent's thesis. But that's all I know. Unfortunately, I only saw a fragment of the document."

Shalua

"However, Chaos... Omega... And... [she looks at Vincent] All seem to be connected to Dr. Crescent in some way. There's no other explanation."

Shalua

"I think we'll need to gather more data on her to get anywhere."

The computer screens surrounding them flash red & an alarm goes off.

Reeve

"What now?"

Outside WRO headquarters, dozens of Deepground soldiers enter the building. Azul spots a video camera; a Deepground soldier shoots it down.

Shalua

"Damn!"

She types a few keys, causing doors inside the complex to close. Vincent exits the room. Outside, we see a couple of Deepground soldiers standing around.

Azul

"Move."

They move out of the way. He approaches a steel door; on the other side are 3 WRO soldiers. He punches a big hole in it.

Azul

"Painless."

Azul

"Go."

Deepground soldiers swarm into the complex. We next seen Vincent in a hallway, on his way to confronting them.

Reeve

"Vincent! The enemy has breached the main gate! Hurry!"

Shalua looks at the video feed of the camera which was shot earlier. What's left of the video feed shows the little girl walking by. Shalua freaks out.

Shalua

"What?"

Shalua

"It couldn't be..."

Gameplay time. Vincent works his way through the floors of the WRO building, taking out various Deepground units. Eventually he reaches a WRO member who alerts him of the threat to Reeve.

WRO Member

"Mr. Valentine! A sizable enemy unit is headed straight for the command center. Please, sir, you have to help the commissioner!"

Oh no, Reeve! Vincent races to the command center, where he encounters...

Cait Sith

"Take that!"

A Deepground soldier gets thrown out. Cait Sith walks out of the room, followed by Reeve, their actions synchronized.

Reeve

"Don't worry. I'll be fine here."

Reeve

"But Vincent. The Tsviets... Azul is still on the loose. [Reeve and Cait Sith walk back into the room]"

Gameplay continues; Vincent backtracks, and notices Azul on the ground floor; he makes his way there, and then through some hallways, until he gets to a large room. As he's walking, we can see a cloaked person following him. Shalua, who's also in the room, spots the hidden being and pulls her gun.

Shalua

"Don't move."

The cloaked being... is that little girl. She uncloaks and walks up to Shalua, who's still pointing a gun at her.

Girl

"Very perceptive of you."

Shalua

"I knew it."

They look at it each other.

Shalua

"Shelke."

Shelke

"I have no acquaintances in the WRO."

Shalua

"We've both changed so much. No, you haven't changed at all. Not in ten years."

Shelke gasps.

Shalua

"Shelke. It's me. Shalua."

Shelke turns away.

Shalua

"I've been searching for you for so long."

Shelke takes out her weapon, a pair of lightsabre-ish things with a tube connecting from one part of her wrist armor to another, and points one of the sabres at Shalua.

Shelke

"Don't take another step."

Shalua

"Shelke?"

Shelke

"It doesn't matter who I am or who you are. My current mission as a Deepground soldier is all that is relevant."

Shalua

"Even though ten years have passed, you're still Shelke, my only sister!"

Shelke lowers and disables her weapon.

Shelke

"Ten years. Has it been that long?"

Shelke

"The day they came to take me away, I was told I had potential."

Shelke

"But those words were nothing but a precursor to a decade of suffering."

Shelke

"They manipulated my mind until I was a shadow of my original self."

Shelke

"The pain. The fear. For ten years I lived in a hell far deeper than any you could imagine."

Shelke

"But look at me. I should be 19 this year."

Shelke

"If I don't receive my daily dose of mako, this body wouldn't last a day."

Shelke

"However, I don't consider myself the least bit unfortunate."

Shelke

"Except that for so long I held on to a foolish thread of hope that someday, someone would come to save me."

Shalua

"[sobbing, as she falls to her knees] I'm sorry, Shelke. I'm so sorry."

Shelke

"It's time to put the past behind us. [turns on her weapon]"

Reeve

"Stop this!"

Shelke

"Reeve Tuesti."

Reeve

"So you are Shalua's younger sister."

Shelke

"Excellent. Now I can terminate both of you at once."

Reeve

"Look at her. That's the price Shalua has paid fighting Shinra for the past ten years."

Reeve

"She has given more than her arm, more than her eye. She has put her life on the line time and time again. All to find her lost sister."

Reeve

"More than half her organs have been reconstructed."

Reeve

"Not a day goes by when Shalua doesn't suffer the pain of a hundred souls."

Reeve

"But still, she..."

Shelke

"Enough. I've... I've heard enough."

She prepares her weapon; Vincent pulls out his gun.

Reeve

"Stop!"

Reeve shoots at a sprinkler on the ceiling, which sets it off. Shelke moves forward to attack Shalua; Vincent runs to her side. Shelke stops her attack just in time.

Reeve

"Vincent!"

The three of them leave the room as the sprinkler stops. Reeve reaches into his pocket.

Reeve

"Use these."

Vincent takes what was given to him and re-enters the room.

Shalua

"Shelke? Shelke!"

Reeve

"Don't worry. The bullets will only sedate her. Let Vincent handle this."

Vincent and Shelke square off. Boss fight vs. Shelke the Transparent. After the fight, she's unconscious from the sedation bullets.

Shalua

"Shelke!"

Shalua runs to her side and cradles her in her arms. Reeve and Vincent walk away.

Gameplay. Vincent backtracks, but shortly thereafter stops; he turns around, as Azul comes crashing down through the ceiling.

Azul

"We meet again."

Azul

"Answer me this. Do you know why you even exist?"

Vincent stares at him. Azul smirks.

Azul

"Just as I thought. Ignorant to your own destiny."

Azul

"Very well. I'll show you what you really are."

Vincent shoots at him, but it does nothing; a shield appears in front of Azul.

Azul

"You think that toy can penetrate my armor?"

Azul

"Enough of the games, Vincent. Give me the Protomateria."

Reeve

"Vincent! Over here!"

Vincent fires at Azul a few more times before running away.

Azul

"You can't run!"

Vincent and Reeve are running away; Azul is hot on their trail.

Reeve

"Vincent!"

Vincent looks at him and nods. They enter a large room; Vincent walks over to an extremely large gun/rocket launcher on the ground, picks it up & fires it at Azul. The explosion sends Vincent and Reeve backwards.

Vincent

"You shouldn't leave those things lying around."

Reeve laughs; Vincent looks at Azul, who's still standing, albeit shieldless, and now HE'S holding the gun/rocket launcher. He's also laughing menacingly.

Azul

"Well done. You have broken through my barrier."

Vincent

"This ends here. Leave him to me. [Reeve leaves]"

Azul

"Long has it been since I faced a worthy opponent!"

Boss fight vs. Azul the Cerulean. At the end of the fight, Vincent is standing in front of Azul, whose gun/rocket launcher is now on the ground.

Azul

"You may think this is the end, but..."

He falls down.

Vincent is walking through the WRO HQ's lobby. Reeve approaches him.

Reeve

"Where are you..."

Vincent

"Nibelheim."

Reeve

"Wait. Shinra Manor? But that is where..."

Reeve

"Understood."

Reeve

"However, be on your guard. We have reports of Deepground units deployed in that area."

Reeve

"If you wish to enter the manor in one piece, I suggest you use the sewer system extending from the old mako reactor."

Vincent

"Sewer? How appropriate is that?"

Vincent walks away.

Reeve

"Now, as for me and my feline companion..."

Reeve

"It is time we found out what Deepground is truly up to."