Tales of Midgar:
The Shinra Revolution

*DOCUMENT TO BE WRITTEN*

The Shinra Revolution succeeded on July 13-14, 1999. It was a military coup by forces loyal to Raith Cantorek, the Head of General Security, and Tyr Signus, Head of SOLDIER forces.

However, many other forces in play also contributed to the fall of the Shinra Power Electric Company. One catalyst of this call was the group named AVALANCHE. Another catalyst was from the influence of a secret organization named InSec, short for Internal Secutiries (Commision).

This document outlines the events contributing to and leading up to the Overthrowing of the Shinra government, and describes the events in the years afterward.

• The Planning of Black 36
  
• The Release of Black 36 and the Stadium Public Execution
  
• The Midgar Festival: revealing of the Security Tapes
  
• The appointment of Heideggar and Rufus' Escape
  
• The election of Midgar's Prime Minister
  
• The split of Junon from Midgar
  
• The New Age of Democracy

Subject: Wannsee (Tyr- 23)
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 00:58:44 EST
From: Tim947 5 

Time:  Day 7, early morning
Place:  Shinra HQ, Conference Room

	President Rufus Shinra presided over the meeting.  Seated on  one side of the
table was Raith Cantorek,  Tseng, and Tyr.   On the other sat Scarlet, Palmer,
and Reeve.
	"I have called you all here to announce Shinra's new policy toward AVALANCHE,"
Rufus announced.  "Part of the group is currently holed up in this building."
	"I'll flood the area with security.  None will get out alive," Cantorek said.
	"No.  I'm sure that any measure we take right now will be too little.  I don't
want to make martyrs out of them.  If we slaughter them all indiscriminately
we'll have a riot on our hands.  We need to turn the public against AVALANCHE
first," Rufus said.
	"That will be difficult.  AVALANCHE is hated above the plate, but many people
of Midgar who live below the plate in the slums see them as heros.  We'd have
apprehended AVALANCHE a lot sooner if they didn't provide refuge," Scarlet
said.
	"I still say that the best policy would be to negotiate witth AVALANCHE.  We
can save lives and I'm confident we can improve the design on the reactor to
be more environmentally sound," Reeve suggested.
	"No.  Shinra does not negotiate with terrorists.  Despite his various other
failings, Hojo has provided us with the weapon we need to destroy AVALANCHE.
Black 36?  It is an airborne chemical that dissolves human flesh.  A one cubic
foott package filled witth the gas is enough to wipe out almost 10,000
people," Rufus explained.  "The plan is simple. We simply seal the slums
airtight, pump Black 36 down there, and eliminate the entire population.
AVALANCHE's support in the slums will be gone.  The chemical does not linger
for long and will dissipate and turn into regular air after a day or two."
	Reeve stood up angrily.  "What?!?  There are over two million citizens down
there.  And that's the official number.  There's at least another two million
who don't appear on the records.  You'd kill over four million people to
eliminate a small group?" he protested.
	Ignoring Reeve, Raith Cantorek calmly asked, "We'd eliminate AVALANCHE's
support in the slums, but the people above the plate would sympathize with
them.  The whole city would rise against us."
	"Ah, but that's the beauty of this.  It seems that we have security footage of
some members of AVALANCHE entering the labs tonight.  I'll announce that
AVALANCHE, working with "inside-conspirators" has created a deadly weapon that
they plan to use if Shinra carries out Wege's execution.  Shinra will say that
it is trying to negotiate with AVALANCHE and will put off Wedge's execution
till midnight tomorrow.  The release of the chemical will coincide with the
execution.  AVALANCHE will be blamed and they'll be the most hated people on
the planet.  The dissidents below the plate will be put down as well," Rufus
said.  He turned to Reeve.  "You're the Head of Urban Development.  Think of
this as cheap urban renewal."
	"You all disgust me.  I quit," Reeve roared.
	"I'm afraid that I can't let you do that.  It's a pity you made that decision.
Tseng?" Rufus said, turning toward the leader of the Turks.
	Tseng's gun was out lightning fast.  Two shots echoed in the room as Reeve
spun around and dropped to the ground a bullet in his head and chest.  He was
obviously dead.
	"Any questions?" Rufus asked.

The meeting was recorded in Security Tapes acquired by InSec (Internal Security). When President Rufus was newly appointed, there was a critical break-in at the Shinra tower, and as a result he became fed up with the group AVALANCHE. He decided to use Hojo's new toxic weapon, the nerve gas Black 36, to elimitate the group once and for all.

That same day, Zep confronted Reno on the roof of the building, killing him. Lars, the Turk, had been seriously wounded. From the detention block in the Shinra tower, a large number of AVALANCHE members and lab testees escaped from the building and caused immense amounts of damage.

The following morning, Shinra, hoping to turn the public against the Rebels, made a fake broadcast on the media saying that AVALANCHE had made an ultamatum to Shinra Incorporated: that they would release Black 36 into the air. They also placed immense bounties on the heads of each member of AVALANCHE.

Rio, wanting to rescue Wedge, went over to Reactor 3 by himself, but he confronted the SOLDIER from his past, Tyr Signus, and was arrested. However, a few days later, Tyr himself released Rio illegally, and told him to run from the Shinra building and warn AVALANCHE about the deadly gas. The Head of SOLDIER himself was beginning to mistrust Shinra.

(For more information, read Archives 9 - 12 and keep an eye out for AVALANCHE-related posts, Tyr Signus, and Rio.)

That morning, Black 36 is transported to Reactor 5 for setup. Over the past few days, there were large fans built at the reactor in order to blow the gas over the slums. It is set to go off at noon, concurrently with the execution of the rebel, Wedge Roberts, and thus dividing AVALANCHE should they choose to go to one event or another. That same day, Tyr is found out to be a traitor for releasing Rio and telling him of Black 36.

Shortly after Rio rejoins the group after being released, AVALANCHE attempts to negotiate plans to enter the Stadium to rescue their friend. They know it's a long shot, but they refuse to simply stand by. Sector 1's Stadium Area is quickly filling up with people flocking to watch the public execution.

The AVALANCHE group Trev, Jessie, Tifa, and Seth manage to infiltrate Reactor 5. They stop the gas at the last second by reversing the fans, but not before the gas spreads around Sector 5. About three-thousand people are killed in the sector. However, Shinra, believing that Black 36 was a success, released false footage of the gas sweeping through the slums. Those living in Sector 5 notice the discrepancy and begin to find fault in Shinra.

In the meantime, the other group went off to stop Wedge from being executed. They had split up into multiple groups; Cloud and Tillomiki were among one group that was scheduled to cause a ruckuss in the stands to draw away the armed guards. Rio and Nanaki, and Lauren and Knighthawk conssited of the other groups. Jairen, Amos, and Barret were in charge of rescuing Wedge.

The method of execution was death by explosion: a bomb was strapped to Wedge's chest. However, the situation had been set up as a trap: in the press booths above the stadium, Vicks, a second-class SOLDIER, held the detonator. Before the execution, Amos noticed him and shot the detonator out of his hands before he could flip the switch. Vicks then hoisted his Thundermaker rifle and began to fire.

At this point, the crowd began to panic, but the doors, trying to seal AVALANCHE in, were locked and the police were sent through the stands searching for the group. Vicks, in the press box, managed to lure Barret by shooting five kids with his rifle, which made the man stop for just long enough for him to fire a round into him. The bullet struck Barret in the gut, but before he could fire another round, Cloud had broken into the booth and knocked Vicks over the stands to the ground below.

That afternoon, Barret Wallace died in a nurse Jenny's house. The members of AVALANCHE buried him behind the Sector 5 church, and then disbanded the group temporarily, vowing to return in two months.

Upon hearing about Barret's death, Rufus Shinra started to act in an extremely jouyous manner, handing out raises and declaring the day a national holiday. He assumed that AVALANCHE was dead and dropped all the bounties on their heads. For the next two months, his policy loosened and he became more like his father, who controlled through money, rather than fear.

One Man's Dream ends here.

(Archives 16, 17, 19 detail Black 36. Archive 20 is almost solely Stadium Attack.)