Sector 5 Reactor

The Sector 5 Reactor is one of the eight Mako Reactors built by the Shinra Electric Power Company to power the metropolis of Midgar in Final Fantasy VII. In the original Final Fantasy VII its layout is exactly the same as the Sector 1 Reactor's.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Zack Fair and his fellow SOLDIER First Class, Sephiroth, enter the reactor in search of the rogues, Genesis Rhapsodos and Dr Hollander. They fight Sahagin-like monsters, but with a strange mutation: they have the face of their missing friend, Angeal Hewley.

Further investigation discovers both Angeal and Genesis were parts of Project G, an experiment performed by Hollander to make a modern Ancient. The experiment was a failure and Genesis had begun to slowly degrade, and could make copies of himself on humans.

Hollander and Genesis arrive, and while Sephiroth deals with his old friend, Zack chases after Hollander until they reach the bottom of the plate. When Zack has Hollander cornered, Angeal arrives and shows Zack he is a monster by sprouting a white wing, then attacks. Zack refuses to fight his old friend, but the ground beneath Zack breaks from Angeal's attack, and Zack falls into the slums below.

Final Fantasy VII
Following their successful attack on the Sector 1 Reactor, the members of the eco-terrorist organization AVALANCHE hope to repeat their victory on the No. 5 Reactor. After climbing through the city's underground subway system they break into the reactor. AVALANCHE fights its way down to the main generator and plant the explosives. On their way out, President Shinra greets the insurgents; Shinra had known of the attack beforehand, and prepared the reactor as a trap for AVALANCHE.

The robot Air Buster is sent in to defeat the terrorists, while President Shinra leaves, certain of victory. The party destroy the Air Buster and as it explodes, Cloud Strife is caught in the blast and falls into the slums below like Zack had done seven years earlier.

Although the reactor explodes, it is later seen in use powering the Sister Ray cannon, indicating Shinra repaired the damage, unlike the Sector 1 Reactor, which was utterly destroyed and never repaired. This is odd, given that Jessie said she would make her next bomb even more powerful than the one that destroyed the Sector 1 Reactor, but is supported by the visibly smaller explosion that results. Given that Shinra had enough foreknowledge to set an ambush, it's possible the explosion was mitigated by them in some way.

Main Staircase
The Main Staircase is accessed from Sector 4 - Exit. Here, the party can descend down the flights of stairs to access the upper piping. As the Sector 5 Reactor was not entered through the entrance like the Sector 1 Reactor was, this is the first area the party visits.

Upper Piping
The Upper Piping is a small room in which the party can move across the top, before hopping onto the pipe and climbing down to descend into the lower piping. It contains ladders and what appear to be large steam pipes.

Lower Piping
Accessed from Upper Ping, the Lower Piping similarly contains ladders and steam pipes. The party must traverse down in order to reach the core.

Core
The core contains a large, piped, electrical machine with a valve at the bottom, and consists only of a small walkway towards it. Once the party accesses the valve, a cutscene initiates, and a bomb is planted to be detonated remotely, and there is no timer similar to the Sector 1 Reactor.

Elevator
When accessed, the elevator only contains a small space, with a button to press for it to ascend up to the entrance.

Entrance
The Entrance leads to Sector 5 - Outside Reactor, and has a much more light-brownish, metallic look. This area is accessed last, after the party retraces their steps through the reactor to exit. The door unlock minigame is required to leave.

Destroying the reactor
The Sector 5 Reactor is entered through the underground subways, and the party arrives in the room with the main staircase. From here, the player must descend down to the Core, fighting random encounters along the way, where a cutscene will initiate and AVALANCHE plants the bomb. After this, the player must then ascend back up to the main staircase by retracing their steps and entering through the door at the very top of the room to the elevator, which will take them up to the entrance of the Reactor where they will leave. A minigame is required to unlock the door, and the party will then leave the reactor, but must fight Air Buster on the way out.

Door unlock minigame
In order to leave the Reactor, the party must leave through its entrance, which is blocked off at the end by a gate that can be opened only through a terminal in a room to the left of it. Cloud, Tifa and Barret must all press the button simultaneously in order to open it. The player controls Cloud, and must press the button (using PS button (circle) on PlayStation, [OK] on PC, PS button (x) on PlayStation 4) closely in time with the others. The other two will press the button approximately two seconds after Tifa announces it, which the player must time.

Date mechanics
The game has a hidden affection value that determines whom Cloud will go on a date with in Gold Saucer later. The value is determined by the dialogue and party member choices made prior to the date.

Cloud is barely hanging on after the explosion:
 * "(Be strong)" (+2 Barret)
 * "(I don't know if I can hold on)" (-3 Barret, +1 Tifa)

Items found

 * Ether

Reactor No. 5 - Main Staircase

 * Smogger x2
 * Smogger x2, Special Combatant
 * Smogger x2, Proto Machinegun
 * Special Combatant x4

Reactor No. 5 - Upper Piping

 * Smogger x2
 * Smogger x2, Special Combatant
 * Smogger x2, Proto Machinegun
 * Special Combatant x4

Reactor No.5 - Lower Piping

 * Blood Taste x2, Smogger
 * Smogger x2, Blood Taste
 * Proto Machinegun x5
 * Blood Taste x3 (Back attack)

Reactor No.5 - Core

 * Blood Taste x2, Smogger
 * Smogger x2, Blood Taste
 * Proto Machinegun x5
 * Blood Taste x3 (Back attack)

Reactor No.5 - Entrance

 * Special Combatant x3
 * Proto Machinegun x3
 * Proto Machinegun x2, Special Combatant x2
 * Blood Taste x2, Special Combatant x2
 * Blood Taste x4
 * Special Combatant x2, Proto Machinegun (Back attack)
 * Blood Taste x3 (Back attack)
 * Blood Taste x3 (Ambush)



Reactor No.5 - Connecting Walkway

 * Air Buster (Boss)

Musical themes
Throughout the reactor, the background music is "Mako Reactor". In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- "The Skyscraper of Iron and Steel" plays, and later "Combat" when chasing Hollander.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper


Mako Reactor No. 5 is unlocked by completing Mako Reactor No. 1 in the Final Fantasy VII realm. Completion of this dungeon unlocks Mist Cave in the Final Fantasy IV realm and Zanarkand in the Final Fantasy X realm.


 * Classic Rewards


 * Elite Rewards

Trivia

 * At the core of the reactor where the bomb is planted, the structure reads "1997", the release date of Final Fantasy VII, and the Greek, "σμκινσ", which roughly translates to "smkin", the name given to the rooms of the Sector 5 Reactor in the data. Interestingly, the Sector 1 Reactor reads "1998", and while there is text next to it it is indecipherable.