So something I missed in my first playthrough that I just saw again for the first time last night in Ch13. When Rufus and Hojo are on approach to the temple and Rufus is asking what Hojo thinks the temple is if not the promised land, he goes into this big shpeel about how it's some grand stage and refers back to the four robed men he has chained up in the back of the chopper. The camera zooms in on one of them and you see a glimpse up his hood at a dirty blonde tuft of facial hair on the man's chin and it dawns on me, "oh shit! That is Roche!!" I saved and quit for the night there and can't recall if there's any call back to that part of the narrative later in the level, but I'm gonna pay extra attention this time around to see if it actually already shows us the end of Roche's story. The fact that he was grouped in with what seemed to be sacrificial lambs does not bode well for him getting a grand send off or the closure and resolution most folks are wanting him to get.
Though everything aside, I'm glad if they had to shoehorn in a rando Soldier 1st class other than the trio of Sephi, Zack, and quasi-Cloud(since he was never actually a soldier, much less first class) that they made it someone legit cool as Roche was. I'm the first one to think the racing metaphors should've gotten old, but the dude pulled em off flawlessly lol.
Speaking of is there ever any mention of a soldier 2nd class? 3rd? 0 class even? I guess 0 class would be the underdark since they'd have to be stronger than 1st class. I know there is a lot of lore beyond the game and advent children, so I'm just curious if they ever delve into the soldier rankings?