Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 95: Wutai Surrenders

Reno stepped off the elevator Thursday morning and directly into a frenzy. First, he was nearly trampled by Shay, who was cradling several large rolled up plans in his arms as he dashed towards one of the larger meeting rooms. Then, as he was acknowledging the senior Turk’s hurried apology, the redhead suddenly found himself sprawled on the floor in the middle of the hallway as something large and heavy bowled him over.

“Sorry ’bout that,” Sato said, reaching for his arm and pulling the other Turk to his feet. “She got away from me fer a second there…”

“The fuck’s goin’ on?” Reno asked, eyeing the cart Sato had been pushing. It was about half filled with boxes of ammunition, and a few weapons.

“Are yah daft? Do yeh not listen ta the mornin’ news?” he asked in a disbelieving tone. “Fer Titan’s sake… Wutai’s surrendered! The war’s over… ‘n we’ve got us a shite-load o’ things ta do on account! Too busy even fer a proper mornin’ briefing!”

Sato gave his cart a shove and started off down the hallway with a wave, vanishing around a corner at top speed. Moments later, Reno heard a loud crash, and the sound of Remy swearing, at least in part, in angry Wutaiian. Reno snickered and quickly headed off in the opposite direction.

When he reached the lounge, he found Cissnei and Rodney already there.

“So what’s this I hear about the war endin’?” the redhead inquired. Cissnei grinned and practically bounced her way over to him.

“It’s all over the news this morning!” she said excitedly. Shinra and Wutai have reached an agreement, and Wutai has officially surrendered. “Tres says the official treaty signing will be in two days. In Junon. That’s why everyone’s running around the office like lunatics right now. We’ve got to set up security for a parade and the President’s speech in less than forty-eight hours!”

Rodney snorted softly. “Odin forbid we get reasonable notice on something like this,” he muttered. “Do you have any idea how hard it’s going to be to secure all of Junon in that amount of time?”

“Tch… I see you’re in a real good mood again,” the redhead shot back, “And isn’t Junon already pretty fuckin’ secure?”

Rodney had been acting like a petulant son of a bitch all week. More so than usual, that is. Apparently even the end of the war wasn’t enough to drag him out of it. Reno mentally shrugged. Whatever was pissing off the rookie wasn’t his problem. Especially when Tseng walked into the lounge behind him seconds later, clipboard in hand and a determined expression on his face.

“Reno, there you are…” he began, looking up from a clipboard, “I take it you’ve heard?”

The Turk nodded. “Yeah… Cissnei just caught me up. War’s over and we’re pullin’ double duty in Junon for the next couple days.”

“I suspect it will be more like triple duty before long,” Tseng replied with a faint smile, “You’re on the helicopter today. At least for the entirety of the morning. Take Rodney with you. We have three loads of supplies… possibly more… that need to be in Junon by noon. Sato and Kai are already loading the first. As soon as they’re done, I need you in the air. Lieutenant Commander Nacelle will meet you on the tarmac. Unload it, help her secure it, and then come straight back for the next load.”

“Yes, sir.” Tseng gave him a curt nod and reversed course back into the hallway, off to, he assumed, issue a new set of orders to the next Turk on his list. Reno blinked in surprise at the rather abrupt command, but quickly brushed it aside. He was learning that, unlike the rookies, Turks tended not to get their hands held when it came to their assignments. Simply being given orders, and then being expected to complete them on his own without someone looking over his shoulder or even checking in on him was kind of a new experience… but he liked it. He glanced back at Rodney.

“You heard the man,” he said, “You ‘n me are goin’ to Junon.”

“Imagine my delight…” Rodney deadpanned.

“Oh, yeah… this is gonna be a fun trip,” Reno snorted, “I can already tell…”

---

“Ugh… I hate workin’ with Junon security,” Tres muttered as he and Rude made their way downstairs to the security division’s equipment room. He wanted additional cameras installed along the parade route, and was planning on borrowing them from building security’s hoard.

“Why?” Rude asked, genuinely surprised.

“‘Cause. That Viridia Nacelle’s a goddamn ball buster. Has ta have every little thing done her way, or fuckin’ else,” he replied, and then smirked, “Hmph… ain’t no mystery why her ‘n Tseng got a thing goin’ between ’em. Two peas in a fuckin’ pod.”

“She didn’t seem so bad when I met her…” the younger Turk said, hesitantly. Granted, he’d only really met her the one time, and it had been little more than an introduction when Tres had taken him on his first tour of the base… but she’d been friendly enough. And Reno seemed to like her. She’d even gone out of her way to help him out with materia training… before they figured out the redhead couldn’t use it.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong… she’s sweet as pie when she’s off duty. On duty, though, she turns into a hellbeast stickler for every goddamn rule ‘n regulation in existence. And Ifrit help ya if you ever manage to get on her bad side.” They reached the equipment room and Tres slid his ID card through the electronic lock on the door.

“Reno never complained when she was working with him on his materia practice,” Rude pointed out, and Tres snorted softly.

“One… that was a favor for Tseng. ‘Course she’s gonna treat him nice. Two… the way I hear it, the kid was desperate to get it right at the time. Probably woulda gone outta his way not to piss her off,” he said. “But hey, I’ve only known the woman for four years now… What do I know, right?”

Rude chuckled softly. “Point taken.”

Tres grabbed a box off one of the shelves and passed it over to Rude before tossing several additional items into a box for himself.

“I was hopin’ to get this on the first supply run… but I don’t think we’re gonna have time,” he muttered, “Still gotta tag ‘n catalog it so it doesn’t wander off after the festivities. Those Junon fuckers just love to steal my shit.”

“Technically, it’s building security’s shit,” Rude helpfully pointed out, as they hurried back to the elevator. “We’re stealing it from them first.”

“Tch… one smartass on the team’s enough, and the redhead’s already got that position covered,” Tres replied, rolling his eyes, “So shut it and get to the elevator before Security figures out we raided ’em.”

Rude simply laughed and turned to head back out the door.

---

“How are things going?” Veld asked without preamble as soon as he set foot in Tseng’s office once again. He’d just spent the past hour with Heidegger, going over the President’s demands for the parade ceremony, leaving Tseng to actually run things in his absence.

“Thus far, we’re on schedule… if you can consider ‘get this done in two days’ a schedule.” Tseng shook his head and set the clipboard on his desk. “As we didn’t have any specifics yet, I opted to dispatch basic supplies for a major security event immediately. Sato and Kai are collaborating on the packing list and preparing everything for transport. Reno and Rodney are handling said transport. Tres is raiding Security for surveillance cameras, last I checked, and he took Rude with him. Shay is pulling the building plans for Junon and working with Remy and Saya to identify necessary security checkpoints and obvious danger zones. And I’m going to recruit Cissnei momentarily to help me with communication, as keeping track of where everyone keeps disappearing to is proving to be a bit much for one person. How did it go with Heidegger?”

Veld rolled his eyes. “It’s abundantly clear that he took none of my suggestions in regards to downsizing the event to the president. In fact, we may be looking at an even larger crowd than we initially thought. Oh, yes, and President Shinra now also wishes to have Rufus in attendance.”

“Naturally…” Tseng groaned. That meant yet more dedicated security for the vice president.

“I realize that you would prefer to supervise Rufus yourself… but I’m likely going to need you to help me coordinate things on the ground.”

“Yes, sir,” the Wutaiian Turk sighed. He’d expected that, to be honest. Keeping things running on schedule for this was a massive undertaking, with more than handful of moving parts. To be honest, he was hesitant to trust it to anyone but himself or Veld… or perhaps Remy. He’d already taken the possibility of Rufus being included into consideration and come up with a plan for that eventuality. “In that case, I’d like to Reno in charge of Rufus’ security detail. He’s one of the few people besides myself Rufus trusts and will grudgingly listen to before bullets start flying rather than after.”

The Turk leader snorted a soft laugh. “Not that anyone would ever know it, they way they’re constantly bickering any time they’re in the same room. But I have to agree. Your protege has shown that he can keep him in line far better than most. I think he’s best left in Reno’s hands if you’re not personally available. Have you contacted base security yet?”

“Yes, sir. Viridia will be there to meet the helicopter and direct them to secure storage, her personnel are already doing preemptive sweeps, and I told her that she would have finalized plans for the parade route by the end of the day even if I had to draw them up myself.”

“Hmph… given Heidegger’s habit of putting everything off to the last possible minute, you may have to. If I don’t hear from him on that subject by lunchtime, lets just assume that we’ll be figuring it out for ourselves.”

“… In other words, I should just plan on doing it over my lunch break,” Tseng replied, only partially teasing. He’d been expecting that,as well. Heidegger was notoriously unreliable when it came to deadlines.

“Beginning to wish you’d put that re-evaluation off another week yet?” his mentor joked. The Wutaiian Turk only smiled.

“Please, Sir… you know perfectly well that I live for days like today.”

---

“All I’m saying is that there are people who feel that we should have simply decimated them,” Rodney snapped, folding his arms over his chest in the co-pilot’s chair and glowering out the window in the general direction of Junon. “At the very least, that we ought to execute their soldiers to prevent future uprisings.”

“Tch… and all I’m sayin’ is that that’s pretty goddamn fucked up, and so’s anyone who want’s to do it.”

“From a purely logistical standpoint it makes perfect sense,” the rookie insisted. Reno rolled his eyes.

“Bullshit. Ya know what killin’ a bunch of people who’ve already surrendered does? Pisses off everyone else. So not only does Shinra Company have a fuckin’ PR nightmare on its hands, it’s also just made itself a whole shit ton of new enemies worldwide.”

“What would you know, anyway?” Rodney scoffed. “The closest you’ve ever been to military life is running errands to Junon.”

“Don’t gotta be military to figure out that gunnin’ down people who aren’t shootin’ back is a dick move,” the redhead replied, and the rookie lapsed into silence again as they crested the mountain range and their destination came into view. He wasn’t even sure what had started the conversation. One second, he’d been making small talk in an effort to make spending the morning with an inexplicably angry rookie at least bearable. The next, the two of them were debating the pros and cons of committing mass genocide.

And he had to admit… he was a little disturbed by the whole conversation.

Oh, sure… he could follow Rodney’s logic on the subject. He just felt that it was flawed and that the rookie Turk wasn’t looking at the bigger picture. To be honest, he got the impression that even Rod didn’t fully agree with what he was saying… that he was just parroting something he’d been told by someone else. Maybe even trying to justify it by getting the redhead to agree with the idea. Though who or what had put the idea in Rod’s head, Reno didn’t have a clue. He certainly hadn’t heard anyone one else on the team making comments like that.

He made a mental note to mention it to Tseng the next time he saw him. If it was making him this uncomfortable, it was probably something the Turk lieutenant ought to know about… if only to decide for himself whether or not it was something they should be concerned about.

Soon enough, however, they were setting down in Junon, and Reno spotted Viridia heading towards them as he shut down the engines. She was flanked by several security officers lined up behind her. Once shut down was complete, the redhead unstrapped himself and hoped out of his seat, clambering into the back and hauling the doors on either side open… which, frankly took some effort. Sato and Kai had really stuffed the aircraft as full as they could get it while still leaving the flight crew access to the cockpit.

“Hey,” Reno greeted her with a wide grin. It had been awhile since he’d last seen the lieutenant commander. She smiled back briefly, but quickly switched into business mode.

“We’ve got a secure hanger set up for you Turks to uses as a base of operation,” Viridia said, gesturing towards the far end of the runway. “My men will give you a hand unloading.”

Reno nodded and slipped back inside, Rodney not far behind him. The next several minutes were a flurry of activity as the two Turks pushed and shoved their cargo out into the waiting hands of Viridia’s team. He breathed a relieved sigh as he and Rod finally slid the last container to the edge of the cargo bay and hopped down onto the helipad.

He wiped the back of his arm across his forehead, surprised that he’d worked up that much of a sweat. Summer was nearing its end, and fall weather was definitely making itself known. The last few days had been much cooler than what they’d gotten used to over the past season. Today was no different.

He shrugged, though, and joined the little parade that was now making its way towards the hanger, three fully loaded sleds in tow.

“How are things going in Midgar?” Viridia asked. “I’d imagine you’re all busy after the news this morning.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty much organized chaos back at headquarters, right now,” the redhead snickered.

“Oh! And I hear that congratulations are in order…” she added, a faint smile on her lips. “Tseng mentioned there’s been a promotion or two last I had a conversation with him that wasn’t about security measures.”

Reno grinned, snickering. “Ya know… I always figured that security measures are just what you two talk about, regardless of what’s goin’ on. Everyone’s got their fetishes, after all…” he teased.

“If you were one of my subordinates, I’d have you on latrine duty for that comment.”

His grin widened. “Good thing I’m not.”

“Hmm…” she responded, eyeing him. “At any rate… congratulations.”

“Thanks… I gotta admit, it does feel pretty good. ‘Specially with Tseng back at work again, too.”

“How’s he handling the chaos?” she asked, and though her tone was teasing, Reno could hear the sincerity behind the question. He chuckled softly.

“Ya know… I think he’s actually enjoyin’ it. Everyone else is losin’ their damn minds, but Tseng’s calm as can be…”

“Typical,” Viridia laughed. Before long, they reached the hanger, and the redhead hung back, watching as the lieutenant commander’s security personnel unloaded the cargo, stacking it neatly at one end of the large building. Reno shook his head. Even with two more trips, the weren’t going to fill a fraction of the space. But then… if it was also going to be their temporary command center, he supposed they’d eventually put it to good use.

Truth be told, he was kind of looking forward to this. This was definitely the biggest mission he’d ever been personally involved in. It was going to be a hell of a challenge, even with the whole team literally dropping everything just to focus on the events in Junon in two days’ time. There were dozens, maybe hundreds, of moving parts, and a screw up could literally mean the difference between life and death if the worse happened and shit really hit the fans. Weirdly enough… he wasn’t worried.

Or, maybe it would be more accurate to say that he wasn’t worried about being the one to fuck everything up for once. He wasn’t about to let himself get too complacent. But he felt a confidence that until recently had been largely foreign to him. And it wasn’t just because of the promotion. It was because of everything leading up to the promotion. He hadn’t just proven himself capable to Tseng and to Veld and to the rest of the team. He’d proven himself capable to himself, as well.

“Alright,” said Viridia, “I think that’ll do it.”

“Heh… great. See ya in an hour and a half with the next batch,” the redhead replied with a grin. “Come on, Rod… let’s get goin’ before Tseng starts wonderin’ where we are.”

---

By the time he and Rodney had returned from their third, and final, Junon run of the morning, Reno was getting more than a little sick of his co-pilot. Rod had been snappish and borderline belligerent the whole time… and the redhead had, sometime around their second flight back from the military base, determined that the rookie, in addition to inexplicably advocating for mass executions in Wutai, was ticked off at him specifically for some reason. He hadn’t come right out and said so, but he’d made more than a few not-so-subtle remarks that had led Reno in that general direction.

It was no secret that Rodney wasn’t exactly his biggest fan. He’d been pushing him practically since the first moment they’d met. But something had caused him to up his game… and the only significant change Reno could think of was his promotion… though he didn’t know why the rookie would be pissed about that. But if that wasn’t the reason for his attitude towards the Turk today, he didn’t have the first clue what it might be.

He knew someone who might, though. Cissnei knew the guy better than any of them. Maybe she had the inside scoop on this one.

As they landed once again on top of the Shinra Building, Reno spotted Rude and Tres there, apparently waiting for them. They headed straight over as soon as the helicopter was on its landing pad, and Tres hauled open the door, climbing inside.

“The rookie can go report for his next assignment, but don’t you get in any hurry to go anywhere, Red,” he said, as Reno turned to ask him what was up. “You got one more delivery to make.”

Reno raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “So what’s the cargo?” he asked, noting that the senior Turk was empty-handed.

“Us,” Tres replied, grabbing a bag the redhead hadn’t noticed his friend holding for his mentor and tossing it into the back. Rude pulled himself into the helicopter and Reno saw that he had one, as well. “Me ‘n Rude are goin’ on to Junon to get a head start on gettin’ the extra surveillance set up.”

Rodney released his harness and squeezed past the two men without comment, leaving them to their ride, and headed back into the building as Rude took his place in the co-pilot’s seat.

“Man… how come I get stuck haulin’ your sorry asses around?” Reno joked as he flipped the switch for the engines.

“Last promoted, first tapped for the shit jobs that are too much for the rookies to handle,” Tres replied with a smirk, “Enjoy it, Rude… you get to skip over that little right of passage, thanks to your friend here.”

“Hey Tres… Anyone even tell ya you’re an asshole?” Reno shot back, snickering. Tres grinned widely in response.

“Only everyone who’s ever met me, kid.”

---

Cissnei hurried down the hallway in search of Shay. She eventually found him pouring over a set of blueprints with Saya and Remy in one of the meeting rooms.

“We should really cover the entry elevator better,” Remy opined. “It’s a the base’s weakest point by far, and one squad just isn’t going to be enough.”

“Enough fer what?” Saya asked, “Enough ta stop the entire bloody Wutaiian army? Aye, it’s a weak point, but yeh can only cram so many people on board at one time… ‘n we’re puttin’ guards top ‘n bottom. That’ll take care ‘o things. Keep in mind… with this Titan-be-damned parade, we’re goin’ ta have ta cover half the bloody city… which isnae goin’ ta be easy with the President wantin’ the troops ta march with ‘im ‘n stand in formation durin’ the speech ‘n signin’. Security personnel’s gonna be stretched a wee bit thin as it is.”

Remy scowled but conceded the point.

“Um… excuse me?” Cissnei quietly broke in, during the lull in conversation. The three Turks glanced up from their planning. “Sorry to interrupt. Shay, Veld needs your help for a few minutes. He’s in his office.”

The senior Turk nodded. “Alright. I’ll be right there.”

Her message delivered, Cissnei withdrew from the room, and set off to fulfill her next task… Seeing to the sleeping quarters. No one was going home any time soon, and while several Turks were going to be in Junon by the end of the day, at least some of them would be spending the night at the office. As she made her way towards them, the elevator pinged, and a familiar face stepped into the hall.

“Hey, Rod,” she said with a warm smile.

“Hey.”

Cissnei rolled her eyes. “Now what?” she queried. She recognized that tone. He was annoyed at something.

“You know… it’s bad enough he gets promoted ahead of me. Now I’ve had to spend my entire morning listening to that asshole telling me I’m wrong every time I open my mouth,” he groused. “Stupid slum rat thinks he knows everything now that he’s a full Turk.”

“Oh, not this again. Will you just let it go already? Reno was always going to be promoted before either of us. He was a rookie longer.”

Rodney shook his head. “Yeah, well… that doesn’t give him the right to have a fat head about it. Someone ought to knock him down a peg or two. He’s nothing special. If I happened to randomly stumble into every damn anti-Shinra plot in existence, I’d look pretty good, too.”

“Seriously? Now you’re blaming him for having good timing?” Cissnei sighed.

“You just don’t get it, Cissy…”

“No… I do get it. You’re jealous. But you need to let it go, because honestly, your attitude is making you look bad. We’re a team, Rod. We need to be able to work together, no matter what.”

“I only have to work with him, Cissy. I don’t have to like him,” Rodney replied, sourly. With that, he strode away from her to, she assumed, get his next assignment. Cissnei sighed and shook her head.

She genuinely liked Rodney. He’d been a good friend to her while they were in the recruitment program, and she hated seeing him like this. What was more, she understood why he was the way he was sometimes. His childhood hadn’t been the greatest, after all, with his father constantly pushing him to be the best of the best, and accepting no excuses for failure. But she couldn’t help but think that he was ultimately going to end up sabotaging himself with his misplaced aggression towards Reno… and if he refused to listen to reason, there wasn’t much she could do about it.

---

“Send him in,” Rufus replied to the intercom on his desk, cursing his new secretary for at least the eleventh time that morning. He was nowhere near as competent as the old one… but he could hardly hire her back, now. The slum rat has seen to that quite effectively… and though he would have much preferred to have a decent receptionist, he’d very quickly learned that having the Turks available at any and all times was far more important… even when said Turk happened to be that particular red-haired pain in his backside.

His office door opened and he relaxed as Tseng walked in.

“Ah… I was beginning to think I’d been forgotten,” he said by way of greeting. Tseng was supposed to have been there almost half an hour ago.

“I’m sorry for the delay, sir. We’ve been quite busy with the Junon preparations.”

Rufus waved it off. “No matter. I assume you have my itinerary?”

“A revised draft, yes,” the Wutaiian Turk replied, handing him a sheet of paper. “It should be finalized by early tomorrow afternoon… so if you have any additional requests, please make them soon. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we expect that you and your father will arrive in Junon the evening before the festivities around eight o’clock. You’ll be escorted to quarters in the administration building, and the usual guards will be posted. Godo and his retinue will arrive early the following morning, shortly before the vetted members of the general public are allowed in, at which point your security will increase and your personal escort will take over. The parade will be commencing at nine a.m., followed by your father’s speech, a brief military demonstration, and the treaty signing.”

The vice president snorted derisively as he read over the schedule. “My security detail is being headed by the slum rat, I see…”

“Yes, sir,” Tseng replied, and Rufus was quite certain he detected the hint of a smirk on the man’s face.

“Hmph… wonderful,” he muttered, “Though I suppose it could be worse. I could be stuck with that Mideelian lunatic all day… Ramuh only knows what he might put me through. So. Are the rumors true? Have you really promoted that little miscreant of yours?”

“I have indeed, sir,” the Turk lieutenant chuckled, “I think he’s earned it, don’t you?”

Rufus rolled his eyes. “I will admit… he’s not as utterly hopeless as I thought he was the first time I met him.”

“Sir, the first time you met him, you attempted to drown him and ended up going for a swim yourself.”

“We do not speak of that incident…” the Shinra heir hissed through gritted teeth, feeling an uncomfortable heat rising in his cheeks as he glowered at the Turk. That… had not been one of his finer moments, admittedly. But how in Ramuh’s name was he supposed to have known that the bastard couldn’t swim? And how dare the slum rat drag him in, as well?! Still… he preferred to simply pretend it had never happened. To do otherwise would require an admission of guilt on his part, and that was certainly not going to happen.

“Of course, sir,” Tseng responded with a slight smile, and ignoring the fact that the younger man had brought it up first. “In any case, Reno will be seeing to your safety. Please remember that his job is to protect you, and he cannot do that if you refuse to listen to him. As such, I expect you to do as you’re asked.”

“Yes, yes… I know,” Rufus said dismissively. “Though I hardly think I’ll be in any significant danger in Junon of all places. Particularly given the cessation of hostilities.”

Tseng’s eyebrow rose. “Normally, I’m forced to lecture you for a good ten minutes before you agree to abide by your security detail when I’m not on it.”

“As irritating as your protege is – and he is extremely irritating – he’s also extremely capable.” Rufus glanced away for a moment. “I… despise acknowledging that I may have been in the wrong. But after the events of the past month or so, I don’t seem to have a choice. I’m not invincible. There are people out there who wish to do me harm.”

“Finally…” the Turk breathed, and Rufus looked up at him from his desk, annoyed.

“And just what is that supposed to mean?”

Tseng shook his head and chuckled. “Just that I have been trying to drill that into you for, quite literally, years now, and I am very grateful it’s finally sunk in.”

“Don’t you have planning to see to?” Rufus groaned. He had indeed been enduring the man’s constant nagging about safety measures for nearly a decade. Tseng only laughed quietly at his response.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Though I am free for lunch, if you’d care to join me. That is, if you don’t mind me bringing along the parade route map to work on while I eat.”

“I was under the impression Heidegger had been assigned that job.”

“He seems to have delegated it to the Turks, sir,” the Turk lieutenant replied. Rufus rolled his eyes.

“Typical. What my father sees in that lazy, self-absorbed moron is beyond me. Fine, then. Bring it with you if you must. Perhaps I’ll have some suggestions for you.”

Actually, he had several suggestions. To be honest, Rufus rather enjoyed parades…

~end of chapter 95~