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“This is Channel Six news, and we’re about to go live to the upper city, where President Shinra will be making a rare public appearance. Our reporter is on the scene; what’s happening up there, Joe?”

A street on the plate. Hundreds of metres wide, buildings towering towards infinity on either side. SOLDIERs line the edges of the street, but the middle is thronged with people, most of them reporters; some talk to each other, but most are staring expectantly at the stage and podium set up at the streets end. From up here they look like ants.

“Thanks, Mike. Well, here I am in the middle of the huge crowd awaiting the arrival of the President. I just can’t wait to hear what this inspirational man is going to reveal to us, and judging by the atmosphere here in the crowd, I’m not the only one!”

Gotta keep low up here, can’t let the SOLDIER see me. Gotta stay calm, gotta stay calm. Check weapon; loaded, bullets in chamber, sight adjusted, infrared setting, scan materia attached to increase accuracy, saf- SHIT, still got the safety on!!!

“Well Mike, as usual there’s been nothing official, but fairly solid rumour is saying that the President is going to reveal details of a new city, a “Neo-Midgar” if you will, to be built in the near future. As you all no doubt already know, it was Shinra Inc. who united the eight Sectors and built the plate to create Midgar, bringing peace and security to all of us, so who knows what wonders they’ll achieve with this new-…wait a minute...yes…yes, there’s movement on the stage, it looks like the president is here!!!”

Okay. I’m ready. I’m reaHOLY SHIT IT’S HIM!…keep calm…I’ll only get one chance…wait for it… waaait for it……

Here he is, this great man, head of an organization that has brought peace to the world. He’s… yes, he’s about to speak, we now switch over to a live sound channel linked directly to the Presidents’ microphone…

BANG!!

A room, somewhere in the maze of military dormitories that take up a big chunk of the upper city. It’s currently deserted, but looks lived in. a few vidphotos are stuck to the wall over the bed, repeating the same few frames over and over. Clothes and other items are strewn over the floor, and the bed is a mess of tangled sheets. It’s obvious from the disorder of the room that the occupant doesn’t spend long enough here to justify cleaning it. Or has never heard the phrase “spring cleaning”. Or maybe both…

There is a knock at the door. It’s an impatient kind of knock, short and sharp, which suggests that if it isn’t answered soon an annoyed knock will follow. As knocks go, it’s pretty informative.

The tangled mess of sheets on the bed sits up and groans. A red-haired man extricates himself from the sheets, and slouches towards the door with a “this better be important” look on his face. He opens the door and is faced with an official looking man in a dark blue suit. His long black hair is tied back, and he looks as sharp and alert as the occupant looks hung-over and tired.

“Reno” he says, with a slight nod. “Something’s come up. Command is holding an emergency briefing. Downstairs. Three minutes. I’ll explain on the way”

“Tseng, what the hell is so important that it cuts into my leave!!? I’m not back on duty for two weeks!”

“You’ll find out soon enough” said Tseng, walking back towards the lift down. He turned “Make sure you’re combat ready and cancel any plans for the next three months. Standard mission procedure…and for Gods sake put some clothes on.”

The man splashed through the ankle deep water in the sewer tunnel, panting with fear and

exhaustion. He was dressed in dark clothing, and the swinging of the heavy rifle on his back seemed to be slowing him down. From behind came the sound of men shouting, guard dogs snarling and barking. He stopped for a moment at a junction, looking around fearfully, and quickly attached a small device to the nearest wall. It was a materia orb, surrounded by a complex construct of metal. He hit a switch, and a thin infrared beam was shot to the opposite wall. He turned and continued running.

Twenty seconds later, the closest pursuer broke the beam. The tunnel shook and the fleeing man smiled grimly at the screams as the auto-caster filled the tunnel behind him with fire.

Tseng and Reno walked down Junon Avenue, a street in one of the more select parts of the upper city. The crowds around them were mainly company executives and their families, out shopping. Fountains ran down the middle of the street, and ornamental trees in pots lined the sidewalks. Junon Avenue was part of the upper city’s commerce district; it was lined with shops, the kind of high-class establishments that’d charge you for looking in the window.

“So some nutball took a shot at the pres!” said Reno. “Why’re we being called up? Let SOLDIER deal with it. ”

Tseng sighed. “Yes, normally SOLDIER would be assigned to a case like this, but there are…complications. As you know, our SOLDIER friends are specialists in combat and riot suppression, but this case calls for a little subtlety and intelligence.”

“Y’know that’s what I like about you, Tseng. You’re always so informative.” He looked around vaguely at the crowds. “So how much does JP know about this latest incident?”

“As usual, Joe Public knows more than the bosses think” said Tseng. “As soon as the shot was fired, all media coverage was cut; it was blamed on technical difficulties. But enough footage was broadcast. Officially, the president hasn’t been shot, but by now the entire city must have heard rumours to the contrary.

“There’s the other two’ said Reno, nodding his head to indicate the two other Turks leaning against a wall.

The two leaning against the wall were dressed in the standard dark blue suit. The first was a tall, heavily built man. The sunlight reflected from his bald head and the shades he wore. His hands, clasped formally in front of him, were covered in gloves with discreet knuckledusters attached.

The second was also a man, younger and shorter than the first, with an incredibly neat suit. His long, dark hair reached to his back, and the front was combed forward in a style that was fashionable at the moment. He was holding a gun in his right hand, and twirling it in a series of intricate patterns in a bored fashion. When he saw the other two he seemed to brighten up. He holstered his gun and the two walked over to Reno and Tseng.

“Jeez, I thought you guys’d never get here!” said the dark haired man. “I’ve been hearing a lot of rumours about the president being shot! Is our mission related to that?”

“Patience is a virtue, kid” said Reno “All will be revealed at the briefing”.

“Rude” said Tseng, speaking to the bald man. “You and the trainee are combat ready?”

They walked to a lift shaft at the side of the street. Tseng stuck a card in a slot and punched a number into the keypad on the door. The doors slid open silently.

The dark haired man sighed. “I wish you guys’d tell me things sooner. I’m always the last to know everything.”

Rude smiled to himself. “You got a lot to learn about being a turk, Vince.” The doors slid shut behind them.

FILE NUMBER 0156382-03::LOADING…………

Some years after the end of the planetwide war (see also PLANETWIDE WAR, THE), Shinra Inc. started branching out into large scale architecture, and cities began to be constructed; the largest of these united eight towns to form Midgar (see also MIDGAR, CONSTRUCTION OF). However, as the city grew in size, it became clear to the president and board of directors that Shinra Inc’s. private army, SOLDIER, (see also SOLDIER), would be of limited use controlling the public. SOLDIER members were trained to use violence as the solution to any obstacle, and so could not be deployed in a densely populated urban area without risking civil unrest.

To this end the turks were founded in 15A.M (see also MIDGAR, OFFICIAL CALENDER POLICY OF). It would be their job to deal with politically sensitive situations, in areas where sending SOLDIER in could lead to anti-Shinra feeling.

Certain promising SOLDIER trainees were selected, and given training not just in battle skills, but stealth, unarmed combat, languages, and piloting vehicles, the idea being to produce an operative that was resourceful, intelligent and adaptable. [PORTION LOCKED OUT: SECURITY CLEARANCE RED III]

Turks are structured in small teams, making infiltration into hostile societies easier to achieve. They are generally in groups of three, one of whom is the group leader, although unlike SOLDIER there is no rigid rank system; a turk should consider him/herself the equal of all other turks. These groups will always work independently if possible. Every few years a group will take on a fourth member, a trainee. Generally these will be SOLDIER trainees who have shown unusual intelligence levels or special skills. The trainee is given real mission experience and training in the tactics and philosophy of the group. When the team leader decides that the trainee is ready, s/he is given the title of turk. The trainee then leaves to become part of a new group of three, which will eventually start producing its own trainees.

SOURCED FROM SHINRA INC. MILITARY DATABASE [20/05/55]

The lift shot upwards. The glass front let the turks look out over the plate, with its countless blocks and streets neatly arranged. As the people in Junon Avenue shrank to so many randomly moving dots, the outer areas of the slums came into view. Unlike the plate city, the slums looked totally disorganized; from this height no streets or people could be seen. It looked like a giant rubbish heap. Beyond the slums and the huge city walls lay an endless panorama of brown, lifeless earth. Some green could be made out on the horizon.

“I just can’t believe it” said Vincent, as the lift continued its ascent “Who’d want to assassinate the president?”

“But why? Shinra Inc. created Midgar, and united the world under one rule. Surely no-one would want to destroy them?”

Reno sighed. “Yeah, but you can’t make an omellete without breakin’ a few eggs. How do you think we got world peace? By slaughtering every other army on the planet; most of the civilians too.”

“But surely people would understand that what they did was for the good of everyone.”

“Yeah, right it was. Look, kid, the only reasons Shinra went down the world domination route was money and power for the executives.”

Rude cut in. “He’s right, Vincent. We have done some pretty despicable things in the past, but we also do a lot of good. We’ve set up a safe, planetwide power system, and made major advances in medicine. You have to remember to look at things as they really are: Shinra Inc. isn’t perfect, but it’s better than any of the alternatives. ”

Tseng had been standing silently at the front. He turned his head towards them as the lift slowed.

The doors opened, and they walked out into a large room. One wall was a giant window, which offered a stunning view of the city and the plains beyond. Next to a door in another wall hung a large Shinra flag. Most of the room was filled by a large circular table, surrounded by five chairs spaced at equal intervals. A holoplate was built into the center of the table surface. A thin, middle-aged man was seated in the chair nearest the window. His hair was graying, and he wore a dark blue suit.

“No doubt you’ve already heard the rumours, but here’s the background anyway” he said. “The president was due to give his speech on Shinra Inc.’s “neo-midgar” plan yesterday at approximately 1800 hours. As he started his speech, a shot was fired in what was clearly an attempt at assassination. Despite large amounts of SOLDIER being present at the time, the assailant was able to escape. Now no doubt you’re wondering why you’ve been assigned this mission. I know that ordinarily SOLDIER would deal with something like this, but there are extra factors to consider.”

He hit a button on the desk, and the holoplate projected a 3 dimensional image into the air above the table.

“As the assailant attempted to escape through some sewer ducts, he used this on his pursuers. It’s what we call an auto-caster, and the method of its construction is a jealously guarded secret ”

Tseng spoke. “But auto-casters are used by the automated weapons division. If any enemy managed to capture one intact I’m sure they could reverse engineer the technology.”

“True. But the fact the enemy has auto casters isn’t the real problem. Take a look at this.”

A new image appeared. It showed a long barreled rifle, which looked unusual because it had two ammo clips fastened to it rather than the standard one.

Vincent leaned forward and examined the image. “I’ve never seen a model like this before. Why the two clips?”

“Well, its not widely known, but the president wears a permanent mako shield when in public. It’s usually enough to ensure his safety, and it would have stopped a normal bullet. But the assassin used this” He said, nodding towards the holoplate. “The two clips aren’t just for show. When the trigger is pulled, a bullet containing “debarrier” mako is fired. This is followed a thousandth of a second later by a second bullet, standard issue. The first bullet makes a small hole in the targets’ barrier. It only lasts for a fraction of a second, but that’s long enough for the second bullet to hit. Luckily the president raised his arms in greeting as the shot was fired, so it went through his shoulder rather than his head. He’s in a stable condition now.”

“It’s more than that. This thing is still in the prototype stage. Officially it’s not even finished yet. So we want you to find out who did this, why they did it, and most importantly how they got hold of this kind of technology. Any questions?”

Five minutes later they stepped out into the sunshine of Junon Avenue again.

“Yeah.” Said Tseng. “We’ll start with Main Street. The attack happened there; it should still be sealed off. ”

FILE NUMBER 0156382-08::LOADING…………

Although the turks have no rigid rank system (see also TURKS, THE: PURPOSE; STRUCTURE; HISTORY;), there are some unofficial exceptions. It is usual for older turks to retire from active service and take jobs in administration and mission planning. These agents will usually be the ones to give mission objectives to active teams, and out of respect for their years of service active agents generally treat them as superiors. This is the closest the turks get to having a command hierarchy.

SOURCED FROM SHINRA INC. MILITARY DATABASE [20/05/55]

A black-clothed man with a rifle on his back walked through the Sector two slums. He passed a few people, but they paid him no notice. You didn’t notice people with weaponry in the slums, in case they noticed you back. He ducked into a small alley and rapped on the door at the end. It opened and he walked in.

Beyond the door there was a small square room. A man with an automatic rifle stood in each corner. One of them spoke as the black-clothed man walked in.

In one movement all four men in the room had their weapons aimed at the black-clothed mans’ head.

The black-clothed man calmly replied. “But an enemy would have panicked by now, fearing discovery”

The guard grinned and put his weapon away. ”Password confirmed. Just checking, Sabin. You can go in now.”

Sabin walked through another doorway and met another guard, who motioned him to follow. “Well, I did the best I could.” He thought. “Time to report.”

Main Street had been cordoned off, and five third class SOLDIER’s were standing to attention in front of the cordon. The turks approached the second class SOLDIER who seemed to be in charge.

“Turks” said Tseng, flashing an I.D card. “We have orders to investigate the shooting; let us through, please.”

“Sorry pal. Nobody gets in without authorization from my commander, turks or no turks”

Tseng sighed, pulled out a PHS and keyed in a number. Reno stepped forward angrily.

He stopped when one of the SOLDIER thirds stepped forward and pointed his sword at Reno’s chest.

He twisted the rod and it extended, smacking into the end of the sword. Before the SOLDIER could react, he hit a button on the side. There was a deafening bang as the electric shock blew the SOLDIER backwards through the cordon. He landed about twenty feet away.

“Yeah, but his friends don’t look too happy” said Rude, dropping into a fighting stance. The other SOLDIER thirds had all drawn their weapons and were advancing.

“HOLD IT!!!” Shouted Tseng. He tossed the PHS to the SOLDIER second. “It’s for you.”

The SOLDIER put the PHS to his ear. “Hello? Who is thi-!” he stiffened “Mr. Heidegger! No sir I wasn’t…but my orders…yes sir…of course…yes sir…my apologies, sir.”

He threw the PHS back to Tseng. “Sheathe your weapons! Let them through!!”

“Thank you for your cooperation” said Tseng, walking through the gap in the cordon made by the electrocuted SOLDIER. The others followed.

“Tseng, was that Heidegger on the phone!!? How did you get a military executive to vouch for us!!?”

“Of course it wasn’t Heidegger. We’ve got people at Command who can impersonate almost anyone though.”

“Not that it’s difficult to do Heidegger” said Reno. “As long as you know how to say “Gya-ha-ha!”, you’ll be fine. ”

“We checked the whole area. Nothing unusual.” Said Rude. “But… Vince?”

“What? Oh, yeah. I took a look at the podium. There’s some traces of blood on it, and from the data I have on how the President fell, it’s pretty certain that he was shot from the top of that building.” He said pointing at a nearby skyscraper.

“Hmm…interesting” said Tseng “That building is one of our main bureaucracy offices. It’s heavily guarded and has a red1 security rating. Even we’d need authorization to get in there.”

“I think we’ve exhausted the possibilities of this site” he said. “Reports say that SOLDIER lost the suspect in some lower sewer tunnels; lets check them out.”

Sabin followed the guard down the damp, dark tunnel, reflecting on what he had just done. He hoped the shot had been fatal. It was the only fitting revenge after what the Shinra had done to him.

His father had been a general of the Mysidian army. Mysidia was a large kingdom on the Western continent, and during the planetwide war most of it had been destroyed by the Shinra. The Mysidian army was good, but it had been no match for the Shinra’s automated mako weapons. Sabin’s entire family had been killed. Only he had survived.

As a noble, he had been trained from an early age in combat skills, and had specialized in sniping. Well, now he was finally here in Midgar. Now that he had, at the very least, put the president out of action for a few weeks, the resistance should soon be ready for the main attack!

They had reached a door. The guard opened it, Sabin walked in, and it shut behind him…

“There was nothing in the previous tunnels and they all lead down to sector two. The suspect must have come this way.”

“Patience, Reno. There is a purpose to all this. If there are any rebels in this area, sooner or later we’re going to be spotted, and-.”

The turks rounded a corner, splashing through the knee deep water, and suddenly found themselves surrounded by men carrying weapons.

“Ah.” Said Tseng. “Prediction confirmed.” He looked around, using a scan materia. “20-0R-3M: 236-A10. What can we do for you gentlemen?”

Vincent recognized the code Tseng was using and readied himself. He now knew that there were 20 assailants, all with short range weapons. Three of them had materia, and were standing at 2, 3, and 6 o’clock relative to Tseng. Simultaneous action to be taken in 10 seconds.

As Tseng cast Wall over the entire party, Vincent fired to the left and right from under his jacket, taking down five. Reno’s electromag rod accounted for another three and Rude slammed his fist into the ground, knocking the rest over. There were still too many active, though.

“EVERYBODY JUMP!” shouted Reno. As the four of them jumped, he turned the electromag rod up to max and dropped it…

They landed. The bodies nearest the rod were making the water boil, but those further away had not been so badly affected. Two men were trying to get to their feet; Reno picked up the rod and aimed it. Glowing pyramids surrounded the men, and they froze.

Tseng dusted himself off. “And that, gentlemen, was the point of all this. Your timing was a little off, Vincent, but well done overall. Reno, never pull a stunt like that again.”

“Too well. The point was to take some of them alive. I’m amazed these two are still conscious.”

“Make sure the others are dead.” Said Tseng, circling the pyramids. “These two are going to help us find our trigger-happy friend….”

The room was completely dark. After the door had shut behind him, Sabin couldn’t see a thing. That was necessary of course, he thought. It was important that no field operative knew who the leaders were, in case they were captured. Secrecy was of paramount importance.

“Good.” Said the voice. Suddenly the room was filled with light. Sabin blinked as his eyes adjusted, and looked at the figure standing in front of him.

WHUMM…

Sabin’s eyes had just enough time to widen in surprise before his head fell off his body. The man behind him sheathed his sword.

The speaker nodded to the swordsman. “Kill the others. Evacuation in three minutes”

Tseng leaned against the wall in the alleyway. The others emerged from the shattered doorway. Rude spoke first.

“The whole base is deserted, but there’s a heckuva lot of corpses in there, all slum dwellers as far as I can see. Killed recently, too. There’s one on his own in a room, I think we can I.D him as the suspect. A lot of weaponry, but no sign of any of the technology he used.”

Calm down. This can still be worked into the overall plan. If we just construct a few… situations, the trail could lead to a certain individual.

Do so. I’ll contact again if there are any further developments. Only use this line in emergencies, understood?

One of Midgar’s many vehicle docks. Troop carriers, APC’s, jeeps and bikes are everywhere. A number of people are queuing to enter a personnel carrier. Tseng, Reno, and Rude are standing nearby, with Vincent facing them. Each of them shakes his hand.

“Well, this is it, Vincent” said Tseng. “You’re a full turk now. Make sure you uphold our good name and the honour of the turks ”. Behind Tseng, Reno grinned and rolled his eyes.

Vincent grinned proudly. “Thanks for everything guys. I’ll be away for a while, but when I get back I’ll be leading my own team, so if you need any help on a case, you know who to call!”

“Sure. We’ll do some reminiscing when you get back.” Said Tseng “Good luck.”

He nodded back, then turned and joined two other turks waiting for him. Together they boarded the APC.

“Nothing too dangerous.” Said Reno. “Babysitting a bunch of scientists in some one horse town out in the Nibel Mountains.”

“The shooting?” said Tseng “Think about it. The technology used, the shot was fired from a company building, the deaths…”

“Yep.” Said Tseng. So we follow standard procedure if we think there’s a traitor in the company. We don’t know how high up they could be, so this won’t be reported. As far as the company’s concerned, we never found that base and we’re still investigating. Then we start a covert search. Agreed?

They walked through the doorway leading back to the plate. From a gantry high above, somebody watched them go…

Well, whaddayathink? Mail me if you have any opinions, suggestions, etc. That was my first attempt at a serious fanfic, so go easy on it, yeah? I know there wasn’t a lot of stuff happening in this one, but the follow ups should be better. I can almost hear FF7 fans all over the world going "WHAT!? THAT'S NOT RIGHT!!!" at certain parts of this, but remember; this is a prequel. Vincent was originally a turk, and Elena didn't join the group until Cloud and co. injured Reno in the pillar battle. Makes sense now, huh?