For the second time in less than three weeks the Department of Administrative Research was thrown in disarray. It took three days to update Veld in the events that happened during what was now referred to as 'the absence', something more proper than Ruluf's proposed 'Veld's cray-cray period'.
For starters, Tseng had to put him up to speed on any updated security measures; the reasoning behind Elena, Dante and Alvis' hiring; the latest of Rufus' doings and the status of Avalanche. The reinstalled chief listened to every explanation and report carefully. He then conducted a short interview with each agent. To Dante's surprise it merely consisted on seemingly random questions about his life previous to the Turks, after joining and a quick assessment of his skills.
One week after his return, Veld gathered every agent in a meeting room adjacent to the office and announced:
"Alright people, we are going to have to do some changes here. As you are no doubt aware we have several dumpster fires in our hands. Avalanche, security, SOLDIER recruitment, competing interests, slum gangs and a cafeteria tab that has not been paid in eleven months."
"Eleven-!? Wait…! Dante! Have you not paid for all these months of coffee, yo?".
"Huh? You just told me to had it add to the tab!"
"Well yeah! And then once a month you had to fill form SCS-03 to have the tab discounted from our operative budget!" Cissnei clarified.
"This is literally the first time I've heard of that."
"Let's not point fingers here! I'm sure our partner-" Elena interrupted.
"Agh, zip it!" Freyra cut in. "You didn't tell him about the form!"
"People! Focus!" Veld said above the sidetracked conversation as Tseng had done many times before. When attention returned to the chief, he proceeded: "as I was saying. There are several problems in our hands right now. Most pressing is that my prolonged absence and borderline-miraculous return have put my abilities in question. In fact, Heidegger is already pushing to take direct control of this department and all of its operatives."
Gasps, protests and murmurs of the agents filled the room for a few seconds. Veld simply raised his hand and just as quickly, the noise faded into nothing.
"I know this sounds bad. This is why I need you all to do your jobs and cut down on any irresponsible behavior that may cross your mind." Veld directed his gaze at Elena and Reno for a split second. Dante would learn quickly that unlike Tseng, who made sure everyone understood who or what he was talking about without showing much emotion, Veld had no qualms is pointing whenever someone was not up to standard, in addition to let them know his displeasure. More amazing was that he did all that without uttering a word.
"To ensure no decision is taken lightly, I will draft a diagram that will show everyone's hierarchical position from one another. I know that so far we have solved the matter of authority on the go, but now more than ever I'll require that you all obey a clear chain of command. For this reason, a thorough assessment of every member is needed. Physical evaluations, weapon handling, hand-to-hand, investigation and research, materia use, enhanced interrogation, body disposal and all that jazz," Veld said.
"Body what-now?" Alvis asked.
"Now, Judet."
"Sir!" the woman said as she stood form her chair in attention.
"Tomorrow you will perform a thorough evaluation of your partner's physical resistance and their hand-to-hand combat abilities."
"Understood," she answered with a professionalism reserved for SOLDIER.
"Until then, I want you to start working in these," Veld then began handling several folders to pairs of agents, each with a case requiring attention.
"Um, Sir? I don't have any case," Elena said.
"No, you don't. Until further notice you are placed in office duty with what's-his-name" Veld pointed at the newest member.
"Hey! I have a name!"
"Not until I say so!" Veld answered. Alvis groaned.
Dante was paired with Reno in a simple case of suspected information leakage. They had to wiretap and track behavior of a mako reactor technician who may or may not be passing information to third parties. After reviewing the case, they opted to monitor communications for a few days to see if something came out.
The following day all of the Turks were summoned to an empty training room at an ungodly hour in the morning to perform Judet's physical evaluation. What she called 'a simple workout circuit' turned out to be a grinding hour-and-a-half long workout comprised of several running laps and bodyweight exercises. To no one's surprise, Elena was the first to drop panting on the floor, followed a few minutes later by Alvis. One by one, the Turks started to drop until only Balto, Freyra and Rude remained.
"Ok… What was… The point… Of this… Yo?" Reno said between deep gasps for air on the floor.
"Physical resistance. Now get up! Drink water and get in your protective gear! Time to evaluate combat abilities," Judet said like an army sergeant as she opened a crate filled with head guards and padded fighting gloves.
"Just… One minute!" Elena said, her air-gasping voice muffled by the floor on her face.
"Now!" Judet commanded as she put on her own fighting gloves.
"Woa woa! This face does not take punches, yo!" Reno said while pointing at his own head.
"Understood. Not in the face," Judet answered and then quickly delivered a left hook to Reno's liver.
"Umph-!"
"Any other special consideration I should have?" she asked sarcastically as Reno writhed on the floor.
Judet began pairing people for sparring matches in a seemingly random manner. She observed every punch, dodge and counter-move used while taking notes on a clipboard. Emma had a short spar with Ruluf. Freyra overpowered Reno by grabbing hold of his hair. Balto defeated Cissnei, albeit at the cost of a pair of glasses that slid from his nose and were accidentally stepped on. Judet then assigned a sparring partner for Elena:
"What!?"
"You heard me! You against Rude."
"That is ridiculous! He is at least four times mi size!"
"All right missy! Then you against myself!"
"Fine, fine!" Elena walked decidedly to the center of the mat.
"I'm starting to suspect Judet has gone mad with power," Freyra whispered to her partners as they watched their iron-fisted trainer beat Elena gracefully and without waste of time or effort.
"Nah, she has always been like that," Balto said as he took a gulp from his sports drink.
"So, are we going to have a match with everyone? 'cuz I mean… I've had my share of street brawls, but I don't think I can hold against any of you…" Alvis asked with concern just as Elena emitted a screech similar to that of an animal in a slaughterhouse. "…Except maybe her…"
"Now, the rookie and the not-so-rookie!" Judet commanded while Elena crawled out of the mat.
"We have a name, you know!" Dante answered as he put on the head guard and walked to the center.
"Not until I say so!"
A minute and a half into the sparring and Dante was yet to land a single punch or kick on Alvis: he was insanely fast and fidgety, moving around the area and dodging anything that was thrown at him. Conversely, the redhead's attacks were predictable and easily dodged but still, he retreated fast enough to keep Dante from grappling him into submission.
"Will you quit tap dancing and actually punch each other!?"
"Hell no! If he grabs me I'm screwed!"
Taking advantage of the distraction, Dante lunged forward and pinned his new partner to the ground. Judet ended the spar there as she scolded Alvis: "never lose focus on your opponent! Next!"
The matches went on for another hour. Some lasting minutes, some lasting mere seconds. The following day everyone was rounded up in the meeting room and heard Veld's new orders, based on Judet's assessments:
"Elena and the rookie, you will go through basic physical training and full combat training. Emma and Freyra, you will increase hand-to-hand training hours substantially. Dante and Cissnei: double hours. The rest are OK." Veld closed the folder with Judet's report and turned to his side: "Freyra, Tseng. You will evaluate weapon use proficiency this afternoon. I have already reserved the shooting range. Except for you," Veld clarified, pointing at Alvis. "You must go through basic training. Also, you start physical training today. Gym is on floor 64, ask for the trainer and don't be late."
That afternoon, Freyra –supervised by Tseng- evaluated everyone's weapon-handling capabilities.
Yet again, nobody was surprised to see Elena miss every shot from her handgun, leave the back wall filled with the holes of a submachine gun's entire magazine and have a shotgun jump right out of her hands as she fired. Dante was surprised to see that he had, on average, better accuracy than Cissnei, Rude or Reno, but less so than Judet or Tseng. Emma and Ruluf were on a whole level of their own, as they were able to draw smiley faces with the bullet holes on the paper targets from crazy distances."
"That leaves us with…" Freyra began as she turned to Balto. "Will you grace us with your firing skills?"
"I strongly oppose the use of firearms. My sword is my only weapon and companion is this endeavor that is..."
"Quit yapping and shoot!"
Balto sighed at the interruption, grabbed the handgun and fired, placing a bullseye shot in one of the paper targets.
"Nah, that was'a lucky shot. Again!" Ruluf said. Balto, however, had already placed the weapon on the table and backed away from it.
"How come he gets a free pass at not using a firearm!?" Elena enquired from a chair in the corner, where she had been sat to protect her and everyone around.
"He compensates with another skill. And no, crossword puzzle-solving does not count." Tseng said.
The following day Reno and Cissnei conducted a melee weapon examination:
"Freyra, for the last time: the stock of your shotgun does not count as a blunt weapon!" Cissnei said.
"You only say that because you have never seen in in action!" She followed suit by smashing her weapon against Reno's ribs.
"Ughh! Ya crazy b-!" the redhead said as he dropped to his knees.
"See?"
"Huh. You are right!"
"Hey kid! Drop that before you hurt yourself, yo!"
"I know how to use this one!" Alvis said while holding a metal rod not unlike Reno's.
"It is a state-of-the-art electromagnetic rod, not some stick you can…"
"It's a Taser too? Cool!" the weapon began crackling with electricity at the push of a button. Reno stood up, hand on his side, and half walked decisively half limped to his new partner.
"No, no, no! I have exclusive rights over that weapon, yo!"
"Banging the technician that designed it does not grant-"
"Hey, Emma….? Shhh! No need to spread salacious rumors, yo!" Reno turned around to go on discussing the newly-minted term of 'weapon exclusivity rights' with Alvis.
Finally, Veld himself tested everyone's materia proficiency. A large room in the training maze underground (now dubbed 'the crazy red coat Diva room') was filled with training dummies and targets to allow target spellcasting. The agents were ordered to perform a series of basic elemental spells. After that, Veld produced one of the summons available to the department: Shiva.
Cissnei, Elena and Dante managed to perform the summon without problem, while almost everyone else resulted in a short-lived appearance of the ice goddess, a Shiva whose power was barely enough for some hail or a combination of both. Then…
"Any minute now," Ruluf said impatiently.
"I'm on it! Don't push me!" Judet yelled. Her face was almost distorted in concentration, focusing with all her might on the bracer that contained the materia
"Are you sure you have enough mana to cast?" Elena asked.
"Wha-obviously! I only used a Level 3 Fire spell!" Her face was red now.
"Wait… Those embers and sparks were level 3 spell?" Balto asked.
"They were not just embers!" Judet countered.
"They definitely weren't."
"Thanks Rude."
"There was smoke, too," Dante said.
"Oh for the love of-Fine! You all win this time OK? I not a caster! Happy now?"
"Judet, this is not about winning or losing. It is about assessing one's own abilities," Veld said.
"No shame in'admitting one's limits! I used ta say I could go five rounds inna single night, but since I came ta terms with my limit being two-"
"…minutes…?" Freyra interrupted with a sly smile.
"Oh, sick burn, yo!" Reno exclaimed. "Quick Judet! A healing spe-Oh! Right…!"
Judet answered by punching her partner on the ribs.
"Yo, come on!"
The following day Veld gathered everyone at the meeting room and announced: "based on the results of your examinations and experience, I have drafted this diagram. I expect you to comply with it and with everyone whom I deemed has a higher rank than you."
The Turks leaned in to examine the diagram: Tseng's name was written immediately below Veld. Judet was on the third row and below her, sharing a line, Rude and Balto. Cissnei and Ruluf followed below, and under them, Freyra and Reno. Further down, Dante saw his own name sharing a line with Emma. Elena was on the second-to-last line and on the bottom, 'the redhead rookie' was scribbled in a different ink color than everyone else, no doubt, forgotten and inserted as an afterthought.
"Wait a minute-!" Reno began. "Why am I below Cissnei, yo!?"
"Never mind her! Why am I below Dante!?" Elena protested.
"As I said, several factors were taken into account: past field experiences, diversity of skills, mental age, etcetera." Veld said.
"But-!"
"No buts! Most important now is what you'll do to improve," Veld said to Elena. "You are below average on every aspect except materia usage, and if this report on the destruction of the cafeteria is correct, you are not very responsible with it either," Veld stated matter-of-factly.
"Well, what am I supposed to do until I can do field work again?"
"There is a surveillance station that requires manning."
Elena groaned in despair.
The following weeks everyone was either at remedial training, running a short mission or assisting with his partner's training. Dante was happy to not be responsible for morning coffee any more as Veld's diagram showed that, if asked, he could relegate the duty to Elena or Alvis. On the other hand, he could be summoned at any moment to assist in Elena or Alvis' training. It didn't take long to see that direction under Veld was vastly different from that of Tseng: the work-loaded, grinding days meant Dante would normally just crawl back to his apartment completely exhausted and fall asleep. Idle time had become a priced commodity in the Turk's office, just as his partners predicted would happen once Veld was back into full gear.
"You look like shit," Erick said one night over their take-out food.
"You think?"
"I guess the old chief is as scary as they said"
"Truth be told… He isn't… There's just something about him that makes you give the best you got… Or face severe consequence."
"Such as?"
Dante though about it for a minute. "No idea. You kinda just… Know… You know?"
"That is scary as hell!" Erick said. "I mean, in SOLDIER you know what the penalty is for any given transgression. But tacitly knowing there are consequences and not knowing what or why they'll be, makes it a helluva lot scarier!"
Dante's first winter at Midgar was one he would not soon forget. An elevated city made entirely out of metal provided little in the way of insulation from the cold air and, despite being an electric company, Shinra turned out to be notoriously cheap with the heating. For Dante, native to a coastal city, it was especially harsh.
Fortunately, the Turks had the option of changing to the Winter uniform, which only replaced the dress shirt and tie with a black turtleneck sweater.
"You know; you look kinda… Nice in that sweater," Erick said one particularly cold morning to Dante while having morning coffee.
"Ya think?" Dante said through chattering teeth next to John's heat-emitting coffee machines.
"Makes you wonder who has a fetish for those." John said.
"For what? Turtlenecks?"
"Scarlet. She designed the SOLDIER uniform," Erick said before sipping from his cup.
"What?" Dante asked while rubbing his hands. His PHS emitted a series of beeps that announced a new message.
"You thought the sleeveless uniforms serve some purpose? No! She wants to see the guns!"
"That… Still doesn't explain the turtlenecks." John said with a puzzled face while steaming some milk.
"… …Huh. I guess it doesn't." Erick conceded.
"Yo! Partner! Get away from the heater and come! Veld's calling," Reno said form the door.
"Yeah, I just read," Dante said after reading the message. He finished his coffee cup and stood from his chair. "See ya later," he said with a soft pat to Erick's back.
They walked in silence to the meeting room, where some of their partners were already waiting. When everyone was there, Veld began:
"We have a gang problem in the slums-"
"No way!" Ruluf said sarcastically.
"Which ones? Corneo's? The Fellowship? Marquez's men?" Freyra asked.
"The Aces? The Sun Eagles? Chimeras? Bloody Daggers? The Potion-Makers? Brentz?" Alvis asked.
"Wait, who?" Veld asked as he flipped through pages of his reports. It was unheard of that the chief Turk was unaware of something.
"The gangs in the slums! The Fellowship and Marquez's are the big ones, but there are like fifteen running about, struggling for power, selling drugs, you name it," Alvis said.
"And how do you know all of that?"
"I used to sell parts to some of them."
"Well, we have no record of any of those you mentioned. But now that you brought them up, you'll tell me all about them," Veld said as he slid his folder to Rude and instructed: "assemble a team of six, infiltrate and take out the heads."
Rude took Dante, Reno, Balto, Freyra and Emma with him. Apparently, the heads of two gangs were meeting to arrange a ceasefire, as a recent war between them had caused several casualties on both sides without giving anyone the upper hand.
"So, how do we proceed?" Freyra asked.
"Easy, they are looking for extra help. We are going to pose as hired bodyguards for the leaders and once we have them grouped we take care of them, yo," Reno said.
"And how exactly are we going to arrest all of them? We are not going to be able to waltz out of the door with-" Dante said.
"What? Who said anything about arresting? Veld told us to 'take the heads out.' That is, assassinate them" Balto clarified.
Dante emitted an uneasy sound.
"What? It's not like you've never killed anyone! Remember the janitor? Or the guy that you said died on your family's hotel?" Freyra said.
"Wait-wait! I didn't kill any of them! Just-disposed of the bodies!"
"In a rather bloody fashion, if I recall correctly," Rude said.
"That's not the point!"
"Look kid, it was a matter of time. Better sooner than later," Balto said casually.
"But-"
"No buts! You heard Veld!" Emma said.
The Turks proceeded with the meeting, planning escape routes, looking at plans of the building and reading profiles of their targets.
Dante, however, was only partially present.
It was surreal. They were planning assassinations. Actual murders of people.
Dante found himself drifting momentarily, trying to find some reasoning to allow that. It was an uphill battle.
He remembered Cissnei being relatively calm after she beheaded that janitor, and how nonchalant everyone had been about it. Truth be told, he had not seen the event take place, as the man had run in the opposite direction with Cissnei in hot pursuit. Only after he heard Cissnei curse did he know what had happened. The events that followed made him put the man's death in the back burner until it was completely forgotten. Until now.
Dante had seen the reports of some of his partner's missions and knew that some featured lethal combat. Words like 'suppression', 'elimination' and 'taken out' featured here and there, often referring to other people. Still, he had never seen them particularly shaken or acting any different than usual. Were they so used to that already?
Coming to think of it, his few solo missions had always been purposely steered away from anything that may have cause direct confrontation with another human. Hell, coming to think of it, it never really dawned on him that he had snapped the necks of those frogs with magic and subsequently reduced the rest of the population to pulp. And with an explosive, of all things!
"We'll proceed in two days. Is that clear?" Rude said.
"Understood," everyone answered.
"Hey, kid. Is that clear?" Rude repeated.
"Um. Yes, understood."
"No dilly-dallying," Rude said. It was no different than his usual speaking voice, but there was a hint of threat behind it.
Dante spent an uneasy night. He had concluded adrenaline had played a role in the numbing of his previous runs with death. Somehow, planning it with a clear head made everything seem far more unnerving. He turned to his side and saw Erick's silhouette in the dark. Had he killed someone? He was a SOLDIER after all, and Dante knew he had a run or two Avalanche. He also knew it would be very rude to ask something like that.
All those months ago, Tseng had mentioned assassinations were a part of the job, and Dante recalled the way his soon-to-be-boss put it feeling "morally aggravating".
Ultimately, he decided that he would have to deal with it when the time came. Until then, he would do as Freyra suggested and enter that place she called "the gray area of one's morality".
Dante wondered for a moment if the step was not taking him too far into it.
Sorry for the late update! I have been busy with real life!
As evidenced from this chapter's ending, the story will start taking a slight shift in tone from now on…
As usual, thank you for following and reading this story!
Comments and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
See ya later!