Chapter 1: Disposable Assassins
The Turks move along the dimly-lit tunnels like phantoms. Highly trained in stealth, they stride through the shadows without a sound, barely even making a ripple when they cross the puddles of unidentifiable liquid that litter the tunnels. Few of the monsters that live in the tunnels even notice them. Of the monsters that do notice them, the smart ones cower in the darkness, recognizing the Turks as superior predators. The dumb ones quickly die.
They pause at the bottom of a rusted ladder encrusted with some sort of slimy substance that's dripped from above. "Knowing my luck, that's the only way up..." complains Reno, with a trace of a sardonic smile on his face.
Elena pulls a palm-sized computer out of her jacket and quickly calls up a map. "It's the only one that'll get us there on time."
"Damn." With that said, he quickly leads the way up the ladder. At the top they look around for something to wipe the sludge off their hands with. Not seeing anything usable, Reno shrugs and wipes his hands on his pants. His companions hesitantly follow their leader's example, not wanting to stain their suits, but preferring it to having slippery hands in a battle.
The three spin around at the sound of immense footsteps and a loud clanking. Awkwardly lumbering up the street in front of them was a large humanoid robot that looked like some sleep-deprived engineer's attempt to build a cheap knock-off of the Weapons that had been terrorizing the world lately. The ridiculous looking thing lifts a hand so the palm's level with it's chest where a hatch opens, allowing two familiar figures to step out onto the palm.
"Gya-ha-ha-ha! What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question. You do know there's known terrorists in town, right? You two should head back to headquarters. Rufus would have a hard time replacing you two if you got sniped. We have the situation under control." Reno leaves the rest of his thoughts unspoken, but his teammates know what's on his mind. If they were lucky, a sniper would kill these two morons and Rufus would promote someone who was competent to replace them. It was likely that no one would ever know why Rufus and his father had put up with Heidegger and Scarlet for all those years. Tseng had always suspected blackmail, which seemed to be a likely possibility to the other Turks.
"Kya-ha-ha! Weapon killed the president, so we're in charge now!"
The Turks somehow manage to maintain straight faces after this disturbing news. "Which one of you're the new president, then?" Reno inquires calmly.
"President?" Heidegger and Scarlet both explode into laughter at this. Heidegger regains control first and replies. "There won't be a president because Shin-Ra's finished! We'll rule this world through pure military power!"
"...did you two forget about Meteor?" Rude was calm and menacing as always. "When it hits, there won't be much of a world left."
Scarlet replies in her typical insulting fashion. "Fools, that's why we're making Junon our capital! The armored shelters can withstand any blast! After the impact, we'll emerge with an army of giant robots like my Proud Clod here. The world will fall into our control in mere days! Kya-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
"Gya-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
"You think the shelters can withstand the impact, huh? Kinda like when you thought a rusted rocket full of materia would destroy Meteor?" Elena doesn't bother to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
"Stupid arrogant special-forces troops! You're all just as bad as Tseng was!" Scarlet was turning red with anger. "Always thinking you're so elite and better than the rest of us! You think you're so invaluable, but you're just a bunch of slum rats in expensive suits!"
"Gya-ha-ha-ha! He actually thought he was more valuable to us than the black materia!"
It takes all of Reno's willpower to keep his face and his voice calm and level. "What was that about Tseng?"
"After he failed us in the Temple of the Ancients and was clumsy enough to let Sephiroth impale him with the Masamune, he called us demanding that we send some troops in to pull him out. He refused to accept that he was expendable and we needed the troops to capture Avalanche and the black materia!"
"Sephiroth?" Elena is stunned. "Then that guy from Avalanche was telling the truth?"
"Turks aren't expendable." Rude seems as calm as ever, but his friends could see the subtle signs of his anger.
"Kya-ha-ha-ha! You're just disposable assassins, but my proud creation is a sure thing!"
Reno calmly looks Rude and Elena in the eyes and gives a slight nod. His companions return the nod and then, moving as one, the three pull an assortment of guns from their jackets and open fire. The sudden hail of lead catches Heidegger and Scarlet off guard. Scarlet slumps over on the palm, while Heidegger falls backwards into the cockpit. The hatch begins to slide shut. "Rude, make sure they're dead," Reno commands. Rude pulls a grenade out and hurls it into the cockpit. Reno raises an eyebrow as he catches sight of the striped band that identifies what type of grenade it is. "Now that might have been overkill. How the hell did you get your hands on one of those?"
"I didn't see, what type was it?" Elena asks.
"Well, it had red, green, silver, and white stripes."
"High explosive, mako-enhanced, fragmentation with white phosphorous?" Elena sounds surprised. At that moment, the grenade detonates. The nearly closed hatch is blown off by the massive explosion and flies across the street, where it is embedded in the side of a building. A huge cloud of green flame pours out of the cockpit, charring the front of the massive robot and setting off secondary explosions in the Proud Clod's weapons systems. "Well, at least we're sure they're dead."
Rude calmly speaks up in defense of his choice. "Hey, the only other types of grenades I'm carrying are flash-bangs and smoke."
"Rude, buddy," Reno says, "one of these days you're going to have to tell me how you got your hands on a case of experimental grenades."
"I have my ways..." Rude states with a slight smirk.
Reno stares at the burning robot. "So much for Shin-Ra. Looks like the Turks are free-lance now..."
"So we're mercenaries now?" Elena wonders.
"No, we're consultants," Reno corrects her. "None of the real high-class mercs actually call themselves mercs. There's a big difference."
"Alright," Elena agrees, "that fits our image and reputation better."
Rude nods. "Agreed. But not yet, we still have personal business to attend to..."
"Yeah," Reno says, still staring at the burning wreckage, "add Sephiroth to our hit list. We'll deal with him after taking care of Hojo. Let's go." The Turks turn and continue on their path as the remains of the Proud Clod are consumed in flames behind them.
Author's Note: Thanks for the great reviews on the prologue! Sorry this chapter took so long to write, but I've been busy lately. Term papers, car problems, finals, computer problems, a job search... The next chapter shouldn't take me nearly as long. The only problem is deciding on the best way for Hojo to die. He won't get as easy a death as Heidegger and Scarlet did...
New Note: Edited for style. The content's still the same. Thanks for the suggestion on tenses, Reno a la Turk.
Edited again because some site update deleted all the '--' lines I used to use to denote scene changes. So time to slap horizontal rulers into all my fics.