The Secret Lives of the Turks

By: Jason Tandro

Chapter II: Rude

It was a quiet day, a nice contrast to the hellish night the Turks had been through. The underworld of Junon was a mess. Houses had been reduced to scraps of rubble and wood, structural damage on the lower half of Upper Junon was very visible and any ships that were in the port had been practically erased.

Rude had been sent to oversee the reconstruction of the lower half, a job that he felt was not well suited for a Turk. A man of action belonged as more than a sentry. But, as was the duty of a tool of Shinra, he waited obediently in the sentry tower, the one building in this hellish pit that hadn't been torn down by the lightning and water.

He sat next to two soldiers, both of whom were about as zealous of this task as Rude. One of them handed Rude a can of beer. Rude nodded and began to drink.

"So Shinra is sending in some construction team to help out, right?" The first soldier asked.

"I dunno Stan. All I know is if they would just move up to the plate there wouldn't be a problem," replied the second.

"That sounds familiar," Stan laughed. "Jim, aren't you from Midgar?"

Jim shifted in his seat. "Yeah."

Stan was star-struck. "Wow, what's it like there?"

"It's a lot better sounding if you've never been there," Rude replied, taking the words right out of Jim's mouth.

Stan returned to his sentry duty and just nodded, "Oh."

Rude stood up and grabbed another can of beer. The sentry tower wasn't exactly an easy to maneuver area. It was a small box about eight feet high and sixteen feet in length and width. Enough room to walk a few paces in any direction.

There was a control panel in front of each soldier who sat in small desk chairs. Rude's chair was a few feet behind theirs. Directly above Rude's head was a small monitor which was tuned unchangeably to Shinra's emergency broadcast and news channel.

"Hey turn that up," Rude said as something on the monitor caught his eye.

Stan turned up the monitor volume and then both soldiers moved behind Rude. The monitor was displaying a picture of a large wooden vessel, most likely an old fishing ship, stuck out beyond the buoys.

"A fishing ship that had been docked in Junon during last night's storm was carried out with the tide this morning. Shinra officials have confirmed that there are people onboard and they are currently launching a rescue operation. We'll have more on that later," the announcer droned in his usual PR tone. One of false concern, one that secretly prayed for their death so that he would have a scoop.

Rude ran out of the sentry tower and slid down the ladder. He tore off his jacket and tie and flung them over the ladder and then he ran out over the pier into the water.

The ocean was still rough and freezing. Rude saw a large rip in the buoy's line and a few yards behind it lay the rogue ship. He grabbed a large rope from the top of the pier, put it between his teeth and swam towards the ship.

He climbed onboard the fishing ship. There were four men huddled together around one woman. They were trying to build a raft out of parts of the ship, but at the site of Rude, they had abandoned their cause, convinced the their rescue had come.

"Alright, here's what we're doing. I am going to tie this to your main mast. I want you all to get across and then I'll follow behind you. Okay?" Rude instructed.

The group nodded and Rude tied to the rope to the mast. The group grabbed the rope and began to swim back. True to his word, Rude made sure that they all arrived safely on the pier before he began his return.

Back at the sentry tower, Stan and Jim were applauding.

"Nice work saving those guys man. I knew you Turks were tough, but I didn't know you guys were insane," Stan laughed.

"It's all part of the job," Rude said. He sat down in his chair and continued drinking. "It's all part of the job."

Rude drifted off under the influence of the alcohol. In his mind's eye he returned to a time long ago, almost repressed from his memory. The dark streets of Midgar. Section 4. There was a gust of wind and Rude saw a man walking up to him. Rude wasn't wearing his Turks uniform. He wasn't a Turk. He was just a confused young man, wearing a beaten looking black vest over his bare skin and a pair of black cargo pants.

"I understand you're the person to see about an execution?" the man asked him.

Rude nodded.

The man handed him a small pouch of gil. "750 now and 2250 when the job is done."

Steam blew off a nearby vent, the damp street seemed even hotter than usual. Rude nodded again. "Who is the target?"

The man handed him a picture of a young woman. "My ex-wife. I want her erased."

"Understood. I'll expect you in two days time at this spot," Rude said.

The vision faded as Rude was vaulted back into reality by Stan.

"Hey boss man, you fell asleep. Maybe you should stop drinking," Stan chuckled.

"Shift's almost over though. Might as well have let him sleep," Jim noted callously.

"What time is it?" Rude asked.

"8:03 PM. Best nap you ever got paid for eh?" Stan joked.

Rude sat up in his chair and looked out upon the town. To his surprise, much of it had already been rebuilt, with the help of Shinra's construction team. There was a knock at the sentry tower door. It was Tseng. Stan opened the door and Tseng stepped inside.

"Okay Rude, you're off for the evening. You two soldiers stick around until about 8:45 and then you can close up shop for the day," Tseng ordered.

Stan and Jim saluted and Rude walked outside with Tseng. They climbed down the ladder and walked towards the Shinra service elevator to Upper Junon.

"You know I saw your little stunt today," Tseng commented.

"Sorry sir, I didn't mean to leave my post," Rude replied.

"Sorry? Why do you think you were up there in the first place?" Tseng laughed. "You weren't just there to sit around and be bored. I wanted you there so you could do things like saving people caught at sea."

Rude nodded.

"You look a little sick. Did you change out of your wet clothes?" Tseng noted. Rude's only reply was to sneeze. Tseng chuckled. "Didn't think so. You're gonna be sick as hell the next couple of days. Go to the barracks, get changed, and then go get some sleep."

Tseng patted Rude on the shoulder and walked off. Rude got on the elevator, which took him straight to the barracks. He changed into a pair of khaki's and a brown t-shirt and headed to his bedroom. He didn't bother to turn the lights on, instead opting to just sink into bed and drift off to sleep.

Sector 7 was a bad place for anybody to live. It was an industrial sector mainly, with a few houses on one end of the plate. Rude's target was in one of them. He had lifted a weapon off of a sleeping security guard. O.S.P.(on-site procurement) was his rule of thumb.

He then saw his mark through a window. She was completely oblivious; facing away from the window and watching the television she had. Rude lifted his gun and with one quick gesture, emptied a shell into the woman's head.

She never saw it coming. But someone else had. Through the now broken window Rude heard a sound that shattered his heart. The woman's five year old daughter shrieked.