Tseng XXIX: Queen I
After Tseng hung up, Rufus asked: "You think it was Avalanche?" Having reached the restroom, Tseng slid the door open and looked upon the bloody scene in front of him. "It could be. From the way the negotiations are going, I really don't think Wutai has a reason to abduct him because he's playing right into their hands." He knelt down beside one of the dead infanterists, who laid on his belly, rifle still in his hand, with several bullet wounds in his back. "Avalanche, on the other hand… I could imagine a few things they could get from Tuesti." Rufus closed the sliding door after he entered. "The kinds of secrets he knows…" Tseng nodded. "He knows everything about Midgar and the Mako reactors." As useless as Reeve Tuesti was most of the time, if Avalanche intended on striking Midgar's critical infrastructure, Tuesti's knowledge would be of crucial importance, both in planning and in defending against such strikes. Whether they extorted information from him or killed him, either way would be a win for these terrorists.
He found no other useful evidence on the bodies, aside from the fact that both were shot. A Wutaian soldier could have done that, just as well as an Avalanche member. There was nothing here that could help them pinpoint Tuesti's location. He cursed under his breath. Was there really nothing they could do? "Don't you think it's strange that he's been taken here, inside the palace?", Rufus inquired. Tseng turned his head toward the Vice President, who was leaning against the door, looking straight at the Turk with the expression of a teacher asking his student a trick question. "If it was Avalanche, how did they get in unnoticed, and how did they get out, equally unnoticed?"
Tseng stood up and changed his gloves. "They had help from the inside. Or…" – "There is a secret passage they knew about", Rufus completed his sentence as he pushed himself off the door and winked. "What are you waiting for?" Tseng looked at him skeptically. He had suspected that Rufus had not told them the fully story of his involvement with Avalanche, and had admitted only to the things they had actually found out about him. Perhaps they had barely grazed the surface of his many secrets. To be let in on not one, but two of these secrets, was perhaps an honor, and a sign of his trust in Tseng. Perhaps it was time for the Turk to return the favor in kind.
Kneeling down, he reached for the rifle of one of the infanterists and tossed it to Rufus, who caught it effortlessly, followed by a pack of ammunition. "Lead the way", he said as he drew his own gun. Rufus looked at the rifle from different angles and said with a scoff: "With this thing? Are you serious?" He looked at Tseng. "Bring my shotgun along next time." Tseng shrugged. "I didn't really plan for this." Rufus slid the door open and asked while looking over his shoulder. "Are you sure? You know you wouldn't be able to stop me if I actually tried to run away." Tseng shrugged again. "You wouldn't get very far, sir. Besides, you have nothing to gain, but everything to lose from trying to run." He stepped up to Rufus and lightly touched his arm. "On a more personal note, I would very much prefer it if you didn't leave me, sir." Still looking over his shoulder, Rufus smiled and chuckled. "Don't mind if I remind you of that later on."
Just like his father, Rufus Shinra had been trained in a variety of combat situations to deal with possible emergency situations. But unlike his father, Rufus had truly found joy in fighting and was very good at it. He was going ahead, looking around every corner before turning, carefully avoiding any guards that may be coming their way, while Tseng was covering their backs. Although it was possible that they were still being shadowed by ninjas, the spies would not challenge them, unless they were about to assault Lord Godo or something similarly out of their way. Quite on the contrary, they were moving away from what Tseng presumed was Godo's present location. Rufus led him toward one of the side exits toward one of the side wings of the inner complex, where they had spent all morning, and into a small hall decorated with a golden Da-Chao statue, but otherwise mostly empty, aside from an array of cushions littering the floor that were possibly meant for Da-Chao worshippers to sit on while praying. Tseng did not really know the practices of Da-Chao worship, which he had never really been exposed to, seeing as his parents, despite still following one tradition or the other, had essentially turned their backs on Wutai, her people, her ruler, and her idols.
Rufus quickly crossed the hall, toward the Da-Chao statue and examined it for a brief moment. Standing on the tips of his toes on the base of the statue, he reached far up behind the head of the statue and a light click was heard from the side. Rufus stepped to the side, flipped one of the wall hangings beside the statue, and waved to Tseng to follow him as he disappeared inside the wall. With one last look around the hall, Tseng convinced himself that no one was pursuing them, and followed him through the small opening into a dimly lit passage.
Inside, a flight of stairs led them downward below the ground and out of sight. Far ahead of them, he could hear the echoes of footsteps and hushed voiced, although it was difficult to tell how far away they really were. Rufus was waiting at the top of the staircase, leaning against the wall, looking ahead. "Where does it lead?", Tseng whispered close to the Vice President's ear. Rufus turned his head to Tseng and explained with a low voice: "Almost the whole capital is connected by passages like this. Although the way into the palace from the outside cannot be opened by just anyone, we can get almost anywhere within in the city from here without being seen." He hesitated for a moment and added: "It might be difficult to get back in here, though." Tseng listened to the faraway voice for a short moment. "So they still must have had help from the inside." Rufus nodded. "Probably."
He carefully stepped down the staircase, the rifle ready in his hand. "Wait, Mr. Vice President, let me go ahead. They can't be very far away and I don't want you to be caught in the crossfire." Rufus walked on along the passage, stopping at the next intersection. "I'll be fine", he said, and went on in the direction the voices were coming from, faster this time, while Tseng hurried after him. They went deeper and deeper into the tunnel system, chasing after the voices in front of them, hoping they were going after the right group of people.
The voices appeared to stop moving at some point as they drew closer. A few turns later, Tseng and Rufus were so close that they could almost make out what was being said. The voices appeared to belong to about five people fighting over something, but Tuesti's distinctive voice was not heard among them. Rufus stopped and carefully glanced around the corner for a few seconds. He turned around to Tseng and slowly shook his head. His face drew close as he whispered: "It's definitely Avalanche. I recognize the uniforms. But Reeve is not with them." That was unexpected. They were here to get Tuesti back, not to start a fight with the terrorist group. Although it was unlikely that Avalanche would show up here and now, while having absolutely nothing to do with the incident. "Maybe they left him somewhere?", Tseng presumed. But where and why? They had passed several intersections and could spend days searching the whole area and never find them.
"Let's capture one and kill the rest", he suggested. "We can beat some answers out of him." Rufus raised his eyebrows at this suggestion, but Tseng only shrugged. "It's how we Turks do things in a pinch", he explained. "I'm not into nonconsensual violence", Rufus objected. "But I guess we don't have much choice in this situation. There are six of them. I'll cover you." Tseng was glad Rufus did not intend to go in himself, because there was no way Tseng could let him do that, and they had no time to discuss it. Rufus turned back toward the corner and Tseng moved next to him, kneeling on the floor. He took a deep breath and then looked up at his comrade.
They nodded at each other and Tseng rolled quietly into the dimly lit passage, raising his gun, and fired on one of the men facing him. Next to him, Rufus started firing as well. A few bullets hissed past Tseng, but none of them found their target, and after a few seconds, the battle was over and all six were on the ground. Tseng kept his gun drawn as he slowly approached the bodies. He was glad to hear heavy breathing and a high-pitched whimpering, which meant that at least one of them was still alive. As he stepped up to the men in their navy green uniforms laying on the ground with his gun ready, one of them raised his rifle again with a jittery hand, but before he could pull the trigger, Tseng shot at the weapon, knocking it out of his hand. He quickly approached the man and stopped just out of his reach.
"Where is Reeve Tuesti?", Tseng demanded without bothering to introduce himself. The Avalanche member coughed and pressed his hand on his stomach, where he had been hit. With him frothing from the mouth and coughing, Tseng knew that he had not much longer to live. He slapped the man in the face to keep him alive and repeated his question. "G-gone….", the man stammered. "I can see that he's gone. Where is he?" Behind him, he heard Rufus slowly approaching, his rifle ready. The man stared at the Vice President with an inkling of recognition in his eyes. Rufus knelt down next to him and laid a hand on his forehead. "I'll give you a quick death if you tell us where he is", he suggested. With the state the terrorist was in, a quick death was all he could hope for, and he knew that just as well, for he finally gave a clearer answer: "Escaped…" Rufus and Tseng looked at each other full of wonder. How did Tuesti manage to get away? "Did someone help him?", Tseng inquired, but the man only shook his head weakly. "Don't know… disappeared… while no one was looking", he finally pressed out.
Tseng and Rufus looked at each other again. There was no doubt that these were the people they had been looking for, but now it appeared as if this man was just as confused as they were, and did not actually know anything of value. If Reeve had really gotten away, all they could do now was to keep looking and trust that he would turn up somewhere, safe and sound. Tseng nodded, and Rufus responded in kind. Finally, the Turk said: "Return to the planet", and shot him in the head. Tseng did not like killing people. He did not enjoy beating people either, but sometimes it was necessary. And in this case, ending a life was mercy. He and Rufus both stood and looked around. "If he really got away, he's going to show up sooner or later", Tseng repeated his previous thoughts. "Looks like there's nothing left for us to do here", Rufus confirmed and shouldered his rifle. "Let's get back as soon as possible." Tseng looked at the bodies again. "Still, how could Tuesti run away from six armed Avalanche members all by himself? As far as I know, he has zero aptitude for fighting and has never even held a gun in his life. How can it be?"
As he turned to Rufus again, he noticed a tiny movement over the Vice President's shoulder, and then the reflection of the torch light in metal. "Get down!", Tseng yelled at his companion, jumping at him and pushing him over. The gun flashed several times, as if in slow motion while Tseng stared at it over the vice president's head, and before they hit the ground, he felt an intense pressure on his chest, and then a burn and sharp pain. Rufus' back hit the ground and Tseng ended up on top of him, sharply inhaling the air through his teeth, and suppressed a groan. Before Rufus said anything, he lifted his rifle over his head and shot several times, until a "thud" was heard from the direction the shots had come from.
Rufus grabbed Tseng's upper arms with both of his hands and rolled him slowly off of himself on the ground. Tseng groaned again as sharp pain traversed his chest upon the movement. Rufus knelt next to him with a grief-stricken face. "Why did you do that?" Tseng breathed heavily as he attempted to answer: "I must … protect you at all cost, sir…" The Vice President pressed both of his hands on the Turk's chest as if that would stop the blood from coming out. But it was no use. Tseng began to feel dizzy immediately, and he began to lose all feeling in his limbs. He lifted a bloody hand to Rufus's cheek and lightly caressed it. With his last strength, he pressed out: "Don't make that kind of face… sir… I am just a pawn in your plan… I fulfilled my duty."
The world had gone dark already, and the last thing he felt was Rufus' hand pressing his own to his cheek, but the hushed answer he gave did not reach his ears, or at least, he would not remember it later, for his consciousness slipped away and into the darkness. This gives me great distress, as much of Tseng's later strife might have been avoided, had he only heard his master's answer at this time, although I am not quite certain about this, because Tseng (educated as he was) was not actually familiar with the roles and figurative meanings of chess pieces, and would not have understood the implications of Rufus Shinra's philosophical musings, whether he was bleeding out or not. As it stood, it would take them switching places in these unfortunate circumstances to truly make Tseng understand how the future president of Shinra Electric Power felt, but this would not happen until later. Much, much later. And if one was keen to argue that it would take the end of the world (or something fairly close to that) for Tseng to stop jumping into the path of objects flying at high speeds toward his master, and for Rufus Shinra to start doing so for his subordinate, I would wholeheartedly agree.