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relanah-qahs · 4 years

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IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY

Whumptober 2020 no.2 Title: Pick Who Dies Fandom: Final Fantasy VII Prompt: “Pick who dies” | Collars | Kidnapped Rating: T, Characters: Tseng, Reno Words 1645

Tags: Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Dropping the Plate, Guilt, metaphorical collars

AO3 Link. FFNet Link

Summary: The Turks are forced to drop the Sector 7 Plate and be the ones responsible to kill over a hundred thousand civilians. Tseng would never make his fellow Turks suffer that burden...would he?

εγλ 0007 April 9. 10:45. Shinra Building, Executive Meeting Room.

Tseng sat ill-at-ease while scrolling through his phone, absentmindedly checking the status of each of his Turks. Reno was in the Sector 5 slums to check on Aerith today, Rude would join later. Cissnei was in Junon assisting the Vice president.

Reeve sat next to Tseng at the conference table, his organized binder and clipboard neatly stacked in front of him, he lightly tapped his fingers on his pen in nervous anticipation while eyeing the clock. Scarlet sat across from them also scrolling through her phone, but appearing much more relaxed and smiling. Palmer was next to her with his nose in a newspaper, occasionally giggling or “ooh”-ing at something he read.

The meeting was supposed to start already, but Heideggar and the President had yet to arrive. Tseng guessed this meeting had to do with last night’s bombing of the Sector 5 Reactor. Although AVALANCHE had taken the credit for this attack and the one on Sector 1, it was known to only a few select Shinra executives that it was actually Shinra weapons that caused the devastating explosions. Tseng wasn’t sure how many employees were aware of that fact; Scarlet certainly knew, Palmer probably wasn’t smart enough to pick up on it. Reeve probably suspected that it wasn’t only AVALANCHE responsible, in fact he had repeatedly mentioned in previous meetings that a small vigilante group with limited resources weren’t capable of the destruction that they were threatening. But there was no way for Reeve to confirm any of his suspicions that it was actually Shinra responsible.

Tseng knew. He still remembered the sick feeling in his gut when Heideggar showed him the remote device connected to the Reactor’s core. Just push this button, and the gun turrets and other weapons will self-destruct, causing the reactor to overheat and react with the mako radiation. Although Tseng had killed for Shinra several times before, even he was horrified at the blatant display of wanton destruction and the indifference to the loss of innocent life. He kept his horror inside though, he didn’t dare show his superiors his true feelings on the matter.

Finally the President entered, escorted by two SOLDIER grunts, and Heideggar followed close behind with a wicked smile plastered on his face. The meeting began by following the usual routine of these board meetings. Tseng listened to the President’s speeches but never really processed them, instead he diligently scribbled the words onto his notepad. Today started out no differently, until something was said that made Tseng look up in horror.

“We know AVALANCHE’s base is located in Sector 7. We will separate the Sector 7 plate and crush out all resistance.”

“I object!” Reeve immediately shouted. “Mister President, there are over eighty thousand residents in the Sector 7 Undercity alone. We don’t have the resources to organize an evacuation on that scale and in such a short amount of time. And rebuilding the Plate along with the infrastructure lost will take years and billions of gil.”

Heideggar laughed. Palmer stared down at the table with a puzzled look on his face. Scarlet simply smirked. Tseng glanced back and forth to Reeve and the President.

“We won’t be evacuating,” the President said. A dead silence weighed heavy throughout the room. Tseng put his pen down and leaned back in his chair.

“Sector 7?” said Palmer. “Isn’t that where the employee housing district is? We won’t evacuate the Plate either?”

“This is a necessary advancement for Shinra’s goals.” The President spoke calmly--too calmly, Tseng thought, for talking about the deaths of potentially over a hundred thousand people. “We will put the blame on AVALANCHE. The citizens of Midgar will put their trust in Shinra and we will unite against the common enemy: Those in the way of progress.”

“Tseng, gather your Turks here.” said Heideggar. “You will be the ones to carry this out.”

Tseng felt as though the air vacuumed out of his lungs, he gripped the arm of his chair so tightly his knuckles turned white. Years of meditation and psychological conditioning trained him to hide his emotions under any kind of pressure, but the audacity of this order was nearly enough to crack his mental shields. He looked to the President. “With all due respect, Sir, this task may be far above the Turks’ abilities.”

“You are capable, and you will follow my orders.” The President said sternly while glowering at Tseng. “We have the Turks on our leash. Have you already forgotten? It is only because of mercy did we spare you and your subordinates from execution for treason. If you refuse this order, we will reorder execution for all of you. The SOLDIER operatives will take over from there. No matter what you decide, someone will drop the plate. I suggest you choose wisely.”

Tseng lowered his gaze to the table, letting the President’s threats sink in. Finally he spoke, “Understood, Sir. I’ll gather my men once this meeting is finished.”

“A smart decision.” The President leaned back in his own chair and smiled to the other board members. “Scarlet will send you the details of the Plate defense system later today. This meeting is adjourned.”

“Sir, please,” Reeve begged. “I’m asking you, no, begging you to reconsider! Killing an entire ward’s worth of civilians over a small group of petty criminals is--”

“Quit bothering the President, Reeve!” Scarlet screeched, then let out her signature kya-ha-ha laugh.

“All those poor people in the slums.” Palmer shook his head and slowly got up from his chair and headed to the door. “And everyone in the employee housing district. How unfortunate.”

Tseng paced in the Turks office. He was alone. He felt like he needed to scream. The Turks had murdered on behalf of Shinra before, they knew what the job entailed before enlisting. Every one of the people Tseng killed weighed so heavily on his conscience, their last moments often scenes in his nightmares. Tseng had learned to compartmentalize his guilt and his professional character over the years. The Turks were Shinra’s lapdogs, the dark suits their studded collars. But this order? This might be too much.

After taking some deep breaths, Tseng texted Reno and Rude to report to their office ASAP. He checked his computer to find the encrypted email from Scarlet that had the instructions on the plate separation code. So it was only a matter of typing in a security code into the defense system terminal….Why was this so simple? Why was there a separation protocol already programmed into the system?

It would be unlikely the Turk responsible would survive this mission without very careful planning. After entering the code, the self-destruct timer would automatically be set for ten minutes until detonation, which meant there wouldn’t be much time to retreat. He would need to send out a chopper to escape the sector before it collapsed. Tseng knew he wouldn’t have the skill nor the speed to save himself.

Reno is good with technical matters, and he is fast too. He can do this.

Tseng shuddered at the intrusive thought. No, he couldn’t put Reno to this task. His second-in-command was a very dedicated and talented Turk, but was also the most empathetic of the group. Reno had a tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve and still managed to keep his kind heart even after years of working in a mercenary organization that necessitated selling one’s soul.

He couldn’t ask Rude to do it either. Rude wasn’t as fast at Reno, and was unlikely to survive the retreat. Besides Rude, like his partner, also managed to keep a conscience despite his profession. Neither of the duo would forgive himself if he was forced to this task.

So what could Tseng do? If any of them refused, that meant certain death for all of them. Out of the four Turks, only Reno and Cissnei were likely to survive the mission, and Cissnei was busy with her current assignment.

Tseng buried his face in his hands. Him dropping the Plate meant almost-certain death, assigning Reno to the task meant condemning him to a lifetime of extreme guilt. Tseng knew what he had to do—he would spare Reno the burden of a guilty conscience.

For an hour, Tseng practiced his words to his fellow Turks carefully. We have been tasked with separating the Sector 7 Plate. The President says if we refuse, we will be executed. I will enter the code and escape by helicopter. He took deep, even breaths and meditated for a bit to calm himself down.

Reno was the first to arrive at the office. He was limping and his face had some dirt and scratches. Tseng was barely listening as Reno sprawled out on the couch and recalled his earlier assignment.

“So there was this spikey-haired guy with Aerith claiming to be a first class SOLDIER. Aerith called him her bodyguard. One thing led to another, and he starts attacking me and my squad. So of course I had to defend them and Aerith. He managed to get away with her, but I’m pretty sure she’ll be fine. Rude’s checking on her now.”

“Reno,” Tseng interrupted him. He looked at his desk, he couldn’t meet Reno’s eyes as he was about to say his piece. “We have been tasked with separating the Sector 7 Plate. The President says if we refuse, we will be executed,” Tseng gulped. He knew what he had to say next, that he was offering to be the one to press the button that would kill so many people. He heard his voice, but had no control over the words that came out of his mouth. “You are the best one for the job. You will enter the separation code and escape by helicopter.”

Tseng never corrected himself.

#whumptober2020 #no.2 #pick who dies #final fantasy vii #ffvii #tseng ffvii #reno ffvii #fic

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