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Rookie in Gongaga ************************************************************** "I can't believe Tseng expects us to go along with this... this... chick trick," Reno growled. A shrub bore the brunt of his frustration as his nightstick swept down and sharply sideways. Leaves scattered around him. Rude shrugged. "You got a better idea?" "Shit, Rude! Confusing the enemy is one thing, but this is just... low...." Rude's wrist-com beeped. "Get it together, Reno." "Yeah, yeah," Reno muttered, moving to the middle of the path. "Is someone there?" Reno rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses. /This better work, rookie./ "Hey Rude, who do you like?" /I can't believe we're doing this..../ The bald Turk turned away from him, doing a fair impression of embarassment. "What are you getting so embarrassed about?" Reno asked, gesturing at the supposedly empty road around them. "Come on? Who do you like?" /Elena, if this doesn't work, I am sooo going to wring your rookie neck./ ".... Tifa," Rude mumbled. Reno had to hide a smirk behind one hand. /As if!/ "Hmm.... That's a tough one," he said, pretending to give it some consideration. "But, poor Elena. She... you...." Rude's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly above his glasses. "No, she likes Tseng." Reno faked a surprised double-take, using the opportunity to glance towards where Cloud and his friends were standing, almost out of sight around the corner. The tips of Strife's spiky blond hair were just visible through the jungle growth. "I never knew that! But Tseng likes that Ancient...." /Take the bait, Strife... Believe this bullshit..../ The faint sound of Cloud's voice drifted over to them. "What are they talking about?" he asked softly. Reno nearly slapped his forehead in frustration. Strife was as thick as a brick. "It's so stupid!" Elena's voice now, from beyond Cloud and company. "They always talk about who they like or don't like." Reno wished he could see more clearly. He could just bet that she was doing a really convincing job of seeming to be mumbling to herself, staring at the road as she walked up. "But Tseng is different." And now she was glancing up, pretending to have just noticed Cloud. "Ah! Oh no!" She ran up to Reno and Rude, grinning and mouthing "Tifa and Aeris" at them. "They're here! They're really here!" He had to give it to her, she sounded genuinely surprised. Cloud and the others followed her slowly. "Hmm...." Reno nodded, checking his wrist-com. Tseng's 'delay them' signal flashed at him. "Then it's time. Rude, don't go easy on them even though they're girls." He sneered a smile at Tifa and Aeris, who bristled and glared. "Don't worry, I'll do my job," Rude replied dryly. "Then we're counting on you," Elena exclaimed brightly. "I'll report to Tseng." She dashed off into the jungle. "It's been a while," Reno smirked. "Payback time for what you did in Sector 7." Cloud ran a hand through his spiky blond hair. "Sector 7?" He looked genuinely confused. "Oh, that's sad." /I can't believe this guy!/ "Out of our way, Turk," Strife added, stepping into an attack pose. "That's as far as you go," Rude said firmly, moving to block their path. "I don't like being taken for a fool," Reno growled. "I'm gonna make you hurt worse than I did, clod-boy." Strife just shook his head, sweeping his blade up and back. * * * "Did it work?" Tseng asked softly, keeping his eyes fixed on Scarlet's hair. That was safer than watching any other part of the woman as she moved along the narrow path through the jungle. Elena shrugged eloquently. "You wanted them delayed? Well, they were confused enough, that's for sure." Tseng couldn't help chuckling, turning to share a smile with Elena. "I'm sure Reno had a few choice things to say about your idea, though." She grimaced. "If he'd complained any louder or longer, he could've blown the whole thing. But really, what else could we have used to stall for time and confuse them? It had to be something so ridiculous as..." she stifled a laugh. "As Rude having a thing for Tifa." "Ahh," Tseng murmured, smiling. Scarlet beckoned impatiently, waiting for someone to make a path for her. Tseng and Elena shared a weary glance before moving on. * * * Reno ducked and rolled away from Cloud's sword, coming to his feet again several steps away from the battle. /He's not really trying,/ he thought, watching Cloud hold back on an attack. The girls definately were, he realized, as Tifa's fists danced across Rude's ribs. Reno winced. His wrist-com beeped, drawing his attention. Tseng's signature flashed, followed by 'clear out.'He glanced back at the battle, reluctant to leave it unresolved. "Time to go," he said, stepping sideways into the undergrowth. He trusted Rude to follow him as soon as he could disengage. He made his way along a narrow animal trial he'd discovered earlier, keeping low to the ground and moving as quietly as he could. The trail brought him around behind Cloud's group in time for him to see Rude check his own wrist-com and disappear into the undergrowth. Cloud and the others waited tensely, watching for the Turks' return. Aeris relaxed first, shaking her head slowly. "How could they know we were coming here?" she asked, turning to survey the road behind them. Reno held perfectly still, ignoring the aches of recent cuts and bruises. "They followed us.... But there weren't any signs of it. Then, that means..." Cloud trailed off, turning away from the others. "A spy!? No way," Tifa exclaimed. Cloud studied the sky for a moment, as if seeking answers from his namesakes above. "I don't even want to think that there's a spy." Looking back down, he turned to face Tifa. "I trust everyone." With that, he led the way up the path, towards the ruined reactor. Reno followed slowly, trying to stay within hearing range without drawing attention to himself. He had to bite his lip against muttered curses as a tree branch slapped against his leg. He froze, but the three on the road didn't notice. "A ruined reactor," Cloud said, his voice a little strange with some emotion. The slow 'whump whump' of helicopter blades filled the air as a Shinra chopper settled slowly to the ground in front of the reactor. Reno edged his way closer, watching intently as Tseng and Scarlet climbed out. Tseng waited by the chopper while Scarlet made her to the remains of the reactor. "It's Scarlet, Head of Shinra Weapon Development." Reno glanced sharply at Cloud as he and the two girls moved to hide behind a heap of scrap metal. /So you do have two clues to rub together sometimes, clod-boy. What's goin' on in your head?/ "Hmph! This isn't any good either," Scarlet complained loudly, drawing his attention. "You only get junky materia from junky reactors." She stalked back over to Tseng and the helicopter. "This reactor's a failure." /No shit,/ Reno thought, stretching one leg carefully. "What I'm looking for is big, large, huge materia. You seen any?" Reno rolled his eyes. /Your vocabulary is astounding, Scarlet. Poor Tseng..../ "No, I haven't seen it," Tseng replied evenly. "I'll get on it right away." Tseng's ability to withstand the shit from Shinra's upper management was right up there with Elena's acting skills on Reno's 'I'm impressed' scale. "Please," Scarlet replied sharply. "We could make the ultimate weapon if we only had some." "I just can't wait." Reno almost snickered at the thinly veiled sarcasm in Tseng's tone. "With Hojo gone, Weapon Development's been getting a bigger budget," Scarlet boasted. "I envy them," Tseng said drily. "But, even if we make the perfect weapon, could that stupid Heidegger ever use it?" The Turks' leader said nothing, studying a point somewhere above and beyond Scarlet's bare shoulder. "Oh... sorry!" Even though she clearly was not. "I forgot Heidegger was your boss! Ha ha ha!" Tseng remained silent. /What does she expect him to say? Geeezzz..../ Reno shifted restlessly. "Let's go!" Scarlet demanded, climbing into the helicopter. As the helicopter lifted off, Cloud and the girls emerged from hiding. "Big, large, huge materia? An ultimate weapon? The perfect weapon? Just what are the Shinra up to?" Cloud asked, staring after the retreating chopper. /I'd like to know that myself,/ Reno thought as he crept away from them.
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