Been watching cutscenes of Before Crisis because I wanted to know more on The Turks backstory and how Rufus fits into it as what I’ve read about it is quite vague in parts. Here’s some things that I’ve picked up and some of it is just how I’ve interpreted it or speculation. I haven’t really mentioned much about Veld (Verdot) story line involving his daughter Elfe cause it’s really long.
The Turks technically don’t kidnap Rufus, Rufus is in Turks HQ because the president ordered Tseng to keep him there. But when the president orders Tseng to find and kill Veld, Tseng and the Turks disobey the order and instead help Veld. Scarlet finds out and tells the President to get rid of the Turks for their betrayal and the President agrees but then remembers that they have Rufus so decided to be cautious in case the Turks use Rufus against him. The President and The Turks are the only people who know that Rufus is being held in Turks HQ everyone else is told he is on an extended business trip elsewhere. This ends up protecting the Turks for a while because the President doesn’t want any of the other executives to know the truth about Rufus’ whereabouts. So The Turks didn’t use Rufus on purpose he just happened to be stuck with them whilst all this was going on meanwhile, informing Tseng that they were idiots and were going to get themselves killed. The President does eventually decide to order Scarlet to capture Veld so he can trade Veld to the Turks for Rufus but with every intention of killing both Veld and the Turks. The funny thing is that all of this is seemingly going on in the same building which shows how much power The Turks have and that the President is hesitant to do anything because he doesn’t want people to know what he did to Rufus. Rufus meanwhile is trying to help The Turks , I believe because he likes them by this point but also because it’s another chance to get back at his father. It’s ironic because the President put Rufus in that position and now Rufus has managed to use it to his own advantage.
Rufus funds Avalanche and gives them information in the beginning, he uses them to ruin his fathers plans often to make him look stupid but also he plans for Avalanche to kill the President. Rufus even meets with Avalanche members in person. Rufus is aware that Veld suspects him and admits it was difficult for him to get away though I get the impression he was never all that bothered about being found out. When Avalanche eventually turn on him in Corel and tell him they don’t need his money any more, Rufus has no choice but to go back with the Turks and accept his arrest. The Turks, despite Rufus trying to kill them, are still prepared to protect Rufus and save his life at all costs as the building is about to blow up.
When Reeve comes to Turks HQ to help the Turks with Veld and gives them Cait Sith. Rufus listens in on their conversations whilst staying hidden so that Reeve doesn’t know he is there. When he leaves Tseng and Rufus both discuss and agree that Reeve can be useful. So Rufus is aware that Reeve has also betrayed The President and also about Cait Sith which impresses Rufus.
Before Rufus is captured by the Turks and returned to Midgar, he pretty much orders Avalanche to kill the Turks when they discover that it was Rufus helping them all along. Then after spending years in house arrest with the them, when the Turks betray the Presidents orders, Rufus realised that it is going to get them killed so steps in, covers for them and spares them from being killed.
Before his lockdown, Rufus constantly tries to undermine his father in board meetings, pointing out his failures and often argues against all his decisions particularly with the Space programme that does become a big failure though Rufus did sabotage it using Avalanche. This does however gain some respect from Reeve and from Heidegger who both consider that Rufus is ready to take over and will be a great leader.
I got the impression Rufus quite likes/respects Cid even though he doesn’t believe in Cid’s dreams of going to Space, Rufus does try to stop the rocket launch because he knows it will kill Cid.
When Tseng is in HQ after Rufus has been put on house arrest there, Rufus often watches Tseng, listening into his phone conversations with the other Turks and constantly gives Tseng his opinion on what’s going on and pretty much insults them often ‘sounds like that Turk is running wild again’. It’s interesting that the President put Rufus there as Rufus is able to use this to his advantage to keep track of everything going in Shinra and sometimes might even influence Tseng’s decisions. Rufus is also allowed full access to the Shinra network, supposedly The President gave permission for this, Rufus finds it amusing that his Father has allowed him this and it means Rufus can still keeps tabs and even carry on communicating with Avalanche which Rufus uses to help The Turks of his own free will. Rufus even gives intel to Tseng to save The Turks from Scarlet and tries to help him anyway he can.
This one is more of a headcanon than an observation but I can understand now why Tseng became loyal to Rufus after years of having the VP question his every move and give his opinion on everything I can see Tseng start to realise that Rufus is extremely smart and tactical and they form a bond. Rufus starts agreeing with Tseng more and more over time and they realise that they work well together. Also I always thought the idea of The Turks babysitting Rufus was a bit of a joke but actually it was clear that only the Turks were allowed to know that Rufus was being held there but were also told to keep him comfortable so they pretty much were his babysitters and probably had to do ridiculous errands for him.
Tseng was told to keep Rufus in HQ and Tseng either lets Rufus have free reign of the area or more likely Rufus just does as he pleases, as Tseng doesn’t seem to be bothered that Rufus is just listening in to everything and just letting himself into Tseng’s office. It does make me wonder what would happen if Rufus decided to just leave HQ, there must have to be a Turk watching him at all times. Tseng’s only orders are to keep Rufus in HQ so what happens inside HQ stays in HQ. However I also noticed that when Tseng and the other agent are talking to Rufus about Avalanche, Rufus is locked up again and the other agent seems to assume that Rufus never leaves his confined area so it would seem Tseng purposefully lets Rufus out when it’s just the two of them. As Chief, Tseng seems to stay at HQ the most keeping tabs on the other agents missions and giving orders so it really is mostly just him and Rufus alone most of the time. Tseng only really gets involved with missions if there’s a fuck up or an agent is in trouble.
I also imagine Rufus must have his own private gym and kitchen in his confined area, you don’t see much of it but it looks like it’s big and Tseng makes it clear that the layout is as per the Presidents instructions.
You never see SOLDIER females but there is mention of a SOLDIER female candidate. I think they mostly recruit males as when the Turks look and literally kidnap candidates against their free will they seems to just pick strong looking men/thugs. Most cadidates don’t make the cut and I reckon most probably don’t survive the mako bath that they are forced into and I reckon men probably react better to the mako baths than women. But that is my pure speculation I haven’t read anything else about it and let’s face it a lot of the women in FF7 are strong and can kick the guys asses.
When Veld is being held prisoner by the President, The Turks get their network access revoked, Rufus manages to hack into their system using his access to help them find Veld, at first the Turks don’t know who is accessing their computers but Tseng strongly suspects that it is Rufus and so isn’t surprised when he finds out that it was. So Rufus has very good computer skills but he also has a high security level of access which he uses to help The Turks but not for free. Rufus asks Reno and Rude to leave as he wants to speak to Tseng alone and says that he will tell him where Veld is being held but he wants something in return. You don’t really find out what Rufus asks for but I assume it was probably something along the lines of Tseng’s loyalty (or undying love) as Tseng even now is still unsure whether he can trust Rufus. Turns out Rufus’ intel was correct.
When the Turks have finally all left HQ to go find Veld, the President used this opportunity release Rufus from confinement, he then takes him back to the executive floor and comments that ‘it’s been a while’ and that Rufus now looks stronger. Despite Rufus being held in the same building, The President never visited his son as he didn’t want anyone to know he was there. I guess Rufus probably spent a lot of time working out also.
There’s a back story about Tseng’s feelings towards his duty being a Turk. Tseng often struggles with putting his personal feelings before a mission this happens a few times throughout Before Crisis, particularly involving Zack and Veld. I would also say this applies to Aerith as well as he seems to avoid capturing her a lot. This kind of makes me confused with his reaction to the Sector 7 plate fall but my head canon is that Tseng knew that he would be putting his personal feelings with Rufus before his duty to the President so he decided to play along so that the Turks would not be suspected of Treason. Once on a mission he was sent to rescue a Shinra guard that had been kidnapped and tortured, however when he found the guard the guard told him that the ship contained Shinra weapons that were being stolen. Tseng had to choose between the life of the guard and the weapons. He decided to choose the guard because that was his original mission and he would feel guilty if he died. However Tseng was told he chose wrongly as now the weapons were in enemy hands and Tseng’s duty should always be to serve Shinras best interests instead of his own feelings and guilt. Veld covers for Tseng but tells him he needs to take responsibility for his actions, he also tells Tseng to always put the mission first, this is the way of the Turks, and not to try and save him. Tseng really respects Veld and comments that he wants to be just like him. Veld then gets badly injured and Tseng blames himself and vows always do whatever he can for the sake of the Turks (changing loyalty to Rufus also gives the Turks a future). Of course when Veld later gets captured he chooses Velds life over his duty to Shinra until he finds a way to save the Turks by pretending to kill Veld. He also tries to intervene with Zacks re-capture and doesn’t want to help Hojo in Nibelhiem despite his orders.
When Heidegger is briefly put in charge of The Turks, all of the Turks show their disdain towards him and whenever asked what his strategy is Heidegger will often just hang up the phone.
Elena says she hates the Turks and doesn’t want to join them though this has more to do with her resentment towards her sister for choosing the Turks over their family.
This picture is from the Turks HQ (in the basement) and basically Rufus was being held in a room on the same level as here for four years (no daylight how cruel) although it’s possible Turks HQ was moved since they lost a lot of their comrades and lost favour with The President. Only The Turks and The President have access to the area though maybe Heidegger would but he seemingly never went there. Rufus is released from confinement around the time that Zack and Cloud are on the run from Nibelheim. He is only released because The President fears The Turks will use Rufus against him. Rufus tells his father that he did resent him at first but says he is now grateful because he sees things in a new light. Secretly he just means that he is now more prepared to take over Shinra because he has Tseng and the Turks loyalty. When Tseng thanks Rufus for stopping The President from terminating them, Rufus tells Tseng that he didn’t do it for them and that if they want to show their gratitude they could show it through their work. Tseng then acknowledges that The Turks are facing a new era and will continue to carry out their duty with pride. The game ends as Avalanche are breaking into Reactor 1.
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