In the Company of FEAR
By Zexion72
Author's Note: As the description says, this fan fic is a cross over between Battlefield: Bad Company and FEAR 2. I have done some cross over stories before and they worked out pretty well, so I figured that I'd give this combination a try. By the way, this takes place throughout FEAR 2 so there will be a lot of spoilers.
Disclaimer: I do not own FEAR 2 or Battlefield Bad Company. Nor do I own any game, music, movie, or any other references that are made in this story.
Chapter 1: Calling in cannon fodder
To say that the situation was out of control would be an understatement. It was a complete mess. Terry Halford knew that, hell anyone with common sense did. Yet, Genevieve Aristide thinks that she can somehow contain Alma Wade once more. Maybe there is a way to destroy Alma before Genevieve can get a chance to carry out her plans? Terry picked up the phone and dialed the number of someone who might be able to help him out with this.
"Yes?"
"Hello sir, this is 'Snake Fist'," said Terry.
"I knew I'd be getting a call from you sooner or later. What's the situation with Origin and... her?"
"Somehow, Alma Wade is still alive. She has been set free from the vault and, as you know, that explosion..."
"Shit..."
"Dr. Aristide thinks that she can contain Alma again, quite frankly I think that's impossible. Alma could still use her powers even when she was in stasis. She cannot be contained at all."
"What do you propose we do then? We have to do something about her."
"I believe that Alma's physical form has been restored to the way it was prior to her death. With a physical body, she is now a little more vulnerable... in theory. If we can track her down and eliminate her, that will resolve this entire situation." There was a moment of silence before anything else was said.
"Very well, we shall proceed with that course of action." Terry was relieved that someone else agreed with him on this. But there was still one problem that couldn't easily be solved.
"But who could we send to hunt down and kill Alma? The Special Forces?"
"No, I've got another squad in mind. This is the squad we usually send in BEFORE the Special Forces."
"What? You don't mean..."
"That's right, that squad in 222nd Army Battalion... Bad Company."
Meanwhile...
-Preston Marlowe's Point of View-
I had woke up that morning just like any other normal day. As always, I had 'accidentally' left my alarm clock off so I slept in a little. Though I must say that life has been kinda of dull and boring since the war with Russia ended. Sure, me and everyone else in my squad are all rich beyond imagination thanks to all that gold we stole from the Legionnaire and his group of mercenaries. But what good is it to be rich AND bored? So now I spent my days playing one hour too many of Unreal Tournament 3 and other various online FPS games. Even though I'm part of the army and have to go through REAL firefights, these games are still fun. Though, a change of pace would be nice quite frankly. That's right about the time that I got that phone call.
"Sarge?" I asked.
"Yeah it's me, I'd ask how you've been but we don't have time for small talk," said Sergeant Redford.
"What's up?"
"B-Company has been called up to do a certain job for our country."
"We going back to Russia or something?"
"No, this is something going on right here in America. I'll explain the details later. A jeep is headed your way to pick you up. I'll see you soon." With that, Sarge hung up. I was silent as I thought about this. With the country in need of our help again, that put an end to my rather boring lifestyle. As happy as I was, I did my best to stay calm and reserved like a good soldier.
"YES!" I shouted as I jumped up and down. Well, so much for the good soldier part. Time to pack my bags. I mean, if it's something happening right here in the good ol' US of A then it couldn't be anything REALLY bad... right? We defeated the Legionnaire and his 'deadliest army in the world', what could possibly go wrong?
12 hours later...
As I got out of the helicopter I saw three familiar faces. Haggard hadn't changed at all. He still had that mustache and that green beanie on his head. His favorite rocket launcher was strapped to his back. Sweetwater still looked like a nerd with those big glasses on. Sarge had that serious face on as always.
"Hey it's the 'new guy'!" Said Haggard.
"I'm not really 'new' in this squad you know," I said.
"You'll always be the new guy to me!"
"Don't mind him, I'm pretty sure he's just going through explosion withdrawal," said Sweetwater as he looked over at me.
"I can't believe the war in Russia ended... that was so much fun..." Said Haggard with a tone of sorrow in his voice.
"I can't believe we are all still alive after all that. Quite frankly I'm glad that the war is over, it means I don't have to worry about getting killed. If I die out on a battlefield I can't..."
"Shut up Sweetwater," said Sarge. He cleared his throat and began speaking again. "Alright, listen up. They'll fill us in on the details inside the base. Then we'll be heading out right away. If you guys want to make it through this mission in one piece then you are going to have to shut up and listen."
"You seem kinda spooked, Sarge. What's up?" Asked Sweetwater.
"You'll know soon enough, let's just get this show on the road." We were escorted into what looked like some sort of briefing room at this local base. Once we sat down in the chairs at the table in the middle of the room, everyone else left the room. The screen in front of us turned on and there was an image of the city that was a couple of miles away from this base.
"It's good to see that everyone is here. Let's begin," said a voice.
"Whoa! I think I'm hearin' voices now. I GOTTA blow something up soon before I go completely crazy!" Exclaimed Haggard.
"No I heard it too. It's coming from those speakers over there," said Sweetwater.
"Well you are just as crazy as me, so no wonder you are hearing that voice."
"What? I'm completely sane compared to you!"
"Both of you just shut the hell up," said Sarge. He looked back over at the screen. "Please continue."
"Anyway, you have been called here to eliminate a dangerous being who could potentially destroy the world if they aren't stopped." Someone THAT dangerous is here in America? The thought of that sent chills down my spine.
"So our mission is to find this person and kill them?" I asked.
"That's correct."
"What do you need the Military for then? You could have just gotten an Assassin," I added.
"This isn't an ordinary person, Marlowe. Not by a long shot," stated Sarge.
"Sergeant Redford is correct. Tell me, what do you know about Armacham Technologies?"
"Armacham? That's the company that has been working with the military for quite some time now on various projects," said Sweetwater.
"Like Project Origin and Project Perseus," said Sarge.
"Right, among other projects. The individual you will be hunting down was the most important component of Project Origin," said the voice.
"So we're killing a scientist?" I asked.
"I wish I could say yes to that, but that is not the case. Your target's name is Alma Wade. She is the daughter of the late Harlan Wade." A picture of a little girl in a red dress appeared on the screen. She had long dark hair that covered a lot of her face.
"What? Are you kiddin' me? We're being sent to kill a little girl? That's just wrong. I thought we'd be blowin' stuff up or something fun like that!" Exclaimed Haggard.
"This is an old picture of Alma. Besides, she's not an ordinary little girl. Watch this video." A black and white video popped up of what looked like soldiers shooting at something. Suddenly they fell to the ground and in a burst of light they were reduced to nothing more than skeletons in a giant pool of blood. At the far right of the screen was the little girl who was in the photo.
"Good God..." I said.
"That was when she was sealed away in the vault. Her Father decided to free her for whatever reason and now that she's free she can use all of her power. Alma Wade is gifted with unnatural psychic powers. To cut a long story short, she's the mother of the apocalypse. We believe that she is currently using her restored physical body, so if you encounter her you will see something like this." Another video appeared and this one lasted only for a few seconds. But in it for a brief moment, a woman with long, dark, messy hair could be seen. Her back was turned towards the camera and for some reason she wasn't wearing any clothes. "You orders are simple, find her and destroy her."
"Destroy her? How are we supposed to do that? She killed those guys with just her THOUGHTS! We don't stand a chance against that!" Exclaimed Sweetwater.
"If her physical form has truly been restored, then she should be vulnerable once again. I'm pretty sure I don't need to say anymore."
"Oh I get it! We just have to blow her up with a good ol' RPG!" Exclaimed Haggard as he got all excited.
"In theory, yes."
"We're all doomed..." Groaned Sweetwater.
"Don't be so negative! Your negativity is going to kill us all first!" Exclaimed Haggard.
"Just shut the hell up you two, this is an important mission. That girl could potentially destroy this entire world. I can't go fishing anymore if the world is a pile of ashes. So let's take her out, and get back to our regular, peaceful lives," said Sarge.
"So that's why you agreed to take this assignment? I was wondering what could have possibly pulled you out of your peaceful hobby," I asked.
"Pretty much." Sarge looked up at the screen. "Anything else? Or are we ready to go?"
"Open up that case on the table." Sarge opened it as instructed. Inside was some sort of bottle with pills in it.
"What's this?"
"To put in layman's terms: These pills will temporarily create a connection that will make Alma 'aware' of the four of you. We believe that she will pay you guys a visit if she senses you. Once she shows herself, open fire. Of course if that doesn't work we do have a back up plan."
"What is plan B?" I asked.
"There is a group of soldiers from Delta that are being used by Dr. Genevieve Aristide to do something similar. Only she thinks that she can use them as bait to contain Alma Wade once more. This plan will fail, Alma cannot be sealed away. If possible, I want the four of you to rendezvous with that group and with your combined efforts, you should be able to destroy Alma. I will give you more details on how to destroy her later. I'm pretty confident that if all else, fails plan B will work. Get moving, and don't take those pills until you've arrived at the city... or what's left of it."
"What's left of it?" The image of the city appeared once more.
"This is the city not too long ago. And this is what happened to the city very recently after the place containing Alma was destroyed." A video started playing of what looked like a mushroom cloud explosion occurring somewhere in the city.
"WHOA! Now that is one hell of an explosion!" Exclaimed Haggard.
"No, no, no, that's BAD Haggard! Nuclear explosions cause a LOT of problems!" Exclaimed Sweetwater.
"Alright, let's get moving!" Said Sarge.
"Before you go, I want you to get acquainted with someone who will be supporting you throughout the mission," said the voice.
"Hey Boys, it's been awhile," said a familiar, female voice.
"Ah! Miss July!" Exclaimed Sweetwater. Mike-one-Juliet (AKA Miss July), the woman who had supported us through our escapades in Russia good and bad. We shared some of the gold with her like we promised we would. Though she seemed to care more about us than the gold.
"Miss July, it's good to hear from you. I guess it really is a small world," said Sarge.
"Indeed, I'll be there to update you on the situation and provide you with any intel you will need to get the job done," said Miss July.
"Good luck gentlemen, you're gonna need it. Once you get into the city, head for Wade Elementary School," said the voice. So that's how everything started. We knew what our mission was: Save the world from a girl with frightening psychic powers. I didn't know exactly how we were going to kill someone like her, but we'll worry about the details later. Before we knew it we were up in the air on a helicopter heading towards the edge of the city. I didn't understand why they couldn't just take us to the school, is it really that dangerous in the city?
As we drew closer I looked out the open door. The city was almost completely reduced to ruins. I could still see the mushroom cloud in the sky, but it had dispersed for the most part. The city seemed quiet, too quiet.
"We've arrived at the edge of the city. Be advised that from here on out you are on your own. You will not be getting any kind of support whatsoever," said the Pilot as the helicopter landed. We jumped out and took the pills as the Helicopter began to fly away.
"Ok, let's get this over with," said Sarge.
"You know, why did they even bother to send us? If Delta is here, why can't they take care of it?" Asked Sweetwater.
"Because we are expendable. Besides, Alma has already massacred countless soldiers form Delta." I didn't want to be negative about the situation, but what could we do against someone like that? Though thinking about Delta reminded me of something.
"Delta... I wonder if..." I paused and shrugged. "No, I doubt it."
"What is it, Marlowe?" Asked Sarge.
"A good friend of mine is in Delta. His name is Michael Becket. I sure hope he didn't get involved in this mess," I said.
"I bet you, that this Bucket guy is involved in something here in this city right now," said Haggard.
"Yeah, maybe he's got some cool ability to slow down time as well or something like that," added Sweetwater.
"And I'm sure he's gonna be fighting a bunch of bad guys!" I chuckled.
"That is exaggerating a little bit. Becket may be as tough as they come, but I don't think he has any psychic powers or anything like that," I said.
"Alright you fools, just shut up and start walking. Our objective is to get to the Elementary School and destroy Alma while we are at it," said Sarge.
"Hey, anybody else get that feeling that we're being watched?" Asked Sweetwater as we started walking.
"I get the feeling that you have a screw loose in your head," said Haggard.
"No, I'm serious! I really feel like someone is watching us!"
"And I'm getting a headache just from listening to you two!" Exclaimed Sarge. I stopped walking.
"Wait, you've got a headache too?" I asked. Sarge looked over at me.
"Yeah. What, do you find these two just as annoying?"
"No I've gotten used to those two and their banter by now. I just have this really bad headache for some reason."
"Huh, that's weird. I've got a bad headache too," said Sweetwater.
"No way! I got a REAL bad headache too!" Exclaimed Haggard.
"According to some intel that I read, symptoms of Alma's proximity include hallucinations and painful headaches. She's here somewhere, stay sharp!" Said Sarge. We began to walk again. I stopped and looked behind me, up towards one of the buildings that were still somewhat intact. Thats when I noticed a woman with long dark hair covering parts of her face looking down at us from one of the windows. Sure enough, I was looking right at Alma Wade herself.
"Hey Marlowe! How long do you plan to stare at the scenery? Get a move on!" Said Sarge. I looked away from the window.
"Just a moment, Sarge! I have to..." I stopped as I looked up at the window again. Alma wasn't there anymore, she had already vanished. Maybe I had just seen a hallucination and not the real deal? I shrugged and began running to catch up with my squad. "Hey, wait up!"
