A/N: This fic originally started out as a roleplay between myself and Pqfire09, but expanded to the point where we decided we wanted to share it with others.
So, this was the result. The romances involved are so far restricted to eventual Valenfield (ChrisxJill), Shake (JakexSherry), and Aeon (AdaxLeon). There are a variety of OCs to fill in certain gaps, but most of them don't play important roles and are there only for story purposes.
This first chapter is the original intro I made for the roleplay which in itself is fairly short. Credit to Pqfire09 and his writing will show itself in the next chapter where I'll explain which characters belonged to (or were used by) him for the sake of the story. Special thanks to him ahead of time for being such a great roleplay partner. Hugs and kisses, Gabe~
It'd been two overly long years since the events of China. The B.S.A.A. was once again back on it's feet with solid new teams after the horrendous amount of losses during the tragedies that had taken place therein. Soldiers and civilians died by the dozens and a lot of people had yet to get over it. Still in position as Captain of the SOU Alpha team, it was a safe assumption to say that after having lost a second team so soon after the first, Chris Redfield was one of them. It was the reminder of those events that left him more cautious, more careful of his team's movements and clear-headed as opposed to the vengeful personality he'd developed briefly in the past that had been at fault for the loss of one of those units.
Although he nearly dwindled at the edge of depression with a stomach full of guilt, it was the memory of his fallen partner that carried him through the nights with whispers that insisted he stay strong and in the fight. A small part of him stayed with China, just enough to hurt; but not enough to fall into the same low, drunken stupor he had the first time back in Edonia. The events that occurred in the span of those six months and beyond had been enough to shape him, change him, but all for the better. He'd been so ready to turn in the badge and live the rest of his years in retirement; until his young A.T.L. helped him to open his eyes at the cost of his life. The B.S.A.A. still needed him to fight.
That didn't stop it from being any less difficult having had to inform each family personally of any and all events that occurred. It wasn't the first time it happened, but it never got easier losing the people he served with. Not for anyone. He remembered each of their faces; some of them wrecked with sobs, while others held sharp gazes that stared accusingly and it was all with good reason. Chris had let all forms of sensibility disappear into a blinding rage that led many of them to their coffins - not that there were many bodies left to be recovered by that point. He'd made mistakes before, but never anything so severe as he had then. The past wasn't an easy thing to accept, but it made him stronger for the future. He made it a personal promise to himself, to those families, and to those lost men, that he wouldn't fall that low again.
Two years later, and the BSAA still endured the same hardships they always had. Bioterrorism wasn't something that would just go away, he knew that now. In fact, it was Alpha team that was chosen to get sent out to investigate suspicious activity. As it were, rumors had spread across Japan of an organization that sought to replicate the enhanced C-Virus; some had even managed to slip out pictures with coordinates as evidence to force the B.S.A.A. into action. The mission was simple enough; infiltrate the facility from the back and take as many workers as they could in for questioning. However, in the B.S.A.A. things didn't always go according to plan or as smoothly as they'd hope.
A helicopter had dropped the team off a few klicks away from their destination, which left them on foot for the remainder of distance. As it was hinted, the streets had been flooded with J'avo that persistently slowed them down. The soldiers were quick to return fire, a series of bullets swept in each direction to eliminate their surrounding hostiles that attempted to stop them in their tracks. Together in perfect sync as a well trained unit, it hadn't taken long for Alpha team to dispose of the threat and proceed further through the darkened streets toward their goal with the near resounding shout of, "Clear!" From their designated sniper, Joselynne Pritchard. The stars flickered above, a dim glow in comparison to the simple street lights that aligned the sides of the road down each passageway that left much of their surroundings consumed in darkness. It wouldn't be difficult to stage a silent attack, but the soldiers were prepared for it as they worked in unison with their guns pointed in quick once overs of each direction.
With Redfield signalling orders by using multiple waves of the hand, the men and women under his command maintained a strict formation and obeyed as directed the deeper into the city they got. Although delayed by the ambushes the J'avo had been responsible for, their time of arrival at the facility had fortunately not been too far off what they'd expected. The place was locked down tight; electrical pads aligned the side of the door, all requiring some form of identification through fingerprints or DNA scans. Complicated, but not impossible to break through. A simple command was all it took for the team tech expert, Jenesis Mercer, to step through the group of soldiers with a laptop pulled out of her pack. It took a total of thirty seconds to hook it in place and begin a hack into the system.
There was a dead silence in the air, so much that the female technician could almost hear the breathing from her comrades through the pounding of her own heart, still pumped from their trek over. After a few moments, the panels whirred with accepting dings; it was a success. There was an approving nod from her Captain as she settled her things back into her pack and reclaimed her position among the unit. Chris had been the first to enter, gun poised and at the ready with his team close behind to cover their flank. The next room had been empty - nothing but several doors that all led to different pathways. The B.S.A.A. didn't have the pleasantry of getting any accurate schematics of the inside, so there was no telling which direction was the right one, and which could potentially lead them into a well placed trap.
A sudden slam against metal drew the attention of each soldier, all of them looked down their sights with rifles pointed in the direction of the noise. One of the doors - much larger than the others, enough that it could fit on a garage, rattled from the impact of whatever was behind it. Another hit and it shook, the third had a forming dent at it's center. Then the noises came quick and repetitive like an echoing drum roll, bang after bang filled the space of the room and left some of the younger, inexperienced soldiers slightly on edge.
That was when the door opened with dozens of moaning individuals that filed out from behind it the moment it was released. Only, they weren't normal. A dissipating cloud of blue hung in the air around them as they staggered toward the soldiers with open mouths and a clear intent for hostility that flared in their eyes. The soldiers didn't need orders to know that now was the time to open fire.
If they hadn't seen enough proof from the J'avo in the streets, they did now. Someone was using the C-Virus all over again to recreate a nightmare that many wanted to forget.