White House, Washington DC, the United States of America, 2011.
After I had left the Bund, I changed into a suit with a black tie while I traveled to the States and arrived at the White House so that I could meet with President Benford and Leon Kennedy, then I was let into the Oval Office after my identity was confirmed by Secret Service agents and I spotted the President at his desk while he was talking to Leon. Once one of the Secret Service agents informed the President that I was here, he dismissed him and I stood in front of the desk with my hands clasped against my belt as the two men turned their attention on me.
"Captain Temple, thank you for coming here and I want to apologize if you are feeling out of your element," President Benford said and I nodded.
"It's no trouble at all since it's an honor to meet you," I stated and President Benford picked up a file before adjusting his glasses and looking through it.
"I've read your file and I have to say that I'm impressed since what wasn't redacted told me about your astounding ability to survive missions that would most likely kill even the more experienced soldiers in this country's military. If you weren't working for Princess Tepes, you would've been a valuable asset to the American Government," President Benford complimented and I cleared my throat.
"I would be, sir, but I'm more comfortable with my current occupation right now so I'm sure you didn't call me here just to praise me for how I operate during my career," I pointed out and President Benford nodded as he looked at Leon.
"Of course, now I would like to introduce you to Special Agent Leon S. Kennedy of the DSO but I'm sure you read his file already," President Benford introduced and Leon approached before shaking my hand.
"It's good to meet you, Agent Kennedy, so I hope that we'll work well together," I said stoically.
"I'm sure we will," Leon stated but his undertone told me that he was unhappy with something and I wasn't able to figure it out.
"Well, now that we got the introductions out of the way, it's time we got started with getting you two up to speed on where you're going and what the mission will be," President Benford said and he started explaining.
After President Benford told us everything we needed to know about the mission and the location we were to be inserted into, we had driven to a military base and I loaded up with my uniform and gear, though I left my gas mask behind while Leon simply took a tan tactical vest with an AKMSU with attachments as a primary and a Springfield Armory TRP Operator with a Surefire flashlight attachment as a sidearm.
After we had loaded up with our weapons and gear, we took a transport plane and now we were flying to the Eastern Slav Republic while I was studying my MP5 and checking it to make sure that it was clean and fully loaded.
"So, why did the ruler of all vampires decided to send you to a war-torn country with only me to keep you company?" Leon inquired and I looked up from my inspection to stare at him.
"That's classified but all I can divulge is that it has to do with BOWs being used in the war...how about you?" I asked and Leon sighed while looking at me dryly.
"Well, I was having a nice vacation when Secret Service agents came out of nowhere and escorted me to Washington, now I'm on a plane with a stranger I know practically nothing about and heading to a war-torn country to find a CIA operative that may or may not be dead," Leon remarked sarcastically as I felt the plane lowering and landing somewhere.
"Like it or not, Agent Kennedy, we have a mission to complete and complaining about it isn't professional," I lectured as the ramp of the back of the plane started opening and we stood up.
"I'm just voicing my own opinion about this whole thing so I hope something doesn't happen to make this a complete waste of time," Leon said as we left the plane and headed to the capital city called Holigrad.
Eventually, night had fallen and we were moving through the alleys as the sounds of gunfire and explosions raged on throughout the city until we quickly moved to the exit of an alley and were forced to take cover as soon as we spotted the rebels doing a combination of shooting back at something and running away down the street to the left of the alleyway, just as a tank and soldiers came into view while one of the men ordered the rebels to surrender on a megaphone.
Suddenly, someone fired an RPG and the rocket blew up the tank which caused me and Leon to cover our heads from the blast of dust that flew into the alley we were taking cover in, then I fanned my arm to clear most of the dust away as Leon took out his phone and responded to a call from his handler Ingrid Hannigan, a woman with glasses and a professional attitude as her face appeared on the screen of Leon's phone.
"We're moving into position," Leon reported.
"Copy, I've got a clear view of you and Captain Temple from the sky," Hannigan informed us while I was peering out of cover to keep an eye out for any threats.
"Great, maybe you can find us a clear route to the CIA drop off," Leon said dryly just as I heard something dropping from the sky and saw a mortar bomb falling fast to our location.
"Incoming!" I alerted and we both ducked ourselves away from the opening and the mortar explosion nearly deafened me as rubble and debris came tumbling down near us.
"Jesus...somebody should tell whoever is shooting those mortars to watch their fire because that was danger close," I grumbled and Leon smirked.
"Yeah, it looks like somebody is doing some serious renovations down here," Leon quipped and I shot him an unamused expression while Hannigan cleared her throat to get our attention.
"Listen to me carefully, Leon, your mission has been aborted and the US is going to pull out of the country," Hannigan notified us and Leon didn't appear to take kindly to that.
"What?! I just got here after taking me off my vacation and sending me to this Godforsaken place with someone I don't know! What the hell?! Why isn't Captain Temple being ordered to pull out?! This is his mission too so why does he get to stay?!" Leon exclaimed in outrage and I was confused and slightly suspicious as to why the US is pulling out since they have a strict policy of dealing with bioterrorism and BOWs.
"Washington and the Government there have decided to go their separate ways so everyone has to leave, and not just the Embassy staff. All American citizens have been ordered to evacuate the country and as for Captain Temple, his mission is classified due to the sensitive nature of it and you'll have to get approval from Princess Tepes if you want knowledge on the full details," Hannigan explained calmly.
"I don't give a damn about the politics because you've got confirmation that BOWs are being used in this war. If we don't stop them now, the same horrific shit will happen everywhere else so do you want to see that?" Leon stated darkly and Hannigan sighed while taking off her glasses and pinching the bridge of her nose.
"This is a war and things are different because no one can do anything without the backing of the American government, not even you," Hannigan lectured sternly after putting her glasses back on and Leon scoffed.
"Well then, I guess my only option is to lose my American citizenship for a while," Leon remarked and Hannigan's eyes widened while I was staring at him like he had two heads.
"Leon!" Hannigan shouted in disbelief just before Leon cut off anything else she was going to say by ending the call and he put his phone away.
"You do realize that you're going to be in hot water with your superiors for pulling that kind of stupid stunt, right?" I pointed out and Leon shrugged.
"Eh, she can tell them I got lost and missed my flight," Leon said nonchalantly and I shook my head as we left our cover and headed back the way we came.
"This is one of the best the US Government has to offer? Looks like their standards have dropped over the years if he is the best they can come up with," I thought dryly, not at all impressed at what I was seeing so far but I couldn't let my impression of Leon get in the way of the mission so I was going to have to see how he operates first and I'll make my judgment then.
We kept jogging through the streets of the city after we left an alley and as we kept moving, Leon slowed down and stopped once he spotted a box truck on the left with a cartoonish honeybee on the side and a massive explosion on the other side of a building at the end of the street caught my attention.
"Let's keep moving, don't want to stay out in the open for too long or we might get ambushed by either soldiers or rebels," I stated as military vehicles were passing by at the end of the street.
"Yeah, better hurry up and get this done because I need some breakfast," Leon told me as we headed left and passed the truck while we moved to the underground parking lot, where our CIA contact was waiting for us.
"Do you always make jokes in the middle of a warzone?" I questioned irritably and Leon looked at me.
"Only on a good day," Leon remarked and I knew that his sarcasm was going to be a pain in the ass to deal with since we were in a hot zone where people could try and capture or kill us.
Once we entered the underground parking lot, we turned on our flashlight attachments and aimed around while we were moving cautiously, then we turned right and kept moving as I aimed behind us once in a while to prevent any potential ambushes just as the sound of loud gasping to our left made us quickly aim in that direction to see a bloody and severely injured man stumbling to us with eyes glazed over from the pain and a hand reaching out to us.
I was about to shoot him since he reminded me of a T-carrier but he collapsed to his knees and fell onto his back, causing Leon to sling his rifle as he rushed over to the man and I followed suit while keeping my MP5 raised and covering the area.
"Scarecrow, I'm the Tinman and this is Jackal. Can you talk? We need to know the connection between the anti-government forces and the BOWs," Leon said and a wet cough made him mutter, "I guess scarecrows aren't known for their rousing conversations."
"If you're done making jokes, we need to contact Command for a CAS-EVAC and get this man out of here," I cut in and my sharp hearing picked up something that sounded like someone or something moving softly, causing me to aim around while I was fully alert.
"Hang in there, we'll get you out of here," Leon reassured the injured man and he tapped my shoulder to signal that he was moving while he unslung his rifle, and we were about to leave to contact Command for a CAS-EVAC when a noise from the man got our attention.
"What? Say that again," Leon urged after he went back to the man and kneeled again.
"Bee...keeper," the man gurgled weakly as blood came out of his mouth and hearing that caught our attention.
"Beekeeper?" Leon wondered and my eyes narrowed when I recalled the box truck outside.
"The honeybee on the truck we saw outside," I muttered in realization and deduced that the truck was connected somehow just as I heard the sound of something fast approaching us with a quiet snarl.
Not having enough time to warn Leon, I grabbed him and dived us out of the way just as large claws nearly decapitated us and we rolled across the ground before getting up to one knee and seeing a creature I was all too familiar with eviscerating the man with a single slash that opened his torso and caused internal organs to spill out, the skinless creature known as a Licker turning around and baring its razor-sharp teeth.
"Thanks for the save...great, now we got a cowardly lion to deal with," Leon muttered as the Licker screeched and charged at us.
We reacted by opening fire at the BOW that wanted to tear us apart, our weapons lighting up the dark parking lot with the muzzle flashes and the Licker hopped out of the way to avoid the gunfire and landed onto a pillar which took me by surprise since Lickers aren't normally intelligent enough to avoid gunfire.
We fired at the Licker and it hopped off the pillar before it rushed into another area, then we chased after it and kept firing while it dodged the bullets until we lost visual of the BOW and aimed around for our target. I spotted the Licker at the end of the room when it leaped up onto the roof of a car and screeched, just as it hopped off and charged at us as we fired at it again until Leon and I were forced to reload and we ducked as the Licker pounced.
We aimed up and kept shooting as it flew above us, bullets striking the BOW's torso while it passed by and it landed onto the ground with a nasty crash as it got up and hissed at us in pain. The Licker spun around and bolted, causing us to chase after it as we fired and an explosion happened out of nowhere that flung me into a pillar and I bounced off of it while my head smacked against the ground very hard when I landed none-too-gently.
I groaned while my head was spinning and my vision was blurry, seeing Leon struggling to get up as the Licker was approaching him like a cat that had its prey backed into a corner and it snarled as it raised its claws to shred him and I weakly reached for my desert eagle to try and save Leon when something completely unexpected happened.
The Licker suddenly stopped its claws an inch at Leon's face as he flinched, then the Licker looked back as I spotted a male figure approaching us and it hissed while it backed up and the figure stopped in front of us while I was stunned to see that it wasn't attacking him and Leon barely looked up at the man before passing out and my vision started darkening from the pain and shock of what I had witnessed as the Licker was about to move forward but a raised hand from the man unexpectedly made it stop.
Before I passed out, I saw the man somehow controlling the BOW and I didn't know how it was possible but my vision went black and I knew no more after that.
After an unknown amount of time, I stirred from unconsciousness and slowly opened my eyes to see that I was in a dark room of some kind but the ceiling had light pouring through the small cracks which told me that I was in a basement at some unknown location. As I became more alert, I noticed that not only was my weapons, gear, and helmet missing, but I was sitting in a chair with my hands restrained behind my back with zip ties.
I cursed inwardly at how I had gotten captured but then I recalled that Leon had been knocked unconscious as well and I carefully looked around and saw him near me in the same predicament as he woke up and quickly looked around. As Leon noticed that he was restrained to a chair and struggled to get free, I moved my wrists to get a feel of the zip ties' durability and flexed my biceps before subtly breaking them with my enhanced strength.
At that time, the sound of a door opening above us and someone announcing themself got our attention as we looked up and saw the shadows of people moving around, then I looked down and spotted a male figure sitting in a corner and focusing on us with the small amount of light showing me that he was an elderly man with a mustache, hat, and shades. Leon was about to say something, but a shadowy male figure came out of nowhere from behind him and forced a knife against his throat which silenced any sound that was about to come out.
"Don't say a damn word," the man threatened quietly in a European accent and I spotted another figure coming out of the shadows while I decided to see what their intentions were.
The figure slowly stepped into the light and I saw it was a man that was slightly on the short and chubby side while he was wearing Leon's vest and my helmet, the man shushing us quietly and he grinned with a low chuckle until he aimed Leon's rifle up at the ceiling while the soldiers upstairs searched the area and then they left after a short amount of time.
"They're gone, but we better stay down here a little while longer because they may come back," the taller man stated as he moved away from Leon and the light showed me that he appeared to be in his mid-thirties with black hair and hazel eyes.
As he said that, the shorter man took out a flashlight from one of the pouches on Leon's vest and turned it on and off as it blinked into our faces, causing me to squint my eyes as Leon turned his head away to prevent the light from blinding him.
"Do you think our hostages will be of any use?" the short man questioned as an overhead light turned on and lit up the entire basement, then I spotted the rest of my gear and weapons on a table nearby as the two men approached and stopped in front of us.
"Do you two know who we are?" the taller man questioned and Leon looked up at him.
"Are you Dorothy?" Leon quipped and the taller man leaned forward with an icy glare.
"You people in the damn CIA call us terrorists," the man growled as the short man took out a canteen from a pouch on Leon's vest and sipped it until he put it away.
"But we like to call ourselves Pro-independent fighters," the short man declared with a grin.
"What is the CIA doing here? Was it you two who put the government up to this? Are there any more of you?" the taller man questioned and Leon rolled his eyes.
"We're not CIA agents, I'm just a regular American who was screwed out of his vacation, dumped into a plane with this man that's tied up next to me, and brought to this place without any breakfast," Leon complained and I shot him a look that told him to shut up before his dry sarcasm got us killed.
"They came for you while you were on vacation and teamed you up with a stranger you know nothing about? Hey, Buddy, these guys have got to be pretty high up in the CIA for them to do that," the short man told the taller one with his eyes wide in astonishment.
"You've been watching too many movies," Leon remarked and Buddy leered down at us as he slowly paced in front of us.
"Then what are you and what about your friend? He's been very quiet since he woke up and is it common for people in America to be on vacation while packing one of these with the other one walking around having an armory on him?" Buddy interrogated as he lifted the rifle that was slung on the short man and pointed at my weapons and gear that were on the table.
"Sure, we've been doing it since the country was first founded and I don't know about him since he's not exactly a chatty Kathy," Leon said sarcastically and the short man started grinning.
"Wow, America's the bomb, yo!" the short man exclaimed excitingly but Buddy shot him an unamused glare and let go of Leon's rifle.
"Whatever, but even if you two are not CIA, it is no doubt that you must be pretty special for America to send both of you here. You two were able to take on that thing after all," Buddy pointed out as he leaned forward and my Wolf took that as a challenge while I narrowed my eyes.
"If you don't quit using those things, then you'll be dealing with something even worse than government loyalists," I warned lowly and Buddy looked at me.
"So, he speaks...I was wondering if you were going to say anything or if you were mute. Who do you work for? That insignia on your shoulders is unlike anything I've ever seen before so you're either with a branch of the American government that I haven't heard of, or you're working for an unknown third party that decided to get involved in this war by sending you here with him," Buddy theorized while shooting daggers at me and I sent a cold glare back at him.
"Not up for talking? Well, then there is no doubt about the fact that you two are our enemy," Buddy declared darkly and the elderly man started coughing harshly, causing Buddy to turn around and quickly head over to the man before checking on him to make sure he was okay.
I just simply stared at him with a stoic expression and knew that I could easily overpower the two men that were standing, but I had decided to play along and see what they were planning until I came up with a plan to get us out of this situation without Leon getting killed in the crossfire.
A/N Looks like David and Leon have encountered the rebels and it's not a good one, so David could easily take them down but he's playing along to see what they're planning before he comes up with a plan to escape with Leon.
I have to say, it was pretty fun writing down Leon's personality since the guy is such a smartass and it contrasts with David's cold and detached professionalism so expect some humorous scenes with David being forced to deal with Leon's dry sarcasm while they're working together.
Well, let me know what you think and stay tuned.