Disclaimer: All Resident evil, characters, places and things all belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of it. This fanfic is purely for the fun and enjoyment of others and myself. I make no money from it.
RESIDENT EVIL: ROAD TO DESTINY
CHAPTER 5
Chris Redfeild looked around at all the surrounding faces trained on him. He knew the news he was about to deliver would shock them all. He didn't want to have to burden his friends with any more hardships however if he didn't tell them then he would only be causing more harm in the long run. Chris slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
They where all situated in the safehouse Chris had set up in an isolated forest located in the southern most part of Europe. Now, sitting in the Main Hall of that safehouse everyone's attention was drawn to him. He scanned every face in the room and saw that everyone was willing to give their full support except for Carlos who only gave him frowns whenever possible. Chris cleared his throat.
"Ok to start this off, I just want to make sure everyone's off on the same foot. Now I'm sure you all know that Umbrella's been going over some variations of the T virus since the outbreak at Spencer Estate."
"As far as I'm aware, there's only been two variations so far haven't there?" Jill asked.
Chris shook his head. "Not quite Jill. So far Umbrella's constructed the T and G virus. Now we all know the T virus acts as a viral agent designed to target living flesh and to slowly decompose it but at the same time, keep the body active, rendering the Subject lifeless but still mobile enough to carry out certain basic functions; walking, moaning, eating etc. The G virus on the other hand has a similar function of distorting the body but it has an ability to keep the subjects consciousness from dying. The subject gets to keep his or her sentient cognitive abilities however after extensive study of this we are aware that even then the 'true person' who is that subject, dies. All that is left is an organism who runs on nothing more then the natural instinct to survive and multiply. They also have the ability to Revitalize cellular functions. Much like a virus itself."
Claire and Leon traded concerned looks towards one another and regarded Sherry with concern. Fortunately, the young girl was sleeping at this time. They both knew her father was the very victim of that very same virus. They just both hoped Sherry wouldn't realize the connection yet.
Chris continued. "Suffice to say, It is evident that Umbrella is moving up in their experiments. Think about it. Do any of you see where this is heading?"
"Of course!" Barry shot up from his seat almost screaming. Everyone trained their eyes on him expectantly. In return Barry threw his arms out in anxiety. "Don't you all get it? Why would Umbrella need to further their studies after going so far as creating the Tyrant? That alone is enough to fuel a full scale war and be victorious. No, Umbrella has higher aspirations. They're trying to create actual sentient beings!"
Everyone gasped visibly. Chris nodded and grabbed everyone's attention once more. "Exactly. Umbrella's trying to play god with human life. An act so heinous we can't just stand here and let them do it. However, that's not the full story. There's more you all should know. Umbrella's not the only company in the market who's trying to produce synthetic human beings. In my time investigating the workings of Umbrella, I found out some pretty interesting things. Everything starts back to the lifetime of Veronica Ashford."
"Veronica?" Jill asked in a confused voice. "Who's that?"
"Veronica was the head of her family line. She was looked upon highly by her family and also many others because of her quick mind, beauty and cunning. She was quite literally a tactical genius in everything that she did. According to the records Umbrella left behind, during her lifetime she was involved in all kinds of military secrets and conspiracies. She singly handedly led the Ashford family to glory as she raised a small militia and, after a few well-placed decisions and alliances, was able to fortify that militia into a pretty large army. Of course that army was disguised under the cover of a code named company. Nobody truly realized how dangerous she was until she finally passed away. In the prime of her life she grew very ill through a strange virus and required medical attention that was apparently non-existent. During her lifetime, her one main aspiration was to recreate the world in her own image; a plan that was surprisingly close to being realized until her sudden death. Aside from being smart in tactics and strategies, she was also a very brilliant scientist and focused her studies on biological structures and components. From what I can gather, she developed some kind of component that could control human thought processes and give regular human's abnormal abilities; extended brain capacities, enhanced strength, stuff like that."
"Telepathy?" James asked in disbelief. "But… that's not possible is it?"
Chris shrugged. "Apparently she made the impossible, possible. She also preformed minor studies in the research of maintaining youth. This main strand of research was where the components of the "T" virus where first derived from. Yet no one could perfect any of her research. Her brilliance was abnormal. Thus, all in all, the focal point of all her research followed her to the grave."
Jill nodded slowly, now totally understanding what Chris was getting at. "Now I see what you're saying! So Umbrella is performing all of these experiments just as studies so they can one day resurrect the body of the deceased Veronica Ashford?"
Chris shook his head slowly. "Not quite." He messaged his temples as he tried to explain the current events.
"In the time of Veronica's lifetime, only two main powers knew of her secrets. One was, of course, her family and the other was an organization that was aiding her in her research. That organization supposedly died off 10 years after she passed away. After a few generations passed, the Ashford family tired diligently to revive their great relative and restore honor and glory to their, once proud, family name. They employed the services of one particularly wealthy man in conducting their research. A certain Mr. Adam Spencer. Spencer was impressed by the magnitude of their research and decided to take it to higher levels. He revealed the Ashford secrets to another man by the name of William Umbrelant. At that time, Umberlant was head of a science pharmaceutical company working on geno-structures. His firm had a lot of clout within almost everything. Spencer was greedy and wished to gain more power by combining the Ashford science with his own wealth and that of Umberlant's Corporation to create his own power and establish a place for himself in the world. William had similar goals and it was because of that similarity that conflict soon evolved. The Ashford family found out about Spencer's betrayal but could do nothing because of his backing with the powerful Umbrella Corporation. Soon after, Spencer set up his own testing facility in a Mansion he built for himself just outside of Raccoon City. To his misfortune, in severing his ties with the Ashford family, Umbrella had no more use for him. It is speculated that Spencer was the first to be conformed into one of the zombies but no factual information exists to validate that claim. Anyway, from there, Umbrella began their own research, deriving from the little knowledge Spencer was able to steal from the Ashfords. Thus was the origin of the "T" virus and all of its derivatives. However, what Umbrella wasn't expecting was that the long dead science organization that helped in the research of Veronica herself, has now reasserted itself."
"What?" Barry was livid by this time. "So now there's another organization we have to deal with besides Umbrella!?"
Chris nodded his head grimly. "But that's not all. This new science organization, calling itself ARMERAX, has more knowledge and studies of the original viral strands then Umbrella could ever hope to imagine. Apparently they got wind of Umbrella's secret testing projects and have decided to resume their research. They want to resurrect the dead Veronica and pick up on the dream she left behind in her death."
Everyone in the room was now shocked beyond belief. Chris swallowed the lump in his throat and continued.
"Umbrella wanted to amass Biological soldiers who could obey any orders and take massive punishment. They didn't want the mindless killing machines they had perfected in creating so far. Once they accomplished that goal, they could sell them off to military companies and control everything from the shadows. That's where their research was heading. Now that the Armerax Corporation has reappeared Umbrella now wants to salvage their idea by unleashing viral bio-gas across the globe contaminating every man woman and child. Of course they hold the antidote. Once the governments of the wold pay them their ransom, they will have enough power and authority to handle the Armerax Corporation easily and still gain the status they originally set out to obtain."
"Oh my god." Jill said in a shocked whisper. Barry was equally shocked but couldn't get any words out through his gaping mouth. Chris closed his eyes and massaged his temples once more.
"I know this is shocking to you all but I brought you all here because of that reason. Due to the shortage of time, Umbrella has isolated their main base to one specific location, Northern Ireland. That's the main base where they tend to flip the switch setting off the poisonous gases across the world. That's why I want you all to help me in taking down that facility. That's Umbrella's stronghold. If we take that place down, we can effectively destroy Umbrella all together."
"What about the separate bases they have set up for setting off their toxins? Shouldn't we be worrying about those too?" Barry asked, regaining his voice once again.
"Don't worry about those. Those facilities are all controlled directly from Umbrella's main base. They won't do anything so nuclear unless the switch is pushed directly from there. Once we take out their main base, as a matter of priority, we can then take out their secondary bases to ensure the virus doesn't leak out or anything of that matter."
"And what about this other organization? Scott Aiken asked. "Aren't they just as big a threat as Umbrella? If not bigger?"
Chris nodded sagely. "Yes they are a very big threat but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, Umbrella is the greater of the two evils and we have to take them down first. Once Umbrella is out of the picture, we'll have plenty of time to wipe out Armerax."
James Mathy frowned and began rubbing his eyelids in frustration. "And how the hell do you propose that the 12 of us rush into a whole fu#king stronghold and wipe them out? Now I may seem vain but this is one hell of a feat you're talking about here."
"That's just it!" Chris answered enthusiastically. "No one would expect a small independent groups of rebels to storm into a powerful stronghold like Umbrella. Besides, they don't even know that we know the location of their facility yet! Umbrella no longer has any time to worry about the S.T.A.R.'s anymore. They don't care if we go public since their going to be releasing the toxin's anyway. Right now their main concern in the Armerax Corporation. We can use this to our advantage and gain the upper hand."
"But still…" Derrick Mathy interjected. "It's still a big risk… Breaking into Umbrella's stronghold. They've got to be loaded with security camera's and the sort."
"And that's exactly why this mission needs to entail the utmost stealth involved! I was able to save the layouts of their facility on disc when I infiltrated one of their London lab facilities. We'll plot out infiltration strategy from there."
Barry said nothing but listened wearily. 'This is all too easy.' He thought morbidly. 'I hope Chris isn't rushing things too much with this. But still… There's no time left. If Umbrella is planning something this big, every man woman and child on this earth are in danger and it seems the only one's who can save them are us. This is a risk we have no choice but to take.'
Sitting on the other side of the table, Jill Valentine was having similarly troubling thoughts. 'Can we really succeed against the entire Umbrella facility?' Thousands of questions ran through her head all at once. This was definitely a very severe situation.
Chris looked around at everyone's brooding silence. He really hated to be the barer of such bad news but it couldn't be helped. Right now he needed his friends help more then ever.
Suddenly Carlos stood up abruptly. "I got a question!" He stated boldly.
Chris trained his eyes on the former Mercenary but said nothing. That was the Closest Carlos could get to a response from Chris. However the man was unheeded.
"How is it that you know so much? You come around calling us all and telling us to meet you for this big ass event that's coming up but you sure as hell know a lot about what's really going on behind the scenes!"
Chris sighed heavily, catching on to what the young man meant by his accusation. Apparently so did Jill, as she too rose from her seat and glared daggers at Carlos.
"How dare you! Carlos are you insinuating that Chris is a traitor?"
Carlos matched her glare head on. "I ain't insinuating nothing! I'm merely stating what's obviously staring me right in the face!"
Barry was now livid with anger and was fast on his feet. "Listen here you little $hit, who the hell do you think you are to accuse someone you don't even know of something so heinous? Chris would never do anything like that!"
Chis shook his head then stepped forward. "Look, I appreciate the support everyone but Carlos does have a point. I do know a lot about Umbrella and their workings. I did a lot of infiltration and uncovered a hell of a lot of mysteries. And because of that, Umbrella wants me dead."
Chris walked over to a nearby computer and typed in a random police code which he used back when he was a member of S.T.A.R.S working with the RPD. As soon as the screen popped up he typed in a few other commands and suddenly a new image appeared. Everyone in the room except for Carlos gasped. On the screen was a Photo of Chris Redfield with a 'Most Wanted' sign over him.
"This posting is on every police computer in America and I'm quite sure its on the one's in London and Europe as well."
Rebecca turned towards Chris in shock. "But I thought you said that Umbrella couldn't worry about the S.T.A.R.S anymore? Why are they still haunting you?"
"Umbrella somehow knows about me finding out their secrets and so they haven't hid the fact that they want me out of the picture. If I were to expose their plots now, even though its pretty obvious no one would probably believe me, it's still too much of a security risk to take. So, taking me out is a top priority for them; at least until they unleash their toxins. That's why I've been on a pretty low key for a while. I really didn't want to get the rest of you involved on this but…"
Barry understood immediately and nodded wisely. "It's too late for that now Chris. Umbrella has gone too far. You did the right thing contacting us."
"Yeah!" Rebbecca added. "We can take down Umbrella, no problem! Right Claire?"
Claire nodded her encouragement and soon after, everyone voiced their confidence in this new mission. Chris nodded proudly.
"Thank you all for your support. If we do this right, I'm sure we can all make it out in one piece."
Jill watched Chris quietly. He had truly changed indeed. He still had his boyish habits about him. She could tell by some of the reactions me made during his lecture but still. There was a more penetrating seriousness about him which she never saw before. Perhaps it was because of the stress of this new situation but it was almost as if he bore the weight of much sorrow in the past four months they were apart. She felt sorry for him that he had to take on this entire role alone. Out of friendship and emotions she told herself she no longer felt, she desperately wished she could reach out to him and comfort him, to ease away some to the pain he was going through inside. 'Oh Chris…'
She suddenly felt a rough hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw that Carlos was looking at her with a sympathetic look. "Jill…I'm sorry about… you know… not trusting Chris and all that. I didn't mean to go off the way I did but…"
Jill sighed heavily and cupped Carlos hand in hers. "It's ok Carlos. Believe it or not, I know what you're going through. We're all scared and worried about what's to come. None of us could have seen this coming from Umbrella."
Carlos swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded slowly. "Yeah… I guess you're right. It's just… Damnit everything's all screwed up! I don't know what to think anymore. Ya know only a few months ago, I thought nothing of Umbrella except that they were another company hiring mercenaries to do their dirty work. And now…"
Jill tenderly caressed Carlos face. "I know." She replied quietly. "It's hard to cope with something like this. The others and I were going through the same trauma after our adventures in the Spencer Estate. We just have to trust each other."
Carlos slowly nodded his head. He looked at Jill passionately, lost in her beautiful brown eyes. Every time he looked at her he felt as if he had been stabbed in the heart. He never felt this way before and in some ways it scared him. He realized long ago that he was in love with her and tried to tell her as much two months ago but she wouldn't listen. He fervently hoped she would listen this time. He closed his eyes softly trying to think of the words. "Jill…I…"
Jill slowly put a single finger on his lips. "Shhh… Don't say it Carlos… Now… isn't the time for this kind of thing."
"But-"
"Shh.." Jill cut him off again. "I promise, we'll talk later."
Carlos settled for a nod and took a few faltering steps back, giving her enough room to walk off and talk with Barry. Carlos watched after her for a moment in insecurity. He didn't know what he would do if he ever lost her in his life.
Chris looked towards all of his friends with deep sympathy in his eyes. 'Face it Chris. They all had lives before this and the fact that you're starting this mission now could mean that they may never make it back. You'll have to live with the fact that you took away their happiness.'
Chris lowered his eyes in silence then walked into the back room. One soft sentence escaped his lips as he closed the door behind him, leaving everyone else still talking over the information he had just revealed.
"I'm sorry…"
::::::::::To Be Contined::::::::
Authors note: Thanks for reading everyone. I hope this chapter didn't take too long. Anyway the plot should get better from here on out. Thanks for reading!