Disclaimer: Capcom owns the Resident Evil franchise. This story came from my own twisted, deranged mind. P.S. I am NOT crazy, I just have crazy thoughts.
Written by: Striker
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
The loud sound of the alarm clock's buzzer cut through the quite morning air. A man's hand shot out, fumbling for the snooze button. When that failed, he resorted to grabbing the clock and slamming it on nightstand. A woman's hand reached out and stopped him from destroying the clock. She then flipped a switch, turning off the alarm.
"You know, not everything has to be resolved with violence." Jill said, looking at Chris. They were currently lying in bed. Jill was on top, staring down at Chris. She could tell he wasn't fully awake. His hazel eyes were barely opened. "You certainly aren't a morning person."
"Give me a few minutes." He muttered. Something then caught his eye. "Is it me, or is your hair getting redder every day."
Jill grasped a strand of her hair and studied it. The reddish hue was stronger than the day before. "You're right. I have to dye my hair again."
"You know, I don't care what color your hair is." Chris said.
"Well I do." Jill replied. "It's a way to show I've changed since Raccoon. You stopped dressing in black and white. I dye my hair black."
"Fine." Chris looked at the clock. Five after nine. "We have less than an hour to get ready. I don't what to be late on the first day."
They both got up and got dressed. Jill dug in her bag and found some hair dye. She walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Chris shrugged and headed downstairs. It was a half hour later when Jill came down. Chris was sitting on the sofa in his "work clothes", black shirt, pants, and sneakers. Jill had on an orange top and denim shorts with brown hiking boots.
"Where's breakfast?" Jill asked.
"Why Jill, I thought you would make it." Chris said. "You are the woman."
Jill gave him a cold look. "That better be one of your lame jokes."
"Aren't we sensitive. I was waiting for you. I'm not going to cook by myself. Besides, things go faster with two people."
"Then let's go, I'm starving."
Chris got up and joined Jill, who was already searching fridge, to make breakfast.
Leon sat drinking coffee at the kitchen table. Sherry had finished her Fruit Loops and Claire was pulling her hair into her infamous ponytail. She had on a bluish-green top and kaki pants. Leon cocked his head and stared at Claire. "Do you always have to have your hair like that?"
"One, yes I do. And two, I hope you're going like that." Claire responded.
"Huh?" Leon was clad in an undershirt and blue jeans. He had
a pair of black socks on. "Your brother dresses like this. Why can't I get away
with it."
"Because you're not Chris." Claire said. "Also, he wears T-shirts. That's an undershirt, as in you wear that under your shirt."
Picky, picky." Leon said. "I'll go change." Leon got up and headed for the stairs.
When he was gone, Claire turned to Sherry. "I have him so well trained."
Sherry giggled. "Hey Claire, am I coming with you?"
"No." Claire said. "Kathy is taking you and the rest of the kids to D.C. You're going to the Natural History Museum, American History Museum, Air and Space. You're going to have a fun time."
"Will Rott be going too?" Sherry asked.
"Yes." Claire gave her a sly look. "Why?"
"Because, he's my friend." Sherry said defensively.
Claire knew full well what was happening. Sherry was growing up too fast and was beginning to notice boys. The only boy, however, had been Rott. She had heard from Leon what Rott had said the other night. Hell, she had seen it while everyone was at the old hideout. Now she had to face every parent's greatest fear. Sherry had a crush on Rott. Claire was about to say something when Leon covered her eyes with his hands.
"Peek-a-boo." Leon said.
Claire elbowed him in the stomach. "At your age. You're setting a bad example for Sherry." Claire saw that Leon had put on a white polo shirt. A car horn blared from outside. "That must be Kathy. Let's go."
Sherry and Claire grabbed their "Made In Heaven" jackets while Leon left his jacket behind. The trio walked outside to see Kathy pulled up next to the curb. The three girls were in the back and Rott was in the second seat. Sherry ran to the mini-van and hopped in next to Rott. Barry got out of the mini-van and walked up to Leon. He had on a dark-red shirt and black slacks.
"Hey, since Kathy is taking Sherry out, you have to give me a ride." He said.
"Why couldn't you ask Ark?" Leon asked.
"Because yours was the last house we were stopping at." Barry replied. "We still have a few minutes till we have to leave." Barry waved as Kathy honked and pulled away. "So, how was your first night here?" The coy looks he got told him more than he needed to know. "On second thought, don't say a word."
"I can guess what you did, Barry. You probably sent the girls to bed, put on some soft music, and had yourself a little candlelight dinner."
Barry rolled his eyes and turned to Chris, who was walking across the lawn between his house and Claire's. "You should talk. Your idea of a romantic evening is take-out food, a little necking, and then a trip to the bedroom."
"Doesn't it always end up there?" Leon asked. He got a sharp jab from Claire.
"I don't always think like that." Chris said. "I can be decent."
"Define decent." Claire said mockingly.
"Decent that I don't kick your ass for saying that." Chris turned to Barry. "I just came to say that we're leaving in a few minutes. Jill's calling the others now. I have a strong feeling someone's still asleep."
"OK." Just then Claire saw something glitter from under the right sleeve of Chris' brown jacket. "What's that?"
"Nothing." Chris covered his right arm, tapping his sleeve with his left index finger.
"You are such a terrible liar." Claire said. She walked up and grabbed her brother's arm.
"HEY!" Chris shouted.
"Uh huh." Claire said holding up his arm and pointing at the bracelet. "Since when did you start wearing jewelry?"
"Since Jill bought it for me last night." Chris yanked his arm away. "I knew you would do this. Don't go telling everyone and Leon, no comments."
Leon put his hands in front of him. "I was just going to say that I wish Claire would buy me something like that."
Claire gave him a scowl. Chris looked at his friends. "Jill will be done soon. Get ready to move out." Chris turned and headed for his mini-van.
"Do me a favor." Barry said. "Don't tell anyone. I don't want Chris angry."
"Fine." Claire ran to her mini-van and jumped behind the wheel.
Leon got in the passenger seat. "I thought I was going to drive."
"I'll let you drive home." Claire replied.
"This is going to be a long ride." Barry groaned.
"Good. It won't be long now. I thank you for your help." Wesker hit the off button on his cell phone and turned to Nicholai. "Soon those fools will be dead, and we will be heroes."
"And what if we fail?" Nicholai asked.
"I told Spencer that in the event the S.T.A.R.S. do survive, we'd have valuable battle data." Wesker replied. "That way we won't make the same mistakes twice. I know how to cover my back."
Nicholai looked at the gray building looming before him. "Has anyone told you that you are too smart, conniving, and manipulative for your own good?"
"I'll take that as a compliment." Wesker walked up to the main entrance. "We must make ready for our friends. We will set the trap, and wait for the mice to scurry into it."
Nicholai closed his eyes. 'You better not live to regret this comrade.' He thought to himself. He slowly followed Wesker into the abandon factory.
The plan was simple. Nicholai was to stay in the security room. From there he could monitor the S.T.A.R.S. progress and report to Wesker. Wesker would then release and B.O.W.s and sent them after the S.T.A.R.S. At a certain point, Wesker would take over at the security room. Nicholai would start the escape train while Wesker set the self-destruct sequence. If this plan went successfully, the greatest threat to Umbrella would be gone.
Wesker checked the cameras. "These seem to be in working order. The creatures are in place, and so are we."
Nicholai took his seat in front of an electronic map. A red dot on the map corresponded to the image displayed on a monitor that sat beneath it. Nicholai switched to another camera. The dots changed to match the image. "I should have no trouble tracking them." He said.
Wesker smiled before asking Nicholai something odd. "Are Redfield and Valentine a couple?"
Nicholai was caught off guard. "I'm not really sure. In Atlanta they were spotted together, but there could have been another explanation. Why do you ask?"
"Knowledge is power." Wesker replied. "If you know your enemies weaknesses, then you know how to beat them. When I was still in S.T.A.R.S., those two were close. Yet they never were quite committed to each other. I knew if those two ever became a couple, it would be a serious problem. I later came to find out that they had grown closer during X-Day. After that I do not know. I need to know that information. With it I can beat them."
"Come to think of it, I think they are." Nicholai said. "I shadowed them in Gabesville. They acted very much like a couple. When they were confronted with the Nemesis, Miss Valentine was scared. Mr. Redfield looked concerned. He was especially offended by a certain comment I made. I even heard Miss Valentine mention Mr. Redfield a number of times in Raccoon City. It can be assumed that they are together."
"Then I can use that to my advantage." Wesker gave a menacing laugh. "And I will enjoy it."
The group was escorted into a briefing room. They took their seats as Major Peterson and Carl stood next to a screen. Carl began the briefing. "Last night we broke into Umbrella's network to see what they were doing. We looked into Project X. It's amazing that Umbrella considers you such a huge threat. Anyway, we found something that may be of interest to you."
Peterson dimmed the lights and activated the projector. He pointed to the document that was on the screen. "This appears to be a memo to a factory in Ohio. Basically it tells them to start producing Tyrants. I read what you have on Tyrants and this could be big trouble. We crosschecked the location of the factory with the list in Redfields laptop to see if this was true. The factory in question is near Tiffin."
Carl continued. "We pulled out all the data in Chris' laptop and got some floor plans. According to the memo the factory will be empty for the next few days while materials and workers are being gathered. The only people should be workers renovating the place. We plan on striking this afternoon. You will be dropped off at the front door. What you do from there is up to you. There should be no resistance, so this should be easy."
"According to what I had, that factory should be closed down." Chris said.
"Looks like Umbrella's having a grand re-opening of the worst kind." Jeff said.
Ark spoke up. "How hard was it to get this?"
"We had to go deep into the network to find it." Carl said. "I case it is a trap, you'll have a back-up squad to help you out. I know it sounds to good to be true, but we can't take any chances."
"I understand." Chris said. "You can't risk passing this up in case this may be true. We have to go. Even if we're wrong, that factory has to be destroyed."
"Good." Peterson said. "Sergeant Monroe will meet you at the armory to give you your weapons. Dismissed."
"Welcome to my favorite place on the base." Monroe had set up a table on which he had weapons scattered about. "The stuff you had was good, but this is better. With what we will give you, nothing will stand in your way." He picked up a S.T.A.R.S. Berretta. "Just like we use. However, If you want something with stopping power take this." He held up a .45. "Smith and Western .45 Semi-automatic pistol. This baby can also be equipped with a palm-activated laser sight and silencer."
"We'll take both pistols." Chris said. "The Berretta with be our primary pistol. The .45 will act as secondary. What about automatic weapons?"
"Got ya covered." Monroe held up an assault rifle. "M16A2 Semi-auto rifle with M203 Grenade Launcher attachment. We have several grenade rounds. I believe you are familiar with the Standard, Flame, and Acid rounds. We don't have Freeze or Anti-B.O.W. rounds. We do have three others. We got Shrapnel, Cluster, and Flash rounds. Shrapnel rounds will sent out sharp pieces of metal, just find some cover before firing. Cluster rounds will release small explosives, like a carpet bomb. Flash rounds will send out a strong flash that will temporarily blind any living thing. It will knock out cameras by releasing metal filaments that will confuse the camera."
"This means that we can all have grenade launchers." Jill said. "Kind of like a two-for-one."
"Glad you like that." Monroe said. He held up a pair of pistols. "M100P Automatic machine pistols. You can have some fun with these babies. Now on to the Magnums. The Colts you have are good, but I prefer this." He lifted a large Desert Eagle. "This baby is a Desert Eagle .50 cal. It's loud, but if you hit your target it's the last thing it will hear. I saw someone shoot a dummy with this thing in the throat. Decapitated that damn thing. You get hit by this, you'll be lucky if you just loose an arm or leg."
"We need a sniper rifle." Chris said.
Monroe nodded and grabbed a large sniper rifle. "This is the PSG-1. It's the best sniper rifle we got. It looks big, but it's light." He then held up what looked like a small bazooka. "This is a LAW, Light Artillery Weapon. This can take out lightly armored vehicles from a short range. Only problem is you get one shot. You miss you're fucked. Now this is my favorite." Monroe lifted up a large gun from behind the table. "This is a M429 SAW Squad Assault Rifle. Either uses a chain or clip. Fully automatic, just fire like you're watering the yard. This thing can cause a lot of damage."
"Good." Chris said. "Give one to Carlos and another to Janet. These will be good against Tyrants."
Barry was scanning the room when something caught his eye. "Oh yes, I always wanted to shoot one of these." His gaze fell upon a large rifle, larger than the SAW.
"That's a M60 chain gun. Fires up to 500 rounds a minute, but I wouldn't suggest doing that." Monroe said.
"Why?" Kelly asked.
"Because," Barry replied, "The barrel will get red-hot and melt. This is what I need."
"Get two." Jess said. "I'm not going to let you have all the fun, old man."
"I'll see what I can do." Monroe said. "About the shotguns, the only one's we have here are combat shotguns for the MPs. We had some Custom Westerns ordered for you. They're in the back. That's is for the weapons. The only thing we have to deal with is the ammo."
Chris picked up the Berretta and unloaded the clip. "I need hollow-point bullets, preferably armor-piercing. I also want Slag shells for the shotguns. What do you have for explosives?"
"A man that knows his weapons." Monroe said. "As for explosives, we got grenades, chaff grenades, stun grenades, flame grenades, any grenade you want. We got Claymores, C4, trip-wire bombs, and remote bombs. It goes boom, we got it. Any type of rocket launcher you want for those Tyrants we can give you. Hell, we'll give you a fucking Abrams tank to take those bastards out." Monroe pointed to the back of the armory. "Major has something he wants me to show Chris, Jill, James, and Ada. The rest of you stay here."
Monroe led his party to a room. On top of a set of crates lay several objects covered by some rags. Monroe removed the rags to reveal two guns that reminded Chris of the rail-guns from the movie Eraser.
"These are smaller models of the…" Monroe began.
Jill cut him off. "The Paracelcus Sword."
"How did you know that?" Monroe was shocked.
"I fired the original at Raccoon City. It was the only way I could kill the Nemesis." Jill replied.
"Why are you showing only us?" Chris asked.
"Because you four seem to be the leaders of your group." Monroe said. "And because these are top secret. No one can know they exist. In fact, they don't. Major Peterson went through a lot of grief to get these here. Only eight of these exist. You want something that can take out a Tyrant, these will do the job."
"How does it work?" Ada asked.
"Simple, it fires an aluminum round at high speeds along a magnetic "rail," generated by the weapon." Chris said. "At least that's what I've read in magazines. I also read that these rounds can go through just about anything."
"Correct." Monroe said. "This gun can penetrate the armor on any tank ever built. These will have no problem taking a Tyrant out. That's all."
The team got the weapons and ammo and headed for a supply building. There they would get their uniforms. Everyone had Berrettas, .45s, and M16A2s. Claire, Rebecca, Eliza, and Kelly got M100Ps. Claire also got the PSG-1. Chris had his double-barrel shotgun and his Colt Python. The other had a Custom Western or a Desert Eagle .50 cal. They also got assorted grenade rounds, explosives, and six inch combat knifes that looked like miniature machetes. Chris had passed up on the heavy weapons; this was to be an easy mission. The vans pulled up to the supply building. The team got out and walked inside.
"You must be here for the uniforms." The woman said. "We have them right here. There're rooms in the back to change." She called out everyone's name, handing him or her each a black duffle bag. The group when back to see their new uniforms.
Chris stood admiring his uniform. He had on a white T-shirt and a pair of navy blue dress pants. He also had on, by his request, a pair of Northwest Territory hiking boots. The most impressive part was the jacket. It was navy blue. His first name was displayed above his left breast and his last name above his right. On the left sleeve just below the shoulder was an Army patch. On the right sleeve just below the shoulder was a S.T.A.R.S. patch. S.T.A.R.S. was also sown across the back, with the symbol for S.T.A.R.S. underneath. 'Peterson had put a lot of thought into this.' He thought. Chris closed his eyes. He swore he was back in Raccoon City, in the locker room. He could hear Forest's jokes, and hear Enrico respond to them. He could hear Edward, Joseph, and Richard hounding Brad. He could hear Rebecca nervously talking to Barry. He could even swear he heard Jill calling his name, putting her hand on his shoulder, telling him to wake up. Chris snapped out of his dream to see Jill shaking his shoulder.
"Glad you could come back to Earth." She said. "For a minute there I thought you had gone into a coma."
"Just thinking back to the old days." Chris replied. "You look good, but the necklace is a little too much."
Jill laughed. She had on the same outfit as Chris, except for the black T-shirt and beret, which had the S.T.A.R.S. symbol on it. "Same to you."
Chris pulled out a pair of shades from his pocket. They had been in the bag. He put them on a looked at Jill. "Well?"
"You look like a nicer version Wesker."
"All I need to do now is dye my hair blond and pour grease on it and I'll be fine."
"So what's the plan?"
"We'll decide on the way there. According to our information we should have as much time as we need. However, I have a bad feeling about this."
"What kind of feeling?"
"That we're going through hell." Chris looked down at the floor. "Let's go, the others are waiting." Chris and Jill left, both expecting the worse.
Author's Comments: The trap has been set, the bait taken. Now the S.T.A.R.S. are about to walk into a deadly situation. Good thing they're armed for the job. Did you check out the firepower? Talk about heavy weapons. By the way, all weapons mentioned either exist in Resident Evil or are weapons used by the U.S. military. I should know. I had to take apart and reassemble a M16A2, SAW, and M60 for a R.O.T.C. class I'm taking right now. And what about the rail-guns? A blast from the past for sure. Look for those puppies to be used later. Plus we got new uniforms. How fitting that the S.T.A.R.S. logo be used. Well, let's see what happens next.
In the next chapter the mission is underway. What new perils await the S.T.A.R.S.? What new horrors does Wesker have ready to spring on them? What will Chris' reaction be to Wesker? How will Wesker use Chris' relationship with Jill? Will all be destroyed? When will I shut up? Find out the answers to all these questions (except the last one) in RE Armageddon: Part IV, Chapter 10- Oh God…