Disclaimer: One last time! Resident Evil and everything else associated with it belongs to Capcom. This story however, belongs to me.
Written by: Striker
The S.T.A.R.S. poured into the missile control room. As James entered he pulled a radio from the belt and switched it on. "Major, we're in the control room."
Peterson picked up his radio. "Good work. What's the situation with Wesker and Nicholai?"
"They're both dead." James replied. "Whatever was in that gun sure the hell worked."
"Remind me to congratulate Chambers and Walker when this mission is over." Peterson looked at his watch. "How much time to you have?"
James looked at the LED display above the map. There was only one minute remaining. "Not good. We can't stop the launch now."
The team stood helpless as the counter reached zero. Outside two of the silo covers opened and two missiles shot out. Peterson's men watched as the missiles flew overhead, on their way to DC.
"The missiles are on their way." Peterson said gravely. "You have thirty minutes until they hit, maybe less. Whatever you plan on doing, you better do it now."
"We came so close." Kelly said. "This is horrible."
"We're not done yet." Barry said. "We can blow the missiles before they reach DC."
Rebecca shook her head. "We can't destroy them. If we do, we'll just spread the virus somewhere else."
"At least tell me that we can evacuate DC in time." Ada said.
James spoke into his radio. "Major, is DC evacuated yet?"
"The President, Vice-President, and Congress have been moved to a safe place." Peterson replied. "However, over half the civilian population is still in the city. We won't have time."
"Sherry." Claire said. "The other children."
"Kathy, the girls." Barry moaned. "We have to do something."
"There's nothing we can do." Jeff said. "Face it, we're screwed."
During all this Chris stared at the map, trying to figure out what the team could possibly do. He saw the answer and kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner. "Why don't we crash them?"
Jill looked at Chris is shock. "Did your brain get messed up by Wesker? That's stupid."
"Yeah." Leon added. "Considering that's what we're trying to avoid."
"No, I'm serious." Chris said, pointing at the map. "I say we drop the missiles into a body of water. Now, what major body of water cuts through DC?"
"The Potomac." James replied. "That just might work. Major, we're going to try to get the missiles to splash into the Potomac River."
Peterson smiled. "Great idea. I'll have a dive team ready. Where are you going to send them?"
Chris took the radio. "Right in front of the Jefferson Memorial. Don't worry, we'll do this." Chris turned to James. "Do you think you can re-program the missiles' destination?"
James nodded. "I sure can. All I need to do is change the latitude and longitude. It should only take a few minutes."
"You got twenty-five minutes." Chris said. "Get to it."
James ran over to the central terminal and tried logging on to the system. "Shit, my ID won't work. I can't get in."
"Move over." Ark said. "There isn't a computer I've met that I couldn't hack into." Ark got behind the terminal and started typing.
"Book it Ark." Leon said. "We don't have much time left."
"Almost there." Ark replied. A menu soon appeared on the screen. "Damn I'm good."
Ark moved to let James go to work. He navigated through the system until he got to the missiles targeting screen. "Ada, I need you to bring up a map of DC. I need the exact coordinates to enter."
Ada ran to another terminal quickly began typing. The large map changed to a close-up of downtown DC. "Map's up."
"Hurry up." Chris said. "We only have about twenty minutes."
Rick looked up at the map, but something else caught his eye. The LED counter was counting down again. Only this time less then ten minutes remained. "Oh shit. I hate to say this, but we only have ten minutes left."
James looked up at the counter. "Dammit, I knew Wesker was lying." He quickly began typing in new longitudes and latitudes for one of the missiles. "I'm going to have to program the engines to cut out. That way the missiles will fall into the water instead of slamming into it. Only problem is that I can only program one at a time."
"Do it." Barry said. "We can't let those missile explode over Washington."
James finished changing the coordinate for one missile and began on the engines. "One down, one to go."
"You only got six minutes." Rick said.
James began on the other missile, starting with the coordinates. "Almost done." He finished and started on the missile's engine. A little more typing and he was done.
"Now we wait." Chris said.
"One minute." Rick said.
The missiles flew towards DC, streaking through the sky. People still in the streets looked up as the missiles approached. Slowly the missiles began to turn towards the memorials. The engines began to stall as the missiles past the Lincoln Memorial. The engines cut and the missiles fell into the water in front of the FDR Memorial. Both weapons slowly began to sink to the bottom.
The S.T.A.R.S. nervously stared at the screen. They had
followed the moving, red lines that had signified the missiles' potions when
the lines broke over the water. The silence was broken by the crackle of James'
radio. "You did it. The missiles hit the Tidal Basin and sunk to the bottom.
Recovery teams are being dispatched from the Naval Yard to recover the
warheads."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and began to hug each other. Chris slapped James on the shoulder. "Good job Jim."
"It was your idea." James replied.
"Hey Ark." Chris called. "Nice going."
Ark smiled at Chris' compliment. "Just doing my job. Now let's get the hell out of here."
Rebecca approached Chris and Jill, who were making their way out of the room. "Max and I will have to look at those wounds of yours. You took a pounding."
"We have all the time in the world now." Jill said.
The S.T.A.R.S. were met with cheers as they exited the complex. "You saved the world." Peterson said, approaching the group. "How do you feel?"
"Like we need a vacation." Ada said.
"What about the missiles?" Barry asked.
Monroe ran towards the group. "Recovery teams say the missiles are fine. No breaches or leaks. We'll send a team here to dismantle the remaining missiles that are still here. We also have orders to return to base. If you ask me, we'll get a promotion out of this."
"You heard the man." Peterson said. "Let's go home."
The reception at the base was amazing. Solders swarmed the copters as they landed. As the S.T.A.R.S. got out solders slapped them on the backs and gave them high-fives. Barry saw Kathy and his children run towards him. He tearfully hugged them, happy to see them safe. As Claire got out Sherry ran towards her. Claire gave Sherry a big hug as Leon joined them. As soon as Sherry saw him, she ran to him and gave him a hug. Ark and Eliza made their way to Rott and Lily. The children shouted with joy and ran to them. Eliza hugged Lily and lifted her off the ground. Rott gave Ark a high-five before hugging him.
Chris and Peterson made their way through the crowd. "This is going to be one hell of a party Scott." Chris said.
"You earned it Chris." Peterson replied. "We all earned it."
Jill walked up to Chris and wrapped her arm around his waist. "It's finally over." She said softly.
"Guess this means we're going to have a boring life from now on, huh?" Chris said, looking into Jill's eyes.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Jill replied. The two held each other as the solders began to chant "S.T.A.R.S."
Chris stood in front of Lee's House in the Arlington National Cemetery looking at the city. It had been two weeks since he and the other S.T.A.R.S. had brought Umbrella down. His wounds had fully healed and the nightmares had finally stopped. However, the memories had not disappeared. Soon after Umbrella's downfall the government had built a memorial to Raccoon City and the original S.T.A.R.S. members who had died in the Spencer Mansion. Chris had found himself visiting the memorial almost every day. He also came to look out at DC. Today was no different as Chris looked at the busy city across the river, playing with his bracelet. He soon heard the sound of footsteps approaching. He turned to see Jill, Claire, Leon, Ada, and James making their way towards him. "Come to join me?"
"No," James said, "we came to give you some good news. As of tomorrow we will be the DC S.T.A.R.S. and the leaders of a new S.T.A.R.S. team."
"Since the S.T.A.R.S. were associated with Umbrella, the military reformed the unit." Leon added.
"Who's the new captain of the DC S.T.A.R.S. going to be?" Chris asked.
Claire slapped her brother on the arm. "You silly. Not only that but you're also commander of the entire S.T.A.R.S. organization. Looks like you have a big job ahead of you."
Chris chuckled to himself. "So I'm the boss. Well, at least I have you guys to help me out."
"Count on it." Jill said.
"Hey," Ada chimed in, "we're all meeting at the Hard Rock in a few minutes. We came to get you."
"I'll meet you at the entrance." Chris replied. "Jill, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Jill nodded and joined Chris as the others left. "What do you want?"
"I've been thinking about us and I came to the conclusion that I should ask you something important." Chris dug in his pocket and produced a small, black box.
Jill looked at the box and then at Chris. "Chris, I…"
Chris took a deep breath and opened the box. "Jill, will you marry me?" Jill looked at the ring, tears forming in her eyes. She didn't say anything; instead she gave Chris a long kiss. "I take it that was a yes?" Chris asked.
"What else." Jill replied. They kissed again and left to join the others.
It's been two years since that day. A lot happened after that. Jill and I got married in a military ceremony. James and Ada did the same. Claire and Leon, however, opted for a traditional ceremony, as did Max and Kelly. Rebecca and Carlos got engaged, as did Ark and Eliza. Rick and Janet soon began dating, but still got at each other's throats every once and awhile. Barry and Kathy went on a second honeymoon, probably inspired by all the weddings. As for the kids, Claire and Leon legally adopted Sherry. Rott and Lily got adopted by Ark and Eliza. As for Jess and Jeff, they hit the dating scene a few days after the Umbrella campaign was through. Jess has a girlfriend, but I can't remember her name. Jeff is still looking, but he claims to have found someone.
We also have made some major changes to our lives. Jill
and I are still living at the development along with James and Ada. Claire,
Leon, and Sherry got a house in Arlington Heights. Carlos and Rebecca got a
house in Columbia Heights. Ark and Eliza bought a farm out in Maryland. Lily
has a horse that she named Belle. Ark began to teach Rott about computers. He's
almost as good as his old man. Barry and his family live somewhere around
Richmond. His daughters have adjusted well to their new school. Jeff and Jess
got an apartment in downtown DC while Max and Kelly got a house in Georgetown.
Rick and Janet live near Baltimore. Every once and awhile we'll get together
and spend the day somewhere. Claire and I also went back to London last year to
see Jack, just like I promised. Jill, Sherry, and Leon came along too. They got
along great. Jack was really happy for us all, telling us he knew we would win.
Our careers haven't changed much. I'm the new commander of the new S.T.A.R.S. organization. I also got to be Captain of the S.T.A.R.S. in DC. That keeps me pretty busy. I made James and his group Bravo team and James the Captain. So far he hasn't let me down. Major Peterson got promoted to Colonel and Sergeant Monroe got promoted to Major. We still work with them from time to time. Carl became one of the FBI's best agents and helped us on several cases. Stan still flies for the Air Force. Occasionally we'll go out for a beer. About once a week Jill and I will go to Arlington and visit the Raccoon City memorial and pay our respects to our friends. Sometimes people ask me if I had to go through the whole ordeal again if I would. Every time I'd reply yes. Whenever I do think about how thins turned out, I remember something my father told me. You get what you deserve. I guess he was right like he always was. My friends and I earned our new lives. The only question now is what does the future hold for us. One thing I know for sure is that things can only get better.
Author's Comments: What a way to end the story. The
S.T.A.R.S. have saved the world and ended the threat of Umbrella for good. And
how about my take on the always-popular doomsday missile scene. Guarantied to
keep you on the edge of your seat. In the end, of coarse, the good guys always
find a way to save the day. Also, Chris finally proposed to Jill. You just knew
they would get hitched. Add to the fact that everyone else made out fine makes
the ending so much better. I guess the moral of this story could be that good
things come to those who help others. Something to think about.
Finally,
before I kick off I'd like to thank the readers who stuck through this long
saga. I would also like to thank readers for their comments and corrections and
for urging me to continue. I had as much fun writing this story as you the
readers enjoyed reading it. Right now I have several other projects in the
works. Two short stories and another longer story. This story however won't be
as long as this one. I doubt I'll ever write another story as long as
Armageddon. Until then, thank you and goodbye.