The Morgue

Biohazard Countermeasures Unit H.Q.

Cheyenne Mountain, Wyoming

30th January 2000

0030 MST

Surrounded by various 27" flat screen monitors, Chris Redfield typed in a variety of commands into his wireless keyboard. The secure mil-spec Dell 8180 hummed along with the other high-tech tools that was available to the personnel of the newly created BCU. Satisfied with the sitreps he had received in the last half-hour, the Director of the BCU decided a break was in order. He adjusted the Bianchi shoulder holster that held a modified 9mm Beretta pistol and left his office.

At 27, Chris was the youngest director of any government agency. When Barry Burton, the grizzled S.T.A.R.S. veteran, was offered the position he told the White House to piss off. Barry didn't want the responsibility but he personally recommended Chris for the job. It took a lot of political wrangling from President Graham to push through both the House and the Senate but Chris was vetted in a very short time. The first special agent that Chris hired was Barry, who would become BLACK RAIN's armorer. If his people were going to war, then he needed the best man to arm them. When it came to weapons, there was no man better than Barry.

Chris took a magnetic keycard from his pocket and slid it through a reader. The elevator doors opened for him. Once inside, the BCU's director pressed his thumb against a biometric scanner. Now that his identity was confirmed, Chris pressed the button for Basement Two. He needed to get in some range time. There should be no one there at this hour.

Basement Two was where the Biohazard Countermeasures Unit practiced their marksmanship and close-quarters battle drills. Every special agent was required to be proficient with a variety of small arms. There were quarterly evaluations conducted; if a member failed to pass then he was placed on 'administrative duty' until he passed the next evaluation. It was a harsh regulation but it needed to be done in case any member of BLACK RAIN encountered a similar situation like the former S.T.A.R.S. officers did in the Arklay Mountains. Survival was of the utmost importance and every member of BLACK RAIN became well-versed in this skill.

He was surprised to hear the staccato burst of a sub-machine gun being fired. There was a lone woman, dressed in a black sports bra and Nike track pants. Her skin was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. She held what looked like at first an Israeli Uzi fitted with an under-the-barrel Aimpoint laser designator. There was a moving target that was disintegrating under the hail of bullets she aimed. Chris noted that the destroyed target was one of the Nemesis models. The dark-haired beauty flicked the safety on the SMG and turned around.

Jill Valentine removed the yellow-lensed shooting glasses from her face. She gave Chris a mischievous smile. Taking a screwdriver from a toolkit on the bench, Jill began field-stripping the Steyr Tactical Machine Pistol (TMP). Once the weapon was broken down into its separate parts, she cleaned them with a wire brush and liquid Break Free. It was several minutes before either of them said a word.

" That's new. Is it going to be standard issue? ", asked Chris.

Jill had just finished reassembling the Steyr TMP. She placed the weapon down onto the bench. After taking a sip of water from a nearby cooler, she wiped herself down with a towel.

" Yeah, it's a new addition to the arsenal. It's a Steyr TMP. 900 rounds a minute. Something we could have used back in Raccoon City. "

At the mention of their former home both ex-S.T.A.R.S. officers had a flashback to those terrible days. They had fought for their very survival against the artificially created undead. Each thought they were the only survivor of the Alpha Team. Both were relieved to see the other at the various debriefings with the DOD, DOJ, FBI, FEMA, and the Oval Office. When Chris was tapped to head the new agency he asked Jill Valentine to become his Chief of Field Operations. As a former detective she had great instincts and even better intuition. While she had a tendency to bend the rules while she was in S.T.A.R.S., Jill always got results.

" Jill, it's after midnight. I'll let you know when the strike teams hit their objectives. There's nothing that we can do until the first phase of VERTICAL STRIKE is completed. Go home, ok? "

"Let me ask you something, Chris. "

" Shoot."

"When you were making your escape from the mansion, did you ever feel like shitting in your drawers?"

Chris gave her a quizzical look. Then they both burst out laughing. Jill placed her arm around her ex-partner and both left the firing range.