By: Ominae
Rating: T
NOTE:
All characters of Striker/Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige, Ryoji Minagawa and FROM Software. All characters of Resident Evil are under the copyright of Capcom. All other characters not belonging to either of the two mentioned series are under me.
Summary:
A trip down to memory lane. With the creation of ARCAM's Strikers Elite by various ARCAM officials days after Umbrella forces have raided an ARCAM complex in South Africa and have executed one of Umbrella's ex-researchers, the selected Striker candidates are preparing for their next move as each of the Strikers (With the exception of Yu and Oshiki) are summoned to Tokyo by Chairman Yamamoto for a special meeting in ARCAM's Tokyo headquarters. What is their meeting about and what will they do next? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.
Chapter 2: Debriefing Hour
Outskirts of Brookhouse Schools, Kenya
It was a bright afternoon in Nairobi. School was out for John Rono, Kenyan Striker and well-known student in the Brookhouse Schools. He had ended his schooling as he exited the premises with a black bag slinged on his right shoulder. As he waited outside, he wiped some dirt of his school uniform.
Soon enough, he saw a 2000 Mitsubishi Pajero approaching his position. The car door opened to reveal another teenager, aged 16 with light tan skin with Arab looks. He got down from the vehicle and approached John and gave him a high five.
"Greetings, John Rono."
"Good to see you, Jamal Hassan." The two ended their high fives with a mutual handshake by bumping their clenched fists to one another.
"Ronald's here too." John observed the interior of the vehicle and saw the South African Striker waving at him from the interior.
"I see." answered John while waving back at Ronald Welles. "What's the catch?"
Jamal smiled at his query. "Pack your bags. We're heading to Tokyo."
Outskirts of the International School of Geneva, Switzerland
Standing near the gates of the International School of Geneva was a teen with short brown hair. He appeared to be at least 15 years of age with a black jacket on him in order to protect himself against the surging cold air swirling in the Geneva air. He also had a white polo shirt underneath his jacket and green pants.
His name was Roland Guisan, a Swiss national born in Geneva and a Swiss Striker. He had spent some time in Hong Kong before moving back to Switzerland. As such, he was fluent in English, French, German, Cantonese and Mandarin.
Hearing a beeping sound from his pocket, he pulled out a Nokia 9110 Communicator phone and received a text message with the following.
"Stay where you are. Your ride's about to arrive any minute now."
"Rien ! Ce qui est les prenant si long?" (Damn! What's taking them so long?) muttered the Swiss Striker under his breath, complaining on why his ride was taking so long. He soon noticed a 2000 Ford Transit Bus driving near before halting a few feet from his spot. With the side doors now opened, he saw Jean Jacquemonde, Tea Flatte, Gerald Ahern, Tudor Dumitrescu and Harald Bondevik exiting from the vehicle. The Norwegian Striker told the driver to wait for a few minutes.
"Hope you didn't wait too long, lad!" said Gerald, the Irish Striker who offered his hand to the Swiss Striker. Like Ronald Guisan, Patrick Ahern had also spent some time living in Hong Kong before moving back to his native Ireland.
"Nah. Just had enough time for me for wait since I left my apartment a bit late." lied Roland while he shook hands with Patrick.
"Ouais bien, Guisan! Je peux voir de votre visage que vous vous trouvez." (Yeah right, Guisan! I can see from your face that you're lying.) said Jean calmly.
"Piège fermé de yer, Jacquemonde!" (Shut yer trap, Jacquemonde!) yelled Roland.
"Oi! Let's not get into a fight here!" scolded Tea.
"Come on guys!" pleaded Tudor in his fluent English. "This is not the time to fight."
"Besides..." added Harald in his fluent English as well. "Our superiors need to have us packing to Tokyo ASAP."
"Really?" Roland's brow was raised up upon hearing Harold's answer.
"That's right laddie." replied Gerald, pointing to the Ford Transit Bus. "Which is why we need to head to the airport now."
"Heh." smirked Roland. "I need to have some action anyway."
Near the Pinetree Community Centre, Canada
Sitting near the scorching sun was another 15 year old teen with her long hair tied as a ponytail. She was apparently waiting for her ride to arrive.
"Hey, Michelle! We're already here, you know."
Her name was Michelle Bogden, a Canadian Striker residing in the city of Coquitlam. She was instructed by her ARCAM contact that she had to wait near the Pinetree Community Centre as she will be met by other Strikers like her.
"It's you, Diego." smiled Michelle as she stood up from the concrete edge.
"¡De hecho!" (Indeed!) answered Diego Sanchez, the Mexican Striker. "Some of the other guys are here including Robert, Derrick and Timothy." He then pointed with his finger towards the 2000 GMC Savana van.
"Where we going?" inquired Michelle, picking her duffel bag up.
Diego grinned before answering her. "To Japan. We've got work to do."
Outskirts of the Taejon Christian International School, South Korea.
"This is boring!" mumbled Sandyawan Haz, the Indonesian Striker as he leaned near a 2000 Hyundai Starex van, fixing his dark green jacket.
"What can we do?" retorted Riza Wong, the Chinese Striker based in Hong Kong, who slapped Sandyawan in the shoulder. "This is the best time that we can meet him." Riza angrily adjusted her blue jacket while giving Sandyawan death glares.
"Yea..." replied Sandyawan. "But, Riza.." the Indonesian Striker began to trail off his words, until Riza slapped him again in the shoulder.
"Don't complain! Just wait." muttered Riza as she resumed leaning on the Hyundai Starex until the two have spotted a student walking out of the gates of the facility. Spotting the two Strikers, he casually walked towards them until he stopped a few feet with some distance between them.
"I see that you guys made it." acknowledged the Asian student.
"Good to see you, latecomer." mumbled Sandyawan under his breath.
The student looked suspiciously at Sandyawan until Riza lightly punched him in his arm.
"Sorry about that, Wesley." said Riza, giving out a plastic smile in order to cover Sandyawan's mistake.
"Fine then." answered Wesley Sohn or known actually as Sohn Eui-hwan, one of South Korea's best Strikers within ARCAM's South Korean branch.
"So what's up?" asked Wesley.
"Oh." said Riza. "We need to head to Japan this instant." The Chinese Striker opened the driver's door and activated the vehicle's ignition.
"We're attending a meeting in ARCAM's Japan branch." added Sandyawan in support.
"Okay..." Wesley opened the Starex's sliding door and turned towards the Indonesian. "What's the meeting about?"
"Beats me." shrugged Sandyawan, who raised his shoulders. "Something about forming a group or something."
Outskirt Gate 14 of Xavier School, Philippines.
Three teens in their standard school uniform were hanging out near the gate of the closed Gate 14, doing what most teens do such as checking the girls of the ICA, the next door all-girl school or toying around with their cellphones.
Mark Sy, Patrick Chan and Miguel Ruiz, three of ARCAM Philippines' best Striker operators, were apparently waiting for a transport out of the premises as they had finished their quarterly exams.
"Man, I'm borrreed!" said Patrick, who decided to sit down on the dusty and dirty sidewalk, with backpack in tow.
"Can it, boy." suggested Miguel, leaning on the metal gate while eyeing his Nokia 6150 cellphone. "Okay, got a message that Edward Chung's coming to see us."
"Can't wait." mumbled Mark, who was observing some of the teachers leaving the school after they had completed their job. He was not surprised to see Chung Yee Hwa, aka Edward Chung. The Singaporean Striker had recently arrived a few days ago and was told by Chairman Rodriguez to fetch them and head to the ARCAM Philippines building before heading to the airport.
"Hey guv! Our ride's here."
True to Patrick's words, a 2000 Toyota Hiace van came near before it parked near the curb. Out came Edward Chung, the Singaporean Striker.
"Hey guys." said Edward, who started the conversation.
"Right on time, mate." answered Miguel, who gave a high five to the Singaporean Striker operative.
"Nice timing. We were here for about 4 minutes before you showed up." added Patrick in support, patting Edward's shoulders.
"We're heading to Tokyo then?" asked Mark, who slinged a Nike gym bag that he uses as a school bag on his own shoulders.
"Yea." Edward cracked his knuckles. "I've heard from some of the ARCAM chumps that they're forming a super team or something."
"Great." mumbled Mark to himself. He sat next to the driver as he pondered on Edward's words. "Wonder what's going to happen next?"
Near the gates of Tamagawa Minami High, Japan
A 2000 Nissan Cedric automobile was parked near the main gate. It had been there for 2 hours now. It was as if the occupants were waiting for somone to exit the school.
"I'm headin' in. Wait for me." uttered the young boy who stepped out of the car after informing the car's driver.
His name is Yu Ominae, one of ARCAM's most elite Striker operative and a candidate for its Strikers Elite unit. He was waiting for Tatsuki Otsuki, another Japanese Striker operative and like Yu, was a candidate for the Strikers Elite unit as well.
"Oi, Tatsuki! What the heck you think you're doing?"
Yu saw Tatsuki being followed by some female students of Tamagawa Minami High. At the sight of them, Yu couldn't help but smirk and grin as he noticed Tatsuki telling the girls that he had "something" to do right now.
"Heh, Tatsuki. Looks like you're trying to top Mark off with the number of female admirers, eh?" grinned Yu as he saw his fellow Japanese Striker teammate approach the Nissan Cedric.
"Very funny, Ominae." retorted Tatsuki angrily.
"Well, come on." Yu lead him towards the opened door of the Cedric. "Yamamoto expects us to be in the meeting tomorrow. We better get some rest for tomorrow Saturday. The others should arrive soon."
"I hope they come soon." suggested Tatsuki as he sat behind the driver while Yu entered the passenger side door of the Cedric and instructed the driver to head back to the ARCAM office. Once the car came to life, the vehicle was long gone as the vehicle disappared into the metropolitan traffic.
Lobby Area, ARCAM Japan, Tokyo, Japan
Mark Sy, now decked in an ARCAM Armored Muscle Suit, had entered the main lobby after exiting his apartment room in the upper floors of the ARCAM Japan building. He received a memo from an ARCAM official, informing him of an upcoming meeting with Chairman Yamamoto and the other Strikers in the lecture room.
He had not been to the ARCAM Japan building for a long time, but he hasn't been to the country for quite a longer time. He had to ask the secretary for some directions to the lecture room.
"Hey, Michiko." greeted the Filipino Striker agent. He knew most of the personnel working at the ARCAM Japan building as it was required when he had to go on missions abroad if he should operate outside Philippine territory.
"Oh, hello Mark." replied Michiko. Mark mentally grinned at the young secretary blushed instantly when she saw his youthful face.
"So, Michiko." said Mark, who leaned near the secretary's desk. "Where's the lecture room again? It's been a while since I last set foot here."
"Umm..." Michiko began to play with her words as she still blushed. "Just go down the hallway down there." replied Michiko, pointing the way. "Make a left at the first corner. The door at the end will lead you there."
"Thanks." Mark saluted Michiko before he left.
He then felt a slight tug on his arm. He turned around to see a blushing Michiko, who was clutching on it like it was the most precious thing in her world.
"Did you forget something, Michiko?"
"I...I.." mumbled Michiko before she had the courage to speak. "I was wondering since you haven't been to Japan for a while, do you mind if I treat you out sometime?" The secretary was looking down on the floor, who felt a bit shy.
"Are you asking me, a 15 year old ARCAM Striker operative and mild-mannered student, out on a date?" smirked Mark.
"Is that a crime?" Michiko then gave a mischievous smile to the startled Striker agent.
Mark had began to sweat upon hearing Michiko's strange remarks. "Errr..no, no, no! Maybe when I'm through with most of this stuff and all, maybe I could try something."
"Thank you, Mark." said Michiko gratefully as she bowed before him.
"Right, I..er..I gotta go!" blurted Mark as he wanted to escape from her by jogging towards the door of the lecture room. With the doors wide open after pushing them with his hand, he entered with pride and dignity as a secret agent working for ARCAM as a Striker operative.
Lecture Room, ARCAM Japan, Tokyo, Japan
The room was bustling with various Striker agents, who were now waiting for Chairman Yamamoto to show up. Most of the agents had turned their attention towards the new arrival. Some decided to welcome Mark while the others decided to talk to him later.
"Mark, it's good to see you."
Mark turned his attention towards the British Striker operative, Tea Flatte. Still wearing her trademark cloak and beret on, she had a warm and generous smile on her. Yu and Jean certainly did not experience that with her.
Tea hugged Mark, who hugged her in return.
"How are you? Haven't seen you in a while." asked Mark with a smile.
"I'm fine, thank you." replied Tea, who smiled in return. Tea's smile certainly made Mark's day as they ended their hug.
"Marhaba" (Hello) said Jamal, who was next to Tea.
"Kayfa Haluk?" (How are you?) greeted Mark, giving the Egyptian Striker a brief hug before shaking his hand. Mark only knew a few Arabic phrases.
"God, it's good to see you. Who else is here?" inquired Mark.
"HEY MARRKK!" Mark grinned after seeing Gerald and Ronald. He still remembered the two Strikers, who were his classmates when the Filipino agent was transferred to Hong Kong in order to let his father temporarily work in the former British colony at Bradbury Junior School before the trio had personally parted ways.
When the greetings were over, Mark walked to an empty seat and sat down with his legs propped up on the semi-circle tables near a projector screen and his hands behind his head. He was about to relax for the meantime...
"Mark!"
He felt something hugged him from behind.
"Riza?" gasped Mark in surprise. He was stunned to see the female Striker operative from Hong Kong after a few years since they were classmates in Bradbury Junior School before she transferred.
"I haven't seen you for a long time." whispered Riza, who was still hugging the surprised Striker agent.
"Been busy studying and all." responded Mark, who carefully took Riza's wrapped arms from his chest. "How's school back in Hong Kong?"
"Just dandy and all." pouted Riza, who took a seat next to Mark. "Besides, this meeting was perfect for the weekend at least."
"Yamamoto's here!"
Mark and Riza turned their gaze towards Yu, who helped Chairman Yamamoto to the podium while Tatsuki turned on the projector. In a few minutes, their meeting had began. All the Strikers went to their respective seats.
"I'd like to thank everyone for coming to this important meeting. First things first..." Chairman Yamamoto shuffled some papers on the podium. "You all know that the Strikers Elite has been established and after considerate amounts of time that our security officials had been attending, Mark Sy has been selected to be the leaders of the group."
Sounds of gasps, ooohs and aaahs were heard, accompanied by sounds of cheering and whistling. Chairman Yamamoto frowned upon hearing these sounds. "Why did they ask me to debrief some loony idiots out here when I could have taken a vacation to San Francisco right now?"
"Hey man, congrats!" shouted Yu. Tatsuki and Jean gave their respective thumbs up while the others clapped their heads. There were others who smiled at Mark Sy, who was officially the first leaders of the Strikers Elite.
"Excellent, my friend!" yelled Derrick, who gave a double thumbs up.
"And another thing." Chairman Yamamoto took a glass of water before resuming his debriefing. "Yu Ominae is the sub-commander of the group. You can say that he's the XO."
"What? Ominae? You're kidding me, pops!" sneered Jean, who slapped Yu at his back.
"Watch it, Werewolf boy!" growled Yu.
"Oi! Today's not the time to fight!" shouted Edward.
"Yea! Can it, you two!" barked John in agreement.
"Just when can the two of you get along for once?" retorted Michelle. The others simply glared at Yu and Jean.
The two veteran Striker operatives became silent afterwards.
"Thank you Edward, John and Michelle. Now like I said, this meeting is very important as there were some things that have come to my attention." Chairman Yamamoto clicked on the projector remote and on the screen showed a facility with smoke and fire billowing out of the structure.
"As you can see, all of our personnel in the South African research facility had been executed. The ARCAM Defense Unit squads based there were not able to put up a good fight as most of them were instantly massacred along with the researchers and other staff members."
A hand came raising up from the tables, interrupting the Chairman's debriefing.
"Excuse me, sir." suggested Wesley. "But who was responsible for this massacre?"
"Yes sir. I mean, only a big entity with a powerful mercenary army or something could do this." added Diego in agreement.
"Me as well." said Harold as he joined in the questioning hour of the debriefing.
The Japanese Chairman sighed for a few seconds before he responded. His answer brought a chill to most of the Strikers, with the exception of Yu, Jean, Tea and Mark.
"Umbrella Corporation."
Chapter 2 END