Striker/Spriggan: Elite Force
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 impending assault on ARCAM's New Zealand research facility, the newly formed Strikers Elite unit were now flying to New Zealand as the first step to prepare for a mounting operation against the Umbrella Corporation as the life of an Umbrella defector, a Canadian national named Doctor Simon Higgins, hangs in the balance as its paramilitary forces have now planned to assassinate him. Can the Strikers Elite protect Dr. Higgins from the grip of Umbrella? Can the team also beat back an Umbrella invasion force before it's too late for them? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.
Note - Haven't updated the story for a while. Was too busy enjoying my vacation, taking care of the first week of school and fending myself from family feuds (Seriously, there was!). Oh well, back to the reality that is fanfiction for now. Here's a new chapter for now, peeps!
ShadowHawk - I could help you pre-read your chapters and all though, but I'm not sure if I could do more than that.
Chapter 4: Duty Comes First
Auckland International Airport, Arrivals Area (International), Auckland, New Zealand
"Here we are!"
Yu Ominae was the first Striker Elite agent to disembark from the private plane, which was a Boeing 737 jet courtesy of ARCAM Japan. Following behind were French Striker Jean Jacquemonde, British Striker Tea Flatte and fellow Japanese Striker Tatsuki Otsuki, as well as with the other Striker Elite operatives. All of them entered an empty terminal that had been cleared for their use as they continued to navigate their way around the arrivals area of Auckland International Airport.
"Auckland hasn't changed a bit." commented Mark. He had apparently been to the country as a little boy with his family for some time now.
"Yeah. I agree. Nothing seems to change around here." added Derrick in support of Mark's comments.
"First things first is to make contact with the director of ARCAM's New Zealand branch in order to make some inquiries." suggested Tea, who looked at her watch hidden under her jacket. "It's about 5 in the afternoon now."
"Is Mulroney going to fetch us now?" asked Sandyawan, who directed his question to the British Striker.
"Not surprising." answered Wesley. "I mean, he is the DIRECTOR of ARCAM New Zealand after all."
"I agree." said Edward, who emphasized the South Korean Striker's answer by pointing his finger onto his head. "Learn to think before you speak."
"Guys, guys!" hollered Michelle, who interrupted the conversation of the Strikers. "They're our man out there." She then pointed to a man wearing a business suit and holding a placard near his chest that said "ARCAM NEW ZEALAND."
"Our ticket!" chuckled Patrick, who could only whistle at his own remarks.
Jamal, Timothy, Michelle and Miguel sighed at relief, not wanting to hear anymore ranting from the three arguing Striker field operatives while the others simply shrugged it off as if it didn't happen.
"Is our transport here?" inquired Yu as he approached the gentleman holding the placard. "We're dispatched from ARCAM Japan."
"It's you, Yu Ominae." addressed the man. He then turned his head to eye the other Strikers Elite field operatives before continuing his request. "Please follow me, your transportation is awaiting outside the airport." He then tucked the placard under his arm before walking towards the doors exiting the airport, followed by Yu Ominae and the other Strikers Elite field agents towards a waiting 2000 Hyundai County Bus that had ARCAM markings painted on the vehicle.
Helipad, Secret Umbrella Corporation Base, somewhere in the outskirts of Auckland
"There's the big man now!"
A USFU (or USS as they are originally known as) operator, shouted to his other comrade standing guard with him on a deserted helipad of the hidden Umbrella Corporation base, pointing out to him the apporaching Sikorsky S-76 chopper decked with the Umbrella seal. The base had the shape of an Egyptian pyramid.
The two USFU operatives were decked in full combat gear. They were wearing gray PASGT ballistic helmets andtheir faces were covered with black balaclava masks used in order to conceal their identities from unwanted intruders. They were wearing black jumpsuits with black Hatch Assault elbow and kneepads. Standard firearms for the USFU included a Colt M4 assault rifle and a Beretta 92FS pistol. As for their combat gear, they wore black Mil-Spec Plus Police Raid Vests, black Magnum Stealth boots and black HellStorm S.O.L.A.G. Assault Gloves. Heckler and Koch MP5A3 submachine guns were still being used as their main SMG. Clipped to their waists were S.O.G Pentagon combat knives in their Newly Designed Kytex sheaths and black PASGT helmets on their heads
"Wonder who's coming out now?" mumbled the other USFU trooper, who twitched his gloved fingers on his ATN Ultra Sight Digital Red Dot Sight mounted on the picatinny railings that Umbrella on his M4 assault rifle. He noticed the chopper door open to reveal a very familiar personality in the inner circles within the ranks of Umbrella's Special Forces. "Oh crap, its Nicholai!"
Nicholai Zinoviev, now decked in a brown jacket and gray pants, was wearing his green UBCS beret with the seal of Umbrella stitched on it. He emerged out of the chopper and glanced at his wristwatch. After doing so, the two USFU troopers personally saluted the notorious UBCS field commander before he gave a salute to them too. His jacket had a shoulder epaulet on it and on it was a rank pin, indicating that he was promoted to the rank of major after the Raccoon City incident.
"At ease, men." ordered Zinoviev.
"Sir!" said one of the masked USFU operators. "Most of the men from the USFU and the UBCS squads have already arrived. The Cleaners are expected to arrive on schedule at 1800 hours."
"Excellent." Nicholai shifted his attention to the other USFU trooper, who had his finger positioned near the trigger of his Bofors AK5 rifle. "Who's going to lead the attack tonight?"
"Sir!" answered the other USFU trooper. "I heard that it's going to be Captain Herbert Gregson."
"The feisty Canadian eh? Heard that he did pretty well in the Alpha Platoon during the Outbreak." Mikhail gestured the two USFU operatives to lead him into the deep interior of the base. Once they were near the metal door, one of the USFU operator grabbed a keycard from his pocket and inserted it into the card slot found on the metal door, which gave a green light on the nearby light display, indicating that it was now possible to enter the facility.
The metal door soon hissed after it opened. The two armed USFU operatives were the first ones to enter before Nicholai followed them inside. Within minutes, the doors retracted itself and closed the entryway, sealing the three into the inner depths of Umbrella's secret base in New Zealand.
Chairman's Office, ARCAM New Zealand
"First things first, I want to say my thanks to Derrick Trigg. It's good to see you after leaving for the flight to Tokyo." said Jack Mulroney, who digged through his papers found on top of his table.
"No problem, sir." answered Derrick, who simply raised his hand as a friendly gesture.
The other Striker agents were either sitting on the sofas provided, sitting on the chairs positioned near his table or simply leaned against the wall with their arms crossing their chests. All of them were clad in their ARCAM Armored Muscle Suits, with the exception of both Jean and Tea.
"Now that all of you are here." said the director of ARCAM's New Zealand branch. "I'm sure that Dr. Higgins could be secured."
Jean raised an eyebrow after hearing his concern. "And why is that?"
"A while ago, I've received some threats over the phone, telling me to back away from Dr. Higgins before it's too late. Sadly, I don't want to negotiate with these kinds of people."
"But, sir." questioned Diego. "Isn't that the reason why the Strikers Elite were formed? So as to do missions that ARCAM feels that they may get into major trouble with?"
"Yes." Mulroney began to feel a bit nervous before he resumed speaking to the agents. " All of you will immediately fly out to one of our research facilities in the outskirts of Auckland in one hour."
"Umbrella's moving in now?" questioned Harald, with seriousness in his tone.
"I'm afraid so." answered the New Zealand chairman. "Intelligence has indicated the arrival of Nicholai Zinoviev from Auckland International Airport a few hours ago, possibly from Canada."
"So the slimy bastard has moved in now?" retorted Jamal, who was leaning near the office door.
"This is getting more complicated than I though." said Mark aloud, who stretched his arms while seated in the sofa. "We need to be deployed now."
"I would agree too, sir." added John. "Something tells me that Umbrella is getting their grunts ready, especially their artificial ones."
"I'll send the orders out at once before you people leave." Yu stood up from his seat in the sofa and casually opened the door. He was the first one to walk out, followed by Jean, Tea and the rest of the Strikers.
Mulroney pressed a button on his intercom with a response from Ann on the other line. "Yes, Mr. Mulroney?"
"Prepare two choppers for the Striker agents. They'll leave in a few hours."
"Yes sir!" Ann's voice faded after Mulroney took his finger off the button from his intercom system, giving him a short sigh before turning his attention to his booted desktop computer on his table.
Briefing Room, Secret Umbrella Corporation Base, somewhere in the outskirts of Auckland
Nicholai Zinoviev was alone once more. Moments ago, he had just given a briefing to the members of the UBCS and the USFU, who were present in the base, giving them details that they would be given the signal to attack the ARCAM research facility in New Zealand once final preparations are complete. He was now seated on one of the chairs used during the briefing session.
Shuffling through the various papers that he had received from the base commander, he began to read through the data that it held, especially since it had concerned the objectives of the UBCS, USFU and the Cleaners in finding and executing Umbrella defector Dr. Simon Higgins and razing the ARCAM research facility down. He had heard some talk from the base commander himself that a B.O.W. may be deployed to assist Umbrella's special forces units in taking out their obstacle in achieving their mission, primarily against the ARCAM Defense Unit, which has major security responsibilities to ARCAM's personnel and its facilities and their elite Striker field agents. He was now wearing UBCS field gear as went on his work.
"Sir!"
Nicholai was interrupted when a man clad in complete battle gear stood outside the briefing room. He was also dressed similarly to the USFU operatives, except that his shirt was green, had black Hatch Assault kneepads, brown pants and black Oakley SI Assault boots on. Also, he was not wearing a balaclava and he had a black BlackHawk Urban Assault Vest strapped on his chest. Attached on his right leg was a black Leapers Special Ops Universal Tactical Leg Holster. He also had a Colt plastic sheath clipped on his belt, which is meant for a Colt Pathfinder Tactical knife. The Russian had figured out from before that he was a UBCS field operative. Gloved on his hands were Hatch FROG (Fast Rope Over-Gloves)-10 assault gloves.
"What is now?" asked Nicholai. He just didn't want to be interrupted as he shuffled through the files that he had been given a while ago.
"Sir, Captain Gregson wants to let you know that Operation Stealth Mode is about to begin."
"Is that so?" Nicholai began to shuffle all of his papers into a manila envelope nearby before standing up from the chair. "Fine, take me to Captain Gregson at once."
"Right away, Major Zinoviev." Nicholai walked out of the briefing room and was on a silent journey in the corridor, escorted by the UBCS operative to Captain Gregson's office.
Conference Room, ARCAM New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand
"Okay, peeps! We've just got our orders from the honchos around here." Mark waved some papers in front of the other Striker agents as he stood before them.
"Hurry up! I'm getting bored." yawned Yu, who reclined in his chair. It took the combined efforts of Jean and Oshiki to get Yu's attention when the two simultaneously whacked his head with their clenched fists.
"Thanks guys." grinned Mark. "I have to say that we're going to be deployed in about one hour from now."
"One hour?" asked Ronald. "That was quick."
"Anything else in particular?" questioned Riza.
"Well, we have to watch for the USFU, UBCS and the Cleaners. They're going to put up a major firefight since they're gonna try and execute Dr. Higgins in our New Zealand research facility."
"I see." replied Roland. "Do you think Nicholai might show up?"
"He might." answered Mark, who shrugged his shoulders.
"Best thing is to do is to be prepared." boasted Robert, who cracked his knuckles to show off that he was itching for a fight before he brushed some blonde hair strands from his face.
"I guess we better get ready for the mission." suggested Gerald. The rest nodded in agreement.
"So what then?" asked Miguel in question.
"Better pack some heat for the mission." commented Timothy. "Can't leave home without them."
Helipad, Secret Umbrella Corporation Base, somewhere in the outskirts of Auckland
"Is everything ready now?" inquired Nicholai to one of the armed USFU operative. The two were now decked in full combat gear, ready to conduct their operation.
"Yes sir. I was duly informed a while ago that a B.O.W. will be deployed with us tonight."
"I see." answered Nicholai. "What about the Cleaner platoons?"
"They're boarding our choppers as we speak, Major Zinoviev." replied the masked USFU trooper.
"Better inform everyone in the USFU to strap on some gas masks immediately. Captain Gregson has told me your mode of entry would be through tear gas."
"Of course, major." With that, the masked USFU snapped back into attention before running towards the nearest Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk with a black finish and Umbrella markings on its sliding doors.
"Time to me to do my Supervisor work and collect some battle data from the accursed Striker operatives." Nicholai grinned at the possibility of meeting the Striker. He slowly checked his weapons, which happened to be a Singapore Technologies (ST) Kinetics SAR-21 MMS (Modular Mounting System) assault rifle, a variant of the SAR-21 since its integrated scope was replaced with a Picatinny railing and its LAM was removed, replaced with a Surefire M900 Vertical Foregrip and a Nikon Monarch Red Dot Sight on the module itself. His sidearm was a TISAS Kanuni 16, a Turkish-made pistol holstered on his black Leapers Leg Holster.
Nicholai checked his weapons for their use later when he will meet up with the Strikers. He first started to check his ST Kinetics SAR-21 MMS assault rifle to chamber a round inside his weapon.
KACHAK!
Satisfied that he was able to get a 5.56 NATO bullet inside the rifle's chamber, he slinged it on his back and unhosltered his TISAS Kanuni 16 pistol and cocked it to get a 9mm bullet inside the chamber as well.
KACHIK!
With that done as well, he holstered his sidearm back into his leg holster and clipped it in order to secure it. Looking at his wristwatch, he realized that it was time to begin their operation.
"Time to start Operation Stealth Mode!" Nicholai cracked his knuckles and popped his shoulder joints before checking his black BlackHawk Urban Assault Vest. He did not opt for a knife and a sheath, as he preferred to use his muscular hands and arms in choking his enemies to death or simply cracking their necks, a tactic that he had learned when he was still an army officer in the Russian military during his Spetsnaz days.
He then walked towards a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, which had a platoon of UBCS operatives, now decked with their weapons, itching for action.
"Let's go!" shouted Nicholai to the chopper pilot. Acknowledging his commands, the pilots gave him a thumbs up before the chopper began to ascend from the helipad towards the sky, taking them to the ARCAM research facility.
Tailing behind the choppers carrying platoons of UBCS, USFU and Cleaner operatives was a Aérospatiale AS 330 helicopter. Like the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk choppers used by Umbrella, it has a similar look except that underneath it is a pod holder meant for transporting activated B.O.W. subjects into the heat of battle inside large pod capsules.
Inside the pod was a monster awaiting battle against its human enemies, with its hand and claw banging on the pod walls. The Umbrella pod was heavily reinforced in such a way that even the strongest of its monsters in Umbrella's B.O.W. program would not be able to free itself from temporary captivity.
Airspace en route to ARCAM New Zealand research facility
Two Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk were seen in the sky. In its gray finish were two letters, A and C, binded together as the official seal of ARCAM Corporation as it was painted on the chopper's side doors.
The Strikers Elite were now inside the cabins of the mighty air machines. One had 11 operatives inside while the other had 12 since they were 23 in all.
Mark "Hiryu" Sy, now wearing an ARCAM Armored Muscle Suit with his combat gear, cradled his Howa Type 89 assault rifle as he sat close to the door of the first Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk chopper.
"Sir!" yelled the chopper pilot inside. "20 minutes until we hit our destination." The pilot pointed to the structure in front of him with his gloved finger.
"Keep me informed, pilot."
"Yes sir!" The pilot went back to study his controls, as well as his displays since nightfall was slowly covering their approach, as well as the blue sky.
Keeping to himself, Mark began to drift himself to sleep, still clutching his weapon near him. While he would sleep for a while, the other Striker agents inside the chopper with him decided to kill some time by talking with one another or checked their weapons to see if they were ready for combat.
Only one thing was for sure in the mind of the Strikers Elite leader while he was fast asleep.
"I wonder if things will turn out okay?"
Chapter 4 END