Disclaimer: Sorry to any readers, but this isn't exactly your usual chapter. I wanted to give you all a somewhat in-depth look into the main antagonist of the story before I jumped into any action. Hope y'all don't mind, look for the third installment within the next day or so. Enjoy.
THE JOURNEY
High above everything seemed peaceful. A black, unmarked MH-57 Black Hawk attack helicopter outfitted with eight of Umbrella's top soldiers was on its path from Denver headed towards Raccoon City. They had just entered the Arklay Mountain Range where a mist lay serenely over the forest and mountains capped off by the setting orb of light that gave a warm glow of life to the area. As the setting sun ran its course towards the western horizon, disappearing over the mountains, Raccoon City became visible as a mass of lighting in what areas of the forsaken city were still left powered.
While the other seven soldiers were engaged in pointless chatter, the commander of the unit sat within the sanctity of his own silence. They may have had not a worry left in the world but to the man who had been briefed on the situation, his mind couldn't be far closer to the matter at hand. Owen Kennedy had started life as your typical upper class socialite would. He was born in beautiful metropolis of Colorado Springs while his parents had been vacationing there in February of nineteen seventy-six. He never considered himself a native of Colorado, however, as he was raised in his home state of Texas. A passion and pride in The Lone Star State had evolved in Owen as he progressed through life. He was actively involved in sports at a very early age, especially wrestling, which was an evolving sport throughout the state and in his hometown of Amarillo. Up until his graduation from high school he had been a top wrestler and football player in the state, earning numerous recognitions and was even offered a scholarship to Oklahoma State University; a college recognized for its championship wrestling program. He had long considered heading through the four-year college and obtaining a bachelors degree in Political Science with aims of maybe someday becoming president but after one talk with a United States Army recruiter, those dreams soon changed. A burning passion consumed him and he enlisted without the approval of his aristocrat parents. It wasn't their future after all, was it?
Within the army, Owen found he had a knack for shooting, close quarters battle, and hand to hand combat. These traits helped him immensely when he tried out for the Ranger Indoctrination Program and passed the course to enter Ranger School. Owen finished at the top of his class and was awarded the famed Ranger tab, indicating to the world that he was no ordinary infantry soldier... he was elite. After spending one year with the 75th Ranger Regiment, 3rd Battalion, he decided it was time for a change in his career. Having completed the non-commissioned officer school and obtaining the rank of E5 sergeant, Owen transferred over to Fort Bragg, North Carolina and was accepted to begin training for the army's Special Forces, simply known to the public as Green Beret. His advancement within the USSF came quickly and was given the honor of leading a squad. This is where he met his executive officer and, not known at the time, his best friend, Nathan Frost. Frost was a man of similar background; they were both deemed the "rednecks" of their unit having been raised in the great Dixieland and shared similar interests. A bond was formed instantly between the two and they became inseparable, even to the point where they had specifically requested two man operations. These classified missions led them to such places as Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and even the jungles of Columbia and Venezuela. This is where the Umbrella Corporation began noticing the two top soldiers of the Green Beret.
No one knows how exactly Umbrella found their information on the brothers in arms, they were known for possessing knowledge even the United States government was unable to procure. A key commander for the private military of the global conglomerate began personally visiting the two on their downtime and within a matter of months was able to convince them that becoming mercenaries provided for much more excitement and better pay than the army could bestow. In the summer of 1997, a cover up for the disappearance of Owen Kennedy and Nathan Frost was executed by Umbrella. They had been sent on a mission alongside the Combat Applications Group - Delta in northern Qatar to extricate American Hostages held by an unknown terrorist group. Those "terrorists" were cheap hired guns by Umbrella to use in their elaborate plan to recruit the two. The official report released to The Pentagon was that the Delta unit along with the two Green Berets had been ambushed and captured within the American Embassy compound. No questions were asked, the case was dismissed, and the six missing soldiers were listed as Killed in Action.
Sergeants Kennedy and Frost were taken to Rockford Island to begin their training for the Umbrella Security Services. Within a matter of two months they had proven their combat efficiency and leadership capabilities and were each assigned a unit. This just wouldn't work for the two who had all but become brothers over the course of their time together. After much negotiating it was decided that Kennedy would be promoted to the rank of command sergeant major and placed as the commanding officer of Umbrella's equivalent to "Delta Force", U.S.S. Unit D. Frost was given the rank of first sergeant and acting executive officer under Kennedy. Now that they had their ranks and assignments, they began their leadership of Unit D, which was stationed at an undisclosed location in southern New York.
Unit D undertook many missions in the interest of their employer, all of which were successful; and with one hundred percent survival rate under the watchful eye of the ex-army elite. Both Unit D & its commanding officers garnered a reputation of perfection among the corporate rank and quickly became feared by the enemies of Umbrella. Three months prior to the outbreak, they were even present at the Spencer Mansion for a brief time to contain that incident but when it was known that it would be impossible to halt the contamination, they were called back and left the formidable task to Agent Wesker and his S.T.A.R.S. teams. Now here they were, just a few short miles from the edge of a nightmare that would test the limits of the veteran squad. Owen, known to his teammates and adversaries alike as "The Baron" (short for The Baron of Death) couldn't help but smile nefariously at the thought of the task that stood before them. He was deep into thought when Frost nudged him on the shoulder and snapped him away from his trance.
"ETA is two minutes." spoke Frost so that only The Baron was capable of hearing.
"Refresh their memories with the final preparations, I don't think they quite know the shit storm we're about to head into."
As Frost called for the attention of the men, Owen looked at the NATO SF-10 respirator he held in his gloved hands. The shining sable mixture of rubber, plastic, steel, and glass was about to become an omen of fear and death for those unfortunate enough to transfix their gaze upon it.