Paris, 11 September 1998, end of the evening
I joined the meeting room for the final briefing before the mission. Jane's men brought me a weapon and some ammo, but I preferred my gun. The one I kept since from STARS. A symbol for me. I was anxious, things could goes wrong, and I especially hoped that Barry received my message ... The rest of the mission would depend on him. But as usual, I had to stay focused. It was the only way to put all the chances on my side.
Everyone was there, the men of Jane were masked, wearing clothes who seemed like a kind of mercenary. As for Jane, she was dressed in a black stretch combat suit. Strange choice, but allowed her to have free moves in a close fight. She finished explaining the plan again to her men.
"As you know at midnight there's the changing of the guard the entrance to the building. They leave their posts at this time. Nobody ever dare anything, so they are careless when they change, the new team will take about 5 minutes to arrive. This is the only flaw that can be exploited. " Commented Jane.
She turned her head toward Peter, standing beside her, who spoke.
"My security card will allow us to get inside without triggering the alarm. For discretion, we shall be only 3 to go: Chris, Jane and me to lead them to the laboratory. However, my card does not allow us to access it. We'll need to destroy the door. We will have a few minutes to steal the samples. »
"... And you all guys, you will stay out, and turn aside the attention of the guards who will hear the alarm when the new guards will come. I also rely on you to cover our retreat. Any questions? "
No one answered. For me, it could look like a suicide mission. We should not underestimated Umbrella, only god knows what surprises they reserved us this time.
"It's time to go then" Jane finally said.
Jane had planned two unmarked vans with a certain distance between it for not being suspected during the trip. I was moved to the back of one of them, with Peter and 3 men, Jane was at the front place, next to the driver. The silence was heavy. I could not talk free to Peter and the lack of windows prevented me from admiring the beauty of Paris at night. I was thinking about the good times spent with those who are dear to me ... I had also promised to Jill that I'll see her again, even if today I was not very sure, I had to keep that promise, one way or another. I clenched my fists. I had to find a way to destroy these samples.
The minutes past slowly when Jane finally spoke to the driver:
"There, you can park the van here. We are still within a reasonable distance of the center, and no one will see us coming. "
The driver nodded, then using a radio for communication, Jane asked to the second van to continue further, always to avoid being suspected.
"Okay, Chris, Peter and I go first. You will take position in 15min to cover our exit and remove any men who will come at the entry of the building. "
The men in our van nodded, while I left the van followed by Peter. On our side, there were a kind of forest, and on the other side of the street, a field that stretched for miles. Obviously, we were at the beginning of a highway at the end of the city.
Noting my surprise, Peter answered the question I was about to ask,
"The center is surrounded by trees, suggesting that it is a forest, but it is not. It takes about half an hour by walk before we can see the tower. "
"It also help our operation. My men can easily hide and keep the entrance of the building in their view. " Jane said.
"I see. But it means they have an electric fence or something to protect the access at the end of the end of the way. "
"A simple wall we can easily climb. "Peter added.
There were something strange. It seemed too simple. This is Umbrella's headquarters. How could they have so many flaws in their security? Anyway there was no way to turn back.
"Jill..you would feel that too ..." I thought, while I took my gun in hand, ready to counter any problems. Jane did the same.
"Ready partner? " She asked me.
"Keep that in mind, you're not my partner. Let's go. Peter, stay behind us. "I replied coldly.
She did not reply. We were beginning to penetrate the woods.
It reminded me of Arklhay's mission when we went to rescue Bravo's Team, although that the atmosphere was different, I remained careful. Any noises almost made me scared. Those damn dogs infected around the Mansion had visibly traumatized me a whole life. I remembered Jill's reaction when a normal dog barked to her, at Raccoon after our nightmarish experience ... Poor Jill. I hoped that everything was fine for her.
We finally attained the wall while Jane contacted her men by radio to confirm our position. The Wall was 2 times the size of a man, I placed myself back to the wall, joining my hands before me, allowing Peter to jump high enough. Then it was the turn of Jane, who sent me a short rope to climb.
"Ok, there are only a few minutes before they change the guards." Said Jane.
In front of us we could see the huge tower of Umbrella Corporation, the headquarters. Building has about 50 floors in my opinion. At least there was nothing to worry about potential shooters on the roof. The only problem was the cameras at the entrance. But Jane during the briefing was talking about a device that would cover it, blurring automatically the camera before we enter in its view. But at the same time, the device will also blur the radio signal for communication.
We watched the situation quietly. The night and the distance between the building and us, were enough to not be seen by the 7 guards walking around. I saw that Peter was nervous, sweat dripping from his forehead. I put my hand on his shoulder, but before I could say anything, Jane said:
"It is time. The explosive for the door of the lab is ready. Peter it is your turn, we follow you. "
The mission had begun. We jumped the wall, landing heavily on the ground and ran towards the entrance as it was deserted now.
"Are you sure that the cameras will be off? How you will know it? "I asked her.
"Well if it's not, we will be shot by the automatic weapons hidden under the camera. "She replied me, confident.
"Great! I fought with STARS against terrorism, now I'll end up as a terrorist! "
Although I did not used to be ironic in such circumstances, I had to admit it was effective to remove my own anxieties.
We arrived at the entrance, slowing before the camera which pointed at us. It worked. A green light point on was now turned to red.
Peter opened the door with his card.
"Follow me, this way "
In front of us was a large reception room. On each side of the reception desk was a long corridor, and behind, 2 elevators. We took one of them. Twenty buttons, but none of them would lead us to the secret lab. Below there were a metallic box stuck on the wall with a lock. Peter pulled out a key, opening the compartment that showed 3 additional buttons. He pressed the 3rd.
"We still have 3 minutes 30 if all goes well. Otherwise, they will give the assault as soon as they hear the explosion. "
Jane was not an optimist person, but at least she was realistic. I felt that in a way or another, things will goes wrong.
The elevator opened. We were in an empty room with one door on each side, and a different 3rd in front of us, a solid door that only open with fingerprints. Jane hastened to place the explosive, while we stayed near the elevator.
"Plug your ears ! "She shouted as she ran to us. The sound that followed was not as violent as what I expected, but it was enough. I did not lose a second, and came first into the room.
2 Huge tube similar to that one which held the Tyrant in Spencer's mansion stood at the center of the room. One of them contained an imperfect prototype of the "Nemesis" and the second was empty. What does that mean? There must be two ...
I headed to the first tube, and under the control panel there were differents components that kept the tube work, including the virus sample in a small tube, stuck by magnetic fields. I took care to press a button to disable fields and take the sample ... when I heard Jane pointing her gun at me.
"Do not do anything stupid Chris, we made a deal. Give me the sample. » she said calmly.
"If you shoot me, the tube will fall to the ground and will infect everyone in this building including both of us. Would you take the risk ? "
Jane thought a moment, visibly upset. But we always knew that this time had to happen soon or later. This time in which our common cause was over.
"If you do not give it to me now, then my men will kill the Gave's family..They have specific orders in that circumstance. I got prepared for this, so what's your choice Chris ? "
Before I could answer, the voice of Peter reasoned from the elevator:
"Sorry but i don't not so ! You are so pathetic you two bickering at each other that you have not even realized that I manipulated all of you since the beginning. I have always been with Umbrella, you actually thought you could bribe me so easily? And don't worry about my family, they are under Umbrella's protection until my mission is over…It means now by your death ! "
As soon as he finished, the alarm went off and we could hear the elevator closing the door with Peter inside.
"Gave ... you son of a ...?! " Jane groaned in frustration, her gun still pointed at me.
I suspected that something was wrong, but Peter Gave was very strong ... strong enough to act like a weak man in a realistic way, and able to manipulate Jane and I. But there was no time for regret, we had to find a way to go before the soldiers come to us.
"BAAANG! »
I fell on the ground, Jane suddenly shooted at my leg. The sample I had was still intact but had escaped from my hands to roll on the ground. Jane took it and looked at me :
"To answer you, I can take that risk. Goodbye Chris "
Heyyyy Shantty and Mayra it's been a while, I'm sorry, I was not too much inspired…But I hope I could get the end of this part soon because the best parts are still to come :D So thaaaank four your support !
Mayra, I sent you a private message some weeks ago, did you receive it ? :D