Welcome to a new chapter! This one is gonna be a bit different but probably expected as a more Chris-focused, plot-building chapter. Not as much fluffy this time but I'll be ramping up a plot point I had been mentioning in passing for the last few chapters. I'm gonna try and stick to my, month per chapter, format. However, this one is gonna be a bit of a wishy-washy kinda February kinda March chapter. I'm just calling it March for my sanity's sake. Hope you enjoy it :)
Song Suggestion: Legendary by Welshly Arms
Disclaimer: I am very much so a noobie fan fiction writer who has no idea what I'm doing. I don't have any connection to CapCom. Please don't sue.
If the last six weeks had been hell, this was one of hell's deeper rings. Three weeks of a touch-and-go game of cat and mouse. It was March now... Probably? If they were being completely honest, this had all started back in December. They'd been civilian side for maybe eight days and a handful of hours over the last three or four months.
Now, Chris and the rest of the team sat silently as Lobo flew the chopper to the latest location.
"All right, we're going dark in five," Lobo announced while flipping a few switches.
"Why bother?" Canine pointed out with a tired frown. "They're not going to be here either. They weren't at the last site, or the one before that... or the one before that." He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms to get comfortable.
"Fucking encrypted data bullshit," Night Howl muttered under his breath, too tired to be upset.
"How many VPNs did this guy uses?" Chris grumbled the rhetorical question.
"As a rough estimate?" Tundra replied anyway. "Potentially infinite. VPNs can be harder to trace than bank accounts."
"Fuck this shit, man... We're just chasing our tails," Canine said with a tired sigh.
"Yeah, well. With any luck, this will be the last stop," Umber Eye suggested, his optimistic words betrayed by the defeated tone of his voice.
They were tired. All of them were.
"Going dark," Lobo said and flipped a switch. The group sat in silence and thought back on their last trip home.
'*'*'*'*'
"Hound Wolf Squad," said a commanding officer as they walked into the room where the team was waiting to hear their mission objective. "Good to have you back, I know you're all tired, but those samples you spent the last few months gathering gave us just want we needed to get on the right track." The officer picked up a digital tablet from the table at the front of the room and pressed a few buttons, causing images of cellular structures and data to appear on the wall.
"Our lab team was able to isolate the virus strand. We've confirmed that the new stateside strain appears to be a variant of the virus used by Glenn Arias in New York back in 2014," he said before going through a few slides comparing the infected of each incident. Sure enough, they looked similar but not exactly the same.
"After digging through the data from that case a second time, we found that he sent out an encrypted file to an unknown recipient," the man explained and switched to the slide showing the partially decoded message that includes the cellular structure for the 'Glenn Aris Virus.' That would have been nice to know four years ago. "Looks like he had a friend who wanted to get in on the business. We were able to decode the location the files were sent to, but like any good underground business transaction, names were left out."
'*'*'*'*'
If only it ended up being that simple... That location ended up being a server farm. The one they were looking for was transmitting to another server farm, and that one went to a different one. He eventually just stopped counting. People with money didn't like getting caught and didn't playing by the rules. Each time felt like they were going in blind. They didn't know when they'd find the end of the trail, and they had to drop in a decent way from the building to avoid hostility. Going dark each time to avoid getting picked up on radio scanners, so communication was shot until they landed.
Three weeks of riding around in a cramped six-seater. With this long of a mission phase, they'd normally have a larger helicopter, but stealth was vital for now, which meant a much smaller than usual chopper. Pilot, co-pilot, and four passengers with a small cargo area. That was probably the worst part, having to fly back to HQ to resupply since it couldn't hold more than a few days' worth of gear for the team of six. Not to mention gassing the thing back up, which happened much more frequently due to a smaller tank. They would wait, hovering above an airport for clearance to land, then wait for the thing to fill up, then wait for clearance to take off again. Rinse and repeat.
Lobo eventually landed and gave the signal that everyone was good to disembark. Slide, click, click, clack click. Arms were readied as the doors opened. They filed out one by one. They grouped up and slowly crept through the dark woodland section of trees, traveling a good five miles on foot towards the coordinates HQ had given them in the last transmission.
"Looks promising," Lobo whispered as they peered down at the solid brick of a white concrete building with multiple steam vents and no windows.
"Don't jinx it," Chris quietly warned while looking through his sight. Guards, and lots of them. This probably wasn't just another server farm. Thank God. "Look alive. Umber Eye, Lobo, take a back seat and provide support. Keep an ear out for the all's clear to head out from HQ. Canine, Tundra, to the left, Night Howl you're with me."
"On it, boss."
"Yes, sir."
"Got it, Captain."
"Let's have some fun, people."
"I got your back."
Each person took their position and started making their way inside. As it turned out, rich people didn't like it when you crashed their party either.
"I'm taking heavy fire!" Tundra called on the communication system. Thirty minutes in, and stealth was no longer an option. The only upside was that their radios were fair game again.
"Hold your position. We're almost at the signal source," Chris said as he worked with Night Howl to clear a room, finding a lab inside. Bingo. Chris guarded the door as Night Howl got to work with the computer, plugging in a USB to try and transmit the data to HQ for decryption and confirmation that they found what they've been looking for.
"Fuck!" Canine shouted.
"Man down. Man down," Tundra called.
"I need five more minutes, Cap," Night Howl said with a worried tone.
"I can hold out for three. I'm out of med injectors. Hurry it the hell up," Tundra said in response.
"Lobo, Umber Eye, fall in and provide support," Chris shouted while taking down a guard that rounded the corner. "Get Canine and Tundra back to the landing site. We'll meet you there."
"On it," Umber Eye replied, though the cries of pain from Canine could still be heard on the open line.
Five minutes felt like five hours as the loading bar crawled across the screen. Whatever they did to these stupid zombies, it made them much more resilient. What should have taken four shots was taking closer to seven, and every bullet counted when supplies were limited.
"Made it to cover," Lobo said. "Closing in on the target now."
The building shook as the sound and shockwave of an explosion moved through it. "Someone asked for an exit?" Lobo added.
"Took you long enough," Tundra said, her labored breathing audible.
"On our way to the landing site now," Umber Eye said. "Looks like five hostiles on the second floor are on their way up boss. Watch the western side."
"Shit..." Chris said, looking to Night Howl. "Tell me that thing is done transmitting."
"Almost. They're trying to dump the files," Night Howl replied as he instinctively punched the side of the monitor for manual recalibration.
Seeing the hostiles on the far end of the hallway, Chris pulled the pin on a grenade and threw it. The building was going down anyway, thanks to Lobo's handy work.
Another concussive force of sound and energy later, and two remained still standing with serious injuries.
"Cap, you're not gonna like this," Night Howl said with a frown.
"Make my day," Chris barked back.
"There's another signal with the files," Night Howl said with a tired sigh before he pulled out the USB.
"For fuck's sake," Chris shouted, sneering as he shot down the remaining two, then reloaded.
"Hound Wolf Squad, this is HQ. You're clear to evacuate. Data has been received," a calm voice said on the radio before cutting out.
"I'm on your six," Night Howl said, and the two started making their way back towards the cover of the forest.
They eventually made it the five miles back to the chopper. "GO GO GO," Chris called upon seeing the blades were not active. "Take off," Chris ordered as they ran towards the open door.
"Taking off," Lobo replied as he started flipping switches to get the machine running. The blades started spinning as Chris and Night Howl hurried in. Shutting the door, they heard metal pings.
"We're taking fire," Lobo said as he tries to take off.
"Get us off the ground!" Chris barked.
"I'm working on it!" Lobo shouted back. The chopper dropped a few times, but eventually, it managed to get off the ground and into the air for the team to leave the area.
The group flew in silence for a good thirty minutes, aside from the pained groans of Canine. The youngest squad member had shrapnel shards embedded in his right arm and chest. Using a med injector would just kill him faster at this point by healing the debris inside of him.
Once they were a safe distance away, Lobo let out a sigh. "This is Lobo calling in for HQ. HQ, do you copy?"
"Copy Lobo," the same voice from before replied.
"Heading to coordinates 3 miles west, 20 miles south from current position for refueling. One injured onboard, with multiple puncture and shrapnel wounds to the right side and second-degree burns around entry points. Send Medics ahead, over," he said while adjusting a few settings on the dash.
"Rodger that. Medic in route for pick up," the voice stated after a long pause. "Fuel up and continue to HQ to receive further mission directives. Over."
"With all due respect, which is none at this point, we're fucking tired," Lobo argued with a frown.
Another pause.
"Understood," the voice replied. "Continue to HQ to receive further mission directives," the voice repeated, which caused Chris to slam his fist into the wall of the chopper.
"Instructions received under duress," Umber Eye replied with a scoff.
Another pause. "Over and out," the voice replied.
"Over and out," the team answered in unison.
'*'*'*'*'
Canine was promptly rushed off to a hospital for surgery to try and save his arm after landing at the airfield. The rest of the team fueled up from there and made their way back to HQ. Three days of quarantine were mandated due to virus exposure. Great… The team rested in solitude while waiting to hear back about what would happen next.
On the fourth day, there was a knock at Chris' barracks door. He put down the book he was afforded and opened the door.
"The director wants to speak with you," a secretary-looking individual stated, motioning for him to follow.
"And the rest of my team?" Chris asked, unmoving.
"He wishes to speak with you personally for now," she replied before walking away. Chris frowned at this but ultimately followed, ending up in the office of the director of the BSAA.
"Christopher Redfield, the legend himself," the leader said, rising when Chris walked into the room. He offered Chris his hand for a handshake, which was begrudgingly accepted. "Good to see you. Your team has done some fine work these last few months." The man took his seat and motioned for Chris to do the same.
"Mr. Dion Wilson or Canine, as your group calls him, is recovering nicely and should be ready to go back to fieldwork in another day or two." The man pushed a file over for Chris to look over. "Those files you picked up had the answers we were looking for and a few new questions as well," the director admitted, scratching his face. "That new signal was aimed off to the deserts of Europe."
Fuck.
"And we have further leads within the states for the producers of the mutated virus. Based on the file your team got us, it's a local pharmaceutical company doing the gene-editing. We just need to narrow down which location is their virus lab..." Chris took a breath to try to keep his sanity. "To top that off, we have more movement on the Louisiana front, and the Winters' case requires attention."
This is never going to end.
"Which is why, effective immediately…" the man started.
Here it comes, Chris thought, expecting to hear that the team would be continuing their sprint.
"…Hound Wolf Squad will be officially disbanded."
"What?!" Chris demanded, shocked at the one piece of news he was not expecting.
"You've done a remarkable job leading your team. Truly a mark above and one we can always count on for results." The man picked up a new file. "But it can't be ignored that resources are spread thin... And I quote from the transcript of a recent call. 'With all due respect, which is none at this point, we're fucking tired... Instructions received under duress'," the man recited, causing Chris to lean forward and drop his head slightly.
Fucking Hell.
"Hound Wolf Squad will be re-allocated into two smaller assault squads. Hound Squad will consist of Ronaldo Elva AKA Umber Eye as team lead, John Perlman AKA Lobo as pilot, and heavy arms specialist with Emily Berkhoff or Tundra, as the lead recon and communications specialist. Taking the lead in Europe and Louisiana-based missions," the man listed off in a monotone voice. "Wolf Squad will consist of yourself as the team lead and pilot, Dion Wilson AKA Canine as K-9 Specialist and interim ground support." He finally noticed the twitching sneer on Chris' face as he looked up from the page, causing him to pause a moment before finishing his sentence. "And Charlie Graham AKA Night Howl as recon and communications specialist. Your team will specialize on the stateside Glenn Aris virus and the Winters' case."
"You're going to get us killed," Chris said, trying to keep an even tone. "We're a team of six for a reason."
"You're going to get yourself killed trying to juggle too many mission locations," the man countered with a minor hint of sympathy in his tone as he put down the file.
"Then why split the missions like that, huh?" Chris accused in frustration. "If it was about that, then why not have us in the same area? The European Desert mission with the Winter mission for one team and stateside work for the other."
"Trust me, we'd love nothing more than to do that. It would save us tens of thousands on overhead costs to simply relocate a team to the European branch, but this is how it fits best," the man replied in a tone that just irritated Chris further. "Ethan Winters requested you specifically for his case, Mia as well, and we need their co-operation. We also need our best on this stateside case since it's the more prominent threat to the citizens of this fine country. Your team admittedly drew the short stick, but I'm sure you'll be able to make due with your Swiss army knife variety of expertise."
"Make due?!" Chris parroted back, no longer hiding the anger in his tone.
"Look, I get it," the man said as he leaned forward and rested his hands together. "These are stressful times, and the... bond between brothers and sisters in arms is a difficult one to sever. It's not going to be easy," he said, annoying Chris even more. "Once we get these cases more under control, Hound Wolf Squad will be reinstated in full. I promise. And you'll still be working together since the missions overlap. You'll also have more time in the office, where you'll see each other plenty," he explained.
Chris stood up. "That's bullshit, and you know it. You know the statistics as well as I do for smaller teams," Chris accused. "I've led much larger teams than Hound Wolf Squad for the BSAA and still been the only survivor!"
The man leaned back to relax in his chair. "I suppose everyone makes mistakes. However, I'm afraid the decision is final. I just thought you should be the first to know," he said, still as calm as ever. "Have a good day, Mr. Redfield. You'll have your next mission briefing in three days as the leader of Wolf squad. I look forward to seeing you there."
Every fiber of Chris' being screamed for him to punch this asshat in the face. Forcing a none-too-convincing neutral expression, he pointed at the man. "Our blood is on your hands," he said and stormed out.
Whether he liked it or not, three days passed, and the team was split up. Hound squad went overseas to continue chasing the signal, while Wolf squad spent a week and a half checking on the Winters family in Romania before continuing recon missions into the stateside producer of the modified Glen Aris virus. Time continued to pass as the now smaller Wolf team sat comfortably in the six-person helicopter with Chris as the pilot.
"Come in, Alpha. You've been cleared to land," said an air controller.
"About time..." Chris muttered as he landed the craft and shut down the engine. He waited for it to come to a full stop before getting out to plug in the fueling nozzle and fill out the landing report. Date. 3/27/18. "Huh..."
"Something the matter, Captain?" Night Howl asked over the radio.
"Nah. I just noticed the date is all. Guess I'm forty-five now," he said with a disinterested tone as he finished filling out the paperwork. Forty-five years old, and man, did he feel every year of it.
"Huh. Well, happy birthday," Canine said, still just as tired as before.
boy howdy do I feel like some choices in this chapter need some explaining. Pardon me as I put on my 'Lore Nerd' hat and explain. please feel free to skip this.
So dialog wise when the Hound Wolf squad was introduced in RE8 there were three key points that stuck out to me. 1) Chris says they spent, Three years trying to put this thing in the ground, it suggests that they worked together on this for that 3 years or at least during that incident. 2) Lobo says that the RE8 mission is 'Like old times' but I can't really find anything on him existing in other games. it suggests they spent a decent amount of time as this exact team before being separated and it wasn't normal for them to be in that group anymore. 3) it's kinda out of context but Tundra mentioned she was out of shape from doing nothing but Recon. the Wiki mentions [without a source] she was doing recon in the Mojave desert and informed the disbanded team. why do that? everyone has a personal investment in the case so another tally on the board for the team predating the baker incident. but that doesn't really line up since the Mojave incident was recorded as being in 2014 and the Louisiana incident was recorded as closer to 2017 with RE8 being around 2020-21. I feel like that's a slight miscommunication from Canine's[?] line right before that mentioning it had been since the desert. Again really confusing timeline-wise with the baker incident being in 2017 and the fact they all seemed to have a level of investment in it. so assuming the wiki was wrong, I put half the team in a desert closer to Romania where it would be more likely that they over-heard a lead about Romania through Recon and figured that at some point both halves Regroup for a short time in the desert to help the recon half.
So all that in addition to the very established fact that they were there without the BSAA knowing but [most likely] still working for the BSAA based on how well equipped they were, they went rogue for that mission and spent a few weeks on it based on the number of stations Ethan finds throughout the game. I say a few weeks since anything longer than that and they would have gotten some sort of call for other work if they weren't already on missions that they walked out on which would be very not good in terms of trying to contain an outbreak and keep it a secret from the public. Also considering that Rose was mentioning Chris to a BSAA agent as part of her threat suggests they would know who he is and that he was most likely still working for the BSAA even after going rogue.
[end lore nerd rants] So that's the logic I will be working with going forward with this writing. I feel kinda bad using Turkey for this for many reasons but I can't ignore that it is physically much closer to Romania than California in the wrong year and just fits better with the Lore that CapCom provided. Let me know if you think I should make up a country? I don't know if that's any better though TBH. maybe just ignore logic and make it the Mojave? maybe I missed something...
Review Responses:
Ink Scribble - I'm glad you loved the last chapter even if it hurts X'D I think I am in the same boat. it's quickly becoming my favorite chapter. this one probably hurt a bit too so I'm sorry for that. ovq I would say it gets better but the next one is probably going to be worse. but it will get better again after that! I promise X'D
