My great thanks to HighFlyingWings, who kindly chose to use some of his free time to be my beta reader!
4th October, 2008.
Summer ran, the rest of the ISIS team and the two BSAA agents behind her, towards the nearby checkpoint currently being attacked, the sounds of explosions and battle echoing louder and louder as they came closer.
Finally, Summer came across a street's corner, and saw the battlefield with her own eyes.
Despite herself, she couldn't help but flinch slightly at the chaos of a battlefield, a true battlefield, clearly standing in all of its unholy glory before her.
Waves after waves of B.O.W's were charging towards the fortified positions of the ISIS soldiers, two tanks armed with plasma cannons firing as quickly as they could towards the biggest B.O.W's while lines of soldiers kept sustained fire towards the charging monsters, the air itself seemingly catching on fire from the amount of plasma bolts flying across the street.
A few snipers in nearby buildings took potshots at the B.O.W's who represented the biggest threats, heads vanishing in red fog of vaporised blood under the powerful plasma blasts coming down from the windows, while more soldiers shot at the charging lines of Redlight B.O.W's with all sorts of rocket launchers and grenade launchers.
Already, the street was filled with smoking craters, and more were rapidly created as the defenders grimly fought to hold the line at all costs, well aware of the consequences of failure as distant screams of terrified civilians echoed in the city.
The other ISIS soldiers and BSAA agents caught up with Summer, all of them pausing for a second to stare at the sight of the battle raging before them, before Summer's twin growled.
"Alright, everyone get a move on! Summer, do what you do best, hunt those damn things! You BSAA people, find a place in the checkpoint and fire from there, it's the most defensible place here!"
Summer tightened her hold on Iron Thorn, nodding once before running onwards, while behind her the ISIS soldiers and BSAA agents made way towards the checkpoint and the local ISIS leader in charge of it.
Summer was more focused on killing the B.O.W's in front of her, trusting her twin to link up with the soldiers and work from there.
She rushed forward, Iron Thorn cutting through the air and into meat and bones as she cut the heads of a number of Walkers, before dodging the jump of a brawler Hunter, ducking under its second swing and letting her halberd cut it from waist to neck, its guts falling to the floor in a heap of gore from its open belly before the soon-to-be corpse fell to the ground.
She kept going, instinctively cutting the head off of another Hunter trying to pounce on her before finally reaching her true prey, a Juggernaut whose eyes narrowed at her coming.
The Juggernaut roared, before hitting the ground hard enough to create a shockwave that sent flying several nearby smaller B.O.W's, though Summer calmly dodged out of the way, stepping out of its follow-up swings of its heavy limbs to cut at its flesh, the Juggernaut growling at the bloody cuts she quickly created on its body, though it hardly seemed to slow it down, and a few began to slowly close up thanks to the power of the virus in its body.
Summer frowned… and took out a Fire Dust crystal, activating it by flooding it with her Aura and then throwing it at the Juggernaut.
The Juggernaut foolishly tried to bat away the crystal, only for it to explode and send it stumbling backward, its right arm badly burnt.
Summer didn't waste any time, rushing forward and running on its belly while it was stumbling, up and up until she jumped above its head, at which point she shifted her body mid-air to bring down her halberd straight into the monster's forehead… and then she used her semblance, accelerating downwards to hit the ground quickly enough to create a small shockwave, using her Armour and Aura to absorb the strength of her landing, but more importantly the way that the Juggernaut fell back before bouncing on the ground drove her halberd straight into the monster's brain, her weapon digging deeply into the B.O.W's head until most of its front half had been cut in two, killing it instantly.
She got up, stepping to the side, halberd flashing and disemboweling a Hunter who had sought to exploit her victory, only to find out her guard had still been up.
Summer glanced around, finding a number of B.O.W's changing course to charge at her, while others kept charging forward, eager to reach the ISIS lines and try to kill the soldiers hunkering down within their fortifications.
She scowled, raising her halberd and choosing her next target before charging towards it.
Considering the dozens of B.O.W's charging down the street, with already several dozen more corpses scattered around the place, she had a feeling she wasn't going to run out of targets anytime soon…
-
"Lieutenant! What's the situation?" shouted Major Rose, coming to a stop near the Lieutenant shouting orders in his radio.
"We're holding, Major!" he shouted back, the echo of explosion and plasma fire around them intensifying with the addition of her team linking up with the local defenders. "But I don't know how long! Command told me that more B.O.W's are headed our way, across the entire defensive line!"
"What about down south? Any news from Blackwatch?"
"Greene is keeping them busy, she sent a number of B.O.W's attacking a few of their bases. Not enough to truly win, but enough to keep them occupied!"
"Great!" she sarcastically replied, glaring down the map on a nearby table which showed off the details of the defensive line. "Anything else we need to know?"
The Lt. pursed his lips. "Command thinks that Greene is trying to push us back, but isn't willing to throw too much resources into the fight. They think she's testing us, and how different we are from Blackwatch."
"So what, she's throwing just enough B.O.W's to make Blackwatch sweat at us, and see how different things go with us?"
"Essentially."
She glanced up at the sounds of a loud roar, which quickly turned pained.
"And what are our orders?" she asked, ignoring what had to be her twin at work.
"For now, we hold the line! Depending on whether Greene changes her mind or not about holding back, for now at least we have to appear as an unyielding bulwark! Command wants to make it clear that we aren't Blackwatch, that we're much stronger, since they are hoping that Blackwatch will seem a more attractive target to go after first! However, if Greene goes all out, we are to all fall back to the second defensive line, and let her think she found our breaking point!"
The Major blinked. "We've actually got orders to fall back?"
The Lt. nodded. "We aren't dealing with a mindless horde, so Command doesn't want the other side to truly know our limits. Not yet, at least. So while usually Command likes to play aggressively to stop the possibility of a swarm gathering momentum, I'm told Command has a different plan in mind for this outbreak."
She nodded. It felt a bit strange to be dealing with an enemy truly capable of proper thinking, but it was what it was.
"Right, any Hunters support for us? Besides my twin, at least."
The Lt. hesitated, before shaking his head. "Your twin is the only one allowed to take to the field, actually. All others are in reserve until further orders."
Major Rose blinked. "Any reasons why?"
The Lt. shrugged. "Command didn't say."
She frowned. "If Greene is watching, that's going to make my twin, and thus all of us here, a priority target."
The Lt. nodded grimly. "Yes, Ma'am. I'm told that a greater amount of troops is available for us to call upon if need be, but if possible, Command would like us to try and hold with what've got when it comes to Hunter support. Everything is available except that."
"What is Command planning?"
"No idea Ma'am, but orders are orders."
She sighed. "Well, we'll do our best then. I'll go help my team, if any news from Command comes up, please keep me informed."
"Yes, Ma'am!"
-
"This is fucking insane!"
"Yeah, I noticed!"
BSAA agent Parker kept shooting his plasma rifle, while his partner Jessica did the same nearby, both of them staring wide-eyed at the sheer carnage going on outside ISIS's forward base and checkpoint between the south and north of the island of Manhattan.
A building which was currently spewing death at a stunning rate, and that despite the horrifying toughness of the enemies outside.
Seriously, he shot one of those damn Leader Hunters with a plasma shot to the face, and it took three more shots to the body to actually kill the damn thing!
A single plasma shot could blow a hole into a thick wall big enough to allow Parker's car through it without issue, but no, those damn things just shrugged off what should have been deadly wounds!
So it really said something that not a second passed without several B.O.W.'s dying, and several more being gravely wounded.
Of course, that was partially explained by the sheer insanity of ISIS's weapons. Seriously, Parker saw someone throw a grenade that opened a damn black hole when the thing went off, outright consuming a damn Juggernaut whole alongside a few nearby Walkers in seconds!
And don't even get him started on the Grav-guns, each shot of those tore apart anything standing in their way before detonating in truly spectacular ways!
Oh, and let's not forget the stars of the show, the two women looking strikingly identical who were outright butchering B.O.W's after B.O.W's like they were nothing. Sword and Halberd cut through the air with deadly precision and skill, and already a growing number of corpses could attest to the danger of the weapons wielded by masters of them as both women eagerly fought the greater threats on the battlefield.
And it was sorely needed, as the monsters they were fighting were far deadlier than anything Parker had ever seen in his career in the BSAA so far. Each Walker was several times stronger and faster than a regular human, the Hunters made regular lions look cuddly and cute in comparison, and the Leader Hunters took an utterly absurd amount of punishment.
Oh, and let's not forget the Juggernauts, that required nothing short of tanks or one of those two crazy ladies in the street to kill, shrugging off plasma bolts like they were water droplets.
Everywhere he looked, only destruction and death was visible, and it was a testament to the skills and weapons of ISIS that the only ones dying were the B.O.W's and no one else.
True, having really good defensible positions, overlapping fields of fire, and more helped, but any other army would have fallen by now under the continuous waves of B.O.W's rushing at them.
But for now at least, ISIS held the line. Blood flowed like rivers across the street, several hills of corpses were beginning to be formed from the constant addition of more dead bodies, and the street itself was an utter wreck which would require weeks, most likely months of work to repair, but against all odds, the line still held.
Parker wiped the sweat off his brow, sweating from the heat of all the plasma blasts, explosions, and the sheer stress he was under as he kept firing at yet more and more B.O.W's trying to get to their line.
"Flyers!" came the shout across the comms, and Parker looked up, blood freezing in his veins as a swarm of vulture-sized creatures came from the sky, obviously eager to get their claws on anyone beneath them.
Parker was about to start shooting up when suddenly an ISIS soldier nearby took out a red crystal, threw it at the incoming swarm, and another shot the crystal mid-air.
Parker flinched when an explosion went off, waves of fire cooking the flying B.O.W's instantly.
"What the hell was that?!" shouted Jessica.
"Fire Dust crystal!" came from a nearby soldier, who nonetheless kept on firing. "We're holding on to our reserves unless we really need to, and a swarm of flying B.O.W's risking to overwhelm us count!"
"You've got how many of those?"
"Enough to save our skin in a pinch, but we'd rather not show them off too much! The outbreak has just started, and we need to worry about Greene! The less she knows what we can do, the better! You didn't think those Flyers just happened to charge at us while we were busy dealing with these waves of B.O.W's, did you?" sarcastically shouted the soldier.
"Fucking combined arms tactics from B.O.W's! This outbreak is already proving to be a mess, and it hasn't been a week!" shouted another soldier.
Parker blanched slightly at the thought that the flyers were deliberately sent while they were all busy dealing with a ground attack. Taking a good look at the battlefield, he swallowed.
If the Walkers and Hunters were the infantry, then the Juggernauts were the tanks, and the Flyers…
"Shit! They're right!"
"Oh, great! Actual tactics from B.O.W's! Just what we all needed!" growled Jessica.
"How the hell are Blackwatch even holding against these bastards?!"
"By throwing manpower at the problems!" shouted a ISIS soldier. "Send enough grunts at a target, and eventually it'll die! Why do you think the casualties are rising so fast for the Marines down south?!"
"Well I'm very fucking glad I'm with you guys then, because I really don't think my charm is going to save me from these assholes!" shouted Jessica.
"Sorry Jess, but I don't think these guys will settle with a dinner and a date from you!" joked Parker, trying to lighten the mood, killing another B.O.W's with a well-placed shot. How many did that make? 15? 20?
"Women hate guys who can't take a fucking hint!" Jessica agreed, turning the head of another Hunter to a bloody paste with a headshot.
*ROOOOOOOAAAAARRRR!*
Parker froze.
"Was that-"
"Incoming Goliaths! And Juggernauts! And- Fuck, they're sending everything and the damn kitchen sink our way!"
"Shit! Do we fall back?!" screamed Jessica.
"To all units at Delta, we've got air support and troops coming our way! Hold the line!"
"No Hunter support?" questioned a nearby ISIS soldier.
"Negative, hold the line with just Summer!"
The soldier grunted and glanced their way.
"Well you BSAA people better pray to whatever gods you believe in, because we're in for a wild ride!"
The growing roars of inhuman throats coming closer in large numbers only furthered proved the truth of those words…
-
"Status of Checkpoint Delta?"
"Holding, for now. A Leader Hunter managed to get to the building, but it was not prepared to deal with Aura-enhanced ISIS soldiers at close range. Though apparently, part of the building is now open to the outside after it got wrecked in the fighting, and we've got reports that Flyers are starting to spit some kind of acid from a distance after learning that getting close to our soldiers was suicide."
I grunted. "I'd have liked to hide just how physically strong ISIS soldiers in general are for longer, but we'll make do."
"You still don't want to send us in?"
I glanced away from the Colonel and to the nearby Jill, who was frowning as the reports of battles continued to come in.
"No. For all that Greene looked like she was trying really hard to take Delta, no doubt because of Summer being there, I'm almost certain that she's still holding back. Juggernauts, Goliaths, and Flyers are a lot, but I'm certain she's still got more. I don't want to show off our cards too early."
Jill's frown grew. "Then why send Summer at all?"
I sighed. "A few reasons. First, she is still getting used to being part of a military group. Obeying orders which force her to not get involved is against her oaths as a Huntress from Remnant. In time, I'm hopeful she'll trust me enough to hold back if I tell her to do so, but I didn't want to put her on the spot between her loyalty to me and her beliefs as a Huntress of Remnant."
Jill raised an eyebrow. "You think she'd go against orders?"
I looked at her in the eyes.
"How frustrating is it for you to hold back, even when we know each other for a decade now?"
She grimaced.
I nodded. "The bigger picture isn't something she's trained to consider. She's a Huntress of Remnant. They are taught from a young age that they are meant to be protectors, to be heroes. Letting others fight isn't something she would react well to, no matter the logical reasons for it."
"Alright, but then what about that bigger picture? Isn't her being out there fighting putting that at risk?"
I hummed. "Yes and no. Yes, it let Greene know that we have someone on Summer's level, but by letting her push us as she currently is without having anyone else come in for support, and Major Rose doesn't count because they look like sisters anyway so it could be something to do with genetics that allow them to be so strong, it hopefully will make her think that these two are the best of the best. Oh, she probably suspects I'm even stronger, but the important thing here is that she has no idea how many people like Summer, both of them, we have to call upon. And the harder she pushes us without us calling on you and the other Hunters, the more she'll be convinced that we really don't have many like the Summers… If anyone."
I chuckled. "Also, letting Summer the Huntress run wild does allow me to see how good a hunter-level fighter is against Redlight. That's a very valuable piece of knowledge considering my plans for dealing with the outbreak."
"You're using her beliefs against her?" asked Jill.
I shook my head. "More like ensuring that we get something out of her using those beliefs. If she's going to fight on the frontline no matter what I say, the wise decision is to let her do so while getting as many benefits as I can out of it. She gets to fight, I get the data I need to adjust my long-term plans better, and both idealism and pragmatism win the day."
Jill snorted. "It's times like these that I remember how calculating you can be sometimes."
"Do you disapprove?" I wondered, voice carefully neutral.
She sighed. "No. I know that your heart is in the right place, and the leader of an army at war can't afford to let feelings rule them. Being able to use each person the best in battle is a mark of a good leader, and you're right in that this is a good way of letting everyone win… Well, except Greene of course."
She looked at me thoughtfully. "I'm just surprised that you aren't eager to go out there yourself."
I laughed. "Oh, I am! Staying here, at HQ, giving orders while others fight feels wrong."
I sighed deeply. "But I can't go out there. Not yet. Again, this isn't Raccoon City. The enemy this time is cunning. If I go, Greene will focus on me, and I'll have to show off too much of my strength to keep everyone around me alive. Greene will learn from that and escalate, and then I'll have to escalate, and then-"
I waved at the outside world. "Then sooner or later it doesn't matter who between me and Greene wins, because everybody else would lose."
"You're that concerned about what she can do, huh?" Jill muttered.
I nodded. "She can direct the mutations of Redlight, Jill. The more accurate data I give her on what we can do, the better she can prepare her army against us. As it is, part of the reason that Grav-guns are so effective against the B.O.W's out there are that she's mutating her B.O.W's against heat and the like, to better withstand plasma and lasers. The longer this goes on, the less effective standard weapons will be."
Jill grimaced. "And if we all go out there-"
"Then she'll create an anti-Hunter B.O.W's class of monsters, ones meant to target us specifically. How good at their job will depend on many factors, but either way, I'd rather avoid the risk entirely. As long as only Summer shows off, I'm hoping that it would be too much trouble to create an entirely new B.O.W's to specifically target her. If all of us show off…"
"We'll become top priorities." Jill acknowledged with a scowl.
I smiled grimly. "Indeed. And while ISIS soldiers are good, they aren't Hunter-level of good. Anywhere that doesn't have a Hunter risk to get overwhelmed, and if Greene can somehow manage to mass-produce anti-Hunter class B.O.W's…"
"Is that even possible?"
I looked at her straight in the eyes.
"Do you dare to find out?"
She swallowed. "No."
I smiled grimly. "Me neither."
-
5th October, 2008.
"This is Lois Carol, reporting for TNN on the developing situation in Manhattan! As you all know, the recent images about the outbreak of a virus known as 'Redlight' spreading across Manhattan has shocked the world, as creatures straight out of mankind's worst nightmares are fighting in the streets against the armies of humanity!"
Behind the beautiful blue-eyed, raven-haired journalist, trails of smoke drifted off into the air, while explosions echoed in the air, as Manhattan visibly turned into an even greater battlefield over the previous days.
"While south of the island is defended by the US Marines with the support of unidentified Special Forces, the north is where the rather famous private army of Insight Corp. known as ISIS, backed by more Marines, are putting up a furious fight against the seemingly never-ending waves of creatures created by those infected by the virus!"
A spectacularly loud explosion echoed in the distance, followed by several more, and Lois grimaced at the sound.
"As you can see, parts of the island are being outright bombed to oblivion by the military, as all reports indicate that the infection over the island is continuously progressing despite all attempts to curb it! For now, the southern parts of the city are in the worst states, as the forces of ISIS seemingly are holding strong against the hordes of monsters trying to get at the helpless civilian population of-"
The camera turned slightly away from Lois, who turned to look at the visible battle between a number of ISIS helicopters supported by anti-air weaponry, while flocks of flying monsters try their best to bring down the flying machines, thankfully without success so far.
Lois waved at the sight, a grim look on her face.
"ISIS is trying to evacuate as many civilians as they can, though this is an effort filled with danger as the infected lifeforms specifically target aircraft to further spread the infection. There are many concerns that the people evacuated could spread the virus beyond Manhattan, but representatives of Insight Corp. assure that the troops on the ground have the technology and knowledge to detect any infected trying to board. So far, all evacuated people speak of grueling combat taking place, with tales of US Marines and ISIS soldiers fighting side-by-side against often overwhelming odds for the sake of ensuring that not a single person is left behind at the mercy of the monsters."
Lois sighed, looking straight at the camera.
"No matter the outcome of what many are already calling the 'Battle of Manhattan', one thing is for sure: the world will never be the same, as many noticed that neither Insight Corp. nor the US Armed Forces seem surprised at the existence of such a virus. Rumors of monsters plaguing the world have been heard far and wide over the last decade, and even before that, and already there are questions about the last time that ISIS was deployed on American soil in force like this, during the Raccoon City Incident about ten years ago. Is it a coincidence? Or is there something far more to the story than the world had ever suspected for the last decade? We have tried to get an interview with the leaders of ISIS, but so far, we have been rebuffed by the fact that they are needed to supervise the conflicts taking place across the island. Be assured however, that I have petitioned the right as a war correspondent on the frontlines to better record the struggles of the Marines and ISIS soldiers fighting to defend the people of Manhattan, and -"
-
"You are sure about this?"
"I am. Our work will no longer be in shadows, Colonel. Mankind now knows of the monsters threatening them, and there is no closing this Pandora's Box. If we want to achieve our long-term goal, now is the time to strike while the iron is hot. Hearts and minds, Colonel. Blackwatch thrives on secrecy. We shall be the opposite. Let the world know that where there are monsters, there are also heroes fighting them. People love a good hero and villain story. Black and White, Good and Evil, simple concepts that are easy to understand. And this war is simple: There are monsters, and there are human soldiers fighting them. So let them see. Let them know of the heroes who fight, and the monsters at our gates. Let them see humanity, and it's the opposite."
I grinned.
"And when the questions come about how all of this began, then it shall be easy enough to add the story of those brave warriors of ISIS trying to stop the evil, ruthless Blackwatch from achieving their nefarious goals. Honestly, Blackwatch will do most of the work for us. We are already gathering evidence of them executing civilians in the streets, once we release all we know about them… Well, the public will want more than heroes. They'll want someone to blame as well. It just so happens that ISIS can give them what they want."
The Colonel fell silent after my little speech, considering my words, before pointing out one of the problems with it.
"It requires letting a journalist on the frontline."
I chuckled. "Miss Carol is an avid pursuer of the truth. Yes, we have our secrets, but all we have to do is let her on the trails of secrets we want found, and then sit back and watch the fireworks. And we certainly aren't lacking in the numbers of secrets we could let slip, to say the least."
I shook my head. "And yes, protecting her will be a headache, but one worth the benefits, I believe. Besides, she's the one who petitioned us for this in the first place. She knows the risks, if she still wants to do it anyway, it is not our place to interfere."
The Colonel nodded, sighing, before bringing up another question.
"And what about the Mercer siblings? Do you want her to meet them?"
I frowned. "Maybe. We'll see how Miss Carol reacts to everything else we throw at her first, then we'll decide whether she should have a talk with them or not. As it is, Dana is busy working with Claire and Alyssa on finding as many secrets of Blackwatch as they can, with Mercer-"
"Wrecking part of the southern island?" dryly finished the Colonel.
I snorted. "Well if Blackwatch wasn't trying to track down his hiding hole, also where Dana is, they wouldn't have to worry about a hyper-lethal sentient virus with a grudge wrecking their shit in."
The Colonel sighed. "They should focus on Greene. Pushing Alex Mercer like they are doing is only weakening them to the point that Greene's hordes are having an easier time pushing deeper down south."
I shrugged. "Nobody said that Blackwatch couldn't be stupid at times. Though to be fair, trying to take out the rapidly evolving hyper-lethal sentient virus before he become too strong to handle isn't a bad idea… in theory. Doing it while fighting against Greene's hordes? Well, there is a reason that fighting a war on two fronts is considered madness."
"Indeed." The Colonel fell silent for a moment, before nodding. "Alright, any idea who should play baby-sitting duty for the civvies?"
I grinned. "Well, what about Brads and his team? They did alright back during the Spanish cult incident."
The Colonel chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure they'll be absolutely delighted with the idea of protecting a very famous investigative journalist who just won't take no for an answer."
I laughed. "Well hey, we solved aging, so it's not like they can get grey hairs through anything else but stress nowadays!"
-
6th October, 2008.
Lois Carol stared at the group before her.
She had been somewhat surprised to have ISIS actually let her join them on the frontline, with an extensive number of rules, most of which could be summarized as "If we tell you to run, you run. To duck, you get on the ground and pray. And in the worst case scenario, well that's what the las-pistol we gave you is for, either to kill the other side or yourself."
Rather dark, but one look at the utterly grim face of the soldier saying those words made it clear he wasn't going for a bad attempt at humor.
Still, she wasn't going to say no to being allowed on ground zero of the greatest battle in modern history, one capable of changing the world in countless ways.
It wasn't her first time going on a battlefront, she had been to a few warzones before, though admittedly it would be the first time that the other side would see her as an enemy to be killed as surely as any other ISIS soldier with her.
Which brought her back to the present and the group in front of her.
The ISIS team was led by a man named Brads, a Sergeant, Corporal Winter, a woman with a plasma rifle in hands, Corporal Briggs, a man with a laser shotgun, Specialist Jackson, a large man with a massive plasma cannon, and Corporal Tracks, a soldier with a laser sniper rifle, who hadn't even bothered looking at her when he was presented, preferring to focus on his sniper instead.
The Sergeant's words had been straight to the point:
"We're the lucky-" he ignored a snort coming from the sniper soldier "-ones to get you around this island. So stay close to us, keep your head down, listen to instructions, and you'll be just fine. Got it?" the Sergeant finished, looking at Lois specifically, rather than her assistant with the camera.
Lois nodded. Again, it wasn't her first time in a warzone, though it was the first one involving literal monsters.
"Good. Then let's get going, there is no need to waste time. We're expected at Checkpoint Gamma."
They began moving, her cameraman recording everything around them. Since they were close to the nearby ISIS HQ, it had a stunning amount of military equipment, soldiers patrolling the area, and enough guns ready to fire than nothing short of an army could hope to take this place.
Seriously, the whole place looked like a fortress designed by a paranoid madman with a love for guns from the ways that everyone and everything was armed to the teeth.
Lois had yet to see a single building with less than three plasma machine guns protecting it…
And that was mostly because she hadn't been able to see all the buildings!
"That's a lot of defenses." she noted.
Corporal Tracks snorted softly, looking at her with contempt, or maybe pity, while sergeant Brads chuckled.
"Nah, not really. We're waiting for more shipments of guns to arrive to bolster the defenses, as it is this is barely enough. It needs more guns, tanks, mines, and the engineers have yet to put up all the automated turrets and the defenses that we want."
Lois blinked, then glanced around.
After a moment, she couldn't help but remark on the obvious.
"This place as is can probably fight off a few thousand troops attacking it!"
And that was being modest. With the hundreds, possibly a thousand of ISIS soldiers around, and all the defenses she could see, attacking this place with anything short of a good few thousands of troops would be suicide.
"Exactly! Only a few thousand! Bah, that's practically worthless. This is our HQ. Even if just for this outbreak, it should damn well be able to hold off at least ten thousand B.O.W's!"
Lois stared at the ISIS soldiers, who collectively grumbled in agreement, before they all began grumbling about all the ways that this place could be further fortified.
"Do you… Are you used to fighting that many infected?" she couldn't help but ask.
Sergeant Brad opened his mouth, then seemed to hesitate before settling on a frown.
"Not outside of training, but that doesn't mean anything! We're supposed to be the first, and if needed, the last line of defence of people across the world against the threats posed by B.O.W's. As the Boss says, it's not paranoia when there really are people out to get you! Or B.O.W's, in this case."
She stepped closer.
"And how many times did you fight for the world? Was there in fact an outbreak like the one here in Raccoon City? Elsewhere? The entire world is wondering about that!"
"Sorry, that's classified." Sergeant Brads replied, apologetic.
Lois's eyes sparkled in triumph. "Classified? That implies that there were other outbreaks, if not on this scale."
The Sergeant looked at her in the eyes.
"Classified." he deadpanned.
Lois frowned, then huffed.
"Fine, be that way, but you can't expect to hide the truth forever! Not anymore, not when everyone wants answers!"
The Sergeant raised a hand. "Hey, you should not ask that to me. I'm just a sergeant, I'm not the Colonel or the Boss. I'm not the one making the decisions. You want to talk about all of this stuff, you do it with someone with the authority to answer you."
Lois frowned, but nodded. "Fine, I will."
"Good. Now, we're getting in a few jeeps, get inside and we'll get where we need to go."
Lois backed off, looking at the vehicles that will bring them closer to their destination, and mentally prepared herself for the visions of war to come.
For all that war was always horrifying to see, it always was between humans before.
Not this time, however. The enemy was unquestionably inhuman… and utterly merciless.
Still, Lois Carol was here for the truth, and no amount of danger would stop her from seeking it.
So she straightened her back, squared her shoulders, and got inside one of the jeeps.
And she tried her best to not focus on the way her stomach tightened into knots as she stared in the distance towards where they were going… and the sounds of explosions coming from there.
No turning back now, she thought with grim determination.
-
Lois stared in grim horror at the street in front of her.
From where she was, she could see dozens, probably more corpses of monsters, all of them visibly trying to claim "Checkpoint Gamma."
And more corpses were being stacked over time, as she saw what the soldiers described as Walkers, Hunters, Leader Hunters and more charge at the line of defense.
The sheer speed and strength of the monsters was horrifying, as any car standing in their way were thrown around like they weighed nothing, sometimes killing a few Walkers, or being brutally pushed aside by other, stronger mutated lifeforms.
And their speed… Lois had difficulty trying to follow some of the ones charging at full speed, almost looking like blurs of motion to her eyes, though thankfully the ISIS soldiers guarding the checkpoint were somehow capable of knowing exactly where they were and as such were able to kill them.
"Quite the sight, heh?!" exclaimed Sergeant Brads, shooting at a Leader Hunter with his Plasma rifle, putting it down with a few well-placed shots.
"They're so strong and fast…" she muttered.
The Sergeant laughed.
"Yeah, sadly those bastards are the rapidly evolving kind. Though you're lucky, this is a relatively weak attack, considering the absence of anything stronger than Leader Hunters."
"I just saw one of those take a missile to the face, fly back into a building, and then have that building collapse on it, and it still wasn't dead!" she exclaimed at his words.
"Well the next plasma shot killed it, right? So it's fine!" the sergeant cheerfully replied.
"That-"
Her words died in her throat as a Hunter, through impressive luck and agility managed to reach an ISIS soldier.
For a second, she feared that she would see the first human casualty of this battle before her eyes-
Only for the Hunter's claws to hit a glowing shield at the last second, the soldier stumbling back before punching the Hunter in the face.
The monstrous creature flew back, blood flowing from its face, but it quickly recovered and attempted to lunge at the soldier.
Said soldier quickly took out a knife, dodged the lunge to the left and brought the knife down straight through the creature's brain.
Shockingly, it did not die immediately, growling and trashing under the soldier, who twisted the knife and then slammed his right knee into the creature's head, driving the knife even further down into the monster's brain.
It twitched for a few seconds, before finally slumping down, dead.
Lois blinked and released a deep exhale of relief.
"Oy, Johnson, stop holding your dick and get back to firing! That Hunter should not have gotten so close to you in the first place!"
"Sir, yes sir!"
And the soldier wasted no time getting back into his position, firing at the incoming monsters.
Lois blinked again, glanced towards the local ISIS soldier in charge of this Checkpoint, and shook her head.
"Are all of you so capable of killing these monsters in close quarters, Sergeant Brads?"
"Comes with the job!" he said cheerfully. "And we had excellent trainers! Sadistic as all hell, but excellent!"
She glanced at the corpse of the Hunter.
"Uh-huh. Somehow, I don't think I can learn how to do that at the local dojo."
"If you can, be sure to tell us about it, so we can work on giving a job offer to whatever crazy bastard came up with what only the Grim Reaper and his like can!"
She stared at the sergeant. "The what?"
He killed another mutant, then glanced at her. "The Grim Reaper? Some crazy dude from the days of Umbrella. Created a CQC style against… Well, the kinds of things we're fighting against right now."
The Sergeant went back to firing, though he kept talking. "He's mostly passing time training soldiers around the world nowadays, but the Boss got him to come and work with us a few times. Honestly, he would be great here… But at the same time, I get why he isn't here. This is work for the rank and file, not Special Force stuff. No smash and grab, no assassination, just holding the line and that's it."
Lois' mind raced.
"And he's ex-Umbrella?"
"Yup. Their best, actually. Dude's a legend, not a single failed mission in his career."
She grinned smugly.
"Wait, but if he created that style years ago, that all but confirms that things like this happened before! And that Umbrella was involved with it all! I knew it!"
The Sergeant stiffened, before glancing at her. "Ah, shit."
"Boss damn it, Brads!" cursed Corporal Winter.
"Can you just forget I said anything?" Brads said hopefully.
She snorted. "No way in hell! This is big! I knew there was more to all of this!"
The man groaned, though he still killed a Hunter with his next shot.
"Fuck, I'm so gonna get it for this…"
Lois huffed. "If you just were willing to speak the truth, things would be much easier!"
"It's not that simple!" he replied, throwing a plasma grenade at a group of Walkers.
"And why's that?" she demanded.
"Oh, hell no! You're not tricking me again! I told you, you want answers, ask the Boss! I'm not cleared to do more than talking about some basic stuff about ISIS! Apparently, that should have not included our teachers… Fucking damn it."
"Fine, I'll talk with him eventually! For now-"
*ROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRR!*
"-What the hell was that?!"
"Well, remember when I said we were dealing with the kiddie stuff? The real terrors of this outbreak are now coming our way!"
Lois blinked. "What-"
An entire goddamn truck went flying across the street, before exploding violently.
She turned to look, palling rapidly at the sight of massive monsters several times the size of a human being coming their way, with what had to be hundreds of Walkers, Hunters and more.
"Goliath and Juggernauts! Well, shit, here comes the cavalry, and it's not on our side! I hope that you're ready for things to get crazy, because we have no Hunters of our own here, and orders are to hold this place!"
"What does that mean?!"
The Sergeant grinned.
Then he took some kind of red crystal and held it up.
"It means that it's time to break out the good stuff!"
He, and a number of other ISIS soldiers, threw various crystals of different colors at the charging monsters.
A moment later, they went off.
And Lois flinched when the world went insane.
Firestorms, Lightning storms, and more broke out and began shredding the incoming wave of monsters, and even gravity went sideways- literally, as a number of monsters suddenly were violently thrown to the side, their bodies moving so fast that they exploded in gore at the sheer speed of the unexpected move.
Lois gaped at the madness in the street.
Sergeant Brads took one look at her and began cackling. "Welcome to the battle of Manhattan, ISIS edition! Don't worry about your sanity, we're all mad here!"
And then he went back to killing monsters, not even a care in the world at how they had somehow bent the elements themselves to their wills.
Lois Carol right then and there decided that ISIS soldiers were fucking insane.
But God be damned if she didn't want to know more!
Because she had so many questions, and she would get the answers!
Mortal danger or not!
-
7th October, 2008
"So, what's the problem?"
"See for yourself."
Alex Mercer stared at me… before turning his back towards me.
And revealing the pulsating… thing… on his back.
I stared at the thing for a moment, then glanced at the other people in the room, which included Dana, Claire, and Alyssa.
"Right, that has anything to do with why Blackwatch is running around like ants after someone kicked an anthill?"
Alex grunted. "I contacted someone I thought I could trust. My… My ex-girlfriend. It didn't work out well."
I gave him a dry look. "Trusting your ex? Yeah, I could see that coming from a mile away."
He scowled at me. "I'll deal with her later. And Blackwatch. But I can't do anything as long as that damn parasite that Cross put in me is still there. It's messing with my control over my abilities something fierce."
I sighed. "Figure. Fighting fire with fire…Well, let me take a look."
He raised an eyebrow at me. "And you can do something about it on your own?"
I smirked at him. "Maybe. We'll see. Now turn around and let me see already."
He scowled, but did as he was told.
I stepped closer, humming in thought as I stared at the parasite on his back.
Dana inhaled sharply when my right eye began glowing, and I could feel Alyssa's interest, but I ignored it, focusing on what was in front of me instead.
A moment later, I nodded to myself, taking a step back.
"Right, so we have two options."
Alex turned to look at me, his usual scowl somewhat reduced, but not by much. "I could do with even one right now."
"Well, option one is me simply removing the damn thing and killing it. No fuss, no complications, just straightforward problem solved."
He frowned. "And the second?" he asked, visibly confused why there would even be a second at this point.
I gave him a look. "You keep it for now."
He stared back at me.
"Why the fuck would I do that?"
"Because you're a hyper-evolving virus, and if we do this properly, we can both ensure that you become immune, or at least much more resistant, to this kind of thing, but on top of that, we can use that thing as a base to create our own weapon, one against Greene."
A spark of comprehension appeared in his eyes.
"You want to use that thing against Greene. Use Blackwatch's plan, but against her instead."
"Correct."
"But wouldn't that mean that Alex would stay weakened? Vulnerable?" asked Dana, her voice concerned.
I nodded at her. "Indeed. Which is why it is an option, a choice, one that Alex needs to make. Short-term gains for long-term losses? Or long-term gains for much greater risks in the short-term."
Alex scowled in thought, visibly not liking the thought of staying weakened, but I could see the gears turning in his mind, the advantages and disadvantages fighting one another over whether or not to go for it.
Dana turned to look at her brother, face lined with worry. "Alex…"
"He isn't wrong." Alex grumbled, a dark look on his face. "We need to ensure that Blackwatch can't get me like this again, and that Greene gets taken down. This helps do both."
"At the potential risk of you dying because you are weakened!" Dana exclaimed, biting her lips in worry.
Alex smirked. "I'm not so easy to kill sis, even now. As long as I'm careful, I should be fine…" he replied, though my (Empathy) told me that he was both concerned as well, but unwilling to show that to his already worried sister.
"You're sure it would work, Aeon?" Claire asked.
I shrugged. "If it is good enough to work on Alex, then it'll definitely work on Greene, no doubt about it."
"It still requires someone to get close enough to hit her with a syringe." she pointed out.
"Sooner or later, we need to take her out." I pointed out. "And the number of people capable of doing that aren't exactly many. Alex might be able to do it, but he's not that strong yet, not quite. Giving him an ace in the hole in the case he fights her and his own strength isn't enough is a good idea. I don't think I need to point out the consequences if Greene consumes him, do I?"
There were grimaces across the room at that, because the idea of Greene controlling the full power of Blacklight was…
Well.
The kind of things that would get me bringing out the Holy Moonlight Blade and the Burial Blade before going Hunting.
If the world was lucky, there would still be a Manhattan left by the time I won.
… I didn't expect it to be lucky in that scenario.
"Right. Well in any case, I found someone worth looking into. Maybe he can help with the parasite too." declared Dana with a sigh.
"Who?" her brother asked.
"A doctor named Bradley Ragland. You help him, he helps us with McMullen and Gentek. He's uptown at St Paul's Hospital. He runs the morgue there."
"Uptown, huh?" I muttered, frowning in thought.
"What are you thinking about, Aeon?" wondered Claire.
"Well, he's up north, so I can send a few ISIS soldiers to protect him if he's going to help us… But I was thinking of sending someone else, instead. Rebecca would be perfect for this. She can both protect him a lot better than a squad of ISIS soldiers, and help him in his work too."
Claire paused, before smiling. "That can work. Since we Hunters are required to hold back for now, it would be a good way to make her feel useful."
"Indeed. I'll give her a call." I turned to Alex. "Right, if you change your mind about the parasite, just give me a call and I'll deal with it if Ragland can't."
He grunted, nodding.
"Right, if there's nothing else, I need to get back to HQ. Greene is intensifying her attacks due to growing numbers of infected, and even ISIS is falling back across the city. It doesn't help that the underground is a real mess…" I said with a sigh.
"How bad are things down there?" asked Claire.
I grimaced. "The various positions we set up are holding, but it's a nightmare down there. There's a lot of mutated variants you haven't seen up top, from giant spiders to insects of all kinds to… Well, let's just say humanity won't need to think up any nightmare fuel for horror movies for decades if even one scriptwriter were to see what's down there. And with the fact that Hunters can't afford to go charging in, it makes things even worse. As it is, the troops down there had to collapse destroy at least dozens of tunnels just to have a hope of holding the line."
"Shit." she muttered, face grim.
"It's that bad?" asked Alex, frowning at my words.
I wasn't surprised he didn't know, he'd been busy hunting down Blackwatch and Gentek leaders, but on the other hand it'd probably be best to keep him informed…
I took out my phone (though it actually was a black supercomputer from the Lucy Jump) and downloaded the reports and videos of the W ar Beneath of Manhattan so far.
"I sent you the files. Take a lot if you want, just be aware it's nightmarish stuff." I declared, glancing at Alyssa and Dana specifically.
Claire was a Huntress, and Alex was Alex. Those two, Dana especially since she never went through Raccoon City like Alyssa did, would be pretty horrified at what was down there.
"We'll look through them, just in case." Alex promised.
I nodded, then took my leaves.
I had a few calls to make, and a war to win after all.
-
"So, you're Aeon's friend, the one who he called to help protect Ragland?"
Rebecca nodded, looking with interest at the man in front of her… though he wasn't actually human.
"I'm Rebecca Chambers, and you're Alex Mercer. I heard of you, of course. Kinda hard not to hear of one of the world's most dangerous people in my line of work."
"Only one of?" he smirked.
She smirked back. "You haven't seen Aeon fight, have you?" she said with amusement.
"I can't say I have, no." he replied, pale blue eyes staring thoughtfully at her.
"Thought so. Those who do… Well, they never forget it. Those who live to remember it, at least."
He hummed. "Well, maybe I should challenge him to a fight, one of those days…" he declared, looking closely at her.
She shook her head. "Not now. The ensuing destruction of that fight would hardly be missed."
She glanced at the building they were in front of.
"Shall we?"
"Let's go." Mercer agreed, face turning determined as he stalked forward.
And that was the way he moved. There was something inherently deadly in the way he moved, the way he seemed ready to pounce on an unsuspecting prey and tear it apart in seconds.
Every Hunter had a bit of it in the way they moved, except for Aeon, she had noticed.
Aeon walked like any civilian in the street… mostly because, as far as she could tell, he mastered the art of blending in so well that even subconsciously, even his body movements were totally open and relaxed.
It took incredibly sharp instincts or senses to see the lie for what it was.
Still, it didn't take long for them to find the good doctor, who was already bent over a corpse and cutting it open, studying its insides for the mutations created by the virus.
"Doctor Ragland?" Mercer asked, neither he nor her bothered by the sight of the body before them.
Certainly, Rebecca had seen her share of them, and quite a few were far from human.
Hell, some of them weren't even from Earth, thanks to the man she loved making sure her education in medicine was… far more wide-spread than anything thought of on Earth.
The man glanced up at them, before looking back down at his work.
"Already said I won't deal with you people. My medical opinion's not for sale." he bluntly declared.
"I'm impressed." said Alex, looking faintly approving.
The doctor sighed. "What exactly do you want from me, anyway?"
"Your help stopping the virus."
The doctor's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
Mercer stepped closer.
"You could say I'm symptomatic." he dryly answered, his body shifting unnaturally, the sight of it making Ragland take a step back in shock.
"Pick a side." Mercer bluntly said.
The doctor stared at Mercer for a long moment, before his gaze shifted towards her. "And you?"
"I'm with ISIS." Rebecca explained. "We want this mess solved, and the ones responsible should pay. Mercer wants the same. You can help us all. And I'm a doctor too, if also a soldier of ISIS, and I'll both help your research and keep you safe from anyone or anything trying to get at you."
Ragland glanced between Mercer and her for a few seconds, before nodding.
"I'll tell you what I know, but first we need to find where the military is holding patient zero."
"I'll see what I can find on my side. Same for you, Mercer?"
"Yeah."
"First though, you should let Ragland have a look at the parasite at your back. He won't be able to do anything about it yet, but he might as well get a good look at it."
"Parasite?" asked the doctor with a frown.
Mercer glanced at him, then turned to show his back to Ragland… and the big, pulsating red parasite on it.
Ragland blinked.
"... Yes, I do believe I should take a look." the doctor deadpanned.
-
Lois Carol sat down on some rubble with an exhausted sigh, letting the stress of the past two days fade a bit.
It wasn't her first time on a battlefield, but this was a battlefield unlike any she had ever known.
The inhumanity of the foe made it clear that her life was in no less danger than the soldiers around her, her status as a member of the media meaning nothing to the monsters=, and the fact that the monsters didn't need sleep meant that they were more than happy to keep throwing wave after wave of mutated creatures at ISIS' positions at any hour of the day.
The sheer relentless nature of the enemy was terrifying to behold, as was both its willingness to send hundreds of creatures to their death just to harry the defenders, or the sheer brutality any unfortunate person that fell under the claws of the monsters end up in.
She had been shown the corpses, and it had been clear that none of them died cleanly.
Lois suppressed a shudder at the memories of those broken corpses. A Leader Hunter had almost managed to pounce on her, and only sergeant Brads tackling her to the ground at the last second saved her life.
Considering how cracked the ground had become when the Leader Hunter had hit the ground, she could only imagine what that would have done to her human body.
Needless to say, none of the mental images that her mind conjured were pretty.
Lois rubbed a hand over her face, the smell of dust, blood, smoke and more thick in the air, and she blinked away the black spots in her vision from exhaustion.
"God, I could use a couple hours of sleep right now… and a damn shower." she muttered.
Sure, she could ask to be taken back behind the lines to rest and recover, but damn it she wasn't here to hide and be comfortable! She was here to see the outbreak with her own eyes, witness how bad the situation was, and bring the truth out to the world to see.
And it was working. She had the footage of the situation here, and her boss had made it clear that their ratings were going through the roof.
The American public, if not the world as a whole, was able to see the realities of this outbreak, and they were as equally horrified as they were fascinated by it all.
Certainly, it was helped by the fact that the people around her were photogenic. Most of the ISIS team with her was made up of good-looking men and women, and seeing that kind of people struggle and fight for the sake of the world made for easy heroes.
It was like following the protagonists of a movie, except it was reality, and thus all the more impactful.
Recordings of ISIS soldiers helping protect civilians and then laughing with them once the battles calmed down was great PR, and the fact that most of ISIS soldiers were kind people helped.
Even the more… anti-social soldiers were still seen going above and beyond for the sake of others, and that certainly helped make them popular in their own way, in the "grizzled war veteran" kind of way.
Hell, the civilians were singing ISIS's praise, the US Marines were doing the same since numerous US marines survived thanks to the timely intervention of one ISIS team or another, and in general, nobody had a bad thing to say about them.
Lois was still suspicious of their leadership, because she knew ISIS had countless secrets (of course they did, they were ISIS), but she had gotten to know the people of ISIS over the last two days, and she was increasingly convinced that, at the very least, the rank and file of were on the up and up.
Besides, there was little opportunity for deceit when they were fighting for their lives almost 24/7 since they had met.
She still intended to dig into their secrets, though. She was a journalist, after all, a damn good one in her opinion, and ISIS, much like Insight Corp, was just too perfect.
Every organization had some level of corruption, of hidden skeletons in their closet. The fact they were nowhere to be seen with ISIS just made her more paranoid.
Still, a part of her hoped it wasn't too bad. People naturally made strong bonds on the battlefield, and she genuinely liked the soldiers of ISIS she had met so far. Oh, they were insane maniacs in their own ways, the things she had seen them do in battle really proved it (The lamp post incident came to mind. Seriously, she was never going to be able to look at one of those the same way after this.) but at the end of the day they genuinely were trying to fight for the world, to protect people from literal monsters, and Lois respected that greatly.
Especially when she had learned enough to know that yes, this wasn't their first outbreak, not by far. Sergeant Brads all but admitted it after all, and even beyond that she had heavily suspected it.
Still, that meant that the people of ISIS had apparently protected the world more or less in secret for years, and no one knew the full truth of things.
Yes, people knew of ISIS, knew they fought terrorists and were skilled at it, but the recent revelations put a whole new spin on what exactly they were fighting against.
Now, if only Lois could confirm exactly what the leadership of ISIS was up to, that would be great. The possibility that the good men and women of ISIS were being manipulated for some unknown goal left a bitter taste in her mouth, and if there was indeed something shady going on, the least she could do in exchange for all that the world owed these people was to reveal the truth.
And if she was just paranoid and the leadership of ISIS was actually as benevolent as they portrayed themselves to be, then in that case they deserved to be praised for their hard work, and the people of the planet should be made aware of how much they owe to them.
The sound of footsteps broke her from her thoughts, and she looked up to see who was approaching, expecting it to be sergeant Brads-
Only to stiffen when she saw the leader of ISIS himself come to a stop nearby, looking out at the wrecked street beyond where, even if it's already night, the obvious presence of hundreds of monstrous corpses could be seen stretched out in the distance from brutal days of fighting.
"Quite the sight, isn't it?" he said, his eyes never leaving the devastation outside the wrecked building they were in. "The sheer death and destruction of only a few days of fighting, where the corpses are numerous enough to pile up in small hills, where not a building doesn't show signs of war, where the sheer devastation born of the conflict of survival between man and beast can be seen with but a glance."
Lois forcibly pushed her exhaustion to the side, standing up and walking to his side to stare.
"I can't imagine that isn't a sight you aren't used to. In fact, I suspect this is far from the only sight you have seen during the last ten years." she replied, hardly even bothering to hide that she suspected that he had fought in such battles many times before.
The incredibly tall man said nothing for a few seconds, before sighing deeply.
"Indeed not." he answered, and she blinked in surprise at not only the surprisingly candid admission, but the sheer… tiredness in his voice.
"Battle after battle, horror after horror… I've seen far more of it all than any man ever should." The leader of ISIS chuckled darkly, a slightly bitter look on his face. "It is said that war never changes. If you ask me, it's simply human nature that never changes. There will always be those willing to use any means, no matter how horrifying, to achieve their goals."
He stared darkly at the sight before them. "And those people have the disturbing habit of somehow finding their way in positions of power. And then, well, others must pay the price of these people's ambitions and brutality."
"And what about you? You certainly have quite a bit of power yourself." she pointed out.
He grunted. "It's ironic, isn't it? To fight those with power who use it to commit horrors, one has to seek power themselves. Bravery without power will only lead to one's death, after all."
"And what about morals?" she inquired. "Where does that fit in, in all of this?"
His face turned grim. "Morals are the first thing to be discarded in the search of power for far too many. Again, ironic, for it is that very thing that differentiate those worthy to have power and those who are not."
"Would you consider yourself in the first category, or the second, then?" she questioned.
He smirked. "Well, that's not for me to decide, is it? In the end… I simply try to be good. That is all we can ever strive for, really."
"And do you think you are successful?"
His smirk vanished, his expression turning contemplative.
"I hope so." he said softly.
Lois stared at him for a moment. Either he was putting on a show, or this war was getting to him in some way.
For a moment, silence reigned, before he spoke again.
"There are many who proved themselves unworthy of the power they have gathered across the world. The number of these people has fallen over the years, but there are still some, whose actions can lead to great catastrophes happening across the world. ISIS is a means to help remove those beings, and limit the damage they can do in their death throes. But much like how Rome was not built in a day, one cannot protect the world quickly or easily."
He took out a USB from one of his pockets, before presenting it to her.
She took it, expression curious.
"What is it?"
"You are a seeker of truth. I respect that, more than you can ever know. If more people like you existed, then perhaps ISIS would have not been needed. But here we are. That does not mean that you cannot help. ISIS has secrets, and some must remain as such. But if anyone understands the desire for truth, it is me. I cannot give you everything without risking endangering the world in a number of ways, but I can give you some things. Buried truths, hints to hidden secrets. ISIS chose to keep many things hidden for a time because we worried about the consequences if too much was revealed too quickly. But the enemies of yesterday are no longer here to threaten the world, and the enemies of today are weakening. Now… Now, we might finally be able to set a number of matters right at last."
Lois considered the words, before pocketing the gift.
"ISIS and Insight Corp. are powerful. Very powerful." she said.
"Yes."
"And yet you worry about the consequences of doing what is right?"
"Just because we are powerful doesn't mean those against us can't be, as well. Would we win an open conflict? Yes, we could. But the world would be the battlefield. Sometimes, the wise thing to do is to do nothing. Our enemies don't care about the damage an open conflict would bring. But we can't rightly call ourselves the protectors of the world if we burn it to save it. There is no victory to be found in a world of ashes, only regrets."
Lois stayed silent for a time, before speaking up again.
"I don't like how many things you are obviously keeping secret."
"Fear of the unknown is mankind's oldest fear." he calmly replied.
"There are reasons for that." she remarked.
He looked at her in the eyes.
"Yes. There are."
"Do you not believe the world has a right to the truth?" she questioned, eyes narrowing.
A slight smirk spread across his lips.
"The truth is a great and terrible thing, and not all people are so eager to seek it, nor capable of handling it, Miss Carol."
"And who decides that?" she replied. "Who has the right to decide what should or shouldn't be revealed to the world?"
The leader of ISIS fell silent, his dark eyes looking upwards at the night sky above, and the bright moon in the heavens.
"Who… or what, indeed." he muttered.
He said nothing more, and Lois had a feeling the conversation was over.
She frowned, but glanced up at the night sky as well.
… Hm. The night sky was surprisingly clear and the stars were shining bright tonight…
She could almost swear they were twinkling at her…
… but that was just ridiculous.
-
A.N: Alright! Here is the next chapter in which we continue the events of Prototype.
Quite a bit of action in this chapter, which for once open with Summer.
Also, Aeon plotting for both short and long term, with Lois Carol actually being an expy of Lois Lane from DC.
And H.U.N.K. gets mentioned! Sure, only as a trainer that Aeon recruited, but still! I don't think we'll see him in this outbreak, he's the kind of guy best used for spec ops, not simply holding the line against waves of B.O.W's.
Also, Dust isn't used as often as if it was Remnant, but ISIS does use it in order to give a massive boost to their firepower when they need it. Nothing quite like bending the elements to wreck an enemy charge completely…
Meanwhile, Alex Mercer continues to run around and do stuff on the side. Aeon is basically using him to wreck Blackwatch while ISIS focuses on Greene and the B.O.W's. And Alex meets Rebecca! Don't worry Alex, she (probably) doesn't want to dissect you! Though she's certainly interested in how he works, she's got enough social skills to not point that out to the hyper-lethal sentient virus.
We finish the chapter with a heart-to-heart between Lois and Aeon. Lois believes in revealing secrets and letting the truth shine to the world as a whole, while Aeon, even if he respects that desire and sympathizes with her beliefs, does not agree that all secrets should be revealed to the world. To be fair, she doesn't know how world-shaking Aeon's secrets are, but I just wanted to show the differences between the two, and why they can both work together yet also disagree fundamentally on some things.
Also, if any of you guys want to create a snippet, I'd love to read an omake about the people of Earth reacting to monsters being real.
Still, with all that being said, I hope you all enjoyed this update! Next time, we continue to move onwards with things, as the outbreak enters its second week…