Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

A big blow to the Center had taken place after Wesker had just evaded capture. Meanwhile in Spain, the group had been able to escape the threat of the Novistadors for the meantime. Moving deeper into the keep of Salazar Castle, they intend to escape and continue finding the First Daughter. Can they leave the castle while being under attack 24/7? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 16: Castle Quarters Combat, Part 2


Second Floor, Small Foyer, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"Something the matter, Eriko?"

Chun-Li asked Eriko after the former heard the latter speak up to say that she needed a few minutes to read up on a newly discovered memo in the small foyer.

Leon gestured to anyone with an assault rifle or a shotgun to secure the area for the meantime until Eriko was able to get a good read on the memo.

Eriko nodded to Chun-Li in reply. "Looks like a memo on the Salazar family and its relation to Las Plagas."

The Japanese detective began to read over the memo carefully.

For many years the Salazar family has served as the castellans of this castle. However, not everything is bright, for my ancestry has a dark past.

Long ago there once was a religious group that had deep roots in this region called the Los Illuminados. Unjustly however, the first castellan of the castle took away their rights and powers.

As a follower of this religion and as the 8th Castellan, I felt that it was my duty as well as my responsibility to atone for that sin.

I knew the best way to atone for that sin was to give power back to those who we once took it away from, the Los Illuminados.

As expected it took a little time, but we were able to rejuvenate the once sealed Las Plagas. With this success I was one step closer to the revival of the Los Illuminados.

The reason why I released the Las Plagas from deep under the castle and gave them to Lord Saddler was not only to repay for the sins of my ancestors but I felt certain that the Lord would make better use of this power to help save the world.

To save those that have sinned with the power of the Las Plagas and to cleanse the their souls creating a world without sinners. The way it was meant to be. Once cleansed, they would become one of the many Ganados where they will find their reason to live.

And after the Lord has succeeded in creating the world in which he has envisioned, then the sins of my Salazar family will be atoned for.

After reading over the memo, Eriko became greatly alarmed on its content.

"Something the matter?" Kevin asked the detective.

Eriko slowly nodded. "It reads like a confession. Probably came from the current Salazar family head." She then continued to explain the memo's contents. "It also talks about his delusions in working with the cult to use the parasite to infect people from beyond Spanish territory."

"Great." Hiryu sighed. "We got a pro-religious wacko who's willing to go above and beyond to make sure we get affected by parasites."

"So what do we do?" Diana asked after she heard what the memo was about.

"We go in." Fujino promptly answered the Canadian teenager. "And we eliminate the source of the threat."

"That may be true." Yu replied to Fujino before he eyed Leon and Kevin. "But I'm pretty sure that elimination isn't the main objective of these two DSO agents."

"Same thing goes with some of the ladies too." Jean added to back up the Japanese Spriggan's answer for emphasis.

"I guess we need to worry about that." Dan told Jean. "And concentrate on getting out of this castle alive before we start thinking about answers to any questions that we can come up with."

"Stack up on the door." Hien motioned to Leon and Kevin to the door. The two DSO agents moved in with Leon armed with his Benelli M3 and Kevin armed, for the meantime, with his Glock 21 Mariner. Hien backed up the armed agents with his Pindad SS1-M5 Commando assault carbine.

Leon signaled to Kevin and Hien that he would take the lead in opening the door to wherever it would lead them.

The others awaited, with those armed with small arms being ready to fire if they have to.

"Here goes." Leon murmured, using his right hand to grip the pistol grip of the M3 while using the left hand to open the door.

Pushing the door with his palm, Kevin gestured to the others to duck and keep their heads down after they get pass the open door.


Square-shaped Staircase, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Leon, Kevin and company had kept their heads down as told, seeing three cultists on a staircase landing outfitted with skull-type mask. Although the exception is the red cultist who had a ram-type mask with something shining around his neck.

The group took cover behind a walled ledge made up of concrete with elegant ceramic tiles that decorated them.

"That's going to be a long distance for us to cover." Jill said when she drew out her Beretta Px4 Type F. "As usual, Kevin and I can provide sniper support to clear the way."

"Not a problem with me." Kevin replied when he gave the thumbs up.

"Some of us will need to provide suppressive fire." Hiryu suggested.

"The rest will circle around the area and make sure it's clear of enemies." Yu spoke up as he shouldered his Heckler & Koch G3A4 assault rifle.

"Can anything be used against our friends?" Cammy asked as Jill and Kevin prepared to do sniping duties.

"Just give me a few seconds here." Kevin shouldered his Steyr SSG P IV and scanned the area ahead to see if there is anything that the brown-haired sharpshooter can fire at with his sniper rifle.

Let's see... Let's see...

Minutes later, Kevin peered through the Leupold scope to see a red barrel sitting right next to the three cultists. It was being blocked by the railing, which was preventing him from getting a good shot.

"Looks like a flammable barrel. But I'll need a better shot."

"Can you shoot it?" Jill asked Kevin as she made preparations to shoulder her Heckler & Koch SL8-4.

"I could. Just give me a few seconds, Jill."

"Alright, but you need to hurry."

"I know that."

Kevin concentrated on looking through the mounted riflescope, trying to take aim at the red flammable barrel he just spotted.

Almost there... Almost there...

With a few minutes of concentrating, the ex-RPD SPF officer felt confident that he could get a good shot without being attacked as long as the ledge would provide him some good protection.

"Jill. Cover me when shooting starts."

"Got it, Kevin."

Kevin gave a deep breath, inhaling before exhaling while staring through the riflescope.

With no provision of a bipod, Kevin had no choice but to steadily aim his weapon with his hands. The man knew that he was a good shot, no matter which position he was in in handling small arms.

But he never had experienced being under fire in such a long time since his supposed day in joining the SPF was botched to a zombie attack in Raccoon City.

Kevin pulled the trigger of the SSG P IV very hard to make sure that a suppressed shot from his sniper rifle in detonating the flammable barrel he spotted. He looked through the scope to see that the explosion had taken out the two cultists wearing skull masks. However, the cultist wearing the ram mask was not injured, although he only tumbled down onto the ground.

"We got you guys covered! Go ahead and clear the place!"


Interrogation Room, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America


Bruce had just entered one of the DSO HQ's many interrogation rooms, already guarded by two DSO agents armed in tac gear with the exception that they are armed with pistols instead of assault rifles. In addition, the scientist they brought back in was still in his blindfold with the hood already removed. His right wrist was also handcuffed to one of the 4x4 table's legs to make sure he won't escape.

The blond-haired DSO agent gestured to one of the agents to remove the cuffs since he was about to begin interrogation at once.

"Take off the blindfold too." Bruce gave out his instruction.

"Yes, sir." The DSO agent nodded, obeying the instruction. He approached the scientist and took off his blindfold.

"U..Um..." The scientist asked. "Should I be requesting for the presence of a lawyer now or something?"

"I doubt it." Bruce showed the scientist printed documents and pictures to the man from across the table. "And since I'm working for a special organization that tackles bioterrorist cases like the one that happened in Raccoon City, I pretty much doubt that a lawyer can be brought here to talk on your behalf."

"W-what?" The scientist could not believe what he had just heard from Bruce.

"But there is something that may work out towards your advantage."

"And what is it?"

"Cooperate. That's all I ask. Tell me what you know about the facility you work in and the organization you work for." Bruce then leaned in. "Otherwise..."

"Okay! Okay!"

The African-American man, who was in his 30s, panicked when Bruce said "otherwise". He knew that Bruce wasn't a bad person, but he needed to do something. To tell him that that he wasn't that actively involved with the CIHL.

"Fine. I'll come clean with what I know."

Bruce leaned back in his chair and sighed, knowing that interrogation would probably be an easy one.

"Finally. This'll be an easy one."


Square-shaped Staircase, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"Go! Go! And stay down!" Kevin shouted his instructions while he and Jill conducted suppressive fire to gun down any crossbow-armed cultists.

Leon and Jean were the first ones to move out, since they were armed with shotguns and that they would be fighting in close quarters.

Get ready. Jean gestured to Leon to ready his shotgun after facing off against a crossbow-armed cultist on foot. Also, having shotguns loaded with buckshots would make it easier for them to gun the cultists down when they get in since they're going to fight as a part of CQC. With weapons of course.

Looks clear so far. Leon surmised while staying low, gesturing to the others to stay back until he and the French Spriggan could clear the way first.

The two shotgun-wielding men stayed crouched, shouldering their weapons while taking a few seconds to peek in each and every nook to see if there are armed cultists waiting for them to show up before a lit crossbow bolt was fired.

They were able to ascertain the situation when a cultist armed with a morningstar was about to climb up the small steps in front.

"Screw this!" Leon opened fire with his M3 at the flammable barrel, blowing it up and using its explosion to kill the cultist. The window nearby was also blown up due to the explosion, allowing the two a small opportunity to use it as a small maneuvering point to move around.

Jill and Kevin continued to provide sniper support, taking down a crossbow-armed cultist who aimed his weapon at the sniper before he was taken down. Leon and Jean hopped over where the window was, which was now broken. Seeing a cultist just standing there with a morningstar, Leon and Jean focused their fire on him until he dissolved into nothing.

"Inside!" Jean advised as he got to the door, kicking it open and aiming his Franchi SPAS-12 before motioning to Leon that the room was clear.


Second Floor, Small Foyer, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"Looks like something."

Leon spotted a couple of wooden barrels on the side, using his M3's solid buttstock to break them open. One of them had nothing in it, but another had 1100 pesetas.

"Up there." Jean shouldered his SPAS-12, firing the weapon on semi-auto as he climbed up the long staircase, making each buckshot fire even more deadlier each time he stepped closer to a cultist who was just standing on top of the staircase.

The cultist dropped on his knees before he fell onto the side, dissolving again into nothing like usual.

"All clear on top." Jean told Leon when the latter joined the former, who also pointed to the door in front of him.

"Cover my back while I open the door." Leon moved near the door, putting his hand on it to see if it was rigged with a trap. Once it was clear of any traps, he kicked the door open, which would lead them into the balcony.


Interrogation Room, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America


Bruce continued his interrogation on the CIHL scientist while taking down notes. But he decided to ask the scientist on the notes he wrote down a few hours ago.

"So you're saying you're with an organization that is trying to do anti-paranormal work and somehow, decided to collect mythological monsters in some big operation a few months ago."

"T-that's right." The scientist nodded.

"And you found out about this after you were recruited to work for a Ms. Octavia Paine?"

The scientist nodded again.

"May I ask when you didn't squeal about this matter?"

"She has a serious intelligence network in place. Because of that, I can't even tell anyone about that operation."

Bruce pondered on what the man had just said. His first instinct was to call BS, but considering the way the man interacted with him, it's safe to say that the man didn't know what he got into.

"I see. Do you have anything you can say about the CIHL's intelligence network?"

"No. I can't verify much except on rumors since I'm only a field scientist."

It seems I'm not going to go anywhere with this interrogation.


Balcony, Square-shaped Staircase, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Leon and Jean arrived on the balcony that was over the square-shaped staircase, which would typically give them an advantage over the enemy. But right now, they are needed to secure the area that they haven't explored yet, which would also include killing all the cultists since they're working under Saddler.

The two could hear gunshots from the ground, which came from the sniper rifles of Jill and Kevin. The two sharpshooters gunned down a crossbow-armed cultist after he was sighted aiming his weapon at Leon.

"Let's go round." Leon told Jean as he took the lead before he shouldered his M3.

"Right." Jean shouldered his SPAS-12 when he followed Leon.

The two went around the balcony, aiming their weapons in front as they advanced, eyeing the metallic-like barrier in front.

What the? Leon was dumbfounded to see that a metallic barrier was in the way, but there was a ledge that they can use to drop down into one of the staircase landings/balconies in the room.

"He's getting away." Jean said, seeing the red cultist running towards the barrier from the other side.

"Stay there. I'll clear the way from the back." Leon got to the open space, which didn't have any kind of ledge on it. The DSO agent used the open space to jump down to the staircase landing/balcony and tried to fire his M3 at at the fleeing cultist with his M3. Seeing a cultist with a wooden shield nearby, Leon fired his M3 at him until he could destroy his shield in order to kill him with buckshots. The body melted to leave behind a box of 9mm bullets, which Leon took without any hesitation.

"Dammit. For a cultist, he's moving pretty fast." Leon kept firing the M3 until the cultist was able to run up the staircase, which allowed the metallic barrier to open up.

"Surprise." Jean smiled when he aimed the SPAS-12 at the fleeing cultist. He fired the weapon, doing so to empty the shotgun until the cultist was gunned down. Thanks to the ambush, the French Spriggan was able to restrict the cultist's movement. This allowed the lycanthrope to get the jump on the cultist and kill him before the masked man could further get away.

"Got him?" Leon asked Jean when he emptied his shotgun at the red cultist.

"Indeed. I'm done." Jean lowered his weapon.

"Finally. I just need to reload my shotgun."

They quickly reloaded their shotguns since they were empty and that their immediate area has been clear of enemies.

"Let's go and check on what the cultist has on his neck."

Jean began to approach the body of the red cultist to check for anything of importance after he reloaded his SPAS-12. The French Spriggan knelt down next to the red cultist's corpse and examined it.

"A key." Jean showed Leon the Gallery Key.

"Let's go and search the place." Leon said to Jean when he started to search their area, picking up a box of .45 ACP bullets and 4000 pesetas, with 1000 pesetas each.


Square-shaped Staircase, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"We're all good."

Kevin told the others when he and Jill started to reload their sniper rifles.

"Let's go and check those vases for anything useful." Hiryu said out loud as he broke a vase with the buttstock of his Heckler & Koch G36C. He found nothing inside when he smashed it open.

Java and Martin began their work when they smashed the vases, the former with his clenched bare hands and the latter with his X-Rod. The two checked out the contents of the broken vases to reveal a Velvet Blue, a Green Herb, a box of 5.56 NATO ammo and pesetas worth 2400 in total.

"Shall we move then?" Tea asked, now knowing that the coast is clear of hostiles.


Balcony, Square-shaped Staircase, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


The others were able to rendezvous with Leon and Jean, picking up a box of 7.62 NATO subsonic ammo on the way.

"Good to see you." Leon greeted Kevin. "And thanks for the sniper support."

Jean wasn't talking to anyone since he was using the Gallery Key to unlock the door on the floor to see if it works.

"Not a problem." Kevin turned to see Jean working on the locked door. "Anything?"

"Should be almost done."

"Hopefully this can lead us somewhere." Eriko said out loud, preparing her Sig Sauer P228 after she drew it out of her holster.

"And voilĂ ." Jean said, grinning at his simple work. "We have unlocked this door." The ponytailed man discarded the key onto the floor, finding no need for it.

"Stack up." Leon pointed to the unlocked door, leaning on the wall near the door. Jean, Yu and others with an assault rifle or a pistol joined up with the blonde DSO agent.

Alright. Here we go.

Leon pushed the door slightly open before he kicked it with his left foot to catch anyone in the room by surprise.

"OKAY! MOVE IN!"


Small Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"Clear!"

"Clear!"

Leon was the first to get in the small room filled with painting, followed by Kevin, Eriko and Jill.

"Looks like no one's in here." Kevin said out when he holstered his sidearm.

"Except for these paintings." Hiryu pointed out the paintings when he, Hien and Dan followed behind to cover their rear. A few seconds later, Yu and Jean followed the three inside.

"There does not seem to be any door." Fujino said, which was obviously since the door they got in was the only way in and out.

"Those paintings are quite interesting." Martin commented when he saw the six paintings on the wall. The blonde teenager showed them off to Diana and Java, the former wondering who in his right mind would paint them.

"I will stand guard and watch." Sho said as he stood near the corner, crossing his arms on his chest.

Fujino proceeded to examine the other paintings for anything unusual.

"What's this?" Diana examined the pedestal in front of the six paintings.

"Can I have a look?" Eriko asked the teenager when the Japanese detective examined the pedestal for herself.

"Go ahead." Diana stepped aside in order to allow Eriko to do her work. She began to check out anything that was in Spanish.

"Thank you." Eriko thanked Diana after she had holstered her sidearm since there was nothing dangerous in the room.

What does this one say?

THE SACRIFICE OF SIX LIVES SHALL MAKE WAY THE TRUE PATH.

"What does it say?" Cammy approached Eriko while she checked out the pedestal.

"The message." Eriko explained to the Delta Red operative. "It's pretty weird."

Hiryu directed Java to smash down the vases in the room while Tea used her psychic powers to obtain a Velvet Blue. The caveman pointed out some pesetas he found worth 2600 pesetas. The Spriggans showed them to Tea, who gladly kept them once she secured the Velvet Blue.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Cammy said while she studied, which she would only admit to herself that they look grotesque.

"Looks like we need to press these switches here too." Eriko showed Cammy one of the four switches, the same ones used to turn on the lights in an ordinary room, on the pedestal, being operated by pushing the switch from down to up. "Probably to arrange the paintings based on the message."

Leon and Kevin noted that Eriko and Cammy were busy examining the pedestal and the four paintings on the wall. The two didn't like what the paintings depicted as much as anyone else.

The paintings, from left to right, depicted someone placed on a guillotine, the crucifixion of Jesus and the two convicts on Mount Golgotha and two paintings that depicted two persons left for dead after being hanged on a noose.

"Any luck?" Kevin asked the ladies.

"None yet." Eriko shook her head. "But I'm willing to try something."

The black-haired woman flicked the first switch that corresponded to the number "1". When this happened, the two paintings showed the same painting of two people being left for dead from a noose.

"What's next?" Cammy then asked the detective.

"That doesn't work." Eriko said her thoughts out loud. "So let's go with this."

After she flicked the switch that corresponded to the number "2", Eriko and the others noted that the first and third painting showed the person under the guillotine while the second one showed the crucifixion once again.

"That didn't go so well." Leon said after he saw the paintings change.

"I better make a guess from here." Eriko sighed, feeling a headache coming up.

"I'll do this then." Cammy said, gently pushing Eriko aside as she flicked the switch that corresponded to "3". The second and third paintings showed the persons being hanged on the noose with the fourth painting showing the crucifixion.

"Dammit..." Jill muttered while watching the paintings. "I think I may be getting dizzy."

"Let's take a nosedive and try the last switch." Eriko said after she flicked the switch that corresponded to "4". The third and fourth paintings showed the same painting as the first and second paintings after the number "2" and "3" were flicked on.

The wall (The one with the four paintings) moved on the side after the switches were flicked on from left to right, revealing a previously hidden door.

"That was an interesting place to hide a door." Martin remarked, giving a while.

"Let's go." Leon urged his comrades on, motioning to the revealed door with his head.


1st Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"This place looks quite empty."

Dan commented after he entered the gallery, which didn't look like an ordinary gallery since there wasn't any paintings in the room at all.

"I wonder if this is suppose to be empty after all."

"What a pleasant surprise!"

"It's him!" Leon pointed his left index finger at the pint-size Salazar patriarch. He was, at usual, flanked his by tall and mysterious-looking bodyguards wearing cloaks and hoods. He then aimed his M3 at him. The others followed suit and aimed their small arms at Salazar.

Salazar chuckled before he continued. "But I'm afraid it's Ashley we need, not you people."

"Why you little...!" Hiryu shouldered and aimed his G36C at Salazar's forehead.

"It may come as a surprise, but I'm not little. I'm actually twenty years old."

"What? This puny guy's twenty?" Kevin faced Sho. "Did I just hear that right?"

"You heard that right." Sho told the brown-haired DSO agent in a calm manner. "Frankly, I'm very surprised as you are."

"So you're just like all the others! A puppet of the parasite?!" Leon shouted his question at Salazar, wanting to fire his M3, but deciding against it until he can learn more about the cult.

"Surely you don't think I'm the same as those dimunitive Ganados. The parasites, Las Plagas are slaves to my will. I have absolute control." Salazar said, proud of the control Las Plagas has done for him.

"Che!" Yu snarled while he aimed his G3A4 at Salazar. "As long as the likes of us are alive and kicking, we'll take you and cult one way or the other!"

In response, Salazar raised his right arm.

"Now what's he doing?" Diana was perplexed by Salazar's actions.

All of a sudden, a dozen black hooded men known as Zealots began to show up on the ground floor. And they are armed with large, sharp scythes.

"Get rid of our foreign friends." Salazar calmly said to his Zealots before he started to walk away, leaving the balcony with his bodyguards.

"What the?" Jill was stunned to see a lot of Zealots. In her response, she aimed her Px4 Type F at one of them.

"Scythes!" Sho got into a stance, feet wide apart. With the tsuka and the kashiri pointed down towards the grounds, the Ninja Commando drew out Lightning Light from its saya and had the ninjato's blade pointed at the floor as well before Sho raised it up horizontally.

"Bring out the big guns!" Jean shouted before he aimed his SPAS-12.


Outside Interrogation Room, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America


Bruce was now outside the interrogation room after leaving the scientist inside to collect his thoughts ever since he was brought into DSO Headquarters. He was also seen with Hunnigan outside with an electronic tablet.

"Anything useful from the scientist you brought in, Bruce?" Hunnigan asked Bruce for details while she adjusted his eyeglasses.

"Nothing that can work, Hunnigan." Bruce sighed. The ex-CIA agent massaged his temples. "Given that he's a recently recruited CIHL field scientist."

"Nothing?"

Bruce nodded.

"Well this'll make things very interesting with my report later."

"Yeah, sorry Hunnigan. Tried my best. But I'll try it again to see if the scientist has anything else to say before I submit my own report."

"Don't worry, Bruce. You're not the only one who's being pressured."

"You mean even the top brass?"

Hunnigan nodded. "President Graham's been breathing on their necks on any major updates regarding the First Daughter."

"Good thing I'm not the one who's leading the DSO." Bruce sighed, massaging his temples even harder.

The glasses-wearing woman grinned. "Perhaps you should consider a transfer from the DSO then."


1st Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Something metallic was heard from behind the group. If any of them chose to turn around, they would see that the door was sealed off with a metallic gate.

"I have a feeling that our presence is not a welcoming one anymore." Yu commented out loud sarcastically.

"So what do we do now?" Dan asked while the zealots were still closing in on him and the others. "Run or stand your ground?"

"This is what we'll do to these punks!" Yu shouted when he fired his G3A4 in full auto from the hip. From left to right, the Japanese Spriggan fired the German-made battle rifle to stun the scythe-armed zealots.

"You two!" Leon shouted at Kevin and Jill while he pointed to the door to his right. "Look for higher ground and cover us with sniper fire! We're about to get boxed in here!"

"Okay!" Jill nodded while she ported her SL8-4.

Jean moved to the door nearby and kicked it open in case any enemy was nearby. The French Spriggan aimed his SPAS-12 before he gestured to the snipers to move in at once.

"Move out!" Kevin ran through the door alongside Jill.

"Let's get rid of them!" Leon fired the M3 at the zealots after they were momentarily stunned by 7.62 NATO gunfire. Most of them were gunned down after being hit by several buckshot rounds.

Hiryu, Hien and Dan fired their respective assault carbines to finish off the downed zealots. Eriko fired her sidearm to help finish the job.


MOM's Office, The Center


MOM and Billy were busy going over data regarding the names and the bios of the agents killed in the Madrid ambush.

"Do any of the Madrid-based agents have families or anything we should know?"

Billy nodded a bit. "I've got word that a couple of them do have immediate families, but they haven't spokent to them after going for military careers from their respective countries prior to joining with the SRS."

"And what about Sawamura?"

"Nothing yet, MOM. He's still maintaining his routine within our Madrid base. I also need to add one more thing."

"And that is?"

"Aside from the Secret Service mole taken into custody and being interrogated by the DSO with another one scheduled to be done by the FBI, nothing's known about Wesker's role in the kidnapping of the First Daughter and the cult's use of the parasite."

MOM sighed and leaned back on her chair.

"If communications can be established with our SHADOW agents, I need to give them a new order."

"What about it?" Billy asked MOM.

MOM frowned at Billy. "That one is privy to me only, Billy. Besides, why do you think I established SHADOW alongside the SRS?"


1st Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


With Jill and Kevin moving to the opened door to provide sniper support from above, Leon and the others with a gun finished off the downed scythe-armed zealots. When they were down for good, they began to take the opportunity to immediately reload before another wave of enemies would arrive.

"It'll be a matter of time before more of them show up!" Martin shouted when he armed himself with his personal I-Cutter.

"Indeed." Fujino also agreed with Martin when she armed herself with her own I-Cutter.

After the bodies of the zealots began to dissolve, the group can see from the second floor that the brown wall corners had rotated once. They revealed armed zealots armed with crossbows that had fire-tipped crossbow bolts.

"Dammit. Crossbows with burning crossbow bolts." Hien groaned when he was done reloading his Indonesian-made assault carbine.

"Stay low and move to the door at the right side." Leon instructed the masked Philippine Spriggan agent when he crouched down. The blonde DSO agent pointed to the door on the right while he moved to one of the pillars for cover.

"I'll stay here too. Your shotgun ain't enough for long-range shooting." Hiryu told Leon as he took cover behind another pillar.


2nd Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Jill and Kevin arrived at the second floor, stopping by to pick up a Yellow Herb before entering the door to get to the said floor.

"Time to get prone." Kevin told Jill before he started to get prone on the floor. "Man, I just hate it since I don't have a bipod to steady the rifle except for the sling and my arms." He shouldered the SSG P IV and peered through the Leupold riflescope.

"I know what you mean, Kevin." Jill got prone next to Kevin and shouldered the SL8-4. "I'll take the left. You can take the right." The ex-STARS operative started to peer through her sniper rifle's Leupold riflescope to search for any crossbow-armed zealots.

"Understood."

The two immediately started to scope the floor for armed zealots.

"I found one beneath an overhead lamp." Kevin reported his findings to Jill, ready to take the shot.

"Same here. Also beneath an overhead lamp." Jill also reported the same findings.

"Wanna shoot it?"

"No. Let's conserve it as a surprise attack."

"Okay."

"GO!"

The two fired their sniper rifles in unison, taking out the first two crossbow-armed zealots after they emerged from the wall corners near the stairs via headshots. After they were killed, the wall corners started to rotate again.

"FIRE!" Kevin shouted after he worked the bolt of his SSG P IV to remove the used 7.62 NATO subsonic cartridge to shoot the red lamp. Jill did the same thing after she fired the SL8-4 once since it is a semi-automatic sniper rifle. The burning oil from the red lamp came out after they were shot by bullet, burning the unfortunate zealot when they came out of the wall corner passage, being burned alive. Thanks to the timing of the rifle shots, the enemy didn't know what hit them.

"Nice." Kevin grinned when he pulled the bolt to extract the used cartridge.

"Indeed. Nice to see your shooting skills at work." Jill chuckled after she fired her weapon for the second time. "For now, keep an eye out for more of those crossbow-armed guys."

"Got it." Kevin went through his scope to search for more crossbow-armed zealots.

The door nearby opened up to reveal most of the group after they arrived from the first floor.

"Thanks for covering our rear, guys." Jean thanked the snipers, being the first to arrive on the floor.

"Allow me to buy some time." Kevin replied to Jean. "And get everyone to stay low."

"Understood." Jean instructed the others to stay down until Jill and Kevin can clear the floor permanently of hostiles.

"Another one!" Jill shouted before she fired the SL8-4, scoring a headshot.

"Same one here!" Kevin shouted as he fired the SSG P IV for another headshot. The suppressed barrel gave him a bit more of an advantage than Jill because it would prevent the enemy from trying to find his location.

"The numbers are getting bad for them." Dan said when he shouldered and fired his SIG SG 552 assault carbine at the zealots while he peeked at the first floor to see Leon and Hiryu as they fired several shots from their own firearms to thin out the enemies on the second floor.

Without saying anything, Tea threw down a couple of cloth pieces with pentagrams painted on them. In an instant, they turned into winged lions as they roared and ran throughout the floor, scaring the hell out of the zealots while they aimed for a shot.

For now, two more were left. And only one of them was armed with a crossbow.

"Okay Jill! There's two more!"

"Got it!"

Jill was the first to fire a shot from her sniper rifle, shooting the unarmed zealot at the chest. This stunned him as he staggered back towards the wall. This was followed by multiple gunshot wounds caused by Hiryu's G36C. Due to this, the zealot was gunned down permanently.

The crossbow-armed zealot was given a swift death when Kevin took aim and fired his sniper rifle at his head. All of the crossbow-armed zealots and their unarmed companions killed had their bodies dissolved, due to the implanted parasites.

"Okay! Get up on the second floor!" Yu shouted after he saw that all of the zealots on the second floor were wiped out.

As Leon and Hiryu began to ascend the second floor via the same door most of the group used to avoid going to the exposed stairs, everyone in the gallery could hear something being moved.

This was eventually followed by an explosion or two.

"What the heck was that?!" Leon shouted after he managed to rendezvous with the rest of the group.

"We don't know!" Chun-Li told Leon when he showed up.

Sho did not say except to dash around the floor with his personal ninjato at the ready. When he found the offending passage, the ninja jumped in and began to stab and slash at the zealots, one of them with a Russian-made RPG-7.


Interrogation Room, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America


"Alright. Let's go and take this from the top all over again."

Bruce got back inside the interrogation room in order to start questioning the scientist still in DSO custody.

"Is there anything that you can think of that is significant in the past few days after you were employed by the CIHL?"

The scientist stayed silent, looking at his cuffs.

"Please. Help me out here. If you don't talk, then the FBI's going to make you talk aside from putting possible charges for being associated with a group that does bioterrorism."

The detainee was a bit shocked about the possibility that the FBI could charge him for being associated with the CIHL, especially since with their covert monster creation program.

"Look, the only thing I know is that something big happened after I was recruited for a few weeks..."

Bruce nodded, pleased at the progress. "Go ahead. And take your time."


2nd Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


After Sho took caught of the annoying RPG team, the ninja passed by to pick up a box of 9mm bullet, a Spinel and a red switch on the wall. The ninja quickly pressed it before he returned back to his colleagues, tossing the Spinel to Tea.

"Look! Something's rising from the ground!" Cammy shouted, pointing to a 4x4 platform with a blue treasure chest in the middle.

"Now the thing is how do we access it?" Hiryu murmured.

"We need to do a quick search." Eriko suggested. "There must be another switch that can create a bridge so that we can access the blue chest and take whatever is inside."

"I shall do that." Sho bowed before he moved out to search for anything. He saw a door that was not explored yet. He kicked it open and saw a vase was at the end of the room.


Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America


Adam was on the phone, keeping in touch with Hunnigan after he received an intercom message that the FOS-based agent was trying to contact him.

"So how did the interrogation go?"

"I think there's some progress, sir."

"How so?"

"I received some intel from the prisoner through agent McGivern that the CIHL had conducted its own bioweapons program to supposedly take out the Center in an attempt by its leader, Octavia Paine."

Adam sighed hard. He knew that he heard the name of the CIHL's leader from somewhere.

"I remember that woman. Word I got from before is that the NSA wanted to work with her and the CIHL in anti-paranormal missions. I, of course, found her very suspicious since I heard from very reliable sources that she has an ulterior motive for wanting to work with the DSO."

"And that was a good move, sir."

"Indeed." The DSO leader massaged his temples. "Anything else Bruce got?"

"Nothing so much, except that the attempt on the Center foiled that Octavia went into seclusion for a while and quietly began a recruitment drive to bolster the CIHL's manpower after one of its agents turned on her."

"Well at least we know what we're up against." Adam then asked Hunnigan. "Can we get through our agents?"

Hunnigan politely replied. "I'm sorry. But we're still trying everything we got."

"All right. Just keep me posted."

"Yes, sir."


Narrow Room, 2nd Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Sho noted the presence of a vase at the end of the narrow room. He slowly walked towards it, wary of any traps. Once he got there, he executed a diagonal slash with Lightning Light and destroyed the vase.

"So, what's this?" The Ninja Commando saw another red button hidden at the bottom of where the vase was formerly. "A wise place to hide such a button, but not very wise."

Sho clenched his right hand into a fist and slammed it to the button before he made a quick escape to leave the room before he would be ambushed on the way out.


2nd Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"Looks like we got our problems solved." Diana said when she saw a bridge appearing out from the floor to extend towards the 4x4 platform.

"But we got new ones to solve." Yu pointed to the four unarmed zealots guarding the blue chest.

"We can take care of this." Kevin told the Japanese Spriggan confidently. "Besides, Jill and I got some more ammo left in our sniper rifles."

"Okay, Kevin. Let's go." Jill fired a shot again from her SL8-4, hitting two of the four unarmed zealots by luck since they were lined up that their heads were aligned.

"Leave the others to me." Kevin aligned the sights of the SSG P IV's riflescope at the other two unarmed zealots. Once he acquired this, the brown-haired DSO agent fired a suppressed shot from his sniper rifle to kill them.

"More incoming!" Leon shouted and he pointed to the incoming zealots with scythes. In addition, they were also wearing skull masks.

"We need to get in close and personal. We don't have time to wait for another shot from either Jill and Kevin." Hien suggested.

True to the masked Spriggan's words, Jill and Kevin were beginning to reload their sniper rifles.

"He's correct." Cammy agreed to Hien's words. "Chun-Li and I can move in alongside Sho and Tea. Besides, we can take care of the matter in a few minutes."

Leon nodded. "All right. Most of us would probably need the time to reload."


Outside Interrogation Room, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America


Bruce was called outside to speak to both Adam and Hunnigan regarding the interrogation and what information he acquired from the CIHL scientist.

"Sir..." Bruce spoke to Adam first. "I don't understand why you're here. You could have just waited in the office."

"Concern duly noted, agent McGivern." It was clear that Adam brushed off any of Bruce's concerns. "But we need to resolve the matter regarding the CIHL since I'm getting more new pressure from the president and the National Security Council for any new details regarding the abduction."

Bruce sighed when he replied to Adam. "Nothing much, sir. The guy we got in the interrogation room's pretty much a green guy. He was just recruited a few weeks ago before we raided his working place."

Adam was not pleased with the information Bruce told him about.

"But the only thing he knows is that Octavia Paine, head of the CIHL, was busy working on a personal matter with another attempt on a bioweapons program."

Adam nodded after hearing what Bruce said. "Well that appears to be promising at least."

"Yeah." Bruce scratched the back of his head. "But the thing is we don't know why CIHL is pursuing its own bioweapons program."

"The only thing we know is that CIHL tried it once to take down the Center." Hunnigan was examining her electronic tablet to check her data. "Word out there is that she used to be a Center agent until she was forced to leave due to a bad evaluation."

Bruce couldn't help, but chuckle at the news. "Seriously?"

Hunnigan nodded, being serious. "Yep. Seriously."

"Man. That sounds like someone with a bad grudge."

"In the meantime," Adam spoke up again. "I want you to put the man in a cell and have 24/7 surveillance in his cell and see if there's anything else."

"Uh, sir." Bruce began to ask his superior. "Isn't a bit too much?"

"No." Adam shook his head. "And it's better if he's able to cough up additional info before the FBI decides that they want in and interrogate the guy, in addition to putting up charges against him. Even though that he's just a new recruit."

"Right, sir."


2nd Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Cammy, Chun-Li, Sho and Tea moved out to take down the scythe-armed zealots. Although they had deadly weapons with them, they had decided that they needed to take the pressure of the others since they had to reload their weapons and it wasn't a good move if one reloads a weapon when someone is about to attack you in the process.

"Let's circle around. If we move fast, we can attack them by surprise from their backs." Cammy suggested as the four-man group began to circle around the floor in order to intercept the zealots from their backs.

"A good idea." Sho agreed with Cammy's assessment on taking the fight to the enemy.

"Okay, we should be almost close towards their rear." Chun-Li commented when he noticed the skull mask-wearing zealots were moving a bit slow while gripping the handles of their scythes.

The scythe-armed zealots were moving a bit slow when the team was able to get in close towards their backs.

"Okay!" Sho shouted as he got in close first. "Now hit them hard!"

The ninja struck one of the skull mask-wearing zealots, the blade of Lightning Light placed at his neck. Sho's handling of the ninjato allowed him to critically injure the zealot.

"I got him!" Sho yelled to Chun-Li when the zealot was forced to go down on his knees, placing his hands on his neck.

"KIYAHH!" Chun-Li was the next to step into the fight. She executed a kick onto the downed zealot's back to send him down to the ground.

"Okay, now they seem to be pissed off at us." Cammy remarked when the Delta Red operative saw the other three masked zealots hurl their scythes at them as projectiles.

"DOWN!" Sho shouted loud before he used Lightning Light to cut the hurled scythes down to several pieces. The ninja was able to do this successfully to the point that even the scythe's blade was cut down to several harmless little pieces.

"My turn now." Tea said calmly before the British Spriggan hurled her pentagram-painted cloths at the zealots, which turned into winged lions. Their transformation startled the zealots once more.

"I'm going in!" Cammy moved in up close towards one of the confused zealots.

"Axle Spin Knuckle!" The blonde ponytailed woman shouted when she got close to one of the unarmed zealots. The attack started with her left elbow, which connected to the zealot's chest since she can't risk an attack on the skull mask.

Good! Cammy moved in even closer to use her clenched left fist to strike the masked zealot at his chest again.

Sho moved in and stabbed the zealot Cammy attacked right on the chest. The first zealot was eventually killed when his body started to dissolve.

"Hazanshu!" Chun-Li yelled when she executed a somersault with one of her legs outstretched. The Interpol detective allowed her outstretched leg to slam into the back of the second unarmed zealot. This allowed the unarmed zealot to be pinned on the ground by her boot.

Cammy moved to the third zealot when she performed a Cannon Strike, which allowed her to kick him high up to the ceiling.

"KIKOKEN!" Chun-Li placed her open palms together before she shouted. A projectile came out of her palms, which was thanks to a strong amount of ki energy since it was used to make sure that the two zealots collide with each other after the third zealot fell down from the ceiling. The attack happened before he was about to make contact with the ground.

Sho used Lighting Light to stab the downed zealot Chun-Li previously attacked. The ninja watched him squirm from the attack before his body started to dissolve.

"Two down, two to go." Cammy murmured when she dashed towards one of the last two zealots.

"SPIN DRIVE SMASHER!" She moved in to execute on of her combo moves, which she started with a Spiral Arrow. This was followed by a Cannon Spike, which ended the combo. Fortunately for Cammy, this move made the third zealot fall over the balcony until his body hit the ground floor. The impact killed him, which resulted in his body slowly dissolving.

Chun-Li jumped into the air, feet first, before she started to do a split.

"SPINNING BIRD KICK!" Chun-Li yelled before she started the attack, which was a bit since this was the only attack move that she does in English.

The fourth zealot didn't have any time to react when he got hit by the woman's airborne feet. They moved in a clockwise direction every time Chun-Li moved in by flying closer and closer to her target.

By the time the Spinning Bird Kick was completed, the zealot was sent flying to the ground.

"Good." Cammy murmured as she moved in, using her boot-clad feet to step on the zealot's mask-clad head. The British woman watched the zealot stand up.

"Take this!" The Delta Red operative performed a scissor kick. Only this time, she did this to hurl him over the balcony instead of the usual attack, which was to slam him onto the ground. The fall killed him for good, removing the last attempt of resistance by the zealots to secure the blue chest.

"Now we're done." Tea said, who originally hanged back and allowed Chun-Li, Cammy and Sho to fight off the skull mask-wearing zealots.

The four began to walk closer to the blue chest. They walked slowly on the bridge so that they wouldn't fall over and be gravely injured from the fall or worse, die.

"What's inside the blue chest there?" Cammy said as she was near the chest.

"I am pretty sure it's something we need so that we can continue with our journey." Tea replied as she slowly walked on the bridge.

"The only question is whether the chest is rigged with a trap or not." Chun-Li suggested, watching the two British nationals make their move towards the chest.

"I guess it's up to them to find out." Sho stood by with the Interpol detective as the British Spriggan used her psychic magic to open the chest, watching her open it without any trouble at all.

"Let's go and see what's inside." Cammy said after she knelt down next to the open chest. She leaned forward and peeked inside the chest to see its interior.

"Hello." murmured the woman. "Let's see what we've got here."

She slowly peeked inside after making sure that the chest was not rigged to explode or set off a similar trap. Inside the chest was an ornament piece that was used when attached onto something.

"I found it!" Cammy reached inside the chest and picked up the Goat Ornament Piece after she shouted to her colleagues.

"Nice!" Leon gave a thumbs up to Cammy.

The metallic gates were heard being opened, which indicated that the fight was over.

"Now what do we do?" Fujino asked after Cammy secured the ornament piece.

"Well we can go back to see the merchant and see off whatever valuables we got." Dan suggested.

Some of the others eyed Dan and wondered if it was such a good idea.

"I think it's a good idea."

Hiryu sighed and slapped his gloved hand on his balaclava-clad face.

"Hey. If that can get us some more ammo and more things that can help us later, then why not?" Kevin answered, shrugging his shoulders.

After the group gathered together, they retraced their footsteps back to the temple where they met up with the Merchant again.


Temple, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"Good to see you again, strangahs!"

The Merchant greeted the group once they were able to backtrack to the temple.

"Yeah. Nice to see you." Hien muttered, who wasn't obviously thrilled to backtrack. He decided to sit down on the floor and get some rest.

"We have some ideas that may be of interest to you." Tea greeted the Merchant before she showed him the Spinel and the Velvet Blue the group had obtained recently.

"AAHHH... Quite the items you've brought to me as usual." The Merchant nodded when he took hold of the items. "I'll buy these at the usual price."

"Fair enough." Tea nodded after she handed in the items before the Merchant gave her the pesetas for a total of 4,500.

"I need to sit down right now." Kevin sat down and reloaded his SSG P IV. "You guys okay for a few minutes? My feet are killing me."

The others agreed with Kevin's question without any serious opposition as most of them either sat down or leaned on the nearby wall to relax.

"Where are you going?" Yu questioned Martin when he saw him already in front of a wall corner.

"I think I need to take a leak." The Canadian teenager told Yu.

Yu raised an eyebrow before he said the only word.

"What?"

"He's not the only one." Leon told Yu. "I feel the need for one too. Besides, when's the last time most of us took a leak?"

It would be a while before everyone in the group decided to take a leak and leave with the Goat Ornament Piece. Where they did it is something they would not openly discuss to anyone. Not even to anyone within the group itself.


MOM's Office, The Center


MOM was certainly getting worked up.

Not only was she not able to make contact with her agents in Spain, but the deaths of five Madrid-based SRS agents in an ambush made her wonder if intel was leaked from the ranks of the SID.

She later called in Billy and requested him to check on the SID to see if anything unusual can be reported.

"Understood, MOM. I'll go and check them at once."

The black-haired woman hoped that no more deaths would be reported at her watch. She got a Tylenol tablet from a small box of Tylenols in one of her drawers and took it before she drank some water from her personal water bottle.


Hallway, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


After retracing their steps once more, the group entered a hallway that looked quite similar to the hallways being used in old, eerie mansions.

"If I see anything more like this, I'll be acquiring a phobia of creepy, dark hallways." Jill sighed as she was the last to enter the deserted hallway.

"Like it or not, we'll be seeing the likes of these in the near future." Leon tried to calm the nerves of his colleague.

"There's a door up ahead." Diana pointed to the end of the hallway.

"Or rather, a doorless entry." Hien suggested.

"Let's move guys." Kevin said when he aimed his Glock 21 Mariner down the hallway. "I'll be the first."

"Don't forget about me, Kevin." Leon told Kevin when he held his M3 properly after he patted the brown-haired man's right shoulder.

They later got into a small room, which consisted of two doors and a small table with a vase. Hiryu used his gloved left hand to execute a backfist to break it.

"Here." Dan got the box of 9mm bullets and handed it to Hiryu. "You'll need it."

"Thanks." Hiryu pocketed the box in his vest pocket.

"Now which door?" Fujino asked, confused to figure out which door to open first.

Martin signaled Java to bust down the non-bluish door. Although the caveman had enough strength to break it, he had a little problem.

No matter how hard he punched or kicked it, the door wasn't going to budge.

"And that leaves door number 2." Cammy approached the bluish door and kicked it open.

"Careful." Leon was the first to enter through the door, which led to a small hallway with another door at the end. He saw something shining...

Only to be blocked by a flock of crows that flew inside.

Tea didn't say anything, except to use her psychic powers to take the Spinel from the ceiling and place it in her coat pocket.

The crows eventually left, which allowed Leon to reach the door at the other end without any problem.

"You go first." Jill told Leon, being behind him next to a pistol-armed Kevin.

"Right." The M3-wielding Leon nodded before he used a strong kick to get the door open.

This was followed with Leon aiming the shotgun at what appears to be a deserted and dilapidated balcony.

Chapter 16 END


PS - Greetings to everyone in 2013. Been busy with a surgery op on my head to remove a harmless brain tumor mostly, which is the reason why I haven't updated a new chapter. I just hope that I can put this and other related incidents behind me and lead a normal life. Right now, I just want to put this behind me and get back to a normal life. Not to mention that I've been told of additional treatment via applied radiation to make sure I'm really, really going to be okay.

In the meantime, I've been playing Resident Evil 6 in my older brother's place while I'm recovering from surgery. Quite awesome in terms of the story used to close the storylines of Leon, Sherry and Chris. Although Piers was earlier introduced in a manga called Biohazard: Marhawa Desire. But still... I heard that it's going to be four volumes long. If it's not the case, then sue me. (Although I don't want to be sued in court)

I'm also ordering a limited edition BSAA softshell jacket made by CAPCOM Japan. A pre-order's been done, so I can't wait to see it. I just hope that there's BSAA softshell pants. But I doubt CAPCOM would make one. But you never know. Still, I hope CAPCOM considers doing BSAA softshell pants.

This'll be updated first before my Gundam fic is next. And that's a definite.

Oh yeah, Zealots and zealots are going to be used interchangeably starting from this chapter. I'm kinda lazy to change anything.


Pesetas in Total = 170,600