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:

With the death of Luis Sera, the group has an unfortunate setback in securing details on the Plaga sample that seized by Saddler. How much of a setback will the group have in their journey to save themselves before they are turned permanently? Can Ashley find a way out of her current predicament after being seized once more? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 19: Setback


MOM's Office, The Center


MOM was still in her office, not keeping track of how many days she stayed in the Center's HQ in order to be updated of the agents' progress in finding the First Daughter and getting the heck out of there before the plaga parasite overwhelms them to the point that they are under the cult's complete control.

"MOM." Billy came to her office and handed her an electronic tablet. "Got another update from SID. They still got an eye on the mole, but they think he's avoiding contact with Wesker. He probably got word of the failed raid."

"I understand, Billy. Thanks for the update."

"I think I may be stepping over my bounds as your personal assistant," Billy tried to speak to MOM after being silent for a few seconds. "but I think you should try and get some sleep, MOM. There's no way that you can oversee the operation if you don't get enough rest."

The head of the Center silently replied on the alien's advice.

He does have a point. How long has it been since I had decent rest when I wasn't able to make contact with Martin or with the SHADOW agents?

"You may have a point, Billy." MOM sighed and massaged her nose. "I lost count on how much time I had to get some rest ever since Martin and the others went offline."

"Don't worry, MOM. I can take care of things around here while you're gone."

"All right." MOM nodded. "How are things with the DSO?"

"None that I have. Last I heard, they were interrogating the Secret Service mole for some answers."


Interrogation Room #1, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America


"One more time, Agent Lawrence!" Bruce stomped on the floor with his right foot hard, next to the chair where the rogue Secret Service agent was cuffed with his hands behind it. "I want some answer and I want it now!"

There was no table present. Strangely enough, there wasn't any surveillance cameras mounted inside the room.

"I already told you!" The brown-haired agent, who was now wearing a white shirt, jogging pants and blue and white sneakers, shouted back at the DSO agent. "I sold the service out on the route used by the First Daughter because I needed the money!"

Dammit! Is the only thing he's coughing out in order to save his ass?

"Excuse me, agent McGivern?" A DSO agent knocked on the door to the interrogation room.

"I'll be back." Bruce pointed his left index finger at the rogue agent's face. "In the meantime, I suggest that you sit still and reflect on your actions."

The DSO agent angrily left the interrogation room and slammed the door behind him.


Outside Interrogation Room #1, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America


"It's a good thing I found you, Bruce."

Bruce turned to the side and saw that Hunnigan had shown up.

"What is it, Hunnigan?" Bruce asked the FOS analyst.

"Give me a second." Hunnigan said to him before she told the female DSO agent of East Asian origin, in black BDUs and combat boots, that she was free to go. The agent nodded and left her alone with Bruce outside the interrogation room.

"All right." Hunnigan went over her findings before she handed a folder to Bruce. "We managed to go through everything that Agent Lawrence has told us and we ran it alongside the FBI."

"Anything turned up that I should know?" Bruce asked as he read through the folder's content, which contained the bio data of Lawrence in his time with the Secret Service.

"Nothing much." Hunnigan replied while she shrugged. "Except that our agent here really gave details on the First Daughter's convoy just for the money to pay for his brother's gambling problem."

"Hmmm..."

"He got some wire transfers for two weeks prior to the attack on the First Daughter's Secret Service convoy." Hunnigan explained the details of the report. "At the time, he was suppose to be included with the team."

"So did he feign sickness at the last minute?"

"Yes, he did. That was the only way he could avoid duty without being detected."

"I never thought that he had to go down the dark side just to help his brother."

"It seems that he'd do anything just to help his brother overcome his addiction."

Bruce began to read the reports of bank wire transfers made to Lawrence's bank account. He noted that most of the money transferred, with a minimum amount of $20,000 USD, were made from Switzerland.

"Looks like the bank transfers were made from Geneva." The blonde DSO agent commented after he finished reading the reports. "At this point, we may need to get the assistance of the Geneva Police and the Federal Office of Police."

"I better tell Senior Agent Benford about this development." Hunnigan said after she got the folder back from Bruce.

"You better do that, Hunnigan." Bruce insisted. "I don't know how much longer we're going to get involved with that stupid cult."

"Right." Hunnigan nodded.

"So what do we do with our rogue agent?" Bruce asked her.

"FBI says we keep him her for now." Hunnigan replied. "Director doesn't want to risk the possibilty that someone in the bureau might be paid off or coerced to help break the man out of custody."

"Roger that."


Concourse, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"There she is!"

Leon pointed out Ashley to the others. From the upper part of the concourse, they can see Ashley pinned down by the wall.

"She's got some restraints on her." Diana told the others. "How do we get her out?"

Kevin shouldered the Steyr SSG P IV and crouched down. "I can shoot the metal restraints off her. Someone better her that she needs to not move while I do it."

"I have a better idea." Sho said before he executed a jump down to the lower level of the concourse.

"M-Mr. Ginzu!" Ashley was surprised to see the ninja commando.

"Do not move, Ashley-san." The ninja was getting close to her in less than a minute, thanks to his ninja run. He immediately drew out Lightning Light from the saya and executed two vertical slashes. The metal restraints were hacked down in pieces in no time.

"T-thanks." Ashley thanked the ninja for saving her after she got free.

"We are, as you English speakers would say, not out of the woods yet." Sho twirled Lightning Light with his hands and pointed the kissaki at the black hood-wearing monks as they entered the lower concourse via sliding door.

"Keep an eye on my six!" Kevin said as he steadied his aim with his sniper rifle.

"Get behind me." Sho told Ashley, using his left hand to gently move Ashley towards his rear. "I'll try to get them out of our way."

Ashley nodded, following his instructions.

"I count four!" Kevin said. "Jill, some assistance."

"Got it." Jill crouched down near Kevin and shouldered her Heckler & Koch SL8-4.

"Remember. I take the left side and you take the right in case them cultists try to make a sprint for Ashley."

The others took combat positions and guarded their rear in case of a sneak attack.

"Now!" Kevin shouted when he and Jill took aim to shoot one monk each after they lined up with their scopes for a headshot to take down for good.

Sho was prepared for the two monks when they sprinted towards Ashley. "Keep your head down, young lady."

Ashley did as told when she squatted and covered her head with her hands. "Like this?"

"You are doing a good job." Sho nodded before he faced the incoming monks. "Just keep your head down. You will be fine."


MOM's Office, The Center


With MOM taking some time off to get some rest, Billy was placed in charge of the operation in trying to secure contact with their agents. SID was still working with R&D in trying to find a way to break through the jamming.

"The Americans are doing the same thing." Billy murmured as he reviewed the SID report. "But since even the DSO can't breach it, it means that CIHL was able to use highly sophisticated alien-based technology to block their military satellites from making contact with their agents."

Billy decided to take leave of MOM's officer and head to the Center's R&D office to see if they have something that can take out CIHL's anti-jamming measures.

"I hope we have something in R&D before it's too late."


Concourse, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"ORYYYAAAAH!"

Sho shouted with all of his strength, his kiai, as a means of projection one's inner powers in Eastern-based martial arts. For the ninja's case, it was his means of confidence when he decapitated the two monks when they were at arm's length.

"Stay put." Sho told Ashley to stay at her place when Sho dashed to the door. He began to check the wooden door nearby and noted that it was locked.

Ku-so! Can't get it to open. The ninja used a kick to see if it can break open. It can't be. Not even my kicks can break this open. Just how do they keep this from breaking apart?

"Incoming! We got more!" Kevin shouted when he saw a red monk enter the lower concourse with a few more monks. The only difference is that one or two of them had crossbow with lit bolts.

"SMOKE BOMB!" Sho shouted as he executed his smoke bomb. When the gray smoke got near the black monks, they suddenly exploded. Most of the monks were taken out by the attack, except for the two monks that were armed with the crossbows.

"Gotcha..." Kevin smirked after he shot one of them on the head.

"They're not even trying to take cover, so that's an advantage for us." Jill observed the monks after she took out the other one with a well-placed headshot.

The skull facemask-wearing red monk continued his advance towards Ashley at a slow, menacing pace.

"I got this!" Jill fired at his left leg. This shot forced the monk to kneel.

Seeing the monk kneel, Sho dashed in and prepared Lightning Light to thrust the kissaki at the chest.

"Ngh..." The monk groaned in slight pain, using his bare hands to grip the ninjato's Hi and Mune in order to remove the kissaki. With force if the monk had to do so.

"Persistent, are we?" Sho grinned when he saw the monk struggle to remove the ninjato's kissaki. The ninja saw his hands bleed after he firmly gripped onto the Hi and Mune. "Allow me to help you there..."

Sho gripped the ninjato's tsuka tightly before he used it to hack off the red monk's right arm.

"NGGGHAHHAH!" The red monk screamed in pain after his right arm was forcefully removed from his body. The strange thing the team was that his yells sounded like loud moaning. Very, very loud moaning.

"Die!" Sho executed a diagonal slash with Lightning Light once more, this time to slice off the red monk's head and neck from the body. After he confirmed that his body has dissolved, just like the other monks, he dashed to the spot where he fell in order to secure a doorkey.

Ashley felt like she wanted to barf out whatever she had in her stomach after Sho killed him.

"I don't think she'll be fine at this rate." Leon murmured after he saw Ashley vomit.

"So can your master help Ashley get back on our location?" Cammy asked the SHADOW agents. "Since he did jump from the equivalent of more than two stories at least."

Sho shook his head. "I'm afraid my previous master did not teach me any ninjitsu skills that would allow me to throw Ashley-san to the upper part of this place."

"Master! What are you going to do to get out of there?!" Dan asked Sho, clearly worried for the ex-instructor.

"I'm afraid we need to meet up with the rest of you through the old-fashioned way!" Sho replied as he checked on Ashley to see if she was alright.

"I'm... I'm alright." Ashley reassured the ninja when the latter helped her stand up properly. "I... I never thought I'd barf aside from when I'm super sick."

"We shall find a way back!" Sho told the others as he led Ashley back to the door. "Stay put!"

"Y-yes master!" Dan and Hiryu both replied in unison.

Sho walked in advance to make sure the path is clear. Once he came across the door, he took the doorkey and placed it in the keyhole.

Ashley walked a bit before she sprinted to catch up with him. A few seconds later, the ninja was able to unlock the door.

"So the only thing we can do is to just wait?" Kevin said out loud as Sho and Ashley got through the door.

"I guess so, Kevin-san." Fujino replied before she shrugged her shoulders.


Library, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Sho was the first to enter the library, followed by the First Daughter. The former looked around to see if the area is clear. He motioned via hand gesture to Ashley to stay put.

"W-what's wrong?" Ashley asked Sho when he gestured to her to stop first.

"We have trouble up ahead." Sho whispered to her when he used his Ninja Eyes. He sighted one monk just standing still on the other side of the room.

"How do we deal with it?"

Sho was silent for a few seconds before he asked her. "Have you been trained in any kind of martial arts?"

Ashley pondered on his question very carefully.

I remember that the Secret Service had some instructors who taught me some krav maga for starters... But I didn't have time to concentrate on it fully due to college. Is it best to tell him? I... I guess I may have no choice.

"I do. My father had arranged for an instructor to teach me some martial arts for self-defense purposes." The blonde girl spoke to Sho before she sighed. "Though I don't know if it's enough to make our way out of here."

The ninja placed a hand on her left shoulder. "There is no such thing as too little of something that you've learned." He tried to reassure her for her to be confident. "Remember the training that you had. It may be able to help me even out the odds against the cultists here."

Ashley slowly nodded before she answered. "I-I understand."

"Very well then." Sho was satisfied with the answer he got. "For now, follow me. I shall go and clear the way. Be sure to cover my back."

"Okay."

Sho gripped Lightning Light tightly on the tsuka as he slowly advanced. He walked slowly towards the monk, who had his back facing him. Sho's footsteps did not make even a single noise.

Ashley saw that he was silent with his movement. With that, she emulated his movement to ensure that she was not making any kind of noise with her own footsteps.

Dammit.

The First Daughter noted that a slight step with her boots made some audible noise. But it was very low that the monk wasn't aware of their presence in the library.

All right. He doesn't know where here. One, two... And now!

With a quick step and dash, Sho thrusted the ninjato's kissaki towards the back of the monk's head as he executed the Iaizuki thrust.

After he withdrew the kissaki from the head, the monk went down on his knees before he collapsed onto the ground. His body dissolved until it was not physically there.


Command Center, Field Operations Support Division, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America


Hunnigan was now in the FOS, this time making contact with various law enforcement agencies, both domestic and overseas, to see if they had other law enforcement personnel sent to Spain for the same reason Leon and Kevin are ordered to go there.

"All right, thanks." Hunnigan thanked a FOS analyst when she received an update that there was a response from the Spanish Guardia Civil. From what she was told, the GC did send a couple of guardia civil officers to assist Leon, Kevin and a few others before they lost contact with them. The Spanish Interior Ministry privately mentioned to the DSO via telephone conference that he feared the officers were killed by Los Illuminados.

"Looks like Delta Red, INTERPOL and the Japanese National Police Agency are in on this operation with their own personnel." The woman said as she read through the report, which consisted of replies made from the three agencies to the DSO. "And they want to keep their involvement in Spain non-existent with a press blackout like what the DSO and Secret Service advised President Graham on after the First Daughter was kidnapped."

Hunnigan could only wonder if they can make an update on securing contact with Leon and Kevin.

"It's only bad enough that we know little of CIHL." Hunnigan continued to read up on the report, placed inside a folder, with some comments on CIHL. "But the only thing that we know is that CIHL is an anti-paranormal consultant group that does actual anti-paranormal operations on the side."

She frowned and closed the folder. "It looks like we've been had. Whatever the CIHL is doing, they're that good."


Library, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"Be on your guard." Sho warned Ashley after he took care of the monk.

"Okay." Ashley answered.

Sho checked the room to see how they can progress. The ninja saw a way out, except that it was sealed off with a metallic Portcullis. There was a crank mounted on the wall next to it.

"Can you head over there?" Sho pointed to Ashley the crank next to the Portcullis. "It seems to be the only mechanism used to open it."

"Got it." Ashley nodded as she sprinted towards the crank. She gripped the handle and moved her hands as fast as she to make the Portcullis go up.

Sho kept an eye out for her as the Portcullis slowly moved upward. He didn't show it, but he was very nervous and wondered if Los Illuminados has an ambush or two prepared for them after he freed her a while ago.

I doubt the enemy will give us room to spare and relax.

The two waited to see if anyone has showed up. Sho made use of his Ninja Eyes to scope out the room for any signs of hostile monks.

"Anything?" Ashley asked after she finished her work with the crank.

"No hostile sighted." Sho shook his head. "It's best if we can take whatever is useful for us, but be quick."

After the blonde girl nodded, she went to search around the room while Sho stood guard. She acquired a Spinel, a Yellow and Green Herb and 1200 pesetas taken from where the monk's corpse was.

"I shall hold onto the items." Sho said after Ashley told him that she got the items from the first room they were in. "Except for the money, hold onto everything else."

"Do you even have space in your clothes to hold onto the money?"

"That's a trade secret for someone who's trained in Bushinryuu ninjitsu."

Sho looked around the other room after the Portcullis was opened up. He slowly stepped inside to search for anyone inside. Ashley followed him slowly, letting him do the fighting.

Until a monk waited in ambush on the side to grab Ashley from the side.

"LET ME GO!" The girl yelled after she was grabbed from the shoulders.

My Ninja Eyes didn't detect his location. He must've decided to hide and wait to ambush us after we opened the only pathway to other side of the library. Sho was now gripping with the decision on how to attack the monk without hurting Ashley in the process.

"HAH!" Ashley violently kicked the monk's right leg hard with her boot. This made the monk remove his grip from her shoulders. The First Daughter followed this up by executing a strong knee attack onto the monk's ribs. A shoulder tackle was then used to push him away from her.

"Take that!" yelled Ashley after she executed the final attack.

"ORYA!" Sho shouted after Ashley shoved the monk away, which allowed him to slash his chest. This was followed by an Iaizuki, which struck the monk at his forehead.

The monk didn't groan or say anything else. When Sho kicked the monk away to remove the kissaki, the latter's body began to slowly dissolve until nothing was left.

"Are you alright?" Sho asked Ashley after he killed the monk.

"I'm okay." Ashley replied and patted her shoulders where the monk had previously grabbed her. "I just remembered something from my Krav Maga classes on what to do if someone tried to grab you in the shoulders in a hostile manner."

"Like I said, there is no such thing as something too little to be useful."

"Thanks for the advice. I was really scared when the cultist tried to ambush me, but your advice was all that I needed to break out of it."

"Despite the ambush," Sho looked around and saw that the room was clear of hostiles. "it seems that you may be a brave woman at heart. You just never had the opportunity to prove it."

He walked towards a closet and obtained 2500 pesetas from it. He then pocketed the money into his Shinobi shozoku.

Ashley opened one of the drawers from a night table and found a Spinel. She decided to take it, knowing that Leon and the others may find it useful.

Sho examined another portcullis after Ashley pocketed the Spinel. This time, he examined it to see how it would open up.

It appears that it opens from the side instead of the top. No wait, there's another one that opens from the top. Clearly the master of the house is intelligent enough to make this a security features in the mansion in case of enemy intrusion.

"Ashley-san." Sho called for the girl's attention after he stored his ninjato back in the saya. "There are two cranks present here. They both open one portcullis each as a security measure for this room in the library."

"Do we work on the cranks at once, Mr. Ginzu?" Ashley asked him after she stopped in front of the right crank.

Sho nodded. "We should do that. That way, we can get out of here faster."

After Sho went for the left crank, he gripped the handle in his hands as tight as possible. Ashley waited for him to get a good grip on it before she did the same.

"On the count of three." The ninja instructed. "One, two... And three."

Sho and Ashley turned the crank handle together. Both of them moved at a fast pace to make the two portcullises open so that time would not be wasted to open up one after the other.

The dual portcullises were eventually opened after they turned the cranks for at least five minutes thanks to their fast movements.

"If you wish to take a break, then it is fine." Sho advised Ashley, who appeared to be very tired from handling the crank handle. "I shall scout ahead to see how we can proceed out of this area. In the meantime, hand me anything that you have. I'll hold onto them."

"But you don't have any pockets in your ninja suit." Ashley protested, seeing that his Shinobi shozoku doesn't have any pockets.

"How I keep the items with me is a trade secret, Ashley-san."


Concourse, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Diana saw the SHADOW agents near Luis' corpse as they began to examine his clothes while the others waited for Sho to returns safely with the First Daughter.

I wonder if the fact that we're not eating or drinking anything is because of the parasite in our bodies. The Canadian Center agent thought to herself. If that's the case, it should save us some time from getting some food or water along the way...

"What are you guys doing?" Diana asked her colleagues, puzzled with what they're still trying to do. "I don't know if we can get some clues with Mr. Sera despite the intervention of the bad guys here."

"Despite that fact," Dan reminded Diana. "we're trying to look for more clues with how the man here had secured the plaga sample from the cult. It seems that Saddler knew that he was going to flip to us."

Diana just nodded anyway.

Fujino and Hiryu were seen next to the corpse, the former had used her O-Watch to activate Search Mode. She then used the holographic keyboard that appeared on her left wrist to type LUIS SERA on the search bar, seen on a holographic screen, to examine Center archives for any information about the man.

Hiryu checked the pockets on his pants and his shirt for any clues that may be useful in order to shed light on their current situation.

"Found something?" Martin went up to see the SHADOWs when he saw that they started to examine Luis' corpse.

"Nothing much." Hiryu replied to Martin while he checked the pants pockets. "I'm afraid we'll be running into a dead end soon."

"How are the others doing?" Dan asked Martin.

The blonde-haired agent shrugged. "Dunno, man. Most of them are just waiting for Ashley to rendezvous with us when Sho brings her back."

"In other words, they're bored?"

Martin nodded.

"It figures." Dan said when he heard Hiryu's rhetorical question. "With him dead, we're having no choice but to search every nook and corner of the places we haven't explored in the castle." The Malaysian SHADOW sighed and stared at the corpse. "It's a shame though. He could've seen a good source of information for getting out of this place."

"Call for Leon and Kevin." Hiryu looked at the database results. "We need to tell them that we got something on the man."


T-Shaped Junction, outside Library, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


After Sho checked the T-shaped junction from outside the library, he called for Ashley to follow him.

"Follow me. I found something." The ninja called for Ashley.

Ashley nodded and walked until she saw that the short hallway diverged into two directions. One going to the left has a blue door, which... led somewhere. The other one goes into a much shorter hallway with a door at the end.

Two doors? The First Daughter looked at the left door before she looked at the corridor and partially saw a door handle. She then stepped a bit to the shorter hallway to see the door. And how do we know which door to open first?

"Mr. Ginzu," Ashley went to ask the ninja. "which door should we go to?"

Sho inhaled and exhaled his breath as he reflected on Ashley's question. A very good question, indeed. The blue door may have some significance, such as the way back to the others. But I think the other door is worth checking out at least to make sure there aren't any more enemies to confront in this part of the castle.

"A good question." Sho replied as he looked at the shorter hallway where Ashley found the door. "We need to check all loose ends to ensure that we're safe."

"You mean..." Ashley felt that she didn't like where the conversation was going.

Sho nodded. "You could stay here, but I'm not sure if you can defend yourself against multiple hostiles." The ninja looked at her in the face. "Which means I should stay here. I shall cover your back while you check the door next to me."

"A-alright." Ashley slowly nodded, knowing the risk that she must do to cover all loose ends. "I'll go and check what's beyond that door."

"I am confident that you can survive this one." Sho reassured Ashley to boost her confidence. "You did defend yourself against the monk who grabbed you a while ago. After all, I did not expect the First Daughter to be trained in self-defense at all."

The girl felt happy that a known vigilante was sincerely complimenting her self-defense skills. However, she also knew that she needed to improve her self-defense skills due to the possibility of being attacked again after the Spain fisaco was over.

"Thank you." Ashley felt like crying tears after hearing Sho's words.

"Go ahead, Ashley-san." Sho decided to not waste time and instead, direct her to the blue door next to him. "I shall hold this spot and secure it until you get back."

"I'll be back, Mr. Ginzu." Ashley went to the blue door and opened to get inside.

Sho was confused on why Ashley called her Ginzu when his actual name is Sho.

I really need to figure out a way to make the public realize that Ginzu is not my name when I'm with the Commandos. It's suppose to be Sho. Those damn Westerners and their ninja obsessions. I wonder where they got the basis to pull out that silly name?

After he saw Ashley off to investigate the room beyond the door, Sho stood vigilant over the T-shaped junction. He would wait and secure this area while Ashley would check ahead to see if there's anything would looking into.

For the meantime, the ninja secured the nearby Red Herb placed on top of a cabinet.


Concourse, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"It appears we got information on Luis Sera himself on our database."

Dan told the two DSO agents after he called for their attention.

"What about Luis that we need to know about?" Leon asked Dan, curious to know what information they have from the Center.

"For one thing," Dan looked at his partner before he looked back at Leon. "did he say anything to you that was... I don't know, maybe fishy?"

"Well he did say he's from the police." Leon scratched his head as he recalled his conversation with Luis when they got tied up together. "I didn't ask him for any sign of identification that could prove that he's a police officer because... well we were in a situation that I didn't have time to ask about it."

"Normally, that would have perhaps gotten you into some bit of trouble there, partner." Kevin patted Leon's right shoulder.

"Thanks, Kevin." Leon rolled his eyes, being sure that his DSO partner and ex-RPD colleague was being sarcastic about his sympathies.

"Here it is." Dan pointed to the two agents the profile on Luis Sera. "Our database doesn't mention anything about being a police officer at all."

"Seems that he lied just to avoid being caught, considering that he had the sample taken from the cult." Kevin read Luis' biodata on the holographic screen to look for anything that stands out.

Leon then joined in to read his biodata.

"There we go." Kevin found the information he was looking for. He pointed to the information on his early life on the screen with his left index finger.

"According to this," Leon browsed over the screen to read up on the man's early life. "he left the village at an early life in order to pursue a career in the city."

"Most likely Madrid." Hiryu suggested. "The Center has no further information on what he did prior to coming back to his hometown, except that we found some pictures of him on his graduation day from the Autonomous University of Madrid."

Dan used his hands to blow up an image from Luis' database entry to show Leon and Kevin his graduation picture.

"Here. We got a picture of him receiving his degree from the Faculty of Sciences."

"He doesn't look very different from the day we encountered him." Leon studied the graduation photo and noted that he had short hair and a well-shaved face with his university convocation dress on.

"It looked like that it was a very happy day for him." Kevin agreed with Leon's thoughts. "But I'm curious to know what made Luis decided to drop a promising career in the sciences and work for Saddler."

Fujino examined the screen and browsed through it to confirm or deny any information that can help answer Kevin's question.

"I have found the required information, Kevin-san." The Reien Girls Academy student showed Kevin a paragraph in Luis' entry that explains his return to the countryside. "It said that he dropped out of Madrid when Saddler recruited him via an informant. It turns out that said informant was one of his old classmates in his university days."

"It also says that he showed signs of resentment with Saddler and his cult after he found out what he wanted his scientific background for." Leon found the needed information on Luis' defection from Los Illuminados. "Looks like they did initial tests on the village's children when the cult found dormant plaga spores."

"Looks like it ends there." Leon said after the holographic screen was closed. "Do you guys know if he made any contacts from outside the cult?"

Dan, Fujino and Hiryu just stared at each other after they heard Leon's question.

"I'm sorry." Dan shrugged his shoulders. "The Center didn't have any further information on what he did after he came back to his hometown. Our intelligence suggests that he kept a low profile so that Saddler won't be suspicious of his movements."

"Anyway," Kevin murmured after he heard Dan out. "we can't do anything we can let Sho in the loop on information that you guys provided on Luis."


Small Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Ashley went inside the small room via the blue door, being unlocked. This gave her an easier time to get inside.

Now I need to secure anything that's not nailed down. I need to start from somewhere...

After she took a few steps to the center of the room, the teenager took note of the dais in the sunken floor of the room. She tried to see if she can move it with the wooden handle, even if it's just an inch.

"Ugh..." Ashley grunted before she gave up. "Can't move it." She then examined the center of the dais. Better note that hole in the center of that device.

She moved to the cabinet on the left side of the dais and took the note left on top of it.

I don't understand a word of Spanish, maybe except a word or two from my classmates who can actually speak it. Please one of the guys can translate it.

Ashley folded the note carefully and held onto it with her left hand. She turned around to see a fireplace with the firebox sealed off somehow.

"A fireplace with a sealed off firebox?" Ashley murmured when she inspected the fireplace. She knelt down next to the sealed firebox to get a closer look. "That's not right at all."

With her hands placed on the grate, she pushed on it with all of her strength.

Nothing. Ashley realized that the more she pushed the grate, nothing happened to it. In fact, it was just getting her frustrated. I'm not getting anywhere! Dammit!

I just better need to remember that later. Ashley resumed her search of the room when she began to examine the cabinets and open any drawers that are not locked.

"What's this?" She picked up a box of pistol bullets. When she checked out the box itself, it had .45 ACP markings labeled on it.

"It's probably needed." Ashley then picked up the Spinel and the Velvet Blue before she got out of the room.


T-Shaped Junction, outside Library, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"I found these when I looked around the room with the fireplace."

Ashley showed the items that she picked up to Sho, including the folded note.

"Nice work." Sho collected the items. "I assume that the note you picked up was written entirely in Spanish?"

"It is." Ashley gave the note to the ninja. "It must be of importance, but I guess we wait until we can link up with the others so that we can show them the note."

"A wise decision." Sho got the note from the First Daughter. "All we need to go is to check the other door and see what's on the other side."

Sho walked first to the direction of the shorter hallway. He motioned to Ashley to follow him. When the former got in front of the door, he gripped the door handle to check if it was locked.

He held his hand up for Ashley to wait as he checked the door.

Looks to be clear.

Sho slowly opened the door and peaked inside, eyes only, to make his head less of a desirable target.

Definitely clear.

Once he was done examining the interior of the storeroom, the ninja motioned to Ashley again to follow him inside.


Maze Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Sho and Ashley entered the deserted room, which had a maze sealed up by portcullises.

"Looks like a maze." Ashley examined the room after she closed the door behind her.

Sho couldn't agree more with Ashley. Using his Ninja Eyes to scan the room, he saw multiple red portcullises that either sealed off some paths or kept some open.

"Let's start searching the storeroom by looking around here." Sho told Ashley. "We need to operate under the assumption that these portcullises can seal us away for a long period of time, which would prevent us from retreating."

Ashley did as instructed when she picked up the Green Herb. She then handed it to Sho for safekeeping.

Sho found a wooden bookshelf near the door. He peaked on the side if anything was hidden.

"Found something." The ninja pushed the bookshelf onto the side to reveal a red button-type switch hidden behind it. There was also a flashlight next to it.

"I'll take this." Ashley picked up the flashlight after Sho smacked the red button with his left palm.

One of the portcullises opened up to reveal a path.

The right one hasn't opened up. Sho checked around to see that the nearest portcullis did not open up. Which meant that the portcullis had opened up from the interior of the storeroom.

"This is blocking the way." Sho drew out Lightning Light and hacked the table since it blocked the only path to the maze. He then kicked the table pieces out of the way to prevent them from getting in their way.

Ashley examined the flashlight to check if it was working. To her luck, it was working. The lightbeam was very bright, indicating that it had fresh batteries inside the device.

Another switch? Ashley ran up to red button switch on the wall and pressed it with her left palm. She gripped the flashlight with her right hand and used it to examine the maze. There's nobody in there. But if I learned anything while being held captive by these cultists, it's to expect the unexpected.

Sho saw the red portcullis near the wall switch move up, opening another path in front of him. It worked.

The two heard the first red portcullis lower itself back, sealing off a path from the maze's interior.

"Things are going to be complicated if those switches are going to open up some paths in the maze and close some of the others." Ashley stepped forward towards the open path and used her flashlight to see what was ahead.

"An elaborate maze indeed." Sho studied the maze to locate any signs of Los Illuminados cultists. "Whoever made this was very aware that one day, this place would be raided."

"Do we go in the maze together?" Ashley asked the ninja. She was wondering if her question was a good idea to entertain.

Sho stayed silent once again with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He used the quiet in the storeroom to gather his thoughts. He knew that he has to make a quick decision on whether they need to move in together or let one of them search the maze while the other stays in front of the maze entrance to secure the rear in case of an enemy attack.

"We may as well stay together in the meantime." Sho faced Ashley when he told her his answer. "It is tempting to split up and search the room to secure anything important before we get back together, but we run the risk of being overwhelmed. The cult has numbers on their side and we don't."

"But what happens if the switches forces us to get separated?"

More pressing questions for me to consider. Sho stayed silent again before he replied to her. "Then we have no choice but for one of us to move ahead."

Ashley simply was confused on why the ninja calmly stated that one of them should abandon the other. Her father would certainly be furious if he should find out that Sho, a member of the Commandos, would simply abandon her. There would be worldwide condemnation of her death if they were forced to be separated.

"That would have been my answer if I was paired up with someone else who shares my idea of not being dragged down in a mission." Sho said to a worried Ashley. "But since your survival is required, I will have to stick with you." The ninja sighed. "At least to make sure no cultist would ambush you."

"I understand." Ashley nodded when she heard Sho's thoughts.

"I shall go ahead." Sho moved inside the maze. "Keep an eye out for anything unusual."

"Got it." Ashley walked alongside Sho as she used the flashlight to scope out parts of the maze that are not illuminated.

When confronted with a closed path, Ashley saw the switch on the ledge in front of it. She also saw a painting mounted on top of a fireplace with a few chairs placed nearby. It was covered in cobwebs, which showed its long-term disuse. But it was not the only thing that was covered in cobwebs.

The painting's also covered with some cobwebs. Not to mention that it's not mounted properly.

Ashley took a closer look at the fireplace when she noticed something else.

"A plaque." Ashley took a few steps closer to it while Sho kept watch. She inspected the item with a flashlight. "No wait..."

She then realized that it wasn't a plaque. But it was a tablet made out of stone.

"Can you hold this?" Ashley handed Sho the flashlight.

"What is it?" Sho got the flashlight from her.

"I found a tablet lodged onto the fireplace." Ashley carefully used her fingers to take the stone tablet. She slowly removed it so that it wouldn't fall down and break into pieces.

"Can you handle it?" Sho focused the flashlight on the tablet while Ashley continued to remove the tablet.

"Yes. It shouldn't be a problem." After a few minutes of carefully removing the tablet from the fireplace, she held it in her hands and checked it out. "There's an etch of a pentagram on it. There's also something written on it. Can't make out the words."

Ashley turned the tablet around. In doing so, she found a hole at the back.

"It might be used to insert the tablet into something." Sho inspected the back of the tablet.

"The tablet seems to be a bit heavy." Ashley commented as she felt the weight of the tablet in her hands.

Sho moved to the switch in front of the red portcullis and pressed the button to open the gray portcullis.

"We have another alternate path that we can use to get in and out of the maze." Sho saw the gray portcullis open up. He then remembered the switch that was hidden previously from plain sight by the bookshelf he pushed out of the way.

Without hesistation, he quickly pressed the switch.

Ashley turned to the side and saw the path they previously used to get in, after Sho took care of the table. The gray portcullis sealed it off while the red portcullis with the red switch opened up.

"How did you..."

"I didn't." Sho quickly answered it. "I decided to try it out."


MOM's Office, The Center


With MOM still taking a break from non-stop work with the Center, Billy went through some files provided by the SID. He particularly got some biodata on Jack Krauser.

"This man was sighted multiple times with Wesker despite his status with the American military." The alien took note of Krauser's papers when the status read that he was presumed dead after an special forces operation in South America, thanks to a helicopter crash somewhere in the United States. He also checked out surveillance photos of Krauser and Wesker taken from various parts of the globe.

Billy read a comment on the report that mentions about Leon Kennedy's non-involvement in those surveillance operations due to his "close" relationship with him at the time.

"And during that time, his partner was..." Billy leaped through the pages and saw Leon's name in it.

"Leon Kennedy." Billy read through the report. "One of the few official survivors of the outbreak in Raccoon City. Current job not disclosed, but is currently active with the Division of Security Operations."

He was now wondering if the DSO was aware of the fact that Krauser was still alive. And even with that revelation on their internal reports on the man, why did Special Agent Benford gave his consent for Leon's involvement in the rescue operation.

Billy pressed a button on his hovercraft and opened a line with SID. "This is Billy. I need to connect with someone at SID."

"Just a moment, sir."

The alien waited for someone at SID to make contact with him. Eventually...

"This is SID, sir. Is there something from the report that you need to clarify?"

"Yes, I do." Billy looked at the report on Krauser one more time before he asked, "Does the DSO know about Krauser working with Wesker despite his status as deceased?"

"We asked one of our assets to check in." The SID agent replied to Billy's query.

"And?"

"He's pretty convinced that the DSO knows. But they're keeping in to themselves. Even their Agents on the rescue mission don't even know about that."

"Dammit." Billy didn't like what the Center's intelligence agency is telling him. "Okay, keep digging and reach out to any of our assets in the American intelligence community. We need to get more info on this. And ask R&D if there's a way we can get in touch with the agents on the ground."

"Understood."


Maze Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


With a new opened up, Ashley was the first to move inside the maze. She found a tall cabinet in front of her and carefully opened it to make sure it wasn't rigged for a trap.

Phew!

What she found was money worth 1800 pesetas. She temporarily left it there to secure the Blue Velvet left on top of another cabinet.

"You can leave it there." Sho came up from behind and saw the opened cabinet. "I'll secure anything else you got."

Ashley got the flashlight back from Sho and gave him the Velvet Blue.

"Thanks." After Ashley got the flashlight, she opened the door and used it to inspect the dark interior.

"Did I give you the stone tablet?" She asked the ninja.

Sho shook his head. "It is not with me, Ashley-san."

Ashley looked at the dark interior beyond the open door, but made no effort to step inside.

I musn't be afraid. I musn't be afraid. I musn't be afraid.

"Is something wrong?" Sho asked Ashley when she stared at the open door.

Ashley shook her head. "It's nothing, Mr. Ginzu. I'm okay."

She walked towards the open door and into the dark interior. Sho silently stood guard and drew out Lightning Light from the saya.

He knew that a fight was coming. Especially when they were able to pass through the maze without any signs of an enemy.


L-Shaped corridor, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Ashley carefully stepped into the corridor, using the flashlight to illuminate her path. She carried it on her right hand while the left hand held the stone tablet she took from the maze room's fireplace.

"Nothing so far." The First Daughter observed the wall and the path from left to right, anticipating any kind of ambush. She made a left turn on the corridor.

A suit of armor with a broadsword.

Ashley noticed the suit of armor on the wall, which was on display. She inspected it and noted that it looked old, seeing grim and dust on it. A broadsword was seen on its hands, which held the sword's grip. Its blade was pointed down towards the stone ground.

"Nobody bothered to clean this up, that's for sure." When she passed it, she made a right turn and kept walking straight until she walked inside a small room with six suits of armor on both sides. They also appear to have a halberd on its hand. Both the armor and halbered appeared to have dust and rust due to age and storage inside the area.

"There's something here." Ashley checked the center of the room to see some sort of puzzle on the pedestal. Upon taking a closer look, there was one piece missing on it.

She examined the tablet on her left hand and checked the back again, remembering the hole that was there.

"Right. This tablet's surely meant for this." The tablet was placed on the left edge of the pedestal, big enough to accommodate the item without it falling off. Ashley touched the puzzle pieces of the pedestal and gently moved it to see if it was movable.

"All right. It can move." She analyzed the pedestal to examine the pieces. "It has some engraving on it, but I can't make it out. I'll have to assemble the pieces again." She took a deep breath and concentrated her attention on the pedestal's pieces.

I got no choice. Even though I'm not usually good with puzzles, I need to solve this or we can't get out of this room.

Ashley examined the pieces on the pedestal. Out of the seven pieces present, there was only one hollow space in the center. This space was meant for the eight puzzle piece to be placed on it.

"Here goes." Focusing the flashlight on the pedestal pieces, she touched the middle left piece and pushed it towards the center.

Some of the puzzle pieces form up some kind of shield crest. Like the ones you see in medieval times with the knights in Europe. Yeah, that's right. I just need to visualize it in my head.

She touched the upper left piece and pushed it down. When she saw another open gap in its place, the girl focused her attention on the upper middle and right pieces.

Can I push two pieces at once? Deciding to try her luck, Ashley placed her three fingers on the upper right piece and pushed it all the way to the left.

Okay! It worked. Ashley was delighted to see some progress. Better form the edges of that crest.

She went to work in solving the puzzle, first by pushing the lower right piece up. This was followed by pushing the lower left piece to the right. Ashley repeated it again by pushing the upper left piece down, with the upper right piece pushed to the left again.

"There's a pattern for this if I keep this up." Ashley kept pushing the corner pieces around the center piece until she saw the crown at the upper middle position of the pedestal.

That's the crest image I needed to see. All I have to do is to push this. Ashley pushed the lower right piece up, which completed the puzzle. It had the image of a shield crest, with the exception of a gap on the lower right corner.

The tablet, which was left briefly on the left edge of the pedestal, was taken and placed on the gap.

She felt the room vibrate for a few seconds before the metal door opened up to the top, opening the way to another room.

"More surprises." Ashley sighed when she used her flashlight to inspect what was inside the room.

She prayed to not run into another trap when she walked inside.


Storeroom, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


When Ashley stepped inside the storeroom, the first thing that caught her attention was the long table placed in the center of the room. That, with small clouds of dust indicated that the room was not used for a long time.

She covered her mouth and coughed when she felt the dust was in her lungs.

Good thing it's not much dust or I'd cough all the way.

While searching the room, she found a treasure chest that sat on top of a cabinet. Ashley approached it and opened it up to obtain a Golden Bangle.

"Better wear this." Ashley placed it on her left wrist. "It's bad enough that I have to hold this flashlight."

She used the flashlight to illuminate the other parts of the room.

There's something shining there. She caught sight of something that was shining. It's on a knight bust.

Something was lodged into the knight statue. Taking a good luck, it appeared to be an insignia.

"Probably from the family that made this castle." When Ashley took the Salazar Family Insignia from the bust, it moved until it was switched around with the blue treasure chest.

"So this was hidden behind the wall." Ashley placed the flashlight down next to the chest. She gripped the lid carefully and opened it slowly.

Here goes nothing.

There was a puzzle piece inside the chest. It's different from the pedestal puzzle pieces she encountered earlier.

"If this is here," Ashley examined the Serpent Ornament piece after she got the flashlight again. It appeared to have the hind legs and tail of a lion. "then it means the bad guys were desperate to keep this hidden."

After the metal door opened up from behind, Ashley heard the rusting sounds of something moving towards the storeroom.

Who's there?

Ashley focused the flashlight on the only entrance of the storeroom. She saw the dusty suits of armors marching in towards her with their halberds ready to cut her down.

"Need to move." Ashley moved around the table to get around the moving suits, seeing their cumbersome and slow movements. She took advantage of it to leave right away and run back to the corridor.


L-Shaped corridor, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Ashley ran as fast as her legs can take her, reaching the middle part of the corridor when she saw the broadsword-wielding suit of armor slightly moving. It had the weapon raised above its helmet.

When she got near the moving suit, its arms creaked a bit before it brought the blade down towards her head.

"Haaah!" The First Daughter dodged the attack by leaping away from the suit. This worked since the blade struck the ground in front of her. As soon as the suit crumbled to bits and pieces, she kicked the sword away with her right boot.

"Can't stop her. Got to keep moving." Ashley kept running down until she was back at the maze with Sho.

From there, it's a journey back out to the dais that she saw earlier.


Maze Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Sho already saw Ashley enter the maze room, looking really worried.

"We need to go!" Ashley implored Sho when she grabbed his left arm. "There's not much time to explain, but I got something that can help us get out of this area."

Sho didn't say anything, except to run up ahead and head outside. Before Ashley followed him, she pressed the red switch in front of the red portcullis.

That's better. With the portcullis sealing off the path towards the corridor, the blond teen ran out of the maze to follow Sho back to the room with the sealed up fireplace and dais. During the escape, Ashley turned off the flashlight since the room had light anyway. She also planned to keep it for future use in navigating her way out in case she gets caught again by the cult.


Small Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Ashley showed Sho the dais that she had tried to use, but failed due to the handle being non-cooperative at the time.

"I found this." She showed the ninja the Salazar Family Insignia.

"Nice work." Sho complimented Ashley for finding the item. He waited for her to place it in the center, which made it easier to use the dais' handle.

Ashley once again worked on the handle and turned it all the way after she got a good grip on it. When the dais was not moving anymore, the entire fireplace moved upwards to the ceiling.

"A fake fireplace." The ninja looked at the ladder and saw no one was on it. "So this was an escape route prepared by the master of the house."

Ashley got a good grip at the ladder. "Do I go first?"

"It matters not." Sho shook his head. "What matters is we leave this place and join up with the others."

Ashley nodded and started her ascent. When she made it to the top, Sho used the ladder and climbed up before he was able to link up with her.


Secret Passageway, Above Small Room, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Ashley was the first one to arrive at the passageway. She looked to the right and saw 1500 and 1800 pesetas on top of a table. She grabbed the money and handed them to Sho once he joined up with her.

"It is fortunate that we found it." Sho said as he began to travel through the passageway. "Very useful for dealing with the Merchant."

The ninja moved ahead to check the path up ahead. Once he saw that no enemy was in the area, he called out to Ashley. "We can run down to the end. I see no enemy."

"Okay." Ashley replied to Sho's assessment.

Together, they kept running down the passageway until they were able to reach the end. Thanks to the candles mounted on the wall, they didn't have to worry about light.

A door. We found it. Sho gripped the door handle to check if it was not locked. He found that there was some kind of bolt responsible for keeping the door locked.

"Please stay back." Sho drew out Lightning Light and used it to cut the bolt into two.

With the door now unlocked, he went to the door and opened it first. Ashley then followed him by his side.


Concourse, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


"It's Ashley and Sho!"

Dan motioned to the others when they saw the two safe and sound. Ashley smiled when she reunited with the others, running towards them.

"Glad to see the First Daughter made it out alive." Yu smirked while he leaned up on the wall.

"Finally." Jean sighed. "I was about to get bored waiting for those two to get here."

"Ashley!" Diana was among the first to greet her. The blond girl ran up to hug Diana.

The Center agents smiled and greeted Ashley. Kevin, Leon and Chun-Li greeted Sho when he linked up with them.

"I'm sorry you guys..." Ashley spoke to the agents. "for anything that I may have done."

"It's alright." Eriko spoke to Ashley after the detective greeted Sho. "We're all glad that you're safe."

"Master." Dan and Hiryu bowed, their arms on their side, when they greeted Sho.

"Are you boys alright?" Sho asked the SHADOWs on their well-being.

"Don't worry about us, master." Hiryu insisted. "We're just glad that you're back."

"Did you two get anything before you got to the concourse?" Tea asked Sho and Ashley.

"We did." Sho nodded. "I was impressed by Ashley-san's self-defense training, which came in handy for her to defend herself."

"I-it was nothing." Ashley felt embarassed that a vigilante would praise her self-defense skills.

"Before we move," Jill spoke to Sho. "Let's go over anything that you guys found and take a small break."

Everyone agreed with Jill's suggestion.

In the meantime, Ashley handed the Serpent Ornament to Kevin. He then handed it for Leon so that he can get a look at it after he thanked her for securing an important item.

Even though she wasn't tired, which was in thanks to the parasite in her body, the girl decided that she needed to sit down. Jill helped her sit down onto the floor and get some rest, knowing that she was tired from running back and forth to get back to the party.

Chapter 19 END


PS - Been a while now since another chapter is due. Apologies to everyone who waited. Long story short, I had moved back to Manila from Vancouver again. Had some angst and all in adjusting since I was still trying to get back to university to redeem myself from the bad grade that I had. Though it's getting more and more likely that it'll take a while before I have that chance, so I have to grudgingly wait and see before the credits can expire since I need to use them for a transfer from the community college. Worse thing is that I may have to do this by distance education online from the Philippines.

I just followed how Leon used his sniper rifle to provide cover for Ashley since it's not gonna be meaningful if most of them jump down and free Ashley. I got Sho for that one since he need more spotlight in the story, never mind that he has little exposure in other Capcom material.

Note that Ashley calls Sho as Ginzu. In the non-Asian version of Captain Commando, his name is Ginzu. So I'm using this name change with a backstory reason that non-Asians know of the Commandos with different names thanks to some people in the media who misnamed them, except for Captain Commando since he has the same name in all versions of the game. Yeah... that's a good logical explanation.

In the meantime, I did story updates for the past few weeks for "Peacekeepers", "The Stories" and a recent story set in Macross Frontier called "Conspiracy", though the latter is planned for a AU plot in the vein of a technothriller story like Tom Clancy, Chris Ryan and Stephen Leather. Feel free to check them out and review to let me know what you think of them.

Anyway, feel free to read up on this chapter and let me know how it is when you review, even if I made a mistake in here somewhere. Been a while since this updated and I hope that I don't delay this again.

So the chapter ends at the start of Chapter 4-1. Should be nine more in-game chapters to go. I don't know how to translate that to in-fic chapters.


Pesetas in Total = 247,700