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:
The team tries to stay one step ahead of their enemies by finding a way out of the underground area. Can they leave the place without getting into any more fights? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.
Chapter 22: Going Under
Mine Shaft Room, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
Hiryu stepped out of the elevator and into the seemingly deserted mine shaft deep below Salazar Castle.
"Damn, it looks deserted."
He shouldered his G36C and looked around, picking up the Green Herb near his feet.
Down the steps I go and...
The SHADOW agent turned to his right and saw a familiar hooded person.
"Welcome, strangah!" The Merchant greeted him.
"Can I ask how are you able to set up shop here? Every time me and the guys try to find our way out of here, you're able to move around as if the cult can't hurt you for no reason."
The Merchant had his left index finger out and moved it from left to right.
"Like I told someone before, strangah. I can never reveal my trade secrets."
Hiryu raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"'Cause it'll be bad for my business."
"Whatever." He scoffed at the merchant when he spotted three wooden barrels near his nth stall. The agent kicked them hard with his left boot, considering that they're very, very old and fragile by now.
Interesting.
Hiryu picked up a frag grenade, a spinel and found pesetas worth 1500 in total.
"Hey!" Hiryu tossed the spinel to the hooded man. "Selling this off for the usual."
"He, he, he." The Merchant chuckled as he pocketed the red jewel. "Thank you for your business, strangah."
In return, Hiryu received around 2,000 pesetas.
Hiryu looked around to see if he can pick up any more clues to the cult, what Luis knows about the plaga or who was really responsible for kidnapping the First Daughter in the first place.
Hm?
Instead, he found some kind of article lying around the room. When he inspected it, it appears that it was entirely written in Spanish.
"Time to translate this."
"O-Watch activated! Hologram viewer selected!"
Hope R&D was able to work the kinks out of this for the translator feature to work. Otherwise, this'll just be a computer-generated translator that doesn't work at all.
Hiryu went off to work when the hologram viewer scanned the article in his hand. He waited until the viewer prompt said that translation was already complete.
That was fast. He went to browse through what the memo said.
The first castellan buried the Las Plagas deep underground below the castle to hide their very existence. But when Salazar released the Las Plagas, no one thought he could bring them back to life. Because when Salazar found them they were all just fossilized remains.
Everyone knew that the parasitic organisms could not survive without their hosts. That they couldn't sustain life on their own. But when Salazar and his men excavated the remains, it almost appeared as if the Las Plagas were just waiting to be discovered so that they could resurrect.
Several years later, unexplainable convulsions started occurring among the villagers who helped with the excavation of the Las Plagas.
Then one day, all of a sudden, these villagers turned into violent savages.
They later found out it was caused by the Las Plagas. Although they appeared fossilized, they were able to survive the long years by lying in a dormant state at the cellular level remaining in a spore-like form.
Apparently during the excavation, the villagers inhaled the spores and within their bodies the parasites became active again. This is how the Las Plagas were resurrected.
Even as I'm writing, the excavation of the Las Plagas continues.
God only knows how many of these Plagas have been resurrected. Not to mention the countless number of Ganados that have been created.
Their inhumane activity must be put to an end. If they are not stopped, people around the world could turn into victims of this crazy cult organization.
Guess he realized too late... Hiryu folded the note and placed it in an empty pouch on his vest.
"Nice watch you got there, strangah." The Merchant heard the loud audio cue. "Is it for sale too?"
"Sorry mate," Hiryu replied. "this is classified property. Not for sale."
He approached the blue doors and opened them slowly. Before doing so, the O-Watch was activated again to access its communicator.
Sewer Tunnel, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
Martin heard a beep coming from his U-Watch.
"What happened?" Eriko asked, being nearby when it went off.
"My U-Watch is getting some of message." Martin activated it to see if he can get the message or not.
"Well?" Diana asked, looking over his right shoulder.
The Canadian teenager sighed. "Not good. There's still some interference, even if we're below the surface."
"Guess the enemy's been able to get decent jamming equipment if even the Center's comms can't get through." Cammy groaned when she heard the bad news from Martin.
"Best thing to do is to wait and see whether those two have something for us."
Mine, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
Hiryu scouted the long path ahead, only facing a couple of Ganados armed with lit torches.
He fired the G36C at them, resulting in them being set of fires with their own implements. He waited until they were killed from the fire that scorched their own bodies.
Checking the barrels by smashing them with his boot, Hiryu secured a box of 5.56 NATO ammo and pesetas worth 1500.
"Think I'm running low." The G36C's magazine was ejected to check how much ammo was left. He noted that more than half was already used up.
When Hiryu reached the end of the path, he crouched down to lower his profile. He took a look at the mine, seeing that several Ganados were at work there.
"Something's up. But there's a lot of enemies in the way."
After he slowly stood up, he walked back towards the direction of the sewer tunnel.
"I gotta get the others back first before I proceed. I'm useless if I die here."
Sewer Tunnel, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
Sho and Hiryu got back to the sewer tunnel when they were met by the others. Most of their inquiries were on whether they was trouble ahead since they went back to meet up in the same place.
"How'd it go?" Kevin asked the two as they arrived.
"We got this." Hiryu handed the written to Eriko. "It's in Spanish, but I got the Center's finest in R&D to make sure the translator's working."
"So it's not broken English?" Dan asked his partner.
Hiryu shook his head.
"Anything we should know?" Leon asked the agent for an update.
"There's a mine shaft. But there happens to be extra security back there. I'm thinking of using sniper support while some of us clear a path to get out of this area."
"Sounds good to me."
The group gathered up and moved on to the mine shaft.
Mine, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
When the group arrived, Leon and Kevin told them to hang back until the path to the mine shaft can be safely cleared due to fears that there may be overwhelming numbers against them.
Hiryu showed Kevin and Jill the rest of the mine shaft, reminding them to crouch to avoid being seen by the Ganados. Dan followed behind after Hiryu gestured to him that he needs him to come along right now.
"Not that much," Kevin murmured when he got a good look. "but they can make our journey go south if we're not careful."
"So what's the call?" Jill asked Kevin when she checked her Heckler & Koch SL8-4.
Kevin took another look at the area again before he told the ex-STARS officer. "Think we should stay here. Use the height as an advantage against them."
"I agree."
The ex-RPD SPF officer got the Steyr SSG P IV ready. He sat down in a crossed leg position and shouldered the Austrian-made sniper rifle. He gripped it carefully so that the buttstock would be still at his right shoulder and his right hand would have some room to move so that he can work the bolt.
Jill crouched and used the wooden railing as a support. Since her weapon was firing via semi-auto, she didn't need to worry about reloading until at least the magazine was empty of 7.62 NATO ammo.
"Dan and I will provide covering fire for any hostile that you guys can't shoot, not to mention that we'll cover the ladder in case the initial attack fails." Hiryu pointed to the ladder at the end of the path.
"Understood."
"We'll do a joint attack." Kevin said to Jill while focusing on the nearest Ganado when he peered through the riflescope. "That way, we can take out much of the opposition when we start shooting."
"Alright, Kevin." Jill nodded. "You let me know when to start."
Kevin eyed the nearest Ganado that had just lit a torch. He pointed to Jill his location. She nodded and took aim at a Ganado handling a shovel.
One...
The DSO agent kept his grip on the weapon.
Two...
Kevin placed his right index finger on the trigger.
Three...
Kevin was the first to fire, hitting the torch-wielding Ganado on his left temple. He instantly collapsed while Kevin moved the bolt to reload the weapon.
Jill joined in the fray, firing her weapon at the Ganado handling the shovel on his forehead.
Soon enough, the gunshot from Jill's weapon, not to mention the sight of the Ganados being killed was more than enough clues to show that someone was targeting them.
"Looks like we got their full and undivided attention." Dan said as he faced Hiryu. "You got any lethal grenades we can use?"
"Grenades?" Hiryu raised an eyebrow when he raised his G36C. "Oh yeah... Hang on a sec."
Hiryu got the frag grenade that he got on the way back to the sewer tunnel previously from his vest. "Just point me in the right direction."
"How's that?" Dan pointed a couple of Ganados running towards their direction. Seeing that they were in the open, Hiryu immediately got the safety pin off and hurled it.
"Frag out!" Hiryu shouted after he tossed the primed grenade. The grenade landed nearby and exploded a few seconds later. The explosion, not to mention the shrapnel, killed the two incoming Ganados.
"Oh yeah!" Dan pumped his fist after seeing the grenade do the work.
"We're not out of the woods yet, you guys!" Jill ceased firing her weapon since it ran out of ammo.
"Right!" Dan got his Sig SG 552 Commando ready after he did a quick brass check to see if a round was already in the chamber. "Let's go."
Dan was the first to open fire at any Ganado that came near the ladder in the open. Hiryu took charge of the ladder and covered the group by aiming his weapon at it.
Can I even do a head shot in case one of them is able to climb up the ladder?
Hiryu saw someone was about to climb up, so he fired at a semi-auto rate to at least score a headshot in order to kill him.
Conference Room, Delta Red Team Headquarters, Secret Intelligence Service Headquarters, Vauxhall Cross, London, United Kingdom
Colonel Wolfman and most of the people in the Delta Red team were present inside the conference room, scheduled to start a teleconference with the DSO regarding any leads that can help them figure the motives of Los Illuminados.
"Ready and waiting, Colonel." Lieutenant Hanna Ackerson was seated in another table near the rectangular conference room table, typing up something on her laptop. "DSO already has their comms online."
"Excellent. Let's begin."
"Understood."
A few minutes later, DSO Special Agent Adam Benford face showed up on the video screen mounted on the wall. He was also seen seated in a similar conference room with Bruce McGivern next to him.
"Good day, gentlemen." Wolfman was the first to greet the two. "I assume that you found evidence on who's responsible for the kidnapping on your side?"
"Well aside from a mole in the Secret Service who happens to be questioned right now by the FBI, we're still on a deadlock. You should have report about an anti-paranormal group called the Creature Intelligence Hybrid Laboratory or CIHL from the copy I've sent to you." Benford replied when he was told by Bruce that there's another meeting.
"We tried to dig up things on our end." Wolfman said when he opened a folder that Hanna gave him a while ago. "We've asked around to see about any special forces personnel who either resigned or went AWOL after a military op."
"I see." Benford nodded, agreeing with Wolfman's idea. "The cult could've recruited someone of that kind of caliber to pull off the attack. Reminds me of the 1990s when rumors from Japan started that Aum had recruited ex-Russian and former Soviet republic commandos into their ranks to possibly free their leader from police custody."
"I'll be passing on whatever information I have to your intelligence network soon. I'm sure your counterparts in the CIA and FBI will be able to verify them."
"My thanks, Colonel. I'll talk to you soon."
"Same here."
The connection ended afterwards.
"Sir." Hanna spoke to her superior. "I understand that George was the one who got in contact with his acquaintances back in SOCOM."
"Yes, that's right."
"I'm worried of a potential backlash from the Americans. They might ask how come we didn't tell them the main suspect is Jack Krauser."
"Pity." Wolfman huffed. "Considering that George mentioned that he participated in a black op in 2002 before his supposed death in 2004..." He trailed off before he continued. "It's best if Special Agent Benford can handle the rest. After all, I remember him telling me that he's got some connection with the American military."
"I hope you're right, sir. I hope you're right."
Mine, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
The number of Ganados trying to overwhelm the shooting position inside the mine was growing smaller and smaller, thanks to the sniper fire Kevin and Jill provided with the occasional observation done by Hiryu and Dan, while they provided support fire in case a Ganado was able to sneak up.
"Get down!" Hiryu shouted when he saw a Ganado toss a lit dynamite stick near their position. Kevin and Jill got prone and were forced to drop their weapons since they needed to cover their heads in case of falling debris. The two SHADOW agents did so likewise.
KABOOM!
When the aftershock of the dynamite explosion wore off, they went back to their firing positions and continue to open fire at the Ganados until they're the only ones left standing.
"Are we clear?" Dan asked after he ceased firing due to running out of ammo. He subsequently did a reload.
Hiryu followed suit. "I think so."
"Area looks okay." Kevin gave the thumbs up. "We'll cover you guys from here."
"Thanks, man." Hiryu gave the thumbs up in return. He and Dan went down the ladder until they reached the ground floor.
"Cover my back." Dan said to Hiryu.
"Got it." The latter placed his gloved left hand on the former's shoulder. "Where do we start?"
"Let's head over there." Dan pointed to the lever switch nearby down where the railway platform ended. "It's worth a shot to see if it's still working or not."
"Go." Hiryu patted his shoulder twice to indicate that he should start moving.
The two moved up towards the lever switch, being careful to check their surroundings for any hidden traps or enemies waiting to ambush them when their guard is down.
"I got this." Dan got a firm grip on the lever and pulled it down after mustering all of his strength since the lever handle appeared to be rusting a bit due to age.
The sound of a cart rumbling down the rails was getting louder and louder.
Jill and Kevin turned around to see the mine cart go over their heads. It was only a good thing that they weren't positioned near it or they would have knocked off their feet or worse, killed.
The mine cart went to the end of the upper railway path and jumped down to the lower railway path below. The cart halted after it reached the end.
It was slowly lowered by a cart elevator. When it was halfway down, a loud buzzing sound was heard from another power switch somewhere inside the mine.
"Heard something." Hiryu murmured when he saw the cart stop.
"Yeah. Probably connected to the other switch." Dan nodded. "How do we proceed?"
"One of us should go there. The other person should stay here and cover the switch here in case someone wants to mess around with it."
"Understood."
Hiryu stayed with the cart and the lever switch while Dan ran towards the wooden staircase.
"I don't think this can hold someone for long." Dan carefully walked up the wooden steps slowly just in case they weren't made to hold someone's weight while going up and down.
Okay. Careful now.
Dan approached the switch. He noted the red light, indicating that whatever it was used to operate, it wasn't working at the moment.
He gripped the switch and pulled it up as hard as he can.
"Okay! I got the switch!"
Suddenly, the four-man team could hear the sound of a chainsaw being operated.
"Dammit..." Kevin murmured when he heard the sound.
"From the back!" Jill shouted when she caught a glimpse of a Dr. Salvador from up on the elevated position above where the switch next to the mine cart is.
"Shit!" Hiryu looked up to see the hooded man glare at him while he was getting the chainsaw operational.
"Follow my lead!" Kevin focused his sight onto the chainsaw-armed man. He began to open fire at him, giving Hiryu time to evacuate from the area. Jill joined in after she finished loading her weapon.
"Move! Move!" Dan shouted to get his attention while Kevin and Jill continued to fire at him, despite landing down on the ground safe and sound. The bullets continue to hit him, but he kept shrugging them off like they didn't even bother him at all.
"Thanks, man!" Hiryu gave him a high five before he turned around and shouldered his G36C. Dan shouldered the SG 552 before they opened fire at Dr. Salvador to lay down suppressive fire and draw his attention away from the snipers.
The hooded man walked in a menacing manner as he slowly raised the chainsaw while being shot at the SHADOW agents. After the sniper were able to reload, they aimed for quick head shots.
It took a few mag changes, coupled with suppressive fire, just to take the man down for good.
"Crap..." Dan removed the spent magazine on his carbine and checked that it had just a bullet left. "Only got a bullet left."
"Only two more for me." Hiryu sighed when he ejected the magazine on his carbine too. "We need more time to reload. For now, let's get back to Jill and Kevin."
President's Office, West Wing, White House, Washington D.C., United States of America
After receiving word from the DSO about new information about the case, he immediately called for a meeting behind closed doors since the case in Spain is still considered a sensitive matter. He called for the heads of the FBI, the CIA, the Secret Service and USSOCOM to attend the meeting aside from Benford.
"General Thompson." The president called for the general's undivided attention. "Can we confirm, based on the information Delta Red secured, that this Jack Krauser is responsible for leading the kidnapping of my daughter?"
The ex-Green Beret commando and decorated officer examined the photo of Jack Krauser, posing in his US Army Woodland BDUs with a Colt M4 carbine. It was handed to him by Benford to show one of the few photos of the blond man before his supposed death.
"That's Staff Sergeant Jack Krauser. His last assignment is with the 7th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces Command."
"I believe that's Operation Javier where he took a joint assignment with the Division of Security Operations to apprehend Javier Hidalgo, the head of the Sacred Snakes drug cartel." Adam explained the involvement of Jack.
"And what about the death of Sergeant Krauser?" The president asked.
Everyone else in the room nodded.
"We believe that his death was at first due to an accident, which happened days after Sergeant Krauser was discharged on medical grounds." General Thompson continued to debrief the president. "I believe he blamed us for not helping him out after Operation Javier came to a close."
"If I may, Mr. President." A Caucasian woman in her early 40s with a dark blue raised her hand.
"Yes, Director Kennedy." President Graham acknowledged the head of the CIA, giving her permission to speak next.
"One of our station chiefs in Europe reported back in 2005 and 2006 that during an undercover op to conduct surveillance on an ex-Umbrella scientist selling BOWs to an Al-Qaeda cell, a man matching Krauser's description was spotted in a meeting with Albert Wesker."
Director Kennedy showed a colored photo of Wesker and the said man, who is definitely Krauser, meeting with a man outside a cafe somewhere in Geneva.
The photo was special because for one thing, his arms were in normal condition.
"His arms?" The Secret Service Director was in shock that Krauser didn't appear with an injured arm as previously reported.
"The photo shows that his arms are normal now." The FBI Director was a bit confused from looking at the surveillance photo. "If he was reported to have a serious injury that led to his discharge, then how could he..."
"Wesker." Adam answered. "He probably used a viral agent that helped heal it in exchange for recruiting him to serve as his personal muscle."
"That would explain his presence with Wesker." The Secret Service Director said. "But when we conducted the interrogation on the mole, he explained that he was there doing a job for Los Illuminados."
Now everyone was confused, thanks to the statement the Secret Service Director gave.
"What is he doing, offering his services to a dangerous cult?" President Graham asked, getting much confused by the revelation.
"I guess we need to wait and see if my agents can make it out of there with the First Daughter to explain things, Mr. President." Benford replied.
Mine, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
Jill secured the 10,000 pesetas from the remains of the Dr. Salvador they faced against a while ago. Hiryu pulled the lever that got the mine cart lowered, which made him go around and underneath the lower railway platform and secure the sticks of dynamite tied up together. Dan searched the mine and secured a Velvet Blue.
Unfortunately, this made two more Ganados appear when they came through the metal gates. Both of them were brandishing lit torches.
"Incoming!" Dan opened fire on the Ganados while Hiryu began to shove the dynamite onto a boulder hole, which was blocking the only path leading out of the mine.
I got nothing to light this up.
Jill made the final shots on the Ganados when Hiryu motioned to Dan for help.
"Something wrong?" Dan looked at the dynamite jammed inside the boulder.
"Need something like a match or a lighter to get this over with. Can you check the cart?"
"On it." Dan ran towards the mine cart when he saw that there a box of matches inside. Shrugging his shoulders, he took it and ran back to his partner and threw it at his direction.
"Thanks." Hiryu got the matches and used one after it was lit up to light up the dynamite.
"EVERYONE! COVER YOUR EARS AND HEADS DOWN!"
Hiryu and Dan got behind a pile of rocks and crouched behind it before they covered their ears to protect their hearing.
KABOOM!
The team waited until they can get back their hearing and the smoke from the explosions and the debris has significantly subsided.
After the last bits of debris have cleared out from the dynamite blast, Hiryu and Dan went back to the ladder and regrouped with the others. They later went together towards the metal gates leading outside.
Java helped by opening the gate leading to the furnace room. Leon took a peek inside, feeling very nervous and uncertain on whether they should all go or if a select few should clear and sweep the place.
"So how do we do this?" Tea asked the two DSO agents after they told the team the furnace room needs to be secured first before they can use it to leave the area.
Furnace, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
"It's spooky inside."
Martin was the first to enter, who volunteered after he got nudged in the back by Diana, forcing him to take a few steps forward. Java volunteered because he wanted to help out.
Well, with a civilized caveman who happens to be very strong, you'll need a guy like him on your side.
Leon came next, armed with the Remington 870 shotgun. He had his sidearm holstered since he decided to use the Colt SAA revolver, mostly due to its stopping power. "Stay alert. We don't know if anything's waiting for us inside."
Jean was the last person to come inside, his Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun slung on his right shoulder. The Mine Thrower was ported in his arms.
"Merde." The French Spriggan agent murmured.
The furnace appears to be made in a very large room. A platform was placed on one side, being accessed by a ladder. On the other end of the room was a blue gate, which appears to be a sliding type. On the other side of the room was a lever switch. Above it was a zip line, which can be accessed if someone climbs the platform, ladder first.
Which meant that the large hole covered by a circular metal shutter cover covering hot flowing molten lava. The floor consisted of metal grilles, the holes being very small so that nothing would slip and fall down, unless said being or object was in the said size.
"What kind of things do they melt around here?" Martin murmured as he looked around.
"Let's spread out and search for anything that we can take." Leon said as he secured one area of the furnace, taking a box of shotgun shells, a First Aid Spray can and an incendiary grenade.
Jean moved out and secured a flashbang grenade, which he immediately pocketed. After securing the grenade, he went up the platform and used it as a shooting position in case enemies show up.
"Now what?" Java asked himself as he slowly approached the blue gate to check it out.
Martin approached the lever switch and saw that while it showed its age, it can still be used.
Leon kept an eye on the caveman, having his shotgun ready in case the enemy suddenly appears from out of nowhere.
"What the?!" Leon cried out loud when he saw the gate slide up, revealing a couple of El Gigantes make their way inside. Only one of them was mostly clad in metallic armor with a chain attached on the chest while the other one has a facemask to cover its mouth.
"Damn it!" Leon prepared the shotgun for the upcoming fight. "Double the trouble."
Jean looked at the hole in the center of the room and shouted. "Lure them in the center! Now!"
"Alright!"
Leon shouldered the shotgun and fired at the El Gigante with the facemask on. "Come on! Come get me!"
The El Gigante with the facemask glared as he stomped his way towards the DSO agent. Knowing that the feint worked, Leon ran towards Martin's position.
"DO IT NOW, MARTIN!"
"Here goes!" Martin pulled the lever switch after hearing Leon's command.
The hole in the center opened up after the first El Gigante stepped foot in the middle. It fell down into the molten lava, screaming in pain while trying to get back up.
Jean shouldered the Mine Thrower and fired it at the drowning BOW, scoping the head. "Keep the other one busy! It's distracting me!"
Leon slung the shotgun and drew out the SAA after he saw the mine dart attach itself onto the BOW's head and explode. Immediately, he fired the revolver and emptied the cylinder at the El Gigante wearing metallic armor.
"GROWWWHHHH!" The other BOW stomped his way towards Leon.
As for Java, he came to help out by making himself into another target. Leon moved to him and fired the SAA once it was reloaded.
Now that the second El Gigante has its attention to them, Jean continued to bombard the drowning El Gigante in the lava, minding a reload since he ran out of ammo until it got drowned into the molten lava with the metal shutters closed.
President's Office, West Wing, White House, Washington D.C., United States of America
"Do we have any other promising leads on the culprits?"
The president threw his question to the men (and one woman) gathered inside the Oval Office, prodding them if they have anything else worth sharing.
"Aside from what the CIA and Delta Red offered to us, Mr. President, there's nothing else. Except for what we know about the jamming problem." Benford answered him. "We've been told that a paranormal agency called the Creature Intelligence Hybrid Laboratory has been in league with Los Illuminados. Word is that they may have provided the cult with the jamming equipment."
"I heard of them." The president nodded when he was told about the group's name. "I thought it was an offshoot of the Center. And I recalled that it was suppose to be a new type of educational institute known as the Creative Institute for Higher Learning."
"A Ms. Octavia Paine was responsible for creating it and she uses the institute cover so that he can cover up her organization's activities. However, she's currently in hiding due to the raids on one of main campuses in Virginia."
"Just keep up the pressure. Hopefully we can draw her out..."
Furnace, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
Java threw a medium-sized boulder from the smashed up boulder wall when he dodged out of the way, making the other El Gigante punch it. Before it could lay a hand on him, Leon fired the SAA and Jean fired the Mine Thrower at its head to keep it disoriented.
"Java, move!" Martin said when he got to his U-Watch and got his I-Cutter deployed. He got it ready and aimed the device at the BOW's leg and fired a concentrated amount of laser at it.
Java hurled another medium-sized boulder at it to keep it confused while he moved out of the way.
It worked!
The giant grunted in pain, clutching the right leg even though they knew that it was only temporary since the plaga inside of it would be able to heal up the wound in a few minutes. This also gave Leon and Jean the chance to reposition themselves so that they can trick it to walking over the metallic shutter cover.
"Fire!" Jean fired a mine near the giant's feet, making it tumble a bit forward.
"I'll circle around!" Leon circled again to fire the SAA and emptied the cylinder again. When the giant turned around, he noted that it was a bit near the middle of the furnace.
He popped out the flashbang and got the safety pin off. "COVER YOUR EYES!"
Everyone complied and Leon hurled the grenade at its feet.
The El Gigante growled in anger, using its arm to help regain its sight by covering the eyelids with its palm.
"NOW!" Leon shouted.
In response, Martin ran back to the switch and pulled it down.
The metallic shutters opened up below it feet, sending it down to the molten lava to meet its fate like the first one before. Leon and Jean opened fire with their shotguns to distract the BOW and prevent it from grabbing onto something in order to get up.
"Keep at it!" Jean fired his SPAS-12 at the head. Java kept chucking boulders that it can carry to hurl it as its head. Leon emptied his shotgun's magazine before it drowned, its arm outstretched as it sank into the bottom.
Martin raised the switch up to close the shutters. "Dammit..." He muttered, feeling a bit tired. "I don't wanna face those things ever again."
"Java not want to face giant again too." The caveman expressed the same sentiment.
"I dunno." Leon replied when he checked his shotgun. "It's too tempting. For now, let's get the others. We need to get out of here and secure whatever's up ahead."
Tunnel, Pit, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
After Leon and Jean took some time to reload their weapons, they regrouped with the others and told them that there's a tunnel up ahead that leads to some sort of underground cavern system underneath Salazar Castle.
"I'm not liking this." Chun-Li said when she heard the sounds of insects buzzing. Except that it happens to be very, very, very loud.
"I agree." Tea kept an eye on the seemingly bottomless pit from a distance.
"We need fire support here..." Kevin pointed to the tunnel the group is traveling on. "We'll have to start to clear any enemies who might show up before we start exploring the caves for a way out of this mess."
"Why don't you stay here with Jill then?" Leon suggested to his partner.
"Yeah, why not?" Kevin shrugged, agreeing with Leon's suggestion.
"So is everyone heading out there to explore the caves once the monstrosities are taken care of?" Hien asked Kevin, since he agreed to stay behind.
"Only a select few. We need to figure who's going to go out and clear the caves once the snipers take care of the horde." Kevin sighed before he said. "Although for the next one, we need someone to act as a guide slash bait for anything that's hiding out there."
"Why am I getting the feeling that I don't like this option one bit?"
Pit, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
Sho agreed to be the so-called bait in doing the initial investigation, followed by trying to bait in any enemies that he may encounter on the way.
Nothing. At least everything appears to be quiet.
The ninja commando stood still in silence. He listened to his surroundings very carefully. He placed his right hand on the Samegawa of Lightning Light.
They're here.
Sho immediately turned around and began to run towards the tunnel after he saw several Novistadors swarming in towards him.
The ninja made a running slide as he approached the tunnel entrance.
Now that he was inside, sniper fire was conducted against the swarming Novistadors. Most of them fell down, falling straight to the pit. Only a few fell down to the ground near the pit, leaving various colored gem eyes from their remains.
Tunnel, Pit, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
Sho waited on the side as Kevin and Jill continued to deplete their numbers. Yu, Hiryu and Hien were present to provide cover fire and to help weed out the Novistadors when they needed to reload.
"Looks like they're thinning out! We should be almost done!" Yu shouted as he slapped a new magazine to his Heckler & Koch G3A3 battle rifle.
"Okay! Here I go!" Hien reloaded his Pindad SS1-M5 Commando and fired onto the last Novistador that tried to enter the tunnel. A full load onto the chest did the work in killing it off.
"Clear." Kevin said when he took a look through his riflescope for any flying Novistador.
"We're clear." Jill also said when she took a look through her riflescope.
"Okay, time to check the tunnels and see what we can find."
Eriko mentioned that the altar near the pit needs to be checked. Leon accompanied her to have it checked.
Pit, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
Eriko checked the altar's engraving, after she wiped the dust from the nickel silver plate. She took a look and saw it was some kind of prayer in Spanish.
The two lights shall shine light on a new path.
"Two lights?" Eriko murmured when she read it. "From where?"
"You found something." Leon asked the detective.
"Just that the plate mentions something how two lights to show a new path. I'm not sure if it's referring to a light source or if its acting in the literal sense."
Leon nodded when he heard her assessment. "Alright."
"Anything?" Leon saw Cammy, who went up to see him.
"Eriko read the engraving on this altar. Seems like we need to see two lights... Maybe a couple of light sources in the caves."
"We can probably have some of the others split up and look around." The Delta Red agent suggested. "That way, we can find a way out of here faster."
"Good idea. Just be sure to tell the others."
Kevin shouted to Leon and Eriko that they need to get back to the tunnel entrance. Martin and Diana went to check one part of the cave while Fujino went with Sho to examine another part of the cave for any signs of switches that can be used to solve the puzzle.
After a few minutes of checking the tunnels that go to the smaller caves, the teams found some sort of switch mounted on the wall. They pressed them with their palms.
"Over there." Cammy pointed to the angel statues carved onto the cavern walls. A bright light began to emit from the center, which was then focused on the gate on the other side of the pit. To everyone's surprise, the door began to melt as if it was just made of candlewax.
"I guess the cult really wanted to be symbolic with that prayer." Leon got his Silver Ghost drawn out since the shotgun has enough ammo for another fight. "Let's go."
Leon and Eriko crossed the stone bridge, heading to the newly opened door to see a portcullis with a switch attached on it.
"Another switch." Leon sighed as he pressed it. "I'm getting really tired of seeing them."
They waited for the others to arrive. But when Leon took a look at the tunnel beyond the open portcullis, he reminded them that they need to go inside one by one due to the presence of the slamming stone cylinder.
Crossing this tunnel took up most of their time.
Large Cave, Pit, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
Martin was the last one to safely arrive at the cave while everyone else was resting up, reloading their weapons and handing the items they found in the caves. So far, they collected 3 Green and 1 Red Herb, another flashbang grenade, a box of shotgun shells and a couple of boxes of 7.62 NATO bullets, the latter being split between Ominae, Kevin and Jill.
"Made it in time, eh?" Hiryu greeted Martin.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about me." Martin waved him off. He looked at the coffin-like sculpture on some kind of pedestal. "So does anyone know how do we do get out of here."
"I think it's from this." Hiryu pointed to the Royal Insignia on the pedestal. "Not sure what happens if we take it..."
"Might as well give this a go then." Diana grabbed the insignia and looked at the back. "Looks like it can be mounted onto something."
"In this case," Tea advised her. "we should probably hold onto it. It could be useful, so no selling it."
"Understood." Diana handed it to the British Spriggan for safekeeping.
Hien yawned, feeling a bit tired and when he leaned his hand on the pedestal, the mechanism below it began to be operational. It brought him, Diana and Tea to the surface.
"Didn't see that coming..." Chun-Li shook her head.
"We'll need to use the pedestal to make a few trips to get all of us to the surface." Cammy commented when she waited for the pedestal to go back down.
"Yeah, no kidding." Kevin sighed when he heard Cammy.
Outskirts of Old Castle Ruins, somewhere in Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
Once the pedestal arrived at the surface to deposit Leon and Kevin, Tea casually walked to them and informed the DSO agents that she found a letter addressed from Ada regarding the injected plaga, as well as some cash bargains made from selling a Velvet Blue Dan secured previously.
"You two should read this." Tea handed the letter Ada wrote.
"Hey Tea! We got the Crown sold to the Merchant!" Hiryu shouted from the small cabin he emerged from.
Tea turned around and smiled while she gave a thumbs up.
"What the?" Leon noted that the letter had a kiss mark on it.
"Maybe that's her way of saying sincerely yours..." Kevin grinned at him.
"Shut it, Kevin." Leon got the letter and read through to see what Ada has to say.
Once a Plaga egg hatches, it's nearly impossible to remove it from the body. But if it's before it hatches, then it can be neutralized by medication.
If it does hatch you might be able to get it out by surgery before it turns to an adult. But it won't be easy. There's a high chance you won't survive the operation.
As far as I know the girl was injected with the egg before you. Her time is ticking. You should prepare yourself for the worst case scenario.
"Okayy..." Kevin was now very worried after he read the letter with Leon. "Now we really need to find something from this hell of a handbasket to get this plaga stuff off our bodies."
"Agreed." Leon decided to toss the letter aside. "Let's move up there."
Leon pointed out to Kevin the ruins of an abandoned tower in the distance.
"Seems to be the only logical place to head to. No question."
The two DSO agents saw Jill rally the others up prior to approaching the castle ruins.
"Let's go and meet with the others." Leon told Kevin as he walked up to the group.
"Copy that." Kevin replied, following him. As he passed by the cabin, the brown-haired men took a slight peek inside and saw the hooded man with his hands on his face.
He frowned when he swore that he could him sob, saying something about "buying too much than what he can sell" and that he needs to get some deals in to recoup his potential losses in a day or so.
Fountain Ruins, near outskirts of Old Castle Ruins, somewhere in Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
The group stopped their advance in the ruins of an old fountain. It appears that most of it was wrecked and the remains of the foundation broke down due to age and the weather.
"Hold..." Leon whispered and raised his right arm up to signal to the others to stop walking.
He found some Ganados in the way, although their attention doesn't seem to be directed at him. They just seem to be minding their own business by... just standing there.
"Something?" Jill went to see Leon and get an assessment of the situation.
"Yeah. Got some stragglers," Leon saw that they were just standing still, looking around but not in the path they're using. "but they're not looking here. On the other hand, some of them got torches."
"Kevin and I can clear them out from long range. That way, they won't know what hit them." Jill offered her suggestion to him.
Leon immediately nodded and replied. "Good call. Set yourselves up and I'll tell the others to wait."
Jill gestured to Kevin by waving him over.
"We're in position to take the shot."
Leon moved to Kevin as he crouched behind a concrete wall for cover, but just enough for him to peek behind it. Jill did the same likewise.
"Nice one, Kevin." Leon took a look and saw that the Ganados were unaware that Kevin and Jill were about to take them out. "You have a clear shot. Fire when you two are ready."
"Gotcha, Leon."
In unison, the two took out the wandering Ganados by taking headshots. Anyone with an assault rifle (and one battle rifle in particular) was on standby in case a Ganado would try to attack them via human wave tactics.
"Good kill, Kevin." Leon saw Kevin take two Ganados by a single bullet to the head. It wasn't that often that the enemies get aligned that such a tactic would be feasible.
"Their numbers are thinning out." Jill commented on the charging Ganados. She took one out by shooting one of them at the leg. This followed by a shot to the head, which exploded the minute Jill fired.
"We can move out now." Leon checked his shotgun to see the barrel's loaded.
?
Krauser and Kenny were at work preparing some robotic spider-like drones by inspecting the circuits before making them operational.
"I don't get why these drones are needed when you confront Leon and the others." Kenny sighed when he got the drone turned on to see if it was operational. "It's not like they're gonna harm them."
The ex-SOCOM commando grinned when he heard the teen's frustration. "That's where you're wrong, kid."
Kenny was confused. "Huh? What'd you say?"
"This is why I chose these spider drones. I'm packing these guys in with enough C4 that they'll be walking, mobile IEDs. Something I learned back in my special forces days."
"You mean that they'll just charge in towards the potential enemy and blow itself up? That's... something like what the former Imperial Japanese Army is doing... not to mention with the rise of suicide bombing as a terror tactic."
"Well with this baby..." Krauser turned the switch for his drone on. "They won't even see it coming. Not with a little bit of camouflage to even the odds."
Kenny sighed. If there's a way to warn Leon about this predicament.
Outskirts of Old Castle Ruins, somewhere in Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
After the area was cleared, the group spent some time searching every nook and cranny to see if they can secure anything. Aside from 2100 pesetas, a Velvet Blue, a Spinel and a flashbang, they found a locked door that had a strange inscription on it.
OFFER THE SACRIFICE TO THE LION
"Sacrifice?" Chun-Li was confused when Eriko translated the inscription. "Sounds so archaic."
"Maybe it's designed that way." Tea explained her theory. "After all, the village is cut off from the rest of the world thanks to the cult's influence. It's not like you can see Euros in a transaction."
"But sacrifice what?" Leon said when he heard her out. "It's not like we can see a lion prowling around."
"There's a cabin here!" Martin shouted when Java removed the wood covering up the windows by punching through them with his fists. Thankfully, there wasn't any glass behind it.
"Anything inside?"
"Just some sort of crank inside. Don't know what it does. Java and I just found out about it."
"Get on it at once. It looks like that's our way out of this mess."
"Gotcha."
Martin climbed through one of the windows Java busted. Once he got in, he approached the crank and gripped the handle tightly.
Okay. It's just like pulling the hand crank with those old pencil sharpeners you've seen back in elementary school.
Martin began to pull the crank. At first, it seemed a bit hard since it was tough to pull it by yourself.
"I... I can't..." Martin felt tired by just trying to pull it. No! I can't give up!
Martin tried again, this time by gripping the crank handle tightly while positioning his feet on the ground so that he doesn't fall down.
When he started to pull it several times in a circular motion, the stone cover on the ground began to open up slowly. Eventually, the stone cover completely opened up and revealed a hole that led underground.
"How is it?" Hiryu peeked through the window when he heard something open up since he was standing nearby.
"We got a new path." Martin pointed to the open hole on the ground.
Hiryu waved to the others that there's a path down by the abandoned cabin. Kevin was the first one to enter the place.
"Nice one, kiddo." Kevin gave Martin the thumbs up before he crouched next to the hole to inspect it. Seeing that it was clear, he got his Glock 21 Mariner out from his holster.
"Hey Leon." Kevin turned to speak to his partner.
"What's up?" Leon replied when he entered the deserted cabin.
"I'm heading down there to get a good look and scout the area below."
Leon nodded as Kevin secured his sniper rifle, slung on his back as he prepared to go down the ladder.
Catacombs, below Old Castle Ruins, somewhere in Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
Kevin scanned the area when he got down from the ladder. He saw an inscription written on the tablet. What little Spanish he had was used to read it.
Up ahead rests the offering to the lion
"What's up with this lion obsession? To think that the cult should use it as a mascot or something." Kevin secured the area around the ladder as Leon came down the ladder a few minutes later.
"How's the area?" Leon asked when he got his shotgun ready.
"Odd." Kevin pointed to the tablet inscription. "My Spanish is a little rusty, but it talks about some kinda offering that we need for the lion."
"Maybe it's a symbolic thing for something?"
"Who knows?"
Leon led the way inside the catacombs while Kevin took up the rear. They walked slowly, only stopping to smash the crates resting on the carved shelves. They weren't freaked out by the human skulls, which were most likely there due to possible persons who were past victims. Kevin pocketed the Velvet Blue from one of the smashed crates.
"Hold it." Leon whispered when the duo were about to leave the corridor. They saw several Ganados standing around, doing nothing.
"Right. This calls for me into action." Kevin shouldered his weapon and crouched to avoid making himself as a visible target. He scoped out a Ganado armed with an ax and shot him in the head.
"That's odd..." Leon provided security for him in case someone would do a sneak attack.
"What is?" Kevin ejected the used 7.62 NATO cartridge from the barrel.
"You shot one of them, but they don't seem to be bothered by it when their heads explode from a headshot."
"It's my theory..." Kevin focused his sights on another Ganado, this time armed with a torch. "but maybe they only move in to the intruder if someone tells them to. It's probably a cult thing."
"Alright. I'll go ahead and look around." Leon pumped the shotgun to load a 12 gauge round.
"Careful, buddy. I saw some bear traps that they placed around the area. One wrong move and your leg's as good as dead." Kevin went to reload his weapon after running out of ammo.
"Good idea." Leon smirked. "Perhaps I can lure some of them into those traps."
"Just watch yourself."
Leon began to search the area carefully, using Kevin's sharpshooting skills to cover him as he carefully walk and go around the bear traps planted by the Ganados.
When Kevin saw stairs going down to a crypt, Leon shouldered the shotgun and immediately opened fire at the Ganado trying to hit him with the torch. After firing it at his head twice, it exploded and took him down permanently.
"Damn." Leon reloaded his shotgun, not wanting to take his chances to risk his chances of getting it empty in the middle of a gunfight. He slung it on his back when he saw the coffin in the middle of the crypt.
Leon slowly pushed the lid of the way and inspected the interior. He saw the skeletal remains of a person inside with a staff beside it.
"A staff? Could be useful." Leon reached inside to secure the Staff of Royalty. Since he had to hold it with one hand, the DSO agent had no choice but to draw out his Silver Ghost as a means of protection.
He ran out of the crypt, being mindful of the traps, before he went back to the ladder and climbed up.
Outskirts of Old Castle Ruins, somewhere in Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
"I need someone to hold onto this." Leon handed the Staff of Royalty over to the group.
"I can take it." Diana volunteered to guard it when Leon gave it to her. "The others are watching the entrance."
"Alright. I need to get two more volunteers to head down with me and Kevin. I sense that we'll need all the firepower we can use to get through the catacombs."
Hiryu and Hien were busy conducting brass checks on their weapons when they volunteered.
"We can go." Hien told Leon. "Our weapons are useful in navigating the area since we expect them to have limited spaces."
"Okay. I'm counting on you two."
"Oy!" Jean called for their attention. He hurled the Mine Thrower towards Hiryu.
"The mine thrower?" Hiryu quickly caught it. "Is it already reloaded?"
"Yeah." Jean replied. "Careful though. We don't a lot of ammo for those except for maybe from that weirdo merchant. So use it only when you have no choice. Understand?"
"Yeah. I'll take good care of it."
Catacombs, below Old Castle Ruins, somewhere in Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain
Leon went back down to the catacombs, now accompanied by Hiryu and Hien. The trio went back to see Kevin, who was seen reloading his weapon.
"Did something happen?" Leon asked when he saw some Ganados being picked off after their legs got caught in the bear traps.
"I heard someone go out of that place." Kevin pointed to the mound-like structure to the west. "Then I saw some guy peek his head out with an ax, so I shot him in the head."
"So what now?" Hien asked him after Kevin shot the last Ganado down, trying to get her right leg out of the trap.
"I got the area clear again, so that mound-like place needs to be checked out."
"Umm... Mind if I ask on how do we do this at all?" Hiryu raised the next question.
Leon and Kevin weren't able to answer it, not knowing how to easily resolve it.
"Never mind, we do this by rock, paper, scissors."
Hiryu and Hien agreed to do it by three points to decide who should check it out. Hiryu started it off by using scissors to beat paper. Afterwards, Hien used scissors, only for Hiryu to use rock to beat it.
Hien tried again, this time using paper. But Hiryu used rock, so he was beaten. Hien used rock when Hiryu used scissors. It was now a tie.
The two masked teens went for the last game. Hiryu went for scissors while Hien used rock.
"Dammit... This means I gotta go." Hiryu sighed when he secured the sling of his carbine. He handed the Mine Thrower to Hien before he made his approach towards the mound. The SHADOW agent peeked through and saw that another Dr. Salvador.
However, he noticed that he was just standing there like the other Ganados Kevin shot previously, as if he was a mindless puppet waiting for a puppeteer to move.
This means I gotta go loud. No way I can sneak around, even with a cardboard box without making some sound that his heightened sense could hear.
When Hiryu peeked inside, he silently shouldered the carbine and aimed at the head. He squeezed the trigger after moving the selector switch to fire 5.56 NATO rounds at two rounds per shot.
After the Dr. Salvador dropped dead, Hiryu immediately rushed upstairs and saw a pedestal. He took the Key to the Mine and jumped out of the nearest open space.
"GOT IT!" Hiryu shouted when he made his way towards the trio with the key secured.
"Oh shit..." Kevin murmured when he scoped the chainsaw-armed man slowly walking towards Hiryu's direction after getting the device to work and raising it above his head in a menacing way.
"Cover me...!" Hien shouted when he shouldered the Mine Thrower given to him by Jean.
He fired the weapon after he scoped the man's right leg. The dart immediately attached itself and detonated a few seconds later, making the hostile legless.
That's right. Just stay still.
Hiryu fired the Mine Thrower again, this time going for the head. The masked Spriggan peered through the scope and saw the head explode after the dart detonated.
Chapter 22 END
PS - Sorry for being late. I just had an interview with a local NGO and it seems that I may get a job, albeit with no pay, in order to rack up more work experience. I'm living with immediate family in Manila, so there's no problem in terms of how to survive economically like paying for electricity, water and the rent. Also, I'm writing slowly on some stuff, I'm considering if I can hack it as an original fiction writer in the near future as a new hobby and maybe to survive as a job 'cause my BA is 90 percent complete (I don't have one yet in my possession) and no other place in Manila can take me in, even with the relevant educational background and if they're polite about no/less than 1 year experience, so I'm going to complete it via distance just to get it over with and increase my chances of getting a decent job 'til I decide when to take up master's since I'm set for a Pol Sci-based career that doesn't center on a BPO, recruitment firm or telemarketing. Or work in the lottery business my old man is in 'cause I'm convinced that I can't do a good job and it's not something I wanna do 'til I croak.
From here on, we're (almost) done with Chapter 4-3.
I also considered ending this fic with a Resident Evil 6 fic, but since Vendetta is showing soon, I decided to wait for a while. I'm doing a fic that's similar to this, except that it only focuses on two series/franchises being crossed. It's called "Covert Operations". If you're able to read it, let me know how it is when you read and review it.
In the meantime, let me know how this went. I'm also doing other stories just to stoke my thinking brain and let me brainstorm ideas for a potential career in original fiction writing. Read and review and don't hesitate to critique me if I did something wrong.
Have a good day/night, depending on where you're reading this from.
Pesetas in Total = 345,100
