A/N: Hello, and welcome back to this story! Finally! I know, I now, it's been a bit. Sorry about that. ad a whole host of things get in the way from IRL moves to job changes to other stories taking precedence, but I'm back, baby, woo! (If you could briefly picture the Markiplier song by the same name, as made by SCHMOYOHO, I'd appreciate it. Also, if you've never heard it, I'd recommend. It'll make you smile if nothing else.)
Anyway, chapter time. As always, enjoy the feats of my nerdiness! Well that, and all the help warrior of six blades did to help iron out the premises for this.
Resident Evil: Remnant
Chapter 3
Claire found herself smiling even after Leon was gone as she went over the documents once again and stared at the map. Chris wasn't going to like this, but like she told Leon she and Rebecca would be careful, and bringing heat as it were. That being said, they had to get on this now while they could. Their representative with the SDC said that they could only turn their resources to the current disaster while it was fresh in the current CEO's mind.
She was very clear with Claire that she should say the air relief would go to improving the conglomerates image in the idea of the local citizenry, and, should raise profits, too. Claire had gotten the message, and having heard how Jacque Schnee was in his day to day life, she wasn't surprised. Not even when he fell for her request hook, line, and sinker.
What she had not been expecting was when the man said his daughter, Weiss Schnee, celebrated singer songwriter and heiress to the SDC empire, would be joining them. But having met the girl, she could understand. Jacque was a prick.
At the sound of her Scroll ringing she touched the handy dandy blue tooth piece in her ear and said, "TerraSave HQ, Redfield speaking, how can I help you?"
"Hello, Miss Claire, This is Weiss Schnee. Just... checking in. did everything go okay with my Father?" Asked Weiss tentatively, almost as if she didn't want to be heard.
Claire smiled. Look at that, she was just thinking of her, and lo, Weiss Schnee calls. She sat back in her chair, glancing at the time, before saying, "no. Everything went off without a hitch, no doubt thanks to you, Miss Schnee."
"Oh, that's good," she heard the girl sigh in relief. She then leaned forwards in her chair with a grin as she said, "Course, it would've been nice to know we would be taking on some extra help."
She could hear the wince as Weiss replied with, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I just thought that you might welcome the assistance. I can tell Father that I can't come, if you like."
"It's fine, Weiss," Claire answered back, still grinning. "I've had the, displeasure of meeting your Father before, and I understand. We would be happy to have you with us."
"Oh, marvelous! Uh, I can come by and help pack things up if you'd like? Though, it would have to be after my recital..." Weiss started enthusiastically before petering out nervously.
Claire shook her head, wishing she could give an earful to such a bright girl's folks for making her feeling this way, before saying, "That's fine. Come by afterwards. We'd love the help. And, thanks again, Weiss. Shall I give you the address?"
"Oh, n-no problem, Miss Redfield." Weiss returned, once more enthusiastic. "And, please do. I'm... terrible with direction.
/ /
0400Am, Tuesday,
The town of Vallee, Northern Sanus,
approach...
"So, picture it: There we were, me and Summer had just gotten Qrow into a skirt and had him walking into class -" Leon did his best to ignore his partner as he read up on their assignment once more, just to be sure, but found himself cracking a smile as the Huntsman, Taiyang Xiao Long, stood up and slammed his boot on the seat next to him suddenly and said triumphantly with a sweep of his hand, "Like what you see?"
Immediately, the confines of the van they were in was filled with raucous laughter as the four other men dressed in black camo fatigues, vests and nightvision goggles and helmets reacted to the man's actually rather hilarious prank on his teammate with one of them saying, "Dude! What's was wrong with the two of you?"
"Hey," Tai, as he preferred to be called, defended, "I was just helping the guy out. He said he wanted to be popular with the ladies!" Once more, the van was filled chuckling and laughter from the team of Spec Ops, many of them shaking their heads at that. Leon could just hear on the commlink as the other van erupted into laughter as well as one of the men finished filling them in on the joke.
He tried his best not to laugh as Tai turned to him with a big, boyish grin and gave him a thumbs up. Mission accomplished he seemed to say. Leon snorted before shaking his head as he looked out of the window again. "Well, there goes twenty Lien, I suppose," he muttered to himself as he did so, thinking back to how he and the other blond met up, just last week.
/ /
One week ago...
As he was getting off the bullhead, Leon couldn't help but admire the academy before him. Beacon was the oldest of the four major Huntsmen Academies and it showed, a massive expanse of dark grey greenlit buildings, dorms, and the CCT Tower far, far into the distance. It was quite the sight to behold, but so was what greeted him below.
Standing before him was the Headmaster of the Academy himself, Ozpin, and his second in command, Professor Goodwitch. Leon made certain to keep his eyes from wandering to much on the younger woman as he headed down towards the Headmaster. "Headmaster Ozpin, Senior Council Agent Leon S. Kennedy. I appreciate the candor, but I wasn't expecting you to meet me here, sir," he said on greeting the man, shaking his hand.
"Ah, yes," The older man said with a slight smile before turning to lead him into the campus, his cane tapping in time with his steps. "Well, I wanted to get right on this, as it were. From the report General Ironwood sent me, this seems like a rather serious threat. Best to take care of it before it gets any worse." He frowned, thinking it over, before saying, "I don't want what happened at Port Tagawa to happen here in Vale, Agent Kennedy."
"And, that's why you want to send one of your men along with me then, sir?" Leon asked, hiding the fact that he approved of the man's prompt actions. He blinked as the Headmaster nodded in agreement and asked, "It's not a student here, is it?"
"Oh, no, no," Ozpin answered with a chuckle, though Glynda frowned in disapproval. "Though, the man I'm sending alongside you is an Alumnus of the Academy. And a trusted friend." He smiled as he said, "I think that you will like him, actually. Most people seem to. Isn't that right, Glynda?"
They turned to find the blond woman blush slightly at that comment before she cleared her throat and said, "The Valean council has also agreed to your request for a Special Operatives Team as back-up. And, we'll have other Agents or Huntsmen on tasked with giving you support, should you request it, Agent Kennedy."
"Please, call me Leon," He could help but reply with alongside a smile of his own, making the professor blush. "And, thank you. This really should be a simple In and Out type of job, but they don't send me for 'simple'."
As he made that comment they entered the main building and a tall, muscular blond man turned and greeted them, saying loudly, "Hey, Oz! This my new partner?!"
/ /
A sudden bump on the road knocked him out of his thoughts just as the sign for the town appeared on the side of the road, and he could just make out the roofs of buildings over the foliage. Immediately, the joking and joshing about from the other agents stopped as they all heard the lead driver tell them they were approaching the town.
Leon himself checked his sidearm before pulling on the jacket Jill got for him as a gift after that episode on Albatross Rock Prison. It was a yellow leather jacket with a single, wide black stripe going across the back with similar black stripes on the sleeves. He looked to Tai just as the man gave him a nod in return pulling on his on jacket as well as cotton, fingerless gloves and a cap. It was cold this far North of Vale right now and it wouldn't do to look out of the ordinary.
To that end, Leon and Tai would be entering the town ahead of the team and link up with their contact there at a local safe house. The town was close enough to Vale to not have to worry about dealing with Grimm, so there be an issue with just walking in. Still, Leon and Tai both had a fake ID on hand, just in case.
Per the mission protocol, he and Tai were dropped off well before the entrance, and any prying eyes there, and set about walking up to the main entrance. Leon found himself shivering briefly from the cold as he made his way there while Tai remained unaffected. For once, he was glad he had his Aura unlocked.
He said as much to the other man, making him laugh out loud at that before clapping him on the shoulder and said he'd lead the way into the town.
/ /
As expected, no one bothered them as they entered the town. It looked just as Leon figured it would from the reports. Vallee was once a profitable oil and whaling town, but no more. Whaling was outlaw in the Kingdoms of Vale, Vacuo as most of the gentle giants were damned near extinct. As for Oil, with the advent and widespread use of Dust, the market had taken a hefty blow but still remined somewhat profitable. Smaller villages and towns way away from the mainstream markets still existed on the likes of coal and oil, but not enough that the old Oil Tycoons could turn what they and their investors could called a profit.
The two nondescript vans full of the rest of the team soon drove in behind them as they made their way through the rather streets, looking for a certain worn down beige building with a russet red roof, passing them by as they first rode into the center of the town, mingling with the traffic there as they made their way towards he second safe house and waited. On seeing it, Tai, in his whaler disguise, swatted Leon on the chest before making his way there in an amble, not quite hurrying, not quite walking either. Leon followed after him.
Once there, Tai rang the doorbell and stepped back, acting for all the world like he was waiting for someone to answer. After giving it a few second in which Leon showed up next him while he stood there, he gave Leon a shrug before walking back up to the door and giving it the special encoded knock. After a moment it opened and the two stepped inside.
/ /
The room they stepped into looked to be almost an old supply shed or maybe merely a dumping spot for the townsfolk. It was full of old boxes and crates and other empty containers as well as bundles up maps or posters from previous years. There was even a random old harpoon, to rusted for use.
Their contact, a woman dressed as a cleaning lady replete with gaudy yellow gloves, a bandana a cross her face and her hair obscured by a thick handkerchief, weaved her way through all the debris before walking through another door on the other side of the room. Leon and Taiyang followed after the person, alert and ready for anything. They had yet to get the follow up response from the contact, after all.
Once in the next room, a cleaned and clearly set up safe house replete with weapons set up on a wall, including a rather familiar triple barreled shotgun Leon noted, a couple of sheet covered stand and at least one munition box, their contact turned around to face them and said through the bandana they wore over their face, "Are you here for the position? I only have the one available."
Leon felt his eyes twitch at the woman's tone. It was... familiar, somehow. Meanwhile, Tai smiled as he relaxed and responded with, "That's okay. I'm looking for work of a different kind anyway."
The woman nodded at that before saying as she relaxed slightly, "Agent Woodberry. Valean Council Special Agent. And, you are?"
"Taiyang Xaio Long, Huntsman. Semi-retired."
The woman nodded at that and said, "Your reputation precedes you, sir. It's good to have you on board." Then she turned and said as she smiled with ehr eyes, "Good to see you again, Agent Nightingale."
Leon stiffened at that before asking, "Helena?"
/ /
Elsewhere,
A week ago,
"Miss Chambers, are you sure that's everything we need?" Asked the young woman in white as she helped to gather up the last of the boxes from the vans outside, turning to the other equally small, young woman with the bob of brown hair.
"Yes, yes, Weiss. I'm sure." Dr. Rebecca Chambers replied as she picked up the heavy box before her with a grunt, idly wishing for muscles like Chris, and said as she made her way towards the door, "And for the last time, you can call me Rebecca, or even Becca, if you want. There's no need to stand on formalities with me. Trust me. I got tired of that in my first year at the university."
"Okay. Right," The girl replied, wondering how she was having so much trouble here. Maybe it was because she wasn't with her friends? She promptly shook her head at that as she took up the box before, and almost fell over backwards from the sheer weight of whatever was inside. Once a quick, but subtle application of Aura helped prevent her from being crushed. She puffed for breath before turning and quickly entering the rental TerraSave had bought for them two of them to set up their lab.
she failed to notice the man standing on the other side of the street, watching the two of them the whole time, a Scroll in his ear.
/ /
Bing, Bing!
A sudden buzz from his Scroll had Watts taking it out to read the message, ignoring Merlot as the man muttered about impolite people and turning their phones of during an important experiment. Watts rolled his eyes at that as he went to read the message. According to the man, they were always important. He felt his eyebrows rise as he read the message before a cruel smirk came over his face and he turned to his fellow scientist, saying as he put it back up, "Well then, some interesting news, old boy. Looks like we might have an opportunity to set up another experiment. What do you say, another vector?"
"Hmm, hmm, What? Oh, yes," Merlot returned absently as he read the reading on the experiment being done before them. "Always good to have another one. The more we perform, the faster this gets perfected."
"Indeed," Watts returned as he pulled another Scroll out and being typing up a new message. A special one. "We wouldn't want to disappoint the Lady."
"Indeed." Merlot returned absently as he smiled at what he observed, the red gleam of his prosthesis eye gleaming as the subject began to scream as they underwent their transformation. "Everything, is for the Lady."
/ /
"Leon, good to see you," said their contact, revealing herself to be Helena Harper as she pulled of the handkerchief she was wearing around her hair before turning to face the two of them with a smile on her face.
"Helena," Leon responded. "I didn't you were here? When did you transfer?"
She shrugged and answered with, "A few months ago. You and Ingrid have been great and all, but the rest of the Atlesian/Mantle team never really did warmed up to me. It was hard, but I decided it was best to start anew over here in Vale, the Kingdom of Opportunities."
Leon stared at her for a moment as Tai went to lean against a far wall, giving the two of them space while he checked out outside, he had a bad feeling about this place. It was too quiet. Leon, meanwhile, asked, "And, has it been that? For you?"
She smiled sadly before saying, "No. Not really. You weren't here after all."
There was a pause... Then she coughed, clearing her throat before saying as she turned to a bulletin board she had ready and said, "Uh, anyway, From what little I could gather on such short notice there are two areas of interest in the town." She pointed to two buildings she had circled in red. This building here in the warehouse district has see an unusual amount of activity over the past few days from a variety of trucks coming and going as well as an increased in guards. Meanwhile, this building, an inn, on the outskirts of town seems to be having a lot of activity going on, too. And, its way outside the holiday season."
"Well then, its a good thing that there's two of us!" Tai suddenly said loudly as he stood back up after seeing something outside. He motioned the two of them to follow him to the back of the room. After a quick glance they did so. Once there, he said, "Have you noticed how quiet it is here in town? " Before they could say anything to that he went on, "Listen, I'm from a small village, and it's never this dead. It's too quiet. I think we should move, and soon."
He then shrugged and said as they stood there looking at him in the disquiet, "It's a feeling, alright."
Leon paused at that before nodding and saying, "A feeling?"
Tai nodded, frowning as he turned to look out the window once more. Leon then turned to Helena and asked, "Which of those two sites seems like the most likely to have our target?"
She stuttered and glanced at the board she had made as well as all the notes she had ready to give them, flustered by the sudden turn of events, and her utter disregard of her own instincts. Xiao Long was right. Something was going on, or was about to. "Uh, both? Perhaps the warehouse? I don't know. I haven't seen the man outside of that one photo sent to us."
"Pick a target, cause we need to go now." Taiyang then said sternly as he turned back from the window. Before she could do or say anything, the window was then smashed in by an object. An object that struck the cement floor and burst into flames. "Shit! We need to go now!" Taiyang barked as whatever he saw out there made his eye momentarily widen in shock.
"Helena!" Leon said. She nodded at his unspoken question and turned to pry open a hidden hatch at the back of the room as he got on the coms to warn the rest of the team. He was met with nothing but static. "shit!" Was all he uttered as more fire bombs were thrown into the building, causing the flame to rise quickly.
"Here!" Helena then shouted as she showed them the hatch. ne leading down into the sewers beneath. "Get in! Quickly!"
They did so.
/ /
Elsewhere,
Five days ago,
Chris looked at Jill as she checked her sidearm before giving him a nod. He smiled grimly at her and did the same before turning back to direct his eyes on the map of the special Manta class Stealth Dropship. He and the rest of the Wolfpack had just gotten word of a potential Biohazard out West. In Mistral.
The word had it that it was more of those White Fang terrorists. Like the ones they had fought on the dust Rig a couple of weeks ago. Where Rebecca had been hurt. He didn't want to show it, but he was looking for payback. And, they were the only ones immediately available.
This time, though, he wasn't taking any chances. He wasn't going in half cocked on such limited information. He was sending in just himself, Jill and the Wolf Pack. People he trusted. It was only his personal opinion, but he felt like someone had set them up at the Dust Rig, and Jill agreed with him.
He wasn't happy about leaving Becca behind. Nor was he really happy that she and Claire were going back there to treat the survivors of the Outbreak, but at least they wouldn't be alone. The SDC was sending in an armed security task force alongside TerraSave.
Meanwhile, for his team, they weren't alone. They also had a huntress going in with them like before, only this time she was the one on the ground. She already there trying to confirm if this was a legitimate threat, or merely a rumor.
He just hoped nothing happened in the meantime. If something did, he wouldn't know about it until after the mission was over. It was that tight-lipped.
/ /
After a bit of running, and dodging a few patrols of the supposed citizens in the sewers, the trio had made their way outside in a drainage ditch. Leon, was very much against the smell, especially as he stood there panting, hands on knees.
"Well," he quipped. "That was a wash."
"No," Taiyang returned as he sniffed at his armpit. "But I'll need to after this is over. That, or burn these clothes."
"Trust me." Helena spoke up before exhaling violent as she stretched her back. "Burn them. You can't get this smell out otherwise. I've tried."
"Right." He drawled." Well, where to next?"
"My suggestion?" Leon asked before standing upright and starting down the ditch while waving his hands. "We go after the inn. At this point, it be easier to see what's going on there instead of running through this hornet's nest."
"Agreed." Helena said, falling in behind him. "Though, I suggest we stock up at the other safe house first. We might need the weapons, and, as you can see, I didn't get to take mine with us."
"Good idea," Taiyang returned as he made a quick glance up at a bird flying by overhead. "I lead, if you don't mind. I think I smell the worse." The other two nodded either in agreement at that or his offer, they didn't say. As they took off after him the large black bird cawed harshly before following.
A/N: Be real. How many of you thought about Taiyang as Leon's partner? If not for the fact that the whole town was in on it, or not, having two easy going, smooth talking men infiltrate the town probably would've worked, but they got made. Oh well.
So, backstory time, Port Tagawa is the equivalent to Hong Kong in Remnant, seeing as there are no real world equivalents here. Mistral, or at least Anima, has a lot of villages named after flowers so why not a Port named literally rice patty river? As for Albatross Rock that's Alcatraz Island from the last movie (It's a good one. Would recommend.)
And, yes, before you ask, Leon is a bit of a player in the Resident Evil games so him and Helena having a past relationship, though brief, is perfectly in canon with this story. Man tends to have a woman in every one of his appearances from the movies to the games to the books. The math might be wrong but between them all there's been at least seven. I think. (Claire, Ada, Ashley, Helena, Ingrid, the woman from the very first CGI movie, an unknown partner who died at the very beginning of the third movie, I think. Man gets around.)
Anyway, next chapter, when it comes, will be a special one. In fact, you could say every four chapters will be a special one.
Bye!