30 Incoming Storm Part 2 part 2

Word count 10,271

Insight Corp. was well-known by those in the corporate world for being fully aware of the existence of B.O.W.s created by various businesses and governmental agencies, but she also knew that as far as the world knew, Insight Corp. despised the concept.

So what brought her, the CEO of Insight Corp., into the office of the leader of Blackwatch, who existed specifically to fight against B.O.W.s?

Lucy opened her briefcase and presented a document from it.

"First, we have recently developed weapons that we are hopeful Blackwatch would be interested in."

The general picked the document titled "Project: FLASHLIGHT," opened the file, skimmed through its summary, and his eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

He gave her a look over the document, but she merely smirked, and his eyes returned to the papers, swiftly reading through them.

Eventually, he put down the document on his desk, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

To Lucy's senses however, she knew then and there that, at least on this, she had him.

Laser weapons, and even some plasma weaponry, were far too good to pass up, no matter how high the price tag was to fully equip an army.

"An interesting read, Miss Miller. I won't waste your time being skeptical, you would have far too much to lose if you couldn't deliver. What I am curious about however, is the reason behind you bringing this to me, out of all people in the entire US army."

Lucy took another document.

This one titled "ARKLAY MOUNTAINS INCIDENT"

Again, the general read through it, though a lot more slowly and attentively than before.

By the time he was done, he slowly gave the document back to her, a far colder look in his eyes.

"The government may not have heeded the surviving S.T.A.R.S. members' warnings, but Insight Corp. isn't infiltrated by Umbrella's goons. It is our fear that, sooner than later, an outbreak is inevitable."

And then she brought up a third dossier, this one about the t-Virus vaccine.

Again, he read it slowly, before closing it.

"You are readying us for a full scale outbreak." he deduced, and the look in his eyes made it clear that he was fully considering the scenario himself.

"I am. We believe it will happen sooner rather than later. That is why I am here today. If you would allow me to be honest?"

General Randall nodded grimly.

"Permission granted."

"Then to be blunt, Insight Corp. never had any desire to play around with B.O.W.s or viruses. What we are interested in is giving humanity the tools to fight them. And it is becoming clear to us that the time where we will be needed is soon coming. Thus I am here, General, to try and see if Blackwatch would be willing to fight beside Insight Corp.'s paramilitary unit in the next outbreak. We are aware that the US government is… tired of the influence that Umbrella possesses in the bioweapons sector. When the outbreak hits, and it will, we all know that someone is going to need to take the blame for it. Insight Corp. wants to make sure that said scapegoat is going to be Umbrella, and if we can get all those who supported Umbrella along the way, all the better."

Randall smirked sharply at her. "Ensuring that Insight Corp. gets out of this smelling like roses while also making enormous profit. And with pharmaceutical corporations losing all credibility from the general public, and your own lack of involvement with the Global Pharmaceutical Consortium being well-known, your company would effectively wipe out all your competitors from the world market for a time. To say nothing of the many governmental contracts that would result from all of this… My, Miss Miller, if you were in the military, I would have given you a commendation and promotion for such a ruthless yet effective scheme. Someone with your mind is wasted in the corporate world."

She smiled politely at his praise, even as she knew that what Randall was likely to actually do was prepare plans to take down Insight Corp. if it ever proved necessary.

And those plans, more likely than not, involved putting a bullet in her head.

"The corporate world is a battlefield of its own, General, but I thank you for your kind words. But I can assure you that Insight Corp.'s only motivation is the continuous improvement of the world and of human civilization as a whole."

Randall chuckled, obviously humoring her. "Of course. What was your slogan again? Something about 'bringing Greatness to humanity?' Well, far from me to disagree with that goal."

He looked down at the dossiers on his desk.

"Especially when you can help Blackwatch in the success of its own duties and objectives."

He fell silent, thinking deeply.

"And what of Raccoon City itself? I presume you have plans for it?"

"If possible, we'd rather not see it burnt to the ground." she said, making sure not to show how much she actually wanted to save the city.

The general stared at her for a moment.

"100,000 people is quite a lot to deal with. Even with the vaccine ready… we can't use it too soon, you must understand." he said firmly, and Lucy nodded, even if she grimaced internally.

Yes, she understood that the US government didn't want to explain what the vaccine was for to the people, unless left with no choice.

And they couldn't just lie either, considering that this was Umbrella's city.

For all that it was part of the US, trying to do anything there would cause… issues.

At least until all hell broke loose and Umbrella was left with their hands tied.

"We understand. But nonetheless, we would rather not see the city just be completely destroyed, if at all possible."

He looked at her for a long moment, before nodding.

"You want to test your new toys extensively, huh? And probably to add insult to injury to Umbrella as well while you're at it, taking over their city for your own. It's no secret you and Umbrella had been at each other's throats for a long time now."

He hummed, and she held back another grimace, not truly surprised that the thought that she was trying to save the people of Raccoon City didn't even come to him.

It certainly hardly mattered to him.

Which is why she hadn't bothered mentioning them. Right now, he was weighing the trouble thousands of civilians having survived an outbreak could bring to the US, over the gains brought by getting extensive combat data against B.O.W.s using the new weapons would give, on top of helping in bringing down Umbrella completely.

As far as he was concerned, survivors were a problem, not a goal.

Finally, he nodded, smiling at her.

"Very well. Blackwatch will help you retake Raccoon City once the outbreak hits, as long as the situation allows it. And we'll do our part in helping to take down Umbrella, don't worry. As for the future… well, depending on how things go with the outbreak, Blackwatch may call upon Insight Corp. later on. Our duty is to protect the USA from any biological threat, but you are right that we need adequate weaponry for the job. If you can provide them, you'll find Blackwatch a powerful ally and a valuable client in the years to come."

And with that, the meeting dissolved into hammering out the details of the deal between Insight Corp. and Blackwatch, each side smiling at the other.

Even as they mentally made plans to backstab the other the moment the alliance will inevitably fall apart.

Lucy was no fool, after all.

It was only a matter of time before Insight Corp. became the new Umbrella in the general's mind, another corporation with far too much influence for their own good, and when that happened, the threat Insight Corp. posed would outweigh the benefits of keeping them around.

And the allies of today would become the enemies of tomorrow.

Alyssa Ashcroft walked up the path to the nearby forest, together with several soldiers of I.S.I.S. and Aeon, their leader, alongside her fellow journalist Ben Bertolucci.

The last few days were spent in frantic attempts to gather information, fact-checking as much as she could of what she had been told on that meeting on the first of September, and not liking the fact that, from what she found, it all checked out.

Oh, she couldn't get access to any Umbrella files to fully prove anything, but there were always traces, bits and pieces of public information that made no sense without knowledge of the greater story behind it, and that's what she had been searching for.

Little things that proved that certain people were, in reality, present at a certain place and time, that this amount of equipment has indeed arrived at this date at a given facility, among other tidbits of information.

And it all fit with what she had learned, which meant that either this was one hell of a coincidence, or the insane story she had been told was the truth.

The most important part, however, was what the leader of I.S.I.S. had recently told her about the abandoned hospital they were currently heading to.

Supposedly, she and an old friend named Kurt had come to investigate this place in the past, after rumors of illegal human experimentation had happened in this place.

The problem of course, is that she didn't remember anything about it.

As far as she knew, Kurt had just disappeared one day, never to be seen again.

Except that apparently, Kurt had died after being attacked by an infected patient with one of the strains of the t-Virus Umbrella was experimenting with, and Alyssa herself had ended up being brainwashed by an Umbrella scientist named Greg Mueller to forget the whole thing ever happened.

Alyssa wasn't sure if that was true… but she certainly intended to find out.

If even a tenth of the information Insight Corp. provided her about Umbrella was right, then it was entirely possible for Umbrella to have done what Aeon had claimed.

In which case, taking down Umbrella would become an extremely personal undertaking for her.

Alyssa slowed, frowning as she saw a cabin ahead of her.

"Someone lives here?" she asked Aeon.

"Indeed. Squad, disperse and don't let yourselves be seen. Go straight to the hospital and wait for us there, while the journalists and I go talk to the man living there."

"Yes, sir!"

Alyssa turned, seeing the squad of I.S.I.S. soldiers jogging away.

She had to admit, they made for quite the intimidating sight, with their futuristic-looking body armor and camouflage to better hide in the forest.

The fact that they all carried laser guns certainly helped, and that's not mentioning the sheer amount of firepower each soldier was equipped with.

Then she turned to the even more intimidating sight of their leader, the seven feet tall, black coat and tricorn hat wearing man who was still staring at the cabin before them.

The only part of him that she could see were his dark eyes, the rest of his figure being hidden from view, though she knew from the day that they first met that his short dark hair complemented his dark eyes.

Honestly, the man seemed to love dark colors, considering he was clothed head to toe in pure black.

"The one who lives here is the former director of the hospital. Be careful when speaking to him, he's still a former member of Umbrella after all."

Alyssa turned grim.

"Understood."

Knocking at the door, an old man opened it, his eyes looking at them in a way that sent shivers down her spine.

He was looking at them like one would look at an animal you were about to kill…

"Hello there. I must admit, I don't get many visitors around here. What can I do for you?"

"We'd just like to have directions for the old hospital nearby. Alyssa here-" Aeon waved his hand at her "- would like to see the place where one of her old friends died, you see."

His eyes sharpened, looking at her with interest. "Really? Well, I can just guide you there myself, if you want."

"No need." she said quickly. "Directions will do just fine."

He stared at her for a moment, before smiling.

She held back a shiver at the cruel glint in his eyes.

"Very well then. You must go here at..."

He gave them the necessary directions. After that, she swiftly left the old man's home, Aeon keeping up with her pace.

"We could have avoided talking with him in the first place." she pointed out. "We knew where we were going."

"I know. But I wanted to check something."

She glanced at him. "Beyond proving that he was incredibly disturbing, and making me glad that I'm still holding on to that las-pistol you gave me?"

"Indeed. I am now certain we will be attacked by something, at the very least. I don't know what, but there was too much cruel anticipation in his eyes when we told him where we're going."

She remembered that twisted expression in the man's eyes and nodded grimly.

"Alright, but attacked by what?"

Aeon chuckled darkly. "Well now, that is the question, isn't it?"

Alyssa took out her Las-Pistol, happy that she hadn't wasted time reading through the manual and trained with the gun on a daily basis for the past week, just in case.

And even happier that she had taken the vaccine given to her when they had first met.

A strange moaning sound caught her attention, and she turned, freezing in shock at the sight of a zombie straight out of the reports she had read… except it had plants growing out of its body.

"What the fuck?" she shouted, before two pale blue bolts disintegrated the monster's upper body.

Turning, she looked at her companion, who was staring curiously at the dead abomination on the ground.

"Curious, a new kind of zombie…" he activated his radio. "Sergeant White, this is Squad Leader. Do you copy?"

"I do, Squad Leader. Problems?"

"A new type of zombie appeared in our path. It had plants growing out of its body. Capabilities unknown, though plasma is confirmed to work well on them."

"Copy that. Will keep you updated if we cross their path."

"Acknowledged. Keep an eye out, if there's one new mutation, there might be more. Squad Leader out."

He glanced at her. "Let's go."

She nodded, following behind him, weapon at the ready, yet her mind was racing at her latest discovery.

A zombie. An actual, honest to God, zombie…

She shook her head. There would be time to worry about that later, she needed to stay focused.

Coming in front of a wooden bridge, she froze, a memory flashing in her mind of a wounded man collapsing before that very bridge.

"You alright?" her companion questioned.

"I… remembered something…" she said softly, blue eyes wide.

He nodded grimly. "Coming here must have brought back memories. Anything useful?"

"I think… that I saw Kurt, wounded… and I was there… for a story. I… don't remember anything else."

"I see."

They took a moment longer to digest the new information, before moving on.

Soon enough, they arrived at the entrance of the abandoned hospital, the rest of the squad waiting for them, and she froze once more, as a memory of two police officers talking flashed through her mind.

"There was… an accident there." she said softly. "It caused the hospital to close…"

She shook her head, blue eyes narrowing in determination.

She wanted the truth, and she was going to get it.

Zombies or no zombies.

They all entered, weapons ready for anything.

The place was covered in vines, and despite the soldiers surrounding her there was… something in the place that made her instincts scream "Danger!"

A minute later, a man dressed like a medieval executioner and armed with an axe kicked down a door and charged at them screaming.

Alyssa tensed, only for the man to get shot at by the entire squad.

His upper body vanished utterly under the volley of combined firepower, leaving them all to stare at the corpse before them.

"Someone driven mad by this place's monsters, you think?" one of the soldiers whispered.

"Doesn't matter. We've got our mission. Let's keep going. No doubt there will be more dangerous things here…" Aeon said grimly, and they moved on, leaving the corpse on the ground, Ben taking a snapshot of the body with his camera before following.

Alyssa took a moment to regret that he had followed the squad and thus didn't see the zombie, but she had a feeling they would meet more of them, sooner or later...

As they kept going, Alyssa and Ben suddenly started coughing, a horrible smell wafting to their noses.

"Fuck… what that's smell?" complained Ben.

Aeon got a whiff of the scent before frowning.

"Nothing good. Keep on your guard."

They entered another room, only for everyone to stop and stare at the sight before them.

A massive plant unlike anything else they've ever seen was in the room, its many vines waving around like snakes in the air.

"Squad, let's leave this room for later. Out of the room. Now."

"Sir?"

"See the bigger vines? They seem to go all over the interior structure of this building. If we kill this thing, the whole place might collapse. We can't find out what the hell really happened here if that happens."

Alyssa and the others looked, and noticed that yes, that thing's vines truly went everywhere.

"Copy that, sir. No bringing the building on top of our head until it's time for extraction. Johnson, you go first. We'll follow you while we keep an eye on that thing, just in case it doesn't like us leaving."

The named soldier swiftly left the room, followed by everyone else, Ben taking pictures of the monster of a plant.

As they made their way into other parts of the facility, Alyssa and Ben quietly talked about what they had seen so far.

It was one thing to learn about the t-Virus, another entirely to see it at work.

"Sir! Plant-mutated zombie!" shouted the sergeant, and they all looked at the slowly moving monster at the end of the corridor they were in.

Aeon stared at it for a moment, before nodding to Ben.

"If you want pictures, do it now."

The man didn't waste time taking the necessary photos, before nodding at Aeon, who looked at the sergeant.

"Shoot it. I want to see how many shots of a las-gun that thing can take."

The sergeant didn't hesitate, shooting it once in the head, then once again when the first headshot didn't do enough damage to kill it.

"Two shots." mused Aeon. "Compared to the single one required for a standard infected… as expected of a mutation. Alright, Williams, go take samples. The scientists back home will want to learn more about those things, just in case."

"Yes sir!" replied the woman in question, quickly running up to the corpse and getting to work.

Once the woman was done, they kept going, Alyssa even finding a notebook in another room that made her eyes narrow.

It was Kurt's notebook, where he went in depth about his investigation of this place and how he heavily suspected illegal activities taking place in this hospital.

She pocketed it after letting Aeon and Ben read it, by now convinced that Aeon had been right about what had happened here.

A thought that enraged her… but there was no time for that. Not yet.

Another room held another notebook, this one about two botanists who found this place in the past, and both of whom ended up killed by that axeman a while back.

The comments about the plants having some kind of intelligence and actively preventing anyone from escaping was met by grim silence by everyone, but then again they already planned on killing it anyway.

It also spoke of a chemical which could kill the plant life in the area, and they wasted no time seeking it out.

They found a pharmacy which contained several of the necessary ingredients, though a patient ward they found nearby made Alyssa freeze again, a memory of seeing Kurt being attacked by a female zombie flashing through her mind.

"Kurt!" she whispered, closing her eyes in pain. "That's right… he was involved in the incident… I remember now! He... snuck in with me… seeking to uncover the truth behind this place… and he died finding it."

"Alyssa?"

She turned, seeing Ben and the others looking at her curiously, and she explained what she now remembered.

"So we now know for certain how your old friend died. Do you remember anything else?"

She shook her head at Aeon's question, feeling frustrated.

"No. I remember only the incident… Kurt's death, nothing else after that."

She looked at him in the eye.

"We need to keep going. I'm not leaving this place until all of my memories return."

"And then?" he asked.

She smiled coldly.

"And then I'll help you ensure that Umbrella burns for their crimes. I don't care how powerful they are. This is a war that I'm not going to shy away from, you better believe that, not after what these bastards did to me and my friend!"

Aeon nodded at her, his dark eyes shining with approval.

"Then Insight Corp. will help you, Miss Ashcroft. For now, let's keep going. We have more memories to recover, and an overgrown plant to kill."

And with those words in mind, they moved on, going into the administrator's room.

The sight of which brought another flashback, of the administrator and a cop talking, the former denying all the accusations from the latter.

Careful investigation of the room led to a secret passage behind a shelf, alongside a diary showing the administrator falling to madness, seeing the massive plant as the reincarnation of his dead wife and even feeding it various animals to keep it healthy.

The secret passage also hid a clinical report on the use of the t-Virus, supposedly to try curing cancer, on two patients, one of them being the administrator's wife, and the ensuing death of the first alongside the mutation of the second into a zombie.

Taking the nearby stairs, they came across mutated insects that they gunned down easily.

Of greater concern was another one of the administrator's diaries, which revealed that not only had he begun to feed people to the plant, but that he had also been... changed somehow... so that he could survive shotgun blasts to the chest without any issue.

"Sir, you think…" began the Sergeant.

"I think," Aeon slowly declared, "that we should all stay on our guard. I've got something that might kill the bastard if it turns out he can regenerate from half his body being vaporised, so let me handle him if he shows up again."

Alyssa threw him a surprised look.

"You've got something that can kill a man that won't die, even after his entire upper body has been disintegrated?"

Aeon chuckled.

"Miss Ashcroft, I've got weapons to handle anything. That includes any so-called 'immortal' beings. Hell, it wouldn't be the first time I end up killing one of those."

And then he turned and calmly walked away.

"And that, is why he's in charge. There are few people in the world who can react to 'immortal enemies,' and then just say 'been there, done that.' Now come on, let's move." declared the sergeant, before following her leader, everyone else doing the same.

Staying well away from the plant vines, they ended up opening a door leading to the rooftop… only to find the place covered in vines and flowers occasionally expelling pollen of some kind.

"Right then. I'll shoot all the flowers, you follow after me. See that ladder over there? That's our objective." Aeon declared, pointing at a ladder a few dozen meters away.

"Understood sir, we'll cover you if needed." replied the sergeant.

Aeon walked into the rooftop, guns firing, flowers exploding at every shot.

"Zombies!" shouted the sergeant suddenly, as several of the new kinds of zombies showed up, previously hidden among the vines.

The rooftop rapidly turned into a battlefield, as plant zombies charged either at Aeon or the rest of the group, while Aeon himself ran, jumped, rolled and evaded every zombie and attack coming his way.

Alyssa took a moment to be awed at the incredible skill being displayed, as by now the plants were shooting acidic globs at him, but Aeon just casually dodged them all, looking more like he was dancing rather than fighting.

Then she focused once more on the fight, shooting zombies in the heads with her Las-Pistol.

Soon enough, the rooftop was clear, and they took the nearby ladder.

Only to find the Axeman had returned, having taken another path to now stand before them.

"Sergeant, you have that syringe with the chemical to kill that plant, right?" asked Aeon.

"Yes, sir!"

"Then go, all of you. If what we went through was anything to go by, the true center of this plant should be nearby. What we found down there must have been only part of it. As for me, I'll take care of this guy myself."

"Understood, sir. You heard him! Move out!" shouted the sergeant.

"Just like that? Are you sure it's wise to leave him with that freak?" asked Alyssa.

The sergeant scoffed. "He's no threat. You saw how our boss fights, do you really think some guy with an axe is enough to kill him? That mad bastard won't even touch him."

Alyssa glanced at Aeon, before nodding.

It was true, compared to what he just flawlessly handled, a single madman was nothing.

So they left, going onward where they found several massive plants surrounding an even bigger one.

More zombies, acid-spitting red and yellow flowers, and giant insects attacked them, and Alyssa remembered the warning of the damn plant having intelligence.

The attacks coming their way were too unnaturally well-organized for a bunch of monsters and plants, even she could see that.

Not that it fazed the I.S.I.S. soldiers, as red laser bolts and explosives flew everywhere, and she thought she heard someone say "Just like in the simulations!"

Ben and Alyssa were far less calm in this mess, Alyssa herself nervously clenching her Las-Pistol tightly as she shot deadly flowers, giant insects, and plant zombies one after another, sweat falling down her face while her ears began ringing from all the explosions.

Eventually she noticed the sergeant running, making a mad dash for the greater plant, jumping over and rolling under every attack sent her way, before she took the syringe and leapt unto the plant, jabbing it deeply with her makeshift weapon.

And then she ran back to them, since in seconds, the chemical showed its result, as every single thing around them that wasn't human withered and died.

And the building began shaking.

"Move out! Let's go back to-"

The shaking stopped.

There was a moment of silence.

"Guess we'll have to kill that giant plant downstairs too, right Sergeant?"

"Seems like it. Let's get back to the boss and do that, then."

Then they went back, finding Aeon staring at the decapitated corpse of the Axeman, before he looked at them.

"Right, this guy won't get back up anymore. How did it go on your side? I felt the building shaking for a moment."

"The plants up top are dead, sir. But we're pretty sure the one downstairs is still alive."

"And we're out of chemicals. Alright, we'll do this the old-fashioned way. We'll burn the damn thing with incendiary grenades. That should do the trick. Let's go."

Alyssa stared at the decapitated corpse at his feet.

"You're sure he is dead? He did come back from complete upper body disintegration… I don't think mere decapitation will work."

Aeon snorted. "Trust me, he's dead. The weapon I used made sure of that."

She raised an eyebrow. "Must be some seriously interesting weapon to pull that off."

He nodded. "Considering that it was my mentor's weapon, you are more correct than you think. I don't use it unless the things I'm fighting against really deserve it. Let me put it this way: not a single thing that weapon has come into contact with survived the experience."

And then he turned and walked away without another word.

Alyssa glanced at the decapitated corpse on the ground, the others doing the same.

"Yeah, this bastard's dead. I've never heard of the boss mention a mentor before, but whoever he or she must have been must have been one hell of a hardcore SOB to train someone like the boss. As far as I'm concerned, this murderous scumbag is no longer a concern."

And with that, the sergeant left, followed by everyone else.

They all made their way back to the first plant, which reacted to their presence instantly this time, globs of acid and vines trying to impale them from every corner of the room.

Again, Alyssa couldn't help but notice how competent these people were, reacting immediately to the threat, guns blazing and blades cutting away any vines coming too close for comfort, while it was all that Alyssa and Ben could do to not get killed by what few attacks came their way.

The fact that Aeon casually handled not only threats directed at himself but at everyone else present at the same time was damn impressive too.

He was the only one who hadn't switched his plasma guns for his grenade launcher, instead using his guns to provide covering fire to them all, blue bolts of plasma hitting vines and flowers alike with the crack shot accuracy.

The fact that no order had needed to be given, everyone knowing instantly what needed to be done at the moment, really showed off how used they were at fighting together like a well-oiled machine.

In seemingly no time at all, the plant died, and the whole building began shuddering and falling apart, just as they feared.

"Alright, mission accomplished! Move! Move!" Aeon shouted, and everyone began running, though not before Alyssa caught a glimpse of an old, dried out female corpse falling away from the center of the burning plant.

Then they all fled, getting out of the building just in time to finally see it collapse on itself completely.

As she and the others watched from safety the destruction of this damned place, Alyssa remembered the few last pieces of memories she had forgotten, from the moment she and Kurt entered the building to the time she was put unconscious by the hospital security guards, her last memory being a cruel, sadistic man, who she recognized as Greg Mueller, from the information Aeon had given her, smiling down at her even as he promised her that she need not fear, for she would not remember a thing.

She clenched her hands, grinding her teeth in rage.

That hospital's experiments were more than just human rights violations, they were crimes against nature itself.

Kurt… his sacrifice won't be in vain. It may take time, but she would spread the truth about what happened here.

And Umbrella will burn for what they did.

September 10th, 1998.

I looked at the three people behind me, gathered here today to see justice done.

The two journalists that Jill and I contacted several days ago, and one Lieutenant Marvin Branagh, who we had convinced to follow us into the sewers to investigate the screams and moans coming from below.

For the past week and a half, those journalists had been further brought into the world-wide conspiracy when it comes to B.O.W.s, and by now had pretty firmly decided to work with Insight Corp. to try and fight back against it.

They couldn't fight the government directly right now, but Umbrella? That they could do.

Alyssa especially was incredibly determined to see Umbrella brought down, considering her own past.

The revelation that Umbrella had brainwashed her to forget an incident years ago which led to the death of her friend had been a shock to her, but it also made her extremely motivated in destroying Umbrella and thankful to me/Insight Corp. for revealing the truth.

And thus, we were here today to strike the first blow against Umbrella's power base in Raccoon City by arresting Chief Irons.

Not that Lieutenant Branagh knew all of that, of course. As far as he was concerned, he had simply agreed to work with a few concerned citizens to investigate the sewers, and be there to both protect them and make any arrests if we did find something.

He had no idea I had brought him specifically because he was a good man… and he would be the next in line to control the police forces after Irons' arrest, especially as the one who will "catch" Irons.

The fact that I had a plasma gun in hand, which he had looked at with interest, was even better.

Once the outbreak hits, it would be easy to convince him to use laser weaponry from Insight Corp.

"Are you all ready?"

They all nodded.

"Alright then. Here we go."

I went inside, followed by the others.

It was nighttime, with a heavy fog covering the whole city, so it made the distant screams and moans coming from the sewers even more disturbing, giving a rather fitting background to our descent into Raccoon City's underground areas.

Thankfully, there was no t-Virus infection down here, not yet at least, so while our group was tense, not helped by the slowly increasingly loud screams of terror and agony, we didn't actually encounter anything dangerous down there.

At least not until we found a closed door from which the screams were coming from.

"I'll take point." grimly declared the lieutenant, whose dark eyes shone with grim determination to see his duty through while he held his gun tightly.

The countless twists and turns of this place would have ordinarily doomed any attempts at finding this place, the screams bouncing off the walls in such a way that tracking them down would be impossible… but to a Hunter like me, such issues were nothing.

The lieutenant had made it clear that he had honestly not expected us to find anything, a few of his colleagues having tried to search answers themselves only to get lost in the sewers for hours until finally finding a way out, but he had been willing to follow us anyway, more out of concern for us more than any hopes of success.

Now that answers were at hand however, one look in his eyes made it clear he wouldn't take "no" for an answer, so I silently stepped back, holding my weapon high.

"I'll cover you if needed." I declared, and he nodded in thanks.

"1...2..3!" He said softly, before opening the door swiftly.

"RPD! Nobody move- Oh my God, Chief Irons, what the fuck?!"

I followed after him, taking in the scene in front of me.

The lieutenant was frozen in shock and horror, staring with wide eyes at the Chief of Police who had a bloody knife in his hand, standing beside a barely alive blonde woman with blue eyes laid down on a table.

The two journalists followed after me, Ben quickly recording the scene with his camera, though the two sharp gasps I heard made it clear that, even if expected, the scene was still a shock.

The Chief snarled, his knife running through the woman before him the moment he took a good look at the Lieutenant, killing her instantly.

That broke Marvin out of his shock, and his gun rose as he snarled hatefully, an obvious look of painful betrayal in his eyes.

Considering that he's been working for the man for years, I wasn't surprised, but I would rather see him alive.

So I moved, though only at peak-human levels rather than a Hunter's typical speed, forcibly putting down the man's gun one second before continuing onward and punching Irons in the face hard enough to knock him out instantly the next.

I then looked at the woman on the table, a sad look on my face.

I could have saved this woman… but not without using healing magic on the horrible injuries she had already taken, or superhuman speed to stop Irons' knife.

And we already came here as fast as we could, since we did need to wait for the screams to start in order to follow them here.

Had I been alone, I could have used magic, but as it is I'd rather keep the existence of magic and the Arcane under wraps.

The journalists and officer were good people, but I didn't want to burden them even more with knowledge of the Eldritch. Dealing with a worldwide conspiracy was bad enough as it was.

And of course, there was Irons himself, who I most definitely didn't want to show off in front of.

At least that should make her "only" his third victim, which was less than what happened in the canon timeline where no one stopped him…

Cold comfort as this was right now.

I threw a quick, sad look at where the woman's soul stood, looking in sadness at her own body, before turning away when I felt a shard of my true self appear near her.

There was nothing I could do for her myself, now, but to see justice done.

So I looked at Marvin, giving him a sympathetic look.

"I understand that the betrayal hurt, Officer, or that seeing this woman die in front of you enraged you, but this bastard-" I kicked the fat, murderous psychopath in the guts- "should stand trial for all he has done. Let him live to see the city stare at him hatefully, as he deserves."

Not that I would mind him dying, but I didn't want him to die too soon.

And certainly not as quickly as a bullet to the head would have done.

Marvin stared at me for a moment, before nodding.

"Thanks." he said, a look of shame at his loss of control flashing through his eyes before being brutally crushed through sheer willpower.

Then he looked at the dead woman on the table, before glaring coldly at the passed out Chief.

"Fucking psycho… to think that all along…"

He shook his head, before putting his gun in his holster and bringing out the handcuffs and stepping forward.

"Didn't think we'd actually be lucky enough to need them, but by God am I happy to be wrong on this one."

I nodded at him, glancing at the journalists who were already hard at work in taking footage and writing down notes, before turning towards a nearby door.

Opening it, I took one look at what was inside before scowling.

"Hey Officer Marvin, you might want to see this."

"What is it?"

I stepped back, allowing him to look into the room… and stare at the two corpses of young women who look so similar to the one who just died.

The Lieutenant didn't move for about a minute… before he turned around.

"I won't mention that kick you gave him in my report. As far as I'm concerned, he resisted arrest, and got hurt in the resulting struggle."

Alyssa came up to me, looking inside the room… and at the corpses of the women who may as well look like sisters to her, considering their similar facial features, blonde hair, and blue eyes.

"... Say, Officer, could you turn away for a moment?"

Marvin looked from her, to the corpses, understanding flashing through his eyes.

"I'll be in the other room."

"Lickers on the buildings! Shoot them!" came the order, and Jill turned to look at the new threat.

Thankfully, others from I.S.I.S. shot the bastards down, allowing her to focus on the hordes of infected in the road coming their way and trying to go through the barricades.

A few more shots from her grenade launcher wiped out quite a few of the closest zombies, alongside creating more holes in the streets for the infected to get trapped into.

Well, the dumber ones anyway. The Crimson Heads weren't so easily slowed down, running and even jumping around as they were.

Reloading, and once again being thankful to the Messengers for being able to supply her with ammo no matter where she was, she kept firing at the horde of zombies before her with the rest of I.S.I.S. in the street doing the same.

Rebecca was nearby, dealing with another street chock-full of zombies that just kept on hammering the barricades there.

A shot rang out, and cursing was suddenly heard from the comms channel.

"We've lost our CO! Umbrella sniper nearby! Take him out!"

Jill's eyes roamed the roofs, searching for any sign of-

"Found him!" she shouted, shooting a grenade through the window, and a cut off scream proved that she got the bastard.

She smirked tiredly, quickly wiping the sweat from her brow, though she was internally seething.

It wasn't the first they had to deal with, though this one had been more competent than the others.

They had already lost the Captain a while back, and now-

"Shit! Incoming Umbrella choppers! They're carrying B.O.W.s!"

Jill cursed, eyes in the sky-

And she saw several containment tanks fall on the ground, their cargo jumping out.

"Hunters and Tyrants incoming!" she shouted, shooting a grenade at the nearest of the abominations.

"Copy that! Hold the line for the next five minutes! Reinforcements are inbound!"

Jill growled. Five minutes were a lot to ask for when several of Umbrella's Mr. X Tyrants were running around, but there was no other choice.

The line had to be held, or the civilians currently being evacuated would be easy prey to them.

She and the rest of I.S.I.S. unleashed all they had on them, the whole street glowing an ominous red from all the lasers being shot and all the explosives being used.

"Prepping a Thermobaric rocket!" a soldier warned, making sure the backblast area of his launcher was clear, before one of the Tyrants simply ceased to exist, alongside much of the area surrounding it.

"How many of those do we still have?" she shouted back.

"None! That was the last one!" came the reply from the sergeant who took the shot.

She cursed, and then cursed harder when one of the other Tyrants hit the barricade like a fucking truck, breaking a good chunk of it.

"I'm on it! Keep the others away from the damn barricade!" she shouted, before taking her swords in hand, ignoring her squadmates' replies of acknowledgement from her radio, and then she ran toward the tall, grey-skinned abomination wearing a black coat and fedora.

The Tyrant saw her coming, turning away from the hole it had made and towards her instead, and when she jumped towards him, it tried to grab her mid-jump.

She grinned darkly, Quickening away and cutting deep into his neck, the Bloodstone -enhanced blades easily parting the mutated flesh even more easily than it would have than that of a Yharnamite beast.

Or that's what Aeon told her at least, something about how t-Virus flesh simply wasn't as tough as that of beasts with the Blood of Gods running through their veins, including Tyrants.

Either way, she knelt on the ground, the backhanded swing of the Tyrant's right arm passing over her head, before she jumped again, fully decapitating the Tyrant for good.

She returned to the ground, taking a moment to stare in satisfaction at the decapitated corpse in front of her, before her instincts, honed to a keen edge after sparring with Aeon for about two months now, screamed at her to move.

She jumped, turning away to glare coldly at the surviving Tyrants that had obviously decided that she was the primary threat right now, the nearest one's closed fist being right where her head was.

She crossed her swords in front of her, ready to push them back from the barricade-

*BOOM!*

-before grinning when all of them ceased to exist as the cavalry finally arrived.

Turning around, she gave a thumbs up of thanks towards the newly arrived modified Abrams tank that's being backed up by a few squads of fresh troops, Jill and her squadmates looking in relief at the reinforcements rushing in to push back the horde beyond the barricade, which had been dangerously close to being overrun.

"Well done, everyone. The line was held. The mission is a success. Simulation over."

And with that, the world around them collapsed to show off the regular, by now familiar sight of a Danger Room.

Scattered cheers rang out from the soldiers around them, Jill chuckling at their joy, sharing it herself after the last several hours of harsh training.

Accepting a bottle of water thrown at her, she eagerly drank the cool water before sighing in relief when she was done quenching her thirst.

The simulations had become much harder the closer the end of September came, and by now, Tyrants and deadly competent snipers from Umbrella were a common sight.

Jill herself hadn't yet "died" from any of those, but only because of her Hunter training giving her inhumanly good instincts and equally sharp vision, allowing her to more easily dodge and notice her would-be killers.

And they were far from the only things they were now used to fighting against. Deadly leeches straight from the Arklay Mountains Mission, Hunters (the reptilian kind), giant spiders, and much more besides had been thrown at them all, usually together to better overwhelm them with.

Jill, Rebecca, and the rest of I.S.I.S. were by now thoroughly suspicious of anything from both the animal and plant kingdoms, because there was nothing quite like dealing with murderous shrubberies that possessed vines capable of quickly draining a grown man of his blood to learn that yes, anything could kill you.

Speaking of Rebecca, she smiled tiredly at her on their way to a hidden Lantern leading to the Hunter's Dream, discussing the latest simulation and what went right or wrong, before they came up to Aeon and Lucy talking over a table in front of their Mansion in the Dream, with the most recent issue of a Raccoon City newspaper in Aeon's hands.

Rebecca went directly for the shower, but Jill had caught the title of the front page and sat with the two at the table instead.

"They haven't announced a new Chief of Police yet, huh?" commented Jill, mentioning the newspaper which was talking about the latest developments in the investigation into Chief Irons' crimes.

Needless to say, it didn't look good for the man, or for several other officials in the city who have been caught knee-deep in criminal activities, some of which had connections to Umbrella.

Aeon chuckled darkly.

"Indeed not. Umbrella might have been able to give the job to another one of their goons, but then, incriminating evidence was discovered showing just how deep several officers of the law were in Umbrella's pockets, and right now, the Raccoon City Police Department has just finished a rather impressive internal purge of all previously hidden troublesome elements who had been hiding their crimes thanks to Irons' help."

Jill smirked viciously.

"Good to hear. And I imagine that you had nothing to do with that?" she replied, knowing the answer even before he said it.

"Of course I did. I've been sitting on some evidence of those crimes for months, if not years, waiting for the right moment when justice could be done and wouldn't simply be covered up. It's been very satisfying to finally be able to make use of them."

She chuckled, before relaxing in her seat.

"And the fact that both journalists keep helping Lieutenant Branagh is also part of the plan, I take it?"

Aeon shrugged innocently.

"Well, they make for a good team. All of them are good people, and competent in their field. They've all been informed of Umbrella by now, and want to protect the city. Honestly, Marvin looked ready to spit in disgust when he told me the mayor had declined his request of getting weapons and equipment from Insight Corp. for the RPD, but as it is, I don't think the mayor is going to stay in his office for long. While he and Irons were known as good friends for years, it's obvious that he hadn't known of Irons'… darker side, especially considering he has a daughter who fits Irons' taste exactly, a fact that had actually been motivating him to help the investigation into Irons rather than fight against it. All of this doesn't change the fact that the public no longer trusts him, however."

Aeon paused. "The fact that several of his subordinates were caught taking bribes doesn't help."

Jill grunted.

"Yes, but in the meantime, he's holding back the RPD from getting the weapons they'll desperately need."

She sighed, passing a hand through her messed up hair and being reminded of the fact she badly needed a shower.

She got up, shaking her head.

"Well, we'll do whatever it takes to save the city, with or without the mayor's help. I need to take a shower right now."

She left, going to a different bathroom than Rebecca's. Not that it mattered much, she had already seen (and thoroughly kissed) the woman's whole body, but she wanted to be alone with her thoughts for a little while.

As she took off her clothes and stepped into the rather huge shower stall, which she was almost certain had been made large specifically to better allow for shower sex, she let the warm water fall down her shoulders with a sigh, closing her eyes in satisfaction as she basked in the heat.

The last two months had seemingly passed in a blink of an eye, even as they had brought changes in her life that she could have never imagined.

The mission into the Arklay Mountains… the meeting with the three people who turned out to be eldritch gods… her decision and ensuing training as a Huntress…

The mind-blowing sex, she thought with a smirk. And of course, Aeon and Oedon had actually turned her into a Jill sandwich, the smug bastards. I'd curse your name, Barry, but damn, that had been amazing.

She hadn't actually expected them to ambush her and Rebecca as they had by quite literally leading them into their bedroom, but then she really should have.

These two, alongside Lucy, had been looking forward to getting into her pants pretty much from the moment they met… and Jill didn't regret letting them do so at all, even if she had needed Rebecca's healing magic to actually be able to walk the day after.

Especially with the fact that she had needed Rebecca's healing magic to actually be able to walk the day after.

At least they didn't have to worry about pregnancies, since Aeon had actually admitted he could turn off his ability to be fertile at will a few days before that night happened.

Though he had also pointed out he could do the opposite, guaranteeing pregnancy, which was… pretty hot, honestly.

Rebecca certainly seemed to approve, if the flash of lust and enthusiasm in her green eyes at his words were anything to go by.

For someone six years younger than her and obviously a lot less experienced in sex, she had certainly turned out to be quite the kinky little minx… not that Jill was much better these days.

Aeon and the others, as it turned out, had quite the libidos… and now that they had their first time together, they hadn't been shy about going for a repeat.

A repeat that had happened quite a few times by now.

Aeon had jokingly called it "stamina training," a joke which sadly felt all too true considering how often the two huntresses had been fucked into unconsciousness.

And that's without mentioning what happened when Oedon brought out the BDSM gear…

Jill shuddered at the memories, her pussy moistening, before she shook her head.

She was trying to distract herself from what was really weighing on her mind: the incoming Raccoon City Outbreak.

It wouldn't be long now, only a few days, and then the streets of her birth city would be filled with shambling undead as far as even her enhanced eyes could see, much like they were in the simulations.

And whether the city lived or died would be determined partially by her actions during the coming days.

For a moment, she tried to imagine what would have happened if Aeon and the others weren't there to help, if Insight Corp. didn't exist, if she had been on her own in a city of the dead.

An old, faded memory, of a vision she had when she first became a Huntress, was brought to the forefront of her mind, of a mushroom cloud rising in the horizon while she sat in a helicopter, tired, bloody, beaten and having barely survived hell, a feeling of bitter failure in her throat, and she ruthlessly removed that image from her mind.

No, it won't go like that. She won't let it go like that.

The gods she had come to trust with her very life, heart, and soul will not let it happen like that.

"You've been staring at that wall for several minutes, you know." came a soft whisper over her right shoulder, muscled arms going around her waist and Aeon's broad chest pressing against her bare back as he knelt behind her due to how tall he was. His hands went to her taut stomach, which she had noticed in recent weeks became even more chiseled than usual due to her intense regime as a Huntress of the Dream.

She smiled, her blue eyes opening.

"I've been thinking of you." she replied.

"Good things, I hope?" he joked, before kissing her right shoulder.

"Hmm… You could say that."

She turned around, hugging Aeon close to her and letting her head rest on his left shoulder.

"Something tells me there's more than just me on your mind, though. What's bugging you?"

She huffed slightly, lips quirking upward.

"Did you read my mind?" she wondered.

"Natural empath. I can feel your emotions." he replied.

"Sounds useful."

"And you are stalling."

She sighed, closing her eyes and hugging him harder.

"I know, I know. It's… well, I can't help but worry."

"The outbreak, huh?"

She nodded. "What else?" she replied softly.

"You're worried all our preparations won't be enough."

"Yeah. I can't imagine what would have happened if you and the others weren't there… or rather, I can, and it's that outcome that scares me. The city falling to hordes of abominations… the military blowing up the city, leaving only a crater behind… 100,000 people dead, for no other crime other than being at the wrong place at the wrong time, where the madness of a few human monsters will end up spreading to the rest of the world. I owe you so much already, for your help at the Mansion, for telling me and the others what we were up against, for helping us all fight against Umbrella… even for the chance to be Huntresses, teaching us things that me and Rebecca couldn't have possibly dreamed of if not for you..."

"... yet you can't help but fear for the worst." he finished softly.

She felt a bit ashamed at that, knowing that she should have put more trust, more faith into the literal god in her arms… but she nodded anyway.

"Yes. I am."

Aeon sighed.

"Listen Jill, it's alright to be scared. It's alright to have doubts. The human mind has literally evolved to think that way, because it helps people stay alive by focusing and planning for anything that could go wrong. So don't feel guilty for not having complete trust, or faith, in us… in me."

"But-"

"Empath, remember? I felt that burst of shame."

She grunted. "Maybe it's not so useful after all…" she grumbled.

He snorted. "Nonsense. It helps make sure those around me are happy, and not suffering in silence. And speaking of which… look Jill, those feelings, they just aren't going to just go away. They won't go until it's all over, one way or another. Again, the human mind is built that way, whether we like it or not. But you know what? That's alright. Your fears are exactly that. Fears. Not facts. Not an absolute, unchangeable destiny. So do as you've always done whenever you go into a mission. Push back those fears, acknowledge them for what they are, useful only if they are helpful in coming up with ways of keeping you and those you care about alive, and then move on and do what you need to do despite those fears. No one is without fear, Jill. Not even me."

She chuckled. "Kinda seems that way, sometimes."

Or all the time, really. Even in his memories of Yharnam, he had hardly shown fear. Rage, determination, and many other things certainly, but fear? Not really.

And not once in his time by her side as she seen fear in him either.

He sighed. "To be honest, I was pretty much terrified throughout my entire stay in Yharnam."

She jerked back, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Wait, really?"

He scoffed. "Jill, I was stuck in a hellhole, where I could either go mad, turn into a bloodthirsty monster, or end up an eldritch god's puppet if I fucked up. And that's not including all the deaths and everything else I went through. I would have to be mad to not be terrified."

He paused.

"Well, even more mad than I already am." he joked.

She frowned. "But you hardly-"

"Jill." he interrupted her firmly. "I had no time to be scared in Yharnam. I had no time to do anything but keep moving, because I feared that, if I truly stopped… I would have broken. Did you really think that I never thought about just… staying in the Dream? By the side of the Doll, far away from the horrors lurking beyond? Of course I did. But I refused to give in. I knew it would just be running away, hiding from my issues… from everyone's problems. True freedom, true happiness… I could only claim it by fighting and killing, until there was nothing left to kill anymore. I sometimes make jokes about killing my nightmares… but it's because that's what I did."

He sighed, hugging her close.

"I fought and killed the beasts and madmen of Yharnam, and even gods that would see me as just a toy for their amusement, or would see me enslaved to their wills. I kept on fighting because there was no other choice. I knew that even death would be a mercy, compared to the fate that could await me if I failed. I was legitimately terrified… but I did not let that fear control or dominate me. Instead, I used it as motivation. I used it as yet another weapon in my arsenal, one that would see me through all my battles there. Fear, Jill, is a weapon. And it will always belong to either one of two kinds of people: you, or your enemies. I just refused to ever let it be used against me… until a time came when there was no one left who could do so."

Jill stayed silent, thinking deeply over everything that she had heard.

It surprised her to hear him, of all people, say such things… but maybe it shouldn't have been.

Courage wasn't the absence of fear, it was facing your fears head-on and pushing through anyway.

And who better to understand and embody that concept than the Good Hunter himself, who had stared down gods in the eyes without flinching?

"In other words, it's like a saying I heard once: Being an adult is all about making others think you know what you're doing, even when you really, really don't." he joked, utterly breaking the serious mood of the moment.

Jill snorted, smirking. "That explains a lot. So you've actually been flying by the seat of your pants all along, internally screaming in terror all this time? Just wait until I let Rebecca know!"

"Oh, are those fighting words I hear?" he chuckled throatily, sending pleasurable shivers down her spine. "Let's see if you can back them up then!"

Naturally, Aeon didn't waste time taking revenge for her sass.

By the time it was all said and done, Jill needed another shower, but if she gave a tight, grateful hug to Aeon before he left, well, that was only between the two of them to know about.

Same with the reason she hugged him tightly at night from then on, a peaceful expression on her face as she did so.