章 28: All I Want To Be
The Umbrella forces were split into 5 Groups. Each force would clear every section in one floor before moving down together. Carlos's team was tasked with protecting the steel cases with the Anti-B.O.W. weapon inside. The weapon was huge and needed to be assembled before it could be used. That was why they need to find the target first. After exploring for about 15 minutes, they finally reached the wrecked experiment hall, inside was much worse than what happened outside. If the corridor outside looked like a massacre scene, the inside was full-blown destruction. The flooring was filled with holes, huge and small, connecting to another floor under it. The glass chamber where the staff used to watch the experiment was painted red with blood. All of the equipment was trashed and unrecognizable. The only thing that left untouched was the glass capsule where the still dormant test subject. The perfected Nemesis.
"It seemed that our target took the express elevator and keep going down," said Gustav while investigating the holes on the floor. He continued, "Deckard, Rolan, take your team and get down through this hell hole and find as much as clue you could get of their whereabouts."
"Roger that, let's move!"
The two teams took out ropes from their backpack and got down one by one. They always readied their weapon in case of a sudden ambush.
"Gentlemen, resume the search!" said Gustav while motioning the command.
Carlos was observing the glass capsule in front of him. He was shocked at finding what the test subject actually is. Ben tapped his shoulder, waking him up from the horror he imagined in this hall.
"You okay?"
Ben was concerned with Carlos's well-being. He might be a rookie, but this guy still got a good heart. It was rare in the mercenary world where he lived that a good guy would still be a good guy after experiencing this world. Probably, it was just because he's still young.
"Yes, Sir. It's... okay," said Carlos, hesitating.
"Whatever you do, never talk about what you see in here. Do you know the rules, right?"
"Yes, I know, Sir."
Before joining Umbrella, every candidate was forced to sign an agreement or contract that disallowed them to leak any information or whatever was happening in their mission. Basically, everything that the Umbrella does was contained under a gag order.
The two teams that were ordered to go down into the hole found traces of blood and battles after they got out of the holes. They were connected into a corridor where the staff's office was placed. Deckard's and Rolan's team continued to follow the trace until they reached the bottom-most floor, into the circular hall that Edward was in.
This of course gains Edward's attention. The footsteps were echoing loudly in the almost empty hall that was only filled with stairs. Deckard contacted the other team's squad leader through his handheld transceiver.
"We found the target! It was on the missile silo!"
Edward that was under Stealth heard him. He silently cursed in his heart.
'What the fuck! Why they built this shit!?'
The missile silo was actually inactive and never used by Umbrella. The whole building was a military base that was left from World War 2 and was taken by Umbrella decades ago.
Deckard's and Rolan's team started fighting the Nemesis, but they were completely overwhelmed by the monster's capability. The multiple bombardments from their attack enraged the Nemesis. He switched its target from Edward to the two teams.
Gustav and the rest of the team leaders responded and hurriedly running to the location. They heard multiple screams, explosions, and gunshots being fired inside the circular hall. Upon rushing out, they were shocked by the scene once again. The two teams, that followed the trace into the hole arrived much earlier than them, around 5 minutes ago, were massacred by a single huge entity, resembling the one that was inside the capsule they saw on the experimental hall.
"Into position!" shouted Gustav. "Ben, prepare the cannon!"
They need to assemble all of the weapon parts inside the steel case. All in all, they need to hold the target for another 5 minutes until it could be used. For some, 5 minutes might be a short time, but for them, even if it was another second would feel like years.
The last Nemesis was ignoring them all this time and re-focusing its attack on the invisible Edward. If only they knew that they were safe to do whatever they want, they might have still lived to see the morning sun tomorrow.
"Shoot!"
With the command from Gustav, they started bombarding the monster with their assault rifle, the standard M16. At first, this Nemesis still ignored their attack since a Genma body was more resistant to a normal attack. However, the damage keeps piling up and annoyed him. With a simple whip of the tentacle, two men were separated in half.
Then it jumped, so high and arrived in the middle of the group. With his hands, he crushed their skull and snapped their neck. The situation, again, turned grim. Edward that was watching this from the sides took this chance to climb the circular stair on the wall to escape. However, he noticed one familiar name being shouted and halt his advance.
"Carlos! Assist the other team while we assemble the cannon!" shouted Ben while looking at the grim circumstance they were in.
"How long do you need to complete it?"
"In 3 minutes!"
However, both Ben and the watching Edward were pessimistic. One man was not enough to make any difference. Yet, they were proven wrong. Gustav's team was the last one that could still stand against the Nemesis. Carlos runs on the opposite side and started shooting with the rifles lying across the room. He ordered Gustav's team to stop their attack and just stick on evading the tentacles.
Finally, the Nemesis changed its target toward Carlos. Although the monster was strong and agile, he took advantage of his smaller body to move around the huge hall.
Two minutes passed just like that, but Carlos was almost on the edge of his limit. Gustav noticed it and ordered his team to continue bombarding the Nemesis. Carlos could finally take a breath and rest for a moment.
However, unlike Carlos, Gustav's team couldn't fare better. One by one, they were taken out. Head rolls, limbs flew, bodies fell. Gustav was enraged, he threw the empty gun and dashed with a Kukri knife on his right hand, but before he could take a swing, a tentacle came out from the floor and pierced his lung, stopping him in place. Gustav died and his body fell on the ground after the tentacle released him.
Carlos and Ben's team were shocked but they still continued to resist their terrified hearts. The Nemesis looked at Carlos and walked toward him with a tentacle squirming on his right hand.
Bang!
A shot was heard and the Nemesis staggered with his shoulder punctured, but it wasn't from them.
Bang! Kacha. Bang! Kacha.
Another shot was fired, it was from the top of the stair. The Nemesis's head got drilled with holes and forced him to kneel, but it still persisting on trying to stand up. Meanwhile, the Anti-B.O.W. Cannon was completed. It was 5 meters long and 2 meters high. Big enough to cover the whole Nemesis in it. Two energy cells, the size of half an adult was connected to the cannon.
"Charge!"
The cannon started charging for energy in 5 seconds and shot the first beam attack.
"Fire!!"
Whiiingg!!
A red and white beam combusted the Nemesis body and turning his whole upper body into dust. Moreover, the immense force penetrated the silo's wall and making a big hole. The whole building was shaking. Edward continued his escape while the stair keeps shaking on. Carlos watched as Edward's figure getting smaller and vanished once again like a haze. He would never forget that small blue figure.
"Recharge!"
The Cannon prepared for another shot and with this last shot, it devours what was left from his body. With this, the mission was completed. Although four squads of 6 people must be sacrificed. Carlos looked at Gustav's body.
"Rest in Peace, old man."
____________________________________________________
I finally got out of that damn place. This will be the last time I ever touched my feet on Umbrella's facility. Not only my visit was unpleasant, I almost lost my dear life. At least, I got my objective in my hand, which is nice. I looked at the peculiar disk on my hand, making sure it was there and put it back into the pocket.
[May I ask you a question, Sir?]
"Go on," I replied while walking out of the facility's ground.
[Why would you do it? Why would you risk yourself to find those data? Isn't it better to just ignore it and walk away? It wasn't your responsibility anyway.]
I chuckled at her question. It's not that it was laughable, but it was because the answer was simple.
"I was a bit annoyed. Not at them, but to myself." I paused for a while and continued, "back then, you saw how helpless I was while holding my parents' body, right?"
[...]
Regina didn't seem to say anything, so I just continued.
"Before the tragedy that took my parents away, my life was perfect. We moved here and there, yes, but I could still call it perfect. No responsibilities, being spoiled, the only thing I was scared off was getting scolded for not eating my vegetable. I don't even know what the word "threat" means. And after finding out I got the power to fight bad men, and survive in this world, I was ecstatic and unbeatable. But, after I got thrown into the past, on that night, I finally know what the true feeling of helplessness means."
I watched the roaming security guard and ran pass them before climbing the rooftops.
"I had the power to fight those men. I got the power to finally save them. However, it was all too late. No matter how powerful you are, or how perfect your reincarnation system is, it was useless if the one you wanted to save and protect was already gone."
I watched the passing military trucks carrying the survivors of the Paris disaster. Most were children. It seemed they got away because their parents hid them away.
"The role suddenly changed on that night. Instead of a savior, I just become a passerby." I stopped at the edge of the building and looked at the blinking stars. "I don't want to feel it again. I don't want to be a hero with my name being chanted all over the world. I don't want the richness and money this world would offer me. Not even the beauties that scattered all over the world ready to triumph."
I took a leap and jumped across the street on to the next building. I keep running and leaping without stopping until I reached the hospital's ground. There I saw Chris helping the children I came across earlier getting down from the trucks. His face was bright, soothing the children's heart.
"I just want to be happy."
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