Resident Evil Rebirth Ch. 01

Too late she realised just how many bullets she'd used to kill the technicians and as she looked up, there was just enough time for her to catch the smile was turning his lips up before the burning heat of two heavy calibre rounds slammed into her heart.

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Wesker watched the Alice clone die with great satisfaction, it felt good to cut lose after four years of wearing the tight fitting suit of an executive. While there were many rewards to be the chairman of the world's largest commercial entity, nothing could compare to the thrill of the firing line. And the knowledge that he had so easily vanquished a dangerous enemy made the moment all the sweater.

Kicking aside a technician's bloody corpse, he was about to take his leave when a long burst of automatic gunfire suddenly rang out, drawing his attention to one of the other hubs. It was the one upon which the other Alice clone had landed and to Wesker's disgust, she appeared to be having no problem taking out the men stationed there.

"Incompetent morons!" He growled as one of the technicians lost a perfectly good kill shot because he'd forgotten to take the safety off his pistol, and then was promptly shoot by one of his colleagues who seemed to forgotten the entire concept of aiming. "Must I do everything myself?" Before he could solve the problem, a low rustle of movement drew his attention back to the Corpses on the floor. To his amazement, the Alice clone was still moving.

There was little life left inside of her, with every second more and more of her life's blood was bled away and Wesker guessed she might have another minute or so before death took her completely. It would be merely a waist of a good bullet to shoot her again, but as he looked down on the crumpled form lying face down before him, he couldn't resist the urge to make her last moments as terrible as possible.

Crossing over to his adversary with long, quick strides, he approached her much the way a blood lusting predator would advance upon its dying prey and took no small pleasure from kicking her hard before using the heel of his boot to roll the body over. However it seemed the clone was not as dead as he first thought, wide awake she looked up at him with furious eyes that seemed to be looking past his shaded glasses and boring into his very soul.

"Fuck you." Gama whispered, her voice faltering under the effort to speak as blood touched her lips. Her passion pleased Wesker, he would enjoy making her cry out and beg for mercy before he made her drown in whatever was left of her blood. Something metallic fell to the ground with a dull ring and curious; he looked down and saw two incendiary grenades lying on the floor, the pins removed and detonators ticking.

The sight of the active bombs caused Wesker's grin to vanish and he turned and ran for his life. His heavy boots squelching through the thick soup of blood end entrails as he made the life or death dash across the hub, his immense bulk aligning with an impossible grace as he dived over the balcony, just a second too late.

With a deafening roar, the grenades exploded and an all-consuming cascade of fire and shrapnel swallowed up Gama's body and burnt her remains to cinders. A blinding flash followed as the blast of white hot flame tore the station apart and engulfed the flying CEO, only by the sheerest dumb luck did he sail over the threshold before the fiery wrath could completely consume him; landing with a heavy thud on the walkway below.

Struggling to his feet, Wesker winced as a savage pain shot through his leg and looking down, he saw that it had been horribly mangled by the blast. Broken and twisted beyond all recognition, Wesker had to force himself to move and he hobbled pathetically down the walkway, the echoing gunfire only adding wings to his flight.

Without a doubt, this was the most embarrassing moment of Wesker's life. Forced to flee his own high-tech fortress by an insubordinate scientist's cloned experiment, it was intolerable and he began to wish he'd never heard the notion of Project ALICE. Forcing himself to look his humiliation, he continued on yet his mind was so absorbed by this injustice that he seemed not to notice the way his bones were miraculously reknitting themselves so that he walked a little easier with every step.

Nearing gun shots rang out like a chorus of thunder in the passages but Wesker was walking like a young man again by then and scurrying through the labyrinth with ease. Thankfully his way was clear, with every remaining member of the facility busy fighting for their lives against the invading clones in the atrium; he would be saved the dirty business of having to kill his own men. Retracing the steps he knew would take him along the fastest route to the hanger, a confident smile lit up his handsome features when the electric doors before him opened up to reveal an immense chamber that's ceiling reached up all the way to the surface.

All around him, V-22 Osprey VTOL Helicopters sat, fully fuelled and waiting to be manned yet Wesker walked past them all without the slightest recognition, his gaze fixed instead on a steel door that was marked in big blood red letters, 'Private! Authorised Personnel only.' Placing a large hand on the biometric handprint scanner that had been mounted on the wall next to the door, causing the walls to shudder as the interred mechanisms recognised his genetic markers and activated the door, revealing a darkened subterranean passage.

The passage resembled something out of a 1930s horror movie. The walls were untreated stone, rough and uneven under touch with edges sharp enough to cut through Kevlar. The air was fresh but also thick and it carried a cold morning breeze. And it was dark, very dark. With no instruments or technology fitted to light it, the tunnel was as wickedly black as the darkest ocean depths. Yet Wesker moved through it confidently, knowing rather than seeing his way through the gloom until finally he emerged in a well-lit cavern that was almost as large as the V-22s' hanger.

This was the hanger of Wesker's own personal aircraft, an immense flying wing stealth bomber that had been based on the design of a B-2 Spirit and then customized with JATO rockets and an AI unit that would serve the duties of a flight crew when activated. It was the most advanced aircraft in the world and set on top of a catapulted ramp that would launch it into a shaft to the surface, it was just waiting for him to make his escape.

Squinting against the sudden brightness of the overhanging florescent lights, he stepped into the hanger but no sooner had he done so than a figure suddenly stepped from the shadows. Acting on impulse, he raised his gun and was about to fire when he recognised it as being Excella Gionne.

"Thank God you made it Albert." She said coolly, apparently unfazed by the gun pointing at her as she stepped completely out of the shadows. Although a little dishevelled, she appeared uninjured and carried herself with that unflinching air of confidence as she approached him. In one hand she was carrying a 9mm berretta, in the other a silver carrying case containing the latest version of the T-virus. The sight of the case brought a smile to Wesker's lips, but Excella, believing it to be a sign of his affections, made the mistake of dropping it as she broke into a run before throwing her arms around him; crushing her voluptuous body against his as she held him in a tight embrace.

It was a tender moment and she was surprised when he didn't respond with the affection he had before. Instead he just stood still in her arms and after a moment; Excella looked up at him with wide tearful eyes. To her displeasure, he appeared unmoved by her show of emotion and only looked down at her with a smouldering disdain, then she felt the immense weight pushing against her lower abdomen and looked down just in time to see the barrel of his Desert Eagle angling towards her heart. "Albert?"

When the gun fired, the bullet slammed into her with all the force of an avalanche and she practically feel the lead round ripping a its way through her chest before obliterating her heart and exploding out her back in a bloody mist. There was only one pain after that and as the world began to darken, she asked "Why?"

Wesker didn't care for her sentiment and as she collapsed, he walked past without a second look. Holstering both Eagles, he scooped up the case and ran up the bomber's cargo bay ramp as a flurry of approaching voices echoed through the rocky passage. Immediately heading for the cockpit, he dashed through the cargo dock without so much as a perusing eye. Setting the sealed box down beside him as he got into the pilot's chair, he had just enough time to remotely seal the ramp before what was left of the Alice clones came running into the hanger with sub-machine gun's blazing.

Smirking triumphantly as the bullets bounced harmlessly off the plane's armour plating, Wesker ignited the engines and began the take-off procedure. The JATO rockets firing to life in an explosive inferno that turned the very rock face to crystal and he had just enough time to give the clones a jaunty salute through the cockpit's windows before pulling back on the controls to let the catapult launch the plane. The force of the take-off threw Wesker back into his seat and he could feel his teeth grating together as the bomber ran the length of the ramp before being launched into the near vertical shaft that had been especially designed for the bomber's ascension.

Exploding through the still opening blast doors, the slick plane lifted high above the ruins of Tokyo before levelling out as it set a course west. Letting the AI take over the piloting, a jubilant Wesker reached into his jacket's inner breast pocket and pulled out a remote. It was only a tiny device, considerably smaller than the palm of his hand, yet he had ensured it was kept it on his person at all times. This was the true power of an Umbrella chairman and with a flick of his thumb, he sieved through the available options until finally coming to his desired menu; 'PURGE FACILITY'.

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Watching as their primary target disappeared into the tunnel; the clones let their weapons drop. This battle was over, but they'd far from lost the war. All the major Umbrella bases had been destroyed; there were only a handful of facilities Wesker could run to, he wouldn't elude them for long.

A loud click suddenly cut through the silence, making the clones turn their heads to where a large box red and white painted box had been mounted on a nearby wall. The word 'Purge' had been stamped across it in big read letters and the Umbrella logo had been embossed just above a digital timer that was rapidly counting down.

00.10...00.09...00.08....00.07...

"Move!" one of the clones cried, but it was already too late. Trying to get a head start over the bomb some made a run for it while the others tried desperately to open the box.

00.06...00.05...00.04...00.03...

Slamming the butt of their guns against the locks while some tried prying at its edges with their fingers, the clones tied everything in their power to disable the device until finally the lid crumpled. Throwing the shattered covering across the hanger, they found that the wall mounted box contained a battlefield nuclear device.

00.02...00.01...00.00

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Flying high above the clouds, Wesker watched in delight as a second sun suddenly consumed the once vibrant and fertile city of Tokyo. The wakening sky turning a bright white as the pale blue inferno reached up into the heavens and dashed away all that had ever stood there. High winds of fire and gas tossed broken metal into the sky and the shock of the expanding dome struck the bomber like thunder, the control panel shaking violently until it rose too high for the blast too touch.

At this altitude, the night sky twinkled as the pre-dawn light turned its reaches a shade of pale lavender and Wesker was at last able to relax. Sinking back into the pilot's chair, he let out a shallow breath as his eyes fell closed behind the shades. It had been a long night and now he wanted to rest, even with the use of this magnificent plane it still take half a day to reach his new headquarters, his Arcadia.

In the rear of the plane, a shadow emerged from some darkened confine and the figure of a woman came forward. Dressed in the same Lycra bodysuit as the clones, she moved as silently as coming death and crept up behind Wesker without making a sound before firmly pressing the muzzle of a USP-9 against his temple.

"Any last words?" Alice asked, her voice becoming very cold as she looked down upon him with the merciless, unflinching gaze of a predator. At last the moment she had longed for had come, now was the moment she would avenge all those she had loved and lost, all those who had given their lives to stop Umbrella. She intended to enjoy it...

Irritated by the interruption, Wesker reached beneath an instrument panel to remove something before suddenly lurching out of the chair. Moving faster than any human should have been able to; he came around with one hand clasping something sharp and made to stab her neck. Thinking he had a knife, she tried to retreat but the pilot's chamber was too small for her to move freely and he jammed the weapon home before she could defend herself.

A jolt of pain shot through her as the unusually long blade cut her deeper than any knife should, but strangely that was the only pain she felt as she staggered back. Wesker made no move to stop her; In fact he seemed to enjoy watching her as she pulled the weapon out of her neck to find that it wasn't a knife. It was a stainless steel syringe.

Shocked and confused, she glared at her nemesis questioningly. Then suddenly she dropped the needle as a look of intense agony spread across her features. It was as if a fire had been set in her flesh, its deadly heat boiling her blood and dissolving her organs.

"How nice it is to finally meet the real Project Alice." Wesker said before moving to stand over her crumpled body, his eyes twinkling with merrily behind the shaded glasses as he took in the pained expression. "Hurts, doesn't it. Well I'm afraid that is only the beginning. As we speak micro-organisms are coursing through your blood stream and neutralising T-cells. So pretty soon all those powers of yours...speed...strength...accelerated healing. Well you kiss all that good bye. Put simply the Umbrella Corporation is taking back its property. I'm afraid you just didn't work out." He sniggered at the notion, clearly enjoying his opportunity to play god. "So you're being recalled."

His words flamed her anger and caused some of the pain to dissipate as she used the last of her strength to raise the USP-9. However it was much heavier than she remembered and Wesker, not willing to give her another chance, had snapped a kick into her chest before she could even bring the gun to bear. Knocked back by the incredible power of his attack, her body did a flurry of reverse summersaults as she was thrown out the cockpit and sent flying across the cargo bay before finally slamming into the air locked door and crumpling to the floor.

Dipping in and out of consciousness, she could only just muster the willpower to lift her head as Wesker came forward, his hand dipping out of sight as he reached for one of his eagles.

"What are you?" She asked in a voice that was little more than a whisper. Something was horribly wrong here, even when she had been human, Alice had been better than most and not even the Nemesis Project had been able to land a blow quite like the one Wesker had just dealt her, no human could.

"Me? Why I am what you use to be." He proclaimed, stepping into the cargo bay with his gleaming weapon drawn. His heavy footfalls echoing as he walked unhurriedly towards the fallen woman, aiming the heavy pistol between her eyes. "...Only I'm better."

Believing it to be over, Wesker paid no mind to anything other than the kill that was to come, yet Alice saw all and despite the immediate danger, she couldn't help looking past Wesker and smiling as she saw the flash of movement.

Standing over the helpless Alice, about to deliver the coup de grace, Wesker felt rather than heard the presence behind him and swinging around, he just had enough time to witness the flash of steel. Rear back, he tried to dodge the blow but the attacker was too close and instead the razor sharp blade swooped down and sliced the gun's thick barrel in two. Jumping away from his mystery assailant, he had just enough time to glance down and see that his weapon had been reduced to scrap before looking up and finding to his immense surprise that it was another Alice clone.

"Hhmmm...so it's just another one of your clones." He observed, his lips twitching into a smile as he dropped the remnants of his pistol. "I must say, you are something of a weed. As soon as I cut one of you down, another comes along to take her place; how amusing."

Not so amused, the clone leapt forward without warning, her Katana cutting a silver arc through the low light as she went at Wesker full throttle. However, the Umbrella Chairman was unfazed by her show of tenacity and stepped aside just as the blade was about to strike his cold flesh. Swinging around, the clone attacked again and again Wesker dodged it, rolling under the steel's reach as he grabbed his second Desert Eagle from its holster. When he came up, the weapon was out but she was already moving, her sword reaching out in a cut that caught the gun across the hook of its trigger guard.

The impact knocked Wesker's aim and when he fired, the bullet merely grazed her check so that a narrow cut oozed gouts of blood in its wake as for a single moment they were locked together. And then Wesker barged forward, using his weight advantage to throw her back. She stumbled, her leather boots slipping on the smooth metal floor while he recovered and took aim. Just catching herself before she fell, the clone cast her gaze around in time to glimpse Wesker smirking as he prepared to fire. With no time to think, she spun on her heel and made a frantic dash to the nearest wall. Gathering momentum, she leapt forward and literally began running up the wall. Pushing up with every step, she seemed able to defy gravity as she ran up and along smooth surface.

In the confined space of the cargo bay, the gunshot rang out as a deafening roar and her arm jerked violently when the bullet hammered against her. Strangely there was no pain, but the force of the impact made her lose balance and jump. Despite the hurried leap, she tumbled head over heels and landed nimbly with a jaguar's grace before Wesker, her arms raised as she aligned the sword in a guard, only to find that the uppermost half of the blade had been shot off to leave her with little more than a ragged stump of ineptly proportioned metal. In this state, the Katana would be of less use to her than a butter knife.

Smirking as he saw the state of her weapon, Wesker levelled the gun at the clone. In truth there was still a danger from this one, with a second sword sheathed across her back and her powers still active, she would pose a moderate threat had he not had her in his sights. However, as it was she would never have time to draw the weapon, let alone attack him with it, before he emptied the clip into her. This fight was over.

Only she was of a different opinion. With superhuman speed, the clone hefted what remained of the Katana and hurled it at Wesker, inept, stumped blade first. Surprised but still faster than the eye could see, he lashed out and swatted the sword aside with a swipe of his hand but in that single instant, when his attention was divided, she acted. Rushing forward so quickly she verged on becoming a blur, she attacked with a roundhouse kick that should have cracked his skull back, had Wesker not seen the coming danger at the last possible instant. His iron hard fist slammed against her side, cracking several of her ribs as he twisted around her blow and then stepped through with an upper cut that sent the clone reeling. Grabbing her Lycra collar, he ended the skirmish by throwing her over his collar and across the bay.