Autumn, 2004.
Six years was long enough for most people to forget a disaster, and long enough for a seed to grow into a towering tree.
On the Colorado border, a sprawling establishment called "Kendo Outdoor Adventure & Tactical Supply" was doing brisk business. On the surface, it sold the finest hunting gear and off-road vehicle modifications in America. Underground, its warehouses moved enough arms to equip a small nation, and served as Star Fire's most critical logistics hub.
Inside the range, gunfire hammered without pause.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A blonde girl in shooting glasses held a heavily modified AR-15 rock-steady in both hands, burning through three magazines in under ten seconds and putting precise headshots on every moving target downrange.
"Sherry, your reaction time was half a second slow."
Next to her, a girl with short black hair and a cool, composed air loaded a pistol with practiced hands and pointed out the flaw without mercy.
"Becky, your standards are insane! Uncle Kendo said my tactical sequence was good, you know!" Sherry Birkin, eighteen years old, pulled off her shooting glasses and shook out her blonde hair with an irritated huff.
"If Uncle Ryan were here, he'd say those moves would've gotten you killed three times over." Becky raised her pistol, didn't bother to look, and shattered three clay targets mid-air with three shots.
The two girls who had once walked through the hell of Raccoon City had grown into young women. Under Ryan's arrangements, they'd received a top-tier education and been put through rotating training by Carlos and Jill until they'd developed serious tactical skill. After the session, they headed deeper into the base.
Passing the lab, Becky glanced inside. "Aunt Annette's recruiting again?"
Sherry nodded. "Two biologists came in last week, supposedly from Europe. Dr. Bard was thrilled. Said he finally had people to help share the load on the T-Veronica virus research."
"This base keeps getting more crowded." Becky shook her head. "When we first got here, it was just us. Now the research division alone has what, over two hundred people?"
"Yeah, and that's not counting the company. Just the base." Sherry ticked off her fingers. "Medical's got a few dozen military doctors, comms has twenty or thirty technicians, Uncle Kendo and Uncle Marvin have a dozen apprentices between them. And Uncle Carlos's combat forces have expanded to over five thousand, I heard."
Sherry stuck out her tongue. "What's Uncle Ryan planning? A coup?"
Becky smiled but said nothing.
They stepped into the elevator and descended further underground.
The glass door to the control room swung open and Jill walked in, wearing a fitted black tactical suit. The years had stripped away her earlier rawness and left something sharper in its place, a calm authority in her eyes.
"Aunt Jill!" Sherry ran over immediately.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Call me 'sis.'" Jill rapped Sherry on the head with a smile, then her expression turned serious. "Get your things together and head to the underground base. Ryan's waiting for us."
...
The core briefing room of the underground base.
Ryan sat in a leather swivel chair with a cup of coffee. Six years had tempered him into something quieter, more contained. If he wasn't actively projecting, he looked like an ordinary rich kid. But anyone who truly knew him understood what kind of monster lay beneath that calm exterior.
Jill pushed the door open and tossed a classified file onto the table.
"Priority intel from Ben and Katherine in Washington." She pulled out a chair and sat, her expression odd. "The President's daughter, Ashley Graham, was kidnapped on her way home from school."
Ryan's coffee hand paused for a fraction of a second, then he set the cup down.
- The President's daughter, kidnapped.
Resident Evil 4's storyline had finally begun.
"Any leads on the kidnappers?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"Official intelligence puts her last known location at a remote village in Europe." Jill pulled up a map on the big screen. A red marker sat in a mountainous region inside Spain. "The government's keeping it under wraps. No military deployment. They sent their top agent in solo to investigate."
"Leon?" Ryan smiled.
"Our old friend." Jill let a grin slip through. "He's the golden boy now, right at the President's side."
Ryan stood and walked to the screen, studying the red dot in Spain.
Las Plagas parasites. Saddler's cult. Ada lurking in the shadows. And Wesker, still hunting for any chance to turn the tables.
"Are we going to help Leon?" Jill raised an eyebrow.
"That kid's got nine lives. He doesn't need us worrying about him." Ryan walked over to Jill and straightened her collar, the corner of his mouth lifting. "We're going to Spain to harvest."
"Six years sitting still. Time I stretched my legs. Tell the research division to prep for incoming parasite samples."
He paused and looked at her. "Annette and Bard's G-Virus neutralization research has hit a wall. The laser separation tech and the Amber are the key to completing the final piece of the puzzle. Get Carlos on the line, have him take Shadow Force's best to..."
Bang!
The briefing room's glass door flew open, cutting him off.
Sherry and Becky stood in the doorway. Sherry was still holding two cups of hot coffee she'd been bringing in, but her eyes were locked on Leon's name and the photos of those creatures on the big screen.
"Uncle Ryan, is Uncle Leon in trouble?" She strode in and set the coffee down hard on the table. "We're going on this mission too!"
Becky followed close behind, her gaze cool but immovable. "Uncle Ryan, we heard everything outside. Shadow Force is too conspicuous. They'll spook the target. Sherry and I can go in as an infiltration team and support Leon's operation."
Ryan frowned, looking at the two girls he'd watched grow up. "Don't be ridiculous. That's a cult stronghold in Spain. The villagers are parasite-controlled. They don't feel pain, they don't fear death. This isn't a training sim back at base."
"We're not going to train. We're going to fight." Sherry met his eyes without flinching. "Six years ago in Raccoon City, you and Uncle Leon risked your lives to pull me out. Now he's out there alone, and I'm not going to sit here pretending I don't see it. Besides, Uncle Carlos said last month that our tactical scores already beat active-duty elite operators."
"Scores on paper and bullets in the field are two different things..."
"Let them go." Jill spoke up.
Ryan turned to her. Jill reached over and pressed her hand against his wrist, her gaze warm but firm as she looked at the two girls. "Ryan, you can't keep them in a greenhouse forever. They're kids who crawled out of hell. Star Fire's future has to pass to them sooner or later. Leon's in the open on this one, Carlos in the dark. It's the best proving ground they'll get."
Ryan was silent. He looked at the silver rabbit pendant hanging from Sherry's neck, then at the stubborn set of Becky's jaw, and finally let out a resigned sigh.
"Fine." He stood, but held up a hand. "Rules. Once you're on the ground, no going off on your own, no playing hero. You can't handle that, you come straight home."
"Understood!" The two girls exchanged a glance, barely suppressing their excitement.
"You're not coming?" Ryan looked at Jill.
"A few of our intelligence lines in Europe and the Middle East have been probing us lately. I need to hold down headquarters." She smiled and reached up to straighten the collar of his coat. "And the humidity over there is murder on my old injuries. Think of it as a vacation. Just... keep an eye on those two."
"Count on it." Ryan turned and walked toward the door. "Helipad in thirty minutes. We move."
"Should we notify Ada?"
He thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No need. She'll come on her own."
"How do you know?"
Ryan smiled but didn't answer directly. "Come on. Let's go see if this so-called 'Los Iluminados' can take a punch."