RE - Chapter 342: Sneak Attack. We Don’t Play Fair (Patreon)

Three days later, at the temporary operations center in Africa.

“...And we need to prevent any attempt at self-destruction.”

“Right. That part is essential.”

As everyone continued discussing the plan, a call request suddenly popped up on a nearby computer.

Jill, who was closest, accepted it, and Grace Rowan’s face appeared on the screen.

“Hey, how’s the planning going?”

“Pretty well. Got something for us?”

“Satellite imagery from the Chinese side shows Wesker leaving the freighter by helicopter at around three this afternoon.”

Alan confirmed again, “The intel’s solid? Firsthand?”

“Relax, Boss. I was messaging them just a minute ago.”

Alan nodded, then turned his attention to the nautical chart spread across the table.

“Jill, give me the freighter’s current coordinates.”

“Got it...”

Jill read out the latitude and longitude, and moments later, a pin was placed over the freighter’s position.

For a brief moment, the entire operations center fell silent.

Alan looked around at everyone and slowly spoke.

“Wesker has left the freighter. This is the only opportunity we have to take the ship. Our window is roughly twelve hours.”

“We’ll launch a helicopter assault under cover of darkness. Wesker spent several days aboard that ship. You all know what that implies.”

As soon as Leon finished, Chris added, “Kill on sight.”

“Exactly. The moment we land, anyone who isn’t one of us gets shot. No hesitation.”

Alan smiled slightly before adding, “This operation is completely classified, and everyone participating is one of our own. So we don’t have to worry about anyone getting soft.”

He picked up the handgun on the table and slid it into his holster.

“Load up. Remember the objectives. Take control of the freighter and recover anything that can be used against Wesker. If we can’t bring it back, destroy it. Understood?”

“Understood!” they replied in unison.

“Then I’ll see you on the helicopters.”

...

Night fell, but the ocean remained restless.

The waves gradually flattened, only for faint ripples to suddenly race across the surface.

Their frequency rapidly increased until the entire sea below was churning with spray.

The next instant, two dark shapes tore across the sky, their shadows sweeping over the ocean and sending the water below into violent turbulence.

“Confirm transponder off. Radar warning receiver off. Altitude thirty meters above sea level.”

“Copy. Transponder off. Radar warning receiver off. Confirming twenty-five meters above the water.”

Alan raised his wrist.

The luminous second hand of his watch slowly ticked forward.

“Time, 2:13 a.m.”

Leon studied the nautical chart on his laptop.

“Three nautical miles to target. Final approach. Check your gear.”

The cabin immediately filled with intermittent clicks and clacks as everyone inspected their weapons and equipment.

Sea spray and cold wind poured through the open doors, instantly sharpening everyone’s senses.

“Ready to have some fun?”

Alan raised his left fist.

Leon immediately bumped it with his own.

Alan turned toward him.

“I’ve been waiting for this.”

“Five hundred meters to target!”

Alan and Leon looked toward the dimly lit deck ahead.

Only the navigation lights along either side of the freighter blinked through the darkness.

“Sheva, Jill, cover us while we rappel.”

“We’ll get you down safely.”

Alan tilted his head slightly.

“Appreciate it.”

The helicopter stabilized.

Alan kicked the rope out, grabbed hold with both hands, and immediately descended.

Leon and Chris followed right behind him.

“INCOMING!!”

“HELICOPTERS! GET THE RPG!!”

Gunfire instantly shattered the silence of the night.

Muzzle flashes erupted all across the deck.

Bullets hammered into the helicopter’s armor with a deafening metallic clatter.

Jill and Sheva repeatedly leaned out from the cabin, returning fire at every muzzle flash they spotted.

Before long, the cabin filled with gunsmoke.

Spent casings flew from the ejection ports, trailing wisps of white smoke before striking the floor with sharp metallic pings.

While the enemy was pinned down, Alan, Leon, and Chris hit the deck and immediately opened fire on the guards.

Bullets tore through flesh.

Blood, chunks of meat, and splinters of bone sprayed from exit wounds.

Screams rang out one after another, while the heavy thuds of bodies hitting the deck almost disappeared beneath the gunfire.

“RPG!!”

Leon immediately leaned right.

A man holding a rocket launcher had already aimed directly at the helicopter.

Leon snapped his rifle up and fired, but the round only grazed the man and struck the cabin door behind him.

It wasn’t because Leon had missed.

Someone else had gotten him first.

“Is that how I taught you? On a battlefield, you keep your eyes moving and watch your surroundings.”

Leon spun around, shot down a guard in front of him, then ducked behind nearby cover.

Only then did he have time to look back.

“Krauser? After spending all that time as a bodyguard, you can still handle this?”

“Ha! Save that line for yourself, rookie!”

With that, Krauser rushed ahead to support Alan.

Leon watched him go with both amusement and competitive fire in his eyes.

He shook his head.

“Don’t throw your back out, old instructor.”

Then Leon glanced at Price coming up behind him.

Their eyes met for a moment before the two advanced together.

“Ugh...!”

A bullet punched through a guard’s skull, dropping him before he could even scream.

“Hostiles in the bridge above us!”

“...Watch out for falling objects~”

The pilot’s teasing voice came over the headset.

A second later, the machine guns mounted on both sides of the helicopter opened fire.

Streams of rounds tore through the bridge windows, shredding the glass almost instantly.

Spent casings rained down from above, ringing loudly against the deck.

Sparks flashed inside the bridge.

Broken glass and bodies occasionally came tumbling down as well, forcing Alan and the others to move back out of the way.

“Damn, nice shooting!”

Soap put an extra round into a body on the ground, then grinned at Alan up ahead.

“Hey, you got darker.”

“Fuck off. Of all things to bring up right now. Stick to the plan.”

“Whatever you say, Boss.”

Ghost immediately led Soap, Roach, and Jill to the hatch ahead.

They opened it and began pushing toward the bridge.

Alan led the others toward the access point to the lower decks on the opposite side.

He first checked the stairwell to make sure no guards were holding an angle from below.

After confirming there was no obvious threat, he looked toward the other side.

“Kyle? You came too?”

“Things sounded way too lively. I’d regret missing this.”

Alan raised an eyebrow.

This particular kind of excitement could get someone killed.

“We’re moving into the lower decks. Krauser, Kyle, Sheva, secure the second level. Leon, Chris, and I will take the first. Report immediately if anything happens.”

“Understood!” they replied in unison.

Just before entering the freighter, Alan looked back at the helicopters lifting away to provide overwatch.

“All right.”

He turned forward.

“Let’s move!”