The Resident Eviloves : Connections (Lady Dimitrescu - Resident Evil)

Chapter 11 - The Big Sister

After the mission to recover Dr. Gleen Shepard alive failed due to an unexpected intervention by the Connections, Chris Redfield and the other members of Hound Wolf Squad returned to the United States to report on the failure of the mission, but also tried to learn more about the importance that the doctor Shepard could have for the terrorist organization and how they could have guessed the intentions of the elite squad.

In a private underground parking lot, located just below the BSAA's main operations center on American soil, Canine and Tundra, this time dressed in civilian clothes and not their soldiers' uniforms, waited patiently next to a parked black van. Meanwhile, Night Howl, Lobo and Umber Eyes, also in civilian clothes, had gone to buy food.

Canine lit a cigarette and offered it to Tundra who silently declined. Then finally, the elevator opened and Chris got out and walked towards his teammates. His clouded and frustrated expression let others guess bad news.

_"I tried to find out more." said Chris. "Apparently Dr. Shepard has a daughter, Emily, and she's the one the Connections are now tracking. The problem is, her current whereabouts are unknown, as is the mutant Heisenberg."

_"What about the Connections attack on us in Oakville?" Canine asked. "How could they have known that we would be there, at this precise moment? You're not going to tell me that's normal."

Tundra agreed with his partner's opinion. Chris understood their desire for an answer on this subject because he too felt it, but did not show great enthusiasm for what he was going to tell them.

_"I talked to Director Marshall about it." said Redfield darkly. "I told him of my suspicions regarding a possible traitor in our ranks who could secretely inform our enemy on our missions."

_"And I imagine that he took it badly." Tundra said then.

_"Of course, what did you expect?" replied Chris looking at her. "For him, it is unthinkable that an agent of the BSAA could act in this way... What a moron! It's been several times that the Connections have run over us, as if they knew the least of our plans in advance. For me, it's no coincidence. Someone wants to keep us from seeing clearly, and I intend to find out who and why."

_"So... does that mean the BSAA won't help us with this mission?" Canine asked.

Chris looked at him with a twinkle of determination in his eye, refusing to give up.

_"We will do without them." Chris affirmed to the others. "I will bear the consequences myself. I refuse to sit idly by while the world continues to burn. When the rest of the team returns, we leave immediately."

_"To go where?" Tundra asked.

Chris didn't answer right away, as he approached the van and took something from the pocket of his black coat. Something that belonged to a past that seemed so far away to him now. In the palm of his hand, his thoughtful gaze fell on an old, battered police badge, bearing an inscription: STARS.

_"It's time for me to go see a good friend of mine." Chris replied calmly.

**********

Still trapped in her flawless glass cage, Bela Dimitrescu had never felt so powerless in the face of a situation. Freed from the metal bracelets that bound her hands behind her back, the young witch was free to move about the few miserable meters that made up the thick glass block that served as her cell. However, she was not in possession of her powers because a metallic and technologically advanced ring had been put around her neck against her will. This device deprived her of her mutant abilities, such as being able to transform into a swarm which would have allowed her to easily escape. Moreover, she felt strangely weakened physically, as if this ring continually injected her with a substance that kept her in a stable permanent state of fatigue, leaving her with just enough strength to walk and stay awake, but certainly not to be able to defend herself.