"No, Jim, you are not, we are just in a bit of a disagreement." Answered him Natalie, only to be shut down by the man beside her.
"A bit of a disagreement? I think that this is a bit more than that" the man said, his voice raised.
"Should I just leave?" Jin asked, thinking, 'I don't want to be a part of this.'
"No, no need to leave, Nat already told me about you, please give us your opinion." Said the black-haired man.
"Okay, what's the issue?" Jin asked, rolling his eyes beneath the mask.
"Nat thinks that we should wait for a better opportunity, that everything is going too fast, especially since even the two of you were struck by Genesis…"
"But I think this is the only time we have to strike. We need to get weapons. Genesis is weakened by the fights against us and Solstice. They are at their weakest point ever. If we strike them now…"
"We can finally shut them down," Jin finished his words.
"Exactly." The dark-haired man smiled, his red eyes glimmering with excitement and determination.
"Hmmm…" Jin was smiling underneath his mask.
"What do you think? What do you plan to do?" Jin asked, already aligning with the dark-haired man.
A chance to take down the weakest link.
A chance to send a message to the other corporations.
…
A chance to reach out.
"The second and ninth districts border the tenth… they're sending a caravan through the tenth, a convoy of almost ten vehicles," explained the dark-haired man. Jin continued to smile through his mask.
He didn't even know the man's name yet, but he liked the plan.
"Continue," Jin prompted.
The man smiled back. "Gladly."
He pressed his watch several times, projecting a large holographic screen displaying the caravan.
As he said, the caravan in the picture formed a line, consisting of ten vehicles. Three of them were large armored carriers, heavily defended by seven weaponized cars.
'Hmmm, interesting, they defend those three a lot,' Jin thought.
"I plan to get that weaponry. These are not simple carriers," the dark-haired man said, smiling again before swiping at his watch.
With that, the hologram image changed, zooming in to show a single carrier, the last one in the row.
"Genesis is at war with all four of the Corporations. Because of their weakness, they resort to stealing from the others a lot." He continued to smile as he zoomed in on the hologram, showing the inside of the carrier.
"The first one, this carrier has a large amount of Solstice weapons. With those, we would become a powerful hidden organization; it would boost our strength."
He swiped again, showing the middle carriers. "The best and most important for us: Hyperion implants, some of the best quality ones."
He zoomed in on the car, revealing a variety of top-notch military-grade implants, enough to outfit every single soldier in the Liberation Front.
"What is the last one?" Jin asked, already knowing the answer in his heart, no matter how much pain it caused.
With a swipe of his finger, the image changed to the last of the carriers, revealing a large number of crates.
The black-haired man didn't need to show the contents of the crates.
"Let me guess… Cypher serums," Jin said aloud, his demonic voice echoing in the room.
"Exactly," answered the black-haired man.
"I'm in. I know you don't agree, Natalie, but I will aid you all. This is something that would benefit all of us. This is a chance to take down the first corporation."
Then, Jin reached for his demonic, stag-like mask and slowly took it off.
Revealing a pair of ocean-blue eyes and blond hair partially obscured by the antlers of his mask.
Jin was still hiding his true face. Beneath his stag mask, he wore another—a skin mask that displayed a completely different face than his original with contacts as well.
"I will stand by the Liberation Front in the upcoming operation. I hope we achieve great success, side by side."
Jin held out his hand to the two of them. The black-haired man was the first to reach out, mirroring Jin's smile.
"My name is Silas Wesker. I'm glad to finally meet you, Jin." The two of them shook hands.
"The pleasure is mine, Silas. When the fight begins, I hope we can fight side by side."
Silas nodded, a wide smile spreading across his face. The two of them were more than ready to take on the convoy side by side.
'I like this guy,' thought Jin, maintaining his smile.
"If you're coming with us, then I believe we can achieve victory over Genesis. Thirteen told me what happened to you both. You're welcome to stay in our headquarters. Welcome aboard."
Jin extended his hand to Natalie, who shook it warmly. "Thank you, Natalie."
***
A day later, Anna and Thirteen sat side by side, their eyes fixed on a large holographic monitor.
"What do you think?" asked Thirteen through his demonic mask, his gaze never leaving the screen.
"This is a suicide mission. With the speed of the convoy, they barely have half an hour before they reach the second district, and once they do..."
"I agree, but I trust in... Jim," Thirteen said, watching the monitor and putting an earpiece in his ear.
"They'll be there in two minutes. Are you ready... Jim?" Thirteen asked, his voice shaking as he called out Jin's fake name.
"Yes, we are all in position. The moment we see them, we're ready," Jin spoke into the earpiece while looking down at the city from a tall building.
Gazing at the neon signs on the walls of the Ninth District's buildings, his expression was dark, even if hidden by the stag mask on his face.
"Don't tell me, are you afraid?" Silas asked jokingly, grasping his face in mock disbelief.
"Fuck off," laughed Jin, holding a middle finger up to his face.
"Wanna make a bet?" Silas asked, gazing at the gate of the Ninth District.
It was closed off from them, a large metal door, more than ten meters tall and even wider than that, connected to them were two large watchtowers with groups of guards standing in them.
Large lights were connected to these watchtowers, controlled by one soldier each, flashing through the night sky and illuminating the ground.
"What do you want to bet on?" Jin asked, glancing at Silas from the corner of his eye.
"Which one of us kills more of them? The one with the most kills buys the other a drink," proposed Silas, at which Jin's smile widened.
"Do you really think you stand a chance?" Jin asked, turning his gaze to the gate that was slowly beginning to open.
"Of course I do. Aren't you underestimating me a bit too much?"
"I'm not underestimating you, I'm just simply better," Jin chuckled, his calf muscles tensing as he began to draw his blade.
Its edge was chipped but still capable of cutting through both flesh and metal.
"Okay, then we'll see just how much better you are," Silas chuckled, gripping his weapon tighter, a medium-quality assault riffle created by Solstice, he was ready to jump.
Silas pressed the earpiece in his left ear before opening his mouth.
"Everyone ready?"