When the Dawn Accord's red-stamped documents reached every strategic node through Star Fire's global encrypted network, the massive, unwieldy machine of human civilization, under the pressure of death, erupted with unprecedented efficiency. It completed the violent switch from "civilian" to "war" in an instant.
Inside the Star Fire fleet command center.
President Graham's hand trembled slightly as he held the signing pen in the holographic projection. He glanced at Ryan sitting across from him, expression utterly calm, then at the faces of the other world leaders in the holographic displays beside him.
"Ryan, this is probably the only time in human history that national borders were completely erased in under an hour." Graham gave a bitter smile and signed his name on the G.B.A.A. charter.
"Because the virus doesn't check passports." Ryan raised his glass and took a sip, tone even. "Mr. President, you should be grateful Star Fire is still interested in playing this save-the-world game with the rest of you."
"Now that we've got consensus, let's not waste time." Ryan stood, facing the already-live global broadcast cameras.
Graham drew a deep breath, his voice taking on an immense gravity. "From this moment forward, the G.B.A.A. is officially established. With Star Fire as the technological and strategic core, we march together onto the battlefield for the survival of humanity."
Meanwhile, Jill sat before a mountain of electronic screens.
"Ryan, we're ahead of schedule." Jill's connection request appeared on Ryan's private terminal. "Since we hold sole authority over the vaccine, the pharma giants and medical industry kingpins who used to fund bioweapons research behind the scenes are being more cooperative than angels right now."
"Of course they are. If they don't hand over their assets and open-source their tech, Star Fire flags their companies as non-secure zones." Ryan laughed. "How's the haul?"
"We've taken control of over three trillion dollars in war funding, plus mountains of raw experimental data." Jill's eyes were sharp and efficient. "The ones who were hoarding resources are lining up to join now. Military factories around the world are already running at full capacity."
On deck, the sea wind whipped hard.
Carlos had just walked out of Star Fire's advanced medical bay. The corroded armor he'd been wearing was replaced with a brand-new Star Fire enhanced suit.
"Carlos, wounds patched up?" Leon clapped his old comrade on the shoulder, fresh off the retreat from Africa.
"The company's medical stims are straight-up magic. I'm itching to get back out there and put a couple rounds into those dark-gold bastards." Carlos's eyes burned brighter than ever.
"Carlos, those things... are they really as insane as the intel says?"
Carlos dropped the grin. A flicker of lingering dread crossed his eyes. "Leon, those aren't zombies. I watched one of them dodge most of a heavy machine gun's fire mid-burst through sheer speed. The rounds that did hit just bounced off the dark-gold crystal on its skin. If Ryan hadn't made us carry all those serums beforehand, I'd be part of that monster army right now."
"Don't worry about it, Carlos." Chris, Piers, and Helena walked over.
These agents who'd once fought alone across the globe looked down at the steel fortress taking shape beneath their feet and felt a solidity they'd never known before.
"We used to be putting out fires," Chris gripped his tungsten-steel rifle, "but now it feels like we're going to kill a god."
Hours later, to streamline coordination, allied command staff from the major powers boarded the fleet.
"Ryan, the allied generals want a look at our firepower." Jill stepped close, keeping her voice low. "They signed the papers, but deep down they still think tanks and jets can handle this."
"Then let's give them a reality check."
Ryan led the allied brass to the forward edge of the deck. As the hangar doors slowly opened, a pressure rolled over the crowd, grim, heavy, and thick with the smell of metal.
Miranda walked at the front, draped in a black feathered cloak that seemed to swallow light itself. With every step she took, the temperature around her seemed to drop a few degrees.
Behind her, Heisenberg shouldered his massive metal war hammer, trailed by a squad of mechanical soldiers standing eight feet tall, encased head to toe in heavy powered armor.
"Ryan... are those... human?" A U.S. general's hand was shaking. He reached instinctively for the sidearm on his hip.
"They're Star Fire's partners." Ryan turned, his gaze sweeping across the generals. "General, put away your curiosity. On that assimilated ground in Africa, your so-called special forces wouldn't last a minute. But they can rip a monster's head clean off."
"Hey, buddy, nice toy you got there." Heisenberg grinned at the general. His fingers twitched, and the sidearm flew from the man's holster into his hand, instantly crumpled into a ball of scrap metal. "Relax. As long as Ryan hasn't told us to kill you, we're the 'friendliest' allies you'll ever have."
That display of raw, unreasonable power shattered the last shred of pride the allied brass had left.
The crowd on deck gradually moved to their stations, but Ryan remained standing at the bow.
Deep behind those seemingly ordinary eyes, he could clearly sense an unnatural tremor beneath the surface of the sea.
"Barometric pressure is dropping fast." Jill walked over, pointing at the satellite imagery on her tablet. "Ryan, the dark-gold cloud mass didn't stall over Africa like we expected. It's splitting. One branch is crossing the Mediterranean toward southern Europe. The other... looks like it's drifting toward South America. Way too fast."
"Because those clouds are living spore clusters with a collective consciousness." Ryan's voice was low against the cold wind. "Wesker's accelerating. He wants to flip the board before we've even finished rolling out the vaccine net."
Right then, the core control system of the entire command ship erupted in screaming crimson flashes.
"Alert! Massive biological energy signature detected!" "Coordinates: deep Atlantic, 35 degrees north, 40 degrees west!" "Depth: below three thousand meters! Target approaching at high speed. Size... unable to estimate!"
On the holographic display, a deep-blue sonar scan image jumped into view. The seabed was being torn apart. Shadows kilometers long, like ancient gods that had slumbered in the deep for hundreds of millions of years, were breaking free from the Earth's crust.
"That's Wesker's first gift to us."
Ryan lifted his head and looked at the clouds already darkening overhead. His black coat snapped like a flag in the gale.
"Tell everyone to stop wasting time on meaningless signing ceremonies."
Ryan turned. His voice carried across the entire warship and every allied terminal:
"The storm is already at the door."
[This novel is now COMPLETE. Read the entire series right now on Patreon: patreon.com/NiaXD]