Metal Thunder (Karl Heisenberg - Resident Evil)

Chapter 21 - Perfecting Army

The following morning, the rain continued to fall when Emily Tempest rose to the sound of pelting raindrops on the window. For some reason, this morning she had never been any cleaner even in the same clothes since she arrived. It must be the rain, she thought, remembering the bold step she took last night.

Karl Heisenberg was still fast asleep and had remained in the same position since she had returned to him. It was like he had not slept in the longest time. He deserved a rest. Emily slid out of the bed, feeling motivated. Miranda was certainly not going to rest for much long. Who knew if she would attack them again, certainly, they did not want to be caught off guard. She went down the stairs and made her way to the elevator. The factory's serene ambiance once again filled her with peace as it replaced the sound of the rain outside. Descending into the view of the production line, she followed the path she remembered Karl taking her until she came to the Foundry. There was a desire in her to try again, to make things right, and push the limits.

She then climbed another staircase, looking around for some Soldats that she could use to do what she was about to do. Once she entered a corridor with humming noises filling the area, a few Soldats with drills on both arms stood leaning against the wall. Emily smiled, I'll start with the few of you and get a whole group together. Some initiative couldn't hurt. I've chosen to commit, she thought as she approached the nearest Soldat and allowed her mind to clear all negative thoughts. The lightning slowly began to emerge, trickling visibly on her arm, and she had control. Lightly tapping the undead creation on the shoulder, it awakened and looked at her, its head wobbling.

"Follow me," she commanded, the stumbling zombie soldier roused by the lightning followed her as she gathered a few more Soldats down the corridor. Some of them had one or two drills, others just simply had axes and visors, and she was leading a small band of them into a larger room. Emily remembered this room. It was the same Karl had watched her try to command multiple soldiers, but it only led to their argument. She shuddered, remembering that time, but then brought herself back to the present. Last time was different. Now this is for real, she thought.

One by one, she directed the Soldats to stand in formation in the open space in front of two generators, and it was there she had a small army standing before her. Then, out of the corner of her eye, two dozen more emerged through the doors on the far side of the room and joined the others in formation, and her army doubled in size. She wondered where they had all come from, like her power had created a chain reaction throughout the factory and was drawing more of Karl's undead minions to her like a magnet. There was no way this was all of them were produced in the factory. But it pleased her to see they were smart enough to recognize what she was up to and decide to participate in the trial she was about to run. Must be something in their programming, she thought.

Looking at all the Soldats that stood almost at attention before her, she paced from one side of the anterior to the other. "So, you're my infantry unit. Well, what's part of it, that is. I know, we've tried this before, but I promise it's going to work this time. Do you want to know why? Because this time, I'm in full force. I'm not letting Miranda do this to Karl. So if I'm going to save him, that's where you're going to help me create an unstoppable force Miranda won't be able to defeat,"

She continued to speak with a confident tone, "I can command one at a time, but I need to do a whole army. If I can lead one, I can lead you all," she smiled, followed by a chuckle as she continued to pace, "It sounds crazy but Karl has inspired me. It took a lot of effort and revelations, but I don't want to be that girl who hides in her bedroom when the thunderstorm comes. I've begun to embrace it, and now you will, too. So bear with me now, because I will get it right this time."

Facing forward at all her units, she concentrated her power and smiled. The image was crystalline in her mind: She and Karl, side by side, only this time they were holding hands, leading the massive army of Soldats marching outside the factory, including those heavily armed. Karl began to summon metal all around them, and she the lightning, something was happening but not entirely clear what it was. Nevertheless, it was a powerful vision that had caused the thunderbolts to hum to life inside her and began to trickle on her arms. She opened her eyes to see she had full control, as she saw it travelling from within to the surface of her skin. It was beautiful, like she was standing in the storm again once again reminding herself that this was who she was and she could control it if only she gave it a chance. Look at me now, I used to be so damn afraid to do this, that I cowered in front of Karl because of the way he reacted, I will get it right, I will!