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Chapter 25: Military Technology in Resident Evil
🕑 Added 2025-10-06 03:55:10 +0000 UTCBang!
A sudden explosive sound accompanied by intense white light, followed immediately by the soldiers' exclamations. Amid the commotion, seeing the Pentagon general's gaze turn to her again, Vera responded with a smile, then set aside her considerations about Raccoon City.
Temporarily.
Her current money-making scheme and getting on the Pentagon's good side were more pressing.
"General, you and your team are very talented. You figured out derivative uses for civilian drones so quickly."
Clap clap She applauded lightly, stepping forward with a compliment.
Just now, after watching the Umbrella drone operator's demonstration, several soldiers had a sudden inspiration. They loaded a stun grenade into the controllable groove of the drone's detachable attachment, flew it to Umbrella's testing ground, and air-dropped it down into the U-shaped underground test flight corridor behind the wall with pinpoint accuracy.
Yeah, the stun grenade was also Umbrella-made.
Vera clearly understood the importance of being down-to-earth and building relationships.
Umbrella itself belonged to the high-tech medical and semi-defense industry. After she took over as director of the newly established Black Umbrella division, this trend had undoubtedly accelerated greatly.
Over these years, Vera had used every means possible. With her own Umbrella North America California division as the core, spanning prosthetics, smart control, semiconductors, electronic information and other emerging industries, she was making major strides into the military industry.
Under Derek C. Simmons' leadership, after her Umbrella USA California division obtained industry qualification certificates recognized by the Pentagon and Department of Justice, regardless of whether other major factories and workshops had been built or whether high-tech next-generation military equipment from Arasaka and other cyberpunk worlds had gone into production, she first established the framework and secured her position.
Things like bullets of various calibers, stun grenades, gas grenades, smoke grenades...
Items with relatively low technical content, but indispensable nonetheless.
Vera used experience and technical parameters from the cyberpunk world for improvements, leveraging Umbrella's existing influence to immediately break into the California market.
Local police departments, shooting ranges, marksmanship competition organizers, rifle associations, veteran associations—Vera pushed into all of them, practically giving stuff away. She wasn't looking to make money anyway; with the markets for drones, smart control technology, semiconductors, and generation-0 basic prosthetics backing her, her California division would make the money back elsewhere.
First secure the position, open the channels.
The American soldiers discussed among themselves. The technical sergeant who had quickly mastered drone operation slowly walked to the general's side and said meaningfully: "Umbrella's technical reserves are quite substantial. This consumer-grade drone is completely adequate as individual reconnaissance equipment, and moreover..."
"The future modification potential is enormous, whether for loading bombs for controlled deployment or as suicide drones..."
The general nodded. Whatever Umbrella's original intention in designing and producing this thing, with some modifications it definitely had strong tactical effectiveness.
As long as drone technology continued developing, the future prospects were predictable.
"The last few batches of reconnaissance drones we purchased received excellent feedback from the field. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs takes the position of drones—this emerging equipment—on future battlefields very seriously."
The general gently extended his hand for a brief handshake with Vera.
"Dr. Russell truly lives up to her reputation as a renowned expert in smart control technology and ergonomics. In just a few short years, you've already iterated to this level."
Pausing, he probed: "Doctor, military use differs from civilian use. It needs to undergo more testing to adapt to the complex environments of battlefields. Perhaps you could help our military improve this cute little thing further."
Where there's civilian use, naturally there's military use.
To reach the rank of general in the USA, this kind of shrewdness was basic.
Vera had displayed so many drone accessories for him to see—with just a bit of modification and upgrading, they could transform from civilian to military use.
"Moreover, large-scale sales of such semi-tactical items to the public—if they fell into the hands of criminals with ulterior motives, wouldn't that impact social stability and public safety?"
Vera smiled gracefully.
Really now, how many products for sale in America were 100% safe? This problem probably couldn't be solved until death—were they going to ban sales?
Vera ultimately deflected this topic with phrases like "insufficient hypothetical conditions," "we at Umbrella absolutely have no such intentions," "please trust our integrity and bottom line," "we trust law enforcement agencies," and so on.
In short: let's discuss it further.
Just discuss it more, study it more, deliberate more, weigh it more, compare it more, consider it more, observe it more, look again and think again and wait more, wait wait wait...
OK, matter closed.
The group continued touring the production line with questions and answers, and the atmosphere became lively again.
"If I remember correctly, your company's only surviving founding member is British, right?"
Seemingly casual, after touring the large drone aircraft production workshop, while listening to the guide continue explaining specifications, the general looked at Vera and suddenly asked.
"Chairman Spencer is British nobility."
Stopping in her tracks, Vera instantly understood the implication, her expression unchanged.
"But I grew up in America, my Black Umbrella division is in America, the vast majority of my employees are American citizens, and in the future, there will be even more Umbrella industrial parks rising from California soil, even from the soil of other states."
Apparently getting a satisfactory answer, the general just laughed it off, his slightly plump face showing a smile.
"If Dr. Russell were to helm Umbrella, it would certainly go much further."
Vera's lips couldn't help but curve upward slightly. "I'll take that as a good omen."
....
The tour ended.
The Pentagon ordered Umbrella California division's complete line of drone products.
Consumer-grade, racing-grade, professional-grade, large flight platforms and other series. Truly worthy of the well-funded US military—each series started with three digits and up. This was still just 1998's initial trial deployment accepting drones.
Unlike the experimental batch purchases from before, this order was for long-term cooperation.
Large-scale orders every year, even increasing annually—the kind that would go before Congress for consultation at year-end, to be separately listed in military spending and defense budget application reports.
Everyone was happy.
Vera saw the Pentagon group out of the industrial park. Specialists would take them to hotels cooperating with Umbrella for accommodation, with good food and drink provided. Everyone was human after all, not that busy—have some fun before returning to Washington.
Tap. Tap.
Back in her office at the industrial park, her fingertips intermittently tapped the Pentagon's order contracts and cooperation service credentials on the desk, the proper smile slowly fading from her face.
"Sure enough, the prosthetics industry is too closely tied to semiconductors, smart control, and electronic information industries. Not only is Umbrella being watched by the Antitrust Division, even Washington, which has a conjugate parent-child relationship with the British, can't sit still."
Umbrella being the leader in the global medical industry—Washington tolerated it.
But now, Vera had created Umbrella's Black Umbrella division.
With functions covering prosthetics, smart control, military weapons, semiconductors, electronic products and several other emerging industries, all at world-leading levels, the scale visibly growing larger these past two years—Washington's bureaucrats could no longer sit still.
If not for Umbrella's internal "Four Umbrellas" division with clear factional lines, plus maintaining powerful political lobbying groups and legal teams, Spencer himself would have been summoned for antitrust hearings even while sitting in a wheelchair.
The more successful Vera became, the more Washington wanted to break up Umbrella, at least USA Umbrella.
This was inevitable.
Derek C. Simmons could only delay, not prevent it. Moreover, he probably would be happy to see Umbrella's breakup.
"Abandoning ship" would happen this year.
Vera's brows furrowed slightly as she leaned back in her executive chair, adjusting to a comfortable position, stretching out her long legs and opening the Colorado newspaper she'd ordered.
In a corner of the newspaper, in unremarkable text: "Serial killings appear in Raccoon City, RPD (Raccoon City Police Department) announces it will definitely eliminate this satanic cult organization..."
September 21, 1998
Seriously delayed news—undoubtedly suppressed by Umbrella.
"Soon." A strange sense of excitement and urgency rose from her chest as Vera gently rubbed her temples.
The timing to leave Umbrella was ripe.
This wasn't Arasaka. That old bastard Oswell E. Spencer had outlived his usefulness.
She, Vera, had been more than fair to Spencer and Umbrella's board of directors over the years.
Nutritioning?
There hadn't been much. She wasn't a eugenics product of the "Wesker Project," but rather a wild genius who naturally emerged and happened to work at Umbrella.
For every investment they made, she had provided returns of several times, even dozens of times over.
Never mind Western liberal universal values—even in the East, Vera's current behavior of starting her own business and job-hopping was morally irreproachable.
Besides, Umbrella itself wasn't clean. The T-virus project, G-virus project, BOW biological weapons... and the impending Raccoon City biohazard crisis—she had ten thousand reasons to storm out in anger.
From the moment she entered Umbrella, Vera had been preparing to run.
Whether at Umbrella board meetings or private product launches, she had expressed opposition to the company's unlimited investment of vast funds and experimental materials into biological research, never hiding her critical and disdainful attitude.
She believed the company's strategic direction was wrong, that her proposed direction was correct, that the company was stuck in its ways, favoring unrealistic excessive medical treatment.
After years of this performance, anyone paying attention to Umbrella knew that Black Umbrella division's Director Vera was a genius, a major contributor to Umbrella's transformation and expansion, and simultaneously the high-level executive most dissatisfied with the board's established strategies.
Some old-timers within Umbrella were also dissatisfied, but Vera could make money.
Nobody fought with money.
Well, just treat it like appeasing an ancestor.
At the same time, quite a few Umbrella insiders, influenced by Vera, thought carefully and realized... hiss... it seemed to make some sense.
How many resources had the company invested in those forbidden biological virus fields over the years? And how many could be monetized?
If not for the Cold War ending in '91, luckily accepting laid-off Eastern European military officer groups and fortunately obtaining stable subjects that could adapt to the T-virus, the results would probably have been zero.
Looking at it this way, Vera's described future of "mechanical ascension" was undoubtedly more credible.
Immortality was too distant to mention, but extending lifespan and maintaining health through replacing prosthetics and artificial organs was visible and tangible.
A large group of people who originally supported virology chose to switch sides and join Vera's "Black Umbrella" faction.
Spencer?
He kept watching.
Perhaps the young Spencer had been cunning, ruthless, and extremely wise and decisive, but now, this old fool had become obsessed with his immortality dream.
Vera clearly understood Spencer's true nature.
Don't look at how authoritative the old fool seemed at board meetings, covering the sky with one hand, spreading such a large operation globally as if playing some grand game of chess, hiding unfathomable conspiracies. Actually, the root was quite simple—he was playing it this big just to extend his own miserable life.
So Vera's prosthetics project—he supported it.
William Birkin's T and G projects—he also supported them.
Even taking money Vera earned and pouring it into the giant money pit that was William Birkin's side. There were sunk cost factors, plus he was hooked by William Birkin's promises, trapped by obsession, and being old and confused was also an important factor.
Tap... tap...
Her fingers lightly tapped the desk. Having thought it through, Vera finally fixed her gaze on the red and white umbrella logo in the corner of her desk.
Most likely this year, she would erase these Umbrella logos.
"The Umbrella name will definitely be unusable once it stinks up the streets... ah, got it." A flash of inspiration struck her mind. As if thinking of something, Vera's lips curved into a smile as she took out a notebook and colored drawing pencils from her drawer.
Swish swish.
MILITECH.
Hehehe
A new logo appeared on paper: black background with yellow markings, a V-shaped pattern nested within a square frame.
"Military Technology."
Uttering these words, Vera's eyes flashed with a compelling gleam.
Vehicle production and manufacturing workshops must go into production as soon as possible—both Arasaka's and Militech's. Getting hold of outdated models wouldn't be difficult with "my" status as an Arasaka Security high-level executive.
The prosthetics industry also needed to accelerate its update and iteration speed.
The implant devices she currently designed and manufactured were mainly used to replace missing or damaged limbs and organs.
Namely limbs, artificial heart valves, vertebrae—all to save patients' lives or allow patients to work normally after suffering severe physical trauma.
In cyberpunk world definitions, these counted as Generation 0 cyber components.
Vera needed to manufacture true first-generation, even second and third-generation cyber components to arm her personal bodyguards.
At the same time, she needed to accelerate taking over some of Umbrella's private military forces, preferably several U.S.S. special operations teams. As for taking over U.S.F. security forces, she'd been working on that for a long time.
Arasaka series weapons were already in small-scale production. Vera had already delivered them to the U.S.F. security forces under her control.
Thoughts surged.
Just as Vera kept pondering how to more conveniently extract more benefits from the soon-to-collapse Umbrella, knock knock...
"Come in."
"Director Russell, there's a man who snuck into the industrial park wanting to see you."
Her secretary entered with a strange expression, hesitating before continuing her report with some doubt: "He has identification from Raccoon City Police Department, says he has extremely important news to convey to you, that it's a major matter concerning company inside information. He also said you would definitely see him."
Raccoon City was William Birkin's territory, and Director Russell's discord with him was known throughout the company. That person was probably an informant the director had planted in Raccoon City.
"Huh?"
Vera was stunned upon hearing this.
"What's his name?"
"He said his name is Chris Redfield."
——————
