Prologue: The disappearance of the Bravo Team
July 23, 1998
The first S.T.A.R.S. detachment to enter the Arklay Mountains was the Bravo Team. Equipped mostly with tasers and tranquilizer darts, they were to find the nests of the so-called "monsters" and, if necessary, eliminate them. Chief Brian Irons of the Raccoon Police Department had been in a grumpy mood ever since the sightings, and blamed the recent gruesome incidents on three things: the mayor's incompetence, rabies, and reckless hikers. He was, however, forced to reconsider his position when radio contact with Bravo Team was lost and none of the officers returned by sundown.
Chief Iron's last resort was to send in the Alpha Team on a search and rescue mission. Since the "monsters" were supposedly active at night, the Alpha Team was issued suitable weaponry; in addition to their customary handgun, two officers carried shotguns, and in addition to their navy-blue shit, black pants and steel-capped boots, all were required to wear a protective vest.
The team comprised five members: the Captain, Albert Wesker, was a tall, blonde-haired man who was known for his strange habit of always wearing sunglasses, even at night. Instead of the standard Beretta nine-millimetre calibre handgun, he carried a Desert Eagle, a powerful handgun commonly dubbed as a "hand cannon", which had some of his subordinates call him a show-off behind his back. Wesker's competence however, had never been in question.
Barry Burton, a large, bearded man, was the team's weapons expert. Despite his gruff appearance, he cared immensely for his comrades and also for his wife and two daughters. He commonly used a Magnum Colt Python as his personal sidearm, a weapon as powerful as Wesker's.
The team's sniper was Joseph Frost, a tall and slender man with brown hair. He was generally quiet and mild-mannered, but was nevertheless a formidable marksman. He was one of the two officers carrying a shotgun.
The second shotgun had been assigned to Chris Redfield, one of the team's youngest recruits. Redfield was tall, muscular, had brown hair and a self-described good sense of humor, which mostly amounted to out-of place, inappropriate comments.
The last officer on the team was Jill Valentine, also a young recruit. She had a slender framed that belied a surprising resiliency, and long brown hair, which she concealed under a beret. Valentine was highly intelligent and skilled, and Wesker sometimes referred to her as his best officer, which no one seemed to take offence to as she was indeed gifted by any standards.
Night had fallen since about an hour when the five S.T.A.R.S. officers set foot on the trail that led through the forest and up the mountains, to the horrors that resided deep within…