Disclaimer: Resident Evil is owned by Capcom. All characters that have been submitted to me are owned by their creators. Everything that I create for the purpose of enhancing this story belongs to me. In addition, all your base belongs to me!

Author's Notes: Eight down, a crap lot more to go! I'd like to thank all of my reviewers (your comments are appreciated, keep 'em coming!), Sporty-Girl for accepting two of my characters into her fics and taking the time to mention my story, and everyone else who deserves a big thanks. I couldn't do it without all of you!

I think that I'm going to break the story up by year. When I reach the end of 2001, I'll make a new story for O:FS 2002. I don't plan on it going on into 2003 for very long, so I'm going to roll it into part 2. This is going to be a massive 100,000+ word per part 2-parter. So you'd better sit back and get comfortable, because here comes Chapter 9!

Note: If you haven't read Resident Evil: Blood Ties by Sporty-Girl, this chapter isn't going to make much sense. Also, go to www.umbrella-inc.com and read The Battle of Shoreline in the Ongoing Fiction section. It'll make the new character's background a little clearer.

Apology: Jon, I'm sorry that I never recognized you for submitting Fred. I'm also sorry that he wasn't on Umbrella's side, like you asked. Your character (with a different name) will be appearing in either the next chapter, or the first chapter of The Fall of Umbrella. I promise that a mistake like that will never be allowed to happen again!

Operation Falling S.T.A.R.S. Chapter Nine: The Hunt is On

SOC Headquarters
August 7, 2001 10:05 AM

"Welcome back Colonel," one of the members of the security detail said as Matt walked by, not acknowledging them at all. Two pilots ran up to the Umbrella helicopter and prepared to move it, in case there was a tracking device built into it. As Matt entered the barn and activated the elevator, the helicopter lifted off and headed towards Washington D.C. All of the SOC's aircraft were stored there, ensuring that there weren't a large number of aircraft just sitting around outside the Headquarters.

"Sir," another security man said as Matt stepped off the elevator and down the hallway to the second one. "The Assistant Director has requested that you meet him right away. I'm to escort you to him, sir."

"Lead the way then Andy," Matt replied allowing the Team 23 member ahead of him. He scanned his card into the reader and waited for Matt to step into the elevator. Andy stepped in behind him, and the doors closed slowly before the elevator descended to the main floor. Andy led Matt past the security door which was already raised, and the nearly-always occupied heavy machine gun positions. He held open the glass door leading to the Command Center, and told Matt to meet Ian in Conference Room 2. Matt walked over to the door, entered and sat down before Ian started the conversation.

"Was there any luck?" he asked as Matt took off his helmet. It was clear that he had done a lot of crying, since his eyes were still puffy and the top of his suit was damp.

"She's gone," he replied as Ian's expression turned to one of shock. "I had to kill her. Umbrella turned her into one of their new weapons, a Nemesis III. They created them to use as infiltrators, and I can give you three guesses as to who would be on the receiving end of one of them. They're about as powerful as a run-of-the-mill Nemesis, but rely mainly on their ability to pass off as human. Obviously because they are human. We encountered two other Nemesis III units up at the facility, with the last one being the strongest of the bunch."

"You're getting ahead of yourself Matt," Ian replied. "First off, who else was up in the facility?"

"Five more people looking for their loved ones. The most notable was our old friend Pierre Dupree. He and I were the only ones to make it out alive. One was infected by a virus, two were killed by the last Nemesis III, and one turned out to be the last Nemesis III. Pierre turned against Umbrella, though I have reason to believe he'll go back, if only for the fact that he'd get bored with being out of the loop. Still, I wouldn't put him as high on the threat board as he was before the incident," Matt replied.

"Noted," Ian said as he motioned for Matt to continue.

"We encountered several of Umbrella's officials in the plant. It turns out that they know my identity; I'm guessing that Tom gave it to them. He wants to see me hurt the most, so I don't think anyone else is at risk. It's strange though; one of them seemed to think that I'd lost a partner in the Middle East. We don't have anyone over there right now, do we?" Matt asked as Ian looked puzzled.

"No. We haven't had anyone over there since your operation in Afghanistan. All of our personnel are accounted for," Ian replied as Matt gave a sigh of relief. "While you were gone, we've had a few big developments. For starters, the President has released us to continue operations against Umbrella. After hearing the information that our bug gathered, he decided that whatever damage they could do to him was less than we could do to them. Also, it seems our friend Mr. Walker has turned up, here in the States no less. I figured that you would want to be one of the first to hear it," he added as Matt leaned forward.

"Where is he?" he asked with a look of anger on his face. Tom Walker had done too much damage to Matt to be allowed to operate freely any longer.

"Maine," Ian replied. "Don't act rashly," he added as Matt stood up.

"He can't be allowed to live," Matt replied grimly as he walked towards the vehicle bay. he was going to get in before he realized that he hadn't slept in over thirty hours. Matt walked to his office instead and kicked off his boots. He had a small couch for situations just like this when he needed somewhere to catch up on lost sleep before going out on another mission.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Hello," a voice called out as Matt looked around. He noticed that he was standing on a familiar street corner. In fact, he realized the corner he was standing on was in the middle of the destroyed city of Shoreline.

"How can I be here?" Matt asked as he looked around. He couldn't see anyone, but the voice seemed to be coming from all directions. "The city was destroyed."

"It's only a dream," the voice went on, "A hidden memory of an event that had occurred, and was altered."

"What are you saying?" Matt asked as he continued to search for the source of the voice.

"That we have met before, Mr. Ryan," a man said, stepping out of the shadows. He was wearing dark brown robes, and his face was completely covered except for his mouth. "Unfortunately, we met in an event that was not supposed to occur. All of your memories of said event were removed, in the hopes of hiding our presence here."

"What do you mean?" Matt asked, hoping to get the mystery man to reveal more. Suddenly a barrage of images flashed past his vision, images of himself and the other SOC Teams from the Shoreline Incident. What was different was that there appeared to be a man who was a hybrid-Tyrant and the man who stood before him now locked in combat. Suddenly, all of his memories of the fight returned, and he smiled as he looked at the man before him.

"I was right John, you did win," Matt replied as John smiled.

"Don't bother telling anyone else about my involvement in Shoreline. They won't be able to remember it. The reason I've come here to talk to you is that I have an offer to make," John said as Matt gave him his full attention.

"I'm listening," Matt said as John nodded.

"As you know, I can't directly interfere in your war with Umbrella unless my government gives me permission to. I need eyes and ears out there on the front lines, so I can tell them what's happening and, if I need to, prepare a case for rallying the troops to come to your aid," John replied.

"You're asking me to report to you about Umbrella?" Matt asked as John nodded again. "Why can't you just watch the battles yourself."

"The incident in Shoreline was a fluke. The only reason I was allowed to be there was that the chain of events for the city had been altered. Now that it's been restored, I'm back to no active intervention status. What I need are the first hand accounts of someone who's going to be encountering Umbrella's new creatures, and will have access to information about their projects," John replied.

"Okay, I've got that part down. What are you going to offer me in return?" he asked.

"Melissa," he replied.

"How? I killed her, not to mention that she was in the facility when it exploded," Matt replied in shock.

"Like I said in Shoreline, I have control over many things, including time. All it takes is altering the path of one bullet, and encouraging the loyalty of your friends, and I can change the past," John replied as he lifted his hood and smiled. His hazel eyes glittered as he waited for Matt to consider his offer.

"I'll do it," he replied as John nodded.

"Excellent choice. Now I believe it's time for you to get back to the war," John said as he began to walk away.

"Thank you," Matt said as John paused for a moment.

"Good luck," he replied with a smile.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"How long was I out for?" Matt asked as he looked around his office. His gaze finally settled on the digital clock on his desk, which told him he had been out for close to six hours. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Sir, Ian asked me to tell you that Mark and Paul are coming in along with a third person. He wants you to join him in the medical lab," Gary said, poking his head in the door. Matt pulled his boots back on and laced them up before walking towards the stairs leading down to the medical bay. He arrived just in time to see two people in Hazmat suits rush past, along with two Teams of security personnel. He followed them until he came to the isolation chamber that occupied a corner of the bay. Inside were another two Teams of security troops, and six members of the medical staff.

"Glad you could make it," Mark said as he offered his hand to his friend. "We decided to follow you, and found a tunnel under the facility for emergency trains. While we were exploring it, you'll never guess who we found wandering around."

"Who?" Matt asked, knowing the answer but deciding to play along.

"We found Melissa down there, alive but unconscious. We managed to get her back to base before she woke up. Luckily, the docs were able to get some tranqs into her before she was able to hurt anyone, but we found out kind of quickly just what happened to her," Mark said as he put his hand on Matt's shoulder. "I'm so sorry man."

"It's all right Mark, at least she's alive. That gives us a chance to find an anti-virus. Can I see her?" he asked as Mark nodded.

"She'll be a little out of it with the tranqs, but she can't hurt anyone in her current state. She's still really weak from massive blood loss, but I guess it's okay."

"Thanks a lot man," Matt replied as he entered the isolation chamber. The guards were milling around with their weapons at the ready but not pointed in any one direction, while the doctors gathered around Melissa. "Can I have a minute?" Matt asked after clearing his throat. The head doctor nodded, and motioned for the others to leave.

"We'll be outside if you need us," the head of the security detail said.

"Hello Matt," Melissa said as the door to the chamber closed. "I hoped that I would be able to see you again." Matt looked into her eyes, and saw gray instead of Melissa's blue eye color, which indicated that the Nemesis III was still in control of her.

"And I hoped that I would be able to see you again," Matt replied, not daring to get within an arm's length of her. Even heavily sedated, the Nemesis III was not something to underestimate.

"You know, it's interesting to hear your precious Melissa in here, screaming for help and begging with me. It's a shame that you two couldn't have more time together before I took over completely," it replied. Matt noticed that he no longer thought of the person sitting before him as Melissa, but as the Nemesis III that had taken control of her. Suddenly the creature cried out and began to have seizures which stopped almost as soon as they started.

"It seems you don't know Melissa then. She was always a fighter," Matt said as the Nemesis III regained control for the moment. "It seems the tranqs that we gave you weakened your control over her."

"Only a temporary setback," it replied, as it smiled. "She seemed to be waiting to fight back until the right moment. Very efficient of her to wait until I was weakened to strike. Tactics that a Hunter or Tyrant would use. I admire her for that."

"How can you even begin to compare her to a freak like yourself?" Matt asked as the Nemesis III's face turned bright red.

"How dare you," it began as it suddenly had another seizure. Two members of the medical staff began to enter the room as Matt waved for them to hold on for the moment. "Matt," came a subdued voice.

"I'm here," he replied as he looked into the Nemesis III's eyes. They had changed back to the calm blue of Melissa's, leading him to suspect that eye color was one indicator of who was in control, the Nemesis III or Melissa.

"I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it out," she said, referring to the Nemesis III.

"I'll find a cure. I'm so sorry that this had to happen. I've failed you," Matt said as Melissa interrupted.

"No you haven't. Don't think that even for one second you've failed. I'm still alive, and you're still alive. You'll find a solution; you always do."

"I love you," Matt said as Melissa smiled.

"And I love you too," she replied before entering the same series of spasms that the Nemesis III had only seconds before. "Isn't that sweet," it replied as the eye color changed back to a steel-like gray. "Of course, when one of us in control the other can hear everything that is said and see everything that the other does. Like right now she can hear everything I say and see everything I do. Imagine that, your precious Melissa is a prisoner in her own body."

"Only until I find the anti-virus," Matt replied as he put his game face back on.

"What makes you think there is one?" the creature asked with a sadistic smile. Something that should never have been on Melissa's face.

"Call it a gut instinct. Besides, Umbrella wouldn't make a virus that they don't have a counter to in case there's a high profile incident that requires an anti-virus in a hurry. I'm willing to bet that one exists," Matt replied as he turned to walk towards the door.

"You can't win," the creature said as he paused with the door partly open.

"I won't lose," Matt replied. "Besides, it was the leadership of your company that decided that I was as big a threat to them as an entire S.T.A.R.S. Team. I'm not going to stop until the Umbrella Corporation is rubble beneath my feet. As far as I'm concerned, you're the first piece of debris." With that, he exited the chamber and let the door close behind him, continuing on to the staircase. He climbed up to the command center, and walked down the hallway to the Group 1 locker room and Armory. The locker room was completely empty as Matt began to pick up ammo for his F- 1100 and Desert Eagle, along with several grenades. Once he was ready to go, he swung by his office and picked up his weapons before heading towards the vehicle bay.

"You're going to need help boss," Mark said as he stood with Paul, both of them in their full combat suits and ready for action. "There's a chopper waiting to take us to Tom's last known location in Maine. We aren't going to let you pull a stunt like your solo operation last time. This is a Team, and Teams stick together."

"Let's go then. I want to try and take him alive, especially to see if he knows where to find an anti-virus for whatever bug Melissa has," Matt replied as he held out his fist. "Team?" he asked as Mark and Paul smiled.

"Team," they replied before placing their fists even with his.

"Now let's go take down this two-bit backstabbing traitor of ours," Matt said, as they walked towards the vehicle bay, and the surface. A lot had changed since Umbrella's failed assault almost six months ago. Most of the damage from the helicopter crashes, bullets and grenades had been covered up by new growth and grass, but there were still shell casings turning up once in a while, along with unexploded grenades. Most of them had been policed up immediately after the fighting, but occasionally a new one would be found. Their helicopter hovered over the field and set down as Team 1 walked over and boarded.

"Next stop, Maine," Paul said with a smile as they lifted off to even the score with Tom.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Umbrella Incorporated Main Office
Paris, France
August 7, 2001 4:00 PM

"Sir, Mr. Walker reports that the attempt to eliminate our most dangerous enemies has failed. The primary targets, Ryan and Dupree, were able to escape. He requests new orders for how to proceed." The aide prepared to duck, knowing what happened to people who gave Spencer bad news. Spencer only laughed, which frightened the aide even more. He couldn't understand how Spencer could be happy after learning that a facility had been lost, and the two primary targets both survived.

"Mr. Dupree is no worry to us. He will be back in our ranks before too long. As for Ryan, the loss of Ms. Jones will prove to shatter him once and for all. He won't pose a threat to us anymore," Spencer replied with a smile.

"Sir," the aide hesitated before continuing, "two more commandos were seen leaving the compound's emergency train tunnels, along with an unidentified female. Her description closely matches that of Ms. Jones, and our intelligence teams are working to confirm whether it is indeed her."

"She will still be infected with our virus. They won't let her live for long. Inform Mr. Walker that he is to take a two day vacation, and report back here for his new orders. His services to this point have been invaluable. Let him consider this a reward for a job well done, but make sure he knows that if he is going to kill anyone he should have the primary targets killed first," Spencer replied as the aide nodded and left. "I salute you Mr. Ryan," Spencer thought out loud, "Surviving our trap, and overcoming your hatered towards Umbrella's top agent. I may have actually underestimated your threat to the company. You should be honored." He took the time to look out his window at the Paris downtown, and all the people on the streets below who had no idea just what sort of experiments the Umbrella Corporation really conducted. "Poor fools," he added as he smiled. Suddenly, there was a knock at his door. His secretary poked her head in the door before Spencer turned around and nodded for her to speak.

"My Lord, there is a Mr. Robins here to see you," Jane said as Spencer smiled.

"So soon?" he asked, more to himself as he motioned for Jane to send him in. The man walked in, and sat in the chair facing Spencer's desk. "Welcome back Mr. Dupree," Spencer continued, with a smile on his face.

"I don't want to have any part in fighting the American commandos," Pierre replied as Spencer smiled. "Nor do I have any real wish to return here. Unfortunately, I underestimated just how far your reach extended. That my brother survived all of these years was quite a surprise, and I thank you for the news. Now please call off your assassin; killing him won't be necessary. As long as he is unharmed I am once again your faithful servant. If anything happens to him, I'll see to it that you burn," he added matter-of-factly.

"Well Mr. Dupree, it seems that we have an agreement. Welcome back to Umbrella," Spencer replied with a smile as he extended his hand. Pierre looked at it as if contemplating, then extended his own hand. Before reaching Spencer's grasp, Pierre pulled his hand back and spat on Spencer.

"Screw you," he said as he got up to leave the room. He slammed the door behind him as Spencer began to laugh.

'Another fool that I've manipulated into doing my bidding,' he thought as he continued laughing. With Dupree taken care of, the only main threat that remained to the company was posed by the American commandos. The S.T.A.R.S. were still too small to launch an effective attack, although several teams had changed their affiliations and bolstered the ranks of the Raccoon survivors, along with a handful of people who survived the disaster in Shoreline. The Board of Directors had met their fate several weeks prior to the first testing of the Nemesis IIIs when the restaurant they were eating in suffered an unfortunate structural failure and was destroyed. Trent had been the only one to survive, after swearing allegiance to Spencer in person. Even though the S.T.A.R.S. were so weak, the American commandos had no such problems striking his facilities on a whim. He had lost at least a half-dozen facilities to them while inflicting zero casualties to their ranks. Most of the losses had come in less than a week, before the American President had suspended their offensive against his company. Yet, it seemed that the President had reconsidered his stance. Maybe the information he was using to blackmail the President wasn't as strong as he once believed.

'Yet just because the commandos were no longer able to attack didn't mean I was immune to threats,' Spencer continued to himself as he again gazed out into the heart of Paris. The S.T.A.R.S. had been able to pick up some of the slack, hitting another eight facilities in the last three months, based primarily, Spencer was sure, from information provided by the commandos. 'Curse those USF agents not being able to finish off Burton.' Yet, he had heard rumors that the loyal USF agents he had dispatched to Shoreline had been sighted supporting the S.T.A.R.S. on their latest assaults. If those rumors were to be believed, then the entire team from Shoreline had gone over to the S.T.A.R.S. That would mean that their numbers would be drastically bolstered, making them a much bigger threat than before. 'What of it?' Spencer asked himself. 'I control the most powerful company in the world, and have weapons stronger than any military on the planet. It's time to start marketing our products.'

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Location Unknown
Northern Maine
August 7, 2001 7:32 PM

"There you are," Matt muttered as he settled the sights of his F-1100 on Tom Walker's head. "If I didn't need you so badly," he continued as he slightly increased pressure on the trigger. He badly wanted to pull it the rest of the way, but knew that Melissa's fate depended on his restraint. Upon discovering that Tom was in a small town in Northern Maine, they had stowed their field gear on the helicopter, and proceeded with only their weapons, and concealed Kevlar vests.

"We're in position and ready to make the grab," Mark called over their radio network as Matt swung the rifle along with Tom as he walked down the street. He caught a glimpse of Mark about twenty feet behind Tom, in a disguise to keep Tom from recognizing him. His hair had been dyed, and Mark was wearing a false beard just to be safe.

"Execute," Matt said as he adjusted his position. He was on top of a two story business, which was one of the tallest buildings in the town. Lying on the roof in the hot sun wasn't his favorite activity by far, but Matt was willing to suffer if only to find the cure for Melissa. Mark picked up his pace slightly, until he was only a few feet from Tom. He bumped into him, pretending it was an accident, then had his Desert Eagle out and pressed against Tom's chest before he could move a muscle. Paul brought their van up to Mark and Tom, before Mark opened the door and pushed him inside. He hit Tom at the base of his skull with the heavy pistol, then closed the door as Paul shifted the van into gear and drove it to Matt's rooftop. He climbed down and jumped in the van before anyone could notice, smiling at the capture. The tide was starting to turn in the war against Umbrella, he felt. Mark patted down Tom as Matt kept his Desert Eagle leveled at him, in case Tom had a trick up his sleeve. Finally, Mark tied his feet and hands together, and Matt relaxed.

"We actually bagged him," Paul said with a hint of amazement in his tone.

"It was way too easy," Matt added before pulling out a portable signal jammer and activating it. He had no way of knowing it, but several hundred miles away two Umbrella technicians were, at that very moment, watching their bug on Tom Walker fade away and be replaced by static.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Welcome home, Mr. Walker," Tom heard as he finally drifted back to consciousness.

"Where am I?" he asked as he looked around. He couldn't see a thing since the room he was in was pitch black. He could only listen to the voice that was questioning him, as his skull pounded from where he had been clubbed.

"SOC Headquarters," the voice replied as Tom uttered a string of curses. Of all the places he was prepared to be at, this took the cake as his worst case scenario. He had truly not expected to be back here, unless the Headquarters had been destroyed and all of his former comrades wiped out or scattered throughout the world. Yet here he was, inside the main facility of the people who he had betrayed.

"What do you want with me?" he asked, as fear finally began to hit him. He honestly was not prepared to die. Of all the outcomes he had foreseen to this war, death was not on the list.

"We know you oversaw the development of the early stages of the Nemesis III project. We also know that there is an anti-virus for your new toy. Tell us how to acquire it and you'll be allowed to live, as well as see your family regularly. We'll even take care of them, and give them your pension, since you're dead to us. You committed treason, not them; therefore they have no reason to suffer. Now, tell us about the anti- virus," the voice commanded. 'So,' Tom thought, 'They managed to rescue Jones. Ryan must be the one interrogating me.'

"Mr. Ryan, I haven't the faintest idea of what you're talking about," Tom replied with a grin, even though he was sure Matt couldn't see it.

"This isn't Matt Ryan," the voice replied, "Hello old friend." Tom suddenly realized why the voice sounded different than who he expected. His interrogator was none other than Ian Williams, the leader of the SOC. "Now, tell us about the anti-virus and our offer will stand." Tom considered this for several minutes, weighing his options carefully. Finally, he made his decision.

"There's a facility that is making our Nemesis II units. It's located in the Ontario province of Canada, and is the only Umbrella plant there. The anti-virus is in a locker on the first sub-basement level, and the password to open the locker is "Vengeance." The yellow vials are the new virus, and the red vials are the anti-virus. I'm sure that you'll want samples of both, to verify what I've told you. Of course, you'll still fail Ian," Tom said as his grin grew. He knew that the facility head would activate the Nemesis II units as soon as the facility was under attack, and that if they were insufficient, there were several lesser Tyrants and Hunters waiting to be released to finish the job, along with another new toy.

"Sir, the S.T.A.R.S. are en route to the facility as we speak. Should we tell them the information Mr. Walker has given us?" an aide asked Ian from behind the plexiglass window.

"Yes. Send them everything we have on the Nemesis II program, and our encounters with the finished units. That won't be the facility's only guard, but they should be the strongest. The S.T.A.R.S. should be able to handle it. Tell Matt that we may have the cure soon, and prepare to receive visitors. Make sure they come here by car, so Umbrella can't track the helicopters. Let's move it people!" he said as the people in the room scrambled to carry out their orders. Ian looked down at their prisoner again and smiled, knowing that a very dangerous player had just been taken out of the game. "Let's see you get out of this Tom," he added.

"Sir, we've reached the S.T.A.R.S. and are transmitting our information now. Would you like to get on the line, sir?" a communications technician asked.

"Let's do it. This is Assistant Director Williams," he said as he put on a headset hooked up to the SOC's radio equipment.

"Chris Redfield, S.T.A.R.S. Captain. Thanks for the information update; we'll put it to good use. Do these Nemesis II units have a known weakness?" Chris asked as an Intel officer handed Ian a folder containing all of the SOC's information about the Nemesis II program.

"Extreme heat and cold. It causes their cellular structure to de- stabilize, preventing their regenerative functions from working," Ian replied as he skimmed the information in the folder. There was even a picture of a Nemesis II floating in a cryogenic tube, which had been acquired by one of the few field missions the President had allowed them to conduct.

"Thanks a lot Director. If we can reach them, we'll get the virus and anti-virus samples for you. No guarantees though; it depends on how much resistance we encounter en route. What do you need this stuff for, if I might ask?" Chris said as Ian debated whether to tell him the truth.

"The fiancée of my best soldier was infected with the virus. We were able to rescue her from Umbrella's research base and keep her sedated until she could be secured in the facility here. He needs you to pull this off," Ian replied as he was met with silence for nearly a minute.

"Tell your man that we'll do our best for him. Barry wanted to know if it was Ryan," Chris added after weighing his options carefully.

"Yes. He's the best we have," Ian replied.

"We won't let him down. I still owe him for saving my life in Shoreline," Barry said as he entered the conversation. "The locker would be right on our way; we could have it in less than five minutes."

"It's your call Barry," Chris said before covering the microphone. Ian could still hear the sounds of twigs breaking, and knew that the S.T.A.R.S. would be arriving at the facility in a matter of moments. "We're going for it," he announced.

"The password for the locker is Vengeance. What else can we do to help?" Ian asked.

"You wouldn't happen to have some people up here ready to go with some heavy weapons, would you?" Chris asked as Ian smiled.

"If only. We only got our authorization to conduct offensive operations back this morning, and I wouldn't be able to get anyone up there unless you held off your attack for a few hours," Ian said with a sigh.

"Which we can't do, or else we risk Umbrella discovering our presence up here. If that happens, we won't be able to get the anti-virus before they destroy it. It's going to be hard enough as it is. We'll do our best though. Redfield out," Chris said before the radio uplink was cut.

"I came as soon as I could," Matt said as he ran into the observation room. He looked like he had just run a marathon to get to Ian. "What did they say?"

"The S.T.A.R.S. are going to make an attempt to get the anti-virus," Ian said as Matt smiled and slumped his shoulders in relief. "They didn't make any promises, since this facility is going to have high-end security systems. We know from Tom that they have Nemesis IIs up there, along with God knows what else. They can't hold off and wait for us to send someone up there, and I couldn't ask them to. They're already risking a lot to take this facility out, considering how heavily it appears to be defended."

"That's all I can ask them to do; to try," Matt said as he looked down at Tom. "How much more do you think we can get out of him?"

"Enough to make some headway," Ian replied with a smile. They had only just begun to tap the information Tom had about Umbrella, but would have plenty of time to get it. He gazed down at their prisoner, wondering what exactly had caused him to turn.

"This would've been a lot easier with him on our side," Matt said, almost regretfully. "He's been responsible for a lot of damage that Umbrella's done in the past few months. With him out of the game, we've got a huge advantage against them. Once Spencer realizes that he's gone, he's going to freak out. We should probably use this opportunity to our advantage and launch a full-scale attack."

"How many facilities have we received confirmed locations for?" Ian asked.

"We have fifteen confirmed, and another four suspected," Matt replied as he caught on to Ian's plan.

"Take the confirmed facilities out of play. I want you and Team 1 to stay here along with our security teams, in case our guest gets rowdy. All other Teams are released to attack," he said as he turned his back on Ian. "Let's kick them while they're down. Full deployment."

"Sir, yes sir!" Matt replied with a smile. Already, most of the people in the observation room had cleared out, heading towards the command center to coordinate the offensive. The support that deploying twenty nine Teams would require would push the SOC's resources to their limits, but the possible benefits were well worth the risks. Taking Spencer's second in command, along with fifteen facilities in such a short time period would send him just the sort of message he needed to hear; that Umbrella wasn't the biggest dog on the block anymore.

"Hope this works out all right," Mark said as he walked into the observation room. "Ian must be really confident if he's clearing out the whole facility."

"Never thought I'd see this in my time here," Paul added. None of them expected a full deployment to ever be used, especially in the SOC's first year of existence.

"If Umbrella attacks while everyone's out, we're screwed," Mark said as he looked down at Tom.

"I don't think they will," Matt replied. "Now let's see what else our former commander has in the way of information. Hello Tom," he continued as he hit the button for the room's intercom.

"Hello Ryan," Tom replied as he looked up, his eyes appearing to fix on the the glass window of the observation room even though the room he was in was pitch black.

"What didn't you tell Ian a few minutes ago?" Matt asked as Tom smiled.

"You have to give me something in return, Ryan," he replied.

"What do you want?" Matt said, knowing he'd actually have to let Tom have something in return for whatever information he was willing to offer.

"A maximum security prison. I don't want to rot away in the SOC Headquarters while all of you gloat over me," Tom said, knowing that he'd get it.

"I'll see what I can do, but Ian has the final call. Now tell me what you didn't tell Ian," Matt said.

"Only that a prototype for our new Alpha program is up there too. By the time the S.T.A.R.S. find out, it'll be too late. It's programed to kill them all, and is more than capable of doing it," Tom said as he stiffled a laugh.

"What is the Alpha program?" Matt asked.

"Umbrella's new weapons program, designed to improve our existing weapons platforms, and create the next-generation of creatures to supply our customers with," Tom said.

"What's the creature there, a new one or improved?" Matt asked. Tom just stared back, not replying. "Answer me, which is it?"

"I'm not privy to that information, Mr. Ryan. Now, be sure to hold up your end of the deal," Tom said as Matt slammed the wall in frustration.

"He knows. They just perfected their Nemesis IIIs, and now they've gotten themselves into a new program?" Matt asked himself. "Why did they start a new program after only finishing the testing on the Nemesis IIIs?" he asked Tom, hoping for a response. Tom only sat there, giving nothing else to Matt. "We need to get a hold of the S.T.A.R.S. right now."

"Here," Mark said as he handed Matt the headset Ian had used only moments prior.

"This is Matt Ryan, calling any members of the S.T.A.R.S. Please respond, over."

"What do you need Matt?" Barry asked over the channel.

"After further interrogation, our prisoner revealed that in addition to the Nemesis IIs and whatever other defenses the facility has, it's home to a prototype from something called the Alpha program. It's either a completely undocumented creature, or one that has been enhanced. Be advised, we have no idea what its capabilities will be, but our prisoner thinks rather highly of it," Matt said as Barry went silent.

"He won't give you any more information about it, will he?" Barry asked.

"No Barry. He's playing games with us, and knows just how we operate. I'm afraid the warning is all I can do for you. Be on your guard," Matt answered as he looked at Tom again. He was sitting there smugly knowing that he was safe as long as he kept some information secret.

"We'll be careful. Tell your prisoner thanks for the heads up. We'll be there in person soon," Barry said before shutting off their radio. They would be out of reach from this point on, meaning anything else that Matt might learn wouldn't be able to reach them.

"I guess all we can do now is sit back and wait," Mark said as he pulled out a few chairs. All three of them sat down, listening for the S.T.A.R.S. to come back on the air. After a half hour, they hadn't heard anything. Paul went to find some drinks for them, while Matt silently prayed both for the safety of the S.T.A.R.S. and that they would be successful. They waited for another twenty minutes, before Matt stood up and began to pace in front of the radio.

"No news is good news Matt," Paul commented as Matt stopped.

"I know, but this waiting is tearing me up inside. If they can't get the anti-virus and some of them get hurt or killed looking for it, I don't know if I'll be able to forgive myself. It'll be even worse if there wasn't anything there to begin with, and Tom was just pushing my buttons," he replied before going back to pacing.

"They were going to hit this facility anyway, Matt. You might've saved some of their lives by letting them know what they would be facing. We've at least given them a fighting chance," Mark said as Matt nodded.

"You're right. I just hate having this be out of my control. Waiting around while everyone else but the security teams are out hitting back against Umbrella really sucks." Suddenly, the radio crackled as a voice struggled to cut through the static.

"Hello?" Matt asked as he leapt for the headset.

"T**s *s B**ry," came the voice. The static seemed to be clearing up over time, so Matt came to the conclusion that they were heading outside. "W* man**ed to set off the self-destruct of the facility," he went on as the static finally disappeared from the line. "It'll be going up any minute now."

"Are all of you okay? Did you find the anti-virus?" Matt asked.

"We took a few injuries, but we're all alive. We found their Alpha, and it was a nasty fight. It was some sort of enhanced Tyrant. Leon managed to get to the locker while we held it off, and got a few vials of the virus and anti-virus. We'll be there in less than twelve hours," he said as Matt sighed in relief.

"What about the Alpha? How was it enhanced, or what was it like?" he went on after gathering his thoughts.

"It was a lot smarter than anything we've ever encountered, not to mention stronger and faster. These things are really tough customers. We'll tell you more once we arrive. See you soon," Barry said as he turned their radio off again. Matt took off the headset, and looked in at Tom again.

"You failed," he spoke into the intercom's speaker before leaving the room.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Somewhere in Eastern Kansas
Convoy for Maximum Security Prisoners
August 17, 2001 5:00 PM

"This is Escort Lead, we've got some sort of obstruction in the road up ahead. Looks like a downed electrical line," the first car called in as the convoy rolled to a stop.

"How do you advise we continue?" the driver of the bus containing the convoy's prisoners asked.

"Let's back up and take the first exit we get to. We can swing South and take a detour. It'll cost us fifteen minutes, at the most," the lead car's driver replied as his passenger checked a map.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," one of the guards called in.

"I agree; keep your weapons close by. If this was deliberate, we may need to fight our way out of here," the convoy's leader said as he picked up his shotgun and held it in a tight grip. He also had a bad feeling about the downed power line, which seemed to be too coincidental to him.

"There's something blocking the path behind us too. It's bloody huge," the rear car's driver said over the radio. "What the? It's alive!" he yelled before the car exploded.

"Everybody out!" the leader called out as he dove out of his black SUV seconds before it too exploded. He looked around, trying to find out where their attackers were, but all he saw was the creature blocking their exit. It easily cleared ten feet, and looked like something he did not want to screw with. He was jerked back to reality when he saw a dog sinking its teeth into his arm. He yelped and jumped back before firing his shotgun into its face. He looked around, and saw that in less than a minute, all of the others were dead. Even the guards for the bus had been killed, without a fight it seemed. He heard a crunching sound, and looked up to see the barrel of a revolver hovering above his head.

"I'm sorry," the man said before pulling the trigger, and ensuring the guard wouldn't have to suffer as a member of the living dead. The creatures that carried out the assault sat by obediently as several other armed men checked the bodies of the guards, taking the guards' weapons and putting bullets into their brains to ensure they wouldn't return as undead.

"The objective is secure," one of the men said as he led a man with a hood over his head out of the bus and into the road. A helicopter roared by overhead, with the Umbrella insignia emblazoned underneath it.

"Mr. Dupree, I'm glad you were able to make it," Tom said as his handcuffs and leg cuffs were removed. He rubbed his wrists, and offered his hand to the agent.

"You think that I am? The only reason that I'm here is that Spencer ordered me to free you. He obviously thinks that you still have some use to the company. Of course, having an assassin ready to eliminate my brother also played a part in my decision to rescue you," Pierre replied as he wiped some blood off of the barrel of his magnum. "I've done my fair share of Spencer's dirty work, but that never involved murdering innocent people to save a fool."

"You should lighten up a bit Pierre. Some people might not appreciate that attitude of yours," Tom replied as he withdrew his hand. "Let's get out of here before someone comes looking, shall we?"

"I have no wish to remain here. Head to your rendevous point," Pierre said as the creatures that took part in the assault began to walk towards the south.

"I see that the Alphas have been perfected," Tom said as he looked on in admiration.

"Hardly. Spencer has arranged for a test in a few months, to see if they're ready to be deployed. We'll know for sure then," Pierre replied as the helicopter that had just flown overhead made another pass, and began to set down. The USF agents escorted Tom on to the helicopter, while Pierre jumped on last. The bus containing the prisoners exploded in a ball of flames as one of the agents detonated the explosives he had set, knowing that they could leave no living witnesses. 'Killing off the competition is one thing, but attacking a prisoner's convoy?' Pierre thought to himself. 'Spencer truly is a madman. Maybe I should've taken Matt Ryan up on his offer.'

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"You're kidding me," Matt said as he listened to the news coming in over the radio. Tom's convoy had been found, completely destroyed. There was nothing left but destroyed vehicles and bodies.

"They got him out, I suppose," Ian said as he looked on, deep in thought. "But how did they do it? That seems to be the million dollar question. We've got us a whole new ball game," he continued as Matt nodded.

"Now we just have to figure out who's ahead."

"Sir, two packages just came in from Langley," an aide said as he handed the parcels to Ian.

"It isn't my birthday, or Christmas," he said to himself as he opened the first, a manila envelope that had been postmarked the day before. "Well well," he went on as he scanned the letter and computer printout that came with it.

"What is it?" Matt asked.

"It seems that we're getting a new asset," Ian said as he handed the makeshift dossier over to him. He scanned the file over before nodding once, approvingly.

"Just the sort of person we'll need. When will she get here?" Matt asked.

"Around 5:30 tomorrow afternoon," Ian replied. "I've never been partial to assassins, but I'm not going to be picky. An asset is an asset, and we'll need everyone that we can get our hands on. This one's for you," he went on, handing Matt the second envelope. He opened it, before taking out a piece of paper along with a map of a small island.

"Well I'll be. Pierre Dupree strikes again," he said as he smiled. "It seems Umbrella's going to have a final field test for their new Alphas on this island. Pierre was kind enough to give us the date of the trials, and the island's location. It looks like they're going to recruit soldiers to use for their combat data. This might help out too." Matt reached into the envelope and pulled out a false ID badge and military background. "We could get one of our people onto the island, and sabotage the test. At the very least, we can learn some more about Umbrella's new toys."

"It looks like we have a few months until the test starts. I'm going to ask Sam Reynolds if he wants the assignment," Ian said after Matt passed him the message. "You're too well known to Umbrella, but they haven't got any information about Sam at all."

"I have to agree with you. I'm too obvious to send, and Sam's got what it takes to pull the mission off. I'm going to suggest that we have his Team, and another sitting offshore as back-up in case he needs it," Matt said.

"Consider it done. We'll at least have some time to plan out the operation with Sam, and brief him in on what to expect. I'll start getting the basic plan set up. You go on home; you've been working harder on this operation than anyone else in the SOC," Ian said as Matt gave a weak smile. It had been true, in the last eight months he had almost lived at the Headquarters. "I'm ordering you to spend some time with Melissa. Now get out of here," he said as Matt put up his hands in mock surrender.

"I can't believe it's been a week," he said to himself as he walked out of the command center. It had been touch and go for a while, but finally the anti-virus was able to eradicate the Nemesis III that infested Melissa. He smiled at the memory of when she first woke up. She was one of the main reasons why he was fighting, and he was eternally grateful to have her back. "Time to hold up my end of the deal."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Author's Notes: And we have number nine, ladies and gentlemen. It's been a pleasure to write for you all thus far, and I'm really looking forward to O: FS 2K2. On the other hand, school has obviously slowed down the progress of this chapter, along with some unforseen time spent away from home. So much stuff has been going on, that this chapter sat with about 5,000 words done for several days with no progress made. If there are any typos, I'm sorry, but I've shifted my base of operations from our new Dell to the 10 year old computer in my room, and it's spell checker is a bit less-advanced (it won't underline spelling errors, etc.) than what I'm used to. On the other hand, I can now write later at night than before (I'm finishing this up at about 10:00 on Thursday the 28th, and doing a final proof reading on the 31st at 8: 15) and not have to worry as much about disturbing people (listening to music helps me write, this chapter's music award goes to The Best of Bond and the MechCommander 2 soundtrack) while I write. On to the really important stuff.

I'm still accepting characters, as our new assassin, from Bryan, demonstrates. She'll make her proper appearance next chapter, which you'll read more about in a few lines. I'm also proud to announce that work will soon begin on my O: FS side story, The Fall of Umbrella. Between the characters from The Battle of Shoreline, some reader-submitted characters, and the new S.T.A.R.S. members (from the other cities, like in S.D. Perry's RE novels), I should have enough to make it interesting. I'm going to stick to my guns, and only have the main S.T.A.R.S. (Chris, Barry, Jill, Rebecca, etc.) appear only as supporting-characters (honestly, they've been written about so much that they're starting to get worn out. I like telling my stories with fresh faces, and this one's going to have a bunch.). It'll be up soon, I promise. I intend to have both O: FS and TFoU (I already have an abbreviation for it, you can tell it's coming soon!) complement each other, and continue the O: FS universe until its end. In other words, the stuff that didn't make it into this chapter (like the results of the SOC's blitz) has been saved to go into TFoU's first chapter. Without further commercial interruption, everyone's favorite part of the chapter, the Coming Attractions!

Next Chapter: The SOC's new member is introduced, as Spencer rips Tom a new one after his return to Paris. A plan to infiltrate Umbrella's test site for their Alphas begins to develop as a shipment of prototype weapons arrives. Ian heads to Washington to present all of the SOC's accumulated evidence to the President, with the intention of convincing him to commit all of the United State's military against Umbrella's threat. Will he succeed? Tune into Operation: Falling S.T.A.R.S. Chapter Ten: Aftershocks.

TFoU: Basic introduction, overview of the survivors from The Battle of Shoreline (umbrella-inc.com), what's happened since TBoS, some more technical updates. The action will really pick up with Chapter 2, which is going to feature the attack on Umbrella's Ontario plant. They'll be up sometime soon (I'll try my best, but school's put a major crimp into my writing time, at least until I get settled back into my school routine. I also can't spend 1+ hours per night writing anymore, so progress has been much slower, except on weekends). Until next time people!