1 GREAT BALLS OF FIRE

The fire trucks reported to Cumberland St. When they got there, the street was collapsed from the explosion, with the squad cars protruding from the sinkhole, they're strobes still flashing within the smoke along with various other cars too.

Firefighters were climbing down into the rubble of the street while gas mains leaked, water mains gushed fresh, cold water into the rubble. Radio calls were being heard from beneath the rubble, but it wasn't known from where. Suddenly, as a group of firefighters were climbing along the rubble to below, it collapsed the part of the street they were on, and they fell down to below.

Just as that happened, the collapsed street removed a barrier that was holding a squad car up and it came crashing down into the sewer onto a gas main that was still intact. The squad car titled to its left as it went down and smashed down with its driver's door onto the main. There was a split second of a spark and then a humongous explosion from the rubble. A fireball the height of more than a hundred feet reached into the air and engulfed the sinkhole and reached like a wave in all directions across Cumberland St. as it sprung up from the collapse and covered everything.

The nearby trees were on fire from the fireball as the officers and firefighters scrambled up and into the hole to search for more of their own. A nearby Captain told a police officer to get to the Emergency phone on the telephone pole and request more backup a minute later and told him the phone was out. Not soon after, all the telephone communications in that district were out.

Backup came, and the fire was out by the time they got there from the gushing water main as it sprayed full force into the air, onto the houses on the street and others. It was getting dark as the power went out on the block, and soon, the surrounding areas, with comms out.

2 ALERTNESS

Chief Irons heard of the news, and immediately knew who was to blame as he slammed his fist down on his desk. He reached for his Lucent Technologies secure telephone and dialed Sgt. Cartell. He sat there at his desk for a good minute while it scrambled and connected. It was picked up on the first ring.

"Umbrella Incorporated Biohazard Operations Unit Four, Lt. Joel speaking." Came the voice as it was finally picked up.

"Get Sgt. Cartell on the phone now!" The Chief screamed into the phone as the Lieutenant calmly switched the connections to the phone in the Control Room.

The phone rang in the Control Room and a person picked it up, heard the screaming, agitated voice and called Sgt. Cartell over.

"Sgt. Cartell here." He said as he took the receiver, his mouth formed in a thin line as he listened.

"Just what the Hell happened?!?" The Chief ranted into the phone.

"There's no need for concern on your behalf, it's under control." He replied as he shuffled through some papers.

"None of my 'concern'?!?" Chief Irons belched into the phone and continued. "I have more of my men dead now, a collapsed street, cars demolished, destruction beyond recognition. I want to know what you are planning on doing while my city falls all around me because of your company's incompetence?" The Chief concluded.

"It was a operation gone wary, but it succeeded subliminally, I was about to check on it when you yelped." He said as put on an annoyed face and leaned against the nearby filing cabinet in his beige fatigues.

"'Yelped'!?!? You son of a-" He was cut off before he was finished.

"I need the guarantee that the police won't know of our movements tonight as I initiate the 'operation'." Sgt. Cartell requested, but more like demanded.

"Well, it's about God Damn time!!! That was supposed to happen three days ago!" said Chief Irons as plopped down into his leather chair and swiveled in it around.

"As I have already told you, I'll give you a recap on the mission." Sgt. Cartell said as he twirled the phone cord around his right index finger. "I'm going in with about thirty guys, two semi's, three Silverados for night mission. I have to be certain that the mansion is destroyed and no future 'cases' are going to arise. That's all."

There was more to it, but Sgt. Cartell was given instructions to keep the true nature of the op under wraps, and even then he still wasn't sure of the nature too.

"I'm moving out by tonight, you'll receive a report by morning at the same rendezvous, out" And he hung up.

Chief Irons was left sitting, face scrounged up from being hung up on without having a chance to say anything. He carefully hung up the receiver and went to dispatch to do what he had to do.

2.1 One hour earlier

The office was located on the seventy-second floor, facing west as the sun was setting, but the sun's beams were blocked out by heavy Venetian blinds that hung over the floor-to-ceiling windows. The sun's beams sliced through the slits of the blinds and cast a system of horizontal lines across half the office. The other half of the room was dimly lit, and that was from the light of a fish tank in the corner of the room. There was a knock on the heavy oak wood door a second before it swung open.

The person who entered was Caucasian, standing at six feet two inches with a form of closely cropped black hair seen from the blinds. He walked purposefully across the room and climbed a set of two steps coming to a stop at a glossed Chippendale desk on the far side of the darkened room. He stopped just before the desk and peered through the darkness at the figure on the other side of the desk as the person's back was turned to him as they watched the fish tank. After a few moments of silence, he spoke.

"Sir," he began into the darkness, "we found the mole." He waited a moment for a reply, none, then continued. "He was working in the 'Biological Disperse Branch'. Unfortunately, we were too late."

The figure behind the desk moved in the high-backed leather chair to his left, their body moving slightly away from the fish tank. The man waited as he listened to the whir of the air conditioning duct somewhere in the room. It was musty in the room, 'but it always is.' he thought just as he continued.

"The mole released a Dispersing order for Project Gam, otherwise known as 'Hakusho-2501'. He forged a series of documents to make it seem like it was an official order from the top, of which it wasn't." He stopped briefly, then went on. "It seems he was under orders from them, Sir"

"I see." Said the voice from the dark, echoing off from the fish tank.

"That's not all, Sir, from what we can gather, the mole couldn't have done this on their own without further help."

"Your point, Mr. Rainken?" The voce carried a curious tone to it.

"The point is, Sir, that there's another mole in the company, one higher up that could've set things up the way they went with the mole, Sir."

"How 'high' up?" The voice returned to the flat tone that it was before.

"Perhaps on the Board, Sir. Maybe higher." He said as he sighed. "We're working on it now to find out who it might be, but it was as we had expected it."

"Fine." The figure said as they waved their left hand in a dismissed gesture.

"That's not all, Sir." He said as he lowered his head a bit to the rug beneath his shoes.

"Go on, Mr. Rainken."

"Sir, Hakusho-2501 was delivered, as to the processing order by the mole."

"Where was it sent to?" The figure was clearly inquisitive now to what was being said.

"It was delivered last night, Sir, to.. Raccoon City." He finished, perching his lips in a thin line.

"What!?!" The person barked back at him, the chair now fully turned to him now.

He took a deep breath before continuing.

"We received an Comms Update from Sgt. William Cartell, the Chief Security Officer of BioOps out in Raccoon City. He reported a failed attempt of the release of Hakusho-2501, as per orders."

"'Failed release'??" The figure belched as the man saw the eyes of theirs wide open.

"Sir, the mole sent orders to Sgt. Cartell for the release of Hakusho-2501, in the laboratory beneath the city. We were lucky it was foiled by the Raccoon City Police Department, but, it was still deployed in the sewer system of the city." He trailed off.

"What do you mean foiled? And 'deployed'?" The person said as they sat calmly back down in the chair.

He recapped the sequence of events that occurred with the attempted release of Hakusho-2501.

"It wasn't deployed exactly where it was supposed to, but it was close enough to do damage to the lab. Reports and surveillance cameras still working in the lab are showing Hakusho-2501 destroying more than sixty- percent of the lab, Sir. The southwest section of the lab has been completely decimated."

"But there's more.." Came a reply back.

"Yes, Sir. Hakusho-2501 has completely destroyed the computer room located in the lab. All the data on the G-Virus and T-Virus variations has been lost, along with all the battle data. Sir, this is a tremendous loss to Research & Development, never mind the company."

"Are you positive the data can't be recovered?"

"I wouldn't be talking about it then, Sir." He straightened up and went on. "Sir, it doesn't end there either." No reply or noise came back. "Haksuho-2501 has begun to knock out communication lines in the city, including power too. We estimate that in eight hours, seventy-five percent of phone lines and communication would be disabled in the city, with forty percent power failure."

"But, Sir. I don't think all is failed and lost. I have a plan."

2.1.1

"CONFIRMATION"

Sgt. Cartell was in his office reviewing the current armaments ready to go at a moments notice when his Second Lieutenant knocked on the door.

"Come in." he said as he laid the papers on his desk and sat up.

Second Lieutenant Jamelles opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind. He walked to the desk and handed Sgt. Cartell a folder. Sgt. Cartell took it from him and opened it and started to read the files inside. The first one was a fax coversheet from Umbrella Headquarters in Atlanta.

He flipped the coversheet over and went to the next. Just as he had expected, disbursement orders and operation objectives for the mission he was expecting after the failed release of Hakusho-2501. But, what it didn't say was that previous order was a fake.

He turned over the sheet saying the authorization codes, overall mission objectives, coordinates and some more general information. The next sheet was what he was looking for:

"Mission Objectives:

Mobilize your unit immediately and report to the Arklay Mt. Range and set camp within one mile of the Spencer Mansion remains by 2200 23091998, tonight.

Recent reconnaissance photos show that an unknown group of persons, heavily armed, has moved to within the Spencer Mansion remains with unknown motives.

You are to mobilize a unit of your men and set them out to the Spencer Mansion remains, with their top obligation the entry to the laboratory located beneath the mansion remains.

As per ordered, you will set camp within one mile of the Spencer Mansion remains and pose as center of all communications for said recon team to the Spencer Mansion remains and all other Umbrella activities in and within Raccoon City.

Enclosed are the sat recon photos of the unknown hostile group, which we presume are affiliated with the Greenmasge Tower Corp. The sat photos are from 1700 and are therefore three hours old. Use them wisely and accordingly.

Track down the hostile group and, if possible, force them to surrender, their knowledge can prove useful to Umbrella. The Analysis Department has come to the conclusion that the hostile group is after the B4 level of the lab containing fifteen (15) specimens of the new Hunter type, Omega type. We believe they're after the actual specimens and the combat data located on B1 level in the computer room. The Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) on the mansion detonation is unknown, and therefore we cannot take the chance that the specimens were destroyed, as was the battle date in the mansion explosion.

If the recon team does discover that B4 level is relatively intact and the specimens are in good shape, their objectives will change to preventing and capturing the hostile group and thereafter, the protection and retrieval of the Omega Hunters and the battle data on B1 level if accessible.

The use of the MK-33 has been authorized."





"What the.?" Sgt. Cartell said as he finished the last sentence. "'Use of the MK-33 has been authorized'?" He said to himself as he looked over the Objectives again.

"What, sir!?!" Second Lieutenant Jamelles asked surprisingly.

"I know. Why would Umbrella authorize the use of the MK-33 on a search mission." Sgt. Cartell said. "I know that there's some B.O.W.'s in the forest, but not too many or big enough that the MK-33 has to be used. Oh well, better to be able to use it with some extra firepower. Let me finish this up." He finished this as he went back to the folder. He flipped to the next page and read:

"Weapons Usage

All weapons are authorized as deemed appropriate by the Commander-in-Charge there, Sgt. Cartell.

As stated before, the MK-33 has been fully authorized for usage as deemed by the Commander-in-Charge, Sgt. Cartell.

Your unit will be the only one deployed to the Arklay Mt. Range, therefore, you will have no backup than your own unit.

There will be no air support available while you're on this mission. The nearest time for any air support will be at the earliest 1400 24091998, so plan with that limit."

"All weapons authorized!?!" Sgt. Cartell blurted out after finishing up. "And again, saying that the MK-33 is authorized for use. And no air support, why mention that?"

"I don't like the feeling of this mission, sir." Second Lieutenant Jamelles said to Sgt. Cartell.

"I know but, we don't have a choice. Notify the men to get ready and move out by no later than 2100. That's all" he said as he looked at the sat photos.

"Yes, sir." Second Lieutenant Jamelles said as he left, closing the door once more behind him.

Sgt. Cartell studied the five satellite photos that were in the folder also. The first two were real time photos with no altercation to them and some clouds could be seen here and there on the photos, covering some parts with a gray haze to it. He could see a group of about eighteen persons moving in two groups Northwest toward the mansion.

But, something was wrong. The group was walking in a straight line, but toward a mountain, and not toward the mansion. The last three photos were thermal and infrared of the group. But, the mansion was white, bright white in some parts. 'That doesn't make sense' he said as he squinted at the photos. Also, around the mansion were white spots, meaning there was some great amount of heat there. He flipped back to the other real time photos and realized that the clouds he saw before were coming from and away from the mansion, the clouds were gray, as he thought.

'Wait a second, those are clouds of smoke, from the mansion. This makes no sense, it's like the mansion is still burning, and hot too. But that can't be, that was over two months ago, the fire would've been out by now. I don't like this one bit." He said as he went through the rest of the papers.

Five minutes earlier.

Second Lieutenant Jamelles just left Sgt. Cartell's office and relayed the news. He then went to Satellite Recon officer for any updates. After he told of the plans, he brought something up.

"Sir, I just checked the weather updates for around Raccoon City." The Sat Recon officer told Second Lieutenant Jamelles.

"And?"

"Sir, there's a strong thunderstorm cell is moving North-Northwest toward Raccoon City. It'll be over Raccoon Forest and Raccoon City by no later than 2300, sir."