Chapter 1a: A Small Thought

July. And the Raccoon City Police Department has been forced into action by the public outcry. There have been many reports of lost hikers in the Arklay Mountains. Mutilated bodies have been turning up in rivers, and on mountain paths. Though it has been presumed that these are animal attacks, there have been several reports of vicious killings by groups of people. The Marble River district of Raccoon City was shocked by the discovery of a headless woman in the river. She was one of the missing hikers. The public had then had enough and turned to the police saying something must be done. The R.P.D responded by closing off the mountain trail and sending search parties seeking the lost hikers. Amongst these search teams, the elite S.T.A.R.S. unit was to be sent into the mountains. And it was at this point that the captain of the R.P.D. Special Forces Service and the captain of S.T.A.R.S. began to move. The S.F.S. captain, a woman named Danielle Lanza, had agreed to accompany the S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team into the mountains. She stood on the rooftop of the police station, and reflected on the past few months since she first came to Raccoon City in February....

Raccoon City's small airport was surprisingly busy, mainly with people coming back from their summer vacations. The plane from Denver was now disembarking, and amongst the people rushing to get off the plane, a young woman strolled casually into the terminal from the boarding gate. As she picked up her suitcases from the luggage conveyer, she sighed and looked around. The woman was tall, brunette and beautiful. She walked slowly out of the airport, and onto the street outside. She put her bags down for a moment and hailed a cab. Giving the driver the address, he took her to her new house. She paid the cabbie and he drove off. Flicking her fringe behind her ear, she fiddled with her new keys until she found the right one. Then she unlocked the door and went inside. On the floor on the other side of the door, there was a few letters.

"Air mail, air mail, air mail, Raccoon City Police Department. They don't waste much time," she said, opening the one from the R.P.D. "Lets see....

"'To Miss Danielle Lanza. We're pleased to announce your immediate promotion to captain of the elite Raccoon City Special Forces Service, otherwise known as the S.F.S. We request that you attend a meeting of force superiors on 2/2/98, which is this Monday. We understand that this is short notice however; it is necessary for you to get to know your fellow officers. We look forward to meeting you in person. Yours sincerely, Police Chief Brian Irons.'

"Immediate promotion? From what I've heard, Raccoon City's S.F.S. is full of lazy lard-asses. More like immediate demotion, if they're really like that. I hope they don't expect me to wear uniform, either. Can't stand uniforms.... They're so demeaning."

Danielle looked around and laughed, closing the door. "There I go again, talking to myself like usual. I've really gotta make some new friends. Monday the 2nd? That's tomorrow...." Suddenly the phone rang. Danielle shrugged. "Sometimes I think they've got me bugged. Who on Earth could have my number already?" She picked up the cordless phone. "Ye-llo?"

"Howdy, captain!"

"Oh my God! Richard? Richard Fidler, is that you?"

The person on the other end laughed. "Sure is. Hey. Shellie couldn't call you herself, she's gone out, but I saw you pull up, and thought I'd give you a bell!"

Danielle walked over to the window and looked out at the house across the road. A young man in the window of the other house looked out and waved. Danielle smiled and waved back.

"You're looking good lately, Rich. Shellie hasn't been workin' you too hard, I hope."

"Not a chance. Actually, this is the last time either of you are going to see me for a while, I've got a big project on with the company and, though Shellie doesn't want me to, I'm leaving in a few days, and won't be back for the next few months."

Danielle laughed. "That's a bit rude, isn't it? After all, I just got into town. The least you could do is step outside that fox-hole of yours and say hello in person."

Richard sighed. "Oh, geez. Don't tell me you're bored, you've gotta get unpacking, miss!"

"Why don't you be the gentleman you're always saying you are and come around and help me?"

"That's what removal men are for."

"For your information, Mr Fidler, the removalists have been here already, unpacked one or two things... like the phone, and split."

"Hang up."

"What?"

"Hang up... I'll leave Shellie a note and I'll come and help you. After all," he added with a laugh, "It's the least I can do for my favourite honorary sister."

Danielle Lanza walked boldly into the foyer of the huge police station, and approached the young, blonde secretary behind the desk. The young woman looked up at her as she approached.

"You must be Captain Lanza."

Danielle nodded slowly, and sighed. "Last time I checked...This place is huge. I wouldn't be able to find my way around here if I had a guide. Could you possibly give me directions to the S.T.A.R.S. or S.F.S. office?"

The secretary smiled. "I'd recommend going to see S.T.A.R.S. first, I don't think it would be a good start to your first day if you go straight in and see your unit. They're a bit of an eyesore around here. If you go get acquainted with S.T.A.R.S. first, I'm sure it'll be a better start. Even if Captain Wesker is there. I'm sure that someone there'll help you out after that."

The secretary gave Danielle clear directions to get to the office. Nodding her thanks, Danielle walked off in the direction she had been shown, and started out. In the hallway ahead of her, two men were talking loudly. She paid no attention to them, and kept moving, but somehow became distracted, and walked right into one of them. The other roared with laughter, and the young man she had crashed into with her fast walking pace helped her to retain her balance. She embarrassedly looked up at him and apologised.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."

The young man grinned. "No worries. I can tell that you're new here, so don't worry about it. The name's Chris Redfield, S.T.A.R.S."

Danielle smiled, and shook his outstretched hand. "Danielle Lanza, apparently captain of the R.P.D Special Forces Service."

The bushy-bearded man standing next to Chris laughed. "So you're the new captain. I bet the S.F.S. boys are going to be thrilled about that. I'm Barry, by the way, Barry Burton."

Danielle nodded. Chris smiled.

"It looks like you could use a tour. We'd be glad to show you the way."

"Thanks," Danielle smiled. "I was looking for S.T.A.R.S. and the S.F.S. offices."

Barry nodded. "Not a problem, we'll take you to S.T.A.R.S. first, it's a fair bit more respectful. Come on then."

Danielle laughed. "From what I've heard of the S.F.S, they sound like the south end of a northbound camel."

Chris stifled a laugh. "That's the best analogy of the S.F.S. I've ever heard."

"Here we are," Barry announced as he pushed open the door to the S.T.A.R.S. office. Inside were five people. Danielle recognised one of them instantly.

"Rachelle!"

The young brunette sitting behind a desk in one corner turned around in surprise and sprung up, running over and hugging her. Chris laughed.

"Presumably you two know each other."

"Hell yeah," Rachelle said, leaning on Danielle's shoulder. "Dani and I went to the same academy. When I left and came here, she went over to good 'ole Chicago. Which reminds me. You didn't know I came here to Raccoon, why'd you come here?"

Danielle smiled, and looked around, satisfied that she had the attention of all the S.T.A.R.S. members, including the sinister-looking blonde man at the end of the room.

"Well, after I showed up all the officers in the CPD, I decided to move on, considering that everything you handle in Chicago is drug busts and murders, it does get pretty boring."

"What made you think it was any more exciting here in Raccoon?" a dark-skinned man near the shelves in one end of the office asked, closing the file he held in his hand. Danielle shrugged.

"Umbrella has a laboratory nearby. I found that if I follow Umbrella around, it tends to get pretty exciting. It did in Chicago, anyway."

The blonde shifted uneasily in his chair, and Danielle couldn't help but notice.

"Does that bother you, Mr....."

"Wesker," the man said shortly, standing up. "Albert Wesker. Captain of S.T.A.R.S."

He walked over and shook her hand. Danielle noticed he had a strong grip, and it made her feel awkward, because she couldn't see his eyes behind his shades. She nodded.

"So, presumably you'd be attending today's meeting, Captain Wesker."

Wesker grinned slightly. "Just Wesker will do, thanks, 'Dani'. Great to meet you."

Then he turned and left the room.

"What a sleaze bag," Danielle said.

"Sure is. I think it's a case of hate at first sight, Danielle," A woman behind one of the desks stood up and extended her hand. "Jill Valentine. Don't worry, I won't freeze off your hand like that cold bastard."

Danielle shook her hand with a grin. "Apparently I've been 'promoted' to captain of the S.F.S. Would someone care to take me to see them so that I can measure them up?"

Rachelle laughed. "I'm pretty busy, otherwise I'd come with you just to see their faces when they see that you're the captain. Joseph and Kenneth aren't busy, I volunteer them."

The dark man, and a man wearing a red bandanna, who was standing next to him looked up. Kenneth, the dark man, put the file back on the shelf.

"Come on, Joe. Let's get this over with."

Jill sat down behind her desk. "You're saying it like it's an effort."

"Of course it is," Joseph said, walking up next to Danielle. "Just looking at those sorry excuses for a Special Forces team is an effort."

Danielle laughed. "I plan to do something about that."

"Doing something about it without firing the lot of them will be a hard task, you know."

Danielle shook her head. "I'm sure there are some worthwhile people in there somewhere. I'll just have to weed them out."

Joseph and Kenneth led her out of the room. Jill leaned forward on the desk.

"She reminds me of Hitler."

Rachelle laughed and looked at her. "Why do you say that, Jill?"

She shrugged. "Something about the way she talks about getting the S.F.S. up to shape. It sounds like Hitler's plan to breed a race of blonde-haired blue-eyed people."

Chris shrugged. "I'll follow her if she can actually do it."

"Do what? Breed a race of blonde-haired blue-eyed people?"

"No," he said, shaking his head and laughing. "Weed out the bad members of the S.F.S. with people still there to be the S.F.S. when she's finished."

"Get off your asses, and line up!"

The S.F.S. team looked up from their desks at the voice. Danielle stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips, Kenneth to one side of her, and Joseph to the other. The team sat there for a moment, not knowing how to respond to this order from someone they had never seen before.

"NOW!" Danielle almost screamed at them.

As soon as she had ordered them up, they were moving, lining up messily in front of her. Danielle paced back and forth in front of them and scrutinised every one of them as she passed them. A couple of them stood as if they were stone, without moving a muscle, and others were fairly slack. Eventually Danielle stopped.

"At ease....as if many of you weren't already," she added sardonically. Joseph looked at her uneasily. The kind, laughing, happy young woman who had been standing with them in the S.T.A.R.S. office barely 10 minutes ago had turned brutal, almost like Wesker, except she had flair. The S.F.S. seemed more uneasy than him, though. Danielle stood with her hands behind her back, and stared down each one of them in order, as if she was reading their history with the precinct from their eyes. Then she pointed to a young woman with short, curly blonde hair.

"Name."

The woman stood stock-still and saluted as though Danielle was an army general.

"Zoë Lawrence, Captain," she answered briskly. Danielle smiled.

"I like you, Zoë. You have discipline. Come up here."

Zoë walked cautiously up to Danielle.

"Zoë Lawrence, I announce you as second in command of Raccoon City's S.F.S. At ease."

Zoë smiled cautiously, as though she wasn't sure whether or not she was allowed to. Danielle turned to the group.

"You know, Zoë, I don't know how to speak the language of the 'lard-ass'. I'm not meaning anything derogatory to you, but you seem to have been here long enough to understand English as well as the language of these heathens. Please humour me and translate what I'm saying to these slackers."

Zoë nodded slowly, not getting where Danielle was coming from.

"I'm your new captain, Danielle Lanza."

Suddenly there was an amount of noise, mainly protests, as it sank in. Danielle looked around with an expression of mocked surprise.

"Oh my! They seem to understand! Shut the hell up!" The room went quiet. "As I said. I am your new captain. And it looks like there's going to be a few changes around here. And anyone who doesn't shape up, is out. Is there anyone in this room who doubts that this will be the case?"

There was no protest. The officers in the room listened in stunned silence.

"Good. I'm off to a meeting, and when I get back, I expect to see you all on some case. Even if you have to reopen a microfilmed case from 1965, I want to see you doing something productive!!! Zoë, please oversee what goes on here for me."

Zoë nodded quietly and turned to the S.F.S. as Danielle walked out with her escorts.

"Alright people, you heard the captain, she wants results, and we're gonna get them for her! Get cracking!"

Danielle grinned as they walked down the hall. Kenneth shook his head.

"They're going to hate you, Captain Lanza."

Danielle shrugged as she put her hand on the handle of the meeting room door.

"They can despise me and curse me to hell if they see it fitting. Your captain isn't there to be loved, a la Wesker. You guys can worship me if you like, but I want the S.F.S. to hate me. Oh and... Danielle's fine, Kenneth."

Joseph shook his head. "You're on the right path. I certainly think that they want you dead."

Danielle smiled. "That's the way I want it."

Danielle looked around at the others in the room. She ended up having to drag Zoë into the meeting, as the second in command was required also. In one corner of the room was Wesker and another S.T.A.R.S. member she hadn't met yet. Chief Brian Irons stood at the podium. It was an interesting meeting room — they were in the room used as a classroom for the trainees and rookies. But no one was complaining.

"You may already know that our 'elite' S.F.S. has a new captain. You also may have had the pleasure of meeting her, I know that I have not, and I am looking forward to our first conversation. What's that, captain?"

Danielle laughed. "I didn't say anything, Chief. Presuming I'm already in the process of bagging you out? I can if you want me to."

Irons laughed. "If you'd like to, you're quite welcome. But please, save it for the office. Right now, if you have anything you'd like to say... Well, I guess you should come and say it now."

Danielle stood up and walked up to Irons. She turned to the assembly.

"Well, I know for certain that I have never laid eyes on some of you before. Straight off that subject now and to the point. As you obviously now know, I am Danielle Lanza. And to put it horribly bluntly, I'm a rabid idealist, and a bitch." There was slight laughter. Danielle smiled and continued. "And I can tell right now that I may not get along with some of you because of this factor.

"Now, onto the subject of the so-called 'elite' Special Force Service that you all seem to take great pleasure in badgering. I agree whole-heartedly, now I have seen them. They are lazy no-gooders, bar a select few I am in the process of singling out.

"One of these worthwhile members is my new second in command, Zoë Lawrence. I've also sighted a couple of others who seem to have discipline."

The other officers turned to each other and there was an amount of whispering. Danielle nodded.

"I'm not here to be quiet, either. Because if I'm not here to make waves, I'm here to make bloody tsunamis. After all, I came from the Chicago Police Department!" They laughed again. Danielle grinned. "And to finish up, I must say, S.T.A.R.S. impresses me very much. Captain Wesker has done a good job."

She looked directly at him before returning to her seat. Irons took the stand again.

"Thank you, captain. Well, what do we think?"

Everyone clapped. Zoë turned to her.

"Did you mean what you said?"

Danielle kept her eyes on Irons, but smiled. "Zoë, something you'll learn very quickly about me, is that I mean everything I say when I say it loud."

"Are you going to lay off the S.F.S.?"

Danielle thought for a moment. "The thought occurred to me the moment I saw them. I might hang onto them for a while. After all, officers like them are a dime a dozen, but I'm sure there's something special in some of them. I just have to find it."

"That's going to take a lot of work."

"Not really. You just find the ones who are working."

Zoë looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, there are some people I noticed right from the beginning. When I gave the order, they were straight into it, without hesitating. These are the people I'm looking for."

Zoë nodded. "I think I understand now."

Danielle smiled. "That's good, Zoë, because only the people who will find themselves out on their asses don't."

The next day, everything was a rush for Danielle. As she ran out the door in the morning, she just couldn't hail a cab. Rachelle crossed the street and walked up to her.

"You right, Dani? Haven't you got a car yet?"

Danielle looked at her tiredly. "Do you think I would? This is my third day here. Of course I don't."

Rachelle laughed. "If you wore your uniform-"

"I will not wear my uniform. I told Irons and I told you. I will not wear a uniform."

Rachelle shrugged. "This, what you wear, you wear the same or similar thing every day. Is that not a uniform?"

Danielle sighed. "It's MY uniform. Patented."

Rachelle looked at her. "By the way, the Chief is a bit of a tight ass, isn't he? How the hell'd you get him to let you come to work like that?"

Danielle shrugged. "I compromised with him. I'm getting the precinct crest embroidered on the jacket."

"Obviously in an inconspicuous place, no doubt."

"You know me too well. However, I want him to stay off my back about it, so I'll be proper about it for once."

"Shock horror." Rachelle looked at the other side of the street as Richard walked out the door. Rachelle tapped Danielle's shoulder. "Hey, I'll give you a ride."

Danielle smiled. "Thanks for the offer Shellie, but I don't see the point."

"Why's that?"

"The station's only a five minute walk anyway."

Rachelle rolled her eyes. "Okay then, you can be the environmentalist 'walk everywhere person who comes to work on a bike'."

Danielle shook her head. "I hate those people. They come in looking all happy and joyful because they've had bran for breakfast. And they come up and say 'Dani needs a hug'. But no. That's wrong. In fact, 'Dani needs a gun'!"

Rachelle laughed. "Oh yeah, that reminds me. You got the Ivory posted over, didn't you?"

Danielle nodded. "I feel lost without the Ivory."

Rachelle nodded and waved, running back across the street to her husband. Danielle smiled at them.

"Hey Rich! Don't you think your marriage is a bad deal?"

He looked up at her from the other side of the road. "Hey? What do you mean?"

Danielle laughed and cupped her hand over her mouth so he could hear her better, even though it would have been no trouble, seeing as the roads were always moderately quiet in Raccoon, especially this part of town.

"Well, Shellie got you... but look what you got!"

Richard laughed. Rachelle flicked her finger up at her.

"I'll get you, Dani!"

"Not in this lifetime," Danielle called back, "Will you ever come up with something good enough to get me back with that I won't have a come back for."

Rachelle grinned. "I bet I will."

Danielle shook her head. "Not even Umbrella could make me lost for words."

Wesker watched Danielle as she leaned over the desk, looking at what Chris was looking over on the computer. Jill was leaning back, looking too. Danielle smiled.

"Hmmm. And this is for....."

"Us, I guess. Hang on, I'll print it up."

Chris hit a key and the printer in the corner started printing copies of the text on the screen.

"Redfield, would you mind clearing that with-"

"Right, right, Wesker... It sorta had 'print me' written all over it."

"Captain Wesker. Redfield, just, from now on."

Chris shrugged. "No worries. Hey Forest, could you pass one of those copies over to the good captain please?"

Forest Speyer, one of the Bravo Team members and a good friend of Chris', had recently returned from a week's leave. Jill looked up as Joseph walked in the door.

"Look who it is. Could you have been any later?"

Joseph shrugged. "At least I'm not like Vickers. Where did he split to, anyway?"

Wesker stood up and took the print out from Forest, reading it over.

"Who knows. I told him to take some time off," he looked at the sheet, and instantly turned to Chris. "Where'd this come from, Redfield?"

"It's from the Chief, Wesker. Looks interesting, huh?"

Wesker shrugged. "This is low priority, can't this go to someone else?" he asked, looking up at Danielle. She put her hands on her hips.

"Hey. I'm not here to take care of the shit you don't wanna pick up, mister. Waste your own time, thanks. If I put anything more on those assholes in the eastern office that call themselves a Special Forces Service, they'll shit themselves."

Wesker looked at her, undaunted. "You've been in charge of them for two days, sport. What could they possibly be doing that is so stressful?"

"Moving, Wesker. That's what."

"They're moving offices?"

"No Wesker. They're moving."

Some of the S.T.A.R.S. members behind her laughed. Jill looked at her.

"I didn't think their legs could cart them to the vending machine in the hall outside their office, rather than on a case."

Danielle turned to her. "Actually, you'd be surprised. I've laid eyes on about six or so officers that actually know how to pull their weight."

Rachelle coughed sarcastically. "Bullshit!"

"Seriously, Captain Lanza."

Danielle rolled her eyes but gave him nothing except a cruel look.

"And she graduated top of her class. Fine. Kenneth, Joseph, Forest, Enrico. You go look into this case for me, would you?"

Enrico Marini, the leader of Bravo Team, stood up and waved his hand, pulling a copy of the printout from the printer and raised an eyebrow.

"You got it."

They left the room. Wesker looked at Danielle and shook his head, returning to his desk.

"You know, the Alpha Team was reassigned here about two, three months ago, and they don't have a lot of trouble with cases, never did."

"You're forgetting something, Wesker," Danielle said, leaning over his desk so that she could talk to his face. "I started here yesterday, and my unit is full of low-lifes and no-lifes, and only a very small fraction of that 25-man unit can actually pull their weight. And most of that small fraction are women. Your Alpha Team was brought in here, plumed and pruned just for the occasion. I was spearheaded to the captain of the S.F.S. on the day I got here without a moment to make a ceremony about it.

"So don't you go telling me that I can't pull my weight, and that just because my unit is bigger, or my unit doesn't have as many cases, or my unit can't pull their weight like the sister team. Personally, I don't think you'll live to see the day when that lot amounts to something. I'll be surprised if I do. I'll be surprised if THEY do."

"You sure you're not just sour that he tried to get your team to do a brothel bust?"

Danielle resisted the urge to laugh as she turned to Chris. "No, Chris. I didn't wanna take it because I knew that you guys would enjoy it more," she turned back to Wesker. "Tell me one thing, though. What happened to the former captain? What was he like?"

Wesker shook his head. "Un-dynamic. Got the boot by the Chief."

"He was a stereotypical small town lazy-cop. Amounted to nothing," Jill piped up. Chris nodded.

"Fat, slow, didn't care about what the squad did or didn't do."

"Chief Irons could have fired the whole squad if he wanted to, but decided to fire the captain and give them another chance with a new captain," Rachelle said, shrugging. Barry, who had been sitting at his desk listening quietly with his arms crossed and a grin on his face leaned forward on his table.

"I guess he picked you out of the crowd of unhopefulls because of your file from Chicago."

Danielle grinned at him. "Yeah, I bet he did."

Wesker turned away and looked at the photo of the S.T.A.R.S. team hanging on the wall.

"I'm proud of my unit, I don't see why you don't sack them all except for those 'select few' you said could pull their weight."

Danielle nodded and leaned forward more. "I'm going to."