Author's Note: This chapter was originally two separate chapters, but I combined them into one since the first chapter was quite short in comparison and didn't exactly move the story much further than I wanted to. Apologies for such a huge chapter, but the bigger the better, right? I know that's not always the case, but I do hope you enjoy it regardless! :3

You will still be receiving the first eleven chapters as promised. I will simply have the original chapter twelve become chapter eleven anyway.

Recommended BGM:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Flying Squirrels

2. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles - Preparations

3. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles - Floating Memories

Chapter 4

Everyone stared at Frank for a long moment, shocked at the way he reacted after listening to what just happened on the radio. They couldn't blame him though. Alex was like a brother to him ever since they first met in the 50s and he wasn't going to take it lightly should his time come to an end. After all, Bravo was essentially like family to almost everyone in the STARS office.

Richard had a great relationship with Jill, coming to her often for advice about how to handle his relationship with his girlfriend, Bridgette. Enrico and his wife were family friends to the Burton family. His wife would occasionally go to their place and care for Barry and Kathy's daughters every time they were both busy with work. Forest was best friends with Chris and Joseph, essentially having become an inseparable trio. Edward and Kevin were gaming night buddies with Brad. The trio would occasionally play video games on their off-days, laughing at each other about how much they'd suck at certain points in a level.

As for the youngest rookie in Bravo, even though both Chris and Frank have had only very few run-ins with Rebecca, they both thought she was the brightest in the entire STARS unit. They deeply admired her skill-set in medical and chemical expertise at such a young age, though they still felt like she wasn't exactly ready to go out in the field like that with such little combat training she's had if any since joining the force.

As for Wesker himself, the only type of relationship he's ever had with the entire STARS unit was mostly at a professional level, though he would share drinks with Enrico on certain occasions at J's Bar. That was about as far as he would go to a more friendly level with anyone else in the squad. No one really knew the man personally. Even if they wanted to read his facial expressions or body language, it was near impossible to captivate a single hint of what exactly he'd be thinking at a specified moment. If he wanted to hide something discreetly from anyone, he wouldn't have to give virtually any effort to do so, not like Brian Irons.

"Vickers, could you pinpoint their last coordinates?" Wesker snapped.

Brad's face was pale, not because of the pressure that was currently being brought on him but after having witnessed Woods yell and curse right next to him, giving him the fright of his life.

"They're uh…" he said nervously as he scanned for their last position on the computer frame in front of him. "Sector… twenty-two, tail end of C ...except the signal has been lost. Transmitters seem to be completely offline."

Jill felt the heat of complete shock in everyone's faces that were being reflected around her, including that her own. Considering what she's learned in her studies as part of her STARS training a couple of years back, the helicopter's transmitter was designed to keep working, no matter the circumstance. The only true reason it would shut down was if the entire system was either blanking out or became seriously damaged beyond repair. That would only mean…

The chopper crashed…

Woods was still devastated by the terrible news he just witnessed, clenching his fists as hard as he could against the surface of his desk while trying to figure out why this was happening to begin with. Then, something quickly crossed his mind. He instinctively began to dig through a mountain pile of files that was laying on his desk, looking through all his notes, seeing what he could've missed. That was until he found those same coordinates on a map he had sketched on paper, his stomach quickly twisting into an uncomfortable knot as he did.

The Spencer Mansion…

Mason said something about a malfunction. He wanted it to be just a coincidence, but it couldn't have been much further from the truth. Coincidences were extremely rare, if not, non-existent in his line of work. The Bravos were in deep trouble, and unbeknownst to them, practically landing right on top of the old abandoned mansion. All of this was happening through his head in a split second, and then there he was, standing as he began making preparations as soon as Wesker signaled all of them to prepare for an immediate rescue mission.

"Joseph, head over to the board and keep trying to contact them as I want Vickers to warm up the chopper and get clearance. I want us in the air in five."

Brad and Joseph did as they were told. Meanwhile, Wesker immediately took out his STARS badge, turning it into a USB dongle key, and inserted it into the computer right next to the armory, giving him automatic clearance as it quickly unlocked and slid the reinforced armory gate open in a single loud beeping noise. Inside the armory was a big arsenal of a variety of weapons; from handguns and assault rifles to shotguns and grenade launchers with an army's worth of shelved boxes of ammo stored above the weapons' lockers and on the ground. Wesker turned his head to the rest of his team, his facial features as blank as ever, but his voice firm and sharp, filled with authority.

"Barry, Chris, —I want you to load and secure whatever weapons you can bring from the armory to the 'copter. Jill, Frank, —get the vests and packs. Meet us on the roof by then." He quickly took out a key from one of his front pockets and tossed it at Jill, who was the closest within his reach. "In the meantime, I'm giving a call to Irons, make sure he gets us some backup ready when necessary and EMTs down near the barricades," Wesker then gave a few quick claps as he began to put out his final say, sharply. "Chop-chop people. Five minutes or less. Move!"

Jill and Woods made haste to the locker room, their footsteps clattering and echoing loudly down outside in the corridor, while Chris and Barry hurried to the armory as they each picked up a duffel bag and began stuffing what they thought they would be needing the most, in case of a worst-case scenario happening in the future. Behind them across the room was Joseph, still trying to grab ahold of anyone from Bravo, to no avail.

"Hey, Chris?" Said Barry as he began remembering when he last tried searching for some blueprints of the Spencer Mansion earlier with Joseph, which they couldn't find on their own. "You don't think the Spencer Mansion has anything to do with the murders, right? Or do you think we're being a bit too paranoid?"

Chris gave a raised eyebrow as he was packing all the shelved ammo he could find, giving it a second thought for a moment before he could say anything else.

"No, I think you're right," he said as he turned around to check if anyone else was listening or not. He then turned his head back to Barry and continued with a low voice. "Something is definitely off from that place. I can just feel it. It can't be a coincidence for the killings to be taking place all around where the mansion is located. It basically screams for an internal investigation, despite what Umbrella or the Chief have said about the current state of the mansion."

Barry nodded as he felt an immediate rush of relief, knowing that his former old partner from the U.S. Air Force agrees that something is not right about the mansion. Then again, who wouldn't agree?

"Probably that self-righteous fool of a police chief," Barry thought quietly to himself, giving out a subtle groan.

"Wesker," A voice came from the other side of the room. Both Barry and Chris feared for the worst now as Joseph began to express their current situation. "I can't seem to connect with Bravo. We have lost contact with them completely!"

The sudden rush of adrenaline has made everyone left in the STARS office to quickly work faster, knowing that every second counted and depended on the fate of their STARS teammates.

Wesker relayed the information to Irons over the phone in his office as quickly as he could before hanging up abruptly and hurrying back to join the others at the RPD's rooftop.

"Joseph, I want you to give it another minute. If nothing comes through by then, you can turn it to the rest of the guys at the front desk. In the meantime, help the two in the armory carry the rest of the equipment however you can. Brad and I will do an overall checkup on the rooftop. Meet you all there." Wesker gave one last nod to them before hurrying out of the office as his footsteps echoed out inside the corridor.

"He definitely knows how to handle the situation quite well if I have to be honest with myself," commented Barry quietly. Chris had to agree. For the pair, it was reassuring to see their captain never quite rattled, if at all. They weren't entirely sure how they felt about the guy personally, even after having worked with him for as long as they remember, but their respect for Wesker's abilities grew by the minute.

Wesker paced down through the library and into the second floor's waiting room, giving a few officers a nod as he walked past them along his way. Once he reached the second floor's east wing corridor, he saw that daylight was almost completely gone as by now, it might as well be considered nighttime as there wasn't any sunlight penetrating through any of the station's windows any longer.

The door that led to the outside and into the rooftop's helipad was opened at an acute angle. A fresh breeze was blowing in through the stuffy air of the corridor, giving Wesker some sort of sense of relaxation for a brief moment. During this brief time, he stopped for a few seconds, thinking about all the things he had in check. He wasn't the type of person to leave anything unfinished and disliked the idea of not being in control of anything he could possibly have any control over. Whether it be bringing their gear, doing written or phone call reports, the case works, you name it. Being a leader of the entire STARS team was never tiresome for him ever since its establishment in 1996. It was always something he valued quite a lot.

Wesker quickly dismissed his train of thought and instinctively went straight outside. What would come next is what mattered now. After all, it was all about expecting the unexpected. Although for Wesker, it meant to expect nothing as virtually nothing was able to really surprise him at all.

As soon as he stepped up to open the pilot door, the chopper was immediately brought to life as Brad was seen inside, checking up the stats of the helo before reassuring Wesker with a shaky thumbs up that everything so far seemed good overall. For a brief second, Wesker considered leaving Brad behind. One of the many reasons was that Chris and Barry were licensed to fly. After all, they both had served in the U.S. Air Force together, trained to fly both planes and helicopters. Not to mention Brad had a popular reputation for choking under heavy pressure. One of the last things Wesker needed was for one of his people to paralyze in fear, should they ever face any trouble out there in the woods. However, he then thought about Bravo team's ordeal inside the Arklay Forest and decided against it. This entire case has now become a rescue mission and he needed as many people as he could gather. The worst thing Brad could do at this point would be to either throw up on himself or hyperventilate for a brief amount of time if the chopper crashes just like Bravo's did, and Wesker was able to cope with it.

He opened the side door next to the pilot's and crouched his way into the small cabin, doing a quick scan of the equipment that lined up against the walls; emergency flares, ration kits, and medical supplies. He popped the lid off of the only footlocker inside, behind the benches, and took inventory of the basic supply needs for the rescue mission that was about to commence. Everything seemed in order and as ready as they'll ever be.

As a result, he ended his quick sweep with a growing smile, now wondering how smoothly everything will go out if Irons himself weren't to pull anything dumb while they were gone. The Chief didn't know this, but Wesker had already made sure he had some blackmail over him. He knew about the not-so-good type of information Irons have tried to quietly hide from the rest of the whole city. Why an idiot like him would have that much power over everyone else in the station was still a mystery to anyone, but fortunately for Wesker, he knew Irons would do everything in his power to keep his position as much as possible. So if he were to ever try anything to screw things over one last time, he'd make sure that sensitive information would go out in public and enjoy the chaos it would ensue in the process. Irons would definitely not have any capacity of getting away with it once it all goes out to the press, much to Wesker's amusement.

Or I can just at least tell him I have access to such information. Certainly, it would put him in his place if he ever tries to go out of control, right?

"All good, Captain!" Brad's voice echoed through the cabin as Wesker immediately snatched himself out of his train of thought. He then gave him a nod of approval in return.

Barry stepped out onto the rooftop's concrete ground, carrying most of the ammo cache in a large, but heavy duffel bag, and marched towards the helo. Chris and Joseph followed. Chris was holding a canvas bag full of sidearms and Joseph lugged a satchel of RPGs, with a small compact grenade launcher over his other shoulder.

As all three of them were setting down the equipment and storing it inside the chopper, Wesker took a small glance at Barry's brute strength, seemingly carrying and putting down the bag as if it didn't weigh anything more than five pounds. Barry had the brains necessary for a STARS member, but his brute strength alone was one of the most valuable assets for the squad. Everyone else on Alpha team was in good shape, even Frank Woods, who was almost twice Barry's age, but compared to Barry, they were all mere twigs.

Once Woods came to mind however, Wesker began thinking about him and Jill, who have yet to come and meet them out here. It's only been just under five minutes since their last contact with Bravo so they were doing well with time. However, he kept asking himself where the hell was both Woods and Jill. He knew both of their reputations preceded them; Jill being the best with lockpicking and bomb disposal, while Woods has the best combat experience than almost the entire STARS squad, combined. In his mind, he urged both of them to have best hurry as if he was somehow telepathically telling them to do so. He desperately wanted to know how bad things were getting out there.

Jill and Woods started to head toward the door out of the dim and silent STARS locker room, both of whom were already finished packing whatever they needed; Jill holding one duffel bag, while Woods was carrying two heavier duffel bags. Each contained large amounts of utility belts, fingerless gloves, big shoulder packs, kevlar vests, and even extra pairs of clothing for each member of the team, in case they ever needed to change on the go.

They've gone through all of the Alpha lockers without uttering a single word to one another, merely focusing on finishing the job and getting right back on track with their rescue mission. Even though Woods was entirely focused on packing anything of importance, he couldn't help but notice how much each of the lockers he'd gone through, reflected on their user's personalities and already wasn't surprised at any of it after having met and learned about the type of people they were in Alpha team.

Barry Burton's was covered with snapshots of his family and loads of other pictures showing the many types of guns used in different countries and eras, all of which were familiar to Woods as he had used many of them during his time in both the US Marine Corps and the CIA. He also came across an old vintage, but rare .45 Luger inside, which he always wanted to give some use since he first learned about them in the early fifties.

Chris Redfield had pictures of what seemed to be his former comrades from the Air Force. Another was a picture of a smiling young red-haired woman, wearing a red jacket that read "Made in Heaven" as she sat on a motorcycle, partially facing her back. He had no clue who this girl was, other than the possible fact that it could be Chris' younger sister, Claire, whom he'd talk about quite often with him. Everything else inside was poorly organized and extremely messy, with many loose items like papers, small crumpled empty boxes, and even a small, but broken yoyo hanging on and about.

Wesker's locker was probably the only locker entirely devoid of anything personal or sentimental. His own locker was pretty much like Wesker's. However, there was only one picture Woods held of sentimental value; and that was a picture of him, Alex, and David when he was just a boy. All three of them were grinning at the camera, with both him and Alex having one of their arms crossed behind each other's necks and their other arms reaching on each of David's shoulders, who was in front of them in-between. It was the last time they were all together; the last time they all ate a meal together as a happily reunited family. It was only just weeks before he was captured in Angola and Mason had to rescue him, leaving his son once again before he finally wasn't able to see him again for another long period of time.

He remembered how much he kept telling Mason to retire once again for the sake of his relationship with his son, but Mason was always the same stubborn bastard as ever. He refused to leave his brother-in-arms alone in his quest for revenge and information regarding his captors. This act alone quickly estranged whatever was left of his relationship with David and that's when it all came apart for years to come, which has left Alex with a lot of deep regrets down the line.

Woods stopped in his tracks, setting down both bulging bags as he began tightening up his green bandana, re-thinking about the entire timeline of events that has happened fairly recently for a brief amount of time. Meanwhile, Jill did the exact thing, only instead of wearing a bandana, she quickly pulled her hair back, fixed it up with a couple of hairpins, and then grabbed her well-worn dark blue beret and tucked her hair inside. Once they were done with their headgear, they immediately picked up the bags afterward.

"Ready?" Said Woods in his low gruff voice as he began to fumble at the latch to the door.

"Ready as I'll ever be," responded Jill, full of confidence.

Woods had just grasped the latch when a sudden loud noise was generated across the room. Startled, Woods immediately dropped both of the bags he was carrying and took out his newly-obtained STARS sidearm, aiming at the direction they heard the noise from.

"Who the fuck's there?!"

He never fully trusted his surroundings when it came to places other than the comfort of his own home, which he really had no specific place to call home. After many decades of training, combat, and field experience, it wasn't out of the ordinary for Woods to be pulling a gun at someone wherever possible.

Jill quickly did the same, except she never once took out her sidearm as she didn't think there was a need to point her gun at someone who may possibly have the need to be inside the locker room for the time being, other than them two. The locker room wasn't big, but it was definitely pretty dark and somewhat difficult to see inside and the other door across from them was closed ever since she and Woods entered the room.

Which means someone was definitely already here when we came in. A cop taking a lunch break, perhaps?

Unlikely. The station had more comfortable places to take their breaks in, especially in the first floor west area and in the library itself. She then thought about the possibility of someone enjoying a little "leisure" time with a magazine, her brain tangled and mind driving her insane as she wanted to quickly dismiss the thought afterward.

Did it even matter?

Woods didn't know what to think himself. All he knew was that someone was definitely here before they even arrived. Probably spying on whoever arrived inside the locker room first? It was pretty unlikely, but Woods wasn't taking any chances, and with his gun readied, he continued to slowly pace towards the source of the noise. The noise had sounded more like a small bang against one of the banks of lockers across from them. He stood still for a moment before Jill quickly began reminding him that the others might already be waiting for them up on the roof of the station as she picked up one of the bags that lay near the door they first came in through. Frustrated, but understanding that they were now tight on time, he holstered his gun and quickly scooped up the remaining duffel bags before turning back to leave.

"Frank!" A deep, but smooth voice rose from the darkness within, a shadow now separating itself from the back of the room as they stepped forward. "Been a long time we've seen eye-to-eye, brother."

Jill didn't recognize the voice one bit, but as she turned to see his facial features, she studied him for a moment. Age wasn't being friendly to the man in front of them, but as he wore the sunglasses, even inside the dark locker room, he seemed to be a man in his early or mid-forties. The man even bore a resemblance to their Alpha team leader, Albert Wesker, though with shaven hair, a slightly noticeable age gap, and scars bearing stories of his past as a known combatant or survivor. But as he tucked away the sunglasses, that's when his age appeared to increase to an entire decade or two.

Woods knew exactly who that voice belonged to on the spot, even before he turned around to see exactly who it really was that caught them off-guard.

"Hudson?" He gasped slightly, surprised to see him inside the police station of all places. It's been years since they've met in person as the only form of contact they've had was through phone calls and mailed letters via untraceable means. The CIA hasn't particularly been fond of them being in contact after Woods and Mason have parted ways from them. They had become a liability after leaving the CIA altogether. Both have done many covert, yet controversial missions, and ever since Mason has had a history of becoming compromised by the Soviets, they feared history could repeat itself once again.

"You two know each other?" A confused Jill stared at both of them, not even having a clue as to who this "Hudson" guy even was, to begin with.

"Apologies for the rushed introduction. Name's Jason Hudson. I'm a… long-time friend of Woods here," he said hesitantly, knowing he and Woods have had quite a lot of differences together in the past. However, deep down, Hudson really did care a lot for Woods' well-being, even if Woods himself has never seen that caring side of him at all.

"A bit of a stretch, but yeah we do go far back," Woods responded somewhat coldly before turning his full attention to Hudson. "Anyway, what the hell do ya want? We are on a tight schedule here to rescue our Bravo friends."

Hudson's eyes slowly grew wide open in shock. "Shit, Mason's with them, right?"

Woods nodded in response, silently trying to make him hurry up to say whatever he needed to say. However, he didn't necessarily like how he stressed the word "them" as if Mason or the rest of Bravo team were a mere problem or nuisance.

Hudson became somewhat more paranoid than usual in response, his aged face becoming more visibly shaken; something Woods had noticed he only seemed to do whenever the circumstances felt it was only going to get much worse from then on. And more times than not, as much as he hated to admit it, Hudson's predictions were almost always on the right track, for the better or worse.

"Here, I have something for you," Hudson said softly as he quickly reached into his white shirt's front pocket and took out what looked like a medium-sized cell phone, but a lot more complex than just your ordinary cell. "I'm sorry I didn't arrive in time to give this to you, but I'm hoping with whatever information this thing has, you'll find all the answers you need to potentially put this whole entire goose chase to a close."

Jill quickly glanced at the item he held, becoming a little more curious than she wanted to be.

"Okay, but who are you exactly? Frank's secret informant or something?"

"You could say that," he casually replied back. "You're Miss Valentine, right? Woods and Mason have said quite a lot of good things about you; impressive things actually."

Jill felt flattered inside, but she firmly acted professionally as she pressed her emotions deep within.

"Is that so?"

Hudson gave her a quick nod before handing the device he held to Woods.

He carefully grabbed it as he began analyzing it, quickly realizing that it was a mini-disk reader, a very expensive type of microcomputer that could be worth thousands of dollars if his estimation wasn't entirely off. Woods tucked the reader into one of his many side-paks, suddenly now more curious than ever.

"Why through all the trouble just to barge in here and give this shit to us?"

Hudson shook his head in disappointment. "Long story short, I'm not able to trust anyone in the CIA any longer."

"That was the whole fucking point of me and Mason leaving," explained Woods in a somewhat harsh tone. "You should know better than to trust the higher-ups and you of all people should know this by now."

"That's not exactly what I meant— I…"

"Hey, sorry to interrupt…" Jill quickly interjected before putting most of her attention to Woods, "We are running five minutes late now!"

"Shit we gotta go now!" Said Frank in a hurried response as he began picking up both of the duffle bags he was carrying earlier.

"Hey! One more thing…" said Hudson, stopping them mid-way for a brief moment. "Make sure to read those files whenever possible. And if you want to stay alive, you'll do well not to utter a single word about this whole conversation to anyone." He then began sounding more firm and critical. "That includes anyone else in STARS ...including Mason. Not everyone can be trusted and not everyone is who they appear to be." He then turned to Jill with a serious fixed gaze. "Even the people you think you know."

"Wait, Mason?" Woods said in disbelief, frowning as he did. "Why him?!"

"What do you mean by that!?" Jill said frantically, trying to demand some answers herself as well.

Hudson opened the door and just like that, he was now gone, leaving both Woods and Jill wondering a lot of things; their minds going in many different directions at once.

They didn't have the time to ponder the last thing Hudson had told them and so they both hurried down through the station's second floor and into the rooftop, where Alpha team was probably together, ready, waiting, and wondering where the duo even were.

All of their weapons and ammo were loaded and secured and Wesker was growing impatient by the second. Although his eyes were hidden by his dark sunglasses, Chris was able to notice his impatience through his stance and in the manner he kept his head turned towards the building. The helicopter was checked and ready, the blades turning steadily as it spun the warm, humid air through the tight compartment. With the door open, the roaring sound of the engine made up just about any sound that was able to be heard inside the chopper, drowning any attempt at conversations. There was nothing else to do but wait.

C'mon you two, don't slow us down any longer…

Just as Chris thought of it, Jill emerged out of the only door to the rooftop, with Woods following up after as they quickly jogged toward the chopper with all of the rest of their equipment. Jill bore an apologetic look on her face, while Woods kept a stern look on his expression throughout the entire way. Wesker dropped down to help Jill with her duffle bag before Barry came along and helped Woods with one of the duffle bags he was carrying himself. Barry felt more relieved that they can finally go on and save the others as soon as possible.

As all four of them climbed aboard, Wesker closed the double hatches behind them, instantly muffling the sound of the engine down to a mere dull rhythmic sound.

"Problems?" Said Wesker, directly at both Jill and Frank. There were no signs or hints of anger, but an edge to his voice suggested that he wasn't exactly delighted at all either.

Both of them were pretty hesitant to say anything for a brief moment until Jill quickly grew the courage to tell him a solid explanation. "A couple of lockers were stuck in place. Frank even had a hard time trying to help me get the keys to work, but fortunately, we finally did."

The captain shook his head towards Woods for a small moment as if he was trying to see whether his blank expression revealed anything of hidden interest before finally turning to Jill, then shrugged.

"I'll call maintenance when we get back. Go ahead and distribute the gear for us."

Wesker then picked up and put on a headset, moving up to the seat next to Brad as Jill started passing out the vests. The chopper lifted slowly and began its pace into the northwest, the RPD building slowly fading away from a clear view. As Chris and Woods put their vests on, they crouched ahead next to the duffel bags and began helping Jill sort out the rest of the equipment as they sped over the busy streets of the city toward the Arklay Mountains.

The helicopter quickly breezed through its way on top of the city, now crossing the suburbs, which contained wider, but quieter streets and lawns with most having browning grass and white picket fences, the area in which both Mason and Woods currently resided. The sky was already completely covered in darkness, but the evening horizon was still visible above the skies of Raccoon, giving it a dream-like quality over the blurred edges between the darkness of the night and the dimming light of the setting sun. The trip to the Arklay Mountains wasn't long, but the vast expanse of the Arklay Forest was going to be a longer trip as the area from where they needed to go, was far in comparison.

Throughout most of the trip on top of the city, the Alphas prepared themselves in silence and belted in, each of them preoccupied or lost within their own thoughts.

Best case scenario, the Bravo's helicopter only suffered a minor mechanical failure that might've deep fried some, if not, all forms of communication links. Either Forest Speyer, Kevin Dooley, or Alex Mason would've taken care of the situation, trying to fix it, but to no avail. Marini wouldn't start off the proposed search without their chopper in working order. Worst case scenario…

No… that's just not–-

Chris didn't want to think of any alternatives. Back in his Air Force days, he had once witnessed the aftermath of a horrible helicopter accident. An error on the pilot's side wasn't properly taken care of in the middle of a training mission, causing the entire chopper to fall violently, which contained at least eleven men and women, none of them older than twenty years old. By the time the rescue team arrived, there was no one or nothing to save or salvage. Charred bones were found within the fiery debris and the smell of roasted flesh with the sticky smell of gasoline filled the horrible blackened air. Almost the entire surface surrounding the crash site had been burning as well.

That horrible memory haunted his dreams for months on end and it was something he did not want to see ever again, especially now of all times. There was a small sudden dip in their altitude as Brad adjusted the rotor pitch, abruptly moving him out of the unpleasant memory he had just been forced to relive. The outskirts of Raccoon City slipped by below, the bright orange markers of the police blockade standing out against the dark thick green trees of the Raccoon Forest. The dim red light of the horizon was no more as the forest grew heavy in shadow within the approaching black night sky.

"ETA… three minutes," Brad called back to his teammates, and Chris looked around the cabin, noting the silent, grim expressions of everyone on board. Joseph was re-tightening his bandana and relacing his shoelaces for the third time now, seemingly as an act of nervousness as Chris was definitely able to tell behind his somewhat irrational behavior.

Barry was gently rubbing a soft cloth over his beloved custom .44 magnum, the Colt Anaconda, staring out the hatch window, while Frank was seemingly doing the same thing on the other side of the cabin, though with his custom STARS-made Beretta. Chris then took a quick glance at Jill and was surprised to find her staring back at him thoughtfully. She was sitting next to Frank on the opposite bench from him and she smiled briefly, almost nervously as he caught her gaze. Abruptly, she unhooked her belt and quickly moved to sit next to him, Woods noting this with somewhat of a suspicious look on his face.

"Chris…" she said quietly, making sure her voice wasn't loud enough to be heard by anyone else in the cabin. She looked around, making sure no one was listening. Though Woods played dumb as he immediately took his gaze elsewhere, acting as though he had no clue about what was happening around him. "What you've been saying, about external factors in these cases…"

Chris leaned closer to her in order to listen to her more carefully, as the throbbing of the engine was slightly overpowering the sound of her voice.

"I think you might be on the right track," she said softly, "and I'm starting to think that it might not be such a good idea to talk about it at all."

Chris felt as if his stomach dropped into a sudden knot of dread. "Did something happen?"

Jill shook her head, her chiseled features giving away nothing through her blank expression. "No. Nothing. I've just been thinking that you should watch your back and be careful with what you say. There's a chance that not everyone here that could be listening right now is on our side…"

Chris frowned, not sure what she was trying to tell him, "I mean, the only people I've talked to about it are on the job and I never—" Her gaze didn't falter, and he then quickly realized what she was trying to imply.

Jesus! And people thought I was the paranoid one!

"Jill, these people… I know them well enough, and even if I didn't, the STARS have psych profiles on every member, background checks, personal preferences, hobbies— there's no way of a chance like that even existing. Hell, even Alex and Frank's profiles are one of the best I've seen out of everyone here."

Jill wanted to tell him so badly about her encounter with Jason Hudson and the possibility of Alex or anyone in the team being untrustworthy, but as she remembered Hudson's warning, she decided against it, still trying to wrap her head around it herself.

Jill gave a deep sigh. "Look, forget I said anything. Just… just watch yourself, okay?"

Woods couldn't hear much of the conversation at all, but he knew that Jill was debating whether or not to tell him about their encounter with Hudson or the possibility of someone working undercover with no good intentions. His gut was hoping this was all just another part of Hudson's paranoid mindset about anything on a mission, but again, he hated to admit that he was always half-right on a lot of things and had to face the fact that there was something much larger at play here.

As he began to stare at the dark forest covering the whole ground they were flying over, the wonders of Bravo's sudden disappearance and the lush green forest itself, reminded him of the days he and Mason had a mission in the Amazon rainforest in '92. The intel they received was about a hidden palace in which a wanted U.S. drug lord had connections with a Brazilian third party, offering them various captured Amazonian wild animals in exchange for both money and illegal drugs. There was also the disappearance of an entire CIA team happening in the same region, which was later confirmed to have been killed by the same drug lord that was running the entire operation, leaving only their team leader alive, apparently having the same type of hallucinations Woods have been experiencing this past decade. It ranged from the screams of his own comrades to ghoulish inhuman growls that sounded neither human nor animal alike. The mission was a success, but rumors about a hidden lab were spread among the people across the region. Some have even spoken about a potential breeding ground for genetic experimentations; to create the "perfect" super-soldier for an army. This whole situation not only was raising more questions than answers, but it all seemed like some of the things he's heard or seen before, all have some sort of underlying connection that Woods couldn't seem to fully connect. Something was always missing in the back of his mind; something he's been having trouble remembering after all these years.

If only…

"Alright, people! Look lively! We're coming up on the last coordinates given by the Bravo before lost contact. They could be here anywhere." At Wesker's intervention, Woods snapped out of his thoughts, giving one final sharp glance at him before looking out the window next to him, now focused on looking for anything strange or out of the ordinary. The rest of the team followed on either side of the chopper.

As Chris looked out the window on the opposite side from where Frank was, he scanned the dark green lush forest, while still thinking about what Jill had just told him. He was glad that, besides Barry and possibly Frank, they weren't the only ones suspecting some kind of a cover-up, but was left wondering why Jill never said anything before up until now. And to warn him against the STARS…

She knows something…

She must, it was the only thing that was making any sense to him. He decided that after they rescue Bravo, he'd talk to her again; try to convince her that going to Wesker would be their best bet. He'd have to listen if both kept pushing on the same theory. Forcefully, he tried staring out at the seemingly endless sea of vegetation and trees as the chopper dropped lower in altitude once more, trying to give his full attention to the search as if to distract himself from his own thoughts.

The Spencer Mansion had to be close, even though Woods saw nothing, but trees everywhere. The haunting thoughts of those inhuman growls in Angola, the name, Spencer, Umbrella, the poor kid, Harry, Hudson's abrupt warning, all of this was circling inside his mind through his mental exhaustion, trying to break his focus on the search, but he refused to give in. It had him worrying about Bravo's whereabouts, but his gaze never faltered and knew that if they were into any real trouble, Mason would be the one to help the team protect themselves. He still believed in his best friend, despite Hudson's protests or implications. Woods took note of the fact that Hudson was more worried about Mason being with the Bravo team, not that he was in danger along with the rest of them. Did Hudson know anything more than he let on? Or are those numbers still—

Then he saw it less than a mile away, just as Jill pointed it out to Chris on the other side of the chopper. His concern became rather more ominous and spine-chilling than before.

"Look, Chris…"

A dark plume of white and black smoke was emanating somewhere deep in the forest, as if a fire had just finished burning out during the last minutes of daylight, staining the sky.

Oh no…

Barry's throat suddenly became dry, his jaw clenched in both fear and anger as he stared at the tall stream of smoke that rose up from the trees, feeling ill about it.

"Captain, two 'o'clock sharp!" Chris called as Brad quickly followed Chris' directions, turning and heading towards the dark black and white smoke that could only mean a crash.

Wesker moved back into the cabin, still wearing his dark shades as he stepped to the window and spoke quietly, "Let's not assume the worst. For all we know, it could only mean that a fire broke out after they have landed or that they may have deliberately started a fire to use as a signal for their location."

Woods knew that was definitely too good to be true. He's gone through countless missions that always have gone awry in some way or another and Wesker's assumptions had to be far from being realistic. If the helo shut down completely, a fire starting on its own was highly unlikely, and if the Bravos wanted to signal, their 'copter was equipped with flares to do so.

Wesker continued. "We will never know until we get there, but anyways." He clapped his hands twice. "Could I have all your attention, please!"

Chris, Jill, Joseph, Barry, and Woods all stopped to face him directly, everyone with shocked looks on their faces. Who wouldn't be? STARS members were never safe in the line of duty, but when occasions like this arise… It was a lot to take in for just about anyone in the chopper.

Wesker's facial features were well hidden within the darkness of the chopper. His only visible sign of distress was his mouth turning into a thin, grim line against the dim light of his tanned skin.

"Listen up. We've got people trapped in a possibly hostile environment. I want every one of you to be armed and ready as we descend into the deep forest. I also want an organized approach and scouting the surrounding area for any clues, regarding the Bravo. Frank, you'll take point." Woods nodded back, preparing himself as he began double-checking his firearm and equipment. "As soon as Brad set us down fifty meters south from their last coordinates, he'll stay with the chopper and keep it warm and ready, in case of trouble. Questions?"

No one spoke, and Wesker nodded briskly. "Good. Barry, load us up. We'll leave the rest of the equipment on board and come back for it if needed."

Wesker stepped to the front to talk to Brad, while Jill, Chris, Woods, and Joseph turned to Barry. As the weapons specialist, he carefully checked each of their firearms, making sure all of them were in prime condition.

As the firearms checks were finishing up, he opened up a cabinet, next to the outer hatch, unlocked it, and gave each member three fully loaded magazines, each holding up to fifteen semi-jacketed hollow-point rounds. Barry himself, however, held his own modified Colt, alongside four full magnum round cartridges, each containing up to six powerful .44 bullets. He was confident enough that should anything happen, one shot out of his gun will immediately pack a great punch against just about anything.

"I hope we don't need these," said Joseph, slapping the magazine back inside his gun, and Barry nodded in agreement. He was a simple man. Paying his dues to the NRA didn't mean he was a trigger-happy moron, ready to kill anything; he merely just liked guns and it was his main interest since he was younger.

Wesker went back into the cabin to join them once again and all six of them stood at the hatch, ready for Brad to bring them down on land. As they approached, the fierce wind from the whirling blades was beginning to become apparent as the patch of tall grass began to move violently in motion. Woods already had his hand on the hatch, ready to signal the team to move out on his mark. He missed the good'ol days of being able to lead a team made mostly of a younger generation. It was something he was always proud of; being a part of their lives and making a difference in history together for the better. Though without Mason by his side and knowing he was out there somewhere, it became a grim reminder that this was going to be anything, but easy, just like any other rescue mission he has done in the past. However, he still kept his cool, making sure no one will be left behind under any circumstances. Not on his watch; not ever.

Hang on, brother. You saved my ass last time. Now it's time for me to do the same.

A warm hand fell on his shoulder. For a quick moment, Woods thought it was Mason who put a hand on him to reassure him until he turned his head and saw Chris looking at him directly, feeling somewhat disappointed internally.

"We're right behind you," said Chris in a low, but smooth voice and Frank nodded in response. He was at least happy to see him and the rest of Alpha just as prepared as he was.

With his Samurai Edge in one hand, Woods pulled the handle and quickly stepped out into the warm, humid darkness of Raccoon Forest as he signaled the rest of the team, ready for anything.