Wesker surveyed the scene "That works I guess. Let's check this place out" After a careful tactical placement, they found no other threats. A ladder led up to a sealed stone hatch. Chris reloaded Ken's shotgun and then slung it over his shoulder "Well, that was a dead-end. I guess we should head back then" Wesker nodded in agreement and they made their way back to the hallway where they found Ken. "Okay, probably best to watch your steps from here on out, the ceiling collapsed in the dining room. From there on out we're gonna be flying blind. Ken? You should probably stay towards the center of the group, we don't know what to expect from this place. Any questions?" They shook their heads no. Wesker sighed and said "Okay, then I guess we should get a move on." he cautiously opened the door to the dining-room, and they began to pick their way through the rubble. Sonic, on the other hand zipped over to the door, effortlessly bouncing from place to place. When the members of STARS had finally made their way to the door, Sonic laughed and said "What took you guys so long?" Chris messed up his quills with a rub of his hand "Not everyone can run as fast as you, blue blur" Sonic chuckled and smoothed his quills down "Easy, I was just tryin' to be funny!" Now in the entryway once again, they started canvassing the area for traps, supplies and hidden passageways. Wesker took a quick look at the rooms across from the dining room while Jill looked around the entryway and Chris around the upstairs. They met up with Ken and Sonic towards the center of the room. "Okay, status report" Wesker adjusted his sunglasses and pulled a map out of his vest "The first door was locked, so I check the next one. I found this inside. There appears to be a way out of the mansion, but I don't see how that can help us find the rest of STARS. The rest of the stairways all lead up as far as this map indicates" He pointed to the stairways on the map. Jill pointed to a spot on the map directly behind the stairs "I saw this while I was searching the room. It's right where it says it is, behind the stairs. It leads down about a foot to a pair of doors. There's no visible lock or handle to them, but with enough force we could probably break in." Wesker turned to Chris "What'd you find, Chris?" Chris crossed his arms and swallowed before speaking. "There's a door that leads outside to a graveyard up those stairs, but it's crawling with zombies, and I doubt that it'd be worth the ammo to explore the place. Three of the upstairs doors are locked, and the one that isn't is blocked by rubble from the ceiling collapse in the dining room. I figure it's probably a dead end to go through there for now." Sonic perched on the furniture pile by the door and examined the map Wesker was holding silently, pondering what to do. "Well I guess it's agreed then, we check out the door behind the stairs" Sonic raised his hand "Ya know, that door might be locked for a reason" Wesker nodded grimly "All the more reason to check it out" He pocketed the map and they all, save for Sonic, went down the stairs to the door. Sonic eventually joined them, but only after rolling his eyes and jumping off of the furniture pile. Chris looked at Jill and Wesker mischievously. (A/N I can't really think of how else to describe it) and said "On three?" Wesker nodded "On three." Jill returned the look "One" Chris faced the door, in a readied position "Two" Wesker balanced his weight "THREE!" On three, they kicked the door open, snapping the delicate locking mechanisms and slamming the doors off to the sides, shaking loose rock dust and plaster. Through the doors, a stone staircase led down to a landing. "Jill, you never fail to impress. Let's move out" They made their way down the stairs, across a narrow passageway, and down another stairwell. Down the stairway lay a door, and through the door a ladder. Down the ladder was a coffin and six large boulders. Thing is, that wasn't the main focus of the members of STARS. A creature with distended limbs, multiple melted faces, with chains dragging from the legs, and a large piece of heavy metal holding its arms together was what they noticed. Wesker ran his hands through his shaggy blond hair, lips curled in disgust "Umbrella, when it seems you can't sink any lower you just keep on digging. Let's try not to disturb it, it doesn't seem to notice us." Sonic nodded and whispered "Okay, but it's as good as dead if it tries anything." Chris tightened his grip on his gun, tension coursing through his muscles "Agreed" One by one, Ken, Chris, Jill, and Sonic made their way past the deformed creature, but as the last person, Wesker was sneaking past, it cried out in anguish and lashed at him with its iron-bound arms, shoving Wesker and one of the large stones off of the platform "Captain!" Jill lunged after him, barely missing his arm. With an acrobatic twist the STARS captain rebounded off of the wall and landed on back on the edge of the platform, gun drawn "Well, you're a real piece of work aren't ya? STARS, MOVE!"
(A/N: As before, I'm attempting to remain as true to the GameCube map as I can in text form. I'm also quoting the games as much as I can, reconstructing the scenes from the series and changing what I need to for it to work within this continuity. I'll see you as soon as I can with chapter 8)