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Prime universe
(Capcom's primary storyline)

The Caucasus outbreak occurred in February 2003 in and around the Caucasus Laboratory in the Caucasus mountain range of southern Russia. One of the final Umbrella-specific outbreaks, this event set a chain of events in motion which led to the final shut-down and dissolution of Umbrella. The initial events are comparable to the bizarre incidents in the Arklay Mountains five years prior.

Background[]

In the aftermath of the Raccoon City Destruction Incident, efforts were made by Umbrella executive Col. Sergei Vladimir to consolidate power in Russia. With funds from Dr. Oswell E. Spencer, a Caucasian chemical plant was purchased from the Russian government, below which lay an abandoned Soviet research complex. In the years following the Congressional shutdown of Umbrella USA, it became an important hub in the corporation's production and shipping of illegal bioweapons to terrorist organisations and crime syndicates around the world. The fortress also became the home of the next-generation Talos Project, and the Umbrella Archives. The crucial importance of the Caucasus lab, thereby, made it a target for organisations opposed to Umbrella.

By 2002, the company was in radical decline, and corporate espionage by a rival company quickly determined its location, and plans were made to raid the facility and steal its data. Similarly, Umbrella's involvement in terrorism had made it a political threat to Russia, and the Federal Security Service (FSB) made plans to shut the facility down. Both operations were delayed considerably; for the former, the Red Queen AI security system would render infiltration impossible, while for the latter the government would not tolerate any official record of the mission and focused instead on recruiting a private security force in place of Spetsnaz.[1]

Events[]

Initial outbreak[]

By the start of 2003, the approximate location of Umbrella's facility had been determined by a rival company. Based on intelligence gathered, the facility was well secured thanks to the Red Queen computer which oversaw a wide-stretching surveillance system. Infiltration would be difficult, and any sabotage would be dealt with automatically by sealing the affected areas. To get around this, Dr. Albert Wesker located Elroy, a disgruntled employee, and tricked him into being their inside man.[2]

Through the payment of cash and false promise of more to come, Elroy agreed to sabotage the facility from the inside and trigger a t-Virus outbreak, after which he would flee the facility to the airport and leave Russia to evade Umbrella. As he was aware of the t-Virus, Wesker provided him with a placebo which he was led to believe was medication to prevent infection. During the attack, Elroy was infected and, as planned, escaped the facility whereupon he became a Zombie and began infecting the crew in the chemical plant.[2]

Village incident[]

While located deep in the mountains, the chemical plant was close to two small villages which housed employees or were otherwise used by Umbrella for their own means. Escaped Hunters made attacks on workers headed to the chemical plant, followed by attacks on search parties investigating the disappearances of others. Among the more superstitious people of the region, the attacks were blamed on "Almas", a folkloric monster.[3]

The first village was attacked by an infected wolf, which quickly spread the infection to several villagers. These villagers in turn spread it further. Before long, there was a panic, and most of the villagers hid themselves within a grain silo. This proved too late, however, as in their haste they had not separated those with wounds from those without, and the villagers soon found themselves trapped with Zombies. The village chief, one of the few armed men, chose instead to hide in a refrigerator and froze to death. After two days, the only uninfected survivor of the attacks was Anna, a young child who had hid in her house on her father's advice.[4] At this point, the village was subject to investigation by Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, personnel of a Russian paramilitary organisation investigating the chemical plant, and soon uncovered the outbreak and the village's connections to Umbrella. Wesker also made his descent to the village, searching for any data of importance to the facility. He was ultimately unsuccessful in finding B.O.W. development data, though did obtain blueprints of the chemical plant.[5]

A second village was also subject to attacks by Hunters the following day. Workers from the village were killed on their way to the factory, followed by the search parties. The situation was poorly understood, as the inhabitants were cultural isolationists.[3]

Chemical plant raid[]

Three days following the radio silence at the chemical plant, the FSB had no choice but to begin the operation, having determined a Chernobyl-level incident was at risk of occurring. By this point the outbreak had reached over 90% of the research force, not counting other workers, with a survival rate estimated at 2% in the contaminated areas; Vladimir made plans to destroy the facility to sterilise the region.[6] The FSB raid coincided with Wesker's own raid; recognising the risks of being found out, Wesker chose his route to avoid them.[7][8] The private security force arrived at the chemical plant during a snow storm, and found themselves surrounded by Zombies and escaped B.O.W.s. At least one life was lost during the initial stages of the raid, Bronson. As the force took control of the chemical plant, Redfield and Valentine activated a cargo elevator and made their way into the laboratory complex.[9] At the same time, Wesker had made his way into the facility through an access tunnel into the old Soviet facility and took a subway train to Umbrella's base. As Redfield and Valentine continued their way through the underground's test chambers, Wesker ran into Vladimir and his Ivan bodyguards at the abandoned elevator. Vladimir made clear his intentions to remain with Umbrella, and sent his two Ivans to battle Wesker to the death to give him time to activate T-A.L.O.S.[10]

Both raiders were successful in their battles, with the FSB team reaching the T-A.L.O.S. test chamber itself, and Wesker confronting Vladimir without his guards.[11] While Red Queen focused on fighting the FSB, Vladimir, having infected himself with t-Virus, began to mutate into a large creature, sacrificing manoeuvrability for power. After a sustained exchange of fire, Redfield and Valentine were successful in taking down T-A.L.O.S., even after a sudden mutation.[12][13] Vladimir similarly met his end at the hands of Wesker;[14] with no one left in his way, he was able to download a copy of the Umbrella Archives and ordered Red Queen to destroy itself and its data, thus denying the FSB and the mission financiers their data.[15][16][17]

Consequences[]

The FSB was successful in sterilising the facility, though it is uncertain what became of the chemical plant after it was seized. Wesker provided excepts of the Umbrella Archives to the US government, which allowed a final conclusion to the deadlocked Raccoon Trials. The ruling found Umbrella criminally liable for the victims of the Raccoon City Destruction Incident; unable to pay the massive compensation fees, nor able to restore business permits to Umbrella USA, the corporation declared bankruptcy. With Umbrella having now collapsed. Spencer was now an open target and was subject to a global manhunt by both the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US and Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs.[18]

Sources[]

  1. Makino, UMBRELLA CHRONICLES SIDE B, chapter: "Umbrella's End 3".
  2. 2.0 2.1 Makino, UMBRELLA CHRONICLES SIDE B, chapter: "Umbrella's End 1".
  3. 3.0 3.1 Makino, UMBRELLA CHRONICLES SIDE B, chapter: "Umbrella's End 2".
  4. BIOHAZARD Prelude to the Fall, Part 1.
  5. BIOHAZARD Prelude to the Fall, Part 2.
  6. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), scene: "Dark Legacy 1 scene 1".
  7. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), scene: "Umbrella's End 1 opening".
  8. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), scene: "Dark Legacy 1 opening".
  9. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), scene: "Umbrella's End 1 ending".
  10. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), scene: "Dark Legacy 1 scene 2".
  11. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), scene: "Dark Legacy 2 scene 1".
  12. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), scene: "Umbrella's End 3 scene 1".
  13. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), scene: "Umbrella's End 3 scene 2".
  14. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), scene: "Dark Legacy 2 scene 2".
  15. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), scene: "Dark Legacy 2 scene 3".
  16. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), scene: "Umbrella's End 3 ending".
  17. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), scene: "Dark Legacy 2 ending".
  18. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), scene: "Credits and Epilogue".
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