| Special Tactics and Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S) | |
| Founding Date: | 1996 (originally), 2001 (Currently) |
| Disbanded: | 1998 (Originally) |
| Founders: | Brian Irons, Mayor Michael Warren |
| Notable Members: | Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Leon S. Kennedy, Barry Burton, Albert Wesker |
| Headquarters: | Raccoon City Police Department |
| Locations: | Raccoon City, Colorado |
| Affiliations: | B.S.A.A (informal), Umbrella Corp (via corrupt officers), United States Marine Corps (informal) |
| Status: | Active |
The Special Tactics and Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S) is a special weapons and tactics (S.W.A.T)-style division under the juristiction of the Raccoon City Police Department. The original model involved military trained personnel combined with civilian academics to help the team to operate in both anti-terrorism and urban crime.
History[]
In 1996, in response to an increasing number of calls concerning violent crime, Mayor Michael Warren formed this group of hand-picked professionals as part of his 'Brighter 21st Century for Raccoon City' election campaign. The unit was funded very generously by the Umbrella Corporation, a company that had a massive presence within the city and had many of its employees working within the city limits. By the July of 1998, the unit had twelve officers spread across two teams. Alpha Team led by Albert Wesker and Bravo Team led by Enrico Marini.
In the summer of 1998, the citizens of Raccoon City were alarmed by the amount of people going missing and bodies mysteriously being maimed in the nearby Arklay Mountains. Due to the increasing pressure to do something about it, Chief Brian Irons and Albert Wesker ordered Enrico Marini's Bravo Team to investigate.
Bravo Team's helicopter went down in the forest and the team, although shaken was able to get out and explore the area. They found a dossier on a Marine 2nd Lieutenant Billy Coen, and decided that while the helicopter was down, they should at least find him. Rebecca Chambers, a roookie member of the team, was able to find Coen but due to the rest of the team being scattered due to some 'freaked out things' in the forest, they could not reunite. Chambers discovered the source of the problems- A reanimated James Marcus. Chambers and Coen killed Marcus for good and split up after the training facility they were in was detonated by William Birkin. Chambers set off towards another mansion in the nearby area while Coen fled into the woods to civilisation, his death being faked by Rebecca.
The Special Tactics And Rescue Service's first group photo in 1997. Not pictured: Rebecca Chanmbers
Alpha Team was sent out the following day to find the lost helicopter after getting no response from Enrico and his team. They found the crashed helicopter and the dead body of its pilot Kevin Dooley. Their investigation of the area (and an attack by some infected dogs that killed Joseph Frost) forced them towards a mansion where various mutated creatures run riot and the mansion's residents transformed into zombies as a result of the viral outbreak instigated by Marcus. The members of Alpha team also found the remains of some of their Bravo team colleagues, while finding others on the brink of death. Richard Aiken was one such officer, however he recovered enough to escape while Rebecca Chambers continued to survive the onslaught of the undead. Chris, Rebecca, Jill and Barry eventually found out what was going on: the experiments in the mansion were conducted by the Umbrella Corporation and that the S.T.A.R.S. team leader, Albert Wesker, was a double agent working for Umbrella. Marcus had started the viral outbreak and Wesker along with his research partner William Birkin decided to take advantage of the situation. Wesker would collect combat data using S.T.A.R.S as pawns while Birkin carried on his own research. Wesker released a T-002 Tyrant that 'killed' him while S.T.A.R.S fought it off. They eventually killed it for good and escaped as the mansion's self destruct sequence activated. Only Alpha team members Jill Valentine; Chris Redfield; Barry Burton; Brad Vickers (Alpha team's helicopter pilot, who initially left the team alone in the first place), and Bravo team survivors Rebecca Chambers and Richard Aiken officially survived. Albert Wesker proved to have survived the attack from the Tyrant using an experimental Umbrella virus and escaped just before the mansion exploded.
Upon returning to Raccoon City, Rebecca, Barry and Richard immediately left. Rebecca chased normality, becoming a nurse in a Salt Lake City hospital, Barry took his family to Canada to avoid Umbrella and Richard went east to Philadelphia to get some medical attention and be near extended family. Chris and Jill meanwhile wanted an immediate investigation into what had happened but Chief Irons, secretly taking bribes from Umbrella, would not entertain such a thing. He immediately disbanded the unit, replacing it with the Select Police Force (S.P.F). Chris cleaned out his desk, stole some equipment and headed for one of his hideouts, while Jill stayed in the city to keep an eye on Umbrella. Brad meanwhile wanted nothing further to do with them, and maintained his job in the department, although he would be killed during the outbreak that arrived in the city two months later.
The Next Generation[]
In 2001, after spending two years drifting between jobs (similar to how he arrived in S.T.A.R.S in the first place), Chris Redfield arrived back in Raccoon City following its re-establishment. While there, he walked past the re-built R.P.D building and found himself compelled to rejoin the police force. The new commander, realising who he was, offered Chris the job of forming a new Special Tactics and Rescue Service, just like the one that preceeded it, with Chris as its leader. Chris called Jil, Barry and Rebecca and they were initially reluctant to return, but ended up staying as they felt compelled to as soon as they entered the new city. Jill contacted Carlos Oliveira, her companion during her escape from Raccoon City and Richard Aiken who returned to help with the new unit. Rebecca meanwhile contacted Billy Coen, who had been cleared by the military tribunal and also joined S.T.A.R.S as vice captain to Barry on Bravo Team. Kevin Ryman, another survivor of Raccoon City, completed the group; finding himself in town purely by chance and wishing to carry on as if the outbreak never happened. At the insistence of his sister, Chris recruited Leon Kennedy to the fold ensuring a well-trained team that could easily protect the city should the virus ever come back.
Redfield, Kennedy, Valentine, Chambers and Aiken made up Alpha Team while Burton, Coen, Oliveira and Ryman made up Bravo. Alpha Team hand picked a sixth member, Dixon Lee to the team, however he went missing in early 2004. Brian MacFarlane, an ex-Army special forces member, was recruited to replace him before S.T.A.R.S' dreams of normality were shattered.
On Brian's first day in town, the group was enjoying drinks at a local bar when someone tried to attack Carlos. When confronted outside, the man who tried to kill him was shot from across the street by someone on the roof of a building. The weapon used was stolen by chance from a military facility that Brian had worked at prior to becoming a police officer. Bravo Team headed to the facility, which had gone quiet in the few days leading up to their arrival assisted by Brad Tucker and Ryan Williams. The team found the facility to be infested with T-Virus victims, and were only just able to get a message back home. Alpha Team, packing considerable firepower, came to their rescue; saving all the members of Bravo Team and a security guard in the process. They also discovered Albert Wesker in the building, who shot Rebecca and fought Chris, determined to kill him.
Brian and Richard were able to save Rebecca using a haemostatic medicine and Brian helped to fight Wesker. In the end, Wesker was overpowered and Brian shot him in the head. The group escaped and Rebecca was able to get medical treatment. Barry Burton would resign his comission two days later, citing post-traumatic stress. Billy Coen would become Bravo Team Captain while Williams and Tucker as well as the security guard, Darryl Parker, joined full-time.
In 2006 Brian and Rebecca, who had recently married, were travelling back to Raccoon City via Atlanta on their way back home from holiday in England. The T-Virus had been let loose in the air conditioning system and infected all within. Brian and Rebecca survived the initial outbreak along with a security officer and they encountered a B.S.A.A team led by John McKay. McKay and Brian came to blows during the evening and Brian took control of the team. After lengthy investigation and the deaths of many B.S.A.A soldiers it was found that McKay had orchestrated the whole thing to collect data to sell on to the highest bidder. In a desperate attempt to kill Brian and S.T.A.R.S, McKay injected himself with the virus, becoming a Tyrant, and was put down by S.T.A.R.S. A second perpetrator, Trent Anderson who was working under McKay and serving as a double agent with him was shot by S.T.A.R.S and presumed killed. Anderson served with McKay in the U.B.C.S in 1998 and were using the B.S.A.A as a method of collecting combat data.
In 2008, due to the B.S.A.A's operations being halted temporarily because of McKay, S.T.A.R.S was asked to provide a third team ready to deploy in case of a situation like Atlanta or some other kind of terrorist attack. Brian was asked by Chris to form this new team and decided upon Leon Kennedy, Brad Tucker, Logan Heath, Dominic Murray and Sam Hamilton as his squad; the latter three being recruited through selection. In the October of that year, Brian was told he was taking the team to Afghanistan to cover the B.S.A.A as reports of B.O.Ws had come from the area. Rebecca Chambers retired from S.T.A.R.S in the September of 2008 to start a new career as a teacher due to her falling pregnant for the second time.
They tracked the source to a village in the north of the country, deep within the mountains. The villagers had been infected with a parasite that the British Armed Forces believed being used to infect soldiers and use them to spread chaos within the bases. While there, Brian and the team encountered an MI6 officer working on behalf of the B.S.A.A and his target Jake Muller- The son of Albert Wesker. Dominic was killed when they were attacked on entering the village. Brian's team along with Jake and Adam made their way to a nearby castle where they discovered Dixon Lee, a former S.T.A.R.S member and Carl Reynolds, a candidate that almost made his way through the selection phase that recruited Logan, Sam and Dominic were behind the affair; trying to carry on Wesker's work after he and Sergei Vladimir were killed. Dixon took his own life to avoid capture while Carl fled to Boston- Brian's home town.
Brian and his team under FBI orders raided a farmhouse in Massachusetts at night where they discovered someone had been able to acquire all of S.T.A.R.S and the Boston PD's personnel files, addresses, personal information, next of kin and shift patterns as well as information on the weaponry S.T.A.R.S possessed and were presumably going to sell them on. It was also discovered that Trent Anderson, an antagonist from the Atlanta Airport Incident, was still alive and was running the show while Dixon and Carl looked after matters in Afghanistan. Anderson invaded Brian and Rebecca's home the same night and fearing for her son's safety she left the safety of her bedroom and shot Anderson four times upon identifying him.
The next afternoon, S.T.A.R.S cornered Carl at a school that he had attended as a boy. They snuck in and Leon, Sam and Logan tried to disarm a bomb that was placed by Carl and rigged with T-Virus while Brian sought out his old school friend. They had a confrontation on the roof of the school where Brian was the victor after Brad sniped Carl in the back and the team disarmed the bomb that turned out to be a fake. A group of school children were released back outside after they were taken prisoner with threats the bomb would go off if they tried to escape. After the saga concluded, Muller was offered a place in the unit to leave his mercenary ways behind.
Organisation[]
S.T.A.R.S is split into two (later three, but reverted back to two) teams: Alpha and Bravo, totaling twelve members. Each team was organized based on the tactical squad formation, with six field operatives and a helicopter pilot. The teams would remain on-duty for 24-hour shifts before switching to the other team, allowing S.T.A.R.S. to remain active in the event of an emergency. Officers would actively work a 9-5 shift, allowing for them to be available if need be.
Unit Positions[]
The operatives were assigned to one of the following positions:
- Mission Leader (field commander of the team)
- Pointman (field scouting and reconnaissance)
- Backup Man (provides assistance to the Pointman)
- Omni Man (in charge of vehicle and weapon maintenance)
- Rear Security (in charge of establishing contact between the R.P.D building and the helicopter, as well as treating injured teammates).
All members are of the rank of Sergeant with team captains being Staff Sergeants although ranks rarely take precedence. S.T.A.R.S members are tasked with briefing officers in groups daily and act as supervisors also taking on disciplinary action if needed, although this is rare
Membership[]
In the original 1996-1998 S.T.A.R.S team, military service was not compulsary. While Redfield, Valentine and Burton had military experience, the vast majority of them had little to no combat or law enforcement experience. Post-2001 S.T.A.R.S members had to have either have been in military service for at least three years or been part of a previous S.W.A.T team for five; although some exceptions were made in the cases of Tucker, Williams and Muller.
| Name | Role | Status | Previous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aiken, Richard | Communications | Alive | None | |
| Burton, Barry | Weapon Maintanance, Bravo Team Leader (2001-2004) | Alive (2) | United States Air Force | |
| Chambers (MacFarlane), Rebecca | Medic (1998, 2001-2008) | Alive (1) | None | |
| Coen, Billy | Sharpshooter, Bravo Team Leader (2004-Present) | Alive | United States Marine Corps | |
| Dewey, Edward | Pilot | Deceased | None | |
| Dooley, Kevin | Pilot | Deceased | None | |
| Frost, Joseph | Maintanance Supervisor | Deceased | None | |
| Hamilton, Sam | Communications | Alive | United States Marine Corps | |
| Heath, Logan | Marskman | Alive | United States Army Rangers | |
| Kennedy, Leon | Marksman | Alive | Raccoon City Police Department/Raccoon City Outbreak Survivot | |
| Lee, Dixon | Unknown | Deceased | ||
| MacFarlane, Brian | Marksman, Quartermaster, Charlie Team Leader (2008) | Alive | United States Army Special Forces- 101st Airborne Division | |
| Marini, Enrico | Bravo Team Captain (1996-1998) | Deceased | None | |
| Muller, Jake | Maintanance | Alive | Mercenary | |
| Murray, Dominic | Medic | Deceased | United States Coast Guard | |
| Oliveira, Carlos | Communications | Alive | Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasures Service/Raccoon City Outbreak Survivor | |
| Parker, Darryl | B&E Specialist | Alive | United States Army | |
| Redfield, Chris | Division Leader (2001-Present) | Alive | United States Air Force | |
| Ryman, Kevin | Marksman | Alive | Raccoon City Police Department/Raccoon City Outbreak Survivor | |
| Speyer, Forest | Sniper, Maintanance | Deceased | None | |
| Sullivan, Kenneth | Chemist | Deceased | None | |
| Tucker, Brad | Sniper | Alive | Raccoon City Police Department | |
| Valentine (Fitzgerald), Jill | B&E Specialist, Alpha Team Vice Captain | Alive | United States Army | |
| Vickers, Brad | Pilot, Computer Expert | Deceased | None | |
| Weker, Albert |   |
Division Leader (1996-1998) | Deceased | Umbrella Corporation Double Agent |
| Williams, Ryan | Hostage Negotiation, Bomb Disposal | Alive | Raccoon City Police Department |
- Chambers married MacFarlane in 2006, before leaving in 2008
- Burton retired in 2004
Equipment[]
The standard sidearm of S.T.A.R.S is a customised Beretta 92F known as the Samurai Edge. It was designed by Joe Kendo, brother of the later Robert Kendo. The standard model was issued to all members although the gun has a blank canvas with which to make modifications. Chris added a shorter trigger pull so he could use it as a competition weapon and Barry changed his to fire the .40 S&W round. In the 1996-1998 incarnation, it is believed that the group used H&K MP5 sub machine guns and the Steyr AUG rifle. Under Chris' command, officers were allowed to choose whatever equipment they wished to allow them to complete their tasks as most, if not all, were from military backgrounds. As such, Brian MacFarlane chose a BAE Systems L85A2 rifle (British Army issue) for his rifle due to its accuracy and ease of use, while Rebecca would often go with a H&K MP5 as it was easier to carry along with her medical equipment
Personal Equipment[]
S.T.A.R.S members often carry equipment suited to their own personal comforts to use in the field. Chris carried a sheath for his combat knife, Rebecca carried a chemical mixing set and Jill carried a small pack on her hip to carry lock picking equipment. Use of such personal equipment was encouraged, provided it did not hinder movement.
Uniform[]
In the modern era of S.T.A.R.S, team members choose their own coloured undershirts and trousers with an M69 flak vest suited for each member's skills and speciality. Tactical trousers were generally black or grey, with black or navy vests covering the shirts. Most operatives use leg holsters for their Beretta handguns when on a tactical engagement although they would often have a hip holster for regular patrolling of the streets. All officers wear SWAT fingerless gloves to protect their hands and watches are entirely optional (Brian, Jill and Chris wear one on their wrist while Rebecca wore a nurse's lapel watch).
Leon and Carlos wore simple adaptations of their R.P.D/U.B.C.S uniforms respectively while Kevin wore a simple adaptation of his R.P.D uniform but with a black undershirt as opposed to blue. Members had their own pockets attached to their web gear or belts to help carry any necessary small items with them. Jill, Brad Tucker and Logan Heath would carry a small first aid kit with them for example. A much more uniform and practical S.T.A.R.S uniform was due to be used consisting of olive drab fatigues and a black tactical vest but this was never adopted due to the events of 1998. Chris Redfields' current uniform is based upon this.
During the Afghanistan Mission in 2008, Brian MacFarlane's team used B.S.A.A uniforms, despite not being attached of affiliated with them.