In 1996, the Racoon City police department was overwhelmed by a series of gruesome, cannibalistic murders. The investigation was handed over to the Special Tactics and Rescue Squad, STARS for short. When the STARS Bravo team went missing, the Alpha team, under the command of Albert Wesker, was tasked with not only solving the original murders but locating the missing Bravo team. Members of the Alpha team included Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine.
The investigation led them to the Spencer Mansion in the Arklay Mountains where things went quickly awry. Chris and Jill found themselves battling the undead as a result of the T-virus (an experimental bioweapon created by the Umbrella Corporation).While there, the Alpha team discovered that Wesker was under the employ of Umbrella, who was tasked with gauging the success of the virus against armed forces. Amid his betrayal, he appeared to be slaughtered by the apex bioweapon known as Tyrant. Chris and Jill took down the Tyrant and escaped the mansion before it self-destructed.
The T-virus was not contained in the blast. Umbrella turned public opinion against the Raccoon City Police Department, and the STARS unit, in particular, for 'failing' to solve the murders. Shortly thereafter, Chris vanished. Soon after, all of Raccoon City was completely overrun by the undead. While Chris went on an independent mission to take down Umbrella, Jill found herself the target of a lethal monstrous bioweapon code-named Nemesis. Nemesis was engineered specifically to eliminate her and the other STARS members who remained.The President of the United States declared Racoon City a lost cause. On October 1, 1998, Raccoon City was destroyed by a nuclear strike. Jill narrowly escaped.