History[]
In July 1998, Umbrella had decided to re-open its Arklay Research Center which had been officially closed for twenty years. The Ecliptic Express was transporting new staff to the facility when it was suddenly attacked by swarms of infected leeches , controlled by a clone of Umbrella co-founder James Marcus . The leeches killed everyone aboard the train which then came to a stop in the middle of Raccoon Forest.
On the night of July 23rd, the Special Tactics and Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.) had dispatched its Bravo Team into Raccoon Forest to investigate a string of grisly murders that had occurred in Raccoon City. However, the team's chopper suffered a sudden engine failure and was forced to make an emergency landing. Shortly after landing, Bravo Team discovered an overturned military jeep. According to a document found in the derelict vehicle, a former U.S. Marine called Billy Coen was being transferred to a military base for execution after murdering 23 people. The S.T.A.R.S. assumed that Coen was responsible for killing his escorts and had escaped into the woods.
Bravo Team fanned out in search of the fugitive Billy Coen and the team's medic, Rebecca Chambers, discovered the Ecliptic Express train stopped in the middle of the forest. She decided to search the train for Billy, but found that everyone aboard was dead... or so it appeared. The passengers and staff on the train had reanimated as the living dead of horror cinema: zombies.
Shortly after boarding the Ecliptic Express, Rebecca encountered Billy Coen and the train would later begin to move again, picking up speed and threatening to derail. Although Rebecca was supposed to arrest Billy, the two ended up working together in order to survive the monsters infesting the train and stop it before it crashed. The two succeeded in switching on the emergency brakes just as the train approached the Umbrella Research Center. Billy and Rebecca had survived the train, but many other horrors awaited them within the facility.
Creatures[]
- Zombies - Humans infected with the T-virus . The passengers and staff aboard the train were all infected when the train was attacked by Marcus' horde of leeches and reanimated into shambling husks that hungered for live meat.
- Infected leeches - Leeches mutated by the Progenitor virus . Dr. James Marcus had created these creatures whilst researching Progenitor before his assassination. His queen leech, which had bonded with his DNA over a ten-year period, was now spawning thousands of them in order to carry out his vengeance against Umbrella.
- Zombie dogs - Doberman hounds infected with the T-virus. These dogs had escaped from the Spencer Mansion when Marcus scattered the virus in that facility. They ran wild in the woods for weeks and were responsible for killing a number of hikers prior to the S.T.A.R.S. investigation. A few dogs boarded the Ecliptic Express before it started moving again.
- Stinger - One of Umbrella's early experimental B.O.W.s. This giant scorpion was sent by Marcus to kill Billy Coen and Rebecca Chambers, but Billy was able to kill it when it attacked him in the saloon.
Casualties[]
All of the Umbrella staff riding the train to the Research Center were killed and infected by the leeches. When Umbrella lost contact with the train, they sent a USS response team to board the train and find out what happened. The USS team was also attacked by leeches and turned into zombies.
S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team member Edward Dewey was also attacked by zombie dogs in the forest and ran for cover in the train before it started moving again. However, he died from his wounds. His body was infected with the T-virus and he reanimated as a zombie, but was then put down by Rebecca.
Survivors[]
- Rebecca Chambers - Youngest member of the S.T.A.R.S. and Bravo Team's field medic. She boarded the train whilst searching for Billy, only for Billy to help her survive against the creatures infesting the train. Rebecca survived the train's derailment and the confrontation with Marcus at the Umbrella Research Center, but she would have to endure the Mansion Incident immediately afterwards.
- Billy Coen - A former US Marine who was discharged after he had apparently murdered 23 people. His crimes were fabricated by his superiors who had commanded a mission based on false information and someone was needed to take the fall. While being escorted to his execution, Billy's convoy was attacked by unknown creatures in the Arklay Mountains and Billy took the opportunity to escape. He took shelter aboard the Ecliptic Express and then teamed up with Rebecca Chambers in order to survive against the monsters infesting the train. The two of them survived both the train derailment and the nightmares at the Research Center before parting ways. Billy disappeared into the woods and has never been seen or heard from since.