Following the collapse of the Umbrella Corporation, the world faced a new threat: rogue employees selling stolen bio-weapons on the black market. Recognizing the gradual shift toward bio-weapons in the ongoing War on Terror, several pharmaceutical giants banded together to form the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA) in the United Kingdom to combat the spread. However, as a private military company, the BSAA's influence was initially limited; they were relegated to an observer role during the 2004 Terragrigia Panic, overshadowed by the U.S. government's larger Federal Bioterrorism Commission (FBC).

BSAA Director Clive R. O'Brian suspected the FBC of a deeper conspiracy—specifically, that they were involved in arming terrorist groups like Il Veltro to* artificially inflate the FBC’s own prestige and budget. O'Brian began to orchestrate a complex operation to expose the truth, but the presence of an FBC mole within his own ranks necessitated the use of carefully deceptive tactics.*

The operation kicked off in the Summer of 2005. Jill Valentine and her new partner, Parker Luciani, were invited to the Italian coast to examine the ruins of Terragrigia. There, they found dead and some still-living Globsters—mutants—washing ashore, along with a vial of the potent t-Abyss Virus. These samples were soon traced back to the Queen Dido, one of three ships used by Il Veltro in the Terragrigia attack, which had sunk within a restricted FBC exclusion zone.

O'Brian then fed Jill and Parker false information: that Chris Redfield and Jessica Sherawat had been abducted by terrorists while exploring Finland and were being held captive in the Mediterranean. Acting on this intelligence, the two BSAA agents took a small boat out to sea and located the colossal cruise ship, the Queen Zenobia, which was already overrun by dangerous t-Abyss mutants.

Aboard the ship, they quickly found evidence confirming the presence of FBC agents, including the seemingly dead body of FBC operative Rachel Foley. They then found a room bearing an Il Veltro flag and a mannequin strapped to a chair, realizing they had been lured into a trap. They were then knocked unconscious by a man in a gas mask. This man was, in fact, Raymond Vester, one of O'Brian's own moles within the FBC. His role was to guide Jill and Parker toward the truth while maintaining the illusion that Il Veltro had somehow survived and was still active.

Jill and her new partner, Parker Luciani, stepped onto the enormous vessel known as the Queen Zenobia. With her firearm gripped tightly in her hand, Jill scanned the surroundings, her senses heightened as she turned to Parker.

"This is the last place Chris was reported to be," she whispered urgently. "We need to move quietly and swiftly; he might be in danger."