Federal Bioterrorism Commission

Likewise many researchers fled the company and stole vital assets and samples which soon found their way onto the black market. Morgan Lansdale, a former military man with years of experience in foreign espionage, repeatedly appealed to U.S. Congress about the serious lack of countermeasures in place should a second Raccoon City incident occur. He believed the only way to win back public trust was not only to prevent such events from happening, but also to show they could be handled efficiently and quickly contained before they spiraled out of control.

His position as an advisor to the Global Pharmaceutical Consortium lent significant weight behind his cause and he soon gathered significant public backing. This led to Congress passing the 2001 National Biological Defence Act and the creation of a biological defence enforcement agency known as the Federal Bioterrorism Commission, or F.B.C. for short. The F.B.C. had exclusive jurisdiction of protecting the United States and other areas and nations related to U.S. interests from all biological threats. Additionally it would work closely and co-ordinate with public health and biological defence agencies of other countries. The overall goal of the F.B.C. was to ensure the biological safety of the United States and the public at large.

The F.B.C. established a system framework that was deemed necessary for support, training, and biological defence research and development related to the execution of duties by officials and other activities. The F.B.C. also had the authority to draft action plans and budgets under the approval of the National Security Council.

The F.B.C. Chair was elected by the National Security Council and their role was not only to supervise F.B.C. staff, but also to serve as the Community Director for National Biological Defence. They were responsible for unifying government biological defence department coordination and strategic formulation. The National Security Council elected Morgan Lansdale for this position and he became the first and only F.B.C. Commissioner. Regarding the implementation of their policies and actions, the F.B.C. had the right to request assistance from the Secretary of State, the Defence Secretary, the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff amongst others in the National Biological Defence Community. In all matters of national biological defence, priority co-operations was obliged.

As well as senior authority and political influence, the F.B.C. occupied a significant slice of the defence budget and possessed military applications equal to that of a small country. It operated out of private installations located out in the desert and possessed fleets of trucks, helicopters and armoured vehicles. Its front line personnel included specialists with previous experience in military and combat occupations and its support staff included researchers, scientists, virology experts and medical personnel. F.B.C. researchers worked with Level 4 toxins to create viral countermeasures and likewise developed many defence projects including specialist firearms designed specifically to combat biological weapons. This was known as the ‘Sentinel Project’.

The F.B.C. Small Arms Research Group studied and analysed every weapon in the world and narrowed down the standard issue firearm to one of either the M92F Beretta, the IMI Corporation’s ‘Desert Eagle’, and the SIG Corporation’s ‘P226R.’ They also comprehensively tested customised firearms used by previous defunct organisations, including the Samurai Edge used by the S.T.A.R.S. Its agents employed a variety of firearms, including the ‘PC356’ Smith and Wesson 3566 handgun and the Glock 18. Standard F.B.C. armed response agents were typically equipped with an FNP90 machine gun.

The first few years of the F.B.C.’s existence was largely uneventful although Lansdale was still not happy with his position and constantly lobbied for an expansion of the F.B.C.’s charter despite them already boasting the most expansive powerbase of any comparable organisation in Europe. They retained the full support of NGO TerraSave thanks to Lansdale’s close working relationship with Neil Fisher but attracted some criticism of the media when they accused the F.B.C. of suffering from encroaching ideology and the possibility of being used in politically motivated mobilisations to other countries. They also endured a frosty relationship with the B.S.A.A whom Lansdale viewed as a threat rather than an ally. But a tolerable working relationship was maintained thanks to a mutual respect between Lansdale and the B.S.A.A.’s director, Clive O’Brian.

At that stage the B.S.A.A. were only a small organisation with a limited power base and were no match for the endless resources of the F.B.C. The 2004 Terragrigia Panic was the defining moment for the F.B.C. Terragrigia was an aquapolis developed jointly by U.S. and European teams to research and develop alternate energy sources. It was administrated by both sides and was seen as a model of successful U.S. – European cooperation. But this all changed when Il Veltro launched a bio-terror attack by spreading the t-Abyss Virus across the city and releasing B.O.W.s into the area. Although the U.S. and Europe had equal authority during a conventional terrorist attack, the stipulations outlining Terragrigia’s governance declared that any incident bio-terrorism related must he handled by the F.B.C. This one ruling completely degenerated relations between the U.S. and European defence communities after Lansdale announced that that E.U. involvement would not be tolerated whilst his organisation dealt with the crisis and commanded the task force.

The F.B.C. completely blockaded the city and suffered many casualties thanks to the B.OW.s set loose by Veltro. Their handling of the incident was largely criticised in the media and too many innocent lives were lost. The Europeans would still not back down and pressed Lansdale to respect their rights over Terragrigia. They persuaded him to allow the introduction of Clive O’Brian and a small team of support staff from the B.S.A.A., but their influence was limited and Lansdale still held de-facto control over the situation. The Terragrigia Panic lasted three weeks in all until Lansdale withdrew the F.B.C. and appealed to the European Security Council for use of the Regia Solis Satellite; the solar energy matrix in orbit that supplied energy to the numerous solar panels across the city. The satellite scorched the city and wiped out all traces of the virus and the remaining B.O.W.s. But like Raccoon before it, the city was completely lost and the loss of life was insurmountable. It also meant any crucial evidence behind the true cause of the incident was gone forever.

The ruins of Terragrigia were completely sealed off to the public but remained visible as a silent and potent reminder of the threat bioterrorism posed to people around the world. Lansdale and the F.B.C. faced many tough questions in the aftermath and he acknowledged too many lives were lost in the disaster. He declared that the F.B.C. had successfully disbanded the Veltro terrorist group completely but lingering questions still remained. Some of his own agents questioned his judgement and others such as Parker Luciani and Jessica Sherawat left the F.B.C. altogether and transferred across to the B.S.A.A., although the latter was a purposeful move by Lansdale so he could have an informant inside O’Brian’s organisation. Lansdale used the incident as an example of why the F.B.C. needed even more power and authority to handle such extreme situations.

In 2005 strange carcasses began to wash up on the beach near the site of Terragrigia and the F.B.C. immediately cordoned the area off and launched an investigation. Morgan Lansdale authorised a top-secret incursion mission down to the wreck of the sunken Queen Dido after the B.S.A.A. leaked false reports of a possible Veltro revival. A team led by Dario Barioni was charged to locate the wreck and recover video evidence of Lansdale’s collusion with terrorist leader, Jack Norman. When this failed, Lansdale used the F.B.C. to try and cover up his tracks by ordering Jessica to plant explosives on the Queen Semeramis and trying to use the Regia Solis to destroy the Queen Zenobia. All this was done to impede an investigation by the B.S.A.A. to find the truth behind the Terragrigia Panic. The F.B.C. also air-striked Valkoinnen Mokki airport after Quint Cetcham successfully hacked into their servers. In a last throw of the dice, the F.B.C. raided the offices of the B.S.A.A. and Lansdale had O’Brian arrested on false charges of collaborating with the Veltro terrorist group. But Lansdale was unaware that O’Brian had already sent Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine down to the Queen Dido where they successfully recovered the video evidence.

Lansdale was later arrested and the F.B.C. shut down, with many of its resources and personnel transferred across to the B.S.A.A. which itself was restricted and reformed as a public organisation under the auspices of the United Nations. Although now defunct, the F.B.C. retained one loyal supporter in the form of TerraSave official Neil Fisher. He was sympathetic to Lansdale’s plight and fully believed he had sacrificed himself for the greater good of protecting the people. Fisher vowed to do all he could to resurrect the F.B.C. but his plan ultimately failed when he was betrayed by Alex Wesker in 2011. It was later revealed by Fisher as he was dying that his goal to revive the F.B.C. was just an illusion. In reality he wanted the Uroboros Virus to rule through the power of fear as he believed that was the only way to truly save the world.

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