Lexington Event Center, *RIKERS CASTLE*

E22nd and Lexington

Gramercy

"Woah! Shhhit!"

My foot suddenly slips off of one of the icy rungs on the ladder we're climbing, nearly making me kick Jay in the head.

"Watch it!" She says.

"You watch it." I call back, quickly scrambling to the top. I survey the roof of the Event Center as Jay follows.

"So where's Dima?" She asks.

The Agent we're meeting, known as Dmitry and preferring ''Dima', is Faye's right hand Agent. He's been doing most of the work with building up the Base. Originally from Russia, he served in Spetsnaz, primarily with counter-terrorism. His experience with them has made him somewhat hyper-lethal. He doesn't speak much, other than giving orders.

Dima is currently working his way through ''Rikers Castle' as it's been charmingly named, rescuing JTF hostages and wiping out any backup Barrett may try to call in.

"Last transmission said he was on his way up." I reply. Looking to the far side of the roof, I notice a door slowly open and a man with a scarred face, a black skull cap and a heavily customized AK47 appears behind it.

"Right on queue." I say, heading towards him. "Dima!" I call. He stops and looks over at me.

"I'm Sarah." I extend a hand for him to shake, which he does very tightly. "This is Jay. We're your backup."

"Faye told me about you both." He replies with a surprisingly light Slavic accent. "She say there is one more hostage here on roof. Follow me." The three of us fan out and work our way to where the Last JTF officer is hiding. Dima takes the lead, quietly approaching a Riker looking in the opposite direction. In one quick motion, he covers the Riker's mouth and stabs him in the back of the neck. The Riker's eyes flash open in surprise, but he goes limp almost immediately, falling to a heap at our feet. Dima pulls out his knife and cleans it off, before moving on. While his rifle was over his shoulder, I notice the word 'выжить' carved into the wooden stock.

"I'm glad he's with us." Jay whispers in my ear.

"You don't want to know what these Rikers did to their...guests." Dima says, as if he heard her. His tone makes me shudder.

"If the Rikers got a reaction out of him…" I think to myself. "Oh...God…"

Soon after, we find the final hostage, who identifies himself as Sergeant Ramos. After a brief disagreement with Benitez over the radio, Ramos agrees to stay behind on the roof and coordinate the officers who will attack alongside us. A powerful song beat blares from below, vibrating the walls. My Watch, with its built in music identifier, names it "Tracksuit Hardbass" by " Uamee". Climbing down several flights of stairs, we reach the concert hall, and seated center stage is none other than Larae Barrett.

"Well, ain't this some shit?" she shouts tauntingly over the music. "Thought you mighta had the sense to stay away but I see: you comin' to meet your maker!" As she stands and starts to walk down the runway, JTF officers file in and take places on the balcony on either side. Jay takes out her MK14 and I deploy my bipod.

"I see you beggin for the punishment we about to give you!"

Dima readies an automated turret and hovers his finger over the activation button. Around Barrett, several more Rikers appear, many of them with riot gear and large weapons.

"Well...ask and you shall receive!" Barrett shouts at us. "God is a woman. ME! Pigs to the slaughter. Kill ''em all!"

At this, every Riker in the room opens up on us. Larae herself retreats behind her throne and let's her lieutenants do the work.

Dima activates his turret, which mows down one of the lieutenants and a runner with a shotgun. Jay takes shots at the Rikers down below along with the JTF. I focus on Barrett, my SAW quickly chewing her chair to splinters. She quickly dives away to more stable cover as a couple of her lackeys return fire.

"I grew up in Philly!" I hear Jay scream over the gunfire. "Here's what we did to cop killers in MY neighborhood!"

"This is taking too long!" I follow up. "I'm gonna miss the farmers market!"

"Gonna bleed you dry piggies!" One Riker shouts. I blast him in response. One of the officers throws a grenade at Barrett and she's forced into the open. She takes several rounds from me and falls, but at the same time, a group of Rikers reaches our position. Dima tackles one, mercilessly beating him to a pulp as another raises his weapon in an attempt to save his comrade. I grab the top of his rifle and elbow him in the face, quickly turning the weapon's sights on him, only to hear a click from the trigger. I throw the rifle back at the Riker and take out my pistol. Before he can recover, my magazine is already empty. I turn around to see Jay pummeling another Riker with his own baseball bat. Once he stops moving, the three of us gather ourselves and head down the stairs, now that the room has fallen silent. Dima reaches a bloodied Larae first, who is still in the same spot but barely breathing. He kicks her weapon away as Jay walks up, .44 Police Special in hand.

"Larae Barrett, you have been found guilty of malicious intent, terrorism, and a laundry list of first degree murders against law enforcement officials. Your sentence is death...to be carried out immediately." She pulls the hammer back, aiming at Larae''s head. "Any last words?"

Larae slowly lifts her head, a look of pure rage burns in her eyes.

"Burn in Hell...pigs." She says slowly.

"I'll see you there." Jay says with an evil grin. "Say "Hi." to your buddies for me."

*BANG!*

"Lighthouse, Xray 1-0. Objective complete." I say. "HVT Larae Barrett KIA." I say, finding myself approving of Jay's ferocity.

"Outstanding work, Agents." Benitez replies. "Without Barrett keeping them in line, the rest of the Rikers will scatter. A lot of people will be very grateful for this. My men will secure the building, you three head back. Lighthouse out."

Dima looks at Jay with an expression of slight admiration.

"Good work. To both of you." He says. "Could not have done this by myself."

"Let's go home." I reply with a nod.

"You two go." Dima says gruffly. "I will catch up with you at Lighthouse."

Jay and I nod, before leaving the building.

"I bet Dima likes the actual missions." I say as we exit into the snowy street. The sun shines down East 26th down the block, making a wall of light.

"What do you mean?"

"He's practically…" I glance back at the building. "...Faye's errand boy. That chopper crash in Brooklyn? Only the two of them made it."

"Huh." Jay replies. "Despite our time in the Marines, I never did like helicopters."

"I'm glad we were so close when all this happened." I say. "Uhh...close to the city I mean. Getting to hitch a ride with the Coasties." Jay gives my stutter a sideways look for a moment, then brushes off the comment with a shrug.

"I miss Queens." She says idly. "I hear they're fairing far better than Manhattan."

"Too bad we can't go back yet." I reply.

"One day."

"Real smooth." I think to myself.

Well, the Rikers have come...and gone. In case anyone is wondering, for this story, Dima portrays the player's Agent. If his gun sounds familiar, it the Survivor AK47. His name also comes from 'Dima' in Battlefield 3 and 4

The music playing in Lexington Event Center is...actually mentioned by Sarah's Smart Watch. It's owned 100% by the creator. Go check him out on youtube for more CHEEKI BREEKI HARDBASS! (I'm sorry).

Thank you for reading! See you next time!