Convoy Decoy

It had been a couple of days. Vince had allowed Luz to stay with the Saints. Shaundi was a bit skeptical about letting this woman stay with them, but Pierce was alright with it. She had no beef with them at all in spite of the history with the Saints and the Carnales. But she basically did her routine as usual.

Vince had taken off to scope the other areas of Steelport in his Phoenix. He had been driving that lately. Though he wanted to hit the Deckers, as they were next on the Syndicate, he saw that it wasn't long until STAG made themselves at home in the city. The park in Sunset Park had become of their base areas, as some of the N-Forcer vehicles and their Condor VTOL planes were parked in that general area, as well as barricaded.

It was daytime. Vince cruised around and everywhere he went, there was an armored soldier wielding a Viper Laser Rifle or even an S3X Hammer shotgun. He even saw some of them driving their N-Forcers, even with a soldier on the gunner. After witnessing STAG's indifference to human life the day they made their presence known, somehow he felt that with the Saints being the primary target, it was only a matter of time until they would find out where they were. He figured he would need to have the rest of his people scatter around Steelport.

He went into the park to go walk around and look around. Even though STAG had set up shop in the park, it was still open to the public, depending on which side. He walked by some people playing guitars by the little river. He got out his phone and called one person he felt the need to talk to.

"Yeah, Boss?" Pierce said after the call went through.

"You know, with STAG in town, we need to be careful, Pierce," Vince said.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I totally agree," Pierce said, not sounding like he was listening.

"Our place might be compromised," Vince said.

"Uh-huh, whatever you say," Pierce said.

Is this fucker playing chess again? Vince thought. "…And we should get some horses and mount a charge on STAG."

"All right, I'll get on that," Pierce said.

"Damn it, Pierce," Vince said and sighed. "I'll be over in a bit."

"Sure, see you soon," Pierce said.

Vince went back into his Phoenix, started it up, and took off. He thought he should make another call.

"Hey, Boss," Shaundi said.

"Shaundi, where are you right now?" Vince said.

"I'm with Johnny right now checking out some stuff on those STAG guys," Shaundi said. "Why? What's up?"

"Listen, you may want to stay at Derek's place for a bit," Vince said. "With STAG in town, I think they're going to try to find us and hit us with whatever they got. I'll hit you up later with more details. I have a plan to let STAG know what's up."

"Call us in a bit," Shaundi said.

"I will," Vince said.

There were a few others staying at the penthouse. He thought he'll call Luz later because she was working, and then check on Zimos, Kinzie, and Angel about where they were. But there were two people to check on. He called one of those.

"Hello?" a female voice said.

"Viola, it's Vince," he said. "I think STAG will try to hit us soon. Do you have any place that is safe to lie low at?"

"Kiki and I have our condo, but we don't know if anybody from STAG or the Syndicate will try to hound us," Viola said.

"I see," Vince said. "Well, there are some places you can try. We have updated Safeword a bit and you two can stay there, or even with Zimos at his car wash, or there is a place in Salander by the docks that one of my other people is staying. Take your pick."

"Not sure about Safeword if Zimos is running things over there," Viola said. "We're not on the best of terms with him right now."

"Okay, that answers my question," Vince said. "You two settle your differences with Z sometime, but right now, you two should go over to that warehouse. I'm sure that my girl over there would love some company despite what she says."

"Um, okay, Boss," Viola said.

In that case, he felt the need to contact Kinzie to let her know that the twins were coming.

"Hey, Kinzie," Vince said. "Listen, I have a plan right now and that means getting people away from the penthouse. I sent a couple of new people over to your house."

"Hold up, what?" Kinzie said. "You're sending some people to my inner sanctum, my command center?"

"They just need to find some place safe right now," Vince said. "They're the DeWynter sisters. They need to be safe from STAG and the Syndicate. No time to explain, they're on their way."

"Okay, Boss," Kinzie said. "But I'll be keeping an eye out for any funny stuff."

After he got off the phone, he was close to the Saints HQ. He pulled up into the garage, parked the car, and went straight for the elevator. DING! The door opened, he walked into the main area. It turned out he was right. Pierce and Oleg were playing chess. Vince went up to them and jumped over the couch.

"Pack it up, we got to move," Vince said.

Pierce looked up at him. "I got 20k on this game!"

Vince kicked the coffee table, knocking down all of the chess pieces, some even fell off of the board.

"Damn!" Pierce said.

"Now it's a draw," Vince said.

Pierce looked at Oleg. "This isn't over." He then turned his attention to Vince. "What's up?"

"It's not safe here," Vince said. "You guys clear this place out. I'll buy you some time."

Pierce and Oleg got up, while Vince went his own way.

Vince got out of the headquarters at the front of the building. A purple Torch was there waiting for him. His phone then started to ring.

"Oleg, what's up?" Vince said.

"Pierce is loading the trucks," Oleg said. "I will create a distraction at the park."

"All right, that should spread them out," Vince said. "I'll start some shit at one of those STAG bases. Just be careful, big guy."

"Relax, my friend, I know what I'm doing," Oleg said.

"I know you are, but still, be careful," Vince said.

The call ended. He knew that Oleg was capable of stuff, but even he thought that what he did when he jumped onto the fighter jet like that was crazy and he had gone through some crazy stuff himself, and was about to do something crazy right now.

The GPS read that there was a STAG east of where Vince was. He wondered if he would be able to find any of those jets there. It was time to get their attention. But first he had to make a call to Pierce.

"Yeah, Boss, what's up?" Pierce said.

"Pierce, how's the pack-up going?" Vince said.

"Slow. We've got a lot of shit," Pierce said.

"Just take what we need," Vince said.

"Whatchu think I'm doin'?" Pierce said.

"Pierce, leave the chess board," Vince said.

"Man, that's cold," Pierce said.

"You can get another one," Vince said. "I got to get STAG's attention right now. Talk to you in a bit."

Vince pulled up close to a tunnel. It was adjacent to a factory and saw some STAG N-Forcers close to a chain-link fence. It was right by the water, likely a docking area for the factory.

This must be it. Vince thought and stepped on the gas and rammed right through the fence. STAG operatives quickly looked up and drew their Viper rifles and started opening fire on him. Many barricades were up, with chain-link fences and bases at the bottom with STAG's insignia on them, as well as mobile bases with the STAG insignia on them as well. There were even crates, likely to store their weapons.

Vince drove through the hail of lasers being fired, as well as gunfire as some of them were wielding AR-55s and AS3 Ultimax shotguns, in case they needed some traditional firepower, even though the lasers could just hit the person inside the vehicle without causing damage to the windows. He ignored all of it considering how fast he drove right by them and hit the brakes once he was close to the set of fighter jets that were close to the water.

He got out and drew his D4TH Blossom and opened fire. He didn't care who he hit, as long it as he could buy his men a bit of time if STAG were to turn their attentions towards him. He managed to lay about five shots to a STAG solder's chest and rest arm. Rather than drop the person, as Vince couldn't tell if it was a man or woman under the uniform, the soldier was taken aback a bit. Vince did the same to another who was also close.

Vince opened the cockpit to the F-69 VTOL.

"Startup sequence initiated." Said a voice that went with the jet, as it started up automatically.

Hover AND a jet mode? It's like a helicopter that doesn't suck! Vince thought as he took control of the jet. He quickly switched the jet to flight mode to just fly the hell out of there and made yet another call.

"Hey, Pierce, get things moving," Vince said. "I've got their attention."

"We're rolling down in a convoy now," Pierce said. "I'll let you know how the streets are looking."

"Hover mode engaged." Said the same computer voice on the jet as Vince switched modes. He looked down at that base and saw on the GPS in the cockpit that there were other bases not too far from there. He figured he could started with that one.

"Flight mode engaged." He switched over to flight mode and flew towards that same base from before.

Vince said as he quickly switched it to hover mode. He noticed that this jet fired homing missiles and also lasers. The target started to lock on one of STAG's mobile bases.

"All bases, prepare for incoming attacks," said a male voice through a communicator on the jet. It was likely Cyrus Temple.

Vince wasted no time in dropping a few missiles towards the mobile bases, causing a big explosion to the base and some of the jets that were there. It didn't stop any of the STAG troops to fire away at the jet above them.

It was time to hit the other bases. Vince flew away and saw another base on a rooftop on somewhere.

"Wooo! Talk to me, Goose!" Vince yelled with so much glee in his voice.

"STAG still keeping the streets hot," Pierce said. "You got to pick it up with them."

"Shit, I didn't think that these motherfuckers were all over the place," Vince said. "Roger that, Pierce."

"All bases on alert. Shoot down any enemy aircraft." A female voice said. It was Kia.

Time to keep the pressure on. Vince thought.

In Vince's sight were some of those mobile bases on the roof, along with some VTOL jets and ground troops. It was time to play with the laser. He fired at anything on the roof. It didn't take long for those mobile bases to blow up, nor did it take long for the jets to blow up either. Even some of the troops dropped and looked like they burned to a crisp after coming into contact with the laser. Not to mention some rubble broke off from the building. This laser must have been pretty strong.

"Looks like STAG left a roadblock ahead of us," Pierce said. "Without help, we ain't getting by."

"On my way, Pierce," Vince said.

Vince flew towards an area where there was a bridge that went into Bridgeport. He saw the purple vehicles below, all in a convoy. It had to be them. Right in front of them were STAG tanks and N-Forcers. Why they weren't firing at the Saints was anybody's guess, but was that going to stop Vince? Not a chance, as he locked a target right on a tank and fired missiles right at it, twice, to make sure it stayed down.

He continued his assault by taking down another tank with the missiles and used the laser to take down the N-Forcers. The road was clear, as the Saints convoy went their way to safety.

"All right, good to go now. Thanks, Boss," Pierce said.

"Don't mention it," Vince said.

Suddenly, Temple spoke through the radio system. "Get our AWACS in the air with full escort."

With that being said, more troops were about to fly in. Vince knew that STAG had a lot more coming in. More reports stated to investigate all possible Saints vehicles in the area. Before Vince was about to take any more STAG bases, it was time to check on some others.

First, he decided to check on Luz, who was just working at that moment. So they just texted each other. He just told her to stay indoors and make sure that the streets were clean should she go find somewhere to stay to lie low. Luz agreed to do so but asked where she could go. Which made him think that one person could look after her. So he made the call to that person.

"Hey, Z, what does it look like out there?" Vince asked.

"Shit, Playa, shit is messy out there,"Zimos said. "All my ladies be lying low and avoiding all of the bullshit out there. But me and Venus are doin' alright, my brotha."

"Well, a friend of mine is working right now, I was wondering if you could keep her safe," Vince said.

"Sure thing, Playa, I'll keep the lady safe," Zimos said.

"Oh, and one more thing, no funny business," Vince said.

"I'll see for myself, but I'll look after her," Zimos said.

"Thanks, Z," Vince said.

While in hover mode, Vince texted Luz an address of the place where she could stay. Luz texted back, she said okay to it.

I'll check on Angel in a bit, but right now I got shit to do. Vince switched to flight mode and flew towards another base, which was under the bridge that connected Henry Steel Mills to Ashwood. The base was right close to the road under the bridge in Henry Steel Mills.

Vince did the same as before. He took down any parked N-Forcer and mobile base that was set up in that area, causing yet more explosions. Except there was one thing he didn't think of. A couple of N-Forcers were on the bridge and a couple of F-69 jets were behind him.

He looked on his GPS and through the window. The N-Forcers on the bridge were firing lasers at him, as were the fighter jets.

"Fuck me," Vince said out loud. That wasn't all, either. More N-Forcers rolled down the road where some of the bases used to be. But there was only one concern for him: the jets, as one was in front and the other behind.

The jet behind him started firing the laser. He saw that the jet in front of him was ready to fire some missiles at him. But there was one other base he needed to take down.

Vince quickly switched to flight mode and pulled the yoke back to ascend as the fighter jet that was behind him continued to fire the laser, only to hit the jet that was in front. With these being homing missiles, Vince flew out of there as fast as he could. However, the target locked on to the other jet as the missiles flew towards it.

KA-BOOM! The jet exploded and what was left of it fell right into the water. The other jet, however, was badly damaged. The left wing caught on fire, causing the STAG soldier to eject out of it and parachute to the ground below. But the jet crashed right onto the bridge, as the stabilizers and the right wing hit the bridge that they broke off, and the rest of the jet crashing right onto the ground below, where STAG's base used to be.

Vince continued to fly the jet. According to the GPS, it read that the last base was at Wesley Cutter International.

"Mobile base tango has been hit! I want our fighters in the air!" said Kia.

It was clear to Vince that it didn't take long for STAG to figure which plane to target, even though they all looked the same. Through the radio, Commander Temple continued to alert any soldiers about Saints trucks, as well as any other Saint movement on the ground.

Once Vince got to the airport, he saw that STAG had set up their base right close to a hangar with a couple of helipads. It was definitely the location for Humanitarian Inc, a company where a man named BJ Barnes wanted some government and military vehicles stolen for him.

Another thing that happened was that various jets had ascended and started their attack. They were determined not to go down. The jets opened fire with their lasers. Ground troops fired away at him, whether they were on foot or on the laser turret. Sparks flew on some parts of the jet that Vince was flying.

Vince hovered away a bit and zapped various ground and air troops with his lasers and locked the targets on the mobile bases. Vince did not hesitate to launch the rockets at both of the bases, causing another blemish on STAG's bases.

That must be all of them, I should check on the others. Vince thought and called a couple of people through a conference call.

"Viola, Kiki, are you two safe?" Vince asked.

"We're safe, Boss," Kiki said. "We found the place. STAG chased after us, until some of the Saints and Deckers tried to fight them and each other."

"Kiki, you and Viola just go in," Vince said. "I already told Kinzie that you two were coming."

"Got it," Kiki said.

Last person to check on was Angel, but then another call came in.

"Talk to me, Oleg," Vince said.

"There's too many for us to handle," Oleg said.

"'Us'? What do you mean? Who are you with?" Vince said.

"Johnny and Shaundi joined me at the park, but it turned out STAG were more trouble than we thought," Oleg said.

"I'm en route, just hang on," Vince said and then called Johnny, and it went through. "Johnny, are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're cool, but man, these fuckers are everywhere!" Johnny said. "Killing gang members is easy, but killing these assholes is hard as fuck."

"Just stay put, I'm on my way," Vince said. "If you need to take cover, fucking do it. These guys don't fuck around."

"Sure thing, Boss," Johnny said. "I'll hold off some if I have to."

"All units in the park divert attention to finding that convoy," Temple said through the radio.

Looks like Oleg, Johnny, and Shaundi did the right thing. Vince thought as he continued to fly through the sky.

At the speed he went, getting to the park didn't take long at all. Even from several stories above, he saw that his fellow Saints took cover under the bridge in the park. Oleg and Johnny, as well as Shaundi went out and started to open fire to any ground troops. Oleg had a mini-gun and he dropped many troops with ease. But from a distance, he noticed some STAG tanks pulling in. It was clear that these guys meant business, even if it meant bringing in some heavy artillery to only take down a handful of people.

There was no time to waste. Vince quickly targeted one tank and once the target locked, he launched the missiles without hesitation. The same process occurred with the two tanks.

Below, Shaundi looked around and saw the remains of the tanks, as did Johnny and Oleg. All three of them looked up and saw the jet hovering over them. They knew who was flying it. They all waved to him.

"Thanks, Boss," Shaundi said.

"Ah, it was nothing," Vince said. "You guys go find somewhere safe to go."

"We're on it," Shaundi said. Oddly enough, the purple Criminal that she and Johnny drove, it was not damaged. Johnny took the driver's seat. Shaundi went to the front passenger's seat. Oleg went into the back seat.

"Air convoy delta-delta-one entering Steelport airspace," a male voice said on the radio.

Fuck, more of them? Not going to happen. Vince thought and made another call. "Pierce, tell me you're getting close."

"We're trying to keep a low profile here," Pierce said. "We can't go speedin' through the streets. We almost got stopped by STAG."

"Well, they got an AWACS plane flying in with a lot of escorts," Vince said.

"You serious?!" Pierce said.

"Look, just get there, anywhere that will be safe, like Angel's gym or anywhere close to it or even Kinzie's warehouse," Vince said. "I'll think of something."

There was one more person he needed to check on.

"Hello?" a male voice said.

"Angel, just checking in, are you safe?" Vince said.

"Yeah, I am, but I heard a lot of explosions outside," Angel said.

"Have any of those STAG guys tried to storm your gym?" Vince said.

"I haven't seen any of those guys try to come in," Angel said.

"Well, that's good," Vince said. "Hey, listen, if you're okay with this, I'll let some people stay at your place for now. We're under a lot of shit. So I'll let some know."

"Doesn't bother me, I'll even train some of them," Angel said.

"Whoa, whoa, you can train them, but don't have them drive with fucking tigers or try to burn them," Vince said.

"I'll see what I can do," Angel said.

"Okay, cool, I'll let you go now," Vince said and texted Pierce to try to find a place to lie low. He even suggested Angel's gym. Pierce replied and said that he'll try there or maybe a motel nearby.

Vince flew through the air and saw that the AWACS plane was flying low enough that it was barely above the city, or at least that was how it looked from his vision.

Through the radio, Commander Temple and Kia continued to suggest any of the troops to find any Saints on the ground or in the air.

The jet flew through Port Pryor and Vince saw that the AWACS plane was getting a little closer. It was right over the water and from the looks of things, the AWACS had some VTOLs escorting it, ranging from the F-69 jets and the Condors.

Once Vince got off the mainland, he realized that the AWACS was higher than he thought.

"That Saint won't escape me!" a pilot said on the radio. It sounded female. It called the attention to the Condor, as the F-69 flew right for Vince on his jet.

There was no time to waste. Vince used the same strategy as before. With this plane getting close to the land, the only way to take it down was to cause it to crash, but he was not going to let the plane crash over any buildings below. He had to keep it over water. He quickly blew up the F-69 and the Condor with the missiles. After both of the aircraft exploded, he quickly went to work on the AWACS and fired the laser and multiple missiles at the AWACS. He kept the laser zapping it while he fired the missiles, until the plane caught on fire. He looked below and saw that it was sea below. He sighed in relief.

"Move is all done," Pierce said. "No worries on our end."

"Damn, I was having fun," Vince said. "I'll meet you guys somewhere in a bit. Let me go land this thing."

STAG HQ - PR CENTER

Later that day, even after all the carnage that occurred, Cyrus and Kia were told by Senator Hughes to go the PR center in Loren Square. Hughes couldn't make a meeting, but she requested that they have a talk through the phone about something.

Senator Hughes had told the two elite members of STAG to go into a boardroom and watch a video she had set up for them by some members of their PR department, as well as representatives of Steelport who worked with Mayor Reynolds.

Much to their reluctance, the video started showing. It had Josh Birk walking through an alley and greeting a local man.

"I'm Joshua Birk. On TV, I play Nyte Blayde, an exceptionally good-looking but misunderstood vampire who risks like and limb every week to keep the world safe. The men and women of STAG put their lives on the line every day to protect your city against gang violence. Want to be a real world hero? Talk to your STAG recruiter today. I know I have."

The rest of the video, which looked like a public service announcement depicted STAG soldiers doing good deeds, such as putting up a swing set in a park, hammering a nail on a wall, fixing an woman's tire, and helping an elderly woman and a child do a slam dunk. The last part had Birk in Nyte Blayde costume when he said "I know I have," in character, as well, as he swung his swords.

The sign on the side said, "STAG needs you; Contact your local recruitment office." At the bottom, it read, "Nyte Blayde says 'it's okay to rat our your neighbors!'"

Cyrus and Kia scoffed with so much derision at the sight of this. Senator Hughes was still on speaker phone as this went on.

"Nyte Blayde's the face of STAG?" Kia said. "Why don't you just put someone in a fucking deer suit?"

"Hearts and minds will win the war, my dear," Hughes said.

Cyrus cut in, "Shock and awe wins wars, Senator. Authorize the Daedalus and this will all be over."

"Absolutely not, you people already have the Thermopylae," Senator Hughes said. "You already have this under control, right?"

"That kid's going to get himself killed," Cyrus said.

"Well you ensure Josh Birk's safety or I'll find someone who can. Understand?" Hughes said.

Cyrus sighed. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good, now you continue trying to clean up Steelport and keep him safe," Senator Hughes said and the call ended.

"You know that this is a bad idea, right?" Kia said.

Cyrus sighed again. "Kia, after what happened out there today, we need to make sure that we not only keep that guy safe, but also find out where these gangs are hiding. A lot of our people were killed today."

"Sir, I know where some of those gangs are, I'll keep you posted," Kia said. "Besides, I've wanted to be in law enforcement since my teen years and even before I left the military. I know we can do this."

Cyrus nodded his head at her.

MEANWHILE, AT KINZIE'S WAREHOUSE

The twins followed Kinzie, who looked for some rooms for those two to sleep at in case they got tired.

"I hardly sleep, but knowing that some people will come here to lie low, I have a room for both of you," Kinzie said. "I even have sleeping bags as well."

She opened the door to a room with beds that just had metal frames and a mattress and pillow on each. No blankets or anything like that.

"Um, that sounds…good?" Viola said and looked at Kiki.

"You know, I just want to say something, but you two have such beautiful hair," Kinzie said. "It's so shiny."

"Um, thanks," Viola said.

"You're the first person to say that to us," Kiki said.

"I'm honored," Kinzie said.

"You know, if you wash your hair, it could be just as shiny as ours," Viola said.

"Will you teach me how?" Kinzie said.

"Um, sure, we can do that," Kiki said, with Viola looking at her like this was an odd moment.

"Cool, anyway, I got to go check something," Kinzie said.

Kinzie walked away while the DeWynter sisters looked at her.

"Man, she seems weird," Kiki said.

"She seems a little odd, but she is the first woman who has been nice to us in a while," Viola said. "She seems nice, at least to me."

Meanwhile, Kinzie went back downstairs to her computer system and saw that she had received a new e-mail. It was from someone named "RagnarokWinsAgain" and it had an attachment. She opened it up and it was a video that depicted Vince, Johnny, Pierce, and Shaundi dancing with an image of the destroyed bridge behind them.

"What the hell?" Kinzie said as her eyes got a little bigger. "Oh my god."

Author's note: This chapter was a bit difficult for me to write. I know that I have been able to take the gameplay elements in a somewhat realistic direction, but I had to come up with ways to depict someone flying a fighter jet and going through the carnage. It wasn't all that bad, but I actually wonder if the depiction of the ad with Birk was decent enough. I haven't written much of anything depicting a TV commercial, except for the Saints Flow ad in the very first chapter.

Next up, Killbane has an important interview, while the Saints try to figure out who was behind that video. Stay tuned.