It was your average post-apocalyptic summer day at United Ironworks. Humidity was at an all-time high. A storm was sure to be moving in soon. Colonel Morozova was fast at work with her battalion of True Sons soldiers. She was destined to continue General Ridgeway's work; she just knew it. All of her troops were readying their grand weapon for its upcoming use in the fight to retake Washington, D.C. against the Division and the JTF. Once D.C. had been reclaimed, then she could begin her focus with spreading the True Sons' influence throughout the whole nation. She will reunite the country with an iron will and even more firm resolve; as for anyone who resists, they'll meet the same fate that every opposing side of history's victors have faced.
Humiliating defeat, judgement, and execution, all in that order.
Little did she know that her grand plan was about to be derailed.
After the decision had been made to utilize the Eclipse payload on the United Ironworks facility, all that was left to discuss was a method of how said payload would be delivered. Fisher suggested that they use drones to hold individual canisters of the stuff and disperse it throughout the compound. Ferrer agreed with that idea, although Yaremko strongly suggested using an actual missile; that idea was dissuaded once the realization hit that they had some kind of early warning system. After all, if the True Sons were going to build a massive weaponized train, it would be no surprise if they had some kind of warning system to let them know of any incoming missiles/artillery. Needless to say, there was much debating that was going on.
Agent Cage wasn't really paying attention to any of it. His mind was elsewhere, focused on Kelso and the fact that they had a kid on the way.
"Agent Cage, what do you think?"
Christopher's attention then snapped back to Fisher and Manny, both whom looked to him for an answer. "I'm sorry, I zoned out. What was the question?"
"We were talking about possibly delivery methods of the Eclipse payload. What do you think we should do?"
Cage leaned forward in his chair and spoke, "I honestly think that we should just use every last bit of the stuff and let the True Sons marinate in it. How many canisters of Eclipse did Masters give you?"
"She gave me 20 canisters of Eclipse."
"Then I think it's best that we go ahead with striker drones carrying the payloads; they'll act as our delivery system, and after they detonate and disperse the bioweapon, we'll then move in with our assault force. It'll be the same as our previous raid on Washington International Airport, we take an 8 man team in and clear 'em all out. If they don't die from Eclipse, they die from us; I think that takes care of business well enough don't you Manny?"
The comms director agreed, nodding his head in approval. "I may not like us using something that a terrorist used, but I understand the greater danger being posed by these assholes. Neutralize all targets. Collect any data you can find. I want these guys dead."
The meeting shortly concluded after that.
The moment they were released from the conference room, Cage made a beeline for Kelso's bedside in the infirmary. She was asleep, but as he sat down in the chair next to her and grasped her hand, she awoke.
"Hey," she said quietly. "You ok?"
"Don't you think I should be asking you that question Alani?"
The two Agents chuckled, and Kelso spoke again, "I'm fine enough. The surgical procedures they did fixed me up alright enough. I'm just worried about our little situation now."
Cage nodded, knowing that this conversation needed to happen sooner rather than later. "Yeah, it's been on my mind a lot too lately. All I can't help but think about now is this child, our child, and how much danger it's going to be in. We all just had a briefing on a new True Sons threat and the whole time you and this kid were on my mind."
"What do we do Christopher? This changes everything. We're not even supposed to be romantically involved, let alone with one another. And now we've got a kid on the way, along with God knows how many other fucking ordeals that are on their way." Her voice broke towards the end of the sentence. Tears silently streamed down her face and she began to sniffle.
"Hey, hey listen to me Alani," Cage began in a calm and quiet voice. "We're going to make it through all of this alright? You're the fiercest woman I know of, and if I know you, you'll fight tooth and nail to prevent anything from happening to the baby. And you can bet your ass that I will do the same. I refuse to let anything happen to you or our child." He took a deep breath and exhaled before speaking again, "Look. There's something I wanted to tell you. I wanted to say it to you the night that you would get back from your visit to the Campus settlement, but circumstances led us to our current predicament. I want you to know-"
"I love you too Christopher."
Cage was stunned; speechless, to be more exact. The feeling was definitely mutual, but he was just taken aback that she had said it to him first. Cage smiled, leaned down, and kissed Kelso. For the first time in a long time, he was happy; and for the first time in a long time, she was too.
Marcus Webb woke up, restraints keeping him from rubbing his eyes with his hands. He was groggy at first, but the restraints changed everything in an instant.
"Good! You're awake!"
Webb's eyes shifted towards the source of the noise, and out of the shadows came Aaron Keener. "I'm so glad that you're alright. However, that may change depending on the next few minutes and the questions I have to ask you."
Webb nodded at Keener, "Well go ahead then asshole, ask away."
Keener was stung a little bit at being called an asshole, but he just rolled with the punches. "Why did you slaughter that entire battalion of Black Tusk soldiers in the skyscraper?"
"I did it so that I could have your attention; I also did it so that you could see how much I wanted to actually join you." Keener was shocked, which was a rare occurrence in itself. Then he laughed, "You mean to tell me that you went and killed all those people just to get ahold of little old me? Wow, I'm flattered Marcus. That's a rather cold-blooded thing to do." He chuckled.
"What did you think you would gain from killing them all? Self-clarity? Some peace of mind?"
It was Webb's turn to laugh now. "Yeah, sure Aaron, we'll go with that. What more do you want, eh? I told you already. I killed them as a favor to you. I want us to work together. I see that our mission has failed now. It took longer than it should have, but you were right. I shouldn't try to keep saving people who just aren't worth saving. And no matter what I do, I'm a dead man walking. I shouldn't have survived the Dark Zone whenever I extracted the antivirals, and the only thing I live for is to make those who killed my friends pay for what they did. If anything, I exist only to haunt them." Keener chuckled darkly all of a sudden.
Keener got up, and walked over to Webb. He undid his restraints and helped him up, saying, "Well, it took you long enough. Welcome to the team, Revenant."
"Revenant?"
"Yeah. You say you exist to haunt your enemies right? That's what a revenant does. So that'll be your callsign. Now let's go, we've got work to do."
It had worked. Keener believed what Webb had said. He was in his inner circle. Now he just had to stay alive long enough to kill every last one of them.
President Andrew Ellis sat in a private office, watching all of the different feeds coming in from around the nation, and from around the world. Pakistan had invaded India. Russia seemed to have stabilized itself. China was reporting the most casualties of the virus, with only 4 million out of their original 1.5 billion people having survived Gordon Amherst's plague. Only 5% of the world's population had survived the apocalypse, and in terms of who was coming out on top, it seemed that no one could tell. All he knew was that he had sided with Sokolova and her bunch from Russia. Before the pandemic, Sokolova and he had planned to take the presidency and unite the American and Russian nations as an unstoppable force in the world. As tragic as it was, the whole outbreak had served them both well.
Now he had but one little obstacle to deal with: The Division.
They had been a thorn in his side. The moment he learned of their existence, he knew that they couldn't be trusted and that they would not assist himself, BTSU, and Miss Sokolova. He was grateful for the Russian assets that she had provided. However, he knew that eventually the Division would trace the organization of "hunters" back to the BTSU and more importantly, the Russians. That would be a major problem.
A problem he meant to fix.
"I know that you're men have dealt with soldiers with similar training to that of a Division Agent before. You trained the Hunters. Are you ready to help usher in an era of unity between Russia and the United States?" asked Ellis. The man to which he was addressing turned around to face the would-be president.
"I am ready to do what needs to be done, but I ain't helping out any damn Russian, you understand?"
"You don't make demands to the president. Hell, I would think you would respect me more!"
"I respect the office of the presidency, but I sure as fuck don't respect you. I know what you did. I know that you signed the order to fall back out of New York's Dark Zone, abandoning all those Agents and making some turn Rogue. But I also know that you're currently the one who's setting everything up for after we've established your 'peace'. You and that Sokolova lady have got some massive balls, pulling this shit off. Just so we're clear, the moment that the Division Agents have either merged with our forces or been eliminated, you will return my family to me."
"You just hold up your end of the deal mercenary. I don't care how you do it, just get it done, and get it done now. Get it done Apophis," Ellis said. This guy might be tough, but in the end, he had him by the balls; if Ellis said move this way, the guy would move that way.
Apophis, also known as Roy F. Tholen, would see to it that the job was finished. But he just might be convinced, by himself nonetheless, to kill this piece of shit after he completes his mission. Tholen was of southern heritage, and he was definitely one to follow through on something as monumental as that. He had a temper that could flare up in an instant, and his penetrating stare was enough to make any would-be enemy shit themselves. As much as he despised Ellis and Sokolova, he was getting paid well by them. After all, what kind of fool turns down a contract that damn good?
Definitely not him. He's a hired gun, and while normally his allegiance is to whomever it is that pays him, he also knows that Ellis is a worthless human being. Him and his precious Black Tusk Specialist Unit. That Schaeffer fella was a real asshole as well. But alas, he didn't particularly care for his boss, so long as he got paid.