Chapter I
November 2018, Cozumel, Mexico
The small town was alive in the night; it was the Dia de Los Muertos. The air was filled with the aroma of quesadillas, tamales and marzipan candy. Children and adults alike dress in colorful garb, wearing skull masks to represent the dead loved ones. The older people crowd the graveyards, offering flowers, food, wine and music to the dearly departed. Sam thought to himself, what exactly is wrong though?
"Briggs, where is our contact? He's late."
"Just try to enjoy the atmosphere, Sam. Times like these are hard to come by."
"Hey guys, wassup?" Jonah chimed in, with a bag of chicharrones and a six-pack of Tecate beer in his hands.
"Great use of cover, Jonah. Wouldn't want to attract unnecessary attention." Briggs remarked.
"What this about a distress signal though? I thought someone was in trouble!" Sam snidely retorted.
"We are in danger. Rodriguez's men are looking for us. We need cover so Lara can investigate his movements."
"Alright. So what do you want us to do?" Briggs inquired.
"I need you to scout for Lara, make sure she doesn't get into trouble while she's doing her work."
"Briggs?" Sam turned to Briggs.
"I'll set up at the church tower. I'll deploy my sniper rifle only on your order." Briggs pointed at the map of the town.
"I'll cover her left flank. The town has full of rooftop. Makes my job easier in theory, but the locals ain't gonna be happy." Sam added.
"I'll deal with the guards. Lara?"
Lara walked in, wearing a skull mask and costume as disguise.
"I suspect that Trinity is looking for an artifact of great value, over here." Lara pointed at the edge of the map.
"Right. Everyone split up, and do your job well. Kid, don't screw up, okay?"
"I won't." Lara nodded.
Briggs walked to the center of the town, as the church was located in there. In fact, most Latin American cities and towns follow the exact format. Briggs was a good student in geography; that led to his eventual recruitment in the CIA. He checked his 'guitar bag' (a large suitcase with two layers, a hidden one containing the disassembled SR-25S rifle and scope, and an actual guitar. His backpack has a concealed fold for ammo. He didn't bother hiding his first aid kit though, as it is common practice for tourists to pack one, as most destinations have poor emergency services. A parish priest he knew was waiting for him at the steps.
"My son, we are just starting choir practice. Glad you could come, we appreciate your music." Fr. Diego Morales Arias usher him in.
Isaac was a devout Catholic and a guitar virtuoso, something that endeared him to the Fourth Echelon Team.
"Sure. It's been a long while since you left the states. Guess you still have the nostalgia in you, Father."
"You were always the most talented and fast learning of my students, Isaac. Your parents are very proud of you."
"By the way, my mom wanted me to give this," Briggs gave him a box of saltwater taffy and brownies. "Said you loved these delicacies."
"Gracias, my son." Fr. Arias accepted the parcel.
Sam Fisher wondered if passing through the seedy part of the town was a good idea. Sure, there were a lot of rooftops to climb on, but there were also prostitutes.
"Hey, gringo, want to have some fun tonight? I have a great way for celebrating the Day of the Dead, just the two of us."
"No thanks."
Sam hated attention from locals. His experience in Malta sure reinforced that pet peeve.
A little girl was selling tamales in front of him, ands by the look of desperation in Sam's eyes, the kid didn't sell much.
"Señor, could you buy me some tamales? It's still warm..."
"Sure kid. Here you go. I'll take the whole truckload." He gave the kid a substantial wad of cash. More than enough for the tamales.
"Gracias, señor, but I think it is too much."
"It's yours, kid. Now head home, or else your parents might worry."
Though Sam hated the attention of the locals, he did have a soft spot for children, as he was the only father of his only daughter, Sarah, and in every child he saw, he always saw Sarah.
Lucky for him, there were a group of old people souling, a practice where people offered to pray for a person or family in exchange for a meal. He took two for himself, as he hadn't eaten dinner yet, and gave the rest to the group.
"Gracias, hijo, thank you for the generous offer. We will pray for you and for your family. You are a good man."
"Thanks, ma'ams, and sirs. Pray for my friends, too."
"We will, hijo."
"Sam, head for the hotel west of you." Grim advised.
Lara and Jonah were waiting in the plaza cafe arguing over the photo of the glyphs she took, as Dominguez entered their field of vision.
"Jonah, let's go. Dominguez is in the courtyard."
Jonah and Lara then followed Dominguez and Rourke, hiding among the crowd.
As Lara and Jonah approached the gate, Jonah distracted the guards blocking the threshold and Lara sneaked into a small passageway.
Lara then cuts through the graveyard, and passed down the alleyways.
Briggs had just finished up his guitar session with the choir when Jonah told him to set up his nest on the church tower.
"Briggs, tell padre I said hi." Jonah added.
"Father Arias, can you point me to the staircase leading to the church tower?"
"Yes, Isaac. I'll open the door. I will bar the church gate and doors too."
A 22-year old girl in the choir, Adela Sanchez, who had developed an attraction to Briggs, accompanied him. She showed her badge, identifying her membership in the Mexican federal police.
"I'll cover your back, Isaac." Adela grinned.
"Sure." Isaac smirked back. "Dunno why I have to work with amateurs." Briggs mumbled to himself. "Sam, be ready"
"Already am." Sam dropped his duffel bag, put on his gear, and equipped a grappling device. "Told you it would get messy."
Lara had reached the excavation site. Just in time. She needed to take what is in the site. A fulfillment of her desire to be renowned.
"I reached the site."
Lara then snuck past mercenaries, who were none too bright, as they were just locals hired to guard the area. She reached the outer walls of the temple, awed at the spectacle she saw.
And then, a certain energy had her attracted to something. The power was too great.
Sam then found a hotel with good sight lines to the site. He used his crossbow to grapple on to the antenna. He then climbed the hotel walls with the aid of a rope ascender.
"Briggs, ready the sniper rifle. Switch to smart rounds. Jonah, be ready to move. Charlie, hack into CISEN servers to identify Rourke's wherabouts. Grim, prep for exfil. Might wanna contact local rescue services for backup. Everyone, sync comms to my channel. Don't want anyone to ghost out."
"Got it Sam." Briggs answered.
"Affirmative." Lara responded.
"Ten-four." Jonah nodded.
"Hey Sam, the SMI shows multiple points of entry into the site. Hitting the roofs is still the best option." Grim opined through his subdermal.
"Briggs?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah, read you loud and clear Charlie."
"Jonah and I analyzed the picture Lara took. It does have a broken digit."
"Guess all the time spent Galaga paid off."
"You still owe me for scaring the shit off of me in Philly."
"Yeah, yeah. Tell Jonah to keep on this channel. Grim, you prepped the exfil?"
"Paladin is ready to deploy the chopper."
As there was only a small airport in Cozumel, Paladin had to cruise around the island in high altitude to avoid air traffic. The Paladin was designed for high altitude recon in its factory configuration, and the customizations only enhanced its capabilities, allowing it to keep cross-channel comms and satellite access.
Grim then accessed the Mexsat and rerouted to Misty, for satellite imaging. She also hacked Orion to gain signals intelligence to reroute all Trinity comms to Lara.
"I just intercepted a call from Commander Rourke, he ordered the guards to be on full alert."
"Im, in. Lara, might wanna use your weapon anytime." Sam advised.
"I got you, Jonah, and Lara on my scope." Briggs chimed in through his MARSOC standard earpiece, as subdermals were not his favorite.
"Briggs, I hope you got my good side." Jonah joked over the comms.
"I'm entering into the temple. Whatever Dominguez is after, it is here." Lara whispered in the comms.
"Walls are several meters thick. You might lose comms inside. Lara, keep on this channel, Jonah and I will find a way around."
"Got it."
Lara then explored the caves, overcoming the obstacles with effort and wit. Typical of Lara to smile at danger.
"Sam, I detected an 8.0 magnitude earthquake from the northeast of Cozumel. We might have a tsunami alert."
"Grim, patch me through to local QRF teams to standby for emergency exfil. I count at least 20 hostiles approaching Lara's sector."
"Shit. Sam! I scoped out the hostiles. They aren't your typical skinny. They got plate armor, SCARs, grenade launchers, APCs, and a damn Hind gunship." Briggs chattered furiously over the comms.
"I got the artifact. It's the Dagger of Chak Chel" Lara responded. She stumbled a bit as a foreshock jolted her.
"Jonah, get to higher ground! I'll meet you as soon as I reach the exit." Lara told Jonah.
"Sam, we got hostiles guarding the exit. Mercenaries with small arms. And reinforcements heading down the area."
"Piece of cake." Sam chambers his HK416 rifle and takes down the snipers in the towers, allowing Lara to take care of the rest of the mercs.
"Briggs, you see the team leader?"
"Yes sir."
"Take the shot."
As the team leader of the mercs fell lifeless behind the wall (Lara couldn't shoot him), the reinforcements arrived to the carnage Lara, Sam and Briggs caused.
"Lara, you still with us?" Sam inquired as he distracted the Trinity forces from her, allowing her to escape.
"*static*"
"Sam, we got a bogey, high noon."
"Shit, it's Rourke."
"Hello, old buddy. You missed little Jimmy?" Rourke hacked into Sam's comms.
"You betrayed your countrymen for what? So you can get rich?"
"More like switching careers. JSOC is a scrooge." Rourke responded mockingly. "Come on, Sam. It's not too late to join us. Make a better world..."
"You were always the clout chaser, Rourke. I'll give you that."
"I'll keep in touch. You think well about my offer."
Rourke arrived just in time to block Lara's escape. Dominguez also arrived as a Trinity soldier was about to shoot her.
"Don't hurt her." Dominguez ordered. "Lara, where is the box?"
"It's safe" Lara answered.
Then he realized realized that Lara doesn't have the box, and then berates her for her actions, telling her that she has set the apocalypse into motion.
"Sam, there's an incoming tsunami, standby for exfil. You too Briggs."
"I'll have to jerry-rig Adela too."
"Jeez, get a room you two." Kobin chimed in, as Charlie let him in. "I should not have sold weapons to Dominguez. Fuck!"
"It's not your fault." Adela used Briggs's comms to reassure Kobin.
"Tell that to Sam." Briggs responded. "Got it. Skyhook's ready."
"Chopper's inbound." Grim then called for a Mexican Army SF unit to evacuate Sam, Jonah and Lara.
The first disaster heralding the apocalypse has come. One of many.
"Shit, Lara's underwater! We got to follow her!" Jonah shouted at the Mexican chopper pilot, who was so furious, he almost drew his sidearm at him.
"Stand down, Jonah's right. We need to track her down."
"Si Señor." The pilot calmly responded.
Lara, with her agility and stamina, and a little luck, survived the tsunami, and was able to meet with Jonah, who then berates her for being selfish, and tells her that people need help more than she needs to find the Dagger.
"Here you go kid." Sam hands Lara a towel. "It's not your fault. Dominguez might have detonated a nuke below the seabed."
Lara then sobbed at the apparent mistake she believed she caused.
"Two minutes 'till dustoff." The marshal yelled.
Sam helped Lara to the chopper, a Sea Stallion. They also evacuated a lot of stranded people, as Jonah insisted on helping them.
"Jonah, you're a good man." Sam remarked. "But take it easy on the kid."
"Sure." Jonah nodded."
"Sam! I'm in the chopper with Adela. See you at Cancun." Briggs spoke over the comms.
"On my way. Grim, land the plane at Cancun. Find us a decent place to stay."