Act Three: RAAM's Decoy

Dom is struggling to get the Junker past 30mph. I know Junkers were built for weapon vehicles against the Kryll but this is taking the piss. We don't even need the light ray at the moment, the Sun is barely setting.

"Piece of shit," Dom mumbles as he throttles the Junker into fifth gear. I try to remain hopeful, knowing that Justin and Sparky are probably close to RAAM's location by now. Dom continues in his negative state to diss the 'piece of shit' as it is known as to him.

We finally arrive to the supposed stronghold where RAAM is holed up in. Me and Dom glaze around but see nothing, not even a hint that the Locust were here, or are here.

Suddenly, Dom's radio buzzes.

"Dom shit Dom!" screams a voice from the other end. It sounds like Sparky's.

"What's going on, Sparky?" questions Dom.



"RAAM's here, by us. Justin's taken some damage and is suffering from heavy bleeding, ARGGHHHHH!"

A cold silence brews. The radio falls silent. Dom's face is in disbelief. We head back into the Junker and set off in a different direction.

Just as expected, when we reach the real fortress, General RAAM is standing at the peak on the top floor. The structure itself seems to have seen its fair share of assaults. Sparky's corpse lies ahead of us, multiple bullets to the skull. However, Justin is nowhere to be seen or heard.

Dom decides to look for him whilst I take care of RAAM's bodyguards. There are hundreds of Locust drones about. Since I'm outnumbered, I shan't take any risks. Hoffman is counting on me to take this bastard out. There's a broken pillar nearby so I take cover behind it. Still, the Locust aren't completely dumb and they start to flank me.

Dom soon returns with an injured Justin by his side.

"Jesus Carmine, you don't know when to die," he sniggers. I'm amazed he's laughing because I 

would not be if I had my arm covered in my own blood. We all begin to fight back and the Locust are overwhelmed with our grenade assault and fall back into the fortress. As for RAAM, he's still standing on the top balcony but none of us can get a shot from here. But what he does next is astonishing.

Leaping from such a height, he lands on the ground; just across from we are in the courtyard. Dom and I start unloading our bullets into his body but he doesn't seem to be feeling a thing. Justin makes a run for it to the Junker and revs up the engine. Believing he's leaving without us, Dom panics and rushes away as well, leaving me to deal with RAAM on my own.

Just as I think I'm about to be maggot food, the same King Raven chopper that dropped me off in Dakar arrives. On board is Hoffman, Anya and some Gears.

"Carmine, he's a decoy!" Hoffman shouts.

I begin to realise what he means. The Locust in front of me is wearing the same gear as a standard Theron guard dons. Realising he's not so tough after all, Justin re-emerges from the Junker with 

Dom and the two of them shoot down the Theron with pistols. He lets out a final howl of pain before dying. I still cannot believe that I wasted my time over a stupid decoy. Hoffman owes me, big time.