Potomac Event Center
Twenty minutes later…
"All available units! PEC is under attack! Requesting immediate suppor-ACK!" A swift shot from Miller silences the soldier on his radio, but not before an alarm is tripped. A siren blares throughout the facility, making all of us flinch slightly.
"There goes the surprise." Lazka mutters.
"It was bound to happen, with the company we keep." Finnigan says, gesturing to Roxwell. The taller Agent thumps Ant on the helmet and continues past, opening the way for the Militia team that came along.
"I for one think that Roxwell is doing a wonderful job." I say happily, allowing the Militia to take the lead.
"Of course you do." Finnigan jeers.
"As are all of you." I continue, seeing the Agent in question grin at me.
Our banter is cut short by gunfire. A cascade of it, far too close for comfort. We arrive in the next room to find the Militia pinned down, several of them are already dead and the survivors scramble over each other looking for cover.
"Rogue Agents!" One man shouts. "Run!" Instead of running, we advance further, returning fire to the suspected Agents.
"Rogues?" Roxwell shouts. "Working with Black Tusk?"
"Reminds me of LMB back in New York." Miller calls back. "Good times."
A cylindrical object is suddenly thrown into the room, landing just a few feet away from me.
"Grenade!" I scream to my friends. "Get awa-!"
*BANG!*
When my eyes open again, I find myself on the floor in a fetal position of sorts. Vision blurry, ears screaming, I fumble around for a weapon. Around me, the few surviving Militia fighters are gunned down by the Rogue Agents. As I reach for my M16, the barrel of a gun is shoved in my face. My hearing slowly returns, and in a panic I push my own gun away, holding my hands up in terror.
"No no!" I plead with the Agents, all three of them toting red Smart Watches and Black Tusk-looking outfits. "Please don't…"
"Fan out." The leader barks, before kneeling down and getting in my face.
"Please..."
Instead of shooting, the Agent simply looks me over for a moment, before looking up at her companions.
"Hey T." One says as she approaches Roxwell. "This guy looks familiar." As he reaches out for his gun, the Rogue stomps on his wrist. He tugs on her foot for a moment, before reaching back for his machete. The Rogue on top of him reaches down and grabs his arm, twisting it behind his back. "Rocket!" She says happily. "It's been too long, old friend!"
The one called 'T' lingers close to Miller and Lazka, seemingly admiring how close they are to each other.
The leader suddenly grabs my hand and rolls me onto my stomach, holding my hands to the back of my head and kneeling on my back.
"Don't do this. Please…" I continue to whimper helplessly.
"Trust me." The Rogue leader whispers into my ear, her voice sounding strangely familiar.
Before I can question it, she stands.
"T. Ties?"
"On it. Call it in, D."
T comes over and grabs my wrists, beginning to tie them together.
"Shadow to Control. Priority message." The leader, D, says into her radio.
"Send, Shadow."
"JTF HVTs in custody. Militia eliminated, but Tarantula and Widow are KIA."
"What?" Tarantula asks, looking up, only to be shot square through the head by D.
"Hey!" Widow calls, turning away from Roxwell and aiming at D, but she's gunned down as well. The room is silent for a moment, all of us waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, the zip tie around my wrists is cut off and I'm rolled over again, face to face with the Rogue leader who just killed her squadmates. She holds up a hand calling for quarter, then pulls down her face covering.
Finally, I can match the voice to the face.
"Sarah?" I ask hesitantly. The Rogue simply smiles and offers a hand to stand.
"Long time, no see, Kelly." I say warmly. She jumps up at the sound of my voice.
"It IS you, Sarah!" The young guardsman exclaims excitedly, wrapping me in a tight hug. Behind her, Miller helps Lazka to her feet, as does Upton with Roxwell. "Jay is going to be thrilled!"
"I know she will." I grunt, slowly being squeezed by my friend. "Okay...Kelly...Kelly!" She finally lets go of me.
"Sorry!"
"In fact...Jay already knows."
"How?" Roxwell asks.
I look down at Tarantula, then at Widow, then at my friends.
"You're going to find out anyway, so I'll just tell you now. I was at the Washington Monument."
The bomb drops. Kelly glances at Roxwell, who looks at me demandingly.
"You killed O'Connor? And those Militia members?"
"Yes." I say with a deep sigh. "Only to keep Black Tusk happy. My handler was shadowing me the whole way, and would've likely killed me if I tried to make nice with the Militia. Jay found me after you all arrived, but for whatever reason, my handler didn't report it. Maybe she didn't see it? The grass was pretty high…"
Roxwell nods. "I like to think I know you, Sarah." He says. "From what I do know, you wouldn't do something like this out of free will."
"This, on the other hand…" Miller points out, gesturing to Widow. "I'm sure was free will."
I nod. "Black Tusk sent us here to defend this place, and to kill you if we needed to. But all this chaos? Things don't always go according to plan."
Widow suddenly stirs from her position on the floor, fumbling around for a weapon. Roxwell instinctively pulls Lazka away from her and approaches, kicking her Famas away.
"Widow, isn't it?" He taunts. "A pleasure to see you again."
"Fuck you." The Rogue coughs, opening her eyes and glaring at me. "Dove." She growls. "I knew something would happen. You've grown too attached to these...thes-"
"Shut up!" Roxwell grabs the collar of her chest rig, pulling her up onto her knees. She's clearly in quite a bit of pain, with two .45 ACP rounds in her body. Widow falls down to all fours, coughing up a bit of blood.
"A shame our reunion must be cut so short, Widow." The towering Agent sighs, readying his machete. I step to the side and light a cigarette as he does so.
"But as they say, it's only cruel to prolong an animal's suffering."
"Rocket...hold on a sec, bud." Widow looks up at him, holding out a hand and asking for mercy. "Hold o- nonono… wai-!" Roxwell's blade comes down, slicing the Rogue Agent's head clean off.
"Hah...poor form to leave a job half finished." The man says, cleaning off his blade.
"Shadow? Control. Confirm...did you say KIA on Widow and Tarantula?"
"Affirmative." I reply to the radio.
"Copy. Do you need support?"
I look around at my friends, all of them readying weapons. Roxwell loads his MP5 and nods at me.
"Yes. Yes, support would be nice. To take care of these prisoners, at least."
"10-4. Demon 1-1 is en route."
"Shadow copies all. Out." I turn to the team. "You guys should probably look the part, eh?"
Kelly flashes a concerned look. "Seriously?"
"Yes. Just trust me. You guys sit there, hands behind your back, pistols concealed but ready. Roxwell, play dead over here."
"I hope you know what you're doing, Sarah."
"Just follow my lead, wait for my signal."
Moments after everyone is in position, Demon arrives, instinctively looking around for targets . After a sweep, they only find me and my 'captives'.
"Shadow?" The team leader asks, his voice matching one of the people from the meeting earlier in the day.
"You must be Demon." I reply. "Welcome."
"Yes." The boss and his men look around, somewhat confused. "What happened to them?"
"We thought the prisoners were under control." I explain, stepping over Roxwell. "Then this guy got a little rowdy." As I pass, I slide a pistol towards him with my boot. "Killed Widow and Tarantula before I could react. Got him in the end, though. Quite a performance, I might add."
"Control said you were in trouble. What's so urgent?"
I take a long drag from my cigarette, blowing out a long cone of smoke and holding my arms out.
"The show of course!"
Roxwell is the first to react, picking up the pistol I kicked to him and shooting the commander dead. The others open fire next, quickly gunning down the unsuspecting Black Tusk soldiers.
"Man, I love show business!" Sarah says enthusiastically as the last man falls. At the comment, I eye her with a confused look and move to help Finnigan to his feet.
"Good trick, Sarah." Roxwell says as he stands. "Unorthodox, dangerous, and a bit callous, but still a good one."
"Hey, if it works, it works." The Agent in question replies simply, looking back to us. "We'd better get going. Control will probably be checking in with them soon." She gestures to the deceased Agents and soldiers strewn about the room before readying her weapons.
"The others are this way." Roxwell guides Sarah out into the hallway. I look to Finnigan with an expression of concern.
"Does Sarah seem a bit...off to you?"
He shrugs. "She's clearly been through alot. Capture, imprisonment, then forced to kill Militia fighters and JTF soldiers? That'd fuck anybody in the head." We begin to follow the rest of the team, looking around at the members of the Militia who were killed by Sarah's Rogue team. "Maybe being back with us will help her?"
"I hope so." I say simply, trying not to think about the carnage around us.
Meanwhile…
Black Tusk H.Q.
Communications Room
"God-fucking-DAMNIT!" An enraged Commander Schaeffer bellows, ripping off his headset and throwing it across the room. Dot quietly removes hers and eyes him with a neutral expression, as if Sarah's betrayal didn't faze her in the slightest. Bardon, after pacing back and forth in an attempt to calm himself, turns his attention to the Rogue's former handler.
"This is on you, Lieutenant." He says in a low voice. "I hope you're aware of that. As head of the 'Operation: HOMELAND' project, your job was to keep these Agents in check. I hope you have a plan, now that all of them are gone."
"I do." Dot says with a nod. "I'm just surprised you didn't see this coming, Commander."
Schaeffer snorts at her. "Of course I did. It doesn't make me any less angry that it happened. Dove's track record was spotless with the Division. She personally killed more that a few Rogue Agents in New York. And now she's gone, as are Widow and Tarantula. It seems your project is out of subjects."
Lieutenant Kayhill looks down somewhat glumly. The Commander is right. He was right not to trust these Agents. They have so much power, so much freedom. They could pack up and go home at will, and it's no surprise that Dove did. She just had a different motivator: Love. She and Nomad are in love, and the latter believed in the Division, which is part of what kept Dove in check. It reminded Dot of why she left the military to go private.
While in Kosovo, Bosnia, and later Iraq, Sgt. Graham Midrazyk was Dot's battle-buddy. Not only that, but at some time during deployment, they fell in love with each other. In a similar way Sarah fell for Nomad; she was badly wounded in a firefight and he had discovered the feeling during her recovery.
His disappearance and later death in Iraq forced Dot to leave the Army. Everywhere she looked, everyone she spoke to, all she saw was him. It's truly devastating to lose someone when you have that type of bond with them. She hoped that no one ever had to go through that, and part of Dot wished that she had told Sarah the story, as a way to say 'Be careful with your relationship with Jaylene. Something could happen.'
Dot takes a breath and looks up at Bardon.
"I hope you have a good plan for this...problem."
"I do. Wyvern?" She says, looking back.
From across the room approaches Milla Radek, commonly known as 'Wyvern'. "Yes, Lieutenant?" She asks simply.
"As I'm sure you heard from the commotion over here," Kayhill begins. "We've lost our Division help. Two Rogues are dead, and the third left shortly after killing them."
"So, a hunt, is it?" Milla asks.
"No, no." Schaeffer says, catching on to Dot's idea. "That won't work. Even with all your guns and hardware, the Division, JTF and Militia would chew you up and spit you out before you made it past the South Lawn."
Dot nods. "Black Tusk is, regrettably, losing its foothold in D.C., and I suspect that this base will likely be the next target. You will act as our defense." She points to Wyvern directly. "As will the rest of your unit. President Ellis has likely placed himself at the top of the Division's shit-list. If they get to him…"
"They won't."
A/N I promise the bait-n-switch Sarah pulled totally wasn't stolen from Advanced Warfare. Gideon did something else, you're mistaken.
So after a brief stint with the opposition, Sarah is back, and her 'partners' met a very glamorous end.
I had a blast fighting Wyvern in the game. I bet Roxwell will enjoy it too.
Thanks for sticking around, everyone. I feel like it's been a while since I updated this story, and I had the day off thanks to the weather, so I figured why not. I hope you enjoyed. See you next time, Agents!