Striker 1-1's POV
I woke up suddenly, immediately scanning my field of view for any dangers. Seeing none, I slowly relaxed. It was dark outside and the helicopter is flying slowly to base. I crept pass a sleeping Manny and asked the pilot: "How far out are we from D.C.?" He replied: "Just reached the city. We'll reach the B.O.O. in 15 minutes." I nodded and remained silent. 15 minutes later, we touched down in the White House.
I grabbed my equipment and started to head to my room in the East Wing when Manny said, "Heads up Agent, I just got a transmission. Patching it to you now." My SHD watch glowed and a grainy video played. It showed 4 hunters attacking civilians and Division agents alike, across D.C. and New York City. One of them was shown speaking into a radio, meaning that they are a cell, reporting to a higher-up. With that the video ended.
Manny said: "Looks like hunting the Rogues will have to wait. We need to get rid of those Hunters before more civilians and Division agents die."
I nodded and said: "no rest for the weary. I'll head out now. Where's the last known location of the first Hunter?"
Manny replied: "Last known location is at the West End. Looks like the New Venice Control Point is captured by hostile forces. Which faction is unknown. Our drones are running a blank in that area."
I nodded and replied: "I will set off now. Get on the horn and tell all civilian settlements that Hunters are in the city. Lock down the settlements and tell all friendly control points to hunker down and fortify defenses. I will check in once I arrive at West End."
With that I set off for the West gate of the Base of Operations. Once there, I topped up my ammo count and swapped my carbine 7 for my ouroboros SMG. I double checked my equipment and left the base of operations. I said, "ISAC, plot a path to West End, New Venice Control Point."
Immediately, an orange line appeared and ISAC pinged *Expedient route plotted* I let out a small grin and followed the line at a light jog. As I jogged along, I saw civilians from both the Theatre, Castle and Campus settlements working together to rebuild, like how the Haven settlement is doing. One of them looked up from repairing a junction box and saw me jogging by. He waved and asked: "Hey Agent, mind if you can give us a hand?"
I smiled and jogged over. I asked, "What do you need me to do?" The civilian replied: "You have a hex wrench I can borrow? I need it to tighten the bolt here." I set my backpack on the ground and dug through it, pulling out a hex wrench set. I passed it over to the civilian and said with a smile, "Here, use this set. Keep it." The civilian's face lit up and said: "This is exactly what we need. Thanks Agent." I smiled and replied: "No thanks needed. Finish up and head back to the settlement. Take care of each other." With affirmatives being sent my way, I continued along my path to West end. Just as I entered Downtown West along the Pennsylvania Ave Northwest road, ISAC pinged *Rogue Agent detected* I immediately entered a semi-combat state, my stance took a tactical crouch and my trigger finger was on the trigger. I took a left turn at a junction and took cover behind a bunch of cars and started to scan the area. Sure enough, the red glare of 3 ISAC brick circles stood out, near a broadcast speaker. What's puzzling is that they are not sabotaging it, they are repairing it by the looks of it.
I crept closer, making sure not to make a sound and eavesdrop on their conversation. The one repairing the speaker was saying: "….Yeah, I get that but would the Division appreciate our efforts? I mean, we did go rogue and joined the other side after all."
One of the rogue agents standing guard replied: "That is why we do this at night, where no one is around. For all the Division stands for, they do not understand that sometimes, we need to work outside the system for the right reasons, even if it constitutes as treason in ISAC's view."
The other rogue agent chipped in, "Yeah, and you must remember, ISAC views the world as binary when reality is more grey than black and white. So, if we must go rogue to fulfill the mission of saving what remains and protecting society's remnants, I am happy to do so. Besides, ANNA is way cooler than ISAC that is for sure."
I heard enough and started to set down a cluster seeker mine to incapacitate the rogue agents when ISAC pinged *System curtailed* and my Scantek lenses went haywire. I looked up and saw that a Hunter was looking down on me, I immediately raised my SMG and squeezed the trigger. The gun immediately fired at a blistering 1600 rpm, depleting the 50-round magazine within 3 seconds. I dive out of cover as the Hunter leapt down with his axe, aiming to kill me.
Unfortunately, the burst of fire against the Hunter alerted the rogue agents repairing the broadcast speaker. They spun around and saw me facing off against the Hunter and immediately booked it.
I knew I was a sitting duck. Without my skills to defend me and knowing that the Hunter can hack them to turn them against me, I only had my training to fall back on. I immediately let off a short burst of fire and ran like hell, forcing the Hunter to chase me into the open area. I immediately swap to my carbine 7 and depressed the trigger. The 5.56 bullets flew towards the Hunter and forced him to take cover behind a car. I immediately continue to run, turning back and letting off a burst of fire to keep the Hunter pinned while I try to find a way to counter him.
When I turned the corner, I knew I was dead. I ran into a dead end. I turned around and flicked out my crusader shield, placing my carbine 7 into the gun support holster and waited. When the Hunter came around the corner, he was also prepared, using a bulwark shield and a D50 pistol. I immediately depressed the trigger, letting loose as much bullets as I can while slowly walking backwards. The Hunter walked forward slowly, hiding behind the bulwark as bullets pinged off it. When I reloaded, he dashed forward and swung his axe, piercing my crusader shield and rendering it useless. He tore it off my arm and backhanded me with his pistol, catching me off guard and knocking me to the ground in a daze. I looked up with blurry vision, and saw 4 figures shooting at the Hunter from behind, killing him. All of them having red circles on their wrists and ISAC bricks.
I started to lose consciousness, but not before hearing a male voice say, "Check his vitals, we are bringing him to the safehouse" and ISAC pinging *Rogue agent detected*. After that, I lost the battle to stay conscious and everything went black.
