Warning: This deep and exciting story contains violence...
By: Deus Ex
Back at HQ Manderley gave Draigen a cash bonus, despite the mishap. He said not to worry about what happened, that it'll all blow over. Draigen only smirked at this. Manderley sent Draigen and Jade home for the rest of the evening. The next day Kenji contacted Draigen and told him to bring the president. They met in a dark alley.
"Here," Kenji gave the President some plane tickets. "Take your flight back to Washington D.C. and tell the public that you're alive and well and that the shooter was found dead." The President spoke to this.
"Are you sure they'd believe me?"
"Yes, besides, you're a great president. And watch out, k? I'll drop you of at the airport."
Draigen looked at Kenji and spoke. "What was the plan then?"
"The plan was to kill both the President, and the Vice President in order to completely crumble the U.S. government. The Vice Prez never had any of the charges told to you. It was all false. Oh and in case you're wondering, we were just at 'New Los Angeles'. NLA was a city that developed a couple years after the old LA went down with the rest of southern California. NLA is just above the SoCal coastline. "
"Wow," stated Draigen, only nodding his head.
"For now, get back to HQ, and play along, k?" Kenji instructed.
"Alright, will do." Kenji immediately left with the President and Draigen reported back to HQ.
-SMF HQ-
As Draigen arrives back at HQ, he is greeted by a pair of MIBs coming out of the complex to catch Jock's air-taxi back to the mainland.
"Mr. Simons will be conducting the interrogation," one said.
"Stay out of his way," said the other.
Draigen stepped into his office to check his e-mail, he found an ominous message from Kenji.
| Draigen, remember what I said. You be careful around everyone. Got that? Listen, this is Manderley's login and password, I advise you to hack his e-mail. Login: jmanderley/pass: knight_killer. You might find something. Also try to upgrade your Augs and skills. -Kenji Kusama |
Draigen walked to Manderley's office, but he had to wait while Manderley finished a conversation with the mysterious Mr. Simons. Draigen stood near the door, making him able to eavesdrop on their conversation. It sounds like Kenji is in trouble. Simons left, and Draigen goes in for his briefing.
"Draigen, we've been given a clue to where Juan Lebedev. We want you to start here, and find him." Anna, who is standing next Draigen, added another comment.
"Why not assassinate him too?" she asked. This intrigued Manderley.
"Go ahead and assassinate him too. Then we'd have the man out of the picture. We also want you three Ambrosia canisters. Oh yes, Jade has been sent on a different mission, so you'll have to carry this one out alone." Manderley then walked out of his office with Anna. Draigen takes this time to go behind Manderley's desk and hack his computer. Yep, Kenji's in serious trouble! Draigen logged off and left the office to prepare for the mission. Draigen rounded the whole complex. Jaime was busy with some patients. As for Dr. Carter, he had finished healing and examining Draigen's pokémon. Dr. Carter condemned Draigen on a nice job of healing both his pokémon. A scar was indefinitely marked on Houndour's right side of the face.
David Carter (no relation to Phillip Carter), SMF's Quartermaster/supply officer, gave Draigen an Assault Rifle(ASR), and an accuracy mod. Draigen used the accuracy mod on the ASR. David also gave him a couple multitools. Down in lockup, Simons was conducting his interrogation. It sounded like the conversation was interesting, but Draigen was not let through. In A-5, Draigen bought a couple more Upgrade canisters, but no Augs. Upgrading all his Augs to 'Tech 3'. His skills were also upgraded, making all his weapons skills at Master. Computer and electronics were put at Master too. Draigen bought more ammo, and more things for his pokémon, he was intending to use them in this mission. He also bought some Biocells to restore his nanoenergy went it was down from using Augs. Now prepared, Draigen headed up.
The MIBs were back from their errand, and they make Simons' displeasure apparent. Draigen took Jock's airlift.
-Going Down-
Jock dropped Draigen off in the familiar environs of Battery Park. Down in the subway, an old pal, Harley Filben is waiting to sell Draigen another useful password for cr500 (ACP and 'cr', which are credits, are basically the same).
"Go jump in the lake," Draigen remarked at Harley's high price. "Do you know anything about Juan Lebedev?"
"Not much. Only that he is a billionaire, the moneybags behind the operation, the head. He's got his own multi-level jet, his own hangar at the airport. A man like that would have a much longer, happier life expectancy if he'd just fly off to a tropical island somewhere and not get involved in politics and terrorism."
"Hmm. Thanks," said Draigen.
"Use the code on the phone over there. Be careful," warned Harley.
Draigen went to the phone booth and punched in the code on the keypad. Draigen was conveyed down to the secret tunnels below. After a short passage through a tunnel, Draigen emerged into the abandoned (well, officially abandoned) Brooklyn Bridge subway station.
As Draigen walked around, he came to the northeast corner of the area and met a man, Charlie Fann, the gatekeeper for the Mole People. He talks with Draigen and gives him a mission.
"Okay, here's a deal. If can blow the debris blocking the access to the pipes that control the Mole colony's water supply and restore the flow. In return, I'll tell you how to get to our tunnels. Deal?"
"Yeah, will do. I'll see you in a while."
Draigen proceeded to blow the obstruction just a few steps north from where Charlie was. In the room, there was steam leaking out of a pipe, super-heated and dangerous. The pipe was big enough, so Draigen jumped on it and came to a small room with two wheels. He turned both wheels and the water supply was returned; the steam was gone. Jumping over the pipe Draigen got back to Charlie.
"Thanks. The code's 5482; the entrance is in the women's restroom on the west side of the station. You'll find a keypad under the sink."
"Thank you Charlie, see you around."
Draigen proceeded to the restroom, punching the number on the keypad. The wall opened and Draigen entered.
-Mole Town-
Draigen came out on a ledge above the Mole People's tunnel. From here, he looked down and noticed some NSF troopers. Draigen sniped a few from the ledge quietly with his silenced pistol, since his SNR-30 was gone. Climbing down from the ledge, Draigen decided to make his was south. While taking out any NSF, he was careful not to hurt the Mole People. At this time Draigen had already released Gon to aid him, and had Houndour close for backup.
As he finished the south half, he proceeded north of where he entered. There were two NSF standing next to a platform. Draigen ducked behind a big rock for cover. Draigen looked at Gon while an NSF man lighted up a smoke the other offered. "Lets try to take them out quietly. There's another NSF up on the platform." Gon nodded and waited for the signal. Draigen nodded, and Gon flew off while Draigen stood up and fired two shots into one NSF. The NSF begun to shoot back, only to be cut short by Gon thrusting his blade into one. The other looked at the Scyther fiercely cussing.
"Hey don't talk to my friend that way," stated Draigen, raising his pistol and firing a couple shots.
"Thank you," Gon said.
They proceeded on, only to find no more visible NSF. One of the Mole People came forward. Kevin Bradley, the head man of the Moles.
"Hey there. Thanks for ridding our tunnels of those damn NSF. You'll find the in a secret room on the south end of the tunnel. That room is open by pressing on a brick."
"Thank you, sir."
Draigen proceeded back down the tunnels. When he got towards the end, he looked to the right, and searched for the brick. Moving some boxes out of the, he found the brick and pushed it.
"Stay here Gon."
The door opened and Draigen found the Leader. "FREEZE!!" yelled Draigen. The leader turned only to find that a weapon pointed towards him. He immediately put his hands up and surrender, knowing he didn't have a chance as he was cornered in the room. He gave the key to the exit and the location to Draigen. Taking the key, Draigen left for the north end bathroom, where he would find the exit. He used the key, went through the bathroom, and appeared in another underground tunnel. To get to Lebedev, he'd have to navigate this long and well-guarded underground tunnel.
-Gauntlet-
Draigen came to an intersection, with branched two ways. To the right, the way is blocked by super-heated steam; to the left are laser-triggered turrets. Draigen took out his multitools and took the left way, disabling the lasers with his multitools and skill. The next are to pass is guarded by lots of turrets. Draigen recalled Gon in case of fire. Draigen used his smarts here, and sneaked under the camera at the front of the room. He took out the lone sentry wandering around with a couple shots. Reloading he proceed to the downed sentry and snatched a key from him; then used it on the door out.
The next room was a pool guarded by more laser-triggered turrets. Draigen looked around, and decided to jump in the pool. Swimming down, he noticed a wall duct, and swam through the tunnel. Emerging from the waterway, he got up and proceeded on foot again. There was an EMP booby-trap on the wall of the tunnel Draigen was passing through; however EMP didn't affect Draigen, so he disarmed the bomb and kept it for himself.
The next trap Draigen faced was a room with two commercial security bots. Draigen only had one EMP grenade, so he threw it in hopes of disabling the bots. It failed. He slipped in at the west wall when the bots weren't looking, then made a dash using his Speed Aug to the exit.
He came to a room with no resistance, fortunate for Draigen. There was a datacube on a desk with a computer password.
-The Helibase-
Looking through the windows in the door to the helibase, the very first thing that meets Draigen's eye is a glowing green canister of Ambrosia. The first of three he's supposed to locate.
There's a camera directly above Draigen as he enters. He cleared out any opposition from the doorway, and then made a dash to the west while the camera was turned away.
He came to a hallway with to doors on the left. They were both offices and Draigen searched them both. When he opens the second door, there is immediate gunfire from a guard inside. Draigen retreated back; hand over his left shoulder, which was deeply scraped by a bullet. "Ahh," he moaned slightly. The guard came out of his office to investigate, only to be greeted by a fierce punch to the head knocking him out. "Bastard," Draigen remarked. Luckily, he had a medkit with him. Using it, he watched as the nano-machines went to work, repairing their host. He used the code he found in the first office, finding out little information.
He left the rooms and carefully climbed the stairs next to the hallway. When he got to the top, Draigen picked the lock leading to the closet, then took the ladder inside up to a trapdoor. Carefully opening the trapdoor, he noticed a guard beyond, and took him out with a 5-round burst from the ASR. He came out of the trapdoor, and stood on the platform for a while. A sharp crack was suddenly heard while Draigen ducked and the bullet missing him by a hair. "It's a sniper," said Draigen, taking out a pokéball. "Gon, I want you to go find that sniper and eliminate him. The shots are coming from that direction. Use your agility." Draigen watched as the Scyther disappeared in a blur to find the sniper. Moments later, there was a muffled scream, and Gon appeared in front of Draigen almost immediately after that, bringing him the sniper's rifle. "Wow, good work."
From here, Draigen decided to snipe onto the helipad itself. Then he breaks the skylight, and snipes down into the entryway. He took his time doing as much damage possible, and then jumping down to the heli-pad. After Draigen and Gon made sure the perimeter was as secure as possible, Draigen entered the recreational room to search for anything important. Looking through the room, there were arcades and an ATM. Finally looking through the shelves, he finds a key, takes it, and leaves to the other side of the helipad.
Finding himself in the ops room, Gon took out a guard using his Pursuit attack. Inside Draigen hacks the computer in attempt to shut down the compound's security. No being able to find anything on the security system, Draigen gave up and dropped down of the helipad to the floor of the hangar.
While proceeding east, Draigen was shot in his right side of the abdomen by a sneaky guard who was behind him. The guard started shooting at Gon, who was using his agility to dodge the bullets, come around behind the guard, and thrusting a blade through the guard's armored chest. Draigen got up from his fallen position, and continued. Gon looked at him in amazement, realizing the dedication, and persistence his trainer showed in survival and not willing to give up.
"Don't you think we should stop for a while?" asked Gon.
"No, I'll be fine. Are you hurt?" responded Draigen.
"No, I'm great. Thanks."
The Scyther followed his friend into a manhole in the west corner of the hangar, that leads them to an underwater access.
"You know how to swim too?" asked the curious Draigen.
"Yeah," replied Gon.
The two swam through the tunnel until they came to an open area, Draigen climbed the ladder while Gon just flew up. Draigen jumped across two ledges, and emerged near a dock.
-LaGuardia-
There were several sentries on the dock guarding the next container of Ambrosia. Draigen took out two gas grenades and threw them. They exploded about five seconds later.
"You know what to do," commented Draigen.
They both went about killing as many sentries visible. Draigen using the bursts of his ASR, Gon using his blades, his skull bashes, and kicks. Everything was over and settled in about 2 minutes, and in battle, two minutes can seem pretty long. The area the pair was in is well guarded by commercial security bots and double turrets at the watchtowers. Draigen let out Houndour as well to aid him in the mission. Houndour used his burning hot flames to disable the bots, and Gon slicing them in two. They made it past the dangerous area to a gate on the south side of the field. Using a key he found near the Ambrosia earlier on the dock, he opened the gates, and entered to an opposition of NSF guards. The three took out all the guards as cleanly as possible, with no injuries, and entered the building. They proceeded through a room, and through a door into a hangar.
-Airplane!-
As they enter the hangar, Draigen is greeted by Kenji himself.
"Hey Draigen. I suppose you wonder what I'm doing here."
"Yes I do," replied Draigen.
"I've been working with the NSF also to uncover some info I needed. It's time to take action Draigen. I want you to talk to Lebedev before you kill him. Get back to HQ, and I'll contact you later."
The NSF agents in the hangar didn't shoot at Draigen, and weren't intent to, unless he starts it. Near the tail of the airplane was a datacube with a diagram of the airplane's interior. A mechanic in orange overalls stood nearby. Draigen recalled his pokémon and entered the plane, searching it at his leisure. He ended up at the private suite in the tail, where Lebedev waits.
"Hello there Draigen. As you no doubt have guessed, I'm Juan Lebedev. Kenji asked me to explain some things to you. All I can really say is that, I was close enough to the seats of power to know something was up. So I made NSF into what is today, into what you almost effortlessly destroyed. I have a friend in what is called the Sil--" he was interrupted as agent Anna Navarre runs in.
"Draigen! Carry out the assassination now! If you don't I'll kill you and him both." Draigen thought at this. He narrowed his eyes, turned and *T-T-T-TAT!*, agent Navarre was killed by three shots to the chest, and one in the head. Draigen turned, looked at Lebedev, and assassinated him too. When agent Navarre hit the floor, she unexpectedly blew up. Alex then contacts Draigen over the infolink.
"Oh my god! What'd you just do?! I'm shocked! I'm erasing your log files to cover for you until you can explain, okay?"
"Thanks Alex," said Draigen, knowing that Alex was unable to hear him. On Lebedev's bed, Draigen found a datacube. It had the key code that Draigen used in the cargo bay to find the last canister of Ambrosia.
Draigen left the plane, Kenji is gone and the NSF agents in the hangar have been replaced by SMF agents. Jock and Gunther, who were still clueless to what happened, are waiting near an elevator; Gunther then greets Draigen.
"Kenji's been fired and marked for death by the agency. Heh heh."
Draigen only said nothing, and thought about Jade and Kenji. Jock then takes him back to HQ.
To Be Continued...