*3 months after prologue*
Evan's POV: Been wandering for the last 3 months. Those S.I.N.T.H.s are everywhere. The implants have a tracker unit. It does leave some time between attacks to keep moving. I have been travelling up the west coast, past San Fransisco. Currently in north California. Cortana's been the only company. She's ok but it gets tiring. C: "Hey 117? E: "I told you to call me Evan." C: "Oh, right. By the way, you wanna look that way?" Her hologram showed up on my HUD. I looked up to see.
Institute soldiers kidnapping people? Wait, it makes perfect sense, they need test subjects. Huh, they are probably from a nearby facility and look like a smaller one. It wouldn't be a wrong place to clear out and use as a temporary base. as they hauled people into the truck I grabbed the undercarriage, surprisingly no one caught on.
Nate's POV: The last 3 months have been anything but dull. After getting out of Hell, and the whole Civil war ordeal, I have been tracking the First sons, after I reported back with Prof. Oz. And they have been all over the US, and sometimes Europe. It turns out our raid managed to destroy ONE of MANY Ray Spheres. I have been going around killing 1 after another. Right now, I had come full circle back to San Fran. Talk about a wild goose. This one is a few clicks north. PA: "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We'll be arriving shortly in San Fransisco, thank ou flying American Airlines."
*Time skip* *Third Person POV*
After a short travel, Nate summoned the Praetor armour to reach the stuck First Sons convoy. Yeah, he has to invoke it like a satanic ritual, can you tell it was a pain in the ass? Though bonus point it came like a pillar fire around him. Surveying the convoy revealed an unexpected variable. This convoy held captives or as the scientists put it 'test subjects. So blowing it with the Ray Sphere was out of the question. The only thing he could do in the spur of the moment was to de-suit and hitched a ride under one of the guard vans.
Mike's POV: For the last 3 months have been tracking the different families over in the strip. From street muscle to capo to made men. Some talked, let them go of the earthly bounds of man. Those who didn't well gave them a .50 cal in the dome across the street. Narrowed it down to the Tops casino and Lucky 38. Now getting into these was a trick of its own. You got to be the creme de la creme of high rollers to be allowed in. Crooked politicians and the richest of the rich. But there was another window. See the families who ran these casinos all had a decent stake in the drug market. Now if you can get into there, it's a straight cut into the loading bay. It is either that or stealing the Union Depository transport van and uniform to try and sneak in. The problem with the former plan is that someone has been hitting the Drug dens and distributing centres. And whoever it is armed to the teeth and has some sort of vendetta against them. The equipment is shot to shit, Fiends slaughtered, and places have been blown up or burned to the ground. From the looks of things, this person isn't law enforcement or any government agency. Kinda hoping I do and don't run into whoever this is.
Zach's POV: 3 months. 3 WHOLE FREAKING MONTHS. How many of these assholes are out there, huh? Well, something interesting also turned up, tunes out these assholes were dealing with the families who run the Tops and Lucky 38. But someone has been offing the street thugs, with a fucking 50 cal no less. Half the time the head wasn't even there just 2 feet by 2 feet splatter on the wall and a hole in the centre of it. I am kind of hoping to see him. Anyway, another distribution centre is on the chopping block.
*Third Person POV* With Nate and Evan
After hours of hanging onto a set of searing hot undercarriages, the 2 arrived at the meeting spot. N: "What the-? Who the hell are these guys? And are those the exact copies of the hostages? What the fuck is going on?" E: "Who are they? I don't recognize the emblem, Cortana?" C: "Searches show a group called the First Sons. Another radical group with a keen liking for technology." E: "And why are there civilians looking exactly like the ones that the Institute brought?" C: "Because their lot ain't human, their S.I.N.T.H.s." E, N: "Well time to start the shooting." The soldiers from neither side were expecting to be ambushed from 2 sides a .308 rifle from one end and a .30 cal rifle from the other. Nate was shocked to see those guards from the other group weren't humans but advanced robots and so were the copies of the hostages. Evan didn't expect anyone let alone someone with the same combat abilities as him in a suit of advanced armour to open fire on the other side of the area. The First Son's guards tried to turn tail and run at the sight of their 2 assailants, but Nate wasn't taking chances. One spine slit in 2, a pair of legs missing the entire upper body and a body with holes and the neck shoved in. That's all that was left of the First Son's crew. Just as the fight was over Evan drew his FAMAS and drew his Heavy assault cannon. E, N: "FREEZ!" E: "Put the rifle down!" N: "You first pal." E: "Not taking any chances." C: "Uhh Evan WE HAVE COMPANY." E: "CRAP, Institute?" N: "That's who they are? And SCRAP First Sons?" E: "Ok we make it out of here alive, then we talk." N: "DEAL."
With Mike and Zack.
Mike's POV:
I was scoping out the Tops casino. Noticed a pattern. The drug delivery trucks came in during weekdays when the place wasn't busy. That's today.
Third Person POV:
The backloading bay door opened and as the truck rolled into the bay, 2 smoke grenades rolled in. T: "What the *cough cough* HELL?" F: "Fu-- *cough cough* IT'S THAT THING AGAIN!" Through the smoke 2, gleaming eyes appeared in red.
The Finds and the guards tried to fight back but the smoke was enough of a distraction for Mike to make quick work of it. Guard: "Hey asshole! Catch this!" The guard threw a frag grenade it landed nowhere near him, but it did land near the metal framework supporting the pipes that ran along the roof. The support collapsed along with the lines. Mike tried to avoid the falling debris. The keyword 'tried'. He did manage to avoid getting crushed by the massive pipes, but his foot got caught in the falling scaffolding. So, there he was, with his foot stuck under the scaffolding. M:" FUCK FUCK FUCK" In the distance, he could hear the security team of the casino, closing in.
*With Nate and Evan*
After a blood bath of 'fight', Nate and Evan were in the clear for now. N: "Alright pal, we cleaned up each other's mess, no tell me who you are." E: "J 117, AKA Evan. You?" N: "Nathen Drake, Team Anchorage of Beacon academy." E: "Cortana?" C: "On it...... Yup, he's clean." E: "Alright. Now mind telling me what just happened here with the First Sons?" N: "Well, those bastards have been working on a 'forced evolution sphere'. They need test subjects, so they probably picked up people from the streets." E: "The Institute must provide identical S.I.N.T.Hs to replace them, making sure their absence isn't noticed." N: "Well evil science organisations need to stick together. Well, we better get out here their bound to send more." E: "No, we can't. I -- I'm a creation of The Institute, well more of a test subject." N: "WHAT!?" E: "I'll explain but we can't disappear for good. The machines they put inside me, have a tracker." N: "Alright, alright. Can't your A.I. disable it?" E: "Tried it, secured by 5 layers of firewalls." Nate dropped his armour and started digging around in his bag, leaving an aww-struck Evan. He pulled a small, what appeared to be an S.D. card and tossed it to Evan. N: "There is jailbreaker software on it. Plug it and set it to breach what you want and let it go to work." Evan hesitantly put the chip in his helmet. C: "Ok got it. Setting it up........ And there it goes." After what felt like a blink of an eye, The HUD displayed a simple message: Tracker disabled. E: "Thank you! Finally, I don't have to worry about being constantly attacked." N: "Huh, I'm gonna guess you haven't had any rest in a while huh?" E: "3 months." N: "Christ!". Just then Nate's communicator rang, it was Professor Ozpin. O: "Hello Mr Drake, I see that the assignment went steller." N: "Yes it did professor." O: "Good, good, bring your newfound friend back Mr Drake, I want you and him to meet someone."
*With Mike and Zach*
M: "Move dammit!" No matter, how much he tried, the scaffolding won't budge. T: "Come on! The bastard's this way!" As the Tops soldiers closed in, all Mike could do was brace with his M4. Just as the guards rounded a corner, something BIG burst through the back wall. And it was carrying a big gun. From the sound of it a minigun. T: "WHAT TH - AAAHHH" Mike could only watch as this thing just mowed down the guards. After the dust and barrel smoke cleared, a massive power armour stood before him. ??: "You wouldn't happen to be the guy who's been going around offing mobsters, would you?" M: "Yes." Mike blurted out. ??: "Huh, just my luck. I've been looking forward to meeting you." M: "Yeah well, mind helping me first? Then we'll move to the introductions." ??: "Huh? Oh!" The power armour giant grabbed the scaffolding and heaved it off Mike's leg. ??: "There we go, you ok?" M: "Yeah, Mike by the way." Z: "Zack. Well, we better get out." M: "Yes, but I have a 'gift ' for these assholes." Opened the armoured truck carrying the drugs, and tossed in an incendiary grenade. M: "That should do it." Z: "Alright, come on I have a way out." Following Zach, they ran out of the hole he had made. A few yards out was Zach's 5-ton. M: "That's our way out?" Z: "Yup, the doors are open, get in the front." Zach jumped into the bed, got out of the armour and jumped into the driver's seat. Z: "All set, let's get out here." Zach mashes the gas pedal to the floor, and the massive diesel engine roars to life. The giant offroad tires make a sharp screech as they momentarily struggle to gain traction on the slick and hot tarmac. Once they did, the nearly 10-ton behemoth tore off, followed by mob cars. Now if anyone knows about 2 cents worth of cars already knows this, but for those uneducated, a 10-ton truck with easily 240 HP isn't going to be fast on the asphalt, but with 1,100 N.m [745-pound force-feet] torque is enough to maintain a good speed on any terrain. M: "We aren't losing 'em on the roads!" Z: "I know, I know! That's why--" Zach swerves through the barriers on the highway, going into the open Mojave desert. Z: "-- we lose them in the desert." M: "Bloody brilliant! Woah!" The heavy truck ramps over the dunes like an orca, with the following cars, either getting beached or sunk into the sand or flipping over the dunes. All but 1. M: "Why does the mob have a Baja ready F 250?" Z: "Does it matter? We aren't losing that thing on or off the road. The only way to get rid of that thing is to blow it up. There's an M79 in the glovebox with some shells." M: "Why do you have a grenade launcher from the Vietnam war with unsecured shells in the GLOVEBOX?" Z: "Oh, school me later! Just grab it!" Opening the glove box, the old launcher sat in the glove box with the shells rolling about in the compartment. M: " Just looking at gives me anxiety." Loading a shell into the launcher, Mike leaned out the window and fired the grenade. Thanks to 'Dead Eye' the grenade travelled in a straight line, like an RPG. Unfortunately, the pickup started to tailgate the massive vehicle, avoiding fire.
M: "OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Those cowards are hiding behind us." Z: "Hold on, I have an idea." Ramping over a fairly large dune, Zack stomped on the brakes. The massive machine stopped on the other side while the Baja truck went sailing, and totalled itself on landing. And for good measure, Mike blew it up.
Z; "Well, that's that." M: "Yeah, but let--" Mike was cut off by the sound of 2 turboprop engines, closing in. Soon an Osprey in a black paint job and an unrecognizable logo landed a few feet from them. Z: "What do you think?" M: "We're either saved or fucked."
*With Nate and Evan. Nate's POV*
When prof. Oz said he would send us our pick-up, I did not expect this thing.
The surprises didn't end there. The thing was painted black, not the USAF livery. Once it landed, we were treated to military personnel, which made zero sense in my head and I doubt it did in Evan's either. ??: "HEY! You 2 our pick up?" N: "Depends, Professor Ozipin send you?" ??: "Yup, Sgt. Henry, 75th Rangers." N: "So we heading back to Beacon?" Sgt.H: "Not quit."
*Back With Zack and Mike, Zack's POV*
Well, this was interesting, a guy had stepped out of the plane, dressed in U.S. Ranger gear. Mike seemed to recognise the guy, so we decided to go with him. So here we are on a Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, flying over San Fransisco. Z: "Hey Mike, mind telling me how you know this guy?" M: "Well, Sgt. Jackson used to be in my dad's old unit, and used to visit for the holidays." Z: "Your old man was a ranger?" Sgt. J: "One of the best in the field. Could hit something the size of a hummingbird 150 yards away." Z: "Damn! Huh, now we know where you get it from, eh Mike?" M: "Yeah, yeah....." Sgt. J: "I - I heard what happened. Sorry for not finding you sooner." It didn't need me to be a rocket scientist to figure out what had happened. I decided it's better to not touch that topic. Sgt. J: "If you don't mind me asking, how did you two meet?" M: " 30 minutes ago when we hit the Lucky 38." Sgt. J: "Wait! For real?" Z: "Yup! Who do you think made that hunk of lovable junk?" I said pointing towards my suit of armour. Sgt. J: "You know, from what I heard one of the other 2 is a gear head." Other 2? Who other 2? I guess me and Mike had the same look which happened to be pretty readable. Sgt. J: "Have you two heard of Battle Field High?" M: "Nothing more than a rumour, only one I believe is Beacon." Z: "Excuse me What the hell is Beacon?" M: "Combat school, think of it with normal high school + basically being training to be Secret Service agents," Z: "..... Well considering the entire world has gone to shit, this seems like the most and least logical thing to do. So is this Beacon like the top shot school or something?" M: "Ask anyone on the street, it's number 1. Ask a conspiracy theorist nut job, it's no. 2, after this mythical Battle Field High. A supposed combat school run by the UN, or what's left of it at least." Suddenly the Seargent broke out laughing as if someone had told a very bad dad joke. After he calmed down, Sgt. J: "So you think that it's just a myth huh? Well, wait and see."
*With Nate and Evan, Evan's POV*
So, here we are flying in Osprey, over San Fransisco. I still had my armour on. Nate sat opposite me. After he checked to verify the ranger, we went along with him. As of right now, we crossed the main island and descended over Alcatraz prison. N: "Are we landing on Alcatraz?" I could see he was reaching for something under his jacket, I'm pretty sure it was a handgun. Sgt.H: "Not quite." The plane flew past the island at a relatively low altitude and went into hover mode. After a minute, a large submarine broke through the surface. And when I say large, I mean LARGE. This thing was easily over 550 ft long. While I gawked at the sheer size of that thing, Nate had a look of visible confusion. N: "Why is there a Typhoon class, Soviet-engineered submarine, from the 1990s, on the western coast of America?" Sgt.H: " You know your submarines." N: "Oh, just about any military equipment." C: "Coky much?" N: "Confident not cocky." The sub opened a set of bay doors, barely big enough for the plane to land. After it landed, we got out and it took off again, followed by another and it dropped off 3 more guys. 2 in uniform, though I didn't recognize the uniform on one of them, and the other in a duster, black undershirt and black trousers. Sgt.H: Jackson I see you got the others." Sgt. J: " Yup." It seemed like he was going to say more when the overhead bay doors closed. ???: "Jackson, Henry I see you managed to find the new recruits." Everyone turned to the source of the voice. A man, dressed in an off-duty uniform stepped forward. The Sergeant went to attention, and even Nate and the other guy in uniform straightened up. E: "Cortana, who is that?" C: "That..... is Ret. Lieutenant General Shepherd."