The brown eyes of Sophia James look back at you. An hour ago you were nothing more than a scared woman hiding in a boarded-up apartment, surviving on the stock of canned goods and batteries you had meticulously accumulated and rationed when you first heard about the outbreak. It's amazing how quickly things can change.
There is the feel of icicles creeping up your spine, and you blink repeatedly as a swirl of texts and icons fill your vision, and a voice fills your head. It is clipped and obviously digital.
Intelligent System Analytic Computer is online. All ISAC component systems are confirmed nominal.
It hits you then that this is really happening. You're standing in the middle of the street holding an MP5 and you're not supposed to be Sophia James, eccentric junior professor at Columbia University and running fanatic, anymore. That part of your life is over, for now at least. Now you are Sophia James, Agent of the Strategic Homeland Division, empowered and authorized by the US Government to take any and all measures to stop the end of the world.
Detecting Directive from Strategic Homeland Division Northeast Sector Command. Proceed to designated rally point.
The ISAC module on your backpack pulses slightly and a faint waypoint line appears in the air.
You do see a few civilians wandering around the streets as you walk. They give you a wide berth, and you spot more than a few terrified glances, no matter how much they try to hide it. The fact you're holding a gun probably plays a part, but it still hurts. You're supposed to be here to protect them, they shouldn't be scared of you.
The trek to the rally point is quick, just a couple of blocks, and eventually, your waypoint ends just in front a piece of plywood with the green JTF logo hanging above the door to an apartment. You flash your watch at the JTF soldier on duty before he can even attempt to ask you why your. The man gives a weary sigh, and simply motions you inside, "Lt. Haverson will want to see you ma'am, another agent is already here."
Up the stairs, and passed another JTF guard, the rally point is inside a civilian apartment. Two more JTF soldiers manage a radio set in the corner, and you can see weapons racks and boxes of food and ammunition stacked to the ceiling along one wall of the apartment.
Sensors indicate this area is safe.
"Lt. Haverson is just in there agent" One of the JTF members manning the radio motions to a closed door, "Along with the other agent that's been helping out."
"-the cap back on, but those were just symptoms, we still need to-..." You open the door to see two men bent over a map, one in national guard fatigues and the green vest of the JTF and the other in a leather jacket, both of whom glance up when you enter.
"Lt. Haverson?"
The JTF soldier looks you up and down and nods, "That's correct, I'm guessing you're the division agent we we've been waiting on?"
"That she is!" The asian man next to him answers for you, giving you a sloppy salute and you notice the ISAC module hanging his belt, "Welcome to the party Agent. Jake Cheng, the rest of the Wave is already assembling to move into Manhattan but Sector Command wanted me to stay behind and wait for you, and help the JTF a bit more."
"Sophia James" you nod, "Is the situation that bad?"
Lt. Haverson grimaces, and turns back to the map, "Well it's definitely not good. At the rate we were going we'd have lost this whole neighborhood in a week. A new group of looters just moved in, and they're significantly more heavily armed than what we've been dealing with. So far they've only hit a few aid convoys, but I doubt they'll stop there."
"I don't know how much Command told you, but it's bad out there Agent." Jake's earlier smile has faded, "...and I don't want to see Brooklyn end up like Manhattan, people here have suffered enough."
You can only nod in agreement.
No one's sure of the actual casualty rates of Green Poison, but no one was left unscathed. Parents lost children, children lost parents, wives lost husbands and siblings lost each other. You were no exception. Who didn't you lose?
[] Your mom. Your mother was a nurse at Bellevue Hospital in midtown Manhattan. She left your dad years ago, and she was all alone. The thought of her...having to handle patients, getting sick from it, fading away...without anyone to take of her, it kept you up at night. So when you got that call from a shelter in the Bronx, when she let you know she was okay, it was a little miracle. She made it out. She was staying in the shelter and helping with secondary outbreaks. She told you to be good and take care of yourself, not to get too caught up and obsessive in little things, to focus on the big picture and to keep your head high. She believed in you, and you would do your best to do right by that belief.
[] Your brother. When you were kids, Will used to say you were his guardian angel. He admitted he was never as "anal" as you were but still managed to scrounge up enough money to go to law school. You were never more proud of him than when he came by your place grinning from ear to ear and told you he had passed the bar. He managed to get work with one of the best firms in the country...in South Manhattan. It was after two agonizing weeks that he left you a voicemail; he was a volunteer in the Staten Island refugee camp and he was okay. He told you to keep your chin up and try to look at the bright side: rent in Manhattan would finally be affordable. You laughed, and you cried, and it cheered you up more than he could know.
[] Your best friend. Aisha and you had been conjoined at the hip since kindergarten. You did everything together, went to the same school, graduated university together. You even had a brief fling, before agreeing that dating was too superficial an expression of your relationship. Even after you stopped being roomies you stayed close. When the outbreak started Aisha was a museum curator for the Met, her dream job. You thought the worst after the news of looting in Manhattan started circulating, and then when midtown went dark you gave her up for dead. But not one week ago you received a message from Aisha. She had been evacuated to Jersey and was doing alright. She told you that taking care of yourself was your first priority before anything else.
The situation in New York has spiraled out of control and it seems to be just as bad outside. The world is falling apart. You've lost people, people you care about. How are you handling the outbreak? What has your response been to this hell you've been thrust into?
[] Denial. It can't be as bad as they're making it seem. The situation in Brooklyn can be stabilized. The army is in Queens. Jersey is doing alright. If we can just do our jobs, if we can just accomplish what we're here to do, we can make it out of this. All of us.
[] Anger. You have always been a believer. Sure, you didn't always go to church and someone of your academic background was always going to have a hint of doubt. But you believed. And where has that gotten you? Underneath your calm you boil with rage. Not at anyone in particular; just at God. What did the world do to deserve this?
[] Bargaining. You can't keep the what ifs out of your head. You're the second wave of the Division. Why didn't they send you in the first? Why have they just let you sit here, twiddling your thumbs, while everyone died? What if you could have helped people? Sometimes you wish it was just a bad dream.
"I understand, so what-" you're interrupted by the sound of shouting from the other area of the rally point.
"Lt. Haverson!" one of the JTF soldiers appears in the doorway, looking pale, "You're going to want to deal with this."
You and Agent Cheng both open your mouths to ask identical questions when ISAC decides to take that moment to start up as well.
Incoming Transmission from Division Command
"Agents, this is Commander Thomas Scott. I am the SHD Northeast Sector Commander, and we have received reports that rioters have overrun the local JTF precinct in your area. I am rerouting both of you to deal with this matter as your highest priority, if that precinct goes we lose Brooklyn. Link up with us once this is resolved. I have updated ISAC with your mission parameters, Sector Command Out."
Situation Report: Precinct 99 Siege
The situation in Brooklyn is unstable. Initial panic was centered around the Brooklyn Bridge, with thousands of cars attempting to rush the crossing and escape the city. Military checkpoints were quickly established and the borough kept under martial law, with significant military assets placed in Brooklyn as a staging area for Manhattan relief efforts. However, when it was becoming clear that the disease had broken quarantine and that the situation in Manhattan was collapsing, the military pulled out of Brooklyn and retreated to Queens, leaving local police forces, services employees, animal control, national guard and others to fend for themselves under the new banner of the Joint Task Force. The Green vests, as they are commonly called, have not been able to effectively keep order. Widely varying in combat capability, the JTF is best at disaster relief and handling petty crime, but with growing anarchy in parts of Brooklyn more powerful obstacles have emerged.
Jack 'Ripper' Holden, a criminal wanted for triple-homicide after several incidents early on in the outbreak, has discovered a hidden military cache in a West Brooklyn warehouse and has gathered dozens to his side in an attempt to take control of the borough. Using anger against the government for withdrawing from the area and acute food shortages, Ripper has motivated his followers to seize several supply drops intended for JTF distribution to civilians.
Division agents have been deployed to Brooklyn to maintain order around the departure point for their Manhattan operations. They have already retaken several food caches confiscated by Ripper. The current strategic goal is the neutralization of Ripper and his forces and the subsequent stabilization of Brooklyn before withdrawal, so that the JTF has the space to maintain order.
Unfortunately, in response to Division agents retaking food caches with JTF support, Ripper has committed to an all-out assault of the local police precinct, seizing it during a night-time attack and taking the local JTF garrison hostage. There are JTF assets surrounding the complex committed to a siege and the freeing of their comrades, but the situation calls for a level of caution. Ripper cannot be allowed to maintain control of the precinct, but if a frontal assault is initiated there is a chance that he will panic and order the execution of his hostages. At the same time, Ripper will almost certainly demand immunity or some other boon in exchange for a surrender, if he is even willing to entertain standing down in response to an ultimatum from Division agents.
With most Division agents preparing for departure to Manhattan the division commander has placed you in charge of ending the siege and neutralizing Ripper. Deadly force is authorized, but a solution with lower casualties, especially of JTF hostages, is preferred.
It is your move, agent. How shall you proceed? What you choose, and your experience here, will help determine some of your choices in Manhattan.
[] Negotiate a surrender. The JTF will be frustrated and it may let some rioters off the hook but at least no (or few) lives will be lost. The best Ripper can hope for is a reduced jail sentence anyway. If negotiations with Ripper fail, use the leverage of food to sway his followers. However, a negotiation carries the risk of a breakdown requiring an immediate and less well-planned attack on the position.
[] Perform an infiltration. JTF will begin an attack on the front entrance of the police station, drawing some of the enemy. You will use the opportunity to infiltrate through the back entrance (using a key obtained from one of the JTF on scene) and free the hostages, before using the opportunity to attempt to capture Ripper alive. An infiltration carries the risk of failure and will result in JTF casualties from a frontal attack without Division support.
[] Spearhead an assault. Division agents are trained for high-intensity combat scenarios. If you mount a frontal assault Ripper's followers will fold like butter, and your primary objective is to neutralize Ripper. With a frontal attack there is far less likelihood of catching him alive, but given he has a prior history of killing JTF and escaping prisons, that may be for the best. If the operation is successful, this will also provide the most valuable combat experience to JTF forces in the area.
(they still exist and you'll recognize them but they're less...clancy)
