Chapter Text

Chapter 3– “Dragons, Fires, Walls of Solace”

Location Unknown

Year 2034- Six Months Later

“Charlie sent me a video recording of your funeral,” said Sam as angry thoughts of his played off the walls of the room the two of them were in. “The video, it… it woke something nasty up inside me that I had hidden away… for decades.”

“My second death angered you,” said Sarah.

“Rightfully so,” said Sam.

“What did you do after that?”

“I…” Sam looked down at the table and grimaced. “I went on a killing spree. Started killing members of various Triads associated with the Dragons while hiding out in Shanghai with Kobin, before he double-crossed me again to save himself.”

“Just like back before the Third Echelon Conspiracy, the violence helped you put up an emotional wall. It gave you a sense of purpose.”

“It did,” said Sam, “but just like with Third Echelon, it wasn’t long before my killing spree was noticed by the authorities, and other factions outside the law. That’s when I got an anonymous tip via the Net that claimed you were alive… along with an ‘old friend’ of mine that was somehow involved in your ‘death’.”

“Who was this old friend?”

“Dima Aslanov,” said Sam. “The Russian equivalent of me. I sent him to Davy Jones’ locker years ago, along with a quantum computer that was developed by Dima’s partner in crime… tech businessman Brody Teague.”

“That was the first mission you went on with me.”

Sam grunted. “Yeah. At the time, I didn’t care that it didn’t make sense that Dima was still alive, given I killed him and watched his corpse sink into the ocean. Nor did I care that it didn’t make sense for him to be assisting a killer AI hivemind in trying to destroy the world, all while sparing you. If it was true that he was alive, and that he was somehow responsible for keeping you alive… I was going to find him and kill him.”

“He was allegedly hiding in Burma,” said Sarah.

“That’s right,” said Sam, “along with you… or so I assumed.”

“And the woman who helped you get there?” said Sarah.

“Marie Laurent?” said Sam. “What about her?”

“How did she factor into all this?”

“All my enemies that the government I used to work for protected me from then came after me, hunted me down for years,” said Sam. “You don’t outlive that many enemies without needing to make a few allies along the way…”

Mouke Tsoe Bo Meats Abattoir, Yangon, Myanmar

The mysterious woman named Marie Laurent whom Sam met in Shenzhen during his time going from Triad to Triad killing Dragons drove him in a white van towards his objective. She had dark brown hair wrapped in a braid and scarred, muscular tattooed arms. The scars suggested she had been in more than a few fights despite that she was almost young enough to be his daughter… although his daughter was in her late forties when she was killed. Her name suggested she was French, but her accent was Greek.

“We’re almost there,” said Marie.

“As much as I appreciate your help,” said Sam, “I never learned why you’re offering it to me. I  know nothing comes for free.”

Marie didn’t respond to this.

“What operation are you a part of?” said Sam. “It isn’t this Umbra group I keep hearing about on the news, is it?”

“No,” said Marie, “but you should know, Sam, that, depending on whether we consider you a good fit, the organization I run will either consider you as a member of our ranks should you choose to join, or…”

“...or what?”

“...or you’ll owe us quite a lot given how much help you’ve asked for. You’ll owe us either in money or blood.”

“Mine or someone else’s?”

“Either. Or maybe both depending on how desperate you get,” said Marie with a smirk.

“Why do I get the feeling I’ll cross paths with you further down the road…” said Sam.

Smiling, Marie said, “Speaking of roads, we’re here.”

She parked the van next to the chain-link fences guarding the slaughterhouse. It was the same one the former Georgian President Nikoladze broadcasted the execution of various American soldiers and Chinese officials in an attempt to start World War Three.

“This is one of your last chances to join us, Sam,” said Marie. “You’ve already proven yourself to be capable enough to work for me as a mercenary.”

Sam sighed before he looked at Marie from the passenger seat. “As much of a pleasure it was working with you… I work better alone, Marie. But I’ll pay my debt in time.”

“As long as you do… that’s good enough,” said Marie. “Good luck in there… from what little you’ve told me about your source, this could be a trap.”

Sam nodded at Marie, then got out of the van, and mantled onto the top of the van and over the fence.

As Marie drove off to find a better spot to hide the van, Sam thought, she looked disappointed. I suspect she may have developed a little crush on me.

Sam frowned, and as he pulled on his Splinter Cell mask and trifocal goggles, he thought, it doesn’t matter. I’m too old for a relationship, and my heart’s too frozen hard to feel love for anyone anymore.  

He crept through the outer premises of the slaughterhouse.

Strange… thought Sam, there are no guards out here.

As Sam entered the interior of the slaughterhouse through the front door, he thought to himself, I better not have been led on a wild goose chase…

As he crept through the halls of the slaughterhouse, he thought, why aren’t there any guards?

Sam descended to the main part of the slaughterhouse where the dead animals were; they were all rotting away.

He waved his hand in front of his nose and mouth.

Stinks…

He finally saw someone blindfolded, gagged, and bound to a chair in the center of the slaughterhouse room where he killed Vyacheslav Grinko and where the hostages were kept.

Getting closer, he recognized her; she had the same raven hair as him and her mother.

His heart was pounding in his chest.

“Sarah!” said Sam.

As Sam took off her blindfold and the gag out of her mouth, he said, “Sarah, it’s me.”

“Dad?” she said.

“Hang on, I’m going to get you out of here,” he said as he untied her.

“Thank you, Dad…” Sarah said as she got out of her chair and stood in front of Fisher.

“Come out of the slaughterhouse now, Fisher!” someone with an accent that sounded Russian yelled on a megaphone outside.

“...for revealing yourself,” Sarah said.

“What?” said Sam as he turned around; he heard footsteps approaching him from all sides.

“Sarah, what is this–” said Sam.

But before he could turn around to face Sarah again, she hit him with a powerful blow to the back of the head, knocking him onto the floor.

Barely conscious, Sam looked up at Sarah.

To his shock, he saw that Sarah’s fist was made of metal.

“You’re not Sarah…” said Sam, “you’re… What are you?”

“Obtain Rebirth,” said Sarah as she pulled out a crossbow and fired a sticky shocker at Sam’s forehead.

Rebel Safe House, T’bilisi, Georgia

Sam felt a bucket of ice water get thrown on his head to wake him up.

He had a dirty bag covering his head that was keeping him blind.

When someone took the bag off of Sam’s head, the light being shown on him blinded him even further.

After shutting his eyes for a moment, Sam then let his eyes adjust to the light.

A man with a scar running through his jawline was examining him. Several more guards were in the dark room, surrounding Sam and the door out. They were wearing black masks and uniforms with no discernable way of identifying the group they belonged to, as far as Sam could tell. They also were toting automatic rifles, handguns, combat knives, and grenades.
Sam tried to move, but his hands and legs were cuffed to a chair.

“That is definitely his likeness…” said the man with the scar.

Is he speaking in Russian? Sam thought. No, wait, it’s… Georgian…

The man frowned, showing that he had braces.

Sam decided to call him “Smiley” so he could remember him that way.

“Sam Fisher…” said Smiley as he turned around and grabbed a knife from a table on the other side of the room. “If you truly are Sam Fisher… you know you’ve caused our country considerable strife.”

Sam showed no emotion and didn’t speak as Smiley walked toward him while carrying the knife.

“Unfortunately we live in a new era, one where it is near impossible to tell man apart from machine. Which is why…”

The man then proceeded to stab Sam in the chest with the knife while holding onto its grip.

Sam yelled out in pain; looking down as blood started to trickle out of the wound.

“...we need to see whether or not you really are the man we’re looking for.”

Sam’s yell turned to a prolonged, piercing scream as the man slowly dug the knife deeper into Sam’s chest.

Smiley then started to laugh in a way that partially resembled a wheeze, and pulled the knife out of Sam’s chest.

“Holy shit, you really are Sam Fisher! I thought you were a robot, just like the one resembling your daughter.”

Sam looked at the blood from his chest wound. It was now coming out much faster than a trickle; Sam was going to bleed to death if he didn’t patch up the wound at the very least, but he wouldn’t last long if he didn’t get proper treatment.

This looked like the end.

Smiley lit a match and held it against Sam’s wound for a moment.

Sam groaned from the pain of the cauterization process.

As Smiley covered his wound in gauze tape, he said to Sam while patting him aggressively on the back, “Looks like I just barely missed your heart, Sam. Now, let’s talk like gentlemen.”

Sam panted, and looked up at Smiley.

“Who was controlling the robot you were with when we found you? The one that looked like your daughter?”

Wait a minute… Sam thought as he managed to focus on what Smiley was saying in addition to the pain, if they really are after the… whatever it was… that looked like Sarah… they’re not the ones who lured me to her.

As Sam caught his breath, he thought, and if these guys are Georgian, then they have beef with me. If they find out I know nothing, I’m as good as dead.

Sam decided to stay silent.

Smiley frowned at him.

“Not going to answer, huh?” he said as he moved across the room and picked up a baton. “Guess I’ll have to give you a taste of all the shit that CIA puppet you put in charge of Georgia by assassinating Nikoladze did to the people…” he said as he swung the baton around in front of Sam’s face. “I’ll ask again, who was controlling the robot you were with when we found you?”

Sam frowned at Smiley as he braced himself.

Smiley used the baton to beat Sam’s legs bloody.

Sam screamed, and panted.  Smiley paced around to the back of Sam’s chair.

“It’s a shame. I am a fan of you, you know. How will the infamous Splinter Cell sneak around or climb in the ceiling without his legs?” Smiley then put his hands on Sam’s shoulders and said, “Who was controlling the robot, Sam?”

Sam caught his breath, and looked down at the floor.

Smiley grunted, and beat Sam’s arms bloody. Sam’s arms trembled against their restraints.

“Now the infamous Splinter Cell won’t be able to snap the necks of his prey, pull the trigger of his SC-20K rifle, or use his wrist-mounted OPSAT.” 

Smiley pulled out a knife from a sheath on his belt, and pointed it at Sam’s eyes, inches away from them.

Sam’s eyes went wide.

“I’m growing impatient, Sam… If you won’t answer my questions, I’m going to make sure you can’t use those trifocal goggles of yours ever again, let alone look at the people you care about… like your daughter.”

Sam breathed heavily. 

“A spy can’t spy without his eyes. Now tell me.”

This is the end… Sam thought.

Sam screamed as Smiley pulled his knife away, and aggressively prodded Sam with his baton in his other hand, tearing at open his knife wound again. “TELL ME!”

Smiley was about to cut Sam’s right eye out when they all heard the sound of a chopper. Smiley’s men looked around in confusion.

“Did the rebels steal a chopper?” said Smiley.

The rebels ? Sam thought in surprise.

Picking up a smartphone, and turning his back to Sam, Smiley dialed a number.

Despite the shape of his arms, Sam desperately tried to pick open the cuffs restraining his hands to the chair.

“Get Cristavi on the line for me,” said Smiley.

Sam looked at Smiley with wide eyes.

He’s not working for the Georgian rebels, he’s working for the loyalists! Sam thought. Why is President Cristavi trying to get rid of me… he’s a CIA puppet!  Did he turn?

Looking around the room, Sam thought, unless… the government wants to do more than just disavow me now. Maybe due to my new allies?

“President Cristavi,” said Smiley. “We suspect the safe house carrying the asset we were in charge of interrogating has been compromised.”

The sound of more choppers incoming. Now there was the sound of gunfire as well.

Moving the phone away from his mouth, Smiley barked at his men while snapping his fingers, “Get out there and buy us some time!”

As several of the men guarding the room left it, Sam resumed picking the locks to his cuffs. Miraculously, he managed to get one open.
He could feel his strength fading though… he was still heavily wounded, and bleeding out.

Yet he clung to life.

“No, sir, we did not figure out who was controlling the robot from him,” said Smiley. “Does my primary objective remain?”

Looking at Smiley, Sam desperately tried to pick the other cuff on his hand open.

Smiley looked over at Sam, and grinned.

“Copy that,” said Smiley.

As Sam finished picking the second handcuff open, Smiley readied his pistol.

Damn it, thought Sam, I still have to un-cuff my legs!

All of a sudden, the gunfire from the choppers grew very loud.

One of the men that left the room returned.

“What’s going on?” said Smiley as he turned his back to Sam to talk to the man. “Where are the others?”

“Most of them are dead,” said the soldier. “Commandos are invading the compound. Ones with trifocal goggles.” 

Smiley looked at Sam briefly, and grimaced. “Fucking hell!” he said, turning around and slamming his fist on his desk.

As he turned to his men again, Sam prepared to try and set his handcuffs down on his chair quietly and pick open the cuffs to his legs as fast as he could.

He’d only get one shot at this.

“Go out there and fight to the last fucking man!” yelled Smiley.

“What about you?” said one of his men.

“I’ve got unfinished business to take care of,” said Smiley. “ Go! ”

“Copy that,” said the soldier.

As they left the room, Smiley leaned against his desk, with his back to Sam. He was breathing heavily.

He was scared.

“FUCK!” he screamed, beating his fists against the desk several times.

Smiley picked up his pistol, pulled out another magazine and loaded it in.

Sam pulled his arms back into position behind his chair right before Smiley turned around and faced him.

Sam grimaced as Smiley said to him in an icy tone, “You… you sicced those Splinter Cells on me and my men, didn’t you?”  

“You look upset,” said Sam. “You know, you should smile more.”

“Cute,” said Smiley, who was visibly shaking with rage and also fear. “I’ll smile once I put a bullet between your eyes, Fisher.”

He didn’t seem to notice the cuffs lying at Sam’s feet.

Smiley cocked his gun, and pointed it at Sam’s forehead. “I may die today, but at least I’ll go out knowing I went down in history as the man who killed the infamous Splinter Cell–”

Sam then grabbed Smiley’s gun and pushed it up away from his forehead.

Smiley yelled.

The gun went off once, but neither man was hit by its bullet.

Sam then kicked Smiley hard in the shin while he was still stunned.

As Smiley staggered backwards and dropped his gun on the floor, Sam wobbled to his feet.

Smiley caught his balance by putting one hand on the floor.

Sam managed to regain his balance just in time to sink his knee into Smiley’s jaw as he bent over to pick up his gun.

Smiley yelped; Sam’s attack knocked him over.

Sam attempted to pick up the pistol, only for Smiley to desperately make a grab for the pistol while on the floor.

He managed to yank Sam off his feet and get on top of him.

Sam grunted as he and Smiley tried to wrestle the gun in each other’s direction.

Smiley was about to point his gun close enough to Sam to shoot him in the shoulder when Sam managed to summon the strength to wrestle the gun back in Smiley’s direction.

He managed to shoot Smiley in the shoulder.

The shock caused Smiley to let go of the gun’s trigger.

Sam then shot Smiley in his other shoulder, and then emptied the clip into his torso.

Managing to get back onto his feet again, Sam said to Smiley as he pointed the gun at his head, “Your mouth is oozing blood. Now that’s what I call a smile. Why does Cristavi want me dead?”

Smiley said to Sam, “Fuck… you…”

Sam shot Smiley again, this time in the legs.

Smiley screamed before saying, “I don’t know! I was just following orders!”

“All right, let’s say I believe you,” said Sam. “Why claim you’re working with the rebels when you’re actually working with Cristavi?”

“Fuck…” cried Smiley.

Sam picked up another magazine from the table, and loaded it into the gun.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!  All right!  It’s simple… We’re working with both. We were tasked with infiltrating and subverting the rebel factions in Georgia for Cristavi. As for you… Cristavi didn’t want it to look like the CIA was involved with your assassination!”

“Of course the CIA is involved in all of this,” said Sam. “Why do they want me dead then?”

“You’re a loose end!” 

“Loose end to who?”

“To… to…”

Before Smiley died from his wounds, he muttered, “Me… gi… ddo…”

“ Megiddo? ” said Sam.

Looking around, Sam thought, “Damn it…”

Sam picked up some weapons from a nearby table and strapped them to his back and hips. He quickly took some medicine from a nearby first-aid cabinet to help his blood clot faster and reduce the amount of pain he was in.

This is good, but it isn’t enough… said Sam. I need serious medical attention, and fast. I need to get out of here first, though.

As Sam exited the room, he crept through the safe house they were in, which looked like an abandoned apartment somewhere in T’bilisi.

Sticking to the darkness, Sam thought, but I doubt I’ll be able to get the medical care I need… I’m a wanted man.

As Sam saw that his aim was beginning to falter as he held the automatic rifle in his hands, he thought, this used to be so easy… That’s what I get for being old I guess.

Sam heard several of Smiley’s soldiers engaging in a skirmish somewhere in the hallways up ahead.

Pressing his back to the wall, Sam peeked around the corner.

They were firing at some Splinter Cells who had taken cover and were now escaping into the shadows.

One of the soldiers had a light machine gun, and was wearing heavy armor.

Sam thought to himself, I might be able to kill the rest of them at once if I spray and pray, but killing that big guy is going to be nearly impossible… especially in this condition.

Frowning, Sam thought, I have to try.

Holding out his assault rifle, Sam aimed at the soldiers and fired.

Like he predicted, he managed to kill them all except for the heavy soldier.

Sam retreated to cover again before the heavy soldier turned around and shot him with his machine gun.

The heavy soldier approached Sam, growing closer and closer.

Sam prepared to try and knife the bastard.

Just before the heavy soldier turned the corner and killed Sam, one of the Splinter Cells appeared, popped off his helmet with a shotgun blast, and stabbed him in the back of the head with a Karambit knife.

Two other Splinter Cells appeared, one with a light machine gun, and one with a sniper rifle.

“Is that him… ?” said the one with the shotgun. He had a deep voice, one that sounded African-American.

“I think so,” said the one with the sniper rifle. She had a Ukrainian accent.

“He does have her features…” said the one with the light machine gun; his accent was Texan. He holstered his weapon.

Sarah… ?

“Sam Fisher,” said the Texan man. “We’re with Fourth Echelon. We’re here to extract you.”

“I haven’t worked with Fourth Echelon for years,” said Sam as he prepared to reach for his gun.

“Easy, Sam…” said the African-American man. “We’re not here to turn you in. Come with us and we’ll guarantee your safety.”

“Like hell you will,” said Sam, grunting as he started to feel himself fading due to his heavy wounds.

“His chest is bleeding,” said the Ukrainian woman. “Badly.”

“Shit, you’re right… These bastards got him good.”

“Sam, we need to get you to a hospital. A good one, too.”

Sam’s vision was starting to become blurry; he tried to speak but his voice got stuck.

He desperately pulled out his gun, and tried to aim it at the Splinter Cells.

“Sam?” said the Texan man.

He then began to hallucinate.

Was his life flashing before his eyes?

“Sarah…” said Sam as he dropped his gun and fell over.

“SAM!”

Fourth Echelon Black Site, Kyiv, Ukraine

Sam woke up to find himself patched up with bandages and splints. His arm was connected to an IV.

He could tell that his chest wound had healed significantly.

However, he was tied down to his bed, this time better than before.

“Your gambit worked, Grim,” said the Texan man. “We’ve got intel from the Georgians that Megiddo was behind this.”

“I hope it was worth it,” said the Ukrainian woman. “Briggs says his connections at the CIA have cut all contact with him. If Megiddo has influence on the CIA, then they’re onto us by now.”

“Seems like it was worth it to me,” said the African-American man. “I mean, we got Sam back.”

“While he’s still just another chess piece on the board… I agree that he’s an invaluable one,” said a voice that haunted Sam for most of the time he had to go rogue.

“Grim…” Sam growled as he tried to break free of his hospital bed.

The others looked at Sam.

“He’s awake,” said Grim. “Brad, go get Charlie, Briggs, and the rest of the staff.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said the Texan man.

Grim said to Sam, “You did a good job hiding.”

“You sound like you want something from me,” said Sam angrily.

“Well we did save you from the brink of death,” said Grim. “Getting you the medical care you needed cost us a considerable amount of money, especially given that funding’s been running low lately.”
“I was wounded that badly?” said Sam. Looking around, he said, “Why go that far to save me? I’ve been disavowed.”

The others glanced at each other.

“Why should I help you after all that you’ve done to me, Grim?” said Sam angrily. “Me and–”

The others looked away upon realizing the implication of this.

“Sarah made her choice to go on that mission, Sam,” said Grim. “She was an adult, and she was my best agent by then. If anything you should be proud of her.”

Pacing around, Grim said, “But on that note…”

Breathing heavily, Sam said furiously, “What? ‘She’s still alive, Sam’? Haven’t we played this game before, Grim? You used me and lied to me!”

“To be fair, back during the Third Echelon Conspiracy she was alive, Sam,” said Grim. Looking away, she said, “But this time… It’s better you see for yourself.”

Grim turned to where the Ukrainian woman and African-American man were standing.

“Alisa. Eddie. Get him up. And be careful with him. On one hand, he may try to kill you, but on the other… he’s still recovering from the number the Georgians did on him, so be gentle if you can.”
“Copy that,” said Alisa.

As Alisa and Eddie took off Sam’s restraints and helped him up, Eddie said, “So you’re the legendary Sam Fisher… I feel like I’m carrying an ancient relic at a museum… and a heavy one at that.”

Sam couldn’t help but smirk at this.

As Sam was finally able to regain his balance, Alisa and Eddie let go of him, and they walked through the darkness of the building they were in.
“This isn’t a hospital…” said Sam.

“It’s a black site,” said Grim. “We didn’t have a lot of options smuggling you onto one of our bases given you’re a wanted man… so we picked one in the middle of a country that had been ravaged by war.”

“Which war?”

“The recent one between Ukraine and Russia,” said Grim.

“We’re in Kyiv?” said Sam.

“Cheer up,” said Grim. “At least we didn’t have a base in Chernobyl.”

Sam said, “So again, why did you risk bringing me here if I’m disavowed?”

They arrived at a nearby set of locked doors. Grim said, “You’re about to find out.” 

She typed a code into the doors’ keypad, placed her keycard against a scanner, and waved in front of a security camera, the doors opened.

Inside the room they entered was another futuristic-looking command center, complete with a Strategic Mission Interface.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of these…” said Sam.

“Remind you of anything?” said Grim. “Perhaps a certain plane?”

“The Paladin ?” Sam said. “Is it still in good shape?”

“It managed to last for most of the time you were gone,” said Grim as she manipulated the SMI’s touch-screen, showing a new plane that looked very similar to the Paladin , “but for various reasons related to the mishaps we encountered on our last few missions, we had to scrap it. Now we’ve got the Archangel . It’s like the Paladin, but with even more improvements.”

“The Archangel …” said Sam. “A very Biblical name. Is someone trying to end the world?”

“It’s hard to say yet,” said Grim, looking away.

As usual, she’s keeping something from me, Sam thought.

“You asked why we brought you here,” said Grim. “I’ll answer you, along with Briggs and Charlie.”

Just on time, the Texan man, Brad, entered through another door into the room with Briggs and Charlie, who populated the command center with the rest of the staff.

“Grim, just so we’re clear, I think this is a mistake,” said Briggs while looking at Sam.

“It’s good to see you again, Sam,” said Charlie, whose smile disappeared once he realized how angry Sam was.

“I wish I could say the same, Charlie,” said Sam. “Now why am I here?”
“It’s Megiddo, Sam,” said Grim. “They’re making another move. You remember back during the Third Echelon Conspiracy how Megiddo used EMP technology to send Washington, DC into a blackout… try to assassinate President Caldwell, right? We got a tip from a friend that they’re going to do something much worse on a global scale rather than just a national one.”

“Right… and why should I care?”

“This intel was given to us not long after Sarah’s alleged death,” said Grim. Grim pulled up the mission details of the nuclear missile crisis involving ObtainR’s C 2 androids in Siberia. “We were tasked, along with the rest of the task force, one called the Elites, with stopping rogue androids from starting a nuclear holocaust. Unfortunately, most of the team was responsible for disabling the outer security perimeter of the launch facility. Sarah had to go in alone once the backup generators came back online. It was thought to be a suicide mission at the time. She volunteered nonetheless.”

“Damn it, Sarah…” Sam muttered to himself.

Then Sam looked at the SMI. “What’s that thermal signature in the footage, the one coming from the map of the base’s interior?”

“In addition to this missile launch facility containing silos, there was a nuclear submarine bay built deep into the underground base as well as the side of the mountains,” said Grim. “It was likely a nuclear sub of some kind, but we couldn’t make out its model with surveillance due to it being underground.”

“Is it still there then?”

“No,” said Charlie while manipulating the SMI with his stylus, revealing a search and rescue operation for Sarah. “After obtaining intel that she might still be alive and tied to Megiddo’s next play somehow, we initiated a ground search at the wreckage of the launch facility… The explosion didn’t destroy the sub bay in its entirety for some reason, but there was nothing left there by the time we arrived. But what’s weird is that satellite footage didn’t pick up anything outside the base either, even on thermal.”

“So she isn’t there, but she didn’t leave either?” said Sam. “Did you ever find her body?”

“Not a dead one,” said Briggs.

“What do you mean?” said Sam, raising his eyebrow.

“This is where it gets interesting,” said Grim. “We’ve got a positive ID on one Sarah Fisher, entering the Kremlin in civilian clothing, just two weeks after her supposed death.”

Zooming in on the surveillance footage, Grim said, “Looks like she’s carrying a duffel bag. Wonder what’s in it.”

Sam looked at Sarah’s face on the screen.

He was shocked.

But after his initial shock went away, he frowned.

“How do I know it’s not just another android?” said Sam.

“Sam…” said Grim.

“How do I know she isn’t really dead, and this is just another shameless attempt to trick me into helping you on a mission again?”

“Sam!” said Briggs.
“WHAT!” Sam yelled as he slammed his fists on the SMI’s touch-screen.

Realizing he accidentally pressed a ‘call’ button on the SMI, he looked up at Briggs and Grim, breathing heavily.

“You don’t know if she’s alive or dead,” said Briggs. “All this confusion with these damn androids… We don’t know either. Forget about Sarah for a moment, Sam… Do you want to help us on this mission or not, because with all due respect, if you’re unwilling to help, then I’d rather turn you loose than risk having you work with us–”

“The call’s saying it’s coming from somewhere in Beijing… I recognize their signature from somewhere… It’s not Chinese, it’s Israeli…” said Sam as he looked at the SMI.

The others looked at him in confusion.

“Who’s your contact? Are they the ones that gave the tip about Sarah? And Megiddo?”

“Hit the call button and find out,” said Grim who eyed Briggs briefly.

Sam hit the call button.

“Echelon,” said a familiar voice, which matched the face of a familiar short-haired Jewish-American woman whom Sam had worked in the field with in the past.

“Frances Coen?” said Sam.

“Fisher?” said Coen, raising her eyebrows. “The grandfather?”

Sam couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“I thought you went rogue,” said Coen. “Grim didn’t inform me of this ahead of time.”

“We’ll catch you up to speed then,” said Grim. “In the meantime, do you mind catching Sam up to speed on what you’re doing in Beijing?”
“I’m working as a mole for Premier Long Dan within Zodiac, the Chinese equivalent of Voron and Echelon,” said Coen.

“Huh,” said Sam. “I didn’t know of Zodiac’s existence until now.”

“From my understanding, it’s been around as long as the Echelons and Voron have,” said Coen.

Thinking for a moment, Sam said, “Grim was playing a similar role for President Caldwell within Third Echelon back during Megiddo’s conspiracy with the EMPs. What have you gotten yourself into, Frances?”

“Megiddo’s using Zodiac to infiltrate the Chinese government. I’ve heard that something similar is happening with Voron to infiltrate the Russian government… and from what Grim told me about America…”

“Shit’s fucked up everywhere, I get it,” said Sam. 

He immediately thought of the former Russian member of Fourth Echelon, Kestrel, that they recruited from Voron a while back.

He had been killed on the very mission Sam went on with him that left him a rogue agent for roughly the last decade and a half.

Had they sent him on that mission to tie up loose ends as well?

“So what’s their endgame? Do you know yet?”

“Rumors around here are that they’re going to create a false flag terrorist attack so big that the world will have no choice to fall under their control,” said Frances. “I’m not sure what said attack is yet, but I’m obligated to look into it and stop it.”

“What do you want us to do?” said Sam.

Grim and Briggs’s eyes widened a little upon hearing this.

“While I’ll do my part here, right now Long Dan is most concerned about the current US president.”
“President Drew Postman… the fascist,” said Sam. “Of course.” 

“He’s a wild card, along with a lot of the people he’s appointed to the Supreme Court and the people helping his regime out in Congress.”
“You don’t want me to assassinate him, do you?” said Sam with a smirk.

“Recently he pardoned a criminal mastermind known for the hostage crisis in East Timor and the smallpox attacks in the US, including at LAX airport.”
Sam grimaced.

Suhadi Sadono.

“Where does he factor into things?”
“He and the remnants of the Darah Dan Doa have been hired by a third party, one we suspect is Megiddo,” said Coen. “They’ve been threatening several Chinese business interests here in China, kidnapping high value individuals… both ones supporting and condemning the current Communist Party.”

“We managed to track him to Tanzania,” said Coen as she pulled up the GPS image of Tanzania on her screen. “Do with that intel what you like, but we need Sadono dead or captured, and we need intel on who hired him. It would be nice if you could get the hostages back too.”

Looking at Briggs, Grim, Charlie, and the others, Sam sighed, and looked down at the SMI.

“I don’t do this sort of thing anymore, Coen…” said Sam.

“Well, if you don’t, then I wish you a happy retirement,” said Coen. “As happy as can be given the circ–”
“...but I do owe you one,” said Sam as he looked back up.

“Well make sure to take pictures,” said Coen. “Tanzania is known for its exotic flora and fauna.”

Sam smiled for a moment before Coen said to Grim, “That concludes things?”

“We’ll call you back later, Coen,” said Grim.

As the screen went dead, Briggs said, “That simple, huh?”

“Don’t get any ideas, Briggs,” said Sam. “As soon as Coen no longer needs my help, I’m finished with you.”

“Good enough,” said Briggs.

Charlie could barely hide his excitement.

Grim said, “You won’t be leader of Fourth Echelon due to your rogue status. Briggs is the current leader anyway.”

“Briggs’s definitely changed a lot,” said Sam, “for better or worse.”

“Looks like Sam’s got people looking for him besides just us,” said Charlie. “Likely either old enemies of Sam’s or someone hired by Megiddo. We need to get out of here.”
“I’ll see that the staff gets the Archangel airborne ASAP,” said Briggs.

“I’ll get Kobin out of his cell,” said Charlie.

Sam frowned.

“Kobin’s here?”

“Yeah, we helped scrape him off the ground after another business deal of his went badly. Why?”

Sam grimaced.

“Kill him when the time’s right, Sam,” said Grim, “not now. For now, he could be a useful asset when it comes to stopping Megiddo.

“All right. When the time’s right,” said Sam as they headed out of the black site’s command center.

The Archangel , Somewhere Above the Indian Ocean

Aboard the new plane, Sam was trying out his OPS suit in his quarters to make sure it still fit him. 

Charlie said, “Nice, you look just as badass as before,” from the doorway with a smile.

“How long have you been there, Charlie?” said Sam.

“Hey, that’s a hell of a way to talk to your s–” Charlie then caught himself. 

“--friend.”

Raising his eyebrow, Sam said, “I still get the feeling you’re keeping something from me. Obviously Grim and Briggs are. But that’s not like you.”

“Um… Right…” said Charlie, “anyway, Grim wanted me to show you where to order upgrades for the plane, as well as purchase schematics for more gear, track our mission progress, intel, etc.”

“Sounds like an unnecessary process given it’s the SMI, Charlie,” said Sam.

“Well regardless, she wants me to do it now.”

“Let me change back into my everyday clothes first,” said Sam.

“Come on, grandpa, we’re almost there,” said Charlie.

“I swear, the main reason I hate being this old…”

He looked around at the others as they crowded around the SMI.

Then they looked at him, and raised their eyebrows in sync.

Sam was wearing his signature black Splinter Cell commando suit and wearing his signature green trifocal goggles on his head.

“All right, I’ll admit, wearing this is somewhat nostalgic…” said Sam.

“No kidding…” said Brad, Alisa, and Eddie, whom Sam had been formally introduced to by now.

Stepping up to the SMI, Sam opened its world map interface.

“What are we looking at right now?” said Sam as some icons appeared in various places on the map. “I see five mission icons, not just the one in Tanzania… Oh, wait don’t tell me…”

“I’ve been running an op involving gathering intel by putting taps in the phone lines of a wealthy businessman who intel makes out to be a potential client of Megiddo’s. Would be nice if someone could sneak onboard their private yacht for me undetected,” said Grim. “There’s likely more clients of theirs that could lead us to take down Megiddo.”

“That’s the one located in the Mediterranean, near Sardinia,” said Sam. “What about the one in Syria?”

“Local Engineers cells,” said Briggs.

“They’re still active?” said Sam.

“We missed some of them, and word is Sadiq’s being transferred to a CIA black site somewhere in Europe now,” said Briggs. “Taking down their operations will require two people minimum. You’ll go with one, two, or all of the three new recruits. Once we stop this Engineers cell, we’ll go after Voron and Zodiac’s cells in Russia, China, and elsewhere.”
“Is there something special about this one?” said Sam.

“Yeah,” said Briggs. “They were reportedly developing portable nuclear devices at the site in Syria. We’re prioritizing this one for now.”

“Guess I’ll have to take you three out for a mission or two,” said Sam, looking at Brad, Alisa, and Eddie. They smiled at him.

“What about the one in Singapore?” said Sam.

“The Darah Dan Doa’s about to attack a high value target’s location there,” said Charlie.

“Let me guess,” said Sam, “they’ve got a dead drop with a treasure of intel we need to defend until extraction… at an embassy.”

“Nope,” said Charlie, “guess again.”
“What? No embassy?” said Sam. “Where then?”

“Guess,” said Charlie.

Rolling his eyes, Sam said sarcastically, “the part of the slums where all the drug deals go down?”

“Hilarious,” said Charlie. “It’s the super trees.”
“Huh,” said Sam. “That’s a hell of a place to stash a dead drop, let alone defend from a terrorist attack. Good thing I still know how to climb.”

Looking at the SMI, Sam said, “And the one in…”

“Micronesia,” said Kobin.

Looking at Grim, Sam said, “I’m going on another mission he’s providing?”

“Nice to see you again too, Fisher,” said Kobin.

“You left me to die in Shanghai,” said Sam. “You should be getting on your knees and begging for me to let you live.”

“You probably would’ve killed me there if I didn’t! The fuck did you expect me to do?” said Kobin. Looking away for a moment after they exchanged hostile stares, Kobin said to Sam, “I know a guy who was experimented on in a lab focusing on cross-species genetics, and escaped with his life intact.”
“Cross-species genetics?” said Briggs, raising his eyebrows.

“Like in Spider-Man?” said Charlie.

Rolling his eyes at Charlie, Kobin said to Sam, “The experiment’s results are still being sold on the black market. Last thing you want is for Megiddo to get their paws on shit like that, and if they have already, you don’t want them to get even more of it. I figured you could clear out their R&D site.”

“And save your skin from the people involved in the experiments?” said Sam.

“Yeah, yeah, you say fucking tomato,” said Kobin. “If you’re down to head to Micronesia, let me and your other ‘buddies’ know.”

“All right,” said Sam, frowning at Kobin and the others.

“You could go on any of these missions, or we can head straight for Tanzania, where Sadono and his hostages were tracked to,” said Grim. “It’s up to you.”

“Regardless,” said Charlie, “you’ll want to pick out and customize your gear before you head out.” 

“Our funds are limited at the moment,” said Briggs, “but we can obtain more by going on missions, collecting intelligence, completing objectives and showing our financial backers what Fourth Echelon is capable of. Needless to say, the stealthier we are on our missions and the lower the body count, the more funds we’ll get.”

“Also,” said Charlie, “our financial backers have implemented a ranked system of gear… We’ll need to reach a certain threshold of points for our reputation to unlock new ranks. Funding doubles as reputation points. The higher our rank…” said Charlie.

“The more gear we’ll have access to?” said Sam. He paused before saying, “Sounds like a role-playing video game.”

“You can buy, upgrade, and customize your weapons, ops suits, gadgets, trifocal goggles functionality, and the Archangel itself with funding,” said Grim.

“What happens if we buy everything?” said Sam sarcastically. “What’ll we do with our remaining funding? Give it to charity?”

“We can work on ways to upgrade the stats of your armor, weapons, ops suits, and goggles even further. The upgrades will be minor, but still useful,” said Grim.

“Fair enough,” said Sam as he shrugged his shoulders. 

“You can track all of this via the SMI, or your OPSAT,” said Charlie. “Your OPSAT also has a GPS map and an upgradable SATCOM radar system, an intelligence library, a mission objective monitoring app, note-taking abilities, light and sound monitoring devices to track how easy it is to detect you, and hacking malware… along with other useful functionalities.”
“It’s like I never left,” said Sam, looking at the OPSAT on his wrist. 

“All right. I’m not exactly happy that I’m back, but I’m not turning back now,” said Sam. 

Looking around at the rest of the team, Sam said, “Whatever Megiddo is planning, I’ll do my best to help you find out. For now.”

“Let’s get to work,” he said before he looked back at the SMI.

OPTIONAL MISSIONS UNLOCKED- BRIGGS, GRIM, CHARLIE, KOBIN

END OF PROLOGUE