Acid rain and dirt covered the strong glass of Sky Watcher One.
The view of Arasaka Upper Grid was terrible. It looked like a broken electronic circuit board. The buildings were tall and patched with rust. Neon signs blinked, advertising things nobody could afford. The streets below were full of hovercars, scavengers looking for scraps, and gangs fighting for control in this urban hell.
"Another perfect day," Hedge said lazily, slumping in his pilot's chair. His cybernetic eyes checked the sensor data, but he looked uninterested. "See anything exciting, Jack?" he asked.
Jack, younger and more idealistic than the rest of us, was completely absorbed in whatever he was looking at on his computer. He was frowning with concentration. "Heat signature spike in Sector 4. Looks like the Serpent Tongues are making a move."
The SerpentTongues. Local gangsters who specialized in illegal chip implants and exporting a drug called "Dreamdust," known for its euphoric rush and ability to turn your brain into scrambled eggs. They caused us a lot of problems.
"Let's go say hello," I said, gripping the controls of our Skyhawk.
The Skyhawk's powerful engines vibrated with barely controlled energy as it started up. We flew down into the narrow spaces between the skyscrapers, moving with a surprising smoothness for its large size. From above, the city streets looked like a fast, blurry film of poverty and dilapidation.
"They're heading towards the Old Market," Jack reported, his voice tight. "Looks like they're loading up a shipment."
Our search led us to the ruined skeleton of a former shopping center.
There, we encountered the Tongues. They wore makeshift armor of patched leather and had chrome implants grafted onto their bodies.
The Tongues were hurrying to fill crates into a heavily customized hover truck, clearly a vehicle they had modified extensively. Giving the orders was their leader, a massive man with a shaved head marked by a twisting snake tattoo.
"Time to ruin their party," Hedge grinned, activating our weapon systems.
We surprised them with stun guns, the sudden attack made the Tongues panic and run for cover. The hover truck stopped suddenly, the engine struggling and failing.
"This is Sky Watcher One! Drop your weapons and surrender!" I urgently shouted through the comms.
The leader just laughed, a nasty, rough sound. "Come and get us, pigs!"
He fired a grenade launcher.
We managed to avoid the worst of the explosion, but it was a close call. The hunt began instantly. We gave chase in the Skyhawk, following the hover truck down narrow, dangerous streets. People were running everywhere, and debris was falling. The Tongues tried to fight back, but their weapons were useless against the Skyhawk's heavy armor.
"They're heading into the tunnels," Jack warned. "That's their territory. It's a trap."
"We don't have a choice," I stated, my hand clenching the controls. "They can't be allowed to get away with this."
The tunnels were like a confusing maze, completely dark and falling apart, a network of abandoned subway lines and forgotten service passages. The Tongues knew this place like the back of their hands, using the narrow passages and blind corners to their advantage.
Suddenly, the lights went out.
"Ambush!" Hedge yelled.
Lasers shot from the dark, hitting the Skyhawk. The attack broke through the ship's outside. Alarms went off.
"We're taking heavy damage!" Jack shouted, the flashing emergency lights made his face look clearly visible.
We managed to return fire, but we were outnumbered and outmaneuvered. The Tongues had set the tunnels with explosives and automated turrets. We were trapped.
Then, something unexpected happened. Through the comms, a voice, broken up by static and mechanical, could be heard.
"Need a hand, boys?"
It was Wraith, a notorious hacker and information broker who operated in the shadows of Arasaka Upper Grid. We'd crossed paths with him before, sometimes as adversaries, sometimes as uneasy allies.
"Wraith? What are you doing here?" I asked, with a doubtful tone.
"Let's just say I have a vested interest in seeing the Serpent Tongues taken down," he replied. "I can give you access to their security systems, disable their defenses. But it'll cost you."
"What's the price?"
"Information. I need access to the Sky Watcher's database. Specifically, files relating to Project Scourge."
Project Scourge. A top-secret government program that was rumored to be developing a new type of bioweapon, or perhaps a countermeasure, but it was too dangerous for anyone.
"No," I said. "I can't do that."
"Suit yourself," Wraith said. "Enjoy getting blown to pieces."
The comms went silent. The laser fire was getting worse. The Skyhawk was struggling to hold together. We were running out of time fast.
I turned to Hedge and saw his serious expression. Then at Jack, who looked like he was about to be sick. I knew what I had to do.
"Hedge, upload the Scourge files to Wraith. Now."
Hedge hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "You know this is treason, right?"
"Sometimes, the only way to fight monsters is to become one," I said.
Within moments, Wraith had control of the tunnels' security systems. Power surged back, illuminating the scene. The Tongues scrambled for cover, but it was too late. Their own automated defenses, now working against them, ripped through their ranks.
We escaped from the tunnels, battered and bruised, but alive. The hover truck was destroyed, the Dreamdust shipment ruined. The Serpent Tongues wasn't a problem anymore; we'd stopped them for good.
"Good work, boys," Wraith said over the comms. "Pleasure doing business with you."
We slowly drive the Skyhawk back to base. As I looked down at the city, I couldn't shake the feeling that we'd made a terrible mistake. We'd stopped one evil, but in doing so, we'd unleashed another, possibly even greater.
But I was wrong.
Back at the base, the superiors approach us, their faces were showing a serious expression.
"Agent Dean, you are under arrest for the act of treason," the General said.
Without warning, the alarms went off, and the base was under attack, all the soldiers are now fighting against each other.
Hedge and Jack were caught in the crossfire and killed by a stray bullet.
From the smoke and shadows, someone approches me.
"Welcome to the otherside, Dean." It was Wraith, now holding a gun to kill the remaining personel. "Help me change the world. Will you, Dean?"
The chaos was too much as I stare at the lifeless bodies of my partners. "I have nothing left to lose. Let's do it."