Alice wasn't sure what she was looking at. It had been two months since that meeting where Dovak introduced everyone and gave the reason for wanting their recruitment. After that the competition started to fall one after the other. Many of their enemies lie dead and buried, some were alive and buried but that's semantics now.
As more enemies fell Alice found herself with more and more free time. So, she did other things, like becoming a champion of Genkie Bowl, robbing a bank, blowing up yacht full of rich assholes, and even winning a street race or two. But then she remembered Kevin, honestly, she thought she would feel better when the Los Panteros and The Idols were no more. But she didn't. Because she didn't know who specifically was responsible. She just couldn't believe he got taken out by some nameless flunky.
Troy had been surprisingly helpful in this endeavor. His connections to the police department and knowledge of their procedures meant he got access to the case file associated with Kevin's death. Gat had warned it could be a waste of time, after all, one gang shooting another wouldn't be a priority for a lazy and corrupt police force.
But Alice wanted it anyway. Even if it was a waste of effort at least she'd know. When Troy returned with the file Gat had been proven both right and wrong. He was right when he said the police wouldn't put any effort in solving the incident, because they didn't. It was marked as gang violence and then closed. However, he was wrong because the Crime Scene Techs actually did their job. And if the detectives actually read the report they would've saw that Kevin's body had been flagged.
Even as she read the file, Alice couldn't understand what she was seeing. Everyone else had been killed by multiple rounds from either, pistols, revolvers, smgs, shotguns, or autonomic rifles. But Kevin had been shot once by a rifle. Hit his chest and severed a ventricle attached to his heart. He lost consciousness quickly and bled out right after. The report said they recovered the possible weapon but due to the backlog they still haven't process it yet.
She didn't want to believe it; Kevin hadn't been killed by a stray bullet but was assassinated. She needed to look into it. Anything else could wait. She wanted to tell Eli and Neenah, but Troy recommended against it. While he didn't doubt them and their motivation, there was just no way of knowing who was involved and the more people they talked about it with, the greater the chance the wrong person finds out.
Gat responded by saying, "So we can't ask for help from anybody? Not even Oleg or Kinzie?" Troy answered, "No one. We need to be careful about how we investigate. No talking about it electronically or any method someone can intercept."
Just then Neenah called Alice's phone. Alice put it on speaker and said, "Hey Neenah, you're on speaker, I'm here with Gat and Tony." Neenah replied, "Good, listen up. Kinzie just intercepted a message. Apparently the governor just green-lit a direct intervention by a group called S.T.A.G. We're all meeting at the church to discuss what this means and who they are."
Alice agreed with a hint of reluctance in her voice. They drove back to the church, as stepped out of her ride she saw the church. The restoration work was nearly finished. On the outside, it looked like Warlord Incorporated was restoring a historically significant religious site, the reality was all the fun stuff was built in the hidden basement. Originally, Alice wanted everything up top for convenience and to make a statement, but she had to admit putting everything behind a hidden wall gave it a cool secret agent feel. However, since this was supposed to be an important meeting they went to the gathering place upstairs.
When they arrived, everyone else was already there. As Alice sat down, Dovak began speaking. "Alright, first I want to thank everyone for showing up so quickly and their efforts so far. Because of that there are only four groups left. The Ronin, Luchadores, Marshall, and the Idols. That being said, the Idols only have two members of their leadership the "collective" left. Unfortunately, I have reason to believe that is what triggered are current problem."
"In truth, all the remaining groups including Marshall are in their last legs. Thanks to our association with Persephone, we know the board has lost all faith in Atticus, however half are still to scared of him to make a move. But that is for later. Thanks to the departing words of wisdom from the recently retired Benjamin King, Kinzie and Eli looked to the Idols background. What was discovered was not surprising but still unfortunate."
"It was suspected that the Idols were either trust-fund babies playing gangsters or a government funded anarchist group meant to upset the status quo. Turns out it was a little bit of both. I won't bore you with the details, but before our rise most analysts had now being when the gang war would be at its most violent."
Alice sat there listening, not sure what to make of it. So she asked, "Does that have something to do with why we're gathered here?" Dovak looked at her and nodded. Then he continued.
"Alice is correct, Stag, the problem we are now facing, was already scheduled to show up now. However they were expecting to sweep a bunch of weakened groups, not one that grown by devouring the competition. That will buy us some time but not much. For those who don't know. S.T.A.G. or the Special Tactical Anti-Gang Unit. Was created as a tough on crime policy who's purpose was to wipe out organized crime with military grade response. Not surprising, Marshall was their biggest obstacle in the legislation. The Idols were apparently created to both undermine Marshall, and to stir things up enough to justify a heavy handed response."
As Dovak continued Alice began to wonder, if Stag was so advanced then they could probably get all kinds of information from a certain rifle gathering dust in a police evidence warehouse.
....
Khan was sitting on a lawn chair on top of the abandoned casino. He watched as the Stag's aircraft carrier struggled between choosing to burn or break before sinking. Things had progressed quickly, and yet for Khan not fast enough. Alice decided to play detective, granted he had hoped this would be how it played out but she had been so slow in putting the pieces together.
Now she was running around try to track him down, only now she was aware how alone she was. Gat and Troy were under his thumb, and everyone else was acting all shocked by Khan's manipulation but unable to help. Khan picked up a burner phone and sent Alice his current location. He felt it was appropriate to end his campaign in this world here. This roof where after a boss fight the player would end it with a button prompt. Not a QTE but a button prompt.
Fifteen minutes later, Alice came running up the stairs, alone. As expected, Khan stood up, hand on his holster and they both began circling each other. Alice shouted, "You killed Kevin! Set everything in motion! Why?!" Khan smirked because Alice was giving him a little more credit than he deserved, but instead of correcting her, he simply said, "Because I could." Alice looked confused. Khan continued, "What? Were you expecting some long-convoluted speech revealing some broken background or some twisted delusional desire. Welp, sorry to burst your bubble I did it because I could, and I dragged you in because I didn't feel like taking over the city myself. You did all the leg work; I got all the benefits."
Just then a Stag VTOL showed up. Seen piloting it and shouting over a speaker phone from the cockpit was Cyrus Temple. The guy in charge of Stag. Khan had a small smirk on his face as Cyrus demanded their surrender and the return of his second-in-command, Kia. Khan with a flourish pulled out his Arcane Rifle and pull the trigger. Cryus' head immediately disappeared and his bird immediately began spinning towards the ground.
At that moment Alice said, "It was you! You're the one who killed the Nahualli! Why!?" With a single motion, Khan made the rifle disappear. Then he said, "To see your reaction. And to eliminate a future headache. In truth, this whole thing was mostly a nostalgia kick for me. Taking an individual with a lot of ambition and get it done energy but didn't have the brains to see the big picture. Make them do all the work, slowly isolating them without them even knowing. Then do the big reveal. But you were just so boring."
Alice looked like she had just been slapped by a fish. Khan continued. "Your only tactic was to go in guns blazen, which was amusing the first few times but it quickly grew repetitive. And you were so caught up in your own world that you didn't notice Neenah's change in personality or when Eli stopped bringing his ideas to you. You only interacted with Johnny or Troy when you investigated Kevin's death. And because of that you failed to notice when everyone started shifting their priorities. But I wanted enough, let's put a end to this chapter, shall we."
Alice immediately started shooting with every gun she had, and every bullet went wide. Khan almost lazily pulled out his revolver and shot Alice. She immediately dropped. Khan knew she wasn't dead, he had loaded it with rubber bullets earlier. He put his gun away and casually walked up to her thinking on how to handle what happens next. He muttered the word "Disappointing."
Then Alice showed she was still conscious by shouting, "Fuck you!" She immediately pulled out a stun baton and nailed Khan's hip. His leg gave out, however instead of shouting out in pain, Khan started laughing. As Alice struggled to stand up, she said, "What so damn funny, you twisted psycho?" Khan caught his breath and then said, "It's been a while since somebody got the drop on me like that. I also remembered a few other things, not that any of it was funny. But if you can't laugh at your own misfortune than you just can't laugh."
Khan then sweept his leg hitting Alice behind her knee, causing her to instantly fall back down. Khan stood up and grabbed the stun baton. "You did good, a real last fuck you effort. But now it's over, sleep tight little one, with dreams of honeydew meadows and butterfly kisses." He pressed the baton to her neck and rendered her unconscious. He smiled as she melded into his shadow, then he said, "Veni, vidi, vici." And a bright light appeared and the city and all with in it disappeared.