Aaron Keener (Part One)

The following is a piece of lore notated by ScumbagWally.

## Summary

Let me ask you something, What makes a villain? Its not a hard question, villains are individuals who commit atrocious or heinous actions, actions that are unpermitted by the law of the land or a moral obligation. But are villains born into existence? Are they predestined to commit such atrocities, has fate written their life’s path into the stone slab of time? You would probably disagree, with some idealism that you are the master of your fate, no outside force controls you. In the beginning when you are brought into this world, your life is laid out in front of you on a path. A path so wide that its outlines are impossible to see and as you move or stumble or conquest your way through life that path begins to narrow. It condenses itself so much, that that wide path you now have at your back, is tight rope at your front. From some its one choice that does this, for others a series of choices throughout decades.

For Aaron Keener it was one moment. One decision made by our government, would spawn two betrayals.

*First Audio Log:*

Aaron Keener: Goddammit. Goddammit…. I was there. I was right there. I could have saved those people. I could have saved the whole fing situation… here’s what I don’t get: How do you get recruit the best of the best and then not allow them to do their f-fing job? Son of a b\*\*\*\*… Thing is, we pull out now, we can’t ever go back. The whole area just becomes one big dark zone. Totally lawless. Jesus, we’re letting them win…!

*Stop Being a p\*. Get a fing grip. Think. Think, goddammit.*

*Idiots. Mother fucking idiots… How dare they.*

*How dare they.*

Aaron Keener saw that the JTF/CERA pull out, ordered by the Division, would mean the lives spent attempting to maintain the zone would have been wasted. Complete and utter waste of some of the most talented and necessary first wave agents. In Keener’s eyes the pull out from the zone would showcase that his actions and values were not regarded, were unneeded, this loss of his allies, comrades, would leave a scar that you still face today.

Keener would construct a new cell from the ashes of this aptly named betrayal, after he forcibly removed two of the three non-cooperative agents, working within his original cell. Its hard to say how many First Wave agents would join Keener’s crusade against the Division, we know you have already taken down at least three, but the ones that remain loyal to the LMB or Keener is still unknown.

*Third Audio Log:*

*Aaron Keener: Progress Report: I’ve spoken to several other agents about the Division’s betrayal. This wasn’t easy, give our cell structure. I only knew agents in my cell. One was supportive. Two were… not.*

*Every war has casualties. As I’ve been reminded.*

*But the one led to others. I’m encouraged. Obviously not everyone will be persuadable, but a 1-in-3 success rate is more than expected. Hmm. I also received an unexpected connection to Col. Charles Bliss of the Last Man Battalion. I’m told his might be a friendly ear. I look forward to bending it.*

Keener’s unity with the LMB should be seen as more of an alliance of convenience, than a unification of goals. The LMB sought to restore order to New York and the Zone, while removing the JTF, CERA or Second Wave as they felt the government had failed their city. But Keener saw Charles Bliss, leader of the LMB as a means to an end, a pawn to be bent towards his will, whatever it may be.

Keener’s Alliance with the LMB could explain their immediate conflict with Second Wave agents, or it could be the second wave’s support of the JTF remnants based out of Camp Hudson, or it could simply be the delusions of Charles Bliss, viewing the JTF and the Second Wave as symptoms of the grander problem, the US government. Either way, with Bliss now presumably dead, second wave agents like you will undoubtedly face the ensuing power vacuum, and the LMB is far from completely eliminated. Keener used his newfound ally to eliminate the Division high command outside of Brooklyn, in what he thought was a crippling blow.

*Fifth Audio Log:*

*Aaron Keener: Progress Report: It looks like the Last Man Battalion’s the best bet, at least in the short term. I’ve set up a line of communication with Lt. Col. Charles Bliss, and it’s proving mutually beneficial. There’s a certain overlap of viewpoints there, and some shared ambition. He’s a man who has a vision of this godforsaken rock, one that I can work with. We’ve already collaborated on one operation in Brooklyn, but taking down a helicopter’s just a first step. Let’s see how far this can go.*

Keeners action in Brooklyn achieve an immediate goal, the Division commander was killed, and with that Keener believed that Second Wave would crumble without leadership. But Division agents have been trained to operate in cells, usually isolated for weeks without changing orders, or the ability to modify their directives in the field. So the killing of the high command is presumably an act of retribution, at least to Keeners delusions, the idea that he avenged those that wasted their lives attempting to hold onto the zone.

Keeners actions against the Division could be written of and some type of advanced PTSD or an inability to follow orders he disagreed with both morally and objectively, but does this make him a villain? Sure he has murdered his fellow agents, and an untold number of innocents, but that line of reasoning can easily be flipped to you. How many have you killed? Looters, Rikers, Cleaners and the LMB. Some of you have even fired upon your fellow agents in the dark zone, presumably for good reason. Do this make you evil or a villain? Perhaps not, but the concept of good and evil are playground terms, through around be naive children wishing to explain away the inconceivable in bit sized morsels of broken truths and generalizations.

For now, the only difference between you and Keener, is that one holds the keys to humanity’s oblivion the other is simply waiting for the right time to act.

More on Aaron Keener, the origins of Green Poison and the missing First Wave, in the next report.