Bane of One's Life

**Joker**: "*Damn, look around. All these civies are scared as fuck. If those guys wanted to hit hard, they managed to do so. Where the hell is the humanity?*"
**Karma**: "*Buried years ago.*"
**Joker**: "*\*Hmm\* Amen to that.*"
— Joker to Karma while walking through the civilian shelter.

**Bane of One's Life** is the fifth mission in Warzone: Iron Wolf II. The mission resolves around Mark "Karma" Owen and his team investigating suspicious activity in the harbor of Singapore after a intel from the GCDP Intelligence Agency.

## Cutscene

The screen opens with a boy watching a loop of the Terminus broadcast on youtube. A new announcer reports on the video, commenting that the Convention is dismissing the unit as dangerous for civilian lives and that the threat is being taken care of. Harrison Decker is then heard, saying that Terminus hasn't shown it's face for a few months now. Karma asks wether or not that's a good thing, to which Decker replies he doesn't know.

It cuts to Karma grabbing his gear with Kozak, asking who is in charge of the Agency. Kozak responds, telling him that they're some shady guys putting their noses in the deepest holes of the earth, uncovering every dirty secret. Karma asks if that means the possibility of a threat in Singapore is real, to which Kozak replies that giving the Agency's reputation, they should be there fast enough to prevent anything that is about to go down.

They leave the room and step into a briefing room, where Decker is waiting alongside a new face. He is introduced by Decker as Casper de Rhoon, one of the best Combat Analysts at Vanguard's disposal, who is going to help them anticipate on any situations that might unfold in Singapore. Karma shakes hands and they head towards their transport. Kozak turns to Karma, saying that something tells him that it is going to get ugly. De Rhoon turns around, saying that Kozak can't get any uglier. Kozak laughs cynically and says quote-on-quote Joker, indicating De Rhoon's reputation.

## Overview

The mission starts in media res with Karma's vision blurred. Vaguely in the background, civilians are screaming while Karma is trying to regain his senses. He stands up, clears his vision and the sound goes back to normal. He is overlooking a street in disarray and a cloud of green smoke spreading. Joker grabs his arm and pulls him back, saying they got to go. They run away from the smoke, shouting to civilians to get inside. They step inside a building, closing the door. Joker reports to Decker, saying that the cell detonated. The other end stays quiet and Joker sighs, saying they got to move.

Joker leads the way through the building. Civilians are taking shelter in the hallways, crying and panicking. Joker remarks what happened earlier, questioning how the enemies managed to bypass police forces after they had been notified by Vanguard. Karma comments that the chemical cells were high-tech, suspecting that this isn't an ordinary attack. Joker asks if Karma suspects Terminus, but before Karma can respond, the radio goes over. It's an announcer telling them the gas is identified as a nerve gas, advising operatives to enter the streets with their gas masks. Joker comments that was the green light, and they put on their masks before going back outside.

The streets look like humanity vanished in an instance, with cars parked in the middle of the street and all kinds of trash and equipment dropped immediately. A green haze is covering the streets and after scanning the area some more, a few bodies catch the eye. Joker contacts Decker again, but fails to do so. He then puts out a message to the Agency's channel, asking a SitRep. A few seconds later, a voice on the other end sends an image and location of a man named Leng Zhao, who's marked as an HVT and has to be captured. Without questioning the order, they decide to head to the location, coming by a group of hostiles regrouping.

After briefly counting hostiles, they engage the group, killing them. Joker says that the enemies are clueless what to do, suspecting that the plan's execution was hastened and thus not fully effective. Karma responds, saying that since the whole city is polluted, they couldn't be more effective. Due to the noise of the shootout, the duo is then ambushed by another group of hostiles. They engage, while suddenly via the radio you can hear Kozak curse for it to work. Joker tells him it is working, to which Kozak responds surprised. Through Kozak, Decker tells the duo that they will rendezvous near the target location in a few minutes.

Karma and Joker make their way to the target building, where they almost engage the other Vanguard team. Joker asks what happened, to which Decker replies that the cells all simultaneously, while enemies were still in vicinity of the blast. Due to the blast, their radios scrambled and they got the order to find and capture Zhao. With no time to waste, they head to the proposed building where Zhao is. Decker notes that the nerve gas is getting thinner each step they get closer to the location, guessing that that's the reason Zhao is hiding there.

They arrive at the building, which is surroundings is largely gas-free. They go inside, engaging enemies in the hallways. They search the building, eventually finding out where Zhao is hiding. With the help of an ultrasound grenade, they find that Zhao has fortified the room, planning on ambushing them. They set the explosives on a wall instead of the door, effectively breaching from the side. The tactic works and they clear the room, grabbing Zhao.

Decker tells the Agency that they got Zhao and standing by for extraction. In the meantime, Zhao taunts Karma, who's holding him, saying that all the suffering of the people in Singapore is because of them. They receive the location of the LZ. Zhao tries to taunt Karma again, but Karma grabs him and throws him of the balcony, non-lethal height, to silence him. The rest of the team jumps after him and Joker picks up the languishing Zhao, smirking due to Karma's temper. They follow down the street, but suddenly a large mass of enemies converge on their position.

They engage the enemies, but suddenly a large gas cloud fills up the street. Quickly, Joker puts a gas mask on Zhao before he is affected by it. While trying to figure out where it came from, they are pinned down the enemies. They regain the upper hand and make their way to the LZ, where a group of enemies is waiting. However before Vanguard can engage, a group of choppers arrive, firing at the enemies. They circle around and a squad of soldier rappel down. Karma asks who they are. Decker responds saying they are Agency operatives and Joker adds that they call 'em Shadows Corps, remarking that it's the first time he has seen them.

One chopper lands in front of them and a man steps out of it. Decker refers to him as Agent Whistler, telling him they got the HVT. Whistler tells them to put him in the chopper. Kozak takes him into the chopper, while Whistler remarks that it is a sad day for the world. Decker asks what they should do, but Whistler responds that he and the Agency will clear up the mess, while they can go home. After Decker asks what they'll do with Zhao, Whistler laughs and says that that is professional secrecy. Whistler steps back in the chopper and it takes off. While the screen fades out, Decker tells the group that this might just be the beginning of something.

## Characters

* Mark "Karma" Owen
* Harrison Decker
* Jacek "Kozak" Blaszczykowski
* Casper "Joker" De Rhoon
* Tom Whistler
* Leng Zhao

## Achievements

* **Touch of Death** (15 File:Gamerscore.png/Bronze File:Trophy bronze.png) - Complete **Bane of One's Life** on any difficulty.

## Intel

Report: Hotel-Delta. Designation: Singapore Operation. Protocol: Investigation. June 13th 2043.

AA Report: CO Phantom Team. AA Protocol: Recovery. Status: CLOSED.

Confidential SOCVF issue.

Our received intel issued by the Agency indicated trafficking activity in the harbor of Singapore. Police interference hadn't been issued, opening a possible timeframe for the cells to be transported before our arrival. Personal suspicion: the assailants must have been aware of our arrival. Official designation: Bad-timing. Transporters were identified around 7 to 9 minutes after arrival at 0231 PM local time.

My judgement of the situation was according to protocol. The operatives were fully qualified to operate solo in these conditions. The threat at that moment was still unknown, the operation protocol was to recover, not terminate. We set out to halt the vehicles. Collateral damage in the form of civilians hindered direct confrontation and thus the command was to keep a low profile.

The cargo was identified after Singapore police stopped one vehicle, in range of neither Vanguard team. With minor coordination, we halted the respective vehicles we were tailing. Trainings and simulations have proven that the operatives are capable of acting coherently and appropriately. While exact moment of detonation hasn't been tracked, they seem to have detonated simultaneously. Assailants were caught in the blast radius and all operatives confirm nobody flicked a switch on the devices.

Personal request: Communication between SOCV teams and IA is essential to prevent disasters like this. We demand to know any knowledge of the identity and motivations of the perpetrators.