Author's Note

This is the big one here. I think the only mission that won't change much is the Samedi one (then again, the only named character to die in that mission was a bad guy).

SR2: The Pushback

Starlight was waiting outside a local movie theater for Carlos, who she had a date with. As she was wondering what was taking so long, her phone rang and the ID showed Carlos' number. "Hey, where are you, baby?" 'I think I'm a little old to be a baby,' came Jessica's voice. Starlight's mood turned sour. "You'd better have a good reason why you have my boyfriend's phone..." 'First off, I should probably set the record straight. I do kinda dig the new tattoo you gave my boyfriend. Sexy, rugged, tough... So I thought I'd return the favor.'

Starlight's hand clenched as Jessica chuckled. 'Of course, I don't have access to the same materials, but I figure I can make do. Oh, and when you see your boss again, remind him that Maero offered him a chance to be partners.' Jessica hung up, and Starlight wasted no time in calling up Donnie. "Have you heard if the Brotherhood got any new mechanics?" 'I think they have a regular shop in Charlestown,' Donnie replied, 'Why?' "I need to make a visit..." The venom in her voice was obvious.

Starlight had already called Boss to let him know what was happening. When he drove up, it was clear Starlight was not happy about her boyfriend being kidnapped. She stormed out, still angry but less so. "I'm guessing you found something?" "They're dragging him around the docks area," Starlight replied, "We have to hurry." They found the car soon enough, Carlos chained to the back fender.

Boss drove up to the driver and started shooting the truck, soon enough forcing it to stop as the driver was killed and the engine perforated. Starlight jumped out of the car and quickly used her telekinesis to rip the back fender off while Boss called the hospital. "You'll be okay," Starlight said to Carlos as she applied a little magic to his face to stop the bleeding. "Motherfuckers...," Carlos muttered through his blood, "They jumped me outside the station. Jessica was there. She was talking about using this to send a message."

The ambulance arrived soon enough, and Starlight joined her boyfriend as they got the chain off and his body onto a gurney. As they drove off, Boss contacted Speedy. "I'm gonna have to put your current job on hold," he said, "We have more important matters." 'What's up?,' Speedy asked. "The Brotherhood just keelhauled Carlos," Boss explained, "I think he may just live, but the important thing is we need to let Maero know we won't be intimidated. See if you can have your crew find Jessica." 'Sure, I'll get right on it.'

Starlight's rampage through the Brotherhood's chop shop let the Saints move in on Charlestown. The doctors confirmed Carlos had survived the worst of his experience and would likely make a full recovery within the next few days, though he would have visible scars from the skin grafts for at least a month before healing. In the meantime he needed to stay under observation, which meant Speedy was asked to pick up the slack until Carlos recovered.

And as it happened, Speedy's investigations bore some early fruit. He brought Boss and Starlight over to the docks in Poseidon Alley. "Check it out. Starlight's little tussle at the shop got Maero a little nervous, so he went to check on the place. After he left, I saw him go down to the docks for some kinda deal. I don't know the specifics, but a convoy is heading there right now. All we need to do is hijack a Brotherhood truck, join the convoy, and we can infiltrate the meeting place and take out the Brotherhood there."

There were some Brotherhood around the truck Speedy indicated, but nothing the three of them couldn't handle. Once they had the truck, they waited for the convoy and snuck in line. They followed the Brotherhood until they reached a warehouse at the docks, then started shooting up the place. Once all was said and done, the Saints were able to grab Poseidon Alley, which they marked with a couple tags. They also met two more contacts.

Needing time to unwind, Boss met with Johnny and Starlight as they headed for Aisha's house. "Aisha's doesn't mind if I stop by, right?," Boss asked. "Nah," Johnny replied, "She doesn't get out much, so she always appreciates company." He then spotted something off. The front door was slightly ajar. Starlight carefully looked in the nearby window and gasped. The house was crawling with Ronin. Aisha was tied up at the dinner table, Jyunichi sitting across from her, waiting.

Starlight used her magic to wiggle Aisha's ear, letting her know they already knew about the ambush. The three of them got out their guns and Johnny opened the door. "Eesh, you home?" The idea was to make it sound like they were coming in casually, which put the Ronin on alert. Jyunichi started drawing his sword. He was disturbed by how quiet everyone, even his hostage, was being. 'Shouldn't she have tried warning them yet?' He didn't know the woman behind him was supposed to be dead, just that she was someone important to Johnny, thus Shogo wanted her killed to send a message.

Doing so for such a reason didn't sit well with Jyunichi's honor, but if she tried something stupid like ignoring his warnings it would have given him the right excuse. As he was contemplating this, he suddenly felt weightless as Starlight grabbed his sword out of his hand, then threw him against the wall. Boss and Johnny came in right behind her, shooting any Ronin that was nearby. Starlight got to Aisha and used the katana to cut her free. One Ronin came in with an overhead slice, but Starlight blocked it and then shot the man point-blank.

Johnny got disarmed by another Ronin, but he countered with a throat punch then stole his blade. Jyunichi, having recovered, pulled out his other sword and started dueling Johnny while Starlight kept Aisha out of the way and Boss continued killing the other Ronin. Once they were all gone, Boss noticed he had a clear shot at Jyunichi. "Johnny, outta the way!," he called out. Johnny turned to look at him, only to get impaled by Jyunichi while he was distracted.

"Johnny!," Aisha called out. Johnny fought through the pain, slamming his hands against Jyunichi's head, causing him to let go of the sword and start running out. Johnny collapsed as Boss looked at him, then called for an ambulance. As they waited more Ronin decided to show up and finish the job, but Starlight and Boss started holding them off. The ambulance seemed to be taking too long, but luckily Pierce was driving along the area and noticed the commotion, shooting down a couple Ronin lieutenants as he approached.

"Shit, why are the Ronin stepping on our turf?," he asked. "We'll explain later," Boss said, "We need to get Johnny to the hospital." Pierce nodded as Johnny was loaded into his car, Aisha right next to him. Pierce hit the gas and got driving as the Ronin chased after him, only to get blasted by Boss and Starlight using the rocket launcher in Pierce's trunk. Finally, Pierce pulled in front of the hospital as the Ronin finally gave up.

There was much commotion as Johnny was rushed to the operating room. For starters, a lot of people recognized Aisha and were shocked to find she was still alive. Second, with the Ronin so busy trying to take Johnny out, that left a lot of room for the Saints to take Filmore, and they let everyone know by taking another tag. At the hospital, Pierce shook his head. "Gat wasn't looking too good. What happened?"

"The Ronin swarmed his house," Boss explained, "I tried to take out their lieutenants, but I only wound up distracting Johnny, causing him to get stabbed." "Least the doctor's say he'll make it easily," Pierce noted, "The katana missed his vitals and he didn't lose nearly enough blood to be in any danger. So what now?" "Now I want you to look into Kazuo Akuji," Boss said, "He's supposed to be coming to Stilwater, and I wanna know when."

Boss and Starlight headed down into their hideout where Shaundi was checking on their loa dust production. "First they target my boyfriend and then they target my mom," Starlight muttered, "What's next, my best friend?" As she said this, they heard someone call out, "Bitch!" They hurried down to see Veteran Child, having just knocked out Shaundi. He noticed them, then grabbed here and a gun to her head.

"Back off, man!," he warned, "Back the FUCK off!" He slowly walked up the stairs as the duo tried to move in closer using cover. "You really think you're walking outta here?," Boss asked. "Unless you wanna bullet in this bitch, you're goddamn right I am," Veteran Child warned. "You're probably planning on killing her anyway," Starlight noted, "We've got nothing to lose by trying to shoot you."

Veteran Child's eyes widened as he realized Starlight was right, so he switched tactics and started firing to keep her and Boss at cover while he moved to escape. "Do you know who the fuck I am?" "Before long it ain't gonna matter," Boss quipped as he started to get close. Veteran Child quickly shot an overhead fire pit, causing it to drop and nearly hit Boss. Veteran Child used the chance to escape.

Boss and Starlight quickly followed him outside, but he had already driven off. However, he soon called Boss up. "If you wanna see Shaundi again, you better come to Cocks." He then hung up. "I think that was the DJ Veteran Child," Starlight noted, "There have been rumors that he runs with the Samedi. Looks like we just confirmed it." "His bosses probably only wanted Shaundi dead," Boss said, "Guess he thought he could also take us out."

He quickly called up Lin. "Lin, Veteran Child kidnapped Shaundi and he wants us to meet him at Cocks." 'It's gotta be a trap,' Lin noted. "No doubt," Boss agreed, "But for now it's the only lead we got. Can you find any other place VC would take our girl?" 'No problem,' Lin said, 'I'll have it for you by the time you're done.' As they drove off, Starlight took the time to call up Veteran Child. "Bad move leaving your number on our ID."

Veteran Child sounded smug. 'You think I'm scared of you?' "I was once called a witch by the crazier of the Lopez brother," Starlight noted, "And with good reason. If you're not scared, then you're even dumber than I thought." There was some nervousness in his voice, but Veteran Child nonetheless said, "You think you can intimidate the triple platinum Veteran Child?" Starlight snickered. "I'm betting your bosses do it all the time."

Sure enough, there were only Samedi at Cocks. Once they were done, Boss called up Lin. 'Good timing, I just got word that Veteran Child was scheduled to spin at On Track tonight. If he's holding Shaundi anywhere, that's it.' "Thanks Lin," Boss replied. He then called up Veteran Child. "Is a bunch of coked up college kids the best you got?" Veteran Child was clearly freaked. 'Shit...' "You'll have it all over your pants when I see you at On Track," Boss quipped, "Hope you wear 'em brown."

Veteran Child was waiting at the lower floor of the club, still holding Shaundi hostage. However, Starlight expected this, and came prepared with a few flashbang grenades. Using them to blind Veteran Child and separate him from Shaundi, Starlight then flung him across the room and put a quick bullet in his head. With the DJ dead, Boss helped Shaundi. "You okay?" "I'll be fine," Shaundi said, "But my ex-boyfriend's a dick."

"I can't believe you let him get the drop on you," Boss noted. Shaundi scoffed. "I hardly 'let' him. He planned it out so I'd be alone and off-guard. I wasn't expecting trouble in our hideout so I didn't have any guns. Also I'm a little higher than usual, so..." As they left the club, Starlight noted The General's limo passing by. She smirked and waved at them. She had a feeling they were upset at losing their biggest dealer, and it was only the beginning.