| abstract
| - Ten days prior to the events of the main game, Third Echelon agent Archer and Voron agent Kestrel are deployed to Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, Russia to halt rogue elements of the Russian military from selling advanced warheads on the black market. Intelligence from Andriy Kobin has pointed to drug and human trafficker Valentin Lesovsky as the broker for the sale, and Archer and Kestrel are to terminate Lesovsky and his associate, Boris Sychev, as well as gaining Lesovsky's contact list. Having completed their mission, Archer and Kestrel are deployed to the Russian embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan to gather intelligence on an arms deal conducted by former Russian GRU colonel Leonid Bykhov. They observe the deal and see Bhykov betray his associate, Tagizade, ordering his men to kill him. Archer and Kestrel prevent the destruction of the weapons crates, learning that the weapons Bhykov was going to sell were Block II JDAM missile guidance kits. They interrogate Bhykov, learning that he is working with Major General Kerzakov, who is in the Yastreb Complex, an underground fortress situated underneathMoscow's Red Square. They infiltrate the complex and learn the location of the EMP warheads. They render the JDAM kits inoperable by using their portable EMP devices, and download data from multiple servers to trace the EMP devices to the Mozdok Proving Grounds. Sneaking aboard a supply truck, they infiltrate the Proving Grounds and secure the EMP devices with the help of Kobin. During their extraction, Third Echelon director Tom Reed (James A. Woods) calls Archer and orders him to kill Kestrel; concurrently, Kestrel reads Archer's OPSAT device, forcing him to act in self-defense. Whilst either player can die, the canon ending has Kestrel fatally shooting Archer; overcome with grief and unaware Kobin has entered, Kestrel is executed with a gunshot to the head. The main game itself, takes place three years after the events of Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Former Navy SEAL Victor Coste is held in a Black Arrow facility interrogation room as he is interviewed by an unidentified group of men, recalling events in the past tense. After having disappeared, Sam Fisher is remotely located by former Third Echelon colleague Anna "Grim" Grimsdóttír in a marketplace situated Valetta, Malta. He is warned that a group of hitmen have located him. Sam dispatches them and interrogates the leader, learning that drug runner Andriy Kobin was responsible for the death of his daughter, Sarah. Sam learns that Kobin is present in his mansion, a re-purposed museum. Upon infiltrating the mansion, Sam interrogates Kobin and learns that the situation was "bigger than his daughter," prior to being captured by Third Echelon agents. Sam is relocated to Price Airfield in Virginia, where Grim reveals that she is working with President Caldwell as a mole for Third Echelon, and that she needs his help with investigating a PMC named Black Arrow. A reluctant Sam refuses to help her, but relents after being told that Sarah is alive, and that she would prove it to him during the course of the investigation. Grim facilitates Sam's escape from the airfield by providing him weapons and access to her car. At Grim's request, Sam beats her to make it appear that he escaped by force, to prevent Grim's cover from being blown. After this point, Sam calls in his former squadmate for assistance in the investigation, in part of Victor having rescued him during the events of Operation Desert Storm. Sam meets with Victor at a county fair in the Washington Monument in Washington D.C., receives some equipment, and learns that White Box Technologies, a research-and-division company specializing in EMPs, hired Black Arrow for corporate security, which is considered to be out of character as Black Arrow does not provide it. Sam heads to White Box Technologies and witnesses multiple scientists having been murdered by Third Echelon director Tom Reed and Black Arrow operatives. Fisher saves one of the scientists and learns that Lucius Galliard hired Black Arrow to provide security, and that Robertson has been collecting and disposing of experimental data with EMP countermeasures. Sam reaches Robertson's office and downloads the data for Grim's analysts to study. He later triggers an EMP to prevent Black Arrow's tracing of the download in order to maintain Grimsdottir's cover. In 2010, Cuba is free, or at least it is supposed to be. Since Fidel Castro's death in 2006, the island of Cuba is wary of the communist rule it had been under for nearly 50 years. It is time for the first free and open elections since Carlos Prio Socarras, who was overthrown by Fulgencio Batista in the early 1950s. The FDP (El Frente Democratico del Pueblo or People's Democratic Front) has fronted a man named Priego as their candidate. The FDP are an outspoken anti-American political faction that wishes to return the Cuban working class to power and end capitalist inequalities, or so they claim. Although the FDP publicly denies utilizing violence as a means of coercion, the reality is quite the contrary, as the Ghosts quickly discover the FDP violently attacking election stations. In reality the FDP are a puppet organization run by Colombian drug cartels who wish to take over Cuba to use as a vast drug depot. Its up to the Ghosts to make sure the elections occur and protect the Cuban civilians from the cartel's puppets. Taking place just after Island Thunder in Bogotá, Colombia, the drug cartel that had aided and financed the FDP in their efforts in Cuba has initiated a number of terrorist attacks against the Colombian government who have allied themselves with the U.S.A. After Colombia's call for help following an attack on a U.S. Embassy, America responds by deploying the Ghosts to restore order and put the cartel out of business. Taking place six months after the events of Splinter Cell: Conviction, the game opens as Sam Fisher and Victor Coste leave Andersen Air Force Base, when a terrorist organization suddenly assaults the base. Assisted by hacking specialist Charlie Cole, Sam and Vic manage to escape, but Vic is injured shielding Sam from a grenade. Soon after, a faction called "The Engineers" takes responsibility, and announces a series of attacks on the United States called "The Blacklist," which will continue until the U.S. Government recalls all troops deployed abroad. US President Caldwell assigns Fisher, Cole, Isaac Briggs and Anna Grímsdóttir to a new special ops & counter-terrorism unit called "Fourth Echelon." Charged with stopping The Engineers, the group uses the "Paladin" cargo plane as a command center. Fourth Echelon first aims to secure Andriy Kobin, a CIA hostage believed to hold information on The Engineers. Fisher extracts him from a safe house in Benghazi, and learns that his associates have ties to The Engineers. Infiltrating an insurgent stronghold, Sam finds an executed US soldier and, upon watching a recording, learns the executioner is Majid Sadiq; a former MI6 agent, Sadiq demands Fourth Echelon cease interfering. Despite intel suggesting Dallas as the next target, Cole notes Engineer tampering with the Chicago "do not fly" list. Believing the target is a water filtration plant near Navy Pier, Fisher infiltrates and prevents a biological agent being released into the water supply. Kobin then reveals that Reza Nouri, a mercenary supplier, may also be tied to the Engineers. Sam assaults Nouri's mansion and, when Nouri's mansion is assaulted by Quds Force agents, extracts Nouri for information. Learning of an Engineer sleeper cell in London, Fisher infiltrates an abandoned mill and discovers chemical bombs in the shipping bay. Opening a bomb to plant a tracking device, Fisher exposes himself to nerve gas. Incapacitated and dying, Fisher is captured by Sadiq, only to be rescued by Briggs; in the ensuing confrontation, Briggs lets Sadiq escape to provide first-aid to Fisher. Fully healed, Fisher infiltrates the former US embassy in Tehran, now occupied by the Quds Force. Fisher rips data from the building mainframe, hoping to find information on the Blacklist; the rip yields no Blacklist data, absolving Iran of involvement. The GPS tracked bomb then arrives with three others at Philadelphia. Finding four bombs being loaded onto trains, Fisher and Briggs follow the bombs to a transit yard and disarm them. Boarding a departing train of Engineers, Fisher fights through the cars and pursues an Engineer leader, who escapes into a station only to be killed by a police officer. Briggs uses his CIA credentials to have Fisher committed to Guantanamo Bay, allowing Fisher to further interrogate Nouri. Nouri confirms Sadiq is head of the Engineers, and reveals Sadiq knows the identities of Fourth Echelon's leaders. Escaping the prison, Briggs and Fisher reach the Paladin in Yucatán, only to narrowly escape when the plane is attacked. Taking off, the Paladin suffers a cyberattack directly from Sadiq. Computers and engines failing, Fourth Echelon narrowly restarts the plane with Kobin's help, only to find Sadiq has already executed a Blacklist attack on the largest US gas reserve (in Louisiana). As the President starts continuity of government procedures, Fisher shuts down the burning plant, averting a chain reaction to the next reserve. Capturing another high-rank Engineer, Fisher learns Sadiq's final plan: expose all US military secrets. Meanwhile, Sadiq kidnaps a group of high level personnel, including the Secretary Of Defense, and holds them at the Site F government bunker under Denver International Airport. Despite direct orders from the President, Fourth Echelon infiltrates the base by a blackout landing. Despite Cole counter-hacking Sadiq's team, Sadiq's men capture Briggs and torture the Secretary of Defense into authorizing the transfer. Briggs intervenes, killing the Secretary and stopping Sadiq's plan. The Engineers attempt to flee Site F using Briggs and the hostages as human shields. Fisher, disguised as a Air Force hostage, helps the Delta Force marksmen open fire on Sadiq and his men. Sadiq escapes on foot after wounding Briggs, before Fisher disarms and seriously wounds Sadiq. Sadiq boasts that he has already won: if he dies, twelve nations backing The Engineers will declare war on the US, but if he is put on trial, he will leak US information. Out of options, Fisher spares Sadiq but employs Fifth Freedom, unofficially imprisoning him. President Caldwell publicly covers Sadiq's imprisonment by announcing his death, and the game closes as Fourth Echelon continue their ongoing operation and in the post-credit scene, Vic and Fisher prepare to interrogate Sadiq. Interlocking with the main plot, the co-op missions begin with Fisher and Briggs infiltrating Kashmir. Finding a group of smugglers tied to the Engineers, Fisher and Briggs discover intelligence tying them to a rogue branch of Voron, before escaping during a drone assault. Following a lead to a friendly missile base in Bangalore, the duo enters to find the Indian inhabitants dead, and the Voron agents stealing a warhead from a missile. Securing the missile and learning the branch is led by a man named Cherski, Fisher and Briggs escape as the building is detonated and the Indian authorities arrive. Unaware of Cherski's identity, Fisher and Briggs track him to a Voron base in Chittagong, and locate his residence in nearby apartments. Breaching Cherski's panic room, the duo finds two individuals and, uncertain which one is Cherski, begin interrogating both. After learning of a secret base in Russia, Briggs or Fisher is disarmed by his hostage, with the other operative being forced to kill the gunman. Reaching an abandoned naukograd, Fisher and Briggs survive a drone attack intended to kill them. Infiltrating further, the duo finds a secure medical facility hidden inside, said to hold an OpSat containing vital Voron information. Reaching a center of the lab, it is discovered that the base instead contains a comatose man. Extracting the patient, Fisher and Briggs, yet again, narrowly escape as the base self-destructs. Returning the patient to the Paladin, Grim identifies him as Mikhail "Kestrel" Loskov, and Kobin confirms his identity, noting they have history together (See: Splinter Cell: Conviction). After questioning Kobin, who asks if Kestrel's gunshot wound has made him permanently unconscious, Fisher suspiciously notes that nobody told Kobin how Kestrel was incapacitated.
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