Mission 2:
Tyrant Jetliner
In a flashback, Saxon is onboard the Tyrant jetliner and remembers that Janus asked him to investigate and find evidence of the Tyrants' atrocities in Namir's private office, by accessing the "Killing Floor" computer system.
On his way through the aircraft, he stops to speak with Barrett and Federova, who both rebuff him and send him on his way.
Saxon eventually accesses Namir's office and logs onto his computer, where he discovers a draft of an email the latter sent out informing the other Tyrants about his abilities. Saxon realizes that the mission that led to the death of his SAS unit wasn't an accident, and that Namir knew the truth but never told him.
As he heads towards the back of the aircraft, Saxon realizes that Namir was lying to him the whole time and led him on. When he arrives in the rear cargo bay, Saxon confronts him and asks why he was led to attempt an assassination on Kontarsky. Namir tells him that he's a good soldier, but he doesn't know how to make sacrifices.
The conversation escalates, and Saxon pointedly asks Namir what happened during Operation Rainfall. The latter says that he was the one who planned and executed the operation as a "trial by fire", but then says that Saxon has failed the Tyrants.
Saxon decides to escape, and throws a grenade towards Namir. The Tyrant leader jumps out of the way as the cargo bay depressurizes, and Saxon uses the opportunity to leap out before activating his Icarus Landing System to slow his descent to the ocean...
Back in the present, Anna tells Saxon that she remembers how the landing impact damaged his neuro hub and she had to fix it. She then tells him that they're still being hunted by Belltower, and they need to go on the offensive. She asks him to think of any information that could help them, and he mentions that the Tyrants have major operations in Australia due to their involvement in Operation Rainfall.
At that moment, Anna starts developing seizures because of a lack of Neuropozyne. Saxon gets her shots and she thanks him, then says that Janus was supposed to find a shipment of the drug for them. Saxon offers to contact Janus, even though he hasn't heard from the hacker in months.
He heads to the basement and uses a computer to try Janus' frequency, and the hacker re-establishes contact. They discuss Anna's condition, and Janus tells him that the Neuropozyne shortage is getting worse everywhere.
Janus suggests breaking into a LIMB clinic to find an alternative treatment, but Saxon rebuffs him and says doing so would put their lives in danger again. Janus then says he has a contact in Panama City who may be able to secure the drug for them...
Tropes:
- Adaptation Distillation: Whereas Gunther was present for Saxon's discovery and subsequent escape in the book, here he has been Put on a Bus (to get new implants) before the mission begins.
- As You Know: For any player who hasn't read Icarus Effect, Anna helpfully reiterates the plot summary of several chapters for no one else's benefit.
- Broad Strokes: The game implies that the mission happens right after Kontarsky's assassination, but in the novel Ben's defection from the Tyrants takes place much later. Also, in the novel Namir discovers Ben in the ops room accessing the Killing Floor and Ben has to fight past Namir, Gunther Hermann, Scott Hardesty and Barrett to reach the cargo hold and escape. In the mission, however, Gunther and Hardesty aren't on the plane at all (while Fedorova, who in the novel was on a mission at the time, is), Ben's intrusion into the ops room goes undetected and he instead confronts Namir directly in the cargo hold before escaping immediately without a fight. These alterations were likely done to make the story more accessible to people who haven't read Icarus Effect, as well as to preserve gameplay pacing.
- Bullying a Dragon: The player can choose to anger Barrett by arguing with him about Kontarsky's death, which leads to Barrett threatening to leave you behind for the Russians the next time the group goes on a mission.
- Call-Forward: The email from Gunther mentions that he's going to get new augmentations installed because he feels like the laughing stock of the group, something that also happens in a similar fashion in the original game.
- Continuity Nod: One of Anna's audio logs references Matt Ryan, her partner who died in Icarus Effect.
- Foreshadowing: In an audiolog, Saxon says that he's been having dreams of his former SAS buddy, Sam Duarte, being tortured...
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: After the jetliner flashback, Anna mentions that the injury caused by the landing fried all of Saxon's augs and he had to start re-learning all his abilities again. However, the player still has all their augmentation upgrades earned so far, and this has no other visible effect on gameplay.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Played with. Namir writes in an email that rescuing Saxon was done because it was the right thing to do.
- The Man Behind the Man: Anna mentions that whoever runs the Killing Floor is pulling the Tyrants' strings. Anyone who's played the other games knows this is referring to the Illuminati.
- Manipulative Bastard: Namir, who was behind Operation Rainbird (the SAS operation that resulted in its failure and the death of Saxon's unit), and had been leading Saxon on for months.
- "Not So Different" Remark: In an audiolog, Namir tells Saxon that they're much the same because they both faced similarly-tragic events in their past.
- Precision F-Strike: Saxon calls Namir and the rest of the Tyrants "heartless fucking bastards" (in a rare moment of losing his cool) before escaping from the jetliner.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: While Gunther Hermann's absence (unlike the novel, where he's present during Saxon's escape) is explained by having him be Put on a Bus, Scott Hardesty is nowhere to be seen in any of the flashbacks, and he is never mentioned, unlike his presence in the book.
- You Have Failed Me: Namir says this to Saxon just before the latter jumps out of the jetliner.
