In 2015, in response to the chaos and unrest caused by the outbreak of the Green Poison epidemic (Tom Clancy’s The Division) in New York City, the United States government activated a secret contingent of domestic sleeper agents under the Strategic Homeland Division (SHD; or “the Division”) to preserve order and continuity of government. Division agents leverage advanced technology and wide autonomy to deal with threats as they see fit, and are supplemented by the Intelligent System Analytic Computer (ISAC), an advanced AI system that manages their technology and communications nationwide.
However, by 2016, the Green Poison has sparked a global pandemic, and most sense of law and order has collapsed. Most of the federal government’s leadership is dead or missing, including Acting U.S. President Andrew Ellis, feared missing or dead after Air Force One is shot down in Washington, D.C. The city itself is now lawless and has been divided into territories across five factions: the Joint Task Force (JTF), a combined task force of police, fire and rescue, National Guard, disaster response organizations, and volunteers that attempts to protect civilians and reestablish order, based in the White House; the Civilian Militia, a loose militia that supports the JTF, based in settlements across the city; the Hyenas, a loose coalition of gangs, criminals, and anarchists taking advantage of the chaos for amusement and profit, based in the District Union Arena; the Outcasts, fanatical survivors of severe quarantines that seek revenge on those they deem responsible for their imprisonment and eventual infection, based on Roosevelt Island; and the True Sons, an organized and ruthless group of disgruntled and corrupt JTF, U.S. military, and paramilitary mutineers who believe order can only be restored through brutal authoritarianism, based in the Capitol.
Seven months after the Green Poison outbreak, several Division agents are defending a civilian settlement from a bandit attack when ISAC suddenly shuts down. The player Agent receives a Division distress call from Washington, D.C., as a new and larger force begins to attack the JTF’s settlement. At a fellow agent’s urging, they abandon the battle to travel to D.C. and help the JTF fend off an attack by the Hyenas. The Agent is briefed by Manny Ortega, the city’s Division controller, who informs them of the situation in the city. Ortega instructs the Agent to work with fellow agent Alani Kelso to assist civilian settlements, liberate the city from criminal factions, and restore ISAC.
Ortega and Kelso uncover information that a cure to Green Poison might be located somewhere in the city, and that President Ellis may have survived the crash but is being held prisoner. Kelso is reluctant to waste time and resources to find Ellis, but Ortega notes his security clearance may be needed to access the cure. The Agent eventually rescues Ellis from the Hyenas. Ellis confirms that broad spectrum antivirals to cure not just Green Poison, but all viral infections, exist; however, he can only access them with a special briefcase in the Capitol, which is occupied by the True Sons. After the Agent fully restores ISAC, reconnecting Division agents across the country, Ellis vows to restore the United States, no matter the cost. The Agent, JTF, and the Civilian Militia assault the strongholds of the Hyenas, True Sons, and Outcasts, killing most of their leadership and allowing the recovery of Ellis’ briefcase.
As the Agent and the Division celebrate their victory, a new faction, the technologically advanced private military company Black Tusk, invades the city. Many of D.C.’s landmarks are quickly seized and Ellis suddenly goes missing with his briefcase, forcing the Agent to head out to find Ellis and repel Black Tusk. The Agent eventually learns that Black Tusk supplied weapons to the gangs of D.C. and were responsible for sabotaging ISAC, Ellis has been working with Black Tusk all along, and that Ellis’ predecessor, President Mendez, did not commit suicide as previously believed, but was assassinated by his own Secret Service detail on Black Tusk’s orders. Thanks to Ellis, Black Tusk gains possession of the broad spectrum antivirals, planning to transport them out of the city. The Agent successfully raids Black Tusk’s stronghold at Tidal Basin, retrieving the antivirals and preventing a missile strike on the White House, but Ellis’ location remains unknown.
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