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Brian Johnson

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“
We serve at the pleasure of the President, we work for Homeland, we work for Cal. It doesn't matter if ISAC thinks you're on mission, the minute you allied with Kelso, you went Rogue. You think I'm evil because I'm a Hunter?
We're the only ones still on mission. If an Agent steps out of line, we're here to clean up the mess.
- Johnson, as he is about to face the agents
 ”

Brian Johnson, also known as The Recruiter, was a former Strategic Homeland Division agent turned member and designated recruiter for Calvin McManus's mysterious Hunter Program. He was the Prime Target of Puppeteers.

After the events at Coney Island Amusement Park and Camp White Oak, which resulted in the death of a fellow Hunter and Faye Lau, The Recruiter was tasked by McManus to observe and train B.T.S.U. Operative Jack Bonney as a potential candidate for the program.

History[]

Like many kids growing up in Santa Cruz, Brian Johnson too up surfing at an early age, and he was set on becoming a professional. But a bad breakup had him rashly enlisting in the navy and later joining the Police Department in Baltimore, where he became a sniper with their quick response team.

He was recruited by the Strategic Homeland Division along the way, where he participated in early demonstrations of the Descent combat simulation alongside Vivian Conley. One demonstration had him being tested with a .50 cal round in the simulation to assess the simulated pain a field operative can feel while wearing the telemetric suits. He felt the pain, which pleased both Claire Ortiz and Calvin McManus.

Once the outbreak was unleashed, he spent his time in the early days trying to combat the growing chaos while watching his friends succumb to the disease. In that time, Brian saw things that emotionally scarred him deeply, and he was still processing that trauma.

The early days of the outbreak were hard days for Brian. All his friends in Baltimore, especially at the BPD died and he stayed at Fort Meade, trying to forget those terrible things. Some day, two Division agents arrived at the Fort. They introduced them as Caleb Dunne and Heather Ward. They need help to decrypt a device which should hold information on Mantis. Meeting Ward and Dunne was a good thing for Brian, seeing their clear sense of mission was a huge motivation for him. He realized that there was no more time to hide and think about the bad days of the early outbreak and all the sad happenings during this time. He got back his self-confidence and his strength.

He pushed aside the bad memories and after a few days with Dunne and Ward he was fully briefed on Mantis and so he decided to join them on their mission.

Not long after his arrival in Washington, D.C., Agent Johnson mysteriously disappeared, leading his fellow agents Heather Ward and Caleb Dunne to believe he either went Rogue or was killed. It was neither, Johnson, being loyal to Calvin McManus's ideals, ended up joining the Hunter Program through unknown means and becoming one of their highest ranking officers. At some point, he contacted JTF Squad Proteus to bring a Mobile SHD Server to Kenly College in the outskirts of D.C., though he didn't arrive to the location. Why Johnson wasn't there is not known, but it could be deduced that he waited for the Outcasts to kill off the squad and pry the server from their hands, though that didn't happen as the Outcasts in Kenly College got ambitious and used the server and the supplies from Proteus to plan a devastating attack towards D.C.

After the events of Warlords of New York, he was directly tasked by Calvin McManus to train and observe Jack Bonney as potential recruit for the program, giving him access to an SHD Smart Watch with Classified Status, as well as access to the Hunters' Unidentified network. During a mission to Jefferson Trade Center, The Recruiter, accompanied by Bonney's B.T.S.U., would slaughter most of Captain Frederick Lewis's True Sons, leaving him as the sole survivor, who would later team up with The Division.

As Division agents stormed the facility and slowly took down the B.T.S.U. operatives, he would often make himself known, appearing from time to time only to taunt the agents, disappearing in a cloud of blue smoke whenever the agents got too close.

Despite Bonney's confidence and efforts to impress his superior, he was eventually killed in action by the agents, even with the help of the Recruiter's SHD Tech, leaving the Hunter to disappear once more in his cloud of blue colored smoke.

The Recruiter is mentioned once again when he escorted the hostage John Yazzie and gave him to Gabriel "Dynamite" Gonzalez. Later, when the agents are rescuing Mari Singh at the Manning National Zoo, The Recruiter can be seen in a blue smoke-screen on top of a balcony, simply watching as the agents extract the hostage after having killed B.T.S.U. operative Felicity "Panther" Lee.

After the successful rescue of Mari Singh, he would take a more active role in dealing with the remaining hostages, as the Hunter would now be hunted down himself.

The following days after Mari's rescue, The Recruiter would be responsible for overseeing the escort of captured hostages Cindy McAllister, Mel Arnold, Jack Arnold, Vikram Malik and his sister "Birdie". Simultaneously, Johnson would show up at the Castle Settlement and pretend to help to agents with each of the rescues, not showing his true intentions, which were to gain their trust in order to recover the mobile SHD server and bring it to Natalya Sokolova.

After the rescue of Vikram Malik, Johnson and the agents go to Camp White Oak in order to rescue his sister, "Birdie", bringing the server with them. Amidst instabilities in the server and the agents assault on the Black Tusk and True Sons soldiers at the camp, Birdie reveals to the agents she was told by Sokolova that the Division and Black Tusk were now allies, and she was sent there alongside agent Johnson, who she reveals that Johnson was the traitor to the Division cause.

Johnson, after realizing that his cover was blown due to Birdie's info, and in a desperate attempt to escape Camp White Oak with the stolen server, engages the agents in combat while waiting for the extraction helicopter sent by Natalya. During the fight, Johnson is mostly protected by his SHD Defender Drone, leading Birdie to use the Black Tusk's countermeasure to deactivate both his and the agents' SHD tech, leaving him temporarily vulnerable. After a tough battle, the Sheriff heads back into the lodge, leaving Johnson to be hit by a mortar strike sent by Birdie, collapsing on the floor and succumbing from his injuries.

Before his death, Johnson left behind a series of insurance comms in D.C., where it was discovered by Division agents. Those comms explain his disappearance, his discontent with Agent Kelso's methods, as well his motivations to join the Hunter program.

Legacy[]

Brian's death and his identity shook things for the Division and their allies in Washington, D.C. The agents were forced to face the harsh reality that Hunters are embedded among them, raising suspicion and doubt in the White House and Castle settlements, even questioning if Agent Alani Kelso can be trusted, given her former CIA background. While Kelso did go rogue, she is no Hunter, as she's allied herself with Aaron Keener and Theo Parnell to help in stopping the Black Tusk and the Hunters.

During one of their incursions in the Descent simulation facility, Division agents intercept a comm of Keener and Bridgette Douglas where they discuss about recruiting Jack Arnold. Apparently, Jack was tricked by the Hunters to go to Kenly College where she and her squad were left to die. Therefore, it can be concluded that Brian deliberately sent Jack and her JTF squad Proteus to their deaths so he could pry the Mobile SHD Server from their custody.

Additionally, after Bardon Schaeffer was recovered from his coma and got to debrief with Manny Ortega, they had a conversation about Brian Johnson, where Manny admitted he let his guard down with Brian, which made the Agent able to manipulate him. Schaeffer, on the other hand, argued that Brian was an honest and trustworthy man who just wanted to do the right thing.

Personality[]

Brian Johnson is haunted with emotional scars over the chaos of the Green Poison and the loss of his friends, leading him to be a recluse. His meeting and friendship he struck with Heather Ward and Caleb Dunne allowed him to regain his self-confidence and steel his resolve. However, by the time he became a Hunter, he cut contact with them, as he believed his work is more important. And due to personal history with Calvin McManus, he's loyal to Cal's ideals for the United States.

He had personal resentment towards Alani Kelso, as he felt her methods are reckless for a Division agent and believed that she'd go rogue. He was also manipulative as he used the Division and JTF during the events of Puppeteers to get access to the Mobile SHD Server and put an end to the conflict. A similar case happened with JTF Squad Proteus when he ordered them to bring a Mobile SHD Server to Kenly College.

Johnson was known to be dogmatic in his belief, believing in the ideals that Calvin McManus has for the United States and that the Division should devote itself to thr mission of what it was supposed to be: Ensure continuity of government. During his confrontation with Division agents, Brian claimed that he and his fellow Hunters are the ones on mission and accused the agents of being off-mission and going rogue the moment they allied with Kelso regardless of what ISAC thinks.


Equipment[]

Promotional Material[]

In-game (as The Recruiter)[]

Trivia[]

  • Brian Johnson's backpack trophy, 'Tommy the Teddy Bear', was an exclusive pre-order bonus for the PC version Tom Clancy's The Division 2; however, the code itself was compatible with the PC, PS4, or Xbox One versions of the game.
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Other Media[]

Tom Clancy's Elite Squad[]

Brian Johnson 01

Brian Johnson was featured in Tom Clancy's Elite Squad as part of The Division faction. He is a Hero character with the abilities Sharpshooter and Tactician Drone, and Squad Perks Emergency and Resourceful.

Appearances[]

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