Deus Ex Universe: Children's Crusade Issue 4

Deus Ex Universe: Children's Crusade is a 5-part comic produced by Titan Comics in 2016. It follows the story of Adam Jensen as he adapts to his new role as a member of Task Force 29, an Interpol-sponsored anti-terrorist unit. The series is set just before Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

The fourth issue was released on June 1, 2016.

Synopsis
"As riots ignite across the continent, Titus King incites further fans the flames of hostility by taking his hate speech into the heart of the Glasshütte. Meanwhile, Jensen undertakes a covert operation to discover the demagogue's connection to the terrorist cell and the real reason behind his anti-aug affront."

Plot Summary
While Jensen is looked over for injuries, TF29's counter-terrorism team has gathered around the crime scene and Miller checks with Chang to see if he has gotten anything off the surveillance feeds. However, it is nothing solid as the terrorists used an unmarked white van, which MacReady notes is probably on fire in an alley by now. MacReady then asks Jensen out of the blue if he is alright and the latter says he is, leading to an awkward silence before the team leader remarks that he has a feeling shit is about to hit the fan. Miller then comes over and asks for Jensen to run him through what happened, who explains he was driving, the bomb went off, and by the time he came around, Emilia was gone. He further deduces that the bomb was just big enough to take out the car's steering and get him out of the way, meaning they did not want to kill Emilia, leaving the rest of the team to wonder why the terrorists left Jensen alive. Jensen responds they were not concerned with him, they just wanted the girl, then turns it around to the bigger question at hand: how did the terrorists place a bomb in one of their own vehicles? Miller explains it was not one of TF29's, but from Interpol itself and they are investigating on their end. As Jensen checks with Chang for anymore leads, Miller tells Jensen he will not be following them as he needs to go home and rest.

Back at his apartment, just as Jensen sits down to enjoy his cigarettes and alcohol, Alex Vega calls him and points out the obvious first: someone within TF29 is a mole and set up the ambush. She still does not know who, though agrees with Jensen that it cannot be MacReady. When he comments that both Miller and Beaufort told him to put the girl in the back, Alex notes that it is common due to laws. All Jensen can conclude is someone within set him up, or someone is setting up TF29. Alex then brings up King: the Juggernaut Collective know for sure that the Illuminati link is through the news reporter and if Jensen wants answers, he will have to head to King's studio, preferably while he is still in Dresden.

Back in Glasshütte, Sebastian stands on a ledge overlooking the ghetto as he talks to a bunch of augmented children, saying too many augs have died to see through what naturals have started, then asks if any of them want out. One kid reluctantly raises his hand and Sebastian tells him wrong answer and he lowers his hand while the rest glare at him. Sebastian then moves closer to the group and explains that the rest of the world will never accept augs and now it is time to strike back. Outside the ghetto, King continues to blast his hatred and points to the past several days of events to prove they are in a war with augs. He then turns to his regular guest Pavel Mikulski, who echoes the reporter's sentiments that naturals need to rise up against them.

In TF29's HQ, Miller points out that an injunction would take too long and King is ignoring their requests for him to move his show, so the rioting is going to get worse around Glasshütte. He then states their team is on standby in Prague because some of the augs in Dresden could be there as well. When MacReady asks about their rules on engagement, he suddenly shows hesitation about shooting children before asking about Jensen's status. Miller informs him they will decide if Jensen will join them if and when they are deployed, but for now the team needs to be ready to go, with or without him.

Jensen, meanwhile, makes his way to King's studio while the reporter continues to broadcast with the and Fallada looking on, claiming augs fired the first shot in this "war" and that naturals need to protect their own. He ends by calling for the burning of the aug ghettos as Jensen arrives at King's studio. He makes sure that Alex killed the cameras, who confirms for the outside, but Jensen will have to take care of the inside ones. As he makes his way through the building, Jensen observes that only recently did the reporter step up the hate-mongering, so someone, possibly the Illuminati, are paying him to do it. In Glasshütte, Sebastian hurries the group of children through the streets, staying out of any drone's view and gets them into a building, telling one kid, Julian, he knows what to do, who then proceeds to place a backpack on a toilet. Sebastian then opens a set of doors to reveal an armory.

Jensen, having found King's personal terminals, connects to the servers and starts combing the files when he sees a folder labeled "Sebastian" that contains photos of the terrorist hooked up in a hospital bed. As he continues to look through the photos, Jensen pieces the story together: Titus King and his wife, Daniela, had a son, Sebastian. However, Sebastian was sick so one or both parents decided to get him augmentations to save his life. When Darrow's signal went off, Sebastian lost his mind while home with his mother and ended up killing her, leading to Titus King's hatred of augs. He tried to further hide any aug connection he might have by falsely stating that Daniela died from breast cancer. Jensen starts to download the folder to Alex, who points out the information they need to solidify the connection is not in the files being sent, so Jensen needs to look around the office some more.

Just then, an explosion goes off on Glasshütte's border, near King's position, who starts yelling for the police to "shoot those hanzers!" The terrorists pour out of the hole and quickly overwhelm his position, grabbing him while killing everyone else. When he yells at them to let him go, they knock him out before dragging him back through the hole they made, into Glasshütte, and Fallada orders his men to go in after them. Miller calls Jensen, asking where he is, who lies and says he is at home, but saw what happened in Glasshütte. Miller informs him the team is already en route to Dresden and will be there in 45 minutes and Jensen better follow suit. The download complete, Jensen heads up to the roof where Alex directed him as Miller tells him he can catch a ride with Interpol in 10 minutes, but Jensen informs him there is no need and he is on his way as a helicopter lands on the roof. He runs up to see Alex piloting, saying she figured he might need a quick exit. Chang alerts Miller that he needs to see something, and Miller sends it to Jensen. At first glace, it is just Sebastian and his group of children soldiers, but when told to take a closer look, Jensen realizes one of the children shooting back in the picture is Emilia.