Deus Ex: Fallen Angel

Deus Ex: Fallen Angel is a science fiction novella written by. Set in the Deus Ex universe, it serves as a prequel to the Deus Ex: Human Revolution game. The novel stars Faridah Malik and provides details on her past, her connections in Hengsha, and the events that led to her moving to Detroit and working for Sarif Industries.

The novel was originally available as a pre-order bonus for Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut. On December 22, 2014, Eidos made the novel available for free download here.

Plot
Deus Ex: Fallen Angel focuses on Faridah Malik, a VTOL pilot for the ArcAir aviation company, a small cargo and logistics company affiliated with the Red Arrow triad.

The story opens with Malik skydiving into the cargo bay of a VTOL near Hengsha using a wingsuit. Evelyn Carmichael, her co-pilot and close friend, congratulates her crazy feat and they return for a cargo run. As they near the city, the discussion turns to Evelyn's relationship with Lee Hong. Malik calls him a hot-head but backs down when Evelyn becomes defensive.

The two land in an airfield in Hengsha. Once there, the two are asked to deliver a "high-value cargo" by their employer, Jai Cheng. Malik wonders if the job was related to the Red Arrow before a group of Belltower soldiers, led by Narhari Kahn, arrives to board the VTOL. Despite her hesitance at their new flight plan, Cheng orders her and Evelyn to ferry the soldiers to an unmarked location across the Yangtze river delta, at the edge of the East China Sea.

Malik and Carmichael eventually discover their destination - an XNG Shipping cargo ship called the Bel Canto, which is on a course to Osaka. Kahn and the other Belltower soldiers disembark and tell them to wait until they return, and the two pilots discuss the cargo they're supposed to ferry. The ship is soon loaded with several cylindrical white containers and Malik realizes that they'll have to smuggle them back to Hengsha.

Enroute back to the helipad with the Belltower soldiers and the cargo, the VTOL is hit by lightning. As Malik goes to repair the damage, she discovers that the cargo is human beings in stasis pods. The two plans on landing at the nearest landing pad, but Kahn insists that they land at the original destination.

The VTOL safely lands in Hengsha, and Malik covertly trails Kahn and the stasis pods to a nearby meeting site. Once there, she finds that the four stasis pods contained people who formerly worked for Isolay and were forcibly kidnapped and made to work for a rival competitor. Upon seeing one of the awoken scientists start complaining that he wants to go home and get executed by Kahn, Malik flees back to the VTOL and takes off before the Belltower soldiers can stop her.

Malik realizes that her "black box" implant caught the footage of Kahn executing the scientists as the VTOL lands at an alternate airfield. However, both pilots are surprised when Cheng arrives and orders Evelyn to leave. He forces Malik to stay put with his security officer, Lau, while he reports her whereabouts to Belltower, but she flees the scene by taking off and causing the man to fall out of the cargo hatch.

Cheng radios Malik and tells her to return to the base under threat of hurting Evelyn. Malik counters that Evelyn doesn't know anything and that she has proof of Belltower's atrocities. In response, Kahn authorizes the launch of several unmanned drones to destroy the VTOL.

Malik manages to destroy the drones, though not before ramming the last operational one with her aircraft and goes down in flames. Kahn and the Belltower operatives assume that she is dead, and report the news to a horrified and grief-stricken Evelyn before telling her to keep quiet about what she's seen.

On a nearby tower, Malik recovers and remembers what happened - she bailed out of the burning VTOL and activated her wingsuit, which allowed her to glide to safety. Realizing that she is now presumed dead and labeled as a thief, she calls a close friend and asks to call in a favor. The man, Maji Duc Tranh, agrees to get her out of the city and pass on a message to Evelyn in the near future.

When asked where she wants to go, she responds that she'd like to go work for Sarif Industries in Detroit.