Smash the State

Smash the State is an optional side quest in Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It is given to the player by Officer Nicholas. It is also the name of the related achievement for completing the quest.

Introduction
After obtaining Isaias Sandoval's location from William Taggart one way or another at the Detroit Convention Center, Jensen runs into one Officer Nicholas, another friend from back on the force. Nicholas has a problem - he's gotten word from a street informant that a member of Motor City Bangers, Jacob White, has access to a large amount of military-grade explosives and is plotting an attack. Nicholas also says that he cannot receive any help from the DCPD with the majority of the force on riot control, and that he'll need Jensen's help.

Overview
Nicholas has intel that White is armed and dangerous and has his hands on a bomb, but he doesn't have White's precise location, so he gives Jensen three leads instead: the transit station, the side alley near the police station, and the sewers (using the CASIE augmentation, Omega personality type, will bring Nicholas to remove the transit station). He also knows that White has hatred for the police and will likely be targeting the police station. Jensen must find White, deal with him, and then deal with his bomb. Nicholas prefers that Jensen not kill White, offering a reward (note that this is a secondary objective and thus not required).

Find Jacob White
Jensen is free to explore the transit station and back alley, but White is actually located in the sewers. There are a number of ways to reach the back alley (which is now inaccessible through the police station, which is now quarantined by government agents), if one chooses to search here for the XP gain; you can use augmentations to jump over the fence, run through the electrified maintenance tunnel, or push a large dumpster away from a crawlspace.

The nearest sewer access is located underneath a man-hole to the left of the exit of Central Station leading towards the Detroit Police Station. The entire main section of the sewers will be fortified, and mines are placed at strategic locations, including the entrances to the sewers, requiring slow, careful navigation. Simply follow the trail of explosives to find White.

Neutralize White
White is armed with heavy armor and a heavy rifle, and has three turrets in place with strategic cones of vision. The frag mines should also be carefully disarmed before alerting White himself. The turrets should be avoided as there is not much room to maneuver and any running may lead Jensen into a mine, another turret, or even the electrified water. Jensen can hack the nearby computers to take control of the turrets, at which point he can disable or turn them against White (this will obviously kill him, failing the secondary objective).

From here, Jensen has a number of options:


 * If Jensen has the Silent Running augmentation, he can simply wait until White is moving in a direction opposite his approach path, and then run up to him and use a takedown or the stun gun.


 * Alternatively if Jensen moves quickly, and has dermal armor, he need not be stealthy, simply charge White and stun/takedown. He is a "heavy" enemy type and is equipped with a heavy rifle- meaning he can't fire his weapon until the barrel is spinning, giving Jensen an edge.


 * If Jensen has a PEPS, he can wait behind cover until White is within range and shoot him. If he is still conscious, Jensen can proceed to stun/takedown before he gets on his feet.
 * White is susceptable to the effects of gas grenades and mines.

Disarm White's Bomb
Once White is dealt with, his bomb can be found in the side passage leading up to the police station basement. The code to disarm the bomb is 0000 and unlocks the Lucky Guess achievement. The bomb is also a level 4 hack for those who prefer in-game experience. Alternatively, Jensen can safely shoot out the glass tanks on each side of the bomb, which also completes the objective.

Possible bug: If there is object(s), e.g. crate or box at bomb's site before the quest is triggered, the bomb may not be available to disarm. The physics object overlapped at bomb's spawn point can cause one or both canisters to go missing automatically, thus you can get the auto completion message that bomb is disarmd when you approach Jacob White's hideout.

Return to Officer Nicholas
Before leaving this area, it is wise to climb up the ladder near the bomb and turn off the power box that is electrifying the water. This allows Jensen to more easily avoid any unhacked turrets or remaining mines. [Alternatively, if Jensen is able to lift heavy objects, the turrets can be satisfyingly thrown into the electrified water, causing them to explode.] Then, Jensen should report back to Officer Nicholas in the Detroit Convention Center for his reward.

Trivia
This quest's name is a homage to Deus Ex, derived from the first obtainable security login, used by the NSF during the attack on Liberty Island. It likely means that the slogan lived on twenty-five years later.