During one investigation into a group of assassinations carried out by a group of professional hitmen disguised as cleaners, Payne uncovered a conspiracy to take over the Inner Circle being carried out by the Russian Mob boss Vladimir Lem.
As promised all charges against him were dropped thanks to the Inner Circle’s influence.Īfter being cleared of all charges Payne left the DEA and returned to the NYPD. Despite overwhelming odds, Payne stormed Horne’s base of operations, Aesir plaza and single-handily killed Aesir’s highly trained and heavily armed security team and eventually Horne herself. Payne was relayed this information via a secret society known as the Inner Circle, who offered Payne a deal, that all charges against him would be dropped if he managed to assassinate Horne. After killing almost every associate of the Punchinello crime family, Payne discovered the true source of the drug and the one responsible for his family’s murder, was the corrupt CEO of the major pharmaceutical company Aesir Corporation, Nicole Horne. In the insuring investigation Payne was framed for murder and launched a one-man war against the entire Punchinello crime family, who were the main distributors of Valkyr in the criminal underworld.
Leaving the NYPD, Payne joins the DEA with the intent of tracking down the source of the drug and with it, the ones responsible for the death of his family.
