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Michael Ford is the main playable character and protagonist in The Conduit and it's sequel Conduit 2.
Having been a former Secret Service Agent who had previously saved the President from an assassination attempt, Michael Ford was recruited by The Trust to fight the Drudge forces. When Ford discovered he was being used and that The Trust was behind the Drudge army and the cause of the war in Washington, D.C., he switched sides and joined Prometheus in the fight against The Trust and the Drudge. Later, he found Atlantis, acquired the Destroyer Armor and awakened Andromeda who helped him in the fight.
The Conduit
Intro
(Note: The first mission in the game (Threshold) is only a glimpse into the very near future, simply giving the player a chance to get acquainted with the controls and learn how to play the game.)
Following Prometheus' orders, Ford fights his way through Drudge forces to reach a large conduit in the Washington Metro subway tunnels. ("Threshold")
The Trust
The mysterious John Adams contacts the Secret Service agent Michael Ford to recruit him for a special assignment for the clandestine organization known as The Trust. Adams asked the President for Ford specifically.
Adams proceeds to explain that a terrorist named Prometheus stole a prototype device called the All-Seeing Eye, or ASE. He says Prometheus and his men have been tracked to Reagan National Airport so he's dispatching Ford there.
Upon arrival at the airport, Ford is attacked by Trust men, thinking Prometheus has turned the organizations own men against them. Fighting his way through the airport, Ford heads down to the Washington Metro subway terminal where Prometheus is believed to be making his escape.
In one of the tunnels, a Trust Scientist deliberately sets off explosives. Ford survives, and in the aftermath, finds the ASE. Adams then says to keep it safe. ("Contagion")
Adams then sends Ford to an abandoned military complex under Washington, D.C. called Bunker 13, where Prometheus is suspected of hiding out. He is to hack into the computer systems and download as much data as possible.
The battle at the Jefferson Memorial
Upon entering the Bunker, Ford is attacked by Puppet Humans. Fighting his way to the communications room, Ford uses the ASE to hack the data terminal. He then heads topside. The tunnels from the Bunker lead up to the Jefferson Memorial where a Drudge army is waiting.
Adams then turns on Ford, leaving him stranded against the Drudge forces. But Ford is then unexpectedly contacted by Prometheus. During the battle, Prometheus explains that Adams was only using Ford to get to the ASE. After defeating the last of the Drudge forces at the Memorial, Prometheus sends a helicopter to pick up Ford. ("Enemy")
Prometheus
Even though Ford wants answers, Prometheus sends Ford to the Library of Congress to eliminate a massive Drudge nest.
Ford battles his way through the Library and discovers an entryway into the sewer system beneath it. Following the sewer tunnels, he finds the nest and destroys every last egg sac. ("Trust")
When Prometheus tells Ford that The Trust wants the President dead, Ford immediately heads for the White House to save him.
Ford successfully fends off the Drudge forces, allowing the President to escape in the helicopter deemed Marine One. ("Gridlock")
Prometheus sends Ford to the Pentagon because The Trust is attempting to take over the country's defense mainframe.
Ford is able to eliminate the Drudge forces, securing the Pentagon and it's surrounding area. ("Invasion")
In order to pinpoint the source of the Drudge activity, Prometheus sends Ford to the River District to get a better reading for the computer systems.
Fighting his way through the city, Ford enters the Washington Metro subway tunnels where he finds an extremely large conduit. Prometheus then recalibrates the Trust Armor Ford is wearing so he can pass through the portal, hoping to find and destroy the source of the Drudge once and for all. ("Homeland") ("Threshold")
Having traveled through the conduit, Ford now finds himself in the middle of the Trust Base. He is immediately attacked and has to battle his way through.
Ford finally meets Prometheus
Working his way through the Labs, Prometheus reveals that he is in the Base waiting for Ford. Ford finds him in an incubator. Prometheus turns out to be an alien creature called a Progenitor. John Adams was extracting Prometheus' DNA to genetically create the Drudge creatures.
In order to stop production of the Drudge, Prometheus orders Ford to kill him, ultimately destroying the source of the Drudge. Regrettably, Ford does in fact deactivate the incubator, killing Prometheus. Ford then heads into the elevator, expecting one final battle... ("Checkmate")
Ford enters the final two rooms in the Trust Base. After battling a seemingly endless barrage of enemies, he hears Prometheus' voice. Apparently Prometheus was able to upload his consciousness directly to the All-Seeing Eye before his body was destroyed.
John Adams then activates the Base's self-destruct system and locks down all the conduits. Even though Adams is still out there somewhere, Ford has to hack the data terminals to reactivate one of the conduits. Having done so, Ford jumps through the portal to make his escape...not knowing where the portal will take him. ("Closure")
Conduit 2
GLOMAR Oil Rig
Having escaped the Trust Base, Michael Ford exits the conduit to find himself on a GLOMAR Oil Rig off the coast of Florida in the Bermuda Triangle. With Prometheus' help, he discovers it's the temporary base of operations for John Adams.
Adams escapes through a conduit leaving the Leviathan creature to destroy the oil rig. Prometheus believes that the creature is Ford's ticket off the rig. After attracting the Leviathan with the All-Seeing Eye (ASE), Ford attempts to harpoon the creature. ("Trust Platform")
He harpoons it successfully, attempting to "reel it in". But just when Ford thinks it's defeated, the Leviathan snaps at him and swallows Ford whole. ("Leviathan")
Atlantis
Andromeda
Ford wakes up to find that the Leviathan regurgitated him into an old crashed Progenitor spaceship named Atlantis that rests deep in the ocean. Working his way through the ship, he acquires the Destroyer Armor, which is much stronger than the Trust Armor he had been wearing.
Ford then finds Andromeda held in stasis. Prometheus says they will need her help in defeating Adams, so Ford awakens her with the ASE. Andromeda activates the conduit that will allow Ford to jump to Adams' last known location, which happens to be Washington, D.C. ("Atlantis")
Washington, D.C.
Ford arrives in an office building complex in Washington, D.C. where he immediately starts battling Drudge forces. Ford soon comes across a Drone named Thex. Thex explains he is a member of the Free Drudge, a group of Drudge that formed after Ford destroyed the Trust Base. Thex refers to Ford as the "Liberator" and informs him that they are on the same side, fighting against Adams. Thex also says that Adams is near the National Institute.
While Thex leaves to help his friends, Ford heads down into the Washington Metro subway tunnels then back up to the surface where he discovers Adams has armed a nuclear weapon. Using the ASE, Prometheus successfully disarms it. Ford then heads into the National Institute looking for the conduit. The Free Drudge help cover his escape. ("Washington, D.C.")
Atlantis (part 2)
When Ford arrives back at Atlantis, Andromeda confirms that Adams is killing Progenitors all across the planet. Ford needs to get to China for his next mission, but the conduit wont hold up because Atlantis' systems are malfunctioning due to years of neglect. So Andromeda instructs Ford to reset the power core.
Ford battles his way through Atlantis against the ships defenses, activates the power core, then heads back to the conduit. ("Atlantis")
China
Ford arrives in China trying to find the Progenitor called Li and warn him about Adams' plan to kill him. Battling his way through Li's mountain fortress, Ford eventually reaches Li's chamber. ("China")
Ford cannot convince Li that he's in danger from John Adams. Li thinks his power is the greatest and challenges Ford. After a tough battle, Ford kills Li. With instructions from Prometheus, Ford absorbs Li's energy into the ASE so that Adams can't get it. ("Li")
Siberia
Back in Atlantis, Andromeda instructs Ford to go to Siberia and warn Katarina.
Upon arrival in Siberia, a Free Drudge dropship is shot down and Ford meets the wounded Othu who asks him to help his fellow Free Drudge. Ford disables the anti-air turrets at the Siberian base and eliminates all The Trust men in the area. He then radios for help. ("Siberia Crash")
Ford enters the base in Siberia looking for Katarina. He battles his way through hordes of enemies before finding her strapped down in a containment chamber, dying.
HAVOC Gunship
Knowing Ford and Prometheus will do what they can to stop Adams, Katarina succumbs to death and allows Ford to absorb her energy into the ASE. Ford then travels back outside where he escapes the base on a Free Drudge dropship. ("Siberia")
A HAVOC Gunship pursues, so Ford has to shoot it down from the back of the dropship.
Afterward, the Free Drudge fly Ford to the next Progenitor location. ("Siberia Escape")
Lost City of Z
They drop Ford in the Lost City of Z and he ventures through what appears to be a Trust dig site and soon finds a dead Progenitor. He then uses the ASE to take the energies from the corpse.
Prometheus knows that Ford will need all the power he can get to fight John Adams, so, giving up his own life, Prometheus transfers his and the other Progenitor energies from the ASE to the Destroyer Armor Ford is wearing, making it even more powerful. Ford then heads for the nearest working conduit. ("Lost City")
Final Battle
Upon returning to Atlantis, Andromeda informs Ford that John Adams has breached the ship. Adams then emerges from the conduit and Ford fights him.
When it appears that Adams has been beaten, he reveals his true Progenitor form. Ford then tackles him through the conduit, taking the fight to Agartha. ("Adams")
George Washington and Abraham Lincoln
The battle continues, where Ford finally kills Adams. After he takes Adams' energies into the ASE, the device appears to go haywire. It then sends a message to a spaceship waiting in the outer reaches of the galaxy.
Back in Agartha, more humans wearing the Destroyer Armor emerge from the conduit, two of which are former Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They announce that they are there to help. ("Agartha")