Disclaimer: I don't own any of the series' characters or the weapons and vehicles named throughout the series. However, I DO OWN the characters that I create.

Metal Gear Solid: Destructive Redemption

Chapter 1: Prelude to Destruction

"In the blink of an eye, the world changes. Everytime you blink something happens. One man can be elected to the United States Congress. Another man can save the life of an eight year old boy. And yet another man is the future president of one's country. The world is a mysterious changing place and the 'what', 'why', 'when', and 'how' of a situation can never be known...only predicted. You can't always trust predictions, though. But yet, people trust them anyways because it's the only thing close to the truth that they can accept."


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New York City. A bustling burg filled to the brink with lawyers, gangsters, drug junkies, and tall buildings. It would make any man on his first visit to this metropolis claustrophobic, even if he didn't have a history of that phobia. Move away from the business district and you're now in the suburbs. The one area where any person whom walks the streets of Manhattan feels safe from the psychos in the dark side alleys of the Bronx or, worse yet, Harlem.

But once you get past the extremely urban buildings and bad men lurking in the shadows, this major American city is not so bad. There's plenty accomodities and plenty of food and attractions. It is also home to many organizations officially recognized by the United States government and the United Nations. One such organization goes by the name "Philanthropy".

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But on this day, September 28th 2006, the usually blue and cloudy skies of Manhattan are gloomy. Black clouds loom across the sky and the downpour of rain is inevitable. Appearing on the horizon of the ocean is a cruise ship that had just returned from its two and a half week trip from New York Harbor to Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas (one week to get there, four days in the Bahamas, and a week to get back to New York). The fact that it was about to rain was disappointing for many of the tourists, so instead of standing out on the deck and getting soaked, they all hurried to the covered seating area in the center part of the deck on the ship.

A man in khaki pants and a Hawaiian T-shirt started giving a history of the cruise ship business he was in and the land marks and sites of New York. An older man, dressed in a gray poncho, was clearly bored of the ordeal and with nothing better to do, he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with his lighter. He took a puff of the cig and then he was calmed down.

"Um, sir," the man in khakis said. The poncho-dressed man looked up, flashing a disapproving scowl. "There's no smoking on the deck."

The older man, about in his early 40s, grumbled to himself then said, "I understand." He snuffed the cig out with his heel as he put the pack into his pocket. Damn, this is boring, he thought. A second later, he stood from his seat and walked out from under the plastic covering and toward one of the safety railings that prevented anyone from falling overboard. Good. He could see the ghostly silhouette horizon of some of Manhattan's buildings, with the Statue of Liberty slightly closer. Good. About another forty-five minutes and he'd be off this boat.

His vacation to the Bahamas was actually not all that bad. He'd needed a little R&R, which is good every once and a while. With his hands in his pockets, he strolled away from the railing and toward a set of steps that led down into the first-class section, in the bow beneath the deck. He pulled the hood down from his head, a blue-grayish bandana moving with him as he walked. He stopped at a corner, looked around, and walked down the corridor to his left. A few moments later he entered the cafeteria.

It was noisy, as usual, as he scanned the whole area, probably about the size of half a football field. This older man spotted his colleague, whom was wearing glasses and a white lab coat. He quickly walked over to him.

"Hey, Snake? So, you enjoying the ride home?" Otacon said, loud enough to hear but not to irritate anyone around him.

"Ehh, can't say I do. It's more crowded then it was when we came down, but I got nothing to complain about," Snake said. His gruff, gravelly voice would make anyone shake in fear.

"That part I can agree on." Otacon took a bite of his chicken salad. "So, how far away are we from docking?"

"About forty-five minutes. The coast-line was barely visible, but I could see Lady Liberty some."

"You know, I'm surprised about the accomodations for a cruise ship. It's not what every says it is, but it's still pretty nice," Otacon said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. He left the plastic plate on the table, knowing one of the waitresses will come and pick it up. They both stood and started walking back to their quarters.

"Yea, that's true," Snake replied. "But the only annoying thing I don't like is that the walls are too thin. One night on the way down, I could hear this couple one cabin over having sex. Kept me awake for half the night." He shook his head.

Otacon chuckled. "You're just jealous because you don't have a woman for yourself."

Snake smilied sheepishly. "Yea...I guess you're right." What he said is true though, Snake said to himself. Having the kind of job I have means you don't have much of a love life. But that was a small price to pay for something that mattered more: stopping terrorists from getting what they want.

"You know..." Snake went on then after a pause. "It's supposed to rain today. I saw the clouds forming up overhead. Sure puts a damper on alot of people's plans." The muted sound of thunder was noted just then, and the also muted sounds of rain hitting the deck were heard. "It's begun."

The rest of the walk back to their places was in silence. Otacon was three cabins away from where Snake was staying. They each took out a key and unlocked the door, almost simultaneously. They gathered up all their stuff, making sure they wouldn't leave anything behind. They both sat in their cabins for ten minutes, staring at the ceiling.

Not for long. Snake suddenly snapped to, thinking he heard a helicopter whirring out overhead. He rushed from his room and listened closely. "Yep, definantly a PAH2 Tiger," he whispered. The Tiger was a helicopter of German manufacture. But what was a German helicopter doing in New York Harbor?

The sounds of gunshots were heard next and Snake's eyes widened. "G36s!" he proclaimed. He looked back and Otacon stood there in the hallway. "C'mon!" Snake yelled. "We got a job to do!" Otacon followed after Snake, whom was running out onto the deck. He squinted, looking toward the stern, and he saw two Tigers with about six men in each free-rope onto the deck. So, these were the transport versions. They had to have been, for the normal PAH2s were just battleship helicopters. Snake thought the transport model hadn't gone into production yet, but appearently it had (or maybe the blue prints were stolen). On the starboard side, another Tiger with four men rappeled to the ground, and near the bridge, another one hovered with three men roping down.

Snake pulled off his rain-coat, despite the fact that it was raining, and he pulled his USP off his belt. A magazine was already loaded and Snake flipped the safety off as Otacon joined him at his side. Two years after the Big Shell incident, the scientist/tech junkie had become more tougher and efficient (mainly because Snake had personally trained him for situations like this) with a few different types of weapons. In Otacon's right hand was a SIG-Sauer P220, the standard pistol used by the Secret Service. Another Tiger hovered a few meters away from the pair. Six more men rappeled down toward them, firing their G36s.

"Oh crap!" Solid Snake and Hal ran for cover behind the covered stairway, popping out from each side to fire at the terrorists. One died while still rappeling down and the sound of his spinal cord cracking was heard when he hit the deck. That was courtesy of Snake, who shot him right in the heart. Otacon managed to wound one of the terrorists by shooting him in his right bicep, blood spraying into the air and falling to the deck. The terrorist could only shoot left-handed now.

"I think they're trying to take over the ship's controls!" Snake yelled over the roaring wind. Otacon only nodded, then a few minutes later he shouted back "We should head for the bridge and we should try and neutralize the terrorists there!" The pair quickly ran down the steps again, ducking their heads down as 9mm bullets smacked into the metal wall where they'd just been. But soon after the descended, they ran back up. A bloom of fire and shrapnel shot up the stairs where they'd just vacated. They weren't going back down. They were staying on the deck.

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In the third-class section of the ship, located near the stern, everything had gone to hell in a basket. People were running for their lives, screaming and pushing as they tried to get to some sort of safety. People were getting shot left and right as the very tanned man in navy blue sweats casually walked toward the steps that led outside, seemingly ignoring the chaos around him. One man ran up to him, grabbing his shirt collar, and screamed, "Help me! You gotta fucking help me!" He was subsequently shot by one of the German terrorists.

The terrorist nodded to the tanned man and he returned it. He walked out onto the deck towards one of the life rafts. He climbed over the railing and started lowering himself down to the water.

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Snake noticed a man down near the stern lowering himself into a life boat, which was a violation of cruise ship rules, he knew. He shouted after the man and the man looked over at him. He looked like a European. The boat lowered even faster as Snake ran towards the railing as he leaned over to aim at the boat. At this range Solid Snake knew he would miss, but he had to try to hit him anyway. He squeezed the trigger six times, all misses. One had almost hit if it hadn't been for the wind The tanned man in sweats released the raft boat from its clamp and it hit the water. The man started the motor up and when he drove by Snake, he pulled out a Mini-Uzi from his pocket and fired up at him.

Snake gasped in surprise and ducked down at the same time. I wonder if he signaled these terrorists to arrive... Snake wondered. He and Otacon both felt the ship increase quite a few knots as the bulky cruise ship sped toward the Brooklyn Naval Yard. Somehow they knew it was too late to try to get to the bridge and change course.

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In a watch-tower in the Brooklyn Naval Yard, a naval officer scanned the ocean with his highly sophisticated binoculars. Nothing he could see. He would've been able to see farther but a thick covering of fog obscured the view. It was rainy outside, with the occasional lightning and thunder. His partner sat at a control panel watching a football game. The Green Bay Packers versus the Baltimore Ravens in a Super Bowl game.

It was fourth down, last quarter, and the score was tied. The Packers only had to run ten more yards to score a touch-down. "Hike!" the TV sounds emitted and the commentator started doing his job. One of the Packers ran for the goal as the navy officer's partner started yelling "C'mon, c'mon, GO, GO!" The football player scored the touch-down. "YES, FUCK YES! YEE-HAW!" He knocked over his chair and started dancing.

"Uh, Carl, you might want to take a look at this," the officer, Darren, said. Carl stopped dancing and walked over to look through the binoculars. A cruise ship was rapidly approaching the Brooklyn Naval Yard, with helicopters whirring around it and yellow flashes emitting from the deck.

"What the fuck?!" was Carl's first reaction. "What the..." Then he saw the cruise liner gaining steam and heading straight for the watch-tower. Oh shit! Carl's mind screamed.

"Attention! Attention!" Darren said on the intercom and setting off the alarm. "A cruise ship is fast approaching the naval yard! Evacuate all posts at once and head inland!"

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"Snake! The ship's getting closer to New York!" Otacon screamed. "It's gonna crash into the Brooklyn Naval Yard!"

"What should we do?!" Snake yelled back as the liner sped past the Statue of Liberty, a wave of the ocean splashing onto the island Lady Liberty resided on. Otacon looked around and spotted a life boat.

"There! A life boat, get in the life-boat Snake!" They both sprinted toward one of the rafts, and hastily lowered it down to the water. The boat sped off as far away as possible from the future crash-landing. Snake looked back into the distance and watched the ship speed toward the Brooklyn Naval Yard.

"How can it go so fast?" he mumbled to no one in particular.

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Meanwhile, Darren and Carl were busying trying to descend the stairs of the tower, the big window showing the progress of the ship's imminent crash-landing. Carl stopped sprinting down the stairs, knowing he would die anyway. He stopped, watched the ship, said a final prayer, and whispered, "Jesus be with me in Heaven."

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Snake watched in horror as the German PAH2 Tiger helicopters backed off and flew back into the fog. The cruise liner crashed through the plywood docks, smashed into some ships docked (leaving massive gashes in their sides or sinking some of the smaller boats), and even managed to plow through two blocks of street. Six tall buildings were knocked down and the bow of the ship exploded, taking out smaller buildings in the surrounding area. It was like a big display of fireworks and dust flying everywhere. Alot of innocent people died that day. This event was what started Otacon and Snake's next big mission: find out who did this, why it was done, and also to stop the Patriots.

Shocked and drained of energy, Otacon started the boat back up, and sped for the nearest dock.