Monday, 1:45 am
The darkness still absorbed everything in its firm grip, and the city streets contained sidewalks seeped with rain and puddles from the night past. The clouds drifted lazily overhead, sapping the gentle light from the moon, and the star's good graces held over by the cities' bright lights. Out from the silence came a car, cruising slowly through the street. It slowly came to a halt near a dilapidated building, noxious fumes sputtering out of the muffler. Bourbon got out of the car, leaving it running. He gathered his trench coat close around his body, as if he was really cold on the warm night. He glanced around conspiratorially, as if there was someone watching him. It was painfully obvious he was not accustomed to being seen in these parts of the city. He sighed and knocked three times on the door in front of him, as a sort of pass code. The door opened slowly, and revealed Gatines in a customary black suit. A few patriot operatives lay in the room across the street from them, watching his progress.
"We have visual contact, what's the status?" One operative looked out the window in his binoculars.
Another military man typed on a keyboard set up on a table. "They're engaged in conversation."
"Can we turn up the volume?"
"Sorry sir, the controls aren't in place."
The officer in charge growled, adjusting his beret. "Let me see the video then."
A button was pushed, and a small black and white screen popped up on a vid monitor. Gatines and Bourbon circled each other, speaking. Gatines stood in formal military position, coolly talking to Bourbon. Bourbon didn't seem too cool about it. He waved his hands erratically, his trench coat billowing behind him like a cape. It was this that made Gatines break his composure. He broke his military like stance jabbing a finger at Bourbon, his perfect white teeth biting the black and white camera.
"Shit, can we get some fucking sound?" The officer glanced around.
"Stated previously sir, the equipment is not in place."
"Godammit." The officer paced, glaring at the screen, not taking his eyes off of it even while he was speaking. "Do you have the men on stand by?"
"Yes sir, they are ready."
The officer gritted his teeth and turned his attention back to the screen. They were both arguing and hurling what seemed to be insults. The situation elevated until Bourbon pulled out a gun and blasted three rounds into Gatines chest. Then shots sounded in the night and coincided with the video. His eyes and mouth went wide and he slumped into Bourbon, grabbing onto him. Bourbon kicked Gatines off of him, leaving his body on the street. Bourbon ran into his car and peeled out of there.
"Move, move, move!" The officer shouted, but he didn't need too. Men were already grabbing their weapons and heading out the door. Some even got close enough to fire shots at the car, shattering the glass of the back window. It wasn't enough to stop him, the car was long gone.
The officer removed his beret and hurled it onto the ground. "Fuck!" He ran a hand through his hair and cursed again, kicking a puddle.
"How the hell are we going to explain this to the council?" A soldier asked the officer.
The officer shook his head, and turned to the grunt with his gray eyes shining with fear. Apparently for the first time in a long time. "I don't know. So help me God, I don't know."
Someone grunted from the far left of the officer. The officer turned, and blinked his eyes. "Sir!" He ran over to Gatines, who was peeling off his ruined shirt and jacket, displaying bullet holes. He thudded a fist on his vest, coughing. He spit blood onto the street.
"I have it taken care of."
"How so? He got away, sir. The council will consider that a failure."
"I will take care of the council, and make sure you have a home to go to." Gatines nodded to the officer in understanding.
The officer saluted, and Gatines entered a black car hidden from view. In a few moments, the whole area was cleared. And by the time the cops arrived to check out the shots fired, even the shells were gone into the darkness.
*****
Upstate New York
Monday, 3:09 am
The bullets flew all around them. The rapid heat of gunfire, the only high that could be achieved in the middle of a large melee. Meryl popped off a few rounds, toward the attackers in black. She'd lost sight of Otacon only moments ago. Which meant he was either dead or worse. More rounds fired, and more bodies dropped. She hadn't seen Snake since this all started. Where was he? Was he…dead? She couldn't think of it. She wouldn't even consider the idea. Not now, not NOW! She attempted to dodge the bullets that flew, but the automatic weapons wouldn't be dodged so easily. The bullets shredded into her vest, and she twirled like a magnificent dancer. He green eyes became hazy and faded. She could feel every bullet. It didn't hurt. It didn't hurt at all…death was wondrous. She fell, and she new Snake would be with her soon. The fall was slow and graceful, all was silent around her. The screams of the dying or wounded, even the running foot falls. She could slowly feel the ground coming closer. But as she hit it…
Meryl woke up. She gasped for air as if she was a beached fish on a rough shore. She closed her eyes and forced herself to slow it down, a meditative activity she practiced even before the military. In, and out. Calm down. Only a dream…dreams aren't real. Even if you die in them. She wiped away her sweat-plastered hair from her forehead, to behind her head. She let out a deep sigh, placing her legs from under the covers onto them. Her pants she slept in came down to the knees, cut off from there. It would be very awkward to have to jump out of bed in a gunfight wearing only underwear.
Meryl propped her hands behind her head and rested it against the wall. David's death wasn't something she liked to wonder about. It had been hard going between them since Shadow Moses, and it wasn't about them fighting. Opening up to each other was the hard part, and it had taken a few months to get them to really know each other. They had both lost loved ones before, and had set up barriers between themselves to prevent further loss. She was scared to death about losing him, and the main reason why she wasn't angry with him when he went to the Big Shell was because she had hacked into Snake's Codec transmissions. Though if she didn't have the luxury of a codec tap…
She sighed. It couldn't continue like this, and they both knew it. To maintain their relationship, they need normalcy. That's why they needed to fight the threat of conspiracy together. All lose ends would be cut this time. I will have my life with him. No one will stop me.
Meryl brushed her hair behind her head and slipped under the covers, shutting her delicate emerald eyes, falling into a dreamless slumber.
*****
Somewhere Over The United States
Monday, 7:30 amRaiden sat in the recliner of the coach class airline. He stretched a little bit, putting his arms back behind his head. The coarse fabric bristled against him, like electricity. He couldn't wait to get out of the plane and see some action. He had bundled his gear at the entry location, and the contact would take care of the rest. He placed a small picture of Rose on the dinner tray, he sighed and stared at it. She was so beautiful, so young…life wasn't fair. But he should have guessed that one by now. All that he had now was bloodshed. He closed his eyes and shook his head.
A well-dressed elderly gentleman noticed Raiden's discomfort he smiled a bit and adjusted his glasses. "So…what're going to the city for?" His voice was heavily accented in Irish, perhaps an immigrant from long past. Raiden brushed his blond hair behind his head.
"Going for a funeral," He sighed and took another breath, rubbing his face with his gloved hands. He took another breath and repeated, "Funeral."
"Oh," The man's expression suddenly turned downcast. "I'm sorry. I lost a grand child a few years back, he was a young lad too…he had the sweetest smile."
Raiden rubbed an eye and was tempted to say "Shut the Fuck up" but he bottled it away. He had so much use for it later. He just looked on at the man and continued to listen to him prattle on.
"…That's about the story with Jimmy, never did get over his son's death. What about you?"
Raiden leveled his piercing ice at the old man, "That's rather rude."
"Well, I'm told its part of the healing process."
Raiden sighed deeply and looked at the picture of Rose. He turned back to the man and plaintively shook his head. "I'm not ready to be healed."
The man looked to him and mouthed an "Oh." He quieted down with that, and the silver bird sailed lazily through the clouds.
*****
Upstate New York
Monday, 8:53 am
Meryl paced back and forth dressed in her civilian clothes, the thudding of her combat boots sounding across the boards of the tiny cabin. Snake stood across from her, back leaned against the wall with his flowing trench coat wrapped around him. He idly tapped his fingers against the wood of the wall. Otacon rubbed his face and temples, tired after a long night of decoding the location. Snake was the first one to speak.
"What have we got?"
Otacon sighed, "A facility under the buildings that could easily be used for several different agencies."
Meryl groaned and rubbed her forehead. "You can't break in and then they aren't there, what the hell do we do? 'Oops, sorry, we thought the illuminati was here.' That doesn't sound like a feasible excuse."
David nodded in agreement. "This isn't some darkened out hole in the middle of a tundra or an ocean. It's a municipal building in a major metropolitan area. You can't just go in shooting."
Meryl sighs. "On the upper levels anyway. We still don't know where the hell they are. Their Dark Tower is pretty ambiguous."
Otacon nods. "Yeah, there are several big offices and conference rooms. The most isolated one is on the top floor." Otacon points, positioning his finger on the top of the laptop. The screen ripples like a prism with his touch.
Snake shakes his head. "We still don't know if they would be there or not."
Otacon nodded again, sliding his chair away from the table. "I know, that's why we'll need to undergo surveillance."
Meryl groans, "Yeah, but that sort of surveillance could take months, even years. They've been watching people so long they could probably take us out in the first week."
Snake replies to her. "I know, surprise is still our advantage here. They've never faced an attack of force. We can't risk it by them spotting us or being aware of our plans."
Otacon nods. "We'll have to study the diagrams in a more detailed manner, perhaps there is something that we've missed?"
Snake shook his head. "All air vents contain motion detectors, and security cards are needed for lower levels. Positive facial identification is needed to get into some of the more higher level areas."
Meryl sighs and rubs her forehead. "We'd have to hack in to disable all the security procedures. Do they have any outside lines going in?"
Otacon nodded. "Yeah, there are a few lines in the business offices. I bet they're hooked up into the data ports down below. Though we'd have to do it on site, not much room for error."
The morning sounds of the animals at play was shattered abruptly when the sound of tires pulling up was heard in front of the cabin. Snake ducked down, drawing his SOCOM, Meryl opted for her desert eagle, sliding close to the door. Otacon quickly shut the laptop and hit the floor, lying low. Snake's eyes darted to the windows, no red dots. They weren't giving away their positions whoever they were. Meryl looked to the door and walls, she knew that this place was flimsy enough to be shot up pretty easily. She drew a few breaths and tightened her grip. He knuckles went white in a matter of moments. Otacon briefly looked up from his prone position, his glasses slid slowly down the bridge of his nose, greased by sweat. He didn't move to push them back up on his face. It remains silent, for a long while until a knock is heard. Once, twice, three times. It stops. Otacon jumps, Meryl and Snake do not move, they stay deathly still. Snake glances towards Meryl, nodding once in order to indicate that he is going to open the door. Meryl slides back along the wall in order to gain a good angle to shoot. Snake crouches along the wall, pacing each step carefully. He puts the pressure on his toes and not his heel, making sure to carefully lift his foot and not slide it along the floor. He takes in a breath and slowly lets it out. His hand reaches for the glimmering brass doorknob. He motions, 'one, two, three' before he throws the door open, hitting the face of the man that stood in front of it. Snake whirls out of the corner and points his gun in the man's face, who is sprawled out into the dirt.
Snake's cold brown eyes focus on the man. "Who the hell are you." His voice leaves it much more as a demand than a question.
Bourbon stares angrily at Snake, he brushes himself off, fixing his almost perfect-suite. "Is that anyway to treat a guest?"
Snake hears Meryl, adjust her position, and he moves accordingly to enable two guns trained on Bourbon. "You weren't invited."
Bourbon grins like a shark, not caring about the two guns pointed at him "Oh, I have a proposition you will find very tempting."
Snake keeps his gun trained on him, "What kind of proposition? I don' trust magically appearing people."
"I don't think you have any particular choice."
Snake narrows his eyes, looking at Bourbon. "Is that a threat?"
"Not at all. But it would be more beneficial if we work together on this one." Bourbon smiles to Snake in a predatory manner, he is definitely not looking too trusting.
"You want to break into the Dark Tower. I know how to do it."
"And who are you?" Snake leveled his eyes on him.
"Let's just say I'm a disgruntled former employee."
"And you think we would trust you so easily?" Snake kept the SOCOM leveled to his temple, the barrel making all the threats.
Bourbon grinned, "We've been tracking you for several days, we lost you around this area. It was a simple matter of finding a cabin."
Snake still looked at him suspiciously, he didn't say a word. He went through the possibilities of truth in his hand. Bourbon got more and more frustrated as it went on. "How likely is it that in order to get you they would send one unarmed old man?"
Snake sighed and lowered the pistol, but he didn't put it away. "Alright, we'll hear you out."
Bourbon nodded and smiled his predatory smirk as he stepped into the cabin. Revenge would be sweet and bloody, as it always was. It would be a good day for carnage, and that was just the way he liked it.