Chapter Three: To the City of Manhattan
The choppers (there were five teams of two) faded into the distance, blending into the walls of the buildings that glimmered before him. Snake watched, as they were lost in the maze of skyscrapers, weaving in and out of the streets, and occasionally peeking above the roofs to catch another glimpse of the city as it quickly fell under them.
One team of choppers made a quick pass of the city and then began to unload its men on two of the World Trade Center buildings. "4 and 7," Snake noted, looking down the long streets to get a good picture of their landings. The rest, he couldn't follow, and decided it better not to, for his first task was reaching the harbor, and as he watched the invasion of Manhattan, the ferry he stood upon continued to grind the water beneath them, turning slowly to the left and attempting to turn back from the city.
Snake pulled his gaze from the great, shining city, and observed the other citizens aboard the ferry. Many of them were old, their eyes wondering in an awe-struck fashion, unable to fathom the events that were laid out before them. Then, amongst them were three men, their features clean and sharp. Their arms were wide, and their necks were thick like trunks of trees. They all wore sun glasses, hiding their eyes, and as Snake surveyed them, he could see one turn to him, and then his mouth began to move, catching the attention of the two others that stood by him. "Otacon!" Snake cried as the three men nodded to one another and moved to the captain's room.
"Yea, Snake?" Otacon answered after a short delay.
"I've got three targets. They're moving to the control bridge. I think they want to keep it on course," Snake suggested.
"They must be with whoever is planning the invasion?"
"Look's that way," Snake commented, waiting a few moments to feel the ferry shift back, but then he returned to the conversation. "Give me Jack's frequency," Snake requested. "I need to talk with him."
"Since the update with Philanthropy's security, some frequencies were scrambled or changed in the nanomachines re-development studies. You can contact him at '121.01'"
"Is he expecting me?" Snake asked, his eyes peering through the windows of the control bridge sitting toward the head of the ferry. He could see movement, but nothing irregular.
"I didn't want your lines tied in case of security faults," Otacon explained, "but I see the urgency. Just give him a call. I'll be here whenever you need me."
"Okay," Snake nodded.
"Oh, and Snake?"
"Yea Otacon?"
"Don't move on anything before consulting me. I need to know everything that happens. I'll try to gather information from news regarding Manhattan. Keep in touch," Otacon waited for Snake to approve, and then the transmission ended.
Quickly, Snake scrolled through the frequencies, and upon reaching 121.01, he setup the transmission, awaiting a familiar reply. "Snake?!" was Jack's immediate cry.
"Yea, Jack, it's me," Snake replied, his tone mildly disrupt with urgency.
"They're turning us around," Jack returned, hastily.
"Yea," Snake answered, his eyes falling over distant ships, ferries, tankers – all that had begun to turn away from Manhattan – shift back, their bows pointing to the glinting city ahead. "I can see them turning back to Manhattan. I spotted three guys, all wearing shades. They're on the inside," Snake finished before he heard the shatter of glass from the bow of the ferry, and a quick twist of the air by his ear as he dropped onto the floor of the ferry, another loud shot ringing out, and striking the car he quickly found cover behind. A Honda Civic. "Damn! One of 'em just fired on me!" Snake could hear the cries of the civilians onboard, but waited quietly for some notion of what they were planning.
Then, he felt the ferry shift beneath him, its hull changing courses, and the bow becoming parallel with that of the others ships that had turned back to the city. He held his head low, scavenging through his black jacket for his gun. He pulled it forth – a SOCOM – and looked it over as he spoke to Jack. "They're putting us back on course. Hmph…whoever they are, they must be looking for as many hostages as they can get their hands on."
"Snake? You gonna be okay?" Jack asked, his voice fading into the wind that blew over him, bright clouds passing in the distance.
"Yea," he replied, gripping his SOCOM in both hands before kneeling and setting his back against the Honda Civic. "Keep on the lookout for any suspicious targets. I'll need your help on the island, but you'd be better off having control of the ship yourself."
"Gotcha!"
There were two more shots fired, and with each one there was a loud repercussion of screaming from the old men and women, their hearts beating through their chests. Snake cringed each time, too, the bullets ricocheting off the floor of the ferry, and punching through the windows of the Civic. He quickly rolled behind a tire to be secure, and checked his SOCOM once more, verifying that a full magazine was inserted. "Here goes," he said aloud, and quickly jumped to his feet, extending his legs to the floor as he moved into the air.
As he catapulted up, his body did a swift turn, and when his feet landed firmly upon the floor again, he found himself eye to eye with one of the suspicious targets. They looked at each other, their hearts burning with desire, and their hands weak with fury, and only when Snake realized the presence of another – at the others' side– he fired and stepped off to the right, his feet leaving the ground again, and his body falling back, disappearing again, behind the car…his shield.
There was a cry, one too deep to belong to another civilian, and his head crashed into the floor, bouncing back in pain. 'Got one!' he exclaimed to himself, pushing the soreness in his neck away. Moving back onto his feet, his body still low behind the Civic, he peered through the broken windows, peeking his head out of safety. There was another shot, and he ducked quickly. Before he went down, he could see one of them positioned on the roof of the control bridge, his gun exposed and his eye looking through a long scope. Sniper.
This took no sniper. The two were merely meters apart, and something as simple as a handgun could still take Snake's head off if the bullet were aim was sharp. But, the sniper rifle made Snake a little uneasy, and somewhat nervous.
"So," Snake told himself, "I got one. Another is on the roof, and the last…hmm…he's keeping the seniors under control. Heh. That narrows things down…just a way to take out the sniper…" The warm sun shone bright in the sky to his back, and everything shined with a unique purity. There was something about the sunlight that brought everything down to earth, but at the same time lifted everything into a new realm. It was so mystifying, so foreign…but in the same instance; so common, so constant. Still, it made the difference. When the sun shone bright, there was peace, but when it hid behind the earth, shielding itself from the heavy gazes of star searchers and everyday people, darkness and misfortune seemed to sprout.
And in this moment, the sun was there and not there all at once. It had fallen away in the eyes of the enemy, and was no longer a threat to their procession, but in the eyes of the victims, its light was still present, and the mixture of chaos and daylight was sickening. Confusing. Like betrayal.
'Just go!' Snake cried in his mind, and he darted from behind the Civic, his head low. Shots outlined his trail in the deck, and in a moment – a quick moment – he was off the boat. Bullets flew by even as he was in the air, his body overtaken with a sense of freedom and unnatural safety. Those seconds were seconds of bliss, their meaning so great and their length so short. Like a first kiss…so overwhelming, but too short to satisfy.
His body still in flight, he shifted his gaze from the deep water to the shining city off to his left. It was like the sun itself, too bright to watch, but full of something one was too curious to turn from. The buildings mixed, the cars faded, and the people were bound together, and in that image – his final image before crashing into the water – he saw a great light shining all alone, independent of the sun. It was Manhattan…the center of it all. It was crying…crying for an audience.
And whatever the enemies were…whether they were German, American, Russian, or English…they were going to bring that audience to it…right to the city of Manhattan.
The choppers (there were five teams of two) faded into the distance, blending into the walls of the buildings that glimmered before him. Snake watched, as they were lost in the maze of skyscrapers, weaving in and out of the streets, and occasionally peeking above the roofs to catch another glimpse of the city as it quickly fell under them.
One team of choppers made a quick pass of the city and then began to unload its men on two of the World Trade Center buildings. "4 and 7," Snake noted, looking down the long streets to get a good picture of their landings. The rest, he couldn't follow, and decided it better not to, for his first task was reaching the harbor, and as he watched the invasion of Manhattan, the ferry he stood upon continued to grind the water beneath them, turning slowly to the left and attempting to turn back from the city.
Snake pulled his gaze from the great, shining city, and observed the other citizens aboard the ferry. Many of them were old, their eyes wondering in an awe-struck fashion, unable to fathom the events that were laid out before them. Then, amongst them were three men, their features clean and sharp. Their arms were wide, and their necks were thick like trunks of trees. They all wore sun glasses, hiding their eyes, and as Snake surveyed them, he could see one turn to him, and then his mouth began to move, catching the attention of the two others that stood by him. "Otacon!" Snake cried as the three men nodded to one another and moved to the captain's room.
"Yea, Snake?" Otacon answered after a short delay.
"I've got three targets. They're moving to the control bridge. I think they want to keep it on course," Snake suggested.
"They must be with whoever is planning the invasion?"
"Look's that way," Snake commented, waiting a few moments to feel the ferry shift back, but then he returned to the conversation. "Give me Jack's frequency," Snake requested. "I need to talk with him."
"Since the update with Philanthropy's security, some frequencies were scrambled or changed in the nanomachines re-development studies. You can contact him at '121.01'"
"Is he expecting me?" Snake asked, his eyes peering through the windows of the control bridge sitting toward the head of the ferry. He could see movement, but nothing irregular.
"I didn't want your lines tied in case of security faults," Otacon explained, "but I see the urgency. Just give him a call. I'll be here whenever you need me."
"Okay," Snake nodded.
"Oh, and Snake?"
"Yea Otacon?"
"Don't move on anything before consulting me. I need to know everything that happens. I'll try to gather information from news regarding Manhattan. Keep in touch," Otacon waited for Snake to approve, and then the transmission ended.
Quickly, Snake scrolled through the frequencies, and upon reaching 121.01, he setup the transmission, awaiting a familiar reply. "Snake?!" was Jack's immediate cry.
"Yea, Jack, it's me," Snake replied, his tone mildly disrupt with urgency.
"They're turning us around," Jack returned, hastily.
"Yea," Snake answered, his eyes falling over distant ships, ferries, tankers – all that had begun to turn away from Manhattan – shift back, their bows pointing to the glinting city ahead. "I can see them turning back to Manhattan. I spotted three guys, all wearing shades. They're on the inside," Snake finished before he heard the shatter of glass from the bow of the ferry, and a quick twist of the air by his ear as he dropped onto the floor of the ferry, another loud shot ringing out, and striking the car he quickly found cover behind. A Honda Civic. "Damn! One of 'em just fired on me!" Snake could hear the cries of the civilians onboard, but waited quietly for some notion of what they were planning.
Then, he felt the ferry shift beneath him, its hull changing courses, and the bow becoming parallel with that of the others ships that had turned back to the city. He held his head low, scavenging through his black jacket for his gun. He pulled it forth – a SOCOM – and looked it over as he spoke to Jack. "They're putting us back on course. Hmph…whoever they are, they must be looking for as many hostages as they can get their hands on."
"Snake? You gonna be okay?" Jack asked, his voice fading into the wind that blew over him, bright clouds passing in the distance.
"Yea," he replied, gripping his SOCOM in both hands before kneeling and setting his back against the Honda Civic. "Keep on the lookout for any suspicious targets. I'll need your help on the island, but you'd be better off having control of the ship yourself."
"Gotcha!"
There were two more shots fired, and with each one there was a loud repercussion of screaming from the old men and women, their hearts beating through their chests. Snake cringed each time, too, the bullets ricocheting off the floor of the ferry, and punching through the windows of the Civic. He quickly rolled behind a tire to be secure, and checked his SOCOM once more, verifying that a full magazine was inserted. "Here goes," he said aloud, and quickly jumped to his feet, extending his legs to the floor as he moved into the air.
As he catapulted up, his body did a swift turn, and when his feet landed firmly upon the floor again, he found himself eye to eye with one of the suspicious targets. They looked at each other, their hearts burning with desire, and their hands weak with fury, and only when Snake realized the presence of another – at the others' side– he fired and stepped off to the right, his feet leaving the ground again, and his body falling back, disappearing again, behind the car…his shield.
There was a cry, one too deep to belong to another civilian, and his head crashed into the floor, bouncing back in pain. 'Got one!' he exclaimed to himself, pushing the soreness in his neck away. Moving back onto his feet, his body still low behind the Civic, he peered through the broken windows, peeking his head out of safety. There was another shot, and he ducked quickly. Before he went down, he could see one of them positioned on the roof of the control bridge, his gun exposed and his eye looking through a long scope. Sniper.
This took no sniper. The two were merely meters apart, and something as simple as a handgun could still take Snake's head off if the bullet were aim was sharp. But, the sniper rifle made Snake a little uneasy, and somewhat nervous.
"So," Snake told himself, "I got one. Another is on the roof, and the last…hmm…he's keeping the seniors under control. Heh. That narrows things down…just a way to take out the sniper…" The warm sun shone bright in the sky to his back, and everything shined with a unique purity. There was something about the sunlight that brought everything down to earth, but at the same time lifted everything into a new realm. It was so mystifying, so foreign…but in the same instance; so common, so constant. Still, it made the difference. When the sun shone bright, there was peace, but when it hid behind the earth, shielding itself from the heavy gazes of star searchers and everyday people, darkness and misfortune seemed to sprout.
And in this moment, the sun was there and not there all at once. It had fallen away in the eyes of the enemy, and was no longer a threat to their procession, but in the eyes of the victims, its light was still present, and the mixture of chaos and daylight was sickening. Confusing. Like betrayal.
'Just go!' Snake cried in his mind, and he darted from behind the Civic, his head low. Shots outlined his trail in the deck, and in a moment – a quick moment – he was off the boat. Bullets flew by even as he was in the air, his body overtaken with a sense of freedom and unnatural safety. Those seconds were seconds of bliss, their meaning so great and their length so short. Like a first kiss…so overwhelming, but too short to satisfy.
His body still in flight, he shifted his gaze from the deep water to the shining city off to his left. It was like the sun itself, too bright to watch, but full of something one was too curious to turn from. The buildings mixed, the cars faded, and the people were bound together, and in that image – his final image before crashing into the water – he saw a great light shining all alone, independent of the sun. It was Manhattan…the center of it all. It was crying…crying for an audience.
And whatever the enemies were…whether they were German, American, Russian, or English…they were going to bring that audience to it…right to the city of Manhattan.