Chapter Twenty-One: Trump Cards
All four of them – Snake, Jack, Naomi, and Mei Ling – reached Otacon and Fox's position together. There was a moment absent of any verbal expression, but was a noticeably exciting moment for all of them. Naomi nearly fainted at the sight of her brother, and the two had fallen into an instinctive hug that continued on for a number of minutes. Mei Ling laid her laptop and radio on a nearby bench that rested before a monumental fountain, and then returned to the others and watched anxiously as Snake and Otacon committed their hand shake that followed with a heart-felt hug and an amused glare from Jack who received Mei Ling's exuberant hug – a sigh to relieve herself of the excitement she had bottled up inside. Jack stepped away awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.
"How…" Naomi spoke, shattering the 'silence' that was strangely loud. The roars of the riots and the swinging propellers of the more than four helicopters that circled the city was hardly silence, but was the closest they could come by.
Fox looked down at his sister whose ear lay against his chest and whose arms were still grasping him tightly. He sighed, trying to give her an honest explanation. "The man upstairs just has a knack for me, I guess," was all he said, but his sister could sense nervousness in his tone. He was keeping something from her…from Otacon…and he would soon be keeping it from everyone.
"It's good to see you again," Jack said to Otacon after Snake had stepped away, and the two shook heartily before Snake's eyes finally caught the soldier-turned ninja, and he felt an invisible hand expel the knowledge in him. Once again, reality seemed to crumble and blow into the wind like tiny grains of sand, only noticeable when they begin to settle in the surface of your eye.
Naomi felt the sternness in her brother and turned her head to see Snake. A giant smile broke through the tears that streamed down her face, and after giving her brother another look, she loosened her grip and went to Otacon, Jack, and Mei Ling, leaving Snake and Fox to themselves. "Don't go away," she whispered to her brother before walking away, and he grinned.
"Frank?" Snake asked. He took a time to pick the right name for addressing his lost comrade, but seeing he knew nothing of his position in the operation at hand he decided on a more personal invite. There was a subtle nod from Fox who proceeded to smile, his disheveled hair shifting in the wind and his trench coat waving wildly at his calves.
"A rather abrupt reunion," he voiced. Snake acknowledged his comment and naturally smiled – only lightly, as too not expose his bitter excitement.
"What brings you here?" Snake insisted, and Fox tilted onto his heels, chuckling within.
"Heh. Do I sense suspicion, Snake?" He slipped his hands into his coat and exposed the blunt handle of a silver gun, and his eyes made a gesture for his shoulder where Snake found the handle of his trademark blade, his defining symbol. "On assignment," he finally said, letting the gun rest into its hidden holster again.
"I didn't know you were employed?" Snake commented. Fox took his statement as humor.
"You didn't know I was alive, either," he replied, almost wanting to wave his finger in a discerning manor just to catch a glimpse of Snake's reaction. "You've missed the mark more times than one, Snake. You and I are fading…the stars of the Past-Generation's military spotlight. Perhaps we can reclaim our fame here?" Snake threw him a skeptic look, and with that Fox started past his right shoulder for Otacon and the others.
Snake stood in something of confusion and surprised by his old comrade's new attitude. "Mother force the Prozac?" he joked under his breath, but Fox smirked as he continued toward the others. Snake turned and followed the black-clad 'neither friend nor enemy' character, and joined the circle that had quickly taken form.
Pushing between Jack and Otacon, he felt a quick rush of heat beside them all. The sun was bad enough, but when you put six stressed and sweating men and women in a tight circle, things went sour…quickly. "Why are we in a huddle?" Jack spoke up. Everyone seemed relieved by his question, and Mei Ling quickly pointed toward the fountain that was fairly close by. Truth was, they had not met for many weeks – not even Snake and Otacon – and as a result, felt rather awkward around each other. That and the recent events made loose communication a little tighter than usual.
Oddly enough, when they had moved to the fountain, Otacon was the next to speak. "Well…I'll start." He seemed somewhat nervous, but it wasn't from talking to the others but from remembering what had happened in the last couple of hours. It was all enough to give any man of his age a crushing heart attack. Quickly, he informed them all of what happened prior to the moment in which he and Fox were stopped in the parking garage, and he took a long second to think before he spoke.
"We were stopped by a bunch of soldiers," he continued, recounting the moment. "Some of them carried assault rifles, others had hand guns, and they all looked to be wearing more Kevlar than any military camouflage."
"Pretty content on keeping you in the building, eh?" Snake intruded, but with a quick nod Otacon continued.
"They were being ordered by the colonel," he said. Waiting for them to swallow it all, they looked at him as if expecting more.
"The colonel?" Jack questioned. "Whose that?"
"Colonel Roy Campbell, former leader of the now disbanded FOX-HOUND," Otacon clarified, and Snake looked at him – baffled. "I knew it by his voice. But, there's more," Otacon said, not waiting for it sink in this time around. "He's the commander of the UFAC, which…no longer exists." The reaction was the same. Dumbfounded.
"With the apparent silencing of one of their agents who was evidently involved in the incident at Hell's Outpost, the Patriot's network caught onto the organizations existence and shut down the program," Otacon stated.
"Who was the agent?" Mei Ling asked, eagerly.
"Security purposes," Otacon said. "Couldn't tell me." Snake was furious.
"Then who the hell are we working for?" he hollered, forcing a flock of wandering geese into the air and away from where they stood, conversing.
"FACtion," Otacon told him. There was a more than obvious shock in the air, and Snake felt the wind knocked out of him. "The UFAC was designed to eliminate the Patriot and his entire control without involving the public, and without using violence. FACtion was created just after the UFAC became recognized as a legal addition to the world's top-secret organizations. It was never recognized by the officials, and has no problem with upsetting the balance of the public – as you can see." Otacon was referring to the current state of Manhattan.
"Damn," Snake voiced, shaking his head. "What about the mission they put us up to? What about the Compilation?" Otacon seemed deeply troubled by Snake's question, and it was evident that he was still not entirely sure of what they should do and should not do.
"The Colonel gave us this," he said, taking a seat at the bench and pulling forth the disc he had recovered from the West City Bank building before setting out for Manhattan. Moving the laptop onto his lap and setting the disc in its now open CD-ROM drive, the others huddled around as Snake stood before them all.
"We trust the Colonel?" he asked, awaiting Otacon's mixed reply. None came. Just the cold evidence of being pushed out of his mind, was Otacon's reply.
"Its the software FACtion's leader is using to run the operation. I got the feeling the Colonel has a superior, and with this disc he could be anywhere in the world." He waited as the software loaded onto the laptop, and as the fountain's cool aura was dulled by the crowd of bodies around him.
A notice popped onto the screen and was followed by a swarm of windows. Canceling many of them, they were left with the two most important ones they could determine: the map of Manhattan, and a coding window that was the sole device controlling the entire program. With it, they could customize the software to their needs, and with the map they could watch and listen to any and all orders sent to the varying posts across Manhattan. At the time, four defined areas were flashing red, and three others were flashing yellow.
Looking into the sky, Otacon counted four choppers in flight. "FACtion has lost control over these four areas," he pointed to them, "and I'd say are fighting for these three." He pointed at the yellow areas as Snake took a seat beside him and watched the monitor intensively. There was a series of angry orders blinking onto the screen and green-flashing areas that corresponded with them. "And those," Otacon said, reading one of them quickly, "come from whoever is in command of this operation."
Snake nodded receptively and went on to inspect his SOCOM as the others stared in silence. After no more than two minutes, two more areas – adjacent to those all ready invaded – turned yellow, and one yellow area had melted into a blood red. Their faces were bright with overwhelming joy.
But then there was a familiar ring. It sounded in Otacon's ear, and he quickly stood – setting the laptop on the bench – and stepped a few feet away from the others to get a feeling of privacy. "Yes?" he asked, touching his hand to his neck.
"You're using the program I gave you?" It was the Colonel.
"The people are wiping FACtion out!" Otacon exclaimed, surprised and in question. How could it be so easy?
"Yes," the Colonel sighed. "I know. This will certainly speed up their plans." Otacon stopped, baffled. 'Speed up?' he thought. "They're out of the game!"
The Colonel explained, "They expected a retaliation. To be honest, they had expected it sooner, but I think after time began to expire they shot the idea out of their heads. But, that doesn't much matter. They'll be deploying their 1st Officer Unit immediately. They can't wait around for the Six Points, now."
"Six Points?" Otacon questioned.
"I don't know much," the Colonel proclaimed. "But, they are just about second-command in the Patriot's web of control. Nothing he does or says can work without their approval. More often than not, Revolver Ocelot in particular, has gone against their ruling but they have taken appeasement over waging war on him." Otacon nodded.
"So, why the 'six'?" he asked, and the Colonel thought.
"I suppose it refers to the Continental Powers," the Colonel answered. "From each continent is a member. I don't know as much as He does, but FACtion believes that the Six Points will be arriving in Manhattan today to discuss something of importance with the Patriot. I'm not sure what, but He's confident that something's going on." Otacon nodded.
"Then what about our mission?" Otacon asked. "Why does FACtion want the Compilation?"
"As far as I know – or can guess – He's looking for the reason behind the Six Points' meeting here. Confirmation might be His goal, but I'm sorry. I don't know any of this for sure." Otacon sighed. The Colonel's lack of knowledge on the situation was a bit frustrating. "You might benefit from the mission, yourselves. If you were to succeed in gathering the data, you might be able to identify the 'topic of discussion' for today's little fiasco."
Discarding the Colonel's last suggestion as to not say something he would later regret, he returned to their previous discussion. "So who is 'He'?" Otacon asked. The Colonel took a moment to contemplate an answer, and eventually spoke up.
"My employer," he answered. "The head of FACtion. He asked for me to help oversee your operation and to give him advice regarding strategy. But, he got the bad end of the deal when he decided to keep me in the dark." He paused. "I know that doesn't necessarily answer your question, if you were looking for a name, but that's all I can give you."
"Matter of security?" Otacon insisted.
"Hell no," the Colonel returned. "If I knew, I wouldn't mind coughing it up, but he's cautious. He built the software he's using to control the entire invasion, along with the copy I burnt for you. It's original was given to me so that I could keep a close eye on things. He needs assertion. Not really the military hero, but more of a computer wiz. But…I have never met him, so the assumption that he's weak could be off the mark." Otacon nodded.
"What's this 1st Officer Unit?" Otacon asked, bracing himself for another explanation.
"FACtion's 2nd Officer Unit is comprised of two operatives: Frost and Formal. They are the more expendable of the five officers working directly beneath Him. Now, the 1st Officer Unit is comprised of three additional operatives: Klaymore, Titan, and Esher. Of the 2nd Officer Unit, only Formal has His frequency, limiting his and Frost's concerns to him, alone. You know of Frost and Formal, as you've all ready met, but let me send you the specs on the three 1st Officers." There was a moment of silence. "All right. I've uploaded them to your system." The 1st Officer Unit…that was FACtion's trump card.
"How?" Otacon asked quizzically.
"IDT – Internal Data Transfer," he claimed. "It was coupled with that software you have. It's something of an All-Access Networking system without the need of cables and cords. I don't know exactly, but it must run through some sort of Optical Signals." There was a moment where neither of them spoke – expecting the other to reinitiate conversation. But, the Colonel resumed.
"That's all I can tell you for now. I have to report your 'condition' to Him before he suspects something has gone wrong." Otacon grinned. Something HAD gone wrong.
"Thanks for the information, Colonel," Otacon insisted.
"I'll get back to you," the Colonel proclaimed, and in an instant the transmission was ended. Otacon spent a moment where he stood, his back turned, to listen and look. The terrible condition of the city was rather humiliating, and as he turned back to the others he could see the contrasting joy about their faces.
Returning to them, and taking a seat beside Snake to reclaim the laptop, he saw the monitor. He saw the oddly shaded LCD screen blur as he shifted beneath it, but when it had sharpened he was both happy and nervous. "Four posts have not been attacked," he said, counting the color-coded areas, "and five are being fought for." What the others did not see was the order in the bottom left corner of the screen. As they appeared, they became increasingly worse.
'Four posts remain powerful.'
SILENCE
'All choppers report to the stable sectors.'
SILENCE
'1st Officers, be ready. All remaining units, set the gas markers.'
SILENCE.
'1st Officers…I want the 1st Officer Unit deployed! Now!'
SILENCE
'Klaymore. Detonate the Triborough Bridge and Tribeca Sector A.'
This time, there was no silence. This time, Otacon's eyes shot up in fright as the ground shook. There was a groundbreaking thrust of wind and a vibrating blast of sound from the Tribeca area as a ball of fire emerged from the homes and the offices. Billowing from its resolve was a black cloud of smoke, and with the fire-soaked streets there came blood-curdling cries from hundreds of rioters as some were killed and others bore witness. And that was when Snake and Jack knew what had happened.
Remembering the IN-Tech building, one thing came to Jack's mind. And when Snake replayed the moments within the toy store, the same thought entered his own. They watched their visual images, and they remembered…C4. C4 lined the walls, the ceiling.
"They're playing trump," Otacon explained, and everyone saw it then…their second trump card.
They had rigged Manhattan to blow.
All four of them – Snake, Jack, Naomi, and Mei Ling – reached Otacon and Fox's position together. There was a moment absent of any verbal expression, but was a noticeably exciting moment for all of them. Naomi nearly fainted at the sight of her brother, and the two had fallen into an instinctive hug that continued on for a number of minutes. Mei Ling laid her laptop and radio on a nearby bench that rested before a monumental fountain, and then returned to the others and watched anxiously as Snake and Otacon committed their hand shake that followed with a heart-felt hug and an amused glare from Jack who received Mei Ling's exuberant hug – a sigh to relieve herself of the excitement she had bottled up inside. Jack stepped away awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.
"How…" Naomi spoke, shattering the 'silence' that was strangely loud. The roars of the riots and the swinging propellers of the more than four helicopters that circled the city was hardly silence, but was the closest they could come by.
Fox looked down at his sister whose ear lay against his chest and whose arms were still grasping him tightly. He sighed, trying to give her an honest explanation. "The man upstairs just has a knack for me, I guess," was all he said, but his sister could sense nervousness in his tone. He was keeping something from her…from Otacon…and he would soon be keeping it from everyone.
"It's good to see you again," Jack said to Otacon after Snake had stepped away, and the two shook heartily before Snake's eyes finally caught the soldier-turned ninja, and he felt an invisible hand expel the knowledge in him. Once again, reality seemed to crumble and blow into the wind like tiny grains of sand, only noticeable when they begin to settle in the surface of your eye.
Naomi felt the sternness in her brother and turned her head to see Snake. A giant smile broke through the tears that streamed down her face, and after giving her brother another look, she loosened her grip and went to Otacon, Jack, and Mei Ling, leaving Snake and Fox to themselves. "Don't go away," she whispered to her brother before walking away, and he grinned.
"Frank?" Snake asked. He took a time to pick the right name for addressing his lost comrade, but seeing he knew nothing of his position in the operation at hand he decided on a more personal invite. There was a subtle nod from Fox who proceeded to smile, his disheveled hair shifting in the wind and his trench coat waving wildly at his calves.
"A rather abrupt reunion," he voiced. Snake acknowledged his comment and naturally smiled – only lightly, as too not expose his bitter excitement.
"What brings you here?" Snake insisted, and Fox tilted onto his heels, chuckling within.
"Heh. Do I sense suspicion, Snake?" He slipped his hands into his coat and exposed the blunt handle of a silver gun, and his eyes made a gesture for his shoulder where Snake found the handle of his trademark blade, his defining symbol. "On assignment," he finally said, letting the gun rest into its hidden holster again.
"I didn't know you were employed?" Snake commented. Fox took his statement as humor.
"You didn't know I was alive, either," he replied, almost wanting to wave his finger in a discerning manor just to catch a glimpse of Snake's reaction. "You've missed the mark more times than one, Snake. You and I are fading…the stars of the Past-Generation's military spotlight. Perhaps we can reclaim our fame here?" Snake threw him a skeptic look, and with that Fox started past his right shoulder for Otacon and the others.
Snake stood in something of confusion and surprised by his old comrade's new attitude. "Mother force the Prozac?" he joked under his breath, but Fox smirked as he continued toward the others. Snake turned and followed the black-clad 'neither friend nor enemy' character, and joined the circle that had quickly taken form.
Pushing between Jack and Otacon, he felt a quick rush of heat beside them all. The sun was bad enough, but when you put six stressed and sweating men and women in a tight circle, things went sour…quickly. "Why are we in a huddle?" Jack spoke up. Everyone seemed relieved by his question, and Mei Ling quickly pointed toward the fountain that was fairly close by. Truth was, they had not met for many weeks – not even Snake and Otacon – and as a result, felt rather awkward around each other. That and the recent events made loose communication a little tighter than usual.
Oddly enough, when they had moved to the fountain, Otacon was the next to speak. "Well…I'll start." He seemed somewhat nervous, but it wasn't from talking to the others but from remembering what had happened in the last couple of hours. It was all enough to give any man of his age a crushing heart attack. Quickly, he informed them all of what happened prior to the moment in which he and Fox were stopped in the parking garage, and he took a long second to think before he spoke.
"We were stopped by a bunch of soldiers," he continued, recounting the moment. "Some of them carried assault rifles, others had hand guns, and they all looked to be wearing more Kevlar than any military camouflage."
"Pretty content on keeping you in the building, eh?" Snake intruded, but with a quick nod Otacon continued.
"They were being ordered by the colonel," he said. Waiting for them to swallow it all, they looked at him as if expecting more.
"The colonel?" Jack questioned. "Whose that?"
"Colonel Roy Campbell, former leader of the now disbanded FOX-HOUND," Otacon clarified, and Snake looked at him – baffled. "I knew it by his voice. But, there's more," Otacon said, not waiting for it sink in this time around. "He's the commander of the UFAC, which…no longer exists." The reaction was the same. Dumbfounded.
"With the apparent silencing of one of their agents who was evidently involved in the incident at Hell's Outpost, the Patriot's network caught onto the organizations existence and shut down the program," Otacon stated.
"Who was the agent?" Mei Ling asked, eagerly.
"Security purposes," Otacon said. "Couldn't tell me." Snake was furious.
"Then who the hell are we working for?" he hollered, forcing a flock of wandering geese into the air and away from where they stood, conversing.
"FACtion," Otacon told him. There was a more than obvious shock in the air, and Snake felt the wind knocked out of him. "The UFAC was designed to eliminate the Patriot and his entire control without involving the public, and without using violence. FACtion was created just after the UFAC became recognized as a legal addition to the world's top-secret organizations. It was never recognized by the officials, and has no problem with upsetting the balance of the public – as you can see." Otacon was referring to the current state of Manhattan.
"Damn," Snake voiced, shaking his head. "What about the mission they put us up to? What about the Compilation?" Otacon seemed deeply troubled by Snake's question, and it was evident that he was still not entirely sure of what they should do and should not do.
"The Colonel gave us this," he said, taking a seat at the bench and pulling forth the disc he had recovered from the West City Bank building before setting out for Manhattan. Moving the laptop onto his lap and setting the disc in its now open CD-ROM drive, the others huddled around as Snake stood before them all.
"We trust the Colonel?" he asked, awaiting Otacon's mixed reply. None came. Just the cold evidence of being pushed out of his mind, was Otacon's reply.
"Its the software FACtion's leader is using to run the operation. I got the feeling the Colonel has a superior, and with this disc he could be anywhere in the world." He waited as the software loaded onto the laptop, and as the fountain's cool aura was dulled by the crowd of bodies around him.
A notice popped onto the screen and was followed by a swarm of windows. Canceling many of them, they were left with the two most important ones they could determine: the map of Manhattan, and a coding window that was the sole device controlling the entire program. With it, they could customize the software to their needs, and with the map they could watch and listen to any and all orders sent to the varying posts across Manhattan. At the time, four defined areas were flashing red, and three others were flashing yellow.
Looking into the sky, Otacon counted four choppers in flight. "FACtion has lost control over these four areas," he pointed to them, "and I'd say are fighting for these three." He pointed at the yellow areas as Snake took a seat beside him and watched the monitor intensively. There was a series of angry orders blinking onto the screen and green-flashing areas that corresponded with them. "And those," Otacon said, reading one of them quickly, "come from whoever is in command of this operation."
Snake nodded receptively and went on to inspect his SOCOM as the others stared in silence. After no more than two minutes, two more areas – adjacent to those all ready invaded – turned yellow, and one yellow area had melted into a blood red. Their faces were bright with overwhelming joy.
But then there was a familiar ring. It sounded in Otacon's ear, and he quickly stood – setting the laptop on the bench – and stepped a few feet away from the others to get a feeling of privacy. "Yes?" he asked, touching his hand to his neck.
"You're using the program I gave you?" It was the Colonel.
"The people are wiping FACtion out!" Otacon exclaimed, surprised and in question. How could it be so easy?
"Yes," the Colonel sighed. "I know. This will certainly speed up their plans." Otacon stopped, baffled. 'Speed up?' he thought. "They're out of the game!"
The Colonel explained, "They expected a retaliation. To be honest, they had expected it sooner, but I think after time began to expire they shot the idea out of their heads. But, that doesn't much matter. They'll be deploying their 1st Officer Unit immediately. They can't wait around for the Six Points, now."
"Six Points?" Otacon questioned.
"I don't know much," the Colonel proclaimed. "But, they are just about second-command in the Patriot's web of control. Nothing he does or says can work without their approval. More often than not, Revolver Ocelot in particular, has gone against their ruling but they have taken appeasement over waging war on him." Otacon nodded.
"So, why the 'six'?" he asked, and the Colonel thought.
"I suppose it refers to the Continental Powers," the Colonel answered. "From each continent is a member. I don't know as much as He does, but FACtion believes that the Six Points will be arriving in Manhattan today to discuss something of importance with the Patriot. I'm not sure what, but He's confident that something's going on." Otacon nodded.
"Then what about our mission?" Otacon asked. "Why does FACtion want the Compilation?"
"As far as I know – or can guess – He's looking for the reason behind the Six Points' meeting here. Confirmation might be His goal, but I'm sorry. I don't know any of this for sure." Otacon sighed. The Colonel's lack of knowledge on the situation was a bit frustrating. "You might benefit from the mission, yourselves. If you were to succeed in gathering the data, you might be able to identify the 'topic of discussion' for today's little fiasco."
Discarding the Colonel's last suggestion as to not say something he would later regret, he returned to their previous discussion. "So who is 'He'?" Otacon asked. The Colonel took a moment to contemplate an answer, and eventually spoke up.
"My employer," he answered. "The head of FACtion. He asked for me to help oversee your operation and to give him advice regarding strategy. But, he got the bad end of the deal when he decided to keep me in the dark." He paused. "I know that doesn't necessarily answer your question, if you were looking for a name, but that's all I can give you."
"Matter of security?" Otacon insisted.
"Hell no," the Colonel returned. "If I knew, I wouldn't mind coughing it up, but he's cautious. He built the software he's using to control the entire invasion, along with the copy I burnt for you. It's original was given to me so that I could keep a close eye on things. He needs assertion. Not really the military hero, but more of a computer wiz. But…I have never met him, so the assumption that he's weak could be off the mark." Otacon nodded.
"What's this 1st Officer Unit?" Otacon asked, bracing himself for another explanation.
"FACtion's 2nd Officer Unit is comprised of two operatives: Frost and Formal. They are the more expendable of the five officers working directly beneath Him. Now, the 1st Officer Unit is comprised of three additional operatives: Klaymore, Titan, and Esher. Of the 2nd Officer Unit, only Formal has His frequency, limiting his and Frost's concerns to him, alone. You know of Frost and Formal, as you've all ready met, but let me send you the specs on the three 1st Officers." There was a moment of silence. "All right. I've uploaded them to your system." The 1st Officer Unit…that was FACtion's trump card.
"How?" Otacon asked quizzically.
"IDT – Internal Data Transfer," he claimed. "It was coupled with that software you have. It's something of an All-Access Networking system without the need of cables and cords. I don't know exactly, but it must run through some sort of Optical Signals." There was a moment where neither of them spoke – expecting the other to reinitiate conversation. But, the Colonel resumed.
"That's all I can tell you for now. I have to report your 'condition' to Him before he suspects something has gone wrong." Otacon grinned. Something HAD gone wrong.
"Thanks for the information, Colonel," Otacon insisted.
"I'll get back to you," the Colonel proclaimed, and in an instant the transmission was ended. Otacon spent a moment where he stood, his back turned, to listen and look. The terrible condition of the city was rather humiliating, and as he turned back to the others he could see the contrasting joy about their faces.
Returning to them, and taking a seat beside Snake to reclaim the laptop, he saw the monitor. He saw the oddly shaded LCD screen blur as he shifted beneath it, but when it had sharpened he was both happy and nervous. "Four posts have not been attacked," he said, counting the color-coded areas, "and five are being fought for." What the others did not see was the order in the bottom left corner of the screen. As they appeared, they became increasingly worse.
'Four posts remain powerful.'
SILENCE
'All choppers report to the stable sectors.'
SILENCE
'1st Officers, be ready. All remaining units, set the gas markers.'
SILENCE.
'1st Officers…I want the 1st Officer Unit deployed! Now!'
SILENCE
'Klaymore. Detonate the Triborough Bridge and Tribeca Sector A.'
This time, there was no silence. This time, Otacon's eyes shot up in fright as the ground shook. There was a groundbreaking thrust of wind and a vibrating blast of sound from the Tribeca area as a ball of fire emerged from the homes and the offices. Billowing from its resolve was a black cloud of smoke, and with the fire-soaked streets there came blood-curdling cries from hundreds of rioters as some were killed and others bore witness. And that was when Snake and Jack knew what had happened.
Remembering the IN-Tech building, one thing came to Jack's mind. And when Snake replayed the moments within the toy store, the same thought entered his own. They watched their visual images, and they remembered…C4. C4 lined the walls, the ceiling.
"They're playing trump," Otacon explained, and everyone saw it then…their second trump card.
They had rigged Manhattan to blow.