This version of chapter to is if I had continued the final part of the bathhouse mission with the assault kit. I wrote down both the 'stealth' and 'assault' versions since... well I'd figure it would be interesting to go either way, if Fisher decided to kill anyone he encountered, or let them live, the assault although ironically was written and drafted first, took longer than the stealth version to finish due to the changes I made for a lot of text in the stealth version, that I decided to carry on back to the assault version.

Not to mention the many different ways you can kill everyone you encounter in the bathhouse with what you have. I decided to go with what I did that lead to the least amount of drama… kind of anti climatic in a sense but then again, Fisher's supposed to be when necessary an efficient killer, (not unlike Solid Snake and Logan), Enough of me rambling, on with it.

Part B - Showdown - 'Assault' version

As I crawled out, Grimsdotter cut in, apparently finished going over whatever I had got off the laptop that Shetland was using.

"Good thinking fisher. Looks like Shetland is using Zerkeizei's infinite recursion code to run genetic algorithms that allow him to remotely organize his men."

"Why?"

"Wow... DOD is gonna love this. Looks like Shetland can establish his objectives and the software will break it down to individual tasks and mails them out to his men."

"So his people all swarm a target location independently, and complete their sub objectives without ever knowing just what the plan is?"

"Exactly, kind of a bizarre Inverse of nikoladze's 'glass dagger'. Infact, it's noted in here that this was especially pushed for in the aftermath of Shadow moses."

"...What? In the aftermath?"

Another important question was, what about Shadow Moses. Not many knew the truth behind Shadow moses, aside from me, David...Logan...but before I could even start to try and think this over, Lambert cut in.

"This is all interesting, but Fisher..."

I knew what he was going to say, and he was right.

"I know, don't let Shetland escape."

"If he gets away, we may not get another chance, and God knows what he'll be able to unleash, and just your luck, another asset is on location, and is making his way thru ISDF and Displace guards to your location."

"Who?"

"Gabriel Logan?"

I had not seen Logan in a while, he's been busy trying to save the world from a number of other horrors, and the last time I heard, David had been trying to rid the world of the Metal gears in it, I had not seen him since Shadow Moses.

"Gabe? What's he doing in Japan?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, I'm looking into it right now."

"Alright."

"But even with another man in the area, you can't allow Shetland to escape."

"I know..."

As I made my way back into the private room, I could hear the gunshots just ahead, a grenade goes off and smoke pours thru into the vent I had crawled in minutes before, as the gunfire continued on, into one of the rooms, I waddled thru the water and entered the vent and crawled thru, no sooner that I got out, a displace grunt had his gun at me, I simply ran as the bullets whizzed by, a few grazing my back, I yell out in pain by reflex as I ran.

I make my way thru the bathroom and hallways, and I find the myself just around the corner from the ISDF side of the firefight. I sneak across the hallway to the room where the meeting had taken place, I stop to hear the familiar whirling of a security camera, as I use the OCP and disable it, and then pick up a frag, flash bang, and a box of 5.56mm ammo, before slowly approaching the hallway.

I take out the SC20K and switch attachments. I take off the 1.5 X sight and replace it with the 4x telescope sight, and removing the shotgun attachment, and in it's place, a barrel, able to fire the 20mm APDS rounds.

I switch hands, with my left on the trigger as I peak, switching to IR, as I searched for the first two men, the IDSF troops. One hid behind an overturned box, his body heat more than visible behind it. I line up the sights with his head and pull the trigger.

A loud bang, was accompanied with the rifle jerking back from the recoil, as the man fell over dead, the other grunt tried to turn and face me, but I had already recovered, the sights aimed at his head the second he left cover.

Another bang, he falls over, now I had the 2 displace men to take care of. I aim for the far one to the right, hiding behind a wooden wall, I pull the trigger, the bullet punches thru the short wall, and thru him as he falls over. The last runs from cover to the overturned vending machine, but he fell as I pulled the trigger one last time. Although I was certain everyone here was dead except me, I looked around for a few more seconds, before loading four new rounds into the rifle, before putting the gun away, and I moved on to the next room.

I hear some timed beeps, and instantly know it's a mine, it was head level on a wall, just next to the pathway leading into the other room, a public sauna, I wait for the light to switch green before I diffuse it, then I take out the SC20K, I switch to thermal and find 3 more displace men, one hiding on the far right behind a wall meant to be a barrier between shower stalls to the far left, another behind a short wall a little to the right ahead of me, the last behind a support beam to the far right, they were waiting for me, but they weren't ready for me.

It was either them or me. It was too risky to not kill them, I didn't like doing it, but I don't feel like dying either. I take out my SC20 K again and replace the attachments, sliding the shotgun back into place as I put it away, I take out the SC pistol, and use the OCP to jam the light to the far right, I take out the grenades, and throw them one by one, from the far right to the far left.

"GET DOWN!"

Shouted one as they each exploded, I take out the SC20K, trigger on the shotgun, but to my surprise as the smoke settled, all 3 were dead. I check their bodies, and aside from being blown up, they all had HK G36's, which would have torn me apart. But I find instead 3 burnt corpses.

I leave the grim scene, not bothering to close the door behind me and continued my way on, a quick left, and not to my surprise is another mine, I approach it slowly, and diffuse it, taking it with me as I kept going.

I enter the furnace room, I hear a set of beeps as I then hear the sound of metal being stomped on, above me...it sounded 'hollow' for a lack of a better description and most likely elevated.

"Metal Floor!"

I look up past a fence to seen an elevated steel walkway as Shetland runs past, nothing in my arsenal would have been able to punch thru it, not even the APDS rounds.

"This is pointless Sam! You won't know what to do if you catch me, why bother chasing?"

Lambert gets on the horn, as I then find out what that beeping sound is.

"My God Fisher! Shetland has rigged the place to blow! There are bombs hidden throughout the furnace room, you have to find them all and fast!

I timer then appears on my opsat.

"1 minute and a half to find the bombs... great."

I think, half of my brain goes into panic mode, wanting to frantically find the bombs, my logical half tries to quell the panicking end, and I know going into a panic won't help me find them. I needed to stay calm and search the area. I switch first to night vision, and find my view of course obscured by the steam, so I switch to infrared, and most of the objects' heat signatures are well visible, and I'm hopelessly obscured, so I switch to EMF, which barely fairs better, I sigh as I look at the watch.

"I minute... ten seconds...shit..."

I decide to use my own eyes, I search the bottom level of the furnace room, and find a blinking red light, I squeeze thru a gap between two machines and find the first bomb, with forty-five seconds to spare as I take out my knife to diffuse it. No sooner than I start, I hear to my right past the machine another one of Shetlands grunts...possibly the one I left alive after gassing the ISDF troops earlier, much earlier. .

"Where is he?!"

"Another grunt...I have to take him down hard, soon as this bomb is diffused."

I continued to work to diffuse the bomb, Shetland apparently arrogant enough to talk to me while I worked on a bomb that could kill him as well as I."

"Mason and Lambert have you wrapped around their fingers Sam! You're no more to them than any other weapon!"

The words stung, but I had no time to think them over as I put the knife away, and sneaked back down, I whistle, as the grunt turns my way to fire, but I already had my sight over his head.

BOOM!

The 12 gauge round sprays over his head, he falls over dead, I put my gun away, making it up the stairs, placing one mine at the far wall, walking away from hit slowly, and placing a second mine there, moving away from that. And continued searching for the next bomb. It wasn't far off from the last one. I see a flashing red light as before down below, I jump over a ledge, again down to the bottom, another bomb as I work on that, it started to cross my mind Shetland knew I would try to diffuse these bombs, if I didn't, they would kill all of us, including him, and apparently had a lot to say, and among the chaos, I hear the displace men comment on my handiwork.

"Man down!"

"God damm, God damn! You'll pay for this you bastard!"

"Look at YOU! You've made yourself the instrument of a policy you don't believe in Sam! Walk away!"

"There he is!"

"You're a dead man!"

"Take him down! Anyway you can!"

I put it away, I climb back up, and keep close to the machine on my left, and peak around the corner, past the gap to the floor level where I entered the furnace room, were the two displace grunts, I fire another shotgun round, taking one guy out, the other runs, I try to take a shot but then I don't... as he was running to where I was, right into the mine.

BOOM!

Smoke is seen just rising past what was blocking my view of the walkway thanks to the furnace, but I knew he was dead. And with that in mind, I searched for the last bomb, in clear view near the end of the furnace room, as I go to diffuse that. Shetland could be heard to my far left, probably at the door leading out.

"Blood is thicker than water and you and I have bleed a lot together. You're trading your honor for their agenda, THEIR agenda, not ours Sam."

By the time I diffuse it, he just leaves as I jump back to the elevated walkway, and head for the door, I ready the SC20K, my left index finger on the trigger of the shotgun as I force it open, I find a displace grunt ready, he fires a round, I feel it in my gut, the Kevlar in my vest just stopping it from ripping thru the gut, I fire back, he drops dead, I run over his body... and well you already know where that lead too...

We knock each other's primary guns and go for our sidearm, as we were now at a Mexican standoff.

"It doesn't have to end like this Sam."

"No, but it does have to end."

"On that I agree ... We've been fighting their dirty little wars all entire lives and where do we end up?... staring at each other down the barrels of our guns. Nothing has changed fisher... it didn't change with Jack, It didn't bend with Logan, and the same for David...Jesus Sam, he was Big Boss' son, you knew they would use him like they did the Boss...like they did Adam...and even the Cobras..."

"...The Cobras...what is he talking about?"

"...It won't change fisher... it won't change by degrees, even if others try, They will get in the way... THEY ALWAYS DO!...One way or another, its there fault Sam...We have to tear it down and start over... ALL of it! It's the ONLY way!"

"Your own little 'chaos theory'? Throw the world into war and hope that what comes out the other side is better? What makes you any different from Big Boss, Doug?"

"...And likewise... are you any different from David? Or the rest of them?...It will be better, because this war will change things Sam. Every other war has been about keeping things the same, keeping an ongoing cycle of war, peace, and revolution, and endless waltz as an attempt to keep people in check, thru constant hatred and ignorance, but the status quo doesn't work anymore. America's sick Sam... she's dying... the politicians, the bureaucrats, the whispered back room deals. It's all life-support for a sick old lady who was dead a long time ago. Dead as long as them!"

"The only back room deals I've seen lately were made by you. You are no different than Jack; you're no different from those you're trying to take out. You're a murderer, and a war criminal."

"The very same can be said about you, you're more of a tool than even Logan. But those are the only names the state has for the revolutionaries Sam. You become a hero, after the war is over. Washington would've agreed. You know the truth. The world is built from the bottom up, not the other way around. Honor, courage, fidelity, we don't inherit these things from the world Sam; we build the world from them. I know you, you believe in these things more than any government. And I know because of it you wouldn't shoot an old friend."

He lowers the gun... as I did my own, putting it away... wondering if there was another option other than to kill him.

I had no time to wonder as the second I holstered my gun, he aimed once more and fired...

To bad he missed... by the time he aimed, by that time, I already was in a crouching position... my right hand was already reaching for the knife...it happened so fast...the response was automatic, like a scene acted out to death.

Even I didn't realize it until I stabbed him in the gut, but it was far too late, I was already committed, no turning back, I shoved him thru back into the bathhouse, he hits a wooden support beam, and fell into the hot-bath below...floating back up, face down...and for certain...dead.

"You're right Doug...I wouldn't shoot an old friend."

"...Because you're no longer my old friend."... I finished in thought as I turned around and walked off... but his words I could not shake off... for a lot of them rang true..

It wasn't the first time, yet I could see truth for myself in them, at the same time, it was true for himself, as well as the people he used.

But before I could reflect more, the door behind me was forced open, I turn around to find one final displace grunt, but I had no time to prepare, the UMP 45 was already aimed at my head.

"Say Goodbye Bitch!"

But before he could pull the trigger, he suddenly shook violently as I heard a familiar electrical shock as he kept shaking, screaming before he then caught on fire, and finally fell over, the flames going out, as all that was left was a burnt corpse. The one that apparently tazered the man to death steeped over the body and he walked into view, I knew from Lambert who he was, but I was none the less surprised to see him for myself.

"It's been some time Fisher." Gabriel Logan started, as he waked into view.

"Some time indeed."

End of part 2B, part 3 on its way.