Project: PARADIGM

by CluelessDetective

Frozen Encounter

If there was one thing Solid Snake hated about Siberia, it was the cold. He could handle the heat of Africa fairly easily, but this chilled him to the bone and he despised it. His hand was almost shaking as he struggled to place a cigarette inside his mouth and light it, brushing against the beard he'd grown in the last few months. He let the smoke inside his body as it warmed him up. He didn't care what Otacon or anyone else said to him about how dangerous they were; all Snake cared about was that they were damned good.

After gaining more warmth, he checked his Soliton Radar on his nanomachine-projected heads-up display for guidance. The supposed location of the base was nearby, but all Snake saw was flat, white, and frozen wasteland. Taking out an empty magazine from one of his pockets attached to his dark blue insulative vest and chucked it a few feet; it hit the ground with a metallic clunk. He stomped one of his boots into the cold ground, and the only sound he received was the crunch of the snow.

Placing a finger on his ear, he activated his Codec and contacted his best friend, and co-founder of Philanthropy, Otacon.

"Otacon, this is Snake; I think I found an entrance to the base."

"Alright Snake, look for a hatch; find it and drop down to the base." Replied Otacon

"Copy that." He ended the Codec conversation and walked to where his empty magazine had discovered the entrance.

Brushing - or maybe clawing - the snow out of the way with his hands, when most of it had been cleared he began observing the ground. It didn't take long for Snake to discover where the metal looked different than the rest and pulled it up, and dropped to the base below the sub-zero earth.

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Landing on the metallic floor of the base, Solid Snake quickly pulled out his suppressed SOCOM and looked around to see where he had landed. He could tell from the abundance of cardboard boxes and prolific amount of crates united that he was in the storage facility of the base. Otacon had told him that the new Metal Gear in the works was most likely a floor below him, so all he had to do was find an elevator. Checking his Soliton Radar once more, he saw that a red dot was approaching his location; an enemy was nearby, and he must've been doing some sort of routine check. Pressing himself against the boxes, he leaned his head a little to see what he was up against.

The guard was armed with a Mk 18 and attached to his left hip was a Glock 19. This was most likely his last post for today as he carried his weapon quite lazily. He began looking all around, passing his practically invisible adversary, and when he saw the roof's exit opened, he took out his radio and contacted his superior, informing him that the wind must've blown the door open and that there was nothing to worry about; he had never been so wrong in his entire life. Turning around he began to head out, but when he passed Snake the intruder leaped into action.

Rolling out of his position, he pressed his SOCOM against the guard's head yelling, "Freeze!"

The guard threw up his hands in the air, letting his carbine clatter on the floor. "Please don't shoot." He whispered with fear and panic filling him.

"Wasn't planning on it." The stealth master smacked his pistol as hard as he could on the guard's head, knocking him out cold. He checked the Mk 18 his prey dropped, and after seeing it was fully loaded put it in his makeshift inventory; if he got caught, he was going to need a weapon that can drive them back. Before heading out of the storage facility, he contacted Otacon, informing him of the successful infiltration.

"Good job, Snake, there's bound to be an elevator up ahead. Find it and descend to where the new Metal Gear is being held." His friend said and ended the call.

Heading out of the storage room, Snake froze. There was a crossroad up ahead, and to the right were two soldiers, facing one another and having a conversation of some sorts. Pulling out his M9 tranquilizer gun, he fired a shot at the head of the guard whose back was facing him. Right when the man in front of him caught notice of the intruder, Snake kicked the sleeping man's body at the guard, putting them both on the ground. After cocking his weapon, Snake gave the man some beauty sleep. As useful as it was, the M9 tranq pistol never cycled properly and he had to manually cock it in order to use it again; it was a major flaw he had yet to talk to Otacon about.

He only had to walk a few steps before he arrived at the elevator, but the doors of it refused to budge. He glanced at the elevator and let out a grumble. It was much like Big Shell's elevator in the cores, with it having identification of an actual guard or soldier to advance. They had to be awake and alive, so obviously Snake knew he couldn't use the sleepers, and he most definitely couldn't use himself. He began wandering the floor, and when he did, he didn't encounter any sentries; it must have been a skeleton crew.

After only a few minutes of exploring, Snake came across a door. When it opened, it revealed a guard relaxing on a chair, watching some sports. Snake assumed that his shift was either over, or just starting. He slowly raised his SOCOM up to the man's head and growled "You and me are going on a little walk."

The guard did as Snake commanded, and when they reached the elevator, he opened it for his kidnapper. Before Snake could even go into it, the guard turned and raised his carbine to open fire, the man of silence rolling away from the shots.

Luckily, before the man could radio for help Snake fired a round right into the attacker's skull, blood splattering against the wall behind him.

With a press of a button, Snake descended lower into the earth, oblivious of the abomination that awaited him below.

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The first thing Snake did when the elevator reached it's destination was to contact Otacon one last time, telling him that he has finally reached the bottom floor of the building and he is ready to begin the last phase.

"Remember Snake," Otacon began. "We're dealing with a hijacked Metal Gear. What you need to do is destroy that thing before this rogue faction can unleash Armageddon, and do it by any means necessary."

"Otacon, the soldiers here sure as hell aren't Russian terrorists. Even they'd use domestic-made weapons. These guys are using modern western equipment. They don't seem to use military tactics either."

"Some kind of paramilitary force then. You think it might be-"

"The Patriots? Maybe. We know they're still in business, but I'm not sure what they'd want with a Russian Metal Gear when they can develop one of their own."

"True enough. Just be careful, it sounds like things are getting a lot more complicated."

Snake nodded. "Okay. I'll contact you again if anything comes up." And with that, the Codec call had ended, and he had began to walk to his destination, the door in front of him sliding open.

The room that was in front of Snake was the size of a hangar. It seemed on each side of the large area there was a door, meaning there were more ways for Snake to enter and exit. Pillars marked the edges of the room and held the roof in place.

However, the thing that made this room special wasn't it's architecture. It was it's occupant, one tall and wide skyscraper of black and chrome metal. There was no doubt that this was the Metal Gear he was sent in to destroy.

Along with it's gigantic size, the monstrosity also sported some unique features. On it's head it had a beak, as long and sharp as Death's grim blade, reminiscent of another super weapon named RAY. Attached to it's lengthy and flexible aerodynamic body were two large wings, each one containing a ducted propeller for flight, and seemingly able to fold neatly against the body. Eight mechanical legs marked the sides, each one able to fold against the body. To say the whole thing looked menacing would be a drastic understatement, resembling something out of a story book.

Snake took a cautious step forward, stopped, and looked above and around him. He could see three cameras, each one ready to film and alert any guards in the building of his whereabouts. Grabbing and raising his SOCOM, he fired three shots, each one disabling one of the common annoyances on his missions. Holstering his silenced pistol, Snake began to creep into the main section of the room, being cautious as to trip any visible alarms. Upon reaching the metallic monster, Snake began to get out the tools he would need to destroy the Metal Gear.

Suddenly the doors surrounding him slid open, and soon the room was flooded with soldiers, each with either a FAMAS or a Mk 18 in hand, ready to fire at a moments notice, guns pointed at the hero. Not wanting to make any sudden movements, Snake raised both of his arms up. He knew he was outnumbered and fighting them would be suicide.

Damn! I must've tripped a silent alarm. I was too careless.

There was then something that surprised Snake. The room began to echo with a sound, one that everybody knows well enough to detect it: clapping. Moving his head to the side, he saw that he and the company that surrounded him was being approached by a man dressed in a peculiar mix of military fatigues and biker attire. Both of his hips held a holster, the holsters carrying two hand cannons known as Desert Eagles. He continued clapping until he was in the center of the circle in front of Snake. He coughed and began to speak.

"Hello, Snake." He greeted, his deep voice laced with venom. "Long time no see."

Snake said nothing, merely staring at his captor and his unit. The man tilted his head. "You don't remember me?"

Again, silence was his answer. He thought for a moment and smirked. "I'm sure you'll remember me and the boys around us when I tell you this: Think back five years ago, Snake."

The gears in Snake's brain began to turn and rotate. Back in 2005? That was the year...

His eyes were now wider than they once were. He looked around to the men with the weapons, and back to the man in front of him claiming to know him. Suddenly it all clicked in. "Five years... Shadow Moses? You guys are the Next-Generation Special Forces?!"

The man chuckled. "WERE the Next Generation Special Forces. We go by a new name now." He pointed a thumb back to himself. "I am Deagle, member of the elite group known as the Ex-Pats!"
"And this," He motioned his hand around the miniature army, featuring the soldiers Snake had fought minutes ago. "Is The Phantom Regiment!"

"How did you guys escape that Air Force Base in New Hampshire?"

"By our new leader of course." Deagle replied. "You see, we were ready to give up, ready to be experimented by our terrible government. When all hope was lost, he appeared to us and led us to victory!

"That wasn't all he did; he gave us a new home and a new conflict. After learning about the new chemical-based Metal Gear NECROS being developed by the Russian government as a deterrence, he sent us to this frozen rock to hijack it. Now we are prepping it, ready to take it back to him in his own universe so we can begin our campaign on Equestria!"

Snake tilted his head. "HIS own universe?"

There's no way he came from a different universe, it just doesn't add up.

"It does sound insane doesn't it? The sad thing for you is that it is very much true. You see, back in his universe the year is 2013, nearly three years ahead of our time, but in many ways they're less technologically advanced."

Deagle raised both of his hand cannons at Snake, fingers on the triggers. He smirked. "How about it Snake? Why don't you die an honorable death instead of dying like a dog?"

Grabbing his SOCOM from his holster, Snake pointed it at his adversary. "Let's dance."

The two stared at each other for what seemed like hours. Deagle fired both of his pistols once, Snake barely dogging them, the target being one of the unfortunate soldiers caught in the crossfire, the two bullets impacting with such force he got knocked back a few feet. The other soldiers, not wanting to be used as target practice, quickly ran amuck trying to find cover from the duelists.

Shots rang out one after another in succession like a thunderous typewriter hammering away at the keys. However, none of them seemed to connect and soon they were both out of ammunition.

Taking cover behind one of the pillars, Snake checked the ammo in his pistol. He had two shots left. diving out from cover he fired his weapon, both shots missing his target drastically. Throwing his pistol on the floor, Snake ran towards Deagle. He could see him putting his Desert Eagles in their holsters; either he too was out of ammo or he wants to fight honorable.

Whatever the reason, Snake got the first blow in on him, his fist connecting with his opponent's nose.

Wiping the blood away, Deagle charged at Snake, kneeing him right in the ribs. Snake clutched them in agony as Deagle raised him in the air and began wailing on him. After a few seconds, Snake couldn't see out of his right eye, it being bloodied and bruised up. He was tossed to the ground like a ragdoll, and he didn't have the strength to get up. This would most definitely be his final fight.

Deagle let out a venomous laugh. "Don't worry Snake, we're going to have more fun in hell! I'll catch you there in a few years." Bringing his wrist up to his face, he pressed a button. Suddenly, Metal Gear NECROS roared to life and slowly advanced towards Snake, dead set on crushing him.

One of it's monstrous feet hovered over Snake and came down on him.

Everything went black.

Comments

[Tetrax333]

Umm, i don't want to nitpick, but the Shadow Moses incident happened in 2004, actually. Other than that, it's quite nice, but the storytelling can be better

[The Zealot]

Snake? Snake!? SSSSNNNNAAAAKKKKEEEE!!!!

[IcefireInfinite]

Time Paradox
You can't do that. The future will be changed.

[Dustchu]

Poor Snake, now I can only wonder how these three will fare in Equestria... and what hell is going to be unleashed upon Earth during their MIA.