Operation Tecumseh

Operation Tecumseh was a false-flag operation planned by Colorado Senator and 2020 Presidential candidate Steven Armstrong to ensure the revitalization of the war economy, which would have ensured his election and then reorganize America to fit Objectivist views.

Origin of the name
The operation was initially planned since at least 2016. The name "Tecumseh" was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek to refer to a Native American chief named Tecumseh who laid a curse on the US presidency. Every 20 years a U.S. President would die before their terms had ended. This had been the case from 1840 to 1960 though since 1980 (with the exception of James Johnson in 2009) no American President had died.

Early Desperado activities
In 2018, Senator Steven Armstrong, after inspecting the Desperado research facility's progress of the brain surgeries, had the Desperado researcher terminate the children with the promise of doing the wire transfer of his payment fee, as he had anticipated that an investigation of the facility was inevitable, and he also needed to focus on achieving the mission, referring to it as "a harsh mistress." A day later, Raiden discovered from Sundowner after defeating him the event, and that even a Mach 2 aircraft would not be able to prevent it, and that it was to occur within three hours and would ensure new PMC contracts since the September 11 attacks in 2001. Raiden and Maverick, when reporting these details, deduced that "Operation Tecumseh" involved President Hamilton's visit to the Shabhazabad region of Pakistan, and assassinating the president while making it seem as though Jihadi rebels were responsible for the assassination. Courtney Collins then supplied a solution to getting to Pakistan: Via a Mach 23 aircraft, which would allow for only half an hour of travel between America and Pakistan. Raiden then contacted Solis, which had it ready by the time Raiden arrived at the main launch pad.

Infiltrating the airbase
Less than half an hour later, Raiden arrived in close vicinity to the Shabhazabad Air Base, which Maverick deduced was the targeted base due to it being the only sufficiently large base in the region for a presidential visit. Raiden then took out several World Marshal soldiers stationed outside of the base's main gate. Raiden and Courtney then noticed that the World Marshal group stationed there had the same XIFF code as Desperado ("Unaffiliated"), causing them to deduce that World Marshal was most likely going to frame Desperado for the attack as well. Raiden then rushed to the air control tower to cause as much destruction as possible to its equipment in order to reroute the plane to save the president. However, by the time he passed through the hangar, Raiden lost contact with Bladewolf, who had scouted ahead earlier. He then arrived in the general vicinity of the tower.

A twist in the plan
Unfortunately, he also found Bladewolf's prone and damaged body, causing him to deduce that an ambush was nearby. While scanning for potential enemies nearby, the ground underneath him gave way, forcing him to jump back to stable ground. Raiden then discovered the reason behind the unstable ground: a gigantic mech called Metal Gear Excelsus. Steven Armstrong, who had earlier been believed to have not be in direct participation of the event, had then stepped out of the weapon, and informed Raiden that he was too late in stopping his plan. Raiden informs him that his plan ended right then and there, although Armstrong informed him that Raiden had actually expanded his plan, and hinted that the internet was involved. Boris then called Raiden and informed him of the bad news: The photos of the attack on the base were leaked early onto various news websites, and not only that, but there are several posts indicating that the Americans are going to be demanding for a counterattack. Raiden ended up confused, as the deaths of several soldiers, although tragic, should not be a sufficient reason for going to war, but Armstrong then explained to Raiden that it was simply the spark for reigniting the war economy to get out of the economic recession, and boldly declared that, thanks to inheriting some "isms" from the Patriots, that all Americans are now Sons of the Patriots. He also informed Raiden that he'd have to kill Raiden, as he'll just "get in the way of the message" before reboarding Excelsus.

"Collective Consciousness" - Raiden vs Excelsus
Raiden the proceeded to fight Excelsus, destroying its front legs and then throwing it onto stable ground before going into a swordfight with Excelsus via one of the mech's sword arms, before impaling and cutting up its head, reaching the top of the mech. Afterwards, Armstrong confronted Raiden at the top. Deciding he had little time left, Armstrong then powered up via Excelsus' wiring, surprising and causing annoyance with Raiden. Excelsus then collapsed down onto the ground.

Armstrong then proceeded to fight Raiden himself, with Raiden demanding to know what Armstrong just did. Armstrong then proceeded to mention his history as a college football player (also specifying that he was one at the University of Texas when Raiden accused him of being from "some cushy Ivy League school."), as well as commenting that he was capable of breaking President Hamilton with his own bare hands unlike the other "Beltway pansies," before throwing Raiden up into the air and then kicking him into the side of the elevator. Raiden, shocked that Armstrong was able to significantly harm him with his normal human body, demanded to know what he was, with Armstrong then simply telling that Raiden should "stick around and find out." He then fought Armstrong, without his AR visor as Armstrong broke it, although Armstrong then proceeded to shatter Raiden's HF Blade, forcing Raiden to fight him unarmed. Raiden then managed to gradually overpower Armstrong, while also accusing him of being a "typical politician" regarding his motives, being more concerned with buying votes as well as his approval ratings, and claimed that Armstrong is "simply another maggot crawling in the pile" if America had really gone down.

"I Have A Dream"
Armstrong then decided to inform him of his true motives: Although Raiden was right about his needing capital and votes, it was not because he was a typical politician. Rather: he needed them so he could remake America (which he felt in its current form was rotten to the core) to be objectivist in its ideals and have each man individually fight for his/her own beliefs, including kill and die for them, as well as seeking to purge the weak. Raiden then regained a second wind upon learning the part about his purging the weak, and, after faking understanding of his goal, he then threw him aside and declared Armstrong to be "bat-shit insane," causing Raiden to explain how Armstrong has absolutely no idea what it was like to be weak or poor, where he had to steal and even kill just to survive. Armstrong declared that Raiden did survive and took back his own life, with Raiden vowing to kill Armstrong.

The secret behind Armstrong's invulnerability
They then proceeded to fight hand to hand, although Raiden ultimately wasn't able to inflict serious enough damage onto Armstrong. Raiden expressed irritation at Armstrong's seeming invulnerability, causing Armstrong to explain that it was caused by nanomachines in his body that harden his body when experiencing physical trauma. Raiden then attempted to punch Armstrong, but it only proved Armstrong's earlier claim, thus leaving Raiden at Armstrong's mercy as the latter proceeded to savagely beat Raiden to a pulp with blows powerful enough to destroy Excelsus' frame.

"It Has to Be This Way" - Raiden vs Armstrong
However, Bladewolf regained consciousness and proceeded to save Raiden by delivering Sam's sword, as well as replaying Samuel Rodrigues' last conversation with him before his and Raiden's duel in the Colorado badlands. Bladewolf then explained that initially, his parameters were to safeguard accumulated data, so although he doesn't fear termination, his initial parameters would not allow for him to risk destroying the data, although his experiences with Raiden, as well as Raiden and Sam's duel, had him establish his own parameters. Armstrong then angrily jumped towards Bladewolf and kicked him away, cursing at him, although not before Bladewolf threw Sam's sword to Raiden (which had been unlocked after two hours had passed). Raiden then decided to use Sam's sword in anger and to avenge Bladewolf, both due to not being so sure whether he should follow through with his initial beliefs due to Armstrong's actions, and also because it's not technically his sword he's using.

He then proceeded to fight Armstrong, though the latter's powered-up attacks made close quarter counters difficult. At some points Armstrong threw bulk pieces of the wrecked Excelsus at Raiden, prompting him to use Blade Mode to slice through the pieces. Raiden eventually found an opening and killed Armstrong by ripping out his nanite-laced heart and crushing it. Armstrong nonetheless imparted his last words and respect for Raiden as a kindred spirit and hinted that Raiden was his successor.

Aftermath
Despite Maverick's best efforts, they still weren't able to prevent the war economy from being re-established, as President Hamilton returned to Pakistan to meet with its leader Farooj to discuss a possible unified front against terrorism, although they at least prevented Armstrong from becoming president. In addition, Raiden was also viewed as a criminal due to his earlier actions. Nonetheless, Maverick alongside Doktor managed to establish the world's first official cyborg firm to allow the children who had been cyberneticized to live relatively normal lives, although they still needed to do labor, which was still ultimately better than their former lives as street kids.

Raiden permanently resigned from Maverick, both officially and unofficially, to "fight his own war." In addition, World Marshal also was still in existence, although financially crippled due to Raiden (literally) having killed their funding, and was put on sale.

Behind the scenes
One of the posts, when Boris reveals that the story was made live and that Americans are calling for blood, stated that Pakistan was a member of the Axis of Evil. This was an actual term coined by real-life President George W. Bush in his 2002 State of the Union Address, during the War on Terror, which referred to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea by Bush himself, as well as expanded by then-Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton in 2002 to include Cuba, Libya, and Syria, which were referred to as the nations "beyond the Axis of Evil" and further expanded in 2005 by then-recently announced Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to include Burma, Belarus, and Zimbabwe, which she referred to as "Outposts of Tyranny." It also stirred some controversy, in particular the reference to Iraq being part of the Axis of Evil due to it being viewed at the time of the speech and after to not possess any nuclear weapons or WMDs whatsoever.

In-game, Raiden mentioned that the loss of American lives, even though tragic, was not enough to start a war over. This was incorrect, as World War II was started from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.