This story precedes the beginning of MGS4 by a handful of months. I read a lot of posts and comments about how it seemed impossible for someone like Johnny to find his way into Rat Patrol 01. This story attempts to answer how that could happen. I always love hearing from readers who enjoyed or hated my writing, please leave a review, good or bad, I don't mind, i just want to know what you think.
Johnny Akiba Sasaki. If you asked him why he had joined the United States Military he would have told you it was because he came from a long line of valiant war heros, and he would make his family proud by continuing the tradition. In truth there were a million other places he would rather be besides the military cafeteria eating bland, tasteless stew that never agreed with him. It was hard to hold onto the reason he stayed in the military after the Shadow Moses incident...she rarely crossed his path.
Johnny sat at the rejects table, enduring the occasional spitball and the less than creative name calling. He made the best of his station in life playing card games, calculating their mathematical outcomes using his wearable, and generally being a pariah among the more elite soldiers. He usually finished his lunch quickly so he could spend the few minutes he had to himself somewhere quiet away from jeers and name calling, but today was Wednesday.
"Johnny, come on, you are so lame. Every Wednesday, it's the same thing. One day you will realize the futility of what you are doing." Morris, one of his nerdy comrades prodded him to leave with the rest of the rejects. "We're tired of the spitballs, we'll see you in the quad?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Johnny was already looking past him to the opening door.
"And the moment arrives..." Exasperated, Morris decided to stick around once again to watch just how pathetic someone could become in a matter of moments. Morris hadn't yet found an end to the amount of embarrassment Johnny could subject himself to.
Through the door came a woman. She wore a standard issue sneaking suit and fatigues; there was never a time Johnny had seen her without a holster strapped to her leg. Nothing overtly stated she was a high ranking military officer, some said she hid her status on purpose. The only tell was the way she carried herself, her stone cold eyes, and her formidable demeanor, it was easy to tell who the soldiers were that had seen combat and hadn't been broken by it.
Wednesdays were when Special Operations held their mission briefings. Commander Meryl Silverburgh would often grab lunch in the cafeteria on her way to the conference rooms. It was always the same, she walked in, quickly grabbed something she could hold in one hand and left through the side door; she never backtracked. For maybe a minute or so, Johnny was reminded why he was still in the military. His feelings weren't clear, he didn't know if he admired her as a soldier, or if he just thought she was attractive, it didn't really matter, she was why he kept getting up in the morning.
"She's like one of us, not too good for the cafeteria, she could have her meals delivered like the other officers."
"Yeah, she's one of us..." Morris looked around to the low ranking analysts surrounding their table. "You know, I hear she only made commander because of her uncle." Morris knelt down, patting Johnny's shoulder.
"You don't know what you're talking about. She's kind of a legend you know. I heard she completed a mission with Solid Snake, THE Solid Snake, and managed to survive three sniper rounds – two of them capping her knees!" There was only pure admiration in Johnny's voice.
"Yeah, we're all aware of how much you think she's a bad ass, with those arms how could she not be?" Morris rolled his eyes. "Tell me again how you know the commander?"
Johnny ignored the arm comment, there was no doubt that Meryl was a brick wall, solid, unyielding, with no attempt to hide it. He could remember one time, not long ago, when a new recruit decided it would be a good idea to whistle as she passed by. It didn't take long for her hands to grab his collar, pulling his face close to hers, Johnny wished he could read lips as she whispered something to him. Though the soldier, much broader and taller than she, could use his body weight to muscle her across the floor, he couldn't brake her grip. In the end, the soldier landed hard on top of one of the tables, cracking it down the middle. It was rumored that Meryl had almost been demoted for her actions, though no one wanted to test whether or not she had learned her lesson about self-control.
"We were both stationed at Shadow Moses." Johnny's only claim to fame was that he had been stationed at Shadow Moses, and was there during the nuclear weapons fiasco. He must have told the story a thousand times, to anyone remotely interested, though he usually left out some of the more embarrassing details. Most of the soldiers usually didn't believe that he had ever met Meryl, or even that he had ever been stationed at Shadow Moses – his grandiose story-telling was just one of the ways he had found himself with the rest of the losers.
They were both younger then. Johnny had only seen her as she was getting thrown into one of the prison cells, in that instant, he was taken with her unconventional beauty. She had a way about her. To this day Johnny often wondered whether he had meant to open the wrong cell door or if he really was just a stupid bone-head.
"Yeah, I know, I know...you, at Shadow Moses....I've heard the story." Morris rolled his eyes again. "So how come Meryl doesn't recognize you now?"
"It was a long time ago....and we only met briefly...we weren't even introduced...." Johnny shrugged the question off with embarrassment, he never told anyone the real way he had met her.
Johnny suddenly stopped the trail of excuses, tapping Morris's chest with the back of his hand, pointing a finger to where Meryl had stopped. He was the first to realize she was scanning the room, sizing up the men around her.
"What?" Morris didn't even know what he was pointing at. "Yeah, I saw your girlfriend walk in. So what?"
"Shh, she's going to say something." Perhaps Johnny knew it even before Meryl did.
Pulling her glove off, Meryl placed her fingers in her mouth, letting a deafening whistle blow. It silenced the crowded room instantly. The only sounds were the squeaking of benches as a few soldiers stood to get a better view.
"Who of you know who I am?" Her voice was gruff but unmistakably feminine.
Most soldiers on base who had been there long enough had heard at least something about who Meryl was. Some revered her, others reviled her depending on which stories they had heard first. Either way she was well known. As she looked around gaging the men's responses, her lips curled into a subtle smirk, she could pick out those who thought she was a fraud. "I have been informed that I will be leading a team to infiltrate rouge PMC activity in the Middle East. I need three of you."
The room started to fill with whispers – little huddles of soldiers candidly discussing the opportunity to serve with arguably one of the toughest soldiers on base. Some were tempted by the opportunity to get close to someone related to Lieutenant Campbell. Others were excited about the highly classified mission itself, some flatly turned the offer down.
Through the whispers Johnny stood on his bench, one leg perching on the table top like a sea captain at the helm of a ship. "I volunteer!" He yelled it with the deepest voice he could muster.
"What the hell are you doing?" Morris was more concerned with the large, grizzly men starting to stare at both of them.
The room was quiet once more, and all eyes were focused on Johnny. Even Meryl, crossing her arms and cocking her weight to one side, looked at the unknown soldier standing at the back of the room. Johnny caught her gaze, for a moment it felt like she saw him, she might have even been puzzled by his familiarity, but it was hard to tell.
Then, out of nowhere, a tray flew through the air; it blindsided Johnny, knocking him off the table. He landed hard, flat on his back, the air knocked out of him. The room went up in a rolling laughter that could be heard half way across the base.
Unamused by the childish act, Meryl slapped a letter-sized piece of paper on the wall behind her. "Sign up here." She yelled over the crowd and turned and walked out the door.
"Jeez, are you ok?" Morris held out his hand to help him back to his feet.
Taking the help, straining to catch his breath, Johnny huffed some unexpected words. "I'm signing up."
"Are you nuts? You'll be eaten alive, look around. Just look around. You aren't like these other soldiers, when are you going to get that?" Morris swept away some of the food that had stuck to Johnny's shirt. He grabbed both shoulders and forced him to look at who he would be competing with.
"I don't care." Johnny's determination was inspiring, but it ignored reality.
Morris couldn't help but root for the guy. Johnny always had a tenacity about him; he wasn't afraid to fail and proved it on a daily basis. He waited with Johnny until the crowds had dispersed and the cafeteria was empty. They walked to the crumpled paper hanging by a single corner. The long list of names was intimidating, it seemed like only the toughest soldiers thought they had what it takes to cut it under Meryl's command.
"Johnny, I understand what you're doing, I really do. But this is crazy...this is your last chance to change your mind..." Morris said it abruptly, he just didn't want Johnny to get hurt.
Johnny sighed as he ran his hands through his scruffy blonde hair – it was always longer than regulation would allow. He brought them across his stubbled jaw, extending them to either side of the sign-up sheet. He leaned forward as he read off each of the names. "You're right, this is my last chance."
Morris gave him one last pat on the shoulder and silently walked away, the cafeteria door opened and closed, Johnny was alone.
Slowly, he placed the tip of the pen on the last empty space on the paper. In his hesitation, the ink ran, creating a small circular smudge. Finally, in shaky handwriting, Johnny Akiba Sasaki signed his name.