Chapter 1: The Mission Briefing
In the murky depths of the Black Sea, a metal monstrosity was resting silently; Metal Gear RAY. It had not stirred for several days now. Sat inside of the beast was a man dressed in cowboy boots and a long brown trench coat. A Colt Single Action Army pistol was slotted into a holster strapped to his side. He was sitting back in his chair, his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. He was as pale as his long white hair and moustache.
"How much longer are you planning to keep me here Liquid?" he growled in a husky Russian voice. The man then spoke again, but this time in a different voice, a British voice.
"Not much longer now Ocelot, a few more hours," Liquid replied.
"I've been stuck here in this oversized tin can for too long with you," Ocelot said angrily. "I haven't eaten for days; I'm so weak. What the hell have we been waiting for? What are you up to now Liquid?"
"Stay with me for just a little longer my friend; soon you won't be needed anymore," Liquid said calmly.
"What? What are you talking about?" Ocelot asked concernedly.
"You've been my host for long enough and I'm fed up with you trying to take control of yourself," Liquid replied. "You know you can't overpower me, I'm in total control now... Still, it'll be much nicer to be in my own body again."
"What!? Your body!?" cried Ocelot.
"That's right," Liquid replied in a sickeningly happy voice.
"You lie!" yelled Ocelot.
"I kid you not," Liquid said sternly.
"And just who the hell would go to all this trouble for you? What do they get out of it?" Ocelot asked fiercely.
"That is not your concern," Liquid replied.
"And you're sure you can trust the people who've made you this generous offer?" Ocelot smirked.
"More than I can you my traitorous comrade. Soon enough you'll have served your purpose and it'll be time to dispose of you!" Liquid said happily.
"Bring it on," Ocelot said smiling. "It's driving me insane spending my life with you. Death is something I look forward to."
Liquid then spoke very sternly. "Death is the only thing you have left to look forward to, my friend..."
*
Elsewhere in Black Sea, a long, smooth submarine was slowly creeping through the desolate endless blue. Aboard the craft were many specialist personnel all part of a nameless unit preparing to take part in a secret and unofficial mission. Commander and chief of this unit was one Roy Campbell, a stern faced and burly man adorned in his military uniform and beret. All persons aboard the sub were at his command but as important as he was, he wasn't the most vital member of the unit. That man was aboard a small SDV that had just been fired from the sub. He was a lean, muscular, burly figure of a man with a stubborn, unyielding expression on his stubble-covered face. He was wearing a grey sneaking suit and a bandana wrapped around his forehead, which his thick brown hair fell over. He was also wearing a scuba diving kit consisting of goggles and breathing apparatus. The SDV he was driving had now slowed after being shot out at an extreme velocity by the sub and the occupant of it was now steadily controlling and leading it to its destination. A bleeping then started up in the man's ear and he heard the voice of Colonel Campbell.
"Snake, can you me?"
"Snake here. I read you loud and clear colonel."
"Ok, listen up, here's the mission briefing..." the colonel began. "Forty-two kilometres off the coast of Ukraine stands a huge infrastructure. It was originally built as an oilrig and for the first three months it was very successful. Then, realising the potential a structure of that size had, the government had it converted into a huge processing facility that ran on hydroelectricity provided by filtered seawater; the Hydro Rig."
"What were they processing?" Snake asked in his gruff voice.
"Navy and military weapons, for the Russians mostly," replied Campbell. "It was all a very innocent and above board venture. It wasn't suspicious and nobody questioned it... But that's all changed now. Recently there's been rumours flying around that the Hydro Rig has been processing nuclear weapons."
"Let me guess, they're not licensed for that," Snake said.
"That's right. The Hydro Rig was built to process hand held combat weapons, machine guns, pistols, grenades, etc, and standard missiles but it does not have the authority to produce nuclear weapons... Now the structure has been seized by a group of terrorists."
"And you think the two events are connected," said Snake.
"Does it seem like coincidence to you?" the colonel asked.
"I guess not," replied Snake. "So what is it the terrorists want?"
"That's the strangest thing," said the colonel seeming slightly bemused, "they haven't actually made any demands. All they're doing is threatening a nuclear strike on Washington, there's no ifs or buts about it."
"What do we know about the terrorists?" asked Snake.
"Not much, it seems they only formed recently. We've tried digging up as much information as we could about them but it's not a lot... The terrorist group are calling themselves the Superiors and as far as we know it consists of only five members:
Vanessa Eleanor Vixen. A beautiful gun toting American mercenary. Her extreme speed and agility is her greatest asset.
Christopher Drake. Ex-military general turned engineer and physicist, a master of machines.
Venneris Quain. A fine swordsman who's senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell have been sharpened to perfection.
Minerva Marlett. A student of black magic and an acclaimed witch. She's also known as the 'Black Rose'.
And finally their leader. We know nothing about him apart from his name... Vorpal Kaine."
"That's it?" asked Snake in surprise. "That's all we know?"
"We've got the top people working on this and this is all they could dig up. These Superiors, they obviously don't want anyone knowing anything about them. They want to be non-existent. History and origins, we could only find out a bit."
"Am I on my own for this mission?" asked Snake. "Or will goldilocks be joining me?"
"You mean Raiden?" Campbell laughed. "No, this is a one-man infiltration mission and Raiden... Well he's a family man now. Got a kid to look after and all that."
"Hmm..." Snake grunted.
"What is it?" Colonel asked worriedly.
"Just thinking about children," replied Snake.
"You mean Olga's child?" asked the colonel. "Snake, that was a long time ago now, and you needn't worry he's being looked after well. He could've been a hell of a lot worse off if you hadn't rescued him."
"It's good to hear. It's a shame Olga can't be with him, that boy will have it rough growing up with no parents."
"Snake, now's not the time to be pondering such things," said Campbell in a commanding tone.
"Colonel let me ask you something," said Snake. "Why isn't the US sending in one of its special forces to deal with this situation?"
"Because the Hydro Rig is considered part of Ukrainian territory, the US has no authority to dispatch troops there... Not without Ukrainian permission anyway."
"Typical US, doing everything by the book... Then why isn't Ukraine giving permission?" asked Snake.
"We think it's the Russians doing," replied the colonel. "You see we have reason to believe that it's Russian troops that the Superiors have hired to take part in this activity and it is Russia that basically dominates Ukraine after all."
"So the Ukrainians are doing nothing?"
"No. The Ukrainians are dispatching are small attack force of their own known as the Stealth Elite but we're not putting much money on them to succeed, Ukraine aren't ranking highly in their combat forces."
"What about us though colonel? We are from the US after all."
"Yes, but with us it's different," replied the colonel. "We're unofficial. We're not recognised by the US in anyway. It's the same with you Snake; you're not officially recognised by the US either, that's why we wanted you. That way if we get caught..."
"The US doesn't take the blame," said Snake; sounding like he didn't agree with the way it worked. "...Colonel what are my mission objectives?"
"You have two objectives. The first is to find out the terrorists motives, find out what it is they're after. The second is to find out whether or not the terrorists have the ability to launch a nuclear weapon. Blueprints of the Hydro Rig show that there is no possible way of launching any type of missile from the structure so the only reasonable conclusion is..."
"... A Metal Gear," Snake said.
"That's right. Now listen Snake..." ordered the colonel. "We have twenty-four hours before they launch their nuclear weapon. You can't take your SDV within five hundred square metres of the Hydro Rig because the enemy radar will pick you up. Dispose of it before then and swim the rest of the way using your diving gear. Once you reach the structure use the climbing gear we kitted you out with to climb up one of the legs. When you get onto the structure, contact me by Codec for further instructions... Good luck."