SPOILER WARNING If you haven't finished MGS3: Snake Eater, then know that this fic contains some SPOILERS.

Disclaimer: Konami owns Metal Gear, not me. (I only wish that I did.)

Notes: These are the events that take place between Snake Eater and Metal Gear.

Chapter one: The FOX Special Forces Unit

"Hey, Jack," said a young Green Beret, leaning against a tree with his legs crossed, "do you ever think about home?" he asked with a look of home sickness on his face.

"What's to think about?" he replied. Jack was a man in his late thirties, who wore an eye patch over his right eye. He was sitting on a tree stump, with an AR-15 rifle in his hand.

The young man repositioned himself on the tree. "You know…like family and friends," he said.

"I don't have any family…or any friends," Jack replied, as he checked his clip for ammo.

"Did you ever have family…I mean everyone has to have parents at some point."

"Dead," he said bluntly, with no emotion on his face.

"Oh…I'm sorry," the young man said, looking down at his feet.

"Don't be…fact is I never really knew my parents. I had a few friends once though…and a best friend…but she died as well," he jammed his ammo clip back into its chamber, and leaned the gun against his shoulder.

"If you don't mind my asking…what happened to her?" he asked.

"…I killed her…" Jack replied as he stood up and walked away.

"Major Zero, this is Big Boss…do you read me?" Jack said into his radio.

"Loud and clear Sna…Big Boss," said the voice on the other end of the transmission.

"Major, my unit has met up with the Green Berets. We're camped outside of a small Vietnamese village," he said looking at his surroundings. "We need authorization to enter."

"Authorization granted Big Boss. Be sure to have some of the other members of FOX stay on the lookout outside the village."

"Affirmative," he replied. Raising his left arm, he began signaling his men. Placing his AR-15 on his back, he pulled out his M1911A1 and combat knife, assuming his CQC stance. Slowly he and five of his seven men descended down the hill into the village, the two others positioned themselves in the trees. In a circle formation, they moved over the dirt path, all of them in the same CQC stance as Big Boss. Many of the villagers hid inside their houses when they saw the six members of FOX.

"We are not here to harm you, we just want to know if there are Vietnamese troops stationed near here," one of the FOX members said in Vietnamese. One of the men from the village stepped out towards them.

"We just want this war to end…There are troops at a camp down the river," the man said in his native tongue, pointing southward. After expressing their gratitude, Big Boss called back his scouts from the trees and they began to walk towards the river.

"Captain, I see the enemy outpost. It's about a mile down the river," said Juan Ramirez codenamed; Golden Lion.

"Okay, we'll camp here until nightfall and slip in then," said Big Boss to the group. They prepared their rain tents and geared up for their assault in the night. "I'm going to go scope out the terrain," said Big Boss to Marcus Kelley, codenamed; Greyhound, FOX unit's second in command.

"Do you want me to come with ya?" asked Marcus, carving an apple.

"No, that's alright. I'll be quick," Jack replied. He exited the tent and walked into the jungle thicket. A snapping of twigs was heard in the distance. "Who's there?" Jack whispered, his gun was immediately aimed. A young Caucasian teen emerged, wearing only khaki pants. His head was bleeding and his arms were scratched. He was exceptionally fit and muscular for a boy his age.

Jack lowered his gun. "Are you alright? What's you name?" he asked the boy. The boy didn't reply. "What's your name?" he asked again, this time in Vietnamese. The boy still did not reply, continuing to walk closer. As Jack neared, the boy pulled a knife out of his back pocket, and slashed at him several times. Easily evading the boy's attack, Jack grabbed him and flipped him onto his back.

The commotion alerted the other members of FOX. Rushing out, they pointed their guns at the boy. "Hold your fire!" Jack shouted to his men. He held the boy down with his left arm and raised his right hand to his men. "He's just a child...he's harmless. He seems to be an orphan of war seeking revenge."

"You don't know that! Besides he's white," Greyhound said, questioning Big Boss's assumption.

"Yes, but he appears to be part Vietnamese. It's possible that his father was white, and came here before the war broke out," he reasoned. "We're taking him with us."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea Jack," Greyhound said, once again questioning his superior.

"You don't have a choice Sergeant, that's an order!"

"Fine…take him men…let's move!" Marcus said with an aggravated tone. The group moved back to their camp. The young teen had been tied up with hemp rope and was given a tent. Later that night, Jack entered the boy's tent.

"Hey, I'm sorry we had to tie you up like this...but you know, we wouldn't want you to try and kill me again, now would we? I like you boy, you've got guts attacking a special forces MERC like me. You have some skills too!" Jack complemented him. "So…what's your name?" the boy gave him an awful stare. "Here," said Jack as he handed him a piece of apple. He immediately grabbed the apple and inhaled it. "Ha, ha, you must be pretty hungry. Come on boy…tell me your name. Well…I'm Jack," he reached out to shake his hand. The boy looked up and spit at him. "Alright then…maybe some other time," said Jack. He looked back once more before exiting the tent "Hey, sorry again about the rope," he said.

"Swiftly now," Jack said to the members of FOX, as the whole team advanced silently towards the Vietnamese camp.

"Two hundred paces until contact," said Mika Markova, codenamed; White Lynx, the only female member of FOX. She scanned her emerald, green eyes around the jungle thicket. "Two sentries at three o'clock and three patrolling to the right at ten o'clock," she finished.

"Good eyes Lynx," said Marcus, as he placed his hand on her lower back. She forcefully swatted his hand away.

"Lay your hand on me again and you'll lose it Kelley!" she snapped at him, her eyes turned to fire which seemed to burn Marcus's skin. He immediately took a step back.

"Whoa…ha, ha, feisty!" his eyes explored her womanly features from bleach blonde hair, which was tied back with a headband, and along her feminine body clad in jungle camouflage and tight FOX standard issue under armor. "I love that in a woman." Her fist instantly connected with his face as he said this. "Oww…no need for that girlie," he said, holding his cheek.

"Don't you ever look at me like that again or I swear to God…" she said in her thick Czechoslovakian accent. She took another swing at him, which he avoided. Jack grabbed her and held her back from tearing Marcus's head off.

"Hey, children!" said Big Boss angrily. "We're on a mission here…calm yourselves," he said as he let her go.

"Yeah Mika, calm yourself," said Marcus, sounding like a kindergartener.

"Marcus! No more touching Mika…in fact don't even look at her," said Jack, pointing at Marcus in a fatherly type manner. "Now let's advance…with the two of you fighting, I'm surprised that the enemy hasn't discovered us yet." Marcus mumbled something under his breath.

The group assumed their formation, Big Boss leading the unit, and White Lynx scouting ahead. Weapons ready, the group quickly rushed forward under the cover of night. Moving perfectly in sync, they neared the camp, as they had ran this drill in training many times before. Jack quickly and silently dispatched two guards on his right. Greyhound followed suit and took out the remaining guard with his combat knife. On the right flank, Mika swiftly and precisely bested the patrolmen. With the enemy sentries out of the way, the camp was completely under the control of the FOX unit.

Mika camped herself up a nearby tree and pulled out her binoculars. The FOX team sniper, Lu Chen Yi codenamed; Crimson Hawk, dove to the ground and quickly set up his SVD sniper rifle. Greyhound and Big Boss advanced to the front, crouching behind the walls on either side of the gate. The remaining members; Blue Dragon, Silver Horse, Golden Lion and Black Scorpion proceeded to the right flank of the camp, to prepare an ambush.

"High ranking officer, leaving a tent to the southeast," Lynx reported into her radio. "Twenty plus infantry, two RPG-7s and a Heavy Armored Tiger Tank," she added. She put away her binoculars and dropped to the ground, quickly joining the ambush group, she awaited orders from Big Boss.

"Hawk, do you see the officer?" Jack said to Chen Yi.

"Affirmative Boss," he replied.

"Good, take him out, on my mark," Jack said into his radio. "Dragon, use your Anti-Tank launcher to take out that Tiger. Scorpion, DO NOT let the enemy get to those RPGs! Lynx, you lead the other into the camp from the right flank after the Tiger Tank has been destroyed. Hound, cover my six, we're goin up the middle."

Jack readied himself for the assault. "Ready…Mark!" he said as the FOX members sprung into action. Chen Yi's sniper rifle fired with the utmost accuracy, taking out the officer in one shot. Upon hearing the gunshot, Yuji Jinnai codenamed; Blue Dragon, fired his anti-tank launcher and crushed the Tiger Tank, forcing the enemy into confusion. Jean Dupree codenamed; Black Scorpion, fired his M16 at the enemies near the RPG launchers. Mika led her men from the right flank cutting off the enemy retreat, and Jack and Marcus rushed through the front gate completely surrounding the defeated soldiers. "Don't move!" Jack's voice sounded like thunder, which nearly startled his own team.

With nothing to do but surrender or die, the Vietnamese soldiers dropped to their knees. "We give up! We surrender!" the defeated soldiers said repeatedly, some in broken English, some in Vietnamese.

"Drop you guns NOW! Put you hands on your head and your face on the ground!" Jack said, with a voice of experience. After they obliged, the members of FOX moved in to disarm them of their secondary weapons. "This outpost now belongs to us, do NOT think otherwise!"

-END