MGS2 Simulation: Playthrough

by CreativeLiterature

Five friends join forces to rescue the President, help Snake and save the world from Arsenal Gear.

Adam: loyal, 'doormat' for friends (first person narrative)

Clara: disinterested, superior

Max: without scruples or manners

Zoe: cautious, but caring

Grace: never got past the first guard on MGS2

---

Strut A Deep Sea Dock

With a great splash, we all landed in the pool, soaking wet and spluttering for air. We wore gas masks but that didn't remove our great shock, having surfaced amid a fearful struggle of land, air and breathing space.

"What the fuck?" cried Clara, scrambling for the ledge and pulling herself over.

Max found the ladder and climbed it, tossing the mask on the floor. He spat and hawked vigorously, clearing his head as a dog shakes its fur dry.

Grace was breathing piteously, weeping a little as her eyes and ears were clouded with water and reentry. It was all a little much for her, but when Clara & Max pointed this out to her she immediately became on the defensive.

"Shut up!" she cried, coughing a little and helping herself up the ladder.

I waded in the pool by my lonesome, as Zoe climbed up the side and blocked her ear to clear the other. It was cool and bubbling nicely, but a great shock to enter the simulation this way. It really invigorated the senses, not in a good way.

"Come on, Adam!" said Max, taking charge as he began scoping the place. "We don't have time to bum around."

Reluctantly, I followed him up the ladder, where everyone was scoping the submarine section of Strut A Deep Sea Dock.

"Where's the M9?" Clara turned to me. We all had played Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty before, but I alone obsessed about it enough to know intricately the locations of certain weapons and equipment. Zoe knew the storyline but little else; and Grace hadn't paid attention to it, if at all.

"It should be by those boxes," I pointed up a flight of steps, where Max was closest and ran madly to where he found nothing. "Or on harder difficulty levels, it's through that sewer grate where those bugs are."

Grace instinctively squirmed when she saw the scuttling water beetles running circles around the broken vent.

"Where?" asked Clara, irritated. She bent down and saw nothing but a gust of air tickled her face.

I pondered this for a moment. "It comes out that side, but can only be reached through there."

Morosely, I walked the length of the pool so nobody had to, always steadfast in my duty to do the menial tasks. Grace and Zoe watched, while Clara adjusted the sneaking suit we all wore, tight-fitting and compressed to provide our bodies with minimal kevlar, temperature calm and less shaky gun weight. Max continued to search in the lockers, finding a ration in the middle which he swiftly pocketed.

"Hey! I saw that!" cried out Grace. "What was that?"

"Nothing," he shrugged, the face of shrewd stubbornness.

"It's just a ration," commented Clara. "Grace, why don't you fetch it for me."

"No way!" she squirmed, despite her divided loyalties towards Clara, whom she looked up to.

Clara turned to Zoe. "What are you going to fight with?"

She shrugged hesitantly. "I'll hide well - then I won't need to engage the enemy."

Clara rolled her eyes at this, as did Max. I approached the wire netting, on the other side of which was another vent opening. A discarded M9 pistol lay in sight, with a single clip of ammo on its side.

"Found it!"

Max tore for the vent but Clara was there first; crawling through with determination while Max called her out on all the horrible diseases she'd catch by being covered in bugs. Clara gritted her teeth and continued through until she had reached the other side, climbing out and ignoring me as she picked up the M9, turning it this way and that, loading the clip and pulling back the hammer.

"What does the M9 do?" asked Zoe quizzically.

"It's a tranq pistol," answered Clara and me at the same time.

"Pretty sucky," said Max, to save face.

"Just because you're too fat to fit through," said Clara, and Max sulked.

When Clara had emerged back into the main area, Zoe was scoping the place, Grace was huddling for warmth, I had returned to the group and Max was testing the watertight door north of the room.

"Be careful!" warned Zoe. "What if the enemy's in there?"

"Doofus," replied Max. "I know what I'm doing - "

He twisted the handle clockwise three times and pulled it open. Instinctively, we all ducked behind cover and Clara proceeded forth, M9 drawn. She let out a small gasp and we followed her gaze.

"-!" she whispered to us, her face lit up in a rare smile. The nanomachines censored her words.

"Wait, hang on!" Zoe urged as Clara and Max ran forth. "What about us? We can't go in there without weapons without first scoping the territory."

"Oh, please," Clara ignored Max who ran in front of her. "The enemies will be easy."

There was an unconscious soldier lying in the corridor which separated the submarine section, with three stars above his head to denote unconsciousness. He wore a grey BDU to indicate he was a 'strut' soldier, his limp hands grasped an AN-94 assault rifle slung around his neck, he had a holstered Makarov on his leg, a radio strapped to his belt, several frag grenades and a scout knife sheathed on his chest.

"I'm taking the assault rifle," said Max, unslinging and equipping the AN-94.

"You can't!" I hissed. "The nanomachines prevent us from using enemy weapons - "

"I'm holding it, aren't I?" scoffed Max. "Go on. There's a wimpy pistol for you."

Max grabbed the grenades, too, while Clara went onwards, determined to see Snake. Zoe chose the scout knife, which certainly didn't look unusable, and I picked the Makarov just in case it could be used.

"Come on!" urged Clara. "We're going to miss him!"

AN-94 aimed, Max followed Clara through the automatic door, who raised her M9. Zoe stuck to the sides, knife readied, while I rather unconfidently held my Makarov. Grace was unarmed and stayed behind, waiting for the all clear.

"Don't forget about me!" she shrieked as the door closed in her face.

The hallway led through to the loading bay, where a number of crates and boxes were stacked atop each other, with a collection in the middle forming a half-assed cover and a forklift in the middle. Quickly, Max took charge with his rifle and Clara followed him, M9 raised, as the elevator doors shut and they saw a pair of legs encased in blue-black wear disappear in the lift.

Immediately, Max raised the rifle and held the trigger, but it clicked uselessly and a noise resounded in his nanomachines that told him the gun was off limits.

"Dick!" Clara shoved him into the wall of crates, and he reacted furiously. "You could've shot Snake! Now your gun is useless!"

Tossing it aside with a pathetic sigh, they heard the others coming up behind as they glanced down at the two unconscious soldiers before them.

"Did he do this?" asked Zoe. "Snake?"

"Yeah," replied Max, turning to Adam. "Try your handgun. Mine didn't work."

I pointed the gun at the unconscious guard's face and fired, again at the floor. Both times it clicked uselessly and I discarded it.

"Let's see if the knife works!" Zoe leapt for me and I shrieked, but she merely tested the width of it on her palm and it made a small, white indent. "Looks like my weapon works," she laughed.

"What about the grenades?" asked Clara. She had eyed the belt of frags on the enemies.

"Don't try them here," I warned. "Later. Let's pick them up while we can."

Clara and Max split the grenades between them. I was worried I would accidentally activate them, while Zoe preferred stealthy approaches than explosions, and Grace didn't like weapons at all.

"Activate the node!" said Max.

I walked over, but then Grace cried, "Look! They lost some of their stars."

Everyone glanced and saw that the unconscious soldiers now had two stars spinning round their heads instead of three. I panicked remembering the other.

"We need to stuff them in lockers," I hastened.

"They'll only wake up there instead, and kill us with surprise," Zoe's brow wrinkled.

"Well, not in the game - "

"We're not in the game!" shouted Zoe. "This is real life!"

We were divided. Suddenly, we heard the door slide open and everyone ran for cover.

"What about me?" shrieked Grace, having no clue what was going on.

Clara ducked behind a wall of crates; Max behind the forklift; Zoe behind the middle wall of crates. I stayed where I was, tense, and Grace glanced around in horror and saw the grey-fatigues guard, balaclava up to notice her standing there.

"Aaaaahhh!" Grace screamed, running for cover and a hail of gunfire trailed her footsteps by inches.

We all stopped, frozen. Assaulted by real senses, I made my way around the other side of the centre as we heard the guard run off.

"He's calling for backup!" I shouted. "Get him, Clara!"

Clara cautiously glanced round, noticing the coast was clear. Max threw Grace a dirty look and went to follow her, but Zoe advised he stay to keep an eye on the other unconscious soldiers.

Clara raised her M9 as she rounded the corner, the automatic door opening and she caught sight of the merest hint of the soldier's back. His radio was missing from his belt and he spoke,

"Intruders in the vicinity. Send - ah!"

Clara moved closer and fired a tranq round into his head, crumpling him immediately.

"What's going on? Respond!"

Thinking on her feet, she began dragging him to the lockers, as she heard the door open behind her.

"What's going on?" asked Max, clutching a grenade in his hand. She gave him a withering look as if to doubt his potency and clever skill in using a grenade in a cramped corridor.

"I put him to sleep," said Clara, the radio crackling. He helped her drag him to the lockers, open one and push him inside, slamming it shut.

"Sending reinforcements to your position. ETA 1 minute."

Clara and Max glanced at each other. "Shit!" they cried in unison.

Adam, Zoe and Grace cautiously watched the unconscious guards, who by now only had one star to mark unconscious. Zoe stood hesitantly over them, knife poised.

"Can you do it?" asked Grace.

"It's - hard - " Zoe admitted through gritted teeth. In a game would be piss easy to kill without conscience; but here, the feel of fabric and cold and smell of body odor; it felt so real!

They turned around as they saw Max, ashen-faced and Clara with her M9.

"They've called for reinforcements," said Max alertly.

"What? Didn't you deal with the guard?" asked Zoe.

"We did," Clara shot back. "But I got him midway talking through his radio. So they're sending backup." She checked the ammo in her M9 as Max approached the soldiers.

"What the fuck are you guys doing? They'll wake up soon!" he pulled the pin on the grenade and, startled, everyone took a step back in shock.

"What are you doing?" I cried, pulling Grace out of the way as Zoe leapt for cover.

Max tossed the grenade in between the two guards and ran down the corridor, where Clara had already found cover. A deafening silence, then - BOOM!

Cloud and ash cleared and everyone saw the mangled, bloodied bodies of the soldiers, now without doubt dead.

"Now they're dead," insisted Max. "Adam! Activate the node!"

"It's still loading," he said, and the screen showed 63%. "It registered my handprint and then - "

The elevator light blinked to indicate a load was incoming.

"Shit!" cried Zoe.

"Hide!" warned Clara.

Clara took cover in the left partition, while Max hid behind the forklift and urged Clara to hand over her grenades. Reluctantly, she passed him the belt but advised to throw them both at the same time. Zoe hid behind the left side of the middle cover, me inside the center with Grace closer to Zoe.

"How are we supposed to kill them?" Grace asked. "We've got no weapons!"

"Quiet!" yelled Max.

The elevator arrived and the doors slid open; Clara glanced quickly and saw two Kevlar-vested shotgun wielding soldiers and pulled the pin on her grenade; Max saw a further pair of riot-shield raising, Makarov pistol-holding soldiers and tossed his grenade into the fray, joined by Clara's.

"Grenade!" they cried, but it was too late - a resounding BOOM and blood and guts and limbs flew everywhere. Even Clara cringed and Max shouted, for it tasted and felt and smelled so real.

Dust cleared, they approached the corpses and mangled bodies. I picked up a scout knife attached to the crimson chest of one officer. All Kevlar vests were too damaged to use, and both riot shields had shattered.

The elevator gates were open and Zoe went to climb inside, but I halted her and said, "Wait!"

The node uplink was complete. It suggested we register our handprints, those of us that were alive at this point, and we all did. After completing a basic test - name, date of birth, proficiency of skill - it ejected clanging metal dog tags on a chain. We all looped them around our necks, fingering how real they were.

The nanomachines buzzed inside our head and we felt with astounding clarity the transmission between us all. The codec numbers we had registered prior could be dialed and connected to any one of us, or multi-call. After some trying, we learned that incoming calls were silent but the person receiving them could have their voice still heard.

141.03 - Adam

141.69 - Clara

141.01 - Max

141.88 - Grace

141.00 - Zoe

"Maybe we can contact Snake on this," said Clara.

"Good luck," said Max dryly. "He'll probably be asleep."

We stepped into the elevator, all of us, and the doors slid shut and it ascended, taking us out into bright light.

---

Struts A & B

"Adam, you'll need to tell us when there'll be enemies," warned Zoe.

"There shouldn't be, but…" I hesitated. "on harder difficulty levels, there's one or maybe two up here…"

"Come on, be certain!" she insisted, as sunlight hit our faced and made us all wince. The sheer, broad landscape before us was baffling to our senses.

Additionally, the node printed out our PAN cards - level 1. We pocketed them and they would sync with our body's electrical field, automatically opening doors up to our held level.

Cigarettes, AP sensor and scope were bonus items given out by the node. The cigarettes steadied aim and revealed infra-red beams if up close, but none of us smoked, besides Max, whom we suspected. He pocketed them. The AP sensor gave your nanomachines a 'vibration' to sense heartbeats - a 'good' vibrate for friends and 'bad' vibrate for enemies. It worked passively and silently, perfect for Zoe who pocketed it immediately. Then there was the scope, long range binoculars. Me and Clara squabbled slightly over these,and I took them for the time being.

From atop Strut A we caught a glimpse of the Big Shell before us - two cores surrounded by hexagons linked by bridges, with a connecting bridge between the two Shell hexagons.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I said, glancing around as the elevator arrived.

There was a guard immediately up front, peeing off the balcony and Clara primed a tranq bullet into the back of his head. There was a cry of surprise and he lunged over the balcony in his daze, plummeting to his death below.

We found a bandage to the left side which we gave to Grace ("OK, I'll be the healer!") and a clip of M9 bullets to the right, for Clara's pistol. Of the wire-gated entrances, one had a hole in the bottom and we used it as a crawl space, one by one, to shimmy through and gain access into Strut A.

A flight of stairs led down into the main strut, and we headed down silently as a group, poised for footsteps or noise. We made across to the centre, a bank of walled cubicles with computer desks and a large multi-screen for surveillance cameras where a lone guard was patrolling. Clara took him out with a tranq bullet to the head, cocking the gun so she could fire again, and Max and I helped lug the body into a locker, where we found another ration which I took this time.

After a brief search of the strut, we found nothing further besides a PAN-locked door requiring level-2 access, which none of us had. We consulted the many screens from the surveillance cameras, seeing nothing in particular and then Grace gave a cry of hope, pointing to the stationary node in the corner. We applied our fingerprints and waited impatiently for the screen to upload our coordinates.

"Where do we go now?" asked Clara.

"To Strut B," I replied. "That's our only accessible target. The exit to Strut F is above our PAN card level."

We moved down the corridor and exited out onto the AB connecting bridge; Max with his grenades ready, Zoe and I with our scout knives, Clara with her M9. The bridge split in two around an empty square and reconnected to lead to Strut B. Two guards patrolled either side, and we ducked out of sight to avoid their gazes.

"What do we do?" asked Grace, who was bewildered by all this espionage.

"I'll take them out," said Clara, peeking over from her station. She fired a round, quickly ducked behind the barrier. "Shit!"

"What?" four voices attacked her at once.

"I missed," she mused. She fired again, but only hit the guard's arm, and he turned in suspicion. A moment later, he succumbed and dropped.

"Hey are you OK?"

The second guard began making his way to the other side of the bridge.

"Quick!" Max urged. "Take him out!"

Clara leant over the railing and shot at the second guard, and he fell too. We crossed the bridge and entered Strut B, where there were the sound of gunshots and screams.

"What's happening?" Grace instinctively ducked for cover.

"I don't know," said Zoe, turning to Adam.

"It's Vamp," I said quietly. "He's taking out the SEALs."

Cautiously, Clara made her way to the end of the corridor, where a streak of blood and corpses remained. She peeked round but saw nothing, besides the metal grilles which caused sound when walked on.

"Well?" Max urged her. "Go on!"

"With Vamp in there?" she rounded on him. "You do it, I'm not fighting him with just a pistol."

"I-I'll do it," I said, but Clara was hesitant to relieve herself of the gun. It was her only protection.

Suddenly, the gunfire stopped. Clara handed me the pistol. "You lead. We'll be waiting for you."

"Don't forget," I added in a whisper. "Pliskin's due to come."

"You hope," added Zoe in an undertone, who remained behind with Grace.

Clara, Max and I ventured into the transformer room. They stuck behind me, Max with a grenade ready as I raised the pistol and checked my surroundings. There were transformer units secured inside high, black iron fences and boards along the walls to conduct electricity throughout the Big Shell. The raised platform was empty, but as we made our way downstairs to where a node was stationed in a niche, there were more dead bodies, SEALs with assault rifles lying inert.

"Sweet!" said Max, reaching for the rifle.

"Dick! Adam said they wouldn't work - ah!"

A knife came out of nowhere and embedded in her shoulder; immediately we glanced up and saw a blur figure before Max yelled and fell upon the floor, nose bloodied. I couldn't see the flying leap that was Vamp, before he landed on the floor and pirouetted upon my fire of the gun.

He hissed wildly, glancing up at me. His long green trenchcoat belied the muscular stomach, coarse with fine hair and large knife holstered in his belt buckle with smaller throwing knives beside it. Clara wept on the floor in pain, a gush of blood pouring forth from the wound as she pulled out the knife, and Max scrabbled to stand, his face covered in blood.

"Vamp," I said, but my nanomachines blocked it out. Vamp stared at me, a cruel expression delighting his features, and with a thrill of fear I knew I was dead -

Sudden gunfire from above caused Vamp to spin around wildly, leaping up onto the upper platform where more gunfire ensued. I tossed the gun to Max and helped Clara stand, but she shrugged me off and winced as she gripped her shoulder.

"Ungh!" came the cry of a newer voice. Clara glanced up and snatched back her pistol.

"It's -!" she cried, heading upstairs. Max and I followed her.

Vamp held Pliskin to the wall, his SEAL commando outfit hiding who he really was. The M4 carbine which lay abandoned only inches away held a tempting sight.

"That smell… " Vamp's eyes widened. He let Pliskin drop to the floor. "It's impossible! You can't be!"

"Shoot him!" cried Pliskin, his unmistakable voice causing us all to gasp in recognition. "What are you waiting for!?"

Max snatched the rifle from the ground as Clara let off a M9 round, but Vamp cocked his head and eyed her, before pirouetting to dodge the assault of bullets that came from Max. He spun to a stop as the clip emptied, consulting his earpiece.

"Yeah, Queen?" he answered.

Pliskin tossed a magazine clip across the floor and Max knelt to catch it, loading it into the rifle and aiming it at Vamp -

"Be right there - " He disappeared in a blur before Max could fire the first round, and there was only the malevolent hissssssss of his departure which we remembered.

Clara hurried over to help Pliskin, while I checked on Zoe and Grace, who were white with worry. We joined up together.

"Give him your bandage, and the rations," said Clara, who knelt at his side. "I'm Clara."

"Ugh," Pliskin shook his head as he stood, accepting the bandage from Grace's outstretched hands.

He applied it and shook his head to the ration, stumbling over to the steps and crouching upon them. He looked up at us crowded around him, staring.

"Well?" he cocked his head, us all delighted with his delicious tone. "Who are you?"

"We're - " Max began.

"We're here to rescue the President." I started the script which we were told to feed him. "And take down the terrorists who have taken Big Shell."

"Yeah, well," Pliskin retrieved a packet of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket and stuck one in his mouth, lighting it. "You're a bit late for that."

"What happened?" asked Zoe, impromptu.

"Our team got taken unawares," he shook his head. "Vamp…"

"Do you know him?" asked Clara.

He looked at her and Clara felt a moment of foreboding.

"He's a member of Dead Cell. You know who they are?"

Everyone hesitated, then to some degree acknowledged or shook their head.

"Well, they're a paramilitary unit to some degree used to test emergency response systems. They went off-the-grid and are known to be affiliated with the terrorists who've taken the President hostage."

Zoe was activating the node while he spoke, and it flashed, requiring everyone's handprint, which they all complied with.

"You're here to save the President, too?" asked Grace in a mousy voice. She reddened when Clara and Max shot her a look. "What's your name?"

"Pliskin. Iroquois Pliskin. Lieutenant Junior Grade."

Everyone was a bit uncomfortable, knowing the truth. Still, he was a great soldier under an alias.

He offered the cigarettes.

"No, thanks," I shook them away. As did the others, but not Max, who gladly accepted them.

"Take this, too," said Pliskin. To the great delight of many, it was the SOCOM pistol.

"I will!" I outstretched my hand, but Max was quicker. I sulked at him.

"Sorry, kid," said Pliskin, motioning to Max. "He's the better shot."

Suddenly, static blared to life from the radio attached to Pliskin's soldier.

"Come in Bravo! We are at the bridge between Struts B and C and we're - "

Everyone held their breath.

"Uh - ugh! I can't hit this thing - it's like a bad dream - aaaaarrrgh!"

The resounding sound of the explosion greatly unsettled us.

"I need to rest for a few moments. You head to the BC connecting bridge," he advised.

"What about you?" asked Clara.

"I'll be fine," he shook off her concern, settling himself more comfortably. "Remember my frequency, it's - "

"-.-", blurted out Clara, but her nanomachines censored it.

"What?" he frowned.

"Mine," she swallowed. "It's 141.69."

"Right… I'm on 141.80. If you need information on the Big Shell's layout or Dead Cell, contact me. Get going."

Reluctantly, Clara left his side. We all marched up the steps, past the streaks of blood and dead bodies, back out into the corridor where a few lockers revealed a ration and a clip of SOCOM bullets.

"What about Pliskin?" asked Grace.

"We have to leave him here," I instructed. "It's not time yet."

---

Strut C

We moved forth onto the BC connecting bridge, where the sound of gunshots reigned anew. Max with his SOCOM and Clara with her M9 ventured first, with us three taking up the rear.

Several SEAL soldiers had set up camp at the crossroads, where they were opening fire on a woman who made her emergence from within the confines of the Shell 1 core. An unconscious man in a white shirt and tie lay unconscious at her feet.

"Come, put me out of my misery!" called the woman. The bullets veered to the side, never once hitting her.

"This is impossible! Nothing gets near her!" said one SEAL.

"Is she the one they call Fortune?" asked a second.

To great surprise, Vamp emerged behind her, picked up the crumpled figure of the President and turned to head back inside. The incoming bullets harmlessly veered off.

"Don't let them take the President!" cried a SEAL.

They began advancing down the bridge -

"Ready grenades!" one raised his carbine and fired a grenade through the launcher at Fortune's feet. It lay inert.

"A dud!" he cried. Then, as one, they continued to advance.

"Today is another bad day," Fortune unsheathed the mega rail gun from behind her back, crackling with electromagnetic power. "Isn't there anyone who can bring me happiness?"

The SEALs let out a cry of surprise as Fortune fired a bullet at them, exploding the bridge and tearing it in two. Everyone ducked instinctively. When we glanced over, we saw the remains of the bridge, severing the link to Shell 1 core. Fortune had disappeared, as had any remains of the SEALs.

"What happened?" asked Zoe and Grace.

"Fortune blasted them all to pieces," said Clara, almost disinterestedly.

We proceeded across the bridge, deserted but for us, then entered Strut C.

There was a men's bathroom on the left and the women's on the right, with a long hallway in the middle. No guards were in sight.

"I need to go," urged Grace, but Zoe held her back.

"Wait until we clear the rooms," advised Clara. She entered the women's, followed by Grace and Zoe, while Max cleared the men's with me in hot pursuit.

He stood at the urinal while I checked the two cubicles; both were empty. When he had finished and zipped up, we joined the girls in the hallway, Grace rushing to follow us soon after.

Down the hallway we went, Clara and Max ahead, unable to access the side door but opening automatically the next one to come along. Clara and Max were quiet as they snuck up on the large man who looked like a janitor.

"Freeze!" they cried in unison.

"Don't shoot!" he slowly raised his hands above his head.

"Put that thing down, kid, you'll put an eye out."

Pliskin walked into sight, and Clara and Max lowered their weapons. They were warmed by his presence, as were the three of us who followed entry.

"Who are you?" asked Zoe rudely.

"Peter, Peter Stillman. I'm with the bomb disposal squad,"

"For what?" she interrupted.

"Fatman," said Pliskin. "He's a member of Dead Cell - "

"And my former student," admitted Stillman sadly. "The Emperor of Explosives, they call him. Built an atomic bomb when he was 10. You don't have any experience with bomb disposal, do you?"

"We have the manpower," Pliskin gestured to the group. "But some aren't field trained."

"What do you mean by that!?" was the general reply from Zoe and me. Grace raised no comment.

"Have you ever defused bombs before?" asked Stillman to the group of us. We were hesitant to shake our heads no.

"You won't actually be dismantling the bombs. You'll be temporarily freezing them for a period of twenty-four hours,"

"That's enough time."

"This is a coolant spray," Stillman held up a canister similar to a fire extinguisher. He pressed the lever and it released a cool spray, cold enough for everyone to get goosebumps. "Spray it on the bomb for about ten seconds and it'll be coated in ice. There's no way it'll detonate."

"How are we supposed to find these bombs? And how many are there?" interrupted Zoe.

"Based on the structure of the Big Shell, I'd say there'd be at least one on each strut."

"Six in Shell 1…" added Pliskin.

"... and six in Shell 2." Clara glanced at Pliskin.

"A total of twelve bombs," said Stillman.

"I'll clear Shell 2," hesitated Pliskin. "If you keep running around in a group like that, you'll soon attract attention. One of you come with me."

"I will!" shrieked Grace. She was blushing in attraction.

Pliskin took one look at her unarmed, unafraid figure and shook his head. "I'll need someone adept with a rifle."

He turned to Clara, who stared back, forcing her expression into a mask. "I'll do it."

He passed her his USP pistol, and she gave her M9 to me.

Stillman handed Pliskin a coolant spray, hesitating then giving the other one to Max, the most armed leader out of him, me, Zoe and Grace.

"Here's an access card. It's level 3, it'll get you into Shell 2 by way of Strut D." He handed two to Pliskin who gave one to Clara. "You'll also need these."

He handed Pliskin and Max each a long remote with a blinking green light. "They're bomb sensors. When a bomb is near, it'll flash. The faster it flashes, the closer you are. Look everywhere - ceiling, shelves, underneath tables - everywhere. My frequency is 140.15. Contact me if you need any advice."

"Come on," ushered Pliskin to Clara, who cocked her USP pistol and followed him amiably out into the corridor. He turned to the rest of us. "If you need us, use your codec."

"Bye…" said Clara, more than pleased that she was leaving with Pliskin.

They all turned to Stillman, but he had locked himself inside the food pantry.

"Aw, man," complained Grace. "I wanted to go with -."

"She can piss off without us, then," scoffed Max, heading for the exit. "Bitch."

We followed him down the corridor and into the women's restroom when Grace alerted him to the obvious. He gave a sharp reprimand and pointed to the bomb hidden in the alcove in the ceiling.

"Oh," she relented. He raised his arm and sprayed the coolant on the bomb. It was frozen solid within seconds. Max called Stillman, let him know of the disposal and disconnected.

"Where to from here?" asked Max, turning to me.

"Strut D," I said. "This way."

---

Strut D

Down the hallway and turned a corner, out onto the CD connecting bridge. A guard lay knocked out near the entry and another in the middle of the bridge. To our great surprise, two cardboard boxes moved silently down the bridge.

"Hahahaha!" Max screeched with laughter, aiming his SOCOM. "It's - and Clara!"

"Don't shoot them!" Zoe and Grace cried in unison, both to some degree knocking him off balance.

The shots fired harmlessly into the air and Max turned on us all with a shamed vengeance. Hurriedly the two moving cardboard boxes rushed inside Strut D.

"You idiot dick!" Clara called us over the codec. "Stupid thickhead!"

We traversed the length of CD bridge before the guards could wake up and entered Strut D. We just managed to see the door to the north, locked level-3 in the direction of Shell 2, closed shut.

There were two guards on the upper level; one making the circular rounds and another stationed in the middle, while a third toured downstairs and radioed in frequently to report his status.

"Don't shoot the SOCOM," I warned Max. "It's not suppressed. We'll be spotted and the guards will be on alert."

"OK, OK," his reply was pithy, not without considerable reluctance.

I aimed the M9 and missed twice but landed a headshot on the centre guard on my third try. I ducked and the others followed suit as the circular guard came near, then I peeked over and not without a lot of skill did I manage to get him several times everywhere but the head, where it mattered. We snuck to the eaves of an opening to watch the downstairs guard, while Max tossed the bodies overboard.

"Huh?" the downstairs guard glanced up, noticing the second body that had made a splash. "What was that noise?"

With him distracted, I rushed downstairs and popped a tranq dart in his head. He swooned and fell, but I was quick to toss him overboard.

"What's going on? Respond!" cried HQ from the radio.

"Hide!" I shouted, my voice echoing in the empty space. "Reinforcements incoming!"

"What about you?" screeched Grace.

I pulled open the grate of a vent, where a bomb lay blinking. "Max! Chuck me the coolant spray!"

"No!" cried Zoe. "You'll drop it in the water!"

Max lugged the heavy weight from the center down to the lower railing, where Zoe shrieked in alarm and the canister made a resounding clang as it hit the wall, bounced off it in force where I leapt at it to stop it rolling off the edge just in the nick of time.

"I hear footsteps!" cried Grace, hiding behind cover.

"Hurry!" came Zoe's voice, and the electronic door slid open.

I had just finished icing the bomb into place when I heard commotion from the stairs. On the other side, backup - two shotgun Kevlar soldiers & two riot shield Kevlar soldiers with Makarovs came marching towards me.

"Help!" I cried to Max, raising the pistol. The first bullet I shot got an attack soldier in the leg, and he stopped just as Max opened fire from above, several loud shots impaling the glass of a riot shield and disarming an attack soldier of his rifle with a hit to the hand.

They fired on him above and Grace let out a shriek of horror, ducking for cover. Zoe carefully made her way closer to the stairs while Max took cover. I fired another round just as one attack soldier succumbed to sleep, but hit the riot shield of a soldier. Max opened fire again, finding a headshot on the remaining attack soldier and smashing in the riot shield finally. He let out a gasp of pain as a stray bullet wounded him and though I fired another bullet, it missed and sailed away harmlessly. I saw Zoe sneak behind the riot soldiers and toss her knife at their backs, but it thudded against their Kevlar and when they turned to face her, alerted, I yelled to draw attention to myself and fired again, this time gaining a hit in the Kevlar vest. They turned, several shots passing me but one got me in the leg. Pounding, breathless, unbelievable pain sent me reeling and my head hit the floor. Above, Max was crying in injury.

Zoe hurried back upstairs before the next hail of gunfire to reach her.

"Fuuuuck!" yelled Max.

Zoe ran to Max's injured body and ushered Grace to help him. She picked up the fallen SOCOM and aimed at the riot guards, one without a shield, who had climbed the stairs to follow her. She took aim unsteadily and took one in the vest and hid behind cover, with Grace who tried to help Max. She retrieved a ration from his pocket and applied it, and his wounds began to knit themselves and he soon regained focus.

I managed to limp towards my fallen gun, taking aim through the railing and somehow one of them in the leg. Zoe opened fire again, hitting another in the shoulder who stumbled. Succumbed to sleep did one, and when the remaining riot soldier came forth, Grace tackled his legs while Zoe held him down and punched him unconscious, riot shield discarded to the side.

Grace rushed down the stairs, spare ration in hand, and applied it to me and my leg began to heal, painstakingly slowly. Max collected his SOCOM, muttered a thanks to Zoe and kicked one of the unconscious soldiers in the head. Together, they all helped throw the soldiers overboard.

I had managed to collect the coolant spray, while Max signed in to the node. We all applied our handprints and it made note of the fact that Clara was no longer among us. We checked around for spare ammo, and found an extra clip of SOCOM bullets for Max, then moved out onto the DE connecting bridge.

"Wait!" I cried, holding Max back from proceeding. "There's a soldier with binoculars scoping the bridge. Do you see him?"

Max paused, chancing a look around the corner. There was a soldier patrolling the bridge, having just climbed the stairs from the lower level, and atop Strut E's helipad on a ledge was a soldier who turned his head with a pair of binoculars in his hands.

"You'll have to do it," said Max, motioning his unsilenced gun.

"Or we could sneak past," pointed out Zoe. "Down the stairs - "

I moved past Max and peeked out the corner, but after several shots I hadn't managed to hit the balcony soldier once. I ducked to avoid the glare of the soldier patrolling the bridge.

"Come on, Adam!" said Grace urgently.

"Yeah, come on!" said Max.

I took aim again, this time missed, but landed another hit on the guard by the way he glanced up. Moments later, he succumbed to falling asleep and I cautiously reloaded my pistol while Max edged nearer around the corner.

"He's gone downstairs," Max urged us closer. "Follow me."

He and I took the charge with our weapons drawn while Grace and Zoe followed behind. We had made it halfway across when the soldier walked up the steps and Max fired repeatedly, loud gunshots booming in the distance. Impaled with bulletholes, the guard weakly fell down the stairs and to his death.

"That was close," I said, and we moved on, into Strut E Packing Room.

---

Strut E

It was a large room with a whirring conveyor belt running the length of it; a mechanical maze with one soldier inside and another strolling the perimeter. We were quick to hide behind a stack of crates before a guard spotted us.

"What do we do?" asked Grace. The belt of boxes made it difficult to be sure where each soldier was.

"There's one soldier there," Zoe pointed to one on the perimeter, opposite side. "I'll go this way and track him." she readied her knife. "The boxes will hide my movement."

"OK," said Max. He began to head in the other direction, ushering me along. Grace meekly followed Zoe.

Max proceeded on while I shimmied underneath the conveyor belt. Crouched tight, I could see the legs of one soldier and fired into his ankle, foreboding filling me as he bent down to check it and caught sight of me.

"Hey!" he yelled, before "ah!" and he slumped.

"What's going on - aaargh!" Zoe leapt on the second, knife plunging into his belly and neck as he too, fell to darkness.

We collected ourselves and scoped the surrounding area. Max activated the node and collected an unlabeled cardboard box from a platform while we all applied our handprints. We found a clip of M9 ammo which I took for my gun; and we carefully checked downstairs and found a Ration in a crawl space and a Mine Detector by some boxes. Max pocketed it. Both doors were locked; one accessing the oil rig and the other, a sorting room.

"What's up there?" asked Zoe.

"The helipad," replied Max and I in unison. We headed there immediately.

There was a wraparound ledge which in my mind would lead to the balcony where we had put the soldier asleep, who had scoped us from atop Strut E. We were making our way to the staircase when we heard a distinctive voice and paused, listening intently. Max readied the SOCOM but I held him back; Zoe readied her knife and Grace as always, crouched and glanced around fearfully.

"... a cyborg ninja, complete with a sword." said the female.

Zoe perked up.

"What?" came the harsh, staccato reply in static, probably from a radio. "Olga, are you sure it wasn't an Arsenal Tengu?"

"Do you think I'm stupid? I've never seen field gear like that ever."

"All right. We'll intensify patrols. Anything else?"

"On the Shell 2 connecting bridge - I saw a man using a cardboard box."

"What? I've seen somebody use that box trick before… we'll set a trap on the Shell 2 connecting bridge. Over and out then,"

"Over and out," replied the Russian accent.

"Let's get her," I whispered to Max, and he nodded an assent, leaping round the corner.

"Freeze!" he cried, aiming his SOCOM. I stayed back, M9 ready. "Don't move!"

"What are you doing here?" she asked in her accent. Max saw the pistol she held.

"Drop your weapon," he ordered grimly. "Slowly."

She smiled slightly . "Not a chance - "

Before Max could blink the sunlight hit his eyes and he winced, enough time for her to escape. He had a fleeting instant of checking below the staircase, but nobody was there.

"Who was that?" asked Zoe. "A ninja?"

Grace was shivering in the open cold. I knew Olga must've evaded him. Max looked furious.

"-," said Max. "- -. The bitch," he added pitifully. "She got away."

"I'll check this way," I continued around the balcony, found the sleeping guard and tossed him over the edge with help from Zoe and Grace who watched. Then we returned but Max was nowhere to be found.

"Max?" Grace asked aloud. Zoe shushed her and we continued up the stairs.

The helipad was set out with several shipping crates; we could glimpse two soldiers patrolling within the maze and another far off, by the Harrier. There was a cardboard box which moved slightly; Max had hidden himself inside.

"Hey, get out of there!" Zoe hissed, kicking it. Reluctantly, he retrieved himself from inside.

We split up to take care of the guards. Max took the left, SOCOM aimed; Zoe went off on her own, footsteps silent and rushing behind a crate; Grace came with me, however reluctantly. I offered for her to use my M9 to train with it, but she shook her head no.

Max held up the first guard, ordered him close to the edge and kicked him off, sending him screaming to his death. This caused the other two to turn; Zoe stabbed one in the back but he shoved her away; I landed a headshot on the third, who slumped silently into sleep.

Max ran round to where the injured soldier lay and fired on him several times, ending his life. Zoe shrugged off assistance as she stood, wiping the blood off her knife with the soiled uniform of the dead guard before her.

"Where's the bomb?" she asked, panting slightly.

I pointed to the Harrier. It was slim, curved and beautiful, a fighter jet with guns and missiles. I ducked underneath it, spraying the blinking bomb until it was frozen. While I contacted Stillman, Max and Zoe glanced around and under shipping crates for ammo or equipment. Grace glanced around miserably. Three bombs down, three to go.

We went down the stairs, across Strut E and out onto the EF connecting bridge.

"Wait," I held everyone back. "Max, activate your mine detector."

He pressed a button and it began beeping furiously. We saw on the green lit display that seven mines were placed all around the spread of the bridge. Suddenly, Zoe's codec rang and we glanced at her.

"There's no frequency listed," she frowned and answered. "Who is this?"

"Wait! There are claymore mines around there." came an echoing voice. "Use the mine detector."

"How did you know that?" she demanded. Both Max and I knew who it was.

"Call me… Mr X." the call disconnected and Zoe glanced around at us.

"Do you know who that was?" she demanded, to our unsurprised faces.

"Yeah," duh-ed Max. "It was the ninja."

"Stay here," I cautioned both Grace and Zoe. I lay prone and began crawling to the bridge. I could see the small claymores, standing on tiny prongs.

"Wait, you idiot!" shrilled Zoe.

"Calm down, jeez," said Max. "He has to crawl over them to disable them."

Slowly, one by one and drenched with sweat, I deactivated and collected every single one, including one or two hiding in nifty areas.

"All clear," cried Max, consulting the placid display on his mine detector.

With great relief, I stood and Max walked across to me with confidence; Zoe and Grace less so.

"Where does that lead?" asked Zoe, pointing to the crossroads where one bridge led into the core.

"We can't go in there yet." I explained. "It's the Shell 1 core; we'll need level-2 pan cards to get in there."

---

Strut F

We crossed into Strut F, narrow cold hallways where we flinched upon seeing a guard descend the stairs on one side of us, and the voice of another giving a status report around the corner to the right,

"How many soldiers?" shivered Grace. This was one maze she didn't like.

"Three, maybe four." I said. "We have to be careful. Watch your back."

Zoe and Grace stayed in the middle, while I took the lead and Max covered the rear. We could see, far off on the other side of the square wraparound balcony, one guard looking down on the crates on the lower level. He turned his back on us and I raised my pistol, but we heard footsteps and backed down the corridor. We waited until the footsteps had passed, then I peeked out and jabbed a tranq dart in the soldier's arm. We hid behind the corner just as the soldier collapsed in sleep. Then, we heard footsteps from behind us and realised the guard was returning upstairs.

I readied M9 gun and fired when I saw movement; the bullet hit him in the shoulder and behind me, a knife flew threw the air and pierced his eye, with sudden accuracy that sent him down, bloodied, a strangled yell. Zoe ran over to collect her knife.

"What'd you do that for?" I demanded. "You could've killed yourself!"

We paused, waiting for silence.

"Max, you know where the suppressor is, right?" I asked him. He shook his head and I rolled my eyes.

"Hey! Why are you asleep!" called the second upstairs guard.

We backed a corner as we heard the approaching guard. I couldn't get a good enough aim, but suddenly Max turned and fired several gunshots which echoed in the space. The guard went down, but not before we heard a chilling, "Shots fired - "

"Max!" hissed Zoe. "There's still a guard left!"

He glanced over the railing and caught sight of the guard, firing immediately and impaling him with bullets. He was one shot missing, though - he had to reload and in the midst, the strut went into alert mode.

"Quick!" I bade them follow. "Hurry!"

We ran back down the corridor, Max reloading in a hurry and passed the door to the EF connecting bridge. I heard footsteps rushing and ran down the stairs, the group following me.

We crossed through the maze of crates, passing the mangled, dying body of the sole guard with Grace's shrieks, Max's panting, and gunshots barely missing us by an inch.

"In here!" I entered a room on the right, filled with lockers and a crawl space, but Zoe and Max hurried into the room on the left, crammed for space. "No, this way!"

"Ah!" Grace tripped in her haste but Zoe picked her up; together the four of us ran inside the room and were comforted by the solace it provided.

"Max, cardboard box,there. Zoe, locker, ready your knife," I held the door open and she reluctantly climbed in. "Grace, in the crawl space. Hurry!"

She managed to squeeze in and I followed her, not without a significant amount of grumbling. I aimed my M9 from within the narrow crawl space, while Max covered himself with the cardboard box.

"Follow my lead - and be aware of the - "

The door slid open and I shut my mouth, for of the four-man backup unit that had come to the rescue, one attack soldier opened the door and threw in a stun grenade. It blinded us all; Zoe peering through the slats of the locker, Max in his box; me in the crawl space.

"Move!" ordered the attack soldier, and the other followed him in. The riot soldiers remained stationed outside.

They began searching high and low, their shotguns with flashlights equipped, checking every nook and cranny. Crouched with his knees to his chest, Max readied his SOCOM and poked it through the hole of the box - Zoe crouched low as the flashlight beamed her face and the soldier let out a cry of surprise -

I fired a M9 round into one attack soldier's leg but he barely seemed to notice it, wrenching open the locker door just as Max fired upon the other, who stumbled with gunshots in his leg. Immediately, Zoe leapt on the guard who had opened the door, stabbing him viciously; I sent another M9 round into the same guard's leg and rendered him unconscious. Max tore off his cardboard box just as he came face to face with one of the riot soldiers, who bashed him to the ground and shot him, his cry of agony painful to all our ears. Zoe snatched the discarded SOCOM and fired at the riot shield's legs just as I fired a round, but it landed in Zoe instead! She cursed and grabbed her ankle, but the riot soldiers were limping from the assault. I squeezed out of the crawl space, retrieved my knife and tossed it at one of the soldiers, but it bounced off his Kevlar as they retreated to recollect. Zoe subsumed to sleep and I grabbed the SOCOM -

"Aaaaargghh!" Max squealed, in great pain.

"Grace, give him your ration. I've got it covered!" I said with great courage, advancing out onto the corridor.

One riot soldier was administering a shot to his leg, but the other caught sight of me and I immediately on instinct fired on the exposed one, gaining a good few lethal shots to the neck. I retreated into the adjacent room, spotting the SOCOM silencer on the other side of the shelves and cursing, for Max had the extra clips with which I could reload the gun.

I took a deep breath and headed back out into the corridor, where the riot shield soldier stumbled but bashed me with his shield, and I tripped over painfully my back into some shelves.

All of a sudden, Grace leapt on the remaining guard, biting his leg with great frenzy and I was able to fire my remaining shots into his crotch, disabling him immediately. Panting, I thanked her.

She helped me stand and I passed the mangled bodies both outside and in as I saw Max eating the ration, his injuries knitting; while Grace rushed over to Zoe, noticing the tranq dart in her leg, shaking her awake. Blearily, she was confused.

"Sorry. I shot you by accident," I explained, to douse her sudden fury. She noticed the guards were dead and cooled considerably.

Max healed while I crawled back into the vent, which wound round to the adjacent room where I climbed out and collected the SOCOM suppressor. I screwed it firmly on, tested it for good measure - much better - then returned through the crawl space back into the small room.

I handed Max back the SOCOM, slightly resenting that he wouldn't relinquish its use. Grace, however, was now equipped with a riot shield: it weighed her down but was in great condition.

We spread out over the strut, checking each spare nook and cranny. I helped Zoe up into a stack of crates, where she could spray the C4 bomb hidden inside, then helped her out again. We collected some more SOCOM and M9 ammo, then collected upstairs and out onto the upper exit towards the FA connecting bridge.

It had an upper and lower section accessed by a flight of stairs closer to either entrance, and a single guard patrolled the bottom but a flying, whirring Cypher nearly caught us and we hid behind the partition.

"What is that thing?" asked Grace.

"It's a Cypher - " I began.

"Does it have guns?" asked Zoe.

I paused for a moment. "No. The white ones are only for surveillance. If they spot us, we'll instantly be in alert mode. The grey-black ones are gun Cyphers, with machine guns attached."

"Do we have any chaff grenades?" asked Max. Zoe and I shook our heads no.

He turned the corner, aiming his newly silenced SOCOM. As the Cypher whirred by, he fired several times and it spun like a top, exploding in the air into nothingness.

"Huh?" asked the guard, appearing suddenly at the forefront of the steps.

Grace let out a shriek and cry of alarm, but Max downed him too, and he stumbled over his feet and fell down the stairs and crashed into the railing, quite dead. Zoe spotted a chaff grenade on the lower level, and she pocketed it, as Grace was holding up the riot shield, which was quite heavy. Now we were onto Strut A.

---

Struts A & B

We crossed the bridge and entered Strut A, where there was no guard patrolling the central computer hub as I had been surprised to learn. When I checked the locker in which we stuffed him, his body remained.

"Where's the bomb?" asked Zoe.

"It's in here," I showed her to the door which was locked previously, under level-2 security. It opened automatically.

With a fright, we saw the back of a guard I had totally forgotten to warn the others about - and the shrill gasp of alarm which escaped from my lips alerted him. He turned at our notice and Grace ducked for cover, the enemy's shots impaling her riot shield and rendering it fragile. Max and I shot at the guard; my tranq bullet hitting a pipe and the ensuing gas blinding him; while Max's silenced shots were more than enough to deaden the alarmed guard.

I exhaled and Max shoved me at having not alerted us prior.

"That was close," I managed.

Grace was the only one small enough to weave through the pipes. It took us a long time to direct her in the right way through the convoluted maze of pipes, but we got there in the end and I chucked her the coolant spray. She winced as she sprayed the bomb, and it stopped blinking. Zoe took her turn at calling Stillman.

"Five down, one to go," she reported brusquely.

"Good job." said Stillman. "I'm patching in Pliskin - "

"I'm here," replied the husky voice. "I checked out Strut H for you. There's a hell of a lot of C4 packed in. But it wasn't detected by the sensor."

"What?" came Stillman and Zoe's duo reply.

"This makes no sense… " Stillman said. "I'll have to come over and check. You guys keep defusing the bombs. Over and out."

We exited Strut A onto the AB connecting bridge, where both guards were noticeably absent. We crossed and entered Strut B, where the bloodstains remained but we heard footsteps on the long hallway with metal, noise-making grilles.

Grace deferred to the back as Max came first, peeking around the corner. He startled the guard but caught him with several shots to the chest, ending his life immediately. We waited for him to reload, then,

"How many guards are in here?" asked Max.

"One… or two… " I said. He nodded and we both took an angle with our guns.

Max shot the guard in the back on the upper level, while I took the stairs and tranq'd the second guard from an opening in the balcony. We crossed the room, closed the door to a transformer board and saw the bomb blinking. Max froze it with the coolant spray and the Sensor A stopped flashing.

"Stillman," I called him over the radio. "We've frozen all the bombs. Six in six struts."

"You're ahead of me, kid," replied Pliskin. "I've still got one left."

"Sucker, Clara," chided Max.

"What?" growled Pliskin's voice.

"I'm checking out the bomb in Strut H. It's not responding to Sensor A. I'd have to say there's another one at the bottom of Strut A."

Max and I exchanged glances.

"The problem is that Sensor A won't pick it up. I've calibrated a new sensor to pick it up, but this one will emit a sound as you get closer. It's in the food pantry back in Strut C."

"OK. We'll pick it up," I disconnected.

"What did he say?" asked Grace, then Zoe.

"Stillman thinks there's a secret bomb in the deep sea dock of Strut A, where we began," I said. "But it can't be picked up by our sensor - he wants us to grab a new one from his hiding place, the food pantry in Strut C."

They agreed and we exited out onto the BC connecting bridge. There was a guard patrolling, but he was no match for the SOCOM bullets fired by Max which riddled him asunder.

---

Fortune

When we reached Strut C, there was a guard emerging from the mess hall and Max raised his gun, firing several shots which hit the wall and then his leg.

"Shit!" he cried, as the guard limped away, talking into his radio.

"You idiot fool!" Zoe slapped him. "He'll call for back up!"

"This way," I ushered them forth into the women's. "There's more hiding places in here. Hurry!"

The alert mode sounded, and we all chose a cubicle and locked the door behind us.

"They'll peek over the stalls, so crouch on the toilet seat with your knees tucked in," I assured them.

They all did as I said, with Max the exception as he readied his SOCOM for an assault. True to form, the reinforcements entered with a "move!" One knocked on each door and Grace muffled her squeal, but after looking over each stall and determining them empty, they shrugged it off and left. When we had waited two minutes, caution mode had entered.

"Whew," I said.

We exited the women's restroom where Grace took charge with her slightly shattered riot shield. The same guard emerged and this time Max was quick to shoot him down for good. We turned a corner and peeked into the kitchen, where another soldier in the mess hall was looking down at the node. I hit him on my third try with the M9, and he soon went down.

I pulled open the pantry door and inside was the Sensor B. I picked it up and called Stillman, while Max made the rounds to ensure we were alone. Zoe picked her teeth.

"Stillman, we've got the Sensor B."

"Damnit!" cried Stillman. "That was it!"

"What?" cried several voices.

"The bomb just activated. You've got to get to the bottom of Strut A, now!"

"How much time do we have?" Zoe asked.

"Two hundred seconds," he murmured.

I faltered a bit. "That's - that's - it should be - "

"Go! Move!"

"Shit!" I shouted, and everyone glanced round. "We have 200 seconds before the bomb defuses!"

To my shock, Sensor B showed a timer of 192 seconds.

"RUUUUUNNNN!" Max bellowed, and together we tore down the corridor and out onto the BC connecting bridge.

Across the bridge and into Strut B, we stopped dead as we another soldier patrolling the iron grills.

"They've respawned!" I moaned. Max took aim and fired, ending the soldier's life.

As we ran across the grilles, we heard a "What's that noise?" from the guard on the other side.

"Fuck, run!" shouted Max.

We made it down the hallway and out of the door just as we heard the soldier talking into his radio, having found his fallen comrade.

"I can't - wait up!" Grace was lugging behind the riot shield.

"Drop it, Grace," I advised, and she was more than glad to. "Keep with us!"

I tagged behind so that she could be near us, while Zoe took the rear and Max stayed ahead, to where we found ourselves on the AB connecting bridge, both guards on the ready. They consulted their radios.

"DIIIIEEEE!" yelled Max, firing repeatedly at one who ducked behind cover.

I angled for the next cover and turned just as the soldier fired at Max, a tranq shot embedding in his chest. Seconds before he fell, Max managed a chance headshot at the other guard and sent him sprawling to the floor.

"Go, go, go!" I screamed, noticing 130 seconds left on the sensor.

I pulled Grace's arm along, insensitive to her repeated pullings away, as Max and Zoe gained the running edge. We crossed the metal grilles and entered Strut A, but not before Max in a drive-by motion gunned down the sole soldier who had respawned in the central hub area. He fell, flurry to bullets, and Max took time to reload as we headed up the steps.

"Ah!" Grace twisted her ankle going up the steps, and Zoe stayed back to help her.

"You two go ahead," said Zoe grimly. I turned back, but she said, "Hurry!"

I followed Max up the stairs and outside, where he was finishing up battling a guard who was dying slowly, leaking with bullet holes and blood. We got on board the elevator and the grilles closed and it began to descend.

"I hope Grace's OK," I said, regretting that I had not lent Zoe the M9. I went to call her on my codec, but Stillman suddenly buzzed in.

"The bomb in Strut H is about to go off. I can't get away in time - "

"Clara," I managed. Max looked alert.

"Pliskin, get away from Strut H as fast as you can! You two, defuse the bomb, you've - AAAAARRGGHHH!"

There was a great explosion and static and the line went dead. Face throbbing with blood and pain, I turned to Max.

"Is she OK?" he asked, hoarsely. I became aware that there was only 50 seconds left.

The elevator arrived and we ran out into the deserted loading bay, past the forklift, through the adjacent corridor which led into the submarine dock.

"Where's the bomb?"

I raced past him down the steps, around the pool and retrieved the coolant spray. The sub was raised above the pool, but there no bomb anywhere on it.

"What the fuck!?" I screamed, noticing only 20 seconds left. "It's not here!"

"Where the fuck is it, then?" shouted Max, glancing around. He had only the briefest recollection.

"I-I don't know," I said. The Sensor B was beeping madly, but I couldn't see it anywhere.

"FUCK!" yelled Max, realising that the Sensor beeped more closer to a pile of shelves.

We tore through the boxes, but no bomb could be found. 11… 10…

"There!" he cried, pointing behind and above my shoulder.

I whipped around and saw the bomb high on the wall, hidden by an inch alcove. 6… 5…

I sprayed and waited, not helped by Max's repeated "HURRY UP!"

3… 2… done! It was frozen solid.

I felt a great weight lift from my shoulders and sagged in relief. Max was breathing heavily, staring at me murderously. "Why wasn't it on the sub? We almost died!"

"We have to get back to Strut A and find Grace and Zoe," I breathed.

We headed back up the stairs and into the corridor, but at the last second I held Max back.

"Do you remember?" I asked him. "Who's going to be waiting for us?"

He nodded slowly, reloading his pistol. "Fuck."

We ventured forth into the loading bay, where we were not surprised to see the elevator arrive. Hurriedly, we took cover behind differing stacks of crates as we heard footsteps and the electromagnetic ceasing of her railgun.

"I'm surprised you two are alive. I thought we got the rest of your group," said Fortune.

Max aimed out and fired several shots at her, but they all deflected harmlessly away into the walls. He returned behind cover. "Shit!" he hissed. "How are we going to kill her?"

He reached for his grenade as Fortune continued, "The ginger ninja got away. But the little girl we kept for ourselves…"

I glanced at Max, aghast. "They have Grace!"

"Now, won't you give me some happiness?" we heard the screech of her gun readying a charge, and both peeked out, guns raised. The bullet came fast and shuddered into my cover, knocking me aside like a puppet and slamming me into the wall opposite.

"Adam!" shouted Max, with a great shout tossing the grenade over towards Fortune. It failed to explode.

"You can't hurt me any more than I already have been!" cried Fortune, gathering another charge. Max ducked low, but the second bullet blasted a hanging light above him and fell upon him, securing him in place. "SHIIIIT!" he screeched.

He glanced over at my unconscious body, trying to wriggle himself free when he heard the elevator arrive and the metal grilles clang open.

"Queen." came the deep voice of Vamp. "Fatman's gone completely out of control."

With great effort and gritted teeth, Max pulled himself free.

"I'll deal with him, then," said Fortune. "You take care of - "

"Die, bitch!" cried Max, rounding the corner and firing several SOCOM shots of ammo.

Vamp disappeared in a blur just as Fortune faced Max, the bullets veering harmlessly off. She began to step back into the elevator.

Max retreated behind the crate to see Vamp slugging my unconscious body over his shoulder, turning to him with a cruel smirk.

"AAAARGHHH!" Max fired several shots again, but Vamp spun to avoid them, smacking Max with a backhand blow and sending him tumbling into the fallen girders. In great pain, Max heard as the elevator grilles closed and the elevator ascended. When he had collected himself, he turned the corner and saw that all three of them - Vamp, Fortune & Adam - had gone.

"Clara!" he cried, but the codec wouldn't respond. "Stillman! Pliskin! Fuck!"

He tried Grace, then Adam to no avail, then Zoe - miraculously connecting.

"Oi!" he shouted. "Where the fuck have you been?"

She let out a huge exhale. "Hiding from the enemy, no thanks to you!"

"What's - " Max glanced down at the Sensor B in his pocket, which flashed 'STRUT E HELIPORT - 400 seconds'. "Shit! Fatman's activated another bomb. Where are you?"

"I'm in Strut A, but I'm safe - "

"Fortune and Vamp beat us," he said bitterly. "They took Adam and got away."

---

Fatman

Max disconnected and called the elevator. While he waited, he noticed my fallen M9 and holstered it to his side. He checked and re-checked his remaining SOCOM ammo, then boarded the elevator when it arrived. He had 301 seconds left.

"Where are you?" asked Max, cautiously looking around while he communicated on his codec.

"Here," said Zoe's voice, startling him. He lowered his SOCOM.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked, agape at the long sword she wielded.

"It's a long story," she sighed. "You said they took Adam?"

"Where's Grace?" Max glanced around. "Yeah. Vamp got him."

"She's hidden in a locker down in Strut A. Did you say there was a bomb?"

Max checked - 250 seconds. "Shit! We've got to head to the heliport on Strut E."

"OK," Zoe headed past him. "I'll grab Grace and catch up."

"Where did you get that sword - "

Max's mine detector beeped furiously and Zoe held him back with the edge of his sword.

"What?" asked he gruffly.

"You're vibrating," she noted. "There's a bomb near here."

They both crawled prone and spotted the device, hidden just out of sight. Carefully, Zoe crept like a spider and disabled it, passing the inactive Claymore to Max, who pocketed it.

They continued into Strut A - "where is she?" - "down here."

Together they descended the stairs, Max looking carefully on the left and seeing a blade-mangled corpse, while Zoe went right and opened a locker. Grace emerged, stretching and shivering.

"You took your time," she pointed out.

"Come on," urged Max. "There's a bomb we've got to defuse."

The three of them hurried past the central hub, where the time was now 200 seconds. Exiting onto the FA connecting bridge, Max caught sight of a Cypher hovering nearby and aimed his weapon. Two shots, and the UAV was spinning like a top and promptly exploded.

"What was that noise?" asked a guard, prompted by the explosion and coming upstairs.

Without hesitation, Zoe raced forward, past Max and leapt at the soldier with her sword on high. The blade went through his shoulder, across his chest and severed him in half, promptly ending his sentence.

"Where'd you get it?" he stared at her with amazement.

She shook her head grimly. "No time. Come on!"

They rushed across the bridge into Strut F, the warehouse. Grace was still tagging behind, her ankle sore.

"Isn't there some place I can hide?" she moaned. "I need a Ration!"

Max raised his pistol to the soldier who rounded the corner, in comparison to the one on the other side of the room. Several times he fired, enough to down them both, spinning with bullet holes to their deaths. He marched across to an empty room which held several clips of M9 ammo.

"Hide in there," he pointed to a stack of crates in the far end of the room, tossing her the M9 as an afterthought. He beckoned Zoe. "Hurry!"

They left Grace behind, not without a considerable concern for her on Zoe's behalf as they raced across the upper floor, avoiding the sight of guards on the bottom level and exiting out onto the EF connecting bridge. 150 seconds.

Max made to move forward but Zoe held him back, ducking behind cover. "There's a soldier on the stairs!"

True to form, up where the Strut E helipad looked out onto the EF connecting bridge, stationed a guard using a pair of binoculars to scope his surroundings. Max eased out, closed one eye and took aim - firing several times and scoring a headshot by a fluke. The guard spun and tripped down the stairs.

"Nice shot," Zoe conceded. Together they crossed the length of the bridge.

Into Strut E with 90 seconds to go. Zoe snuck by, motioning Max forward until he was close enough to down the soldiers with his gun. He reloaded and they moved upstairs, onto the heliport.

70 seconds left. They crossed the walkway, stepped over the corpse and ascended the staircase, cautious as they advanced on the heliport packed with crates.

"Where's the Harrier?" asked Zoe, aghast. She looked to the sky.

"Come on," Max urged, running to where the H on the ground held a bomb atop it.

He retrieved his coolant spray while Zoe looked around anxiously, spotting no soldiers nor trace of anybody nearby. With 20 seconds to spare, the bomb froze and both jumped upright, startled as they heard the screech of rollerskates and high, mocking laughter from someplace unknown.

"Fatman," spat Max, SOCOM drawn and glancing around uneasily. Zoe readied her grip on her sword.

The sound of skates came closer and suddenly Fatman came into sight, wearing an olive drab blast suit and holding a semi-automatic Glock pistol at his side.

"Life is short," he mused, taking a sip of his wine.

"You bombed the Big Shell," said Zoe. Her sword was at the ready.

"Ah, that was easy. Getting Stillman was the icing on the cake!"

They noticed a Glock at his side and Max took aim, trying to land a precise shot despite the bulletproof vest which nearly hit Fatman's exposed head -

"Hah!" with great theatrics Fatman sped away, smashing the wine glass in his haste. Both Max and Zoe glanced around and froze when they heard the ticking of a bomb.

"Oh ho ho," he uttered, as Max ducked beneath a crate and saw the faint green blinking light. "You'll have to be fast on your feet to catch me! If there's one thing I don't fear, it's the ticking of a bomb!"

They heard skates whizz around them like a murderer in plain sight and Max chucked Zoe the coolant spray. "You get the bomb. I'm gonna kill this fucker," said he.

Zoe nodded. A gun was better than a sword in this case.

She hurried forth to the crate Max pointed to, while he rounded the corner and barely survived the onslaught of bullets from Fatman's Glock, laughing uproariously as he skated away.

"Fuck!" shouted Max, firing a few blank shots for good measure. "Fuckin' Fatman!"

Zoe crept underneath the crate, aimed the coolant and sprayed on the bomb secured underneath. It was frozen in a matter of seconds, but as she heard the grate of skates coming close, she reached for her sword as she stood up and swung madly at the obese behemoth who skid into view.

Her sword was deflected by the hardy vest Fatman wore, stumbling her off-balance; but as Fatman raised his Glock with a menacing sneer of triumph, several bullet holes penetrated his vest and he tripped over, Glock clattering out of his reach.

Wasting no time, Zoe raised her sword and plunged it into Fatman's neck, missing an artery or two in her haste and panic. Max walked over, reloaded his pistol to the barely breathing behemoth and fired another few rounds for good measure. The dust cleared and they both panted, collecting themselves as Fatman lay inert on the ground.

"He-he-he…" Fatman didn't even try to get up, though Max had his pistol poised. "You'll never get out of here alive."

And with that, Fatman died.

Suddenly, their blood pressure rose to a startling new high as they heard not one, not two, but several beeping coming from all over the helipad. Max pulled out the Sensor B from his pocket and saw with a sheen of sweat on his forehead that it read: 3 bombs. 28 seconds left.

"FUCK!" he roared, snatching the coolant spray from Zoe who had been on the periphery of using it herself. "Find the bombs!"

Empty-handed, Zoe could do naught but storm past Max and search while he held the coolant, more useful than she. Max alternated between swearing and pounding in fury, finding one atop a metal shelf of aircraft tools and spraying it immediately. It froze, and he had 18 seconds left.

"Found one! Over here," gestured Zoe, who had sweat under her arms from the panic. She had never been so scared in her life.

Max tripped in his haste and chucked her the coolant, though it was an awkward miss and she clambered it awkwardly up into her outstretched hands. Max spat out a vulgar narrative which she returned with equal fury as she clasped her sweaty hands around the coolant trigger and sprayed the second bomb, positioned atop one of the crates, blinking dully as it froze completely.

"Where's the other one?" Max shouted. His face had gone even more pasty white than usual, his bark was an order and he was heaving, unaccustomed to exerting such physical labour.

"Get off your ass and start looking!" Zoe shouted, peering over top and underneath crates.

They could hear the beeping but were no closer to finding it. 9… 8… 7…

"FUCK!" roared Max. He saw the corpse of Fatman, that taunting fat bastard, and raised his pistol to fire a few rounds into the fucker when he froze on instinct and remembered with sudden clarity why precisely not to do that.

"THE BOMB!" Max screeched, in a tenor so high Zoe almost couldn't hear him. She ran over, coolant in hand. "IT'S UNDER FATMAN!"

Together they heaved Fatman's corpse over onto his side and saw the blinking light of the final bomb, icicles already in place as Zoe's finger jammed in pain as she held the trigger like it was her exit from this fantasy-simulation crazy land. When the bomb stopped blinking and the silence was as peaceful as the breeze blowing, seagulls cawing and waves sighing below, they released Fatman's corpse, aching and tired and blissfully grateful for life, panting heavily and prone upon the cold metal of the heliport.

"Fuck me," breathed Max, spirits lifted by the cloudless blue sky in his vision, peaked by the sharp angles of the sun.

"No thanks," retorted Zoe acidly. Together they began to laugh, in crazed unison, then slowly stood, stretching their muscles.

---

Subterfuge

Having defeated Fatman, Max tried Pliskin and Clara again on the codec.

"No answer?" asked Zoe.

Max grimly shook his head. He glanced to the Shell 2 portion of the Big Shell, just visible in the distance. He couldn't see much, wondering how much damage the bomb had caused…

"They'll be OK," he said, more to reassure himself. He turned to Zoe. "How do we get there?"

"How would I know?" she scoffed. "It's you who plays this game, not me."

"What are you doing?" asked Max, as Zoe reached for her codec. "You think I'm lying?"

"I'm calling Grace," she spat back, and Max felt a wave of guilt he refused to show on his face. "In case you've forgotten, she's more than just a pawn for battle."

"H-hello?" answered the tinny voice of Grace.

"Are you OK? Where are you?" Zoe replied immediately, concerned. Max watched with amusement, though inwardly he hoped she wasn't too badly hurt, or anything.

"I'm still here," Grace sounded like she had ran a marathon, too. "I'm tired and hungry… when are you guys coming back?"

It was as though Grace knew nothing of the strategic rigors required by those who actually wielded weapons. Unlike the rest of them, Grace had been brought along as a fifth cog, not combat trained and certainly not willing. Zoe, however, felt a moral imperative to keep her safe, especially since Adam had been taken and Clara's fate was unknown.

"We're coming to get you now," Zoe assured her, but Max rolled his eyes. In his opinion, Grace was a wet blanket that slowed them down and hurt the ears. "Stay there."

"OK," she promised, and disconnected.

Zoe felt a pit of worry in her stomach and turned to Max. "Let's hurry. The sooner she's safe, the sooner we can start looking for Clara and Adam - "

Max raised his SOCOM as a blur jumped in front of them, landing precisely in a white exoskeleton armor, gripping a sword with a visor helmet shielding its identity.

"What the fuck?" Zoe readied her sword, while Max tried to remain calm.

The ninja stood slowly, but Max edged forward. "Drop it! Drop the sword!"

"I am neither enemy nor friend," advised the ninja, in hollow monotones.

"What do you want?" demanded Max.

"I will assist you in finding your friends," replied the ninja.

"Why?" asked Zoe. "What's in it for you?"

The ninja glanced over its shoulder, as though anticipating an audience, but just then Zoe ran forward with her sword raised on high. Taken aback, Max watched as the ninja easily blocked Zoe sword thrust, rendering her off-balance and with equal measure knocked her off her feet where she fell with a groan. Her sword clattered uselessly out of reach.

The ninja disappeared from view as Max fired several shots in retaliation, knocking him flat on his face with the blunt edge of its sword and clattering the SOCOM away to a safe distance.

Groaning, Max clutched his bloodied nose as Zoe's whole body ached with pain.

"I am not here to kill you," the ninja walked around their inert bodies. "If I wanted that, you would be dead already."

Grudgingly, this was a truth neither of them could elude.

"You attacked us," spat Max.

There was a second set of footsteps and Grace ran forth, past Max to where Zoe lay prone.

"You guys!" moaned Grace in dismay. "What are you doing? The ninja saved me!"

When Max and Zoe had collected themselves, she angrily rounded on the ninja.

"I don't get it," said Zoe. "Why are you helping us?"

"I would see to it that the terrorists are stopped," the ninja detached a small device from its hip and tossed it to Grace. "That is stealth camouflage. It can only be activated when the user is not holding a weapon."

With dismay, Max realised he would never get to use it, as Grace eagerly clipped it onto her belt.

"Nobody will be able to see you while you have it activated," the ninja assured her.

"Where's our friends?" demanded Max.

"Adam is being held hostage in B1 of the Shell 1 core," said the ninja. Everyone perked up. "It is heavily guarded, with an elevator which only grants access to the enemy personnel."

"How do we get in, then?" Zoe gestured to the stealth camo on Grace's belt. "Sneak in?"

The ninja removed a folded BDU uniform, golden camo with balaclava included. "One of you will need to be disguised as an enemy soldier to gain access to your friend and rescue him."

The ninja handed out level-2 PAN cards to each of them. "These will grant you access into the Shell 1 core, and selected rooms in the Strut F warehouse. You will need to search for an AK assault rifle to complete your outfit."

"So whoever dresses up in disguise won't be able to use the stealth camo?" asked Max with some envy. "That sucks."

The ninja nodded. "After you have rescued your friend, you will need to collect level-3 PAN cards, found in the B2 computer room. These will allow you to take the bridge over to Shell 2, where you can find your other friend."

"OK," Zoe pocketed the PAN card, looking awkwardly to Max who accepted the BDU on their behalf. "You're going to dress up?"

"I'm not staying here," said Max, beginning to undress already. Grace giggled while Zoe rolled her eyes, folded arms and defiant stance.

"So if you're helping us to find our friends, why don't you come with us and help? Sounds like you've got it all worked out," said Zoe to the ninja.

"I cannot assist you if I am captured. Best I remain in the shadows and advise as I see fit. I have my own agenda, as you have yours."

"And how do you profit from it?" Zoe arched an eyebrow at the powerful exoskeleton, the swordsmanship skills she wished she had. "I don't trust you."

"That may be," replied the ninja coolly. "But you have no further leads to go on."

"How can we contact you?" asked Grace, as the ninja turned to leave.

"I cannot risk being monitored," said the ninja. "From this point on, you are by yourselves."

The ninja disappeared before they could say anything further.

"What do you think?" asked Zoe, suspicious.

Max had changed into his BDU, pulling the balaclava over his head. "I want that AK the ninja was talking about. Let's go to the warehouse."

Zoe grudgingly admitted that with no further leads, they now had a path to follow.

"Are you OK?" Zoe asked Grace, as they ran to keep up with Max.

"Yeah," mumbled Grace, blowing her fringe out of her face. "You guys took your time! I was stuck in there for ages, then the ninja came and told me you guys had sent me."

"And you believed him?" asked Zoe, with open scorn.

"Well, yeah," admitted Grace, as Max tut-tutted derisively. Her face flamed. "At least I have the stealth camouflage!"

They descended the staircase and headed back into Strut E. After a careful check, they saw the still-dead corpses of those they had killed.

"Our work," Zoe assured her.

Grace nodded. "At first I thought the ninja was you, Zoe!"

They emerged onto the EF connecting bridge, which veered in a T towards the Shell 1 core.

"That's where the ninja said we need to go," pointed Grace. "When he led me across here."

"He?" asked Zoe.

"I can't tell if it's a boy or girl," replied Grace morosely. "I didn't see its face."

"Which one of yous is coming with me?" asked Max. He looked just like an enemy soldier, but more pudgy, slower and without the assault rifle. "That ninja said there's no way we can infiltrate without a uniform. So one of you needs to stay here, and the other with the stealth camouflage."

"It's not going to be me!" squeaked Grace.

"It has to be," said Zoe patiently. As much as she hated to admit it, she'd keep the sword over the stealth camo. "I can't go."

"B-but I can't fight!"

"You won't have to, as long as you've got the stealth camo equipped. Nobody can see you."

For good measure, Zoe pressed the button on Grace's device. Immediately she disappeared and Zoe was startled when Grace's voice came sharp, right next to her ear,

"Can you see me?"

Max rolled his eyes so deeply they almost didn't surface. "Congrats for you, Grace. You win an award."

"Shut up," retorted her voice, out of seemingly thin air. Her footsteps were still audible as she moved closer to Zoe.

"We need to get moving," said Zoe. "Let's find the AK and talk once we're done."

They entered Strut F, with Max raising his SOCOM and Zoe readying her sword. Grace coughed nervously, pacing back and forth with her footsteps measurable.

"Stay close," whispered Max. "The guards'll know I'm a phony without my rifle."

They moved down the hallway, careful to check every nook and cranny.

"Go ahead, Grace," Max advised his right, but Grace was still behind him. "Check how many guards are there."

Reluctantly, Grace walked around the corner. She could see nothing of her own body, as though she was a ghost. Turning into the hallway she saw a railing around the center pit and several crates stacked atop one another.

"Who's there?" asked the guard,

Frozen, Grace clapped a hand over her mouth. The guard who came into sight peered into the distance, right through Grace, who let out a screech and cry and ran back down the hallway.

"Grace!" hissed Zoe, as the guard marched forward, ever suspicious. She leapt forward and slashed the incoming guard through the shoulder and down to his chest, where he twisted in agony, blood splattering the walls and emitting a cry of pain that echoed in the space.

"What?" came two voices at once, from different ends.

Max turned and readied his SOCOM for the footsteps coming from the stairs, while Zoe hid behind the corner and waited, sword ready while Grace stood shaking and in fear.

"Tell me when he comes! Quick!" Zoe hurried her along and Grace bustled into the hallway, still concerned she might be caught.

Together they tensed as Max let loose a round of bullets at the soldier who came from the staircase, flailing with abandon and tripping himself down the stairs to his doom. The second guard who came upon the sight of his mangled comrade with blood on the walls raised a hue and cry and tore back around the corner in his haste to radio for help.

"He's calling for backup!" hissed Grace, as Max launched from his position with his SOCOM raised.

"We have a casualty," came the Russian accent of the enemy soldier, eyes widening as -

BANG! Max fired a round into the guard's leg and he stumbled, dropping his radio.

BANG! BANG! BANG! The subsequent shots were enough to end the soldier's life as he crumpled uselessly, grasping for his radio but death rattled him and he was no more.

Breathing heavily, Grace's footsteps joined those of Zoe, whose blade was bloodied.

"Did he - "

"What's going on?" cried HQ, static blaring from the dead man's radio. "Respond!"

"Shit," Zoe paled. "They're going to send backup - "

"Quick! Help me chuck him over the edge," urged Max, as the three of them combined dragged the limp figure across the floor and over the railing, where he landed with a thud.

"We're sending reinforcements," advised HQ.

"There's not enough time," said Zoe, glancing to where the blood on the walls depicted the death of the other soldier, torn in two by her sword. "We've got to hide!"

They heard the automatic door from which they had entered open and several footsteps come close. With a shriek, Grace ran past them and Zoe hissed, "We can't see you! Stay with us!"

They picked a door at random and blessedly, their newly acquired level-2 cards opened the door. The room held one locker and an opening to a vent at the other end, but most astounding was a crate which had written on it 'M4'.

"Sweet!" said Max, marching forward but Zoe held him back with a fury. "Wait!"

On either side of the room, separating their entrance from the weapon were identical black boards facing each other with tiny electronic lights. Nearby were bombs, strapped with duct tape to the walls. Max paused in horror, realising what he had almost done.

"Shit," he backed away as though the site were sacred.

Zoe retrieved the coolant and sprayed, but to no effect. "What the fuck are these things?"

"What's going on?" asked Grace's disembodied voice from across the room.

A mixture of fear and angry drenched them in heat and sweat.

"Grace!" gasped Zoe. "What - "

"What?" she cursed back.

"How did you get through the lasers?" asked Max.

"What lasers?" asked Grace, reappearing into focus as she turned off her stealth camo.

They all heard footsteps and turned to the door.

"Shit! They must be doing a clearing!" said Max.

Zoe glanced at the grate. "Grace, hide in there! Toss me your stealth camo and Max, you hide in the locker."

"But you're armed - " argued Max, as Zoe abandoned her sword on the ground.

Grace wedged herself into the vent, skidding the stealth camo underneath the invisible beams where Zoe caught it. She had just attached it to her belt and activated it, when Max shut himself inside the locker and the automatic door opened.

Zoe almost literally flattened herself against the wall as two Kevlar-vested soldiers marched in, shotguns raised and eyes peeking from the balaclava eye slits roving everywhere. They didn't come further past the lasers.

"Clear," reported one, peeking down to the vent but unable to see inside. "Damn lasers. Watch it, they're hooked up to explosives. Check that locker."

The first soldier lay prone to catch a peek inside the vent, rifle readied; while the second reached for the handle of the locker door. At once, Zoe reached for her abandoned sword, realized her arms became visible as soon as she picked up the hilt, and plunged it straight into the skull of the prone soldier.

He yelled in pain as the second guard whipped around, but at the same time Max burst out of the locker and tackled him to the ground. Locked in a scuffle, Max got in a few punches and rendered him unconscious. Breathing heavily, they collapsed against the floor as the automatic door slid open and in stepped two riot soldiers, aghast at the scene of destruction.

Zoe swung her sword in a soaring arc and promptly dismembered both pairs of feet, dispatching them easily as they writhed to the floor. Dripping with sweat, both Max and Zoe were fatigued from the recent assaults of late.

"Fuck this," said Max, glancing down at the four bloodied corpses. "I need a rest."

Grace squeezed out of the vent and noticed a panel on top of the locker. "Hey. Maybe that's the control unit?"

Max followed her gaze and fired a shot where she pointed. The lasers flashed once, whirred and disengaged from duty.

"Nice work," breathed Zoe.

"Hand me that M4," advised Max.

Grace walked over and handed him the case. He opened it and gripped the rifle's stock, checking the full magazine of ammo, collecting more scattered about the room.

"You need an AK," Grace pointed out.

"Duh," said Max, holstering the SOCOM at his side. "Let's split up and look for it."

Zoe returned the stealth camo to Grace, who immediately equipped it. They separated to check each door they hadn't explored before. There were one or two that denied them access without a level-3 card.

"In here!" cried Zoe.

Max hurried over, followed by Grace's invisible footsteps. Inside were one or two lockers, several stacked crates and Zoe, opening a case labeled 'AK-74u'.

"You're not going to carry two assault rifles," scoffed Zoe, as Max weighed them both.

He offered the M4 to Zoe, but she shook her head. "No thanks. I prefer my sword."

Reluctantly, he set the M4 aside and equipped the AK. He looked just like an enemy soldier.

They set off through Strut F, emerging into the bright sunlight of the EF connecting bridge.

"You ready?" asked Max of Grace, who nodded nervously, before realising she was invisible.

"Sort of," she admitted, turning to Zoe. "You can't come with me?"

Zoe shrugged. "The security's too tight to hide. We can only blend in to infiltrate, or go invisible in your case."

"You'll need a weapon," said Max, reaching for the SOCOM holstered at his side.

"No thanks," Zoe shook her head, gesturing to her sword.

"Don't be stupid," said he. "You can't do jack shit with that if you're out of slash range. Take it."

Zoe conceded, strapping the holster onto her side. "Your AK isn't silenced. If you fire it, they'll be on high alert. You can't go in killing people."

Max nodded, heading for the turn which led off to Shell 1 Core. "Come on, Grace."

"Keep safe, OK?" said Grace, activating her stealth camo.

"You too," replied Zoe, waving to her as she followed Max.

Just before Max entered the core, he whispered, "Grace?"

Silence.

"Grace!"

"What?" she moaned.

"Stay close. I can't defend you if you go walkabouts. Follow my lead."

Together the two walked through the automatic door into a slim hallway, where above their heads a surveillance camera swiveled. This hallway led into a corridor where one guard was patrolling, nodding in greeting to Max.

"Howsit," Max mumbled.

"Long shift," replied the guard in accented Russian. He nodded to the camera. "Best not to be seen talking."

He walked past them and Max continued south, heading towards the locker room. He could hear Grace's footsteps, and hissed, "Quiet! You're like an elephant."

They entered the locker room, where rows of lockers stood closed or locked, with a node at the far end. After collecting some SOCOM ammo they left behind, they continued through the door to the left.

"Where's the elevator?" whispered Grace, as Max rounded the corner.

"You!" shouted a voice.

Max froze. The soldier who had noticed him marched over. "You're new."

"Yeah. Just got posted," said Max, who was by all accounts a pathological liar. "From B1."

The soldier shrugged with unconcern and walked past him. Together, Max and Grace hurried down the corridor, around a corner where they came upon the elevator, with a surveillance camera overhead and a lone soldier, bored and stifling a yawn with his hand.

"Follow me," Max muttered under his breath, walking up to the elevator and pressing the call button.

"Break time already, is it?" asked the soldier. He glanced up to the camera, which had been activated at the call button and blinked red until it went green. The doors slid open accordingly.

"Yeah," said Max, walking inside. He heard the pitter-patter of Grace's feet join him.

"About time for me too, I think," replied the guard, joining him inside.

The atmosphere became uncomfortable as the soldier leaned forward and pressed B1.

"Eleven-hour shift," remarked Max, as if in solidarity with the soldier. "I'm beat."

The soldier nodded his assent. Max found it weird to talk to an AI, especially one who was programmed to shoot him if any discrepancies revealed themselves.

All of a sudden, he heard an intake of breath and the wispy, breathy sneeze erupted over his shoulder. He froze.

"What - " the soldier turned to Max, bemused and glancing around. "Is there - "

Max knocked his rifle into the soldier's nose, breaking it; then pulled him forward and kneed him in the crotch. Groaning and fading quickly, Max sent a punch to his head and knocked him out.

The doors slid open at B1. There was nobody to catch the scene, but Max hammered 'doors close' on the panel nonetheless and they slid shut automatically.

"What do we do?" squeaked Grace anxiously.

"I'll let you out on B2," said Max. "Find the level-3 access cards the ninja was talking about. Then find a safe place and contact me by codec."

"OK," Grace was shaken, but had gained confidence since realising how flexible her invisibility made her infiltration efforts.

The elevator doors opened at B2 and the two of them dragged the unconscious soldier out.

"Walk slowly and try not to make too much noise," said Max, slamming the button for B1.

With a gulp, Grace nodded as the doors slid shut.

Max got out on B1, where a winding hallway led him to an ill-used locker room on his right. He turned the other route and found a soldier patrolling past an automatic door with a retinal scanner at its side.

"Howsit," Max greeted, to a mumbled assent.

Past the retinal scanner was a break room, with a row of lockers and two soldiers relaxing in peace, one reading a dirty magazine and another consuming a bowl of noodles. They both looked up as he entered.

"Sup," Max swaggered in like he owned the place, careful to keep his trigger finger ready. He didn't trust any of these masked terrorists. He browsed the magazine rack and vending machine.

"How many of you guys on break?"

"Just us," replied one, motioning to the other beside him. "And one on guard."

Max nodded as though this were an answer worth philosophical weight, then moved out into the hallway, where the soldier had paused over the retinal scanner.

In one fluid movement, he held one hand over the soldier's head and pressed it into the scanner, the other hand held firmly against the wriggling reluctance that made the job distinctly harder.

"Access granted," intoned the computer-generated voice, and the door slid open.

Max thumped the soldier in the chest, left him unconscious on the ground and entered the inner hub of B1, calling Grace. Three rings, four, five -

"What?" she hissed. "I nearly got caught!"

"Do you have the cards?" whispered Max. He stood atop a miniscule balcony from which a staircase looked down on the full room. Hostages, blindfolded with their arms tied behind their backs, sat side by side with their backs against countless tables pushed into the center of the room. The room was deathly quiet apart from a shuffle or cough, as two soldiers patrolled the large room and radioed in status reports every minute or so.

"Yeah. They were on a table, I took them when nobody was looking."

"Take the elevator to B1. Turn left and there's a room with some lockers. Hide in there until I come back with Adam."

"OK," she agreed reluctantly, disconnecting.

Max glanced over the balustrade. He couldn't distinguish the hostages from here, let alone identify which one was Adam. He made his way down the staircase, searching carefully through the mass of middle-aged men and matronly ladies -

"Some water," gasped one, glancing up at him despite the blindfold, looking not unlike a Silent Hill victim with her dehydrated skin and piteous moan. "Please!"

"You!" came the Russian accent of one of the soldiers. Max glanced up, fear frozen him to the spot as the soldier's grenades clinked on his belt. "You're not supposed to be here."

"I'm here to replace you," Max cleared his throat loudly. "You're to go on your break."

"Whose orders?" asked the guard.

Fuck. Who was this guy's boss?

"Shalashaska. Uh, Ocelot," Max rattled a name from memory, pausing, hoping -

"Ah," nodded the guard in understanding. "Thanks."

Slower than he had been on patrol, the soldier relaxed at ease and stretched his limbs as he crossed the room, headed for the staircase. With a surge of apprehension Max remembered the unconscious body left just outside in the hallway and his heart rate quickened.

"Nothing to report," spoke the remaining soldier into his radio, back turned to Max.

Scanning the row of bound and blindfolded hostages, Max frantically called Grace on her codec.

"What now?" she whispered.

"Where are you?" asked Max, turning his back on the soldier who resumed his patrols. The one relieved of duty was halfway up the stairs. Sweat bunched under his arms in adrenaline.

"I'm in the elevator… I'm arriving at B1 now," came the reply.

"There's a soldier I knocked out at the retinal scanner," urged Max. "Drag him to that room I told you about, and hurry!"

"OK, OK," said Grace, alarmed, and Max disconnected.

Max glanced up to the staircase, seeing only the automatic door as it opened. Judging by the lack of hue and cry that would've followed, he wrote it off as a lucky break and glanced up as a figure on his floor came into view.

"Where's the other soldier?"

Max held cautiously like a mouse caught by a cobra. It was Ocelot.

"He went on his break, sir," reported the guard, glancing Max's way. There were murmurings, then Ocelot began walking towards Max.

He stood firm, eyes roving over the leather trenchcoat and holstered Colt revolver and grey hair which marked him out from a mile. Swaggering like a cowboy, Max lightly held his AK as Ocelot's razor-sharp voice penetrated the quiet,

"Who are you, boy?"

Max's codec began ringing, but he ignored it. Judging from the look on Ocelot's face, he wasn't pleased.

"Take off your balaclava," Ocelot ordered.

Silently but hurriedly, soldiers filed through unseen doors and surrounded Max, AK rifles aimed for action. Max's brain worked overtime: he was screwed. He glanced about for Adam.

"He's not here," said Ocelot, reaching the same conclusion. "He was moved to another facility within the Big Shell."

"What?"

"Don't take me for a fool, boy. I know you're here to rescue your partner. Same with that little girl," he jerked his head up and turned to the upper balcony where, with a great shock, Max saw the guard from earlier, holding Grace at gunpoint with his AK. She cowered, frightened and unarmed.

"Take off your balaclava," ordered Ocelot, as a soldier from behind removed Max's balaclava forcibly. He blinked, vulnerable in the sights of so many rifles. His insides filled with lead and adrenaline: he would kill Ocelot right here and now, even if he died, Zoe - Clara - Adam - Grace -

There was a hue and cry as the ninja launched down from the rafters, barely missing Ocelot's arm by an inch and in a whirl, decapitated several of the soldiers who stood readied with rifles.

Max ducked behind a table as bullets flew in all directions.

"Hurry!" the ninja kicked a small device towards him and Max recognised it as the stealth camo. "Get away!"

Dropping his AK, Max activated the stealth camo and became invisible. He felt very much visible as bullets continued to fly towards the ninja, deflecting them with its sword with ease.

Max ran up the staircase, to where Grace was crouched in a corner, her assailant hacked in half. Zoe stood nearby, bloodied sword in hand.

"How did - "

The ninja reappeared beside them, deflecting the flurry of bullets that would've ended their life.

"Cross the Shell 1-2 connecting bridge," intoned the ninja, muscles and sword a blur as bullets sliced harmlessly in half. "Your friend was moved to the Shell 2 core."

Zoe helped Grace up, while Max emerged into the hallway to find several blood stained corpses unconscious against the walls or in pieces upon the crimson floor.

The door shut behind them and blessedly the bullets and carnage ceased into silence.

"How did you get here?" asked Max, as they hurried to the elevator. Zoe pressed the call button.

"The ninja contacted me, told me you might be in trouble. He snuck me into B1 where we came upon Grace being held up." Zoe said.

"The ninja gave you my stealth camo," said Grace, talking to empty air and understanding how weird it must've been for the others to escort an invisible person around. "To help you escape."

The elevator was fast approaching the Shell 1 floor.

"Give me the SOCOM," demanded Max. He handed Grace the stealth camo, who activated it, and accepted the SOCOM from Zoe, checking the bullets.

"Fuck, they're gonna know we're intruders," said Zoe. Max was in BDU but without his balaclava.

"Get ready to shoot our way out of here," said Max grimly, turning to face the doors.

"Shoot?" asked Grace, an ethereal voice. "You're the only one with a gun!"

The doors slid open to reveal two attack and two riot soldiers, rifles aimed and flashlights blinding in his face. Max hesitated for the merest second, alarmed as bullets flew from an unknown direction and they all stumbled, shot in the back by an unknown source.

Emboldened, Max finished off the remaining few with a full clip of SOCOM rounds before wondering if the ninja was an expert with guns as well.

"Dick," said Clara, walking into sight and reloading her M4. "Where's your AK?"

"You can talk," evaded Max, stepping over the groaning, dying corpses around the elevator. "Where've you been?"

Clara's hair was more flyaway and drained, her face hardened and clothes slightly damp.

"We got trapped when the bomb went off," said Clara. She glanced to Zoe, sweaty hands gripping a sword and jumped when Grace appeared out of nowhere. "What the fuck?"

"The ninja gave me a stealth camouflage, Clara," brightened Grace.

"Ninja? You mean - Mr X? And where's Adam?"

Zoe and Grace shuffled uncomfortably, but Max pressed on.

"Vamp took him - "

"The ninja said he'd be with the hostages," said Zoe, shaking her head. "He's been moved."

"Where?"

"To Shell 2," said Grace, eager to please.

"Right," responded Clara vaguely. She glanced around at the mess she had caused.

"Where's Pliskin?" asked Max.

"He's with Otacon, readying the Kasatka," said Clara, as though she had been on holiday while her friends underwent subterfuge. "If we want to cross the Shell 1-2 connecting bridge, we need a sniper rifle."

"What for?" asked Zoe.

Clara gave her a withering stare. "It's been rigged with explosives. We need a PSG1 to shoot out the control units from afar. But I don't have a level-3 card - "

Grace retrieved the cards from her pocket. Everybody took one each.

"Thanks," said Zoe.

"There should be one in Strut F," advised Clara, checking around the corner before proceeding.

---

The Harrier

"So what was Shell 2 like?" asked Grace, as they exited out onto the EF connecting bridge.

"Wait!" Clara held them all back, for hovering Cyphers were patrolling the area. She took aim, carefully firing at each in turn. They whirred and whizzed and exploded, scrap metal plummeting.

Crossing the bridge, Clara answered, "It was alright. Pliskin found most of the bombs, he's really good - "

"You like him, don't you, Clara?" giggled Grace.

"Yeah," as though this answer was too obvious not to comprehend.

"Did you hook up?" asked Max.

Clara shot him a murderous look. "Is that all you think about? This is not a game, Max!"

"Um, yeah it is," said Max, though his words didn't hold weight. All of them had felt the terror of being held at gunpoint, wavering between life and death, gripping in anxiety clutches when they had nowhere to hide -

"We didn't do anything, because Pliskin's not like that," spat Clara, marching ahead of them all towards Strut F. "Besides, he's not real or anything."

This caused some doubt. At times, they had to remind themselves this wasn't real. Not an inch of their surroundings seemed any less than reality: in fact, it felt like an enduring dream of possibilities never before embarked upon.

The four of them entered Strut F, careful to check both ways. Clara, it seemed, was emulating Pliskin's every move and knew where to search and how, muffling her footsteps by walking slowly and peeking around corners without giving herself away.

"Shit," said Clara, hesitant. Max questioned her uncharacteristic reluctance. "The soldiers are different - they're better equipped."

They made their way further down the corridor. Just ahead they caught sight of one - spherical helmet, Kevlar-vested, M4 carbine. It was an upgraded version of the attack soldier.

"I bet those things prevent easy headshots," said Clara. "Let's keep out of sight."

They made their way into a level-3 locked room, which opened in their presence. Excitedly, Max rushed to a crate labeled 'RBG6' and holstered his SOCOM. From within he collected a grenade launcher.

"Sweeeet!" cried he, as Clara watched the door.

"Don't be a dick," she scolded. "They'll be on us like flies if you fire that thing - "

Max headed for the door, grenade launcher ready -

"No!" cried Zoe and Grace in unison.

"Max!" shouted Clara.

The door slid open and Max caught the eye of the power soldier who stood at the other end of the corridor. Max pulled the trigger before either could react and a grenade hurtled across the room in an arc and promptly exploded into the soldier, tearing him to pieces with a gut-wrenching yell.

"Hostiles in the area," muttered the American accent of the soldier downstairs. "Advise reinforcements immediately."

"You dick!" Clara shoved him so hard that Max rounded on her in fury.

"I'm sick of having to sneak like a rat! I'm killing these fuckers!"

"Fine! See if I care if you die!" Clara hurried off without a backward glance, headed for the only other level-3 locked door. Grace rushed after her, invisible.

"Go," advised Max, readying his stance with legs apart. The RGB6 was prime to fire. "I'll handle this."

Zoe shook her head, taking the SOCOM from his leg and readying it. "I'm not leaving you to die."

Clara had entered the room and spotted the crate marked 'PSG1'. She flipped open the lid and set her M4 aside as she gloried in the sight of the sniper rifle.

"Do you know how to fire that thing?" asked Grace, baffled.

"Course I do," came the pithy reply. Clara slung it around her back, buckling under the unwelcome weight. Carrying her M4, she looked like an overloaded firearms gofer.

Gunfire ran rampant all of a sudden, followed by the sound of explosions and strangled cries.

"We've got to help them!" cried Grace, from some corner of the room.

"And how are you going to help, Grace? You don't know how to fire a gun very well," said Clara. She softened a bit, then tossed her the M4 and took possession of the PSG1.

Grace's stealth camo deactivated when she caught the rifle, uncertainly.

"Don't hit the others," warned Clara, heading out into the fracas.

Max stood in the hallway, firing round after round as the power soldiers were blown to pieces. Evidently they had caught onto Max's no-man's-land strategy; they had begun taking position downstairs and firing at him from below. Zoe's few, scattered SOCOM shots were meaningless thuds in the Kevlar they wore.

She took position behind a number of crates, staring down the scope and firing a headshot on a power soldier from below, shattering his helmet and oozing brain matter into the helmet of another. Grace let off a burst fire that missed its target by a mile, while Max, having curbed the tide of reinforcements from the upper level, began a vicious assault on those downwind and caused them to scatter, barely avoiding the carnage of blood and body pieces and the stench of death.

Max had a gunshot wound in his arm, which Grace healed with a Ration, but other than that they were remarkably unhurt.

"You got the PSG1 I see," remarked Max, grimacing as the wound began to knit itself.

Zoe handed Max back his SOCOM, who mildly conceded that it might be best to take them down silently than succumb them all to a painful end. Clara collected her M4 from Grace, who reactivated her stealth camo with much relief and the four of them headed out onto the EF bridge.

"Did the ninja say where in Shell 2 Adam was moved to?" asked Clara.

"The core," said Zoe and Grace.

"Yeah, but where?" asked Clara, to their confused expressions. "There's, like, another level below it."

Nobody had any answers to that. They continued through Strut E, dispatching the soldiers with relative ease and crossed the DE connecting bridge into Strut D, where due north was the bridge Clara had crossed with Pliskin to defuse the bombs Fatman had placed in Shell 2.

"There's no way we can sneak past them," said Zoe, as they hid behind a balustrade and watched the dome-helmeted power soldiers patrol nearby. "We'll get shot faster than lightning strikes."

"I count three," said Clara. "If we take them out before they call for reinforcements, we can run to the bridge for safety."

"I have an idea," said Zoe. "Grace, pass me your stealth camo."

Cloaked invisible to the naked eye, the others watched Zoe as she walked down a set of steps and crossed to the center, where a power guard was glancing over the edge. With one quick push, she shoved him over the rail and to his death, where he splashed as he hit the water.

"Nice work!" whispered Grace. None of them had known where to look at first.

One of the lower guards heard the splash and began heading upstairs to check what had happened. Zoe waited for him, too, shoving him across the edge but stumbling a bit as she did so, and to the others' view they sprang into action.

Clara raised her M4 and fired a volley into the power solder beside Zoe, all bullets thudding harmlessly on the Kevlar save for one or two which penetrated his helmet and rendered him mute.

Picking up on the sound of gunfire, Max ran forth with his RGB6, taking aim from an angle to launch a grenade at the remaining guard. The explosion rocked the strut and sent the guard flying across the edge, mutilated body sinking into the water.

"That was close," said Zoe, when she had rejoined them and returned Grace's stealth camo.

They made their way to the level-3 door which sprang open in their presence and together they emerged into bright sunlight, illuminating the Shell 1-2 connecting bridge.

Bombs blinked faintly, wired with cables running to their respective control units. Shell 2 was in the distance.

"Wasn't the bridge wired when you first crossed?" asked Max.

"Obviously not," scoffed Clara. "But I don't know where all the control thingys are to shoot them."

One or two they could spot from their perch, easy to dispatch with a SOCOM shot, but another required the PSG1 and Clara lay prone, taking her time to aim carefully, scolding her impatient brother for rushing her and wasting nearly a clip in ammo before finally shooting it out.

"Fuck!" after a half hour of searching for the last one. "Where is it?" yelled Max.

"Hey, Grace," said Zoe, coming upon an idea. "Doesn't your stealth camo render you invisible to lasers?"

"Yeah…" Max came to the same conclusion. "Give it to me!"

"No. She can do it," Zoe turned to Grace. "Once you're through the lasers, you can disable the camo. Give us a heads up if you find it."

"OK," nodded Grace, disappearing into thin air.

The three of them watched the bridge, absolutely nothing happening until Grace reemerged a minute later.

"I can't see it…" said she, returning from downstairs.

"What the fuck?" Max turned to Clara. "Call Pliskin, maybe he knows."

Clara was on the cusp of doing that, when Grace gave a cry, pointing behind them to where they had emerged from Strut D. Expecting an enemy, they turned with their weapons raised but quickly found the problem: the final control units was above their heads, taped to the wall.

"Oh my god," slumped Clara, drained of energy. "You do it. I'm sick of this."

Max raised his pistol and fired once into the control unit. It fizzled and cut out. Back on the bridge, Grace watched as the laser beams flashed once and whirred, deactivated.

"It's safe!" called Grace, ushering them all forward. "You can come through!"

Cautiously still, they were tense until they had all passed the sensors. Looking out upon the open sea, Clara breathed in sea air while Zoe dabbed her perspiration neck and Max reloaded his RGB6.

"Um, Clara," asked Grace uncertainly. "Why is that man watching us?"

They all turned, equal parts alarm and confusion. Standing in the entrance to Strut G, draped in a black cloak was a man half of them recognised. Clara and Max readied their trigger fingers.

"King," said Max.

The man stepped forward, revealing powerfully built biceps bulging from underneath his cloak. His hair was white-blonde and remarkably, looked like Pliskin with similar features.

"I've been waiting for you," said he. "You've been causing quite a stir within the ranks."

"Where's Adam?" demanded Zoe.

"Your little friend? It's been tough keeping track of all of you - inside help, I assume. No matter. I have you all right where I want you."

"Give it up, King," said Max, grimly satisfied, RGB6 at the ready. "You're outnumbered."

The man glanced past to where Zoe had readied her sword and Grace stood prone, uncertain.

"I daresay you're a match for my men," said King, removing his cloak with a flourish as the breeze lifted it into sunshine. The biceps previously alluded to were due to his power suit, a sheen of metal wrapping itself around his body. He looked unstoppable. "But you've yet to face me!"

"Get down!" cried a familiar, airborne voice.

The whirr of helicopter blades flew overhead as everyone took cover save for Max, as gunfire from atop the Kasatka trailed its way up the bridge and towards King -

An explosion knocked Max back, dropping the RGB6 where it skidded off the bridge and plummeted below; his yell of fury and pain was unmatched by the searing heat that followed, a trail of fire where King had once stood, glancing up at the circling Kasatka.

From where Zoe and Grace stayed crouched, Clara peered over the balustrade to where Max lay injured, noticing King with his back turned and aimed her M4 -

She ducked again as a supersonic whirr caused her ears to burst and she clutched them in pain. M4 clattering to the ground, Grace picked it up for her on instinct but deactivated her camo as a result. Getting to her feet, helped by Grace and Zoe, she glanced skyward to where the Kasatka hovered, with Pliskin inside.

"Clara!" he yelled, and she stepped forward to catch the crate he threw her. It landed on the bridge with a thud and she opened it to find the Stinger missile launcher.

"You need to take out the Harrier," said he, as Grace fed Max a Ration. "That thing'll take us down if you don't! I'm counting on you!"

Emboldened, Clara nodded as Max saw what was happening and eagerly snatched the weapon from her hands.

"What - "

"I'm getting that fucker," Max was puce with rage. He was limping slightly and blood was running down one cheek. "Stay out of my way!"

"Be careful!" Grace called to the Kasatka. Clara turned to her murderously.

Pliskin tossed down a box of Stinger ammo. "Here it comes! Get ready!"

"Are you kidding?" gaped Zoe, as the Harrier became visible in the distance. "That thing has rockets and gunfire - we're on a bridge, for fuck's sake!"

"Shut up, all of you!" Max clenched his teeth as the Stinger locked on to the Harrier. "DIE, YOU FUCKER!" he roared.

With a pull of the trigger the missile launched and locked onto the jet, which whizzed by so suddenly the force pushed them back a step. It missed, however, and Max loaded his next rocket.

"Grace!" Zoe shouted over the din, leading her back to safety up the Strut D steps -

Gunfire missed them by inches, followed by a rocket - Zoe and Grace were blasted back into the railing, where they were both promptly knocked unconscious.

"Shit!" yelled Clara. She aimed her M4, but there was no way she could hit something as fast as the Harrier. Even her PSG1 wouldn't aid her.

"Fire!" urged Pliskin, tossing another box of rockets as Max fired again. The missile grazed the Harrier's wing, returned in kind by an onslaught of bullets which impaled Max through the gut. He sank, grievously injured to the ground.

"Shit, shit, shit!" shouted Clara.

Pliskin tossed her a Bandage, which she used to bring her brother back from the brink of death. Rifling through Grace's pockets, she found no Rations and ducked as a missile from the Harrier whistled harmlessly nearby, causing the hairs on her neck to stand up in fright.

"You've got to take the Stinger!" shouted Pliskin. "Now, Clara!"

She removed the Stinger from her brother's shaking hands, who was mumbling incomprehensible words in his pain as the blood flow staunched but the wounds remained. Face flaming with fury, the Harrier rounded a bend and nosedived at her, she fired a missile and felt satisfaction as it hit the jet head on, veering it off course and plummeting down out of sight.

"Got it!" cried Clara, glancing over the balcony.

What she saw made her step back in horror. Having completed the game before, she should've expected it.

Emerging from beneath the water was Metal Gear, gigantic and powerful as it opened its jaws and clamped the ruined Harrier in its mouth. It felt like an eternity but lasted only a few seconds, as Clara's shock wore off and Metal Gear disappeared once again underneath the surface.

The air was still as Clara dropped the Stinger and rushed to help Max, who had been tossed a Ration by Pliskin. She helped him eat it, brain working overtime as he spluttered back to coherence.

"W-what the fuck happened?" Max spat blood and tried to get up with a groan.

"Metal Gear," stated Clara, in her clipped tones to reserve emotion. "We got the Harrier, but we didn't kill King."

"We've got to go back for repairs, Snake!" urged Otacon.

Max's neck cricked as he glanced up, while Clara was surprised all the same.

Pliskin muttered something indistinct to his pilot, then turned to Clara.

"We'll be back to save the hostages," said he.

"When?" asked Clara, but the Kasatka flew away. She was morose and sullen, but her indifference quickly took over. "Fine, then. Don't need you anyway."

She stepped over Max, who tried feebly to stand and shook Zoe and Grace awake with the merest of effort.

"Come on, get up!" Clara demanded. "We don't have all day."

Recovering, everyone got to their feet and checked their injuries. Nothing serious, but a little beat up.

"What happened?" asked Grace.

Clara rolled her eyes. "The Harrier's destroyed, but we've yet to kill King."

"Where's Pliskin?" asked Zoe.

"It's Snake now," advised Clara. "He's gone to rescue the hostages, by himself."

---

VAMP

They managed to climb over the rubble the Harrier had destroyed from the bridge, uneasy and precarious as their journey was. Strut G was ruined, with no visible point of access anymore, so together they sidled along a railing which wound around the strut, in parts broken and aflame.

They steadily made their way to the bridge which connected to Shell 2, but several Gun Cyphers were lurking. A few shots from Clara's M4 and they were history.

They climbed onto the KL connecting bridge, which veered at a fork into the Shell 2 core. The area was deserted but for the smouldering remains of the downed Gun Cyphers.

"Have you been in here?" asked Zoe, as they approached the entrance to the core.

"No," replied Clara stoutly, then softened. "I was following Pliskin's orders, anyway."

They entered, past a corridor that led into a wider hallway.

"There's nobody here," breathed Zoe, as the afternoon chill grabbed at her.

They heard a door slide open to their right and everyone who had weapons raised them.

"Snake's here?" came the Russian accent of Olga, whom they had met atop the Strut E heliport.

Clara and Max exchanged glances.

"We're not supposed to interfere with the storyline," hissed Clara.

"We know who Mr X really is," Max rolled his eyes. "Can't we - "

"No, not yet!" Clara pulled him away, and the four of them hid behind a stack of crates to their left.

The footsteps rounded the corner and Clara whispered, "Grace, activate your stealth camo! Watch her as she goes."

Grace nodded, disappearing in a flash.

"I'll make sure he doesn't get out alive…" said Olga, her voice and footsteps disappearing down a corridor. The three crouched together, arms ready, then Grace appeared back into view.

"Well?" asked Zoe.

"She turned and left," said Grace. "What else was I supposed to do?"

Clara called Snake on her codec.

"Yeah?" came the gruff reply.

"We just bumped into Olga," reported Clara. "She's looking for you."

"Great," came the reply. "Are you OK after the fight with the Harrier? Where are you?"

"We're fine," Clara replied stiffly. "We're in the Shell 2 core."

"What about the President?" asked Snake.

Clara paused. She had forgotten about him. "Oh, right. He should be here, right?"

"Intel suggests that room he's locked in has an electrified floor at the entrance. There's a circuit inside the room that you'll need to destroy, but you'll need help…"

"A missile launcher?" asked Clara.

"Not the Stinger, though," replied Snake. Max had been carrying around the heavyweight launcher since the Harrier fight. "I remember seeing a NIKITA on the lower level of Shell 2's core."

"Isn't it flooded?" asked Clara.

"The containment protocols are functioning, but barely. You'll need to hurry if you want to extract it in time." Snake disconnected.

"What is it?" asked Zoe, as Clara stood up.

She led them near to where Olga exited, an automatic door protected by an electrified floor.

"Don't!" Clara held Grace back. "Even stealth camo won't help you here. It'll fry you like bacon."

Sparks danced on the metal grilles.

"We need a NIKITA," said Max, coming to the same conclusion.

"Snake said there's one on the lower levels, but there's a chance it'll flood soon. We'll need to get in and out as fast as possible."

"Is that what you told Snake?" grinned Max wryly, narrowly avoiding the punch on the shoulder Clara delivered him.

They made their way back down the little steps and across the room, where they noticed several vents at varying heights into the walls.

"Why doesn't one of us climb in?" asked Grace.

"Because," scoffed Clara. "We still need to disable the electrified floor. You think the President can fit through one of those? Bet you can't either, Max."

Enraged, Max shot back -

"Stop fighting, you two!" Zoe marched ahead in anger.

"Wait! There might be enemies, Zoe," Grace's invisible footsteps rushed to her side.

Zoe peeked one way, then the other. The place was deserted.

"There's nobody here…"

Grace entered a side door where two gun cameras positioned above alerted her and she screamed, knocking into Clara.

"Fuck - what?" Clara snapped.

"There were guns on those cameras," pointed Grace. "I don't think they saw me, though, 'cos I'm invisible."

"Steer clear of that room, then," Clara added dryly, passing the node in a small rec room where they all signed in. Further on they reached an elevator and Grace pressed the call button before any of them.

"I thought the ninja said Adam was kept in Shell 2," said Zoe.

Max held the SOCOM ready as the elevator doors opened, but it was empty, and they clambered inside.

"Perhaps they're keeping him with the President," said Clara.

"I'll try calling him," said Grace, but there was no response.

"That room blocks codec calls," said Clara. "Snake told me."

There was only one floor to go to, so she pressed the B1 button and they waited in silence. They stepped out once it arrived to a field of bugs swarming on the floor.

"Eww - gross!" Grace leapt back onto Max's foot, who cursed.

"Watch it!" he shouted in response.

Further down the corridor they could see a set of steps descending into the labyrinth. Puddles of water underfoot soaked their boots and gave them chills as they passed empty hallways and rooms, with sprays of water from the ceiling and walls startling them.

"This place looks like it's going to collapse," noted Zoe, shivering.

Clara marched stoutly forward, noticing a crate underneath a spouting faucet with the words 'NIKITA'.

"Found it," she announced.

Flipping open the lid, inside was a missile launcher similar in size to the heavy Stinger. It was remote-controlled, so the user could manually navigate where the rocket found its target.

"What if Adam's being held where Emma is?" asked Max.

"Emma?" asked Grace and Zoe, confused. They had little knowledge of the game besides the characters involved.

"Shit," said Clara, glancing around at the leaking walls. "Fuck, I'm not swimming with her."

"Who's Emma?" asked Zoe.

"Otacon's sister," said Clara. "She's a computer nerd, like you. We need to rescue her, too."

They made up their mind to continue on, get Emma now and save the hassle of coming back. Their pace quickened as the water leaked faster, splashing on their ankles and splattering their clothes. They were half-soaked as they made their way through the labyrinth of corridors and abandoned rooms. Clara held her M4 level, no longer bothering to clear each room as her gait was weighed down with the PSG1 on her back; Max's SOCOM stayed at his side as he lugged the Stinger missile launcher strapped to his back; Zoe held her sword in one hand and the case for the NIKITA in the other; Grace was cloaked in stealth camo, unable to carry weapons.

They were halfway up a flight of stairs when Max suddenly said,

"Shit. You know who's gonna be in here."

"Vamp." Clara nodded sorely. She turned to Grace. "You better wait here."

"Why?" asked Grace and Zoe in unison, the latter speaking first. "This place'll flood! We can't leave her here."

"She can't fight Vamp!" Max rounded on Zoe.

"I'm not letting her drown, either - "

"Shut it, you two!" Clara flicked off their concerns like an irritable fly. "Zoe, you take Grace back to the first floor. We'll meet you there after we get Emma and Adam."

Zoe grudgingly accepted, heading down the stairs, but Grace said,

"You guys will be OK, won't you?"

Clara and Max glanced grimly at each other, then to her. "Sure. Hurry up."

Grace's invisible footsteps raced down the stairs, nearly tripping in her haste.

"Ready?" asked Clara. She unslung the PSG1 and placed it on the ground, stretching her muscles and checking the clip.

Max nodded, checking the rounds in his SOCOM and stepping up to the door. It slid open automatically to reveal -

"Adam!" cried Clara, glancing up.

The platform on which they stood broke apart at intervals with railings to look over into the pool of purified water below. Sitting cross-legged atop the water was Vamp, in meditation, while above him Adam hung upside down, a rope from the ceiling secured to his ankle.

Both Clara and Max raised their guns to shoot Adam free but thought better of it when Vamp rose, diverting their attention and positioning their firearm sights upon him.

"I've waited for you," Vamp rose slowly, like a cobra unfurling. Max glanced up to where Adam hung upside down, mouth duct-taped but eyes frantic with fear. "This tank will take him underwater faster than you can catch him."

"You bastard," said Clara.

"Let him go," demanded Max, gritting his teeth.

Both were uncomfortably aware of the reality of the situation at hand.

"I considered the girl in his place, but this makes for a more fitting challenge," Vamp threw his head back in laughter.

Max let out a yell of fury and fired several rounds at Vamp, who twirled and ducked to dodge every single round. Clara followed suit, emptying a full clip of M4 rounds at Vamp, who soared into the rafters, a stray bullet piercing the rope from which Adam dangled who plummeted below.

"Shiiiiiit!" screeched Max, as both he tore aside his weapon and leapt for the central pool of water, his hands shot out and narrowly missed -

"Got him!" cried Max, sweaty hands gripping Adam's ankle as the remainder submerged with a terrible pull. Clara continued to shoot at the pirouetting Vamp. "Help me, Clara!"

She tossed aside her rifle and helped Max pull Adam up, one laborious second after another.

"F-fuck!" shouted Max, his grip faltering as Vamp danced in a blur atop the water's surface -

He was thrown back into the railing with a shout of surprise, as footsteps from behind them materialised into Zoe, who helped the two of them pull Adam to safety. Spluttering and choking, Adam was almost unconscious as Clara and Max, exhaustion overwhelming them from the ordeal, collapsed in relief when they saw the hilt of Zoe's sword sticking out of Vamp's chest, pinned between the railing.

"Arrghh," Vamp grasped the hilt of the blade, sliding it out of his chest with mild discomfort.

Max collected Clara's discarded M4 and unleashed several rounds into Vamp, who leapt over the edge but impaled by bullet holes. The smell of blood and searing, echoing cry he emitted left worry and abandon in all their minds.

Seconds ticked by tensely, as Zoe fed Adam a Ration she had collected on her way back and Clara and Max collected their rightful weapons. There was no sign of Vamp, but they were careful to keep an eye out.

"How did you know to come back?" asked Max.

Zoe picked up her blood-stained sword from where Vamp had tossed it aside.

"I made it halfway before I decided a surprise attack might help you guys," Zoe cleaned the blade by wiping it on her drenched, threadbare clothes. "I told Grace to take the elevator and keep her stealth camo on till we find her."

Adam roused, glancing about wildly. "Where the fuck have you guys been?"

"What?" said Zoe, alarmed. "We just saved you!"

"It's been horrible!" claimed Adam, getting to his feet. "Vamp beat us and confined us without food or water - "

"Yeah, yeah," said Clara, though still pale. "Let's keep moving. With any luck we won't see Vamp again."

"What's happened so far? "asked Adam, shivering.

"After you were kidnapped, Max and I defused the remaining bombs and killed Fatman. Then we met up with a ninja, Mr. X." said Zoe. "He helped us get into Shell 1 core."

They crossed the room and exited out into a flight of descending stairs, another labyrinthian maze of corridors.

"I was moved from there," said Adam, rubbing his arms to stay warm.

"Yeah," said Clara dryly. "I came on the scene just as the others escaped a close call."

"Then we had to defuse the bombs on the connecting bridge to Shell 2 - "

"Did you fight the Harrier?" asked Adam, amazed. He noticed the Stinger strapped to Max's back.

"Fuck, Vamp," said Max.

"Max got shot by the Harrier. Zoe and Grace were knocked out. I was the only one to destroy it," said Clara.

"And you spent time with Sn - Pliskin?" asked Adam. "How was Shell 2?"

The ground began to shake and more water poured out from a crack in the wall.

"No time for talk," said Zoe, worried. "Hurry!"

---

Emma

The gang of four turned a corridor, found a staircase that lead to an automatic door and burst through, narrowly missing a spout of water which drenched them all.

"Emma?" shouted Adam, racing ahead into the small room. It was lined with lockers and a pool of water was slowly pooling around the tiles. He wrenched several lockers open at random.

"Adam?" replied a tinny voice. Zoe reached for the locker as of yet unopened and came face-to-face with a girl crouched in a corner, mousy brown hair tied back with lacquered chopsticks, frightened.

"I'm Zoe," she extended a hand and helped the girl out of the enclosed space. "We're here to rescue you. Hurry."

"We?" asked Emma, blinking against the startling clarity of fluoresent lights. She noticed Adam's anxious face. "Oh God, I thought Vamp had - I'm so glad - "

"Come on!" roared Max, as overhead a pipe groaned and split, pouring floods of water into the room. It quickly began to fill.

Everyone clambered out into the corridor, heads ducked as the automatic door closed swiftly shut behind them, cutting the flow of water from reaching them further. Emma took a glance at the staircase which lead down into the hallways, noticing the growing pool of water which was ankle high.

"I feel like we're on board a sinking ship," said Adam. He turned to Emma. "Take my hand. We've got to run."

"I-I can't stand water!" shrieked Emma.

"Follow us," ordered Clara, as she and Max darted ahead. Adam nodded and helped Emma along at a steady pace, while Zoe took up the rear in case Emma, reluctant, held behind out of fear.

"What happened?" asked Emma, noticing Adam was drenched from head to toe while the others were only somewhat wet. "Who are you guys?"

"They're the rest of my team I was telling you about," said Adam. "We're to save the President and eliminate the terrorists. That's Clara and Max, they're brother and sister."

"Y-you're - " Emma said with some confusion. "Then you need this!"

Emma handed me a number of level-5 PAN cards. "These will grant you access into all the restricted areas. How do you plan on getting the President out - "

They ducked as a pipe veered out of place and shot a torrent of water which drenched them all. Zoe winced but Emma and Adam shrieked in unison, pace increasing as they made it into the central chamber.

"Everyone OK?" asked Max, turning to the others who were drenched as he was.

"Call Grace," Clara advised Zoe. "Ask her if there's guards posted up there. We need to be prepared."

"Good idea," said Adam. "Emma and I had our codecs disabled. We need to activate them at a node."

As they continued through the central chamber and into the familiar maze of corridors, filled with water that hovered up to their waists, Zoe called Grace.

"Hello?" came the voice, barely discernible over the creaking of pipes and rushing of water.

"Grace? Are you OK?" shouted Adam, remembering she couldn't hear him, as codec conversations could only be heard between the two people connected.

"Hello?" asked Zoe and Grace at the same time. The former took the lead. "How are you?"

"I'm OK, I guess," sniffed Grace, clear and quiet on her end but hearing crashes on Zoe's. "Did you find Adam - "

"Talk later!" shouted Max, as another surge of water washed them all backwards. The water was neck high.

"Come. On!" urged Adam to Emma, who was frozen in fear. "Zoe, help me!"

Together they forced Emma through the current, while Clara and Max battled the waves ahead. Seconds inched by in which they felt the cold grip of fear tighten their windpipe until finally - finally - they clambered up the staircase, water shaking off them in rivulets as Max ran ahead to hit the call button on the elevator repeatedly.

"Bugs!" cried Emma, breaking free of Zoe's iron grip when she spotted the insects crawling to the entrance of the elevator, whose doors had just slid open upon its arrival. "I hate bugs - "

Max made a movement to hit Emma, but wisely Clara held him back. She marched over to Emma and hoisted her with a fury into the vestibule, where everyone had gathered.

"We've already got one little girl on our team," Clara shouted at her like a drill sergeant. "This is no time to play games, Emma!"

Adam pressed the '1' button on the lit panel and wondered how they had survived with so much infighting.

"Grace, we're on our way now," said Zoe into her codec. "Meet us at the elevator entrance."

Surely enough, the doors slid open and both Adam and Emma gave a gasp of surprise as Grace appeared out of nowhere.

"Stealth camo," replied Clara, bored by now of the recap required.

"I can only use it when I have no weapons," explained Grace, rushing forward to hug her brother. "How are you? What happened? Hi, I'm Grace," she turned to the girl.

"I-I'm Emma," said she, thoroughly intimidated by the roughshod group who were supposed to be freeing her to safety. "You must be Adam's sister."

"Do you have the NIKITA?" Clara turned to Zoe, who nodded.

"Over here," Zoe led them to an alcove, where the case was hidden in a corner, and retrieved the bulky launcher.

"The President? You haven't got him yet?" asked Adam.

"Obviously not," retorted Clara over her shoulder. "Where's the best vent to fire that thing through?"

"What if we hit the President?" screeched Emma.

"Are you always so thick?" Clara rounded on her, but Zoe came to her defense.

"She has a point. None of us has training with this thing. One of us should go in through the vent and warn him," advised Zoe.

"True," said Adam.

Max agreed with this. "Grace, you should go. You've got stealth camo so you can scope the area before we try it."

"Um, OK…" Grace hesitated a bit. "What should I tell him?"

"Tell him to stay in a corner, away from the vents," said Clara.

"Better yet, to stand on top of something high," said Adam. "The NIKITA missiles can't be directed up or down, only left or right."

We found a vent in which Grace could climb, helping her through and watching her wriggle as she made her way through the duct.

"Remember," called Adam, his voice echoing through the chamber. "We can't contact you on codec once you're inside! Come back when you're done."

Grace gave a thumbs up and continued, shivering in the cold metal and the breeze that wafted up from adjacent units. Finally she squeezed through to the other side, into an enclosed room with various pipes weaving overhead and crates stacked atop one another. She could see why the President couldn't escape; her slim frame could barely squeeze through the narrowest of the vent passages.

The President was staring intently at the transformer boards which hid the electrical unit. Grace deactivated her camo and spoke first, "Mr President - "

"Aah!" he jumped in surprise, hand over heart. "You startled me. Who are you?"

"I'm here to help you," she said, ushering him close. "My friends are going to disable the electrified floor. We need to get to higher ground - "

"Are you who they sent? The La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo?" The President stepped forward and offered an indecent gesture she refused.

"Get away!" she cried, slapping away his hand.

There was a whooshing sound from the vent and they watched as a missile emerged, hovering not bigger than a cat towards them.

"Climb up on here!" urged Grace, who teetered precariously as the President joined her atop the crates.

The missile snaked its way around the corner, through the metal railing and exploded on contact with the transformer boards. Sparks and debris flew as Grace and the President instinctively ducked for cover, hiding behind the crates. When it was safe to do so, they peeked over.

"What kind of friends do you have?" asked the President in alarm.

The automated door opened and in walked the gang: Clara, Max, Adam, Zoe and Emma.

"Mr President," said Adam, who walked forward to shake his hand. "We're here to rescue you."

"Keep an eye on the door," said Clara. "I don't want Ocelot creeping up on us."

"Ocelot?" repeated the President. "You're not with the terrorists?"

Everyone else shook their heads.

"If you're here to prevent the nuclear launch, you're too late," said the President bitterly, turning away. "They've already got my consent."

"But why?" demanded Zoe, stepping forward. "What nuclear strike is this?"

"They intend on activating Arsenal Gear," said the President, turning to each of them in turn. "It's a superweapon, housed underneath this very facility. It's capable of remaining undetected, launching nukes from anywhere and housing anywhere up to a hundred Metal Gears."

"That's impossible!" said Zoe.

"It's true," mused Emma. "I helped create the security network."

"But you can help us, Emma," Clara turned to her. "You have a virus, don't you?"

Slowly, Emma retrieved the MO disc which was essential to their mission. "If you can get me back to B2 computer room, I can install the virus into their mainframe. It'll deactivate the nuclear launch."

"We can't cross via the Shell 1-2 connecting bridge," Max told her. "It was destroyed when we fought the Harrier."

"There's another way," I said. "An oil fence runs from Strut L across to Strut E. If we reach it, we can transport Emma safely back into Shell 1."

"OK," Clara nodded, turning to the President. "You ready to come with us?"

The President shook his head. "I'm no use to you any longer… you need to go by yourselves."

"But without you, the mission - " Zoe began.

The automated door slid open and there stood Ocelot, twirling his revolver with one gloved hand and twisting his silvery mustache with another.

"Ocelot!" came the deafening cry. Guns trained on him; Clara's M4 and Max's SOCOM. Zoe readied her sword, both Adam and Emma were unarmed, while Grace's hand froze over her stealth camo. The President merely looked surprised.

"I thought I heard you before," came Ocelot's wheezing, raspy voice. "I told you I wouldn't tolerate your presence any longer."

"Stand down!" demanded Max, edging forward. "We're not letting you get away this time!"

"On the contrary, my dear fellow… it's you - "

Before anybody could react, Ocelot drew his revolver level and cocked the hammer as he fired. In tandem, six shots erupted from the barrel and danced around the room as they ricocheted into their intended targets. With startling accuracy, two bullets found their way into the right arms of Clara and Max, effectively disabling them of use; one lodged itself into Adam's shoulder while another weaved into the soft flesh of Emma's ankle; the fifth jammed itself into Zoe's back, causing her to drop her sword and fall forward; while the sixth missed Grace's ear by a hair's breadth and penetrated the white cotton of the President's shirt, right where his heart was.

Groaning and clutching their wounds, only Grace was unharmed to watch as Ocelot twirled his revolver a final time, turned on his spurs and consulted the radio he pulled from his pocket.

"Intruders in the Shell 2 core. They've killed the President. Eliminate them immediately."

The automated door closed behind him as Clara scrabbled for standing, Adam clutched his shoulder and Zoe lay prone, unable to move from the injury. Emma gasped at the flow of blood dripping down her leg while Max rolled onto his back and yelled, "Ration! I need a Ration!"

Grace was aghast. The President was already dead, clutching the crimson, coin-sized hole in his shirt, mouthing wordlessly.

"I-I don't have any Rations!" shouted Grace in dismay, surveying her friends in pain.

"We've got to move," Adam gritted his teeth, in great agony. "If they're sending reinforcements… "

Max attempted to stand but wobbled upon reaching mid-height. He steadied himself against his sister. "How the fuck are we to fight in this condition?"

They heard indistinct footsteps clambering nearby and knew they were done for.

"We're doomed!" cried Emma, limping pitifully.

"No," shouted Adam, wincing as he picked up the fallen Stinger. "We're not. Escape through the vent!"

"We'll leave a blood trail," moaned Zoe, who lay near-comatose on the floor.

"I'll hold them off," Adam turned to them, teeth gritted. "Go!"

"Grace," urged Zoe. "Pass me the stealth camo!"

Max picked up the NIKITA and aimed it at the door. "I've got your back."

As Clara and Emma headed for the vent, Grace leapt from the crate and attached her stealth camo to Zoe's belt. She activated it, suddenly crouched over nothing in particular.

"Grace!" screamed Clara, as Emma wedged herself into the grate.

"I'm not leaving Zoe!" screeched Grace, pulling Zoe's invisible corpse out of view, so she wouldn't be trodden on.

"Fire!" roared Max, not a second before the automatic door opened and the Kevlar-vested trio beyond retrieved a pair of stun grenades from their belt.

The NIKITA and Stinger missiles fired in tandem, wrecking the door and blowing both parties back from the force. The stun grenades fell but exploded, further adding to the confusion and chaos. A few stolen seconds were all they had, as Adam and Max glimpsed the bloodied battlefield beyond and helped Grace move Zoe into the vent.

"I found a Ration!" Grace pointed to an alcove and hurried over to Zoe, administering it while Adam reloaded the Stinger and watched the battered passage outside.

The bullet wound on Zoe's back loosened, out popped the bullet and she began to rise, slowly but surely.

"I'm OK," she said to reassure the others, who couldn't see her. Grace jumped as Zoe grabbed her wrist to urge her into the vent first, an act of altruism Grace appreciated. "Come on, you two!"

There were footsteps approaching from another set of reinforcements rounding the bend. Max covered Adam as he climbed in first, then hurried to follow, both weighed down by their heavy weapons.

"Ssshhh," advised Clara, when they had congregated near an exit. Everyone paused to listen for footsteps. "Pass me your SOCOM."

With some difficulty Max extricated the pistol and moved it up the chain like a caterpillar. Clara listened intently before firing two shots which preceded mechanical whirring.

"I've shot the gun cameras," said Clara, after handing the SOCOM back down the chain. "Let's move."

First to emerge was Clara, surveying the small room with her M4 before she waved forward the next. Emma squeezed through, wincing at the pain in her leg. Grace, though unharmed, was shaken and frightened. She handed back Zoe's sword to its rightful owner, who needed to assent her progress until the stealth camo had been handed back to Grace. Those with free hands were required to catch the Stinger and Nikita so Adam and Max could make their way through, respectively.

"Here's another Ration," said Clara. "You take it, Emma."

"What?" shouted Max, and everyone glared daggers at him for making noise. They all paused intently, but heard no hurried footsteps.

"Shut up," Clara told him. "It's Emma we need to protect."

"What if I give Emma my stealth camo?" asked Grace.

"We need to keep an eye on Emma at all times," said Adam. "Even if she is unprotected in that way. You hold onto it, Grace."

Grace agreed. The team moved out into the hallway, checking left and right before exiting out into the corridor. Across the other side of the room, backup reinforcements had begun to search in their direction.

"Shit," said Clara. She turned to the door which lead to the opposite connecting bridge, but it flashed in denial.

"We need to get past them," said Zoe. "Is there another way around?"

Adam shook his head. "We need to take the reinforcements out."

Clara checked her M4. "I've only got a clip of ammo left."

"We left the ammo for the Stinger and NIKITA back in that room," said Max, by way of explanation. He was equipped with his SOCOM.

"You take this," Clara chucked her M4 to Max, and unslung the PSG1 from her back. "Give Adam the SOCOM."

Adam accepted it gratefully, with two clips of ammo left.

"Grace, you stay in here with Emma," Adam indicated the small room.

"Alright," agreed Grace somewhat morosely, as Emma followed, leg no longer hurting.

"I'll keep a lookout," Zoe posted herself by the door.

"Ready?" Clara asked, taking position by the railing. Adam and Max flanked her, firearms ready. "Three, two, one - "

Together they raised themselves above the railing and fired upon the incoming units. Stray bullets from one side returned the other. Clara's sniper rifle gave her precision, enabling a headshot on one. Max used the M4 to mow down a power soldier, bullets trailing up his vest and shattering his dome helmet, rendering him helpless. Adam fired round after round of his SOCOM, ducking under when his bullets weren't taking any impact.

Zoe stood guard over the room in which Grace and Emma hid. She was anxious, wanting to join the fight but in no way possessing enough capabilities of a ninja to aid her friends.

"Are you OK?" came Grace's tinny voice through the door.

"Shush," said Clara, ducking below to reload her PSG1. Three down, two to go.

Adam loaded his clip back into the SOCOM, took aim and fired a shot into a guard's leg which caused him to stumble, making him a prime target for the volley of bullets Max fired into his head and neck. Max retreated to reload, Adam aimed a few potshots before narrowly avoiding an onslaught of bullets and Clara reared, aiming a final headshot at the remaining soldier.

The air was heavy with smoke and bullets, lingering smell of gunshot residue and blood.

"All clear," Max reported grimly to Zoe. She walked through the door, startling Emma and motioned the two young girls to follow her.

The six of them crossed the bloodied battlefield, stepping over dying, groaning corpses littered with bullet holes and casings strewn about them. They ascended a set of steps, crossed down a hallway and out into the evening sky, where the KL connecting bridge stretched across.

"I'm out of bullets," said Max, who realised why Clara had not asked to switch back to her original weapon. "Gimme yours - "

"No!" cried Clara and Adam, both keen to keep their weapons.

"Well, fuck," Max flew into a rage, but Zoe punched him on the arm.

"Don't be such a dick," hissed Clara, but this was the wrong thing to say, for he wrestled with Clara the PSG1, failed miserably and turned to Adam, who shook his head in disgust, tossing him the pistol which missed and clattered upon the ground.

"Why'd you do that?" Clara and Zoe rounded on him.

"I'm not having us break apart over a silly squabble," said Adam.

Clara scoffed and Zoe rolled her eyes. Grace looked peaky and Max was content with his ill-gotten gains.

"You guys need to work together," said Emma.

"Shut up, Emma," came Clara's retort.

Out on the bridge, they sight a lone guard patrolling, descending the steps to a lower section.

"He's out of sight. Let's move," said Clara, hurrying forward.

Mid-way across the bridge, they heard the whirr of Gun Cyphers and spotted one at either side, heading their way.

Max raised his pistol and almost used an entire clip to destroy the Gun Cypher, clearly not rid of his previous anger.

"Come on, Clara," he spat bitterly.

"I can't shoot them, dick, the guard will hear," Clara indicated her unsilenced rifle.

As though an opportunity had arisen in which he was the best they had, Max reloaded but not before the Gun Cypher took in the sight of them all, alerted the guards immediately and began raining gunfire down upon them.

Clara, Zoe and Grace were blasted back, each gaining a bullet or two in their torso. Emma shrieked and crouched, clutching her head, while Max rained hellfire upon the Gun Cypher, ending its initial victory but hearing the dreaded words from afar,

"Enemy sighted. Send backup."

"Fuck!" roared Max. The three who were injured could barely stand from their wounds.

"They're coming from Shell 2!" cried Adam, relieving Clara of her fallen PSG1 and turning to Max. "I'll head them off!Take them to Strut L!"

Adam fired a warning shot in the direction of the Shell 2's core's entrance as a power soldier peeked round and narrowly evaded a shot that would've ended his life.

"Emma, you bitch!" yelled Max. "Help me move them!"

Grace groaned pitifully upon the ground, while Clara and Zoe made valiant but unsuccessful attempts to rise from the ground.

"AAAARRRGGHHH!" screamed Adam, taking down one, two, three power guards with his rifle, the trigger pulled but the barrel was empty.

"Shit - shit!" Adam looked wildly around, but Clara gave him a look that confirmed his worst fears. "I'm out of ammo!"

Max noticed the lone guard who had appeared back on the bridge, raised his SOCOM to fire and deluged him in an onslaught of bullets.

"Emma, run ahead!" cried Adam, giving her a shove in the right direction as she squealed and followed, frightened.

"Give - me - the - stealth - camo…" groaned Zoe, her sword lying at her side. "I'll get the bastards."

Realising her sacrifice, Adam sniffed loudly and clipped Grace's stealth camo to Zoe's belt, rendering the former visible to pull under the armpits while the latter became invisible. Stray bullets followed them all as Max lugged a resilient, reluctant Clara with him and Emma hid behind the corner railing.

"Aah!" Max tripped as a bullet got him in the ankle, but Clara was just able to reach cover beside Emma. He chose the other corner, unslung the AN-94 rifle the dead guard wore around his neck and got unsteadily to his feet, aiming it over the railing.

"I've got you covered!" shouted Max, firing upon the incoming, dome-helmeted power soldiers whom stopped at the sudden threat of gun fire. Some stumbled under the onslaught but held firm, well trained as a team and scattered stray bullets past the railing and into the evening sky.

Adam managed to get Grace to safety, beside pale-faced Clara and scared-out-of-her-wits Emma.

"I see a Ration!" Emma pointed to the lower section of the bridge.

Adam crossed the narrow gap which constituted entry to Shell 2, avoiding a volley of bullets which missed him by inches and equipped himself with the dead soldier's Makarov.

"Where are you going?" yelled Max, ducking behind cover to reload. There was only one clip of ammo remaining.

"Healing our teammates," Adam said, rushing downstairs.

Max peeked over the railing, rifle aimed just in time to see the sneaky reinforcements had advanced halfway across the bridge. Max fired a salvo upon the three remaining power soldiers; one went down with a struggle and fell over the railing. To his great shock, another lost his legs in a bloody mishap that forced Zoe to materialise, gripping the hilt in her pudgy hands.

She dropped it in exhaustion, disappearing immediately but the power soldier rounded on her, carbine ready -

"NOOOO!"

Max emptied his clip into the soldier's back, all thudding uselessly against the Kevlar. He realised his futility, then many gasps of shock as a bullet discharged from where Zoe lay, materialising her with a stolen Makarov aimed at her pursuer's head, ending his life. The enemy slumped sideways, collapsing inert.

Max nearly passed out from exhaustion and relief. Adam ran into sight, Makarov raised to confront the threat but saw Zoe lying alone, corpses surrounding her.

"Give this to Clara," Adam passed Max a Ration, having found a spare. He rushed across the bridge to where Zoe lay semiconscious and administered the Ration, all the while keeping his Makarov poised on the entrance to Shell 2.

Max ran over to Clara, who was more wounded by far than Grace. He needed warriors, not medics. She began to slowly heal and Adam and Zoe came into view, panting and delirious.

"I need to lie down," said Emma, woozy.

Zoe clipped the stealth camo back onto Grace's belt, and three of them assisted Grace's movement into Strut L, while Max took the rear and guarded Emma.

Strut L had one corridor ending in a semicircle balcony to a waterproof door. One soldier rested his back against the wall, dozing; while the other moved up and down the corridor, just out of sight.

Adam and Max stepped forward to deal with the threat, both with barely a clip of ammo left, but Zoe held them back, indicating her sword.

"Save your ammo," she hissed. "Watch my back."

Zoe peeked around the corner, making sure that the guard's back was turned before she proceeded. Sword raised, she brought it in a soaring arc, splitting the soldier from shoulder to groin. Alarmed, the second guard rushed forward and bashed into Zoe who had intended to get the first strike in. They tore at each other, the sword clattering out of Zoe's hands as he forced her against the railing, glimpsing the long chute below -

BANG. Adam's Makarov fired into the soldier's head, rendering him incapable and Zoe, red-faced, tossed him over the edge with some difficulty. She collected her sword and shook off the panic which had set in so quickly.

"Thanks," came the short reply.

They helped to move Grace further, whimpering in pain, startled to find a Ration hidden in a corner. Adam was quick to snatch it for his sister. Clara turned the handle of the watertight door as Grace began to heal, helped to her feet by Adam as a gust of air blew their hair tousled.

They entered the tiny space and looked down on a ladder that looked like it would never end.

"We need to climb down and cross the oil fence," said Adam. "I'll go first."

It was a long, laborious stretch. Emma took the most time, followed swiftly by Grace who didn't enjoy the idea of such inescapable heights. Eventually, they all made their way onto surer footing, where Clara was emboldened to see many boxes of PSG1 ammo awaiting her.

Across the stretch of ocean, were two checkpoints where guards patrolled on upper railings. Gun Cyphers hovered in the distance to cover each rail bridge.

"We have to cross one at a time," said Adam, and everyone stared at him in disbelief as though it was his fault. "It can only support one person's weight."

"Are you sure?" Clara screwed up her face in disbelief. Her codec rang and she answered it resolutely noticing it was Snake.

"How's Emma?" answered the gruff voice.

"Fine, we're all fine," answered Clara shortly. "Can we cross this oil fence?"

"It won't support more than one person at a time," replied Snake. Clara made no move to confirm she was incorrect. "You'll need to cover Emma until I get into position."

"Great," breathed Clara sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"The good news is, once each of you crosses a bridge, you can send the next person onwards. You'll have to keep an eye out for the guards and Gun Cyphers."

"Got it," Clara disconnected sourly and turned to her team. "Emma, you'll go first. Once you reach the next checkpoint, we'll file one by one."

"How's Snake doing?" asked Adam.

"He'll cover us at the other end when he arrives," remarked Clara dryly, loading up her PSG1 with ammo and finding a good spot to snipe. She lay prone and turned to Emma irritably. "Well? Are you going to take all day?"

Nimbly, Emma stepped forward.

"I'll go first," Adam volunteered. "That way I can flank Emma coming, and Max, you can go next to secure the other end. We're the only ones with firearms."

"Agreed," said military Max.

"Alright then," grumbled Clara. "Get going."

Adam stepped onto the precariously swinging bridge and made his way across. Almost too late he stopped, rang Clara on his codec who answered with a hurried "What!?" before he relayed that there might be Claymore mines ahead.

"Do you mean these?" Grace picked up a case reading 'THERMAL GOGGLES' that nobody had noticed. She handed it to Clara, who quickly retrieved them and snapped it to her face. She could spot the soldiers in infra-red, as well as cereal-box sized Claymores littering Adam's path. BANG. BANG. BANG! She cleared his path for the time being.

"Thanks," said Adam, but she had already disconnected.

He had made it halfway when he saw the outline of a guard and saw him fall, tipping over the balcony as he was penetrated by Clara's sniper round. A whirring from behind told him a Gun Cypher was nearby, but a shot ended its mechanical life, too.

He climbed onto the checkpoint, seeing no guards patrolling it and contacted Emma.

"You're up," said he.

"I'm a little scared," she admitted, immediately subjecting herself to assaults of character from Clara and Max despite Zoe and Grace's rise to her defense.

"You'll be great. Clara's an excellent sniper and I'll cover you as best I can."

Emma made her way across the first bridge, while Adam began to cross the second.

"Ammo," said Clara, accepting the clip Grace resentfully handed her and reloading her rifle. She shot out the Claymores which blocked Adam's path, destroyed a Gun Cypher which threatened to sneak up on Emma and shot a guard atop the second checkpoint.

"I'm almost there," reported Snake.

Adam reached the second checkpoint without much ado, careful to scout the area. Emma uneasily climbed aboard the first and Clara bade Max follow her. He had less than a clip of ammo left in his AN-94.

"I'm in position. Do you see me?" Snake came in through the codec.

Clara swung her scope round to the third and final checkpoint. Snake was lying prone, posture perfect as he shot out a Gun Cypher she had missed.

"Shit," she cursed.

"Keep an eye out," he warned.

Clara watched as Max clutched his rifle, Emma tottered on the second bridge and Adam began his walk down the third bridge, remembering suddenly… she switched to calling Adam.

"Vamp," she told him.

"I know," said Adam. "I'm ready if he comes for Emma."

"What if he comes for you?" asked Clara sourly, and Adam actually froze in place.

At that precise moment, a blur appeared in Clara's vision but as she adjusted the scope it was too late. Vamp had knocked the Makarov from Adam's hand and gripped him in a headlock.

"Damn!" yelled Snake. "I can't get a good shot from here!"

Typical, thought Clara. She focused on the matted hair and bullet holes that riddled Vamp's pale skin, as he held a knife to Adam's throat who struggled without success.

Max took off at a run, leaving the first bridge wide open.

"Grace, follow him," advised Zoe. "Activate your stealth camo."

Nodding, Grace hurried to cross the first bridge. Max rounded the first checkpoint, shooting a Gun Cypher who came too close. Emma shrieked and crouched, midway through the second bridge.

"You bastard," Adam choked for air, feeling the cold, clammy hands draw the knife to his throat. "And I thought you were bisexual - "

Vamp ruffled a bit at this, prelude to the shot which entered his forehead and blasted him backwards into the sea. Adam shrieked as a searing pain crept up his neck and a gush of blood splattered the shaking sea below. He clutched the wound, spasming and promptly dropped comatose atop the bridge.

"Adam!" Grace and Zoe's cries rang out. Clara was frozen, her hands shaking slightly.

"Emma! Get moving!" yelled Max, who could not cross the second bridge while Emma remained. "For fuck's sake, Emma!"

Clara watched through her scope as Emma began slowly moving, while Snake rushed onto the bridge where Adam lay quite bloodied and white-faced. The bridge began to ominously creak, and Snake took him over the shoulder and administered a bandage.

"Shit," said Zoe. "We're losing it."

Clara received the shrill staccato beeps of her codec and answered it, watching over as Emma reached the second checkpoint and Max ran at a sprint onto the second bridge.

"He's breathing, but he's out of action," said Snake. "I don't have any Rations to revive him… you need to get here ASAP. If Vamp returns - "

"But I just shot him! He's dead - "

"I've never been sure about anything involving Dead Cell," said Snake grimly. "Get over here as fast as you can. I'll cover Emma from my end."

Snake disconnected, after a few seconds of which Grace reported in.

"I'm at the first checkpoint," said she.

"Go," Clara ordered Zoe, who walked forward with her sword onto the bridge.

Snake took up position, barely-conscious Adam on the landing below while Emma crossed the third bridge. Max had nearly reached the second checkpoint, when -

BANG, BANG! Clara missed the guard by inches but got him in the leg, but he hid around a corner -

Staccato fire opened from Max and he shot dead the guard who had almost got the jump on him. He climbed onto the second checkpoint, reporting he was out of ammo.

"Grace, cross the second bridge," said Clara.

"Right," said Grace tremulously.

By the time everyone had crossed the bridge safely, Zoe had found a Ration behind a checkpoint and had administered it to Adam. They all climbed the ladder in single file, Adam barely aware that his neck had been slashed, having fallen unconscious the instant it happened.

As seven, Snake led the way past the watertight door that resembled the opposite entrance. He was armed with a M4A1, handing his USP over to Clara. Max had his AN-94 and Adam the SOCOM, but both were out of ammo. Zoe had her blade, while Grace and Emma meekly followed, both unarmed.

"We've got to get to the B2 computer room, in the Shell 1 core," announced Snake. "They've announced the countdown to activating Arsenal Gear."

"What?" shouted three voices at once.

"This whole place will sink if we don't reach the main hub," said Snake. "Move!"

They crossed the balcony and entered the small corridor underneath the maze of conveyor belts which had suddenly ceased to move.

"Wait - " said Adam, as Snake made his way up the stairs. "There's a soldier in there."

"He's wearing headphones," said Clara, inspired by the memory.

Snake frowned, venturing closer. Taking her word for it, Zoe entered the sorting room. True to form, the back of a soldier was jiving to music on his headphones, apparently unaware that an emergency shutdown was about to commence.

"Hiyah!" Zoe cried, bringing her sword down upon the guard and splitting him in two.

"Nice job," said Snake. "We shouldn't have too much trouble other than Gun Cyphers."

They made to move upstairs, but Max and Adam collected the dead soldier's weapons.

"Hurry!" Zoe gestured them along. Adam collected the loaded Makarov and headed off.

Alone in the room, Max had just loaded a clip of ammo into his previously empty AN-94 when his codec buzzed. He answered in angrily.

"I'm coming, for fuck's sake!"

"Max," came Ocelot's raspy voice. "I've been watching you from afar. I have a proposition to make."

"Who - Ocelot - " Max glanced to the door, which remained shut though the others were outside. "What the fuck do you want?"

"In return for a favour, I offer you a place within our circle," said Ocelot. "Kill the girl before she uploads the virus. Incapacitate the others, so we can interrogate them - "

"I'm not doing anything," said Max, less out of loyalty than lack of potential gain.

"We have provided a suit of armor to complete the job. We call our finest soldiers 'Tengus'..."

Max hesitated. "You will find it outside the computer room."

"In return, we will allow you to pilot one of the Metal Gears. Once we have launched the nuclear missile, your win will be secured."

"And the others?" Max could hear footsteps approaching.

"They are civilian hostages. It is Snake I want - "

Max disconnected not a second before Adam rushed in, frantic thinking that something had happened.

"Come on!" he urged. Max followed.

Up into Strut E they went, where the conveyor belt had stopped processing and out into the midnight sky of the EF connecting bridge.

"Look out!" Snake raised his M4 and shot down an approaching Gun Cypher. Clara did the same, firing round after round until it whizzed out of control and promptly exploded.

They crossed the bridge, with hurried urgings from Snake as they all crossed. Adam was looking wildly about, Clara dutifully following Snake, Grace and Emma holding hands as they rushed across, Zoe gritting her teeth in fatigue and Max, mind set.

They burst into Shell 1. It was deserted, tiled corridors filled with a deluge of insects that crawled on the floor in large groups.

"Ew - bugs!" cried Emma. Grace recoiled, but held firm.

"Come on, Emma… it's OK - "

They managed to help Emma over the bugs with some firm insistence, continuing on to the elevator where the doors were already opened.

"Otacon's doing what he can with the network… we've got to disable Arsenal Gear!" said Snake.

They clambered on board, somebody pressing the button for B2 and descending quickly. Max's eyes roved about his teammates, seeing them in a new light - the hardest obstacle would be Snake… what if Ocelot was lying?

The elevator arrived and they all stepped out, rushing downstairs towards the computer room. Enclosed within half-transparent walls was Otacon, typing madly on a computer. He was glad to see Snake, waving him over.

Max took the rear, pausing in front of a row of lockers. All were open and empty, save for one.

He glanced inside the enclosed area, where everyone else was congregating. This was it…

He pulled open the locker and saw with a great flood of relief and excitement the grey-padded Tengu armor. He reached a hand out for it and it imbibed into him, nanomachines linking up, exoskeleton securing his frame and padding around his body. The gas mask visor collaborated around his skull. He felt the P90 rifle at his waist, the holstered sword at his back and felt surprising stamina and gait, like nothing before. He was king!

Grace had noticed this surprising development. "Max," she called, turning to them. "When did he get a ninja suit?"

Through the glass, Max turned and they all saw the Tengu armor.

"Shit!" cried Clara and Adam. "Tengu!"

"He's a double agent!" cried Otacon.

"Get down, NOW!" Snake raised his M4.

Max felt strength and speed course through his being, leaping through the glass window which shattered a millisecond before the bullets missed him by inches. He landed smoothly on the tiles, taking in the situation with a dexterity quite new to him. Otacon and Emma were by the terminal, Snake closer still, while Clara raised her USP. Adam and Zoe were frozen still.

Max reached for his sword and deflected the incoming bullets from Snake and Clara, their magazines running dry. Zoe leapt forth with her own blade but Max dodged it easily, lashing out with the flat side of his to knock her unconscious. Adam raised the Makarov, but Max flipped over him, delivering a palm hit to his neck which rendered him unconscious.

"Emma! The virus!" pleaded Otacon, as Emma continued further still. Snake backed up to protect her, followed by Clara. Grace shrieked, invisible to the naked eye.

Just as they reloaded, Max the Tengu leapt at them, delivering a punch to Clara that sent her sprawling and tackling Snake, taking him down with an almighty crash.

"It's uploading!" cried Emma, buried in Otacon's white lab coat, frightened.

Though Snake kicked and struggled, Max's exoskeleton provided superhuman strength and he backed off, drawing his sword and brandishing the hilt at Snake's neck. He promptly fell down, stars spinning over his head.

Otacon and Emma shrieked as one as Max drew his P90, and with only a moment's hesitation, buried them both in a deluge of bullets. Riddled with pain, they fell squirming to the floor. Max marched over and halted the upload of the virus, at 78%.

"You bastard!" shrieked Grace.

Max glanced around for her. He did not have thermal vision, but he could pick up her footsteps coming round the corner. Striking out at random, his blade lodged itself in her chest, and she materialised with a gasping, shocked expression on her face.

Max realised what he had done. Taken aback, he watched as Grace sunk slowly to the floor, white-faced and quite still.

"Fuck," he cursed. "Fuck, fuck, FUCK!"

They opened their eyes. It was pitch-black and their hands were bound behind their backs.

"Where am I?"

"Shush!"

"Where is this place?"

"Are we in Arsenal Gear?" whispered Clara.

There was a buzzing in all their ears from their codecs.

"I need you to escape," said Olga.

"You!" said Zoe.

"Snake has been badly tortured. He won't make it if you don't save him in time!"

Clara's breathing became more audible.

"Why are you helping us?" demanded Zoe.

"The Patriots are holding my child hostage. If you do not complete your mission, they will terminate my daughter. I can free you, but you must make your way through Arsenal Gear on your own."

"Where's Grace?" asked Adam suddenly.

"Her body was not recovered," a frozen silence stilled the room. "Solidus has taken one of your members as lieutenant. The pale boy. In return for service, he agreed to eliminate Emma."

Recollections surged back to them. They paled, swore, cried, lamented, raged.

"I'll kill him, I'll kill that fucker!" roared Adam.

"Where are our weapons?" demanded Zoe.

Clara remained silent, disgust at her brother filling her brain matter.

"I have been able to encode your dog tags with nanomachines which will enhance your abilities beyond the norm. You will find them on the computer panel outside your holding cell. There are a lot of Tengus ahead."

"What abilities?" asked Adam.

"I cannot say anything further. Hurry and find Snake." Olga disconnected.

Light flooded their cell as the electronic door slid open. Unsteadily, they wriggled their way into the deserted torture chamber. Upon a computer panel rested three dog tags.

Nobody could speak of Grace. They knew what they had to do.

A scalpel on a medical tray helped loosen their bonds, painstakingly slow, then they collected their dog tags and wore them around their neck.

"Nothing's happening," said Clara dourly.

Zoe was grim faced. Adam was sullen, then -

"AAAH!" all three bent double in pain, recovering to look back at each other in shock.

Zoe wore the white exoskeleton of Mr. X, complete with visor to hide her face, HF blade holstered on her back and stealth camo on her belt. Clara wore the infinite bandanna, held a M4 in her arms and possessed lock-on target sighting. Adam's dexterity allowed him to move quickly and even dodge bullets, with a Makarov holstered on either side and a knife attached to his belt buckle like Vamp.

"What - ?" Zoe glanced down at her dog tags. They flashed 4:57.

"It only lasts five minutes?" cried Adam. Together they hurried out and into the central chamber.

Bright lights illuminated the gun-metal crates and railings that ran across the second storey. Countless Tengu stood guard, rifles raised and swords drawn, apparently alerted to their escape.

Beyond stood Max, helmetless but wearing the Tengu armor.

"Max!" called Clara, voice echoing through the room. "You dick! Why did you kill Grace?"

He shrugged insouciantly, though anyone knew he was bluffing. "Had to be done."

Adam stepped forward, enraged. The Tengus advanced an inch.

"Put down your weapons," said Max. Where the fuck had they gotten their equipment? He was starting to doubt the strength of his army, let alone his resolve…

"I'll skin you alive for this," said Zoe, drawing her blade.

"Fire!" raged Max.

Zoe leapt in front of Clara, seeing the bullets as though in slow motion, working with great skill to cut every bullet before they harmed her friends. Adam leapt into the rafters, artfully dodging the trail of bullets that followed, drawing the dual Makarovs from his belt and emptying the clips at Max, who deflected them all with his own sword.

Tengus leapt to defend their leader, taking defensive positions. Zoe ducked and weaved to dodge the Tengus slashes, delivering her own to slice and dice. Clara ducked behind a crate, emerging only to fire headshots on every Tengu she spotted. Her accuracy was perfect, her barrel never ran low and they dropped like flies.

Adam leapt from rafter to rafter, Tengus inbound. Max was only paces away. He avoided the savage sword thrusts and bullets intended for him, deluging the Tengus in bullets they were too slow to counteract, drawing his knife across the throat of one he nearly let through too soon.

Max watched in horror as his army was mutilated, shot down and otherwise scattered -

Zoe wielded her blade like a whirling spinning top, a scythe that ended the lives of one, one, one one -

Clara's downed a Tengu every few seconds, pausing not for breath nor to reload -

Adam ducked and weaved among incoming Tengu, shooting them down or cutting their throats, all the while avoidant of the danger -

Barely five Tengu remained, circling their leader like a maddened mob of redoubts. Zoe activated her stealth camo as she leapt for the rafters, Clara rushed forward, taking down the redoubt Tengu with unerring accuracy, Adam leaping forward to slit the throat of the remaining one -

The dog tags deactivated. Adam fell two stories and landed painfully on his back, Zoe rematerialised and almost lost her balance jumping from a balcony, while Clara shuddered under the limitations of mortality and held her aim firm at Max from afar, knowing she couldn't reach him in time.

"Damnit," muttered she under her breath.

Max placed the helmet atop his head, breathing his words in ghostly monotones,

"I'm not going to let you take my prize."

He leapt over to each of them in turn, handcuffing and dragging them into a hexagonal chamber where Snake lay, remote and bound - a white light filled the room -

They glanced up when they saw the Metal Gear looming in the shadows. A vast sea seemed to surround the hexagon platform they rose upon, the only source of illumination following the darkness beyond.

"Where's our weapons?" demanded Clara.

The Metal Gear inched further into view, and they could see Max in the cockpit, half-revealed.

A buzzing in their codecs startled them, activating passively. It was Olga.

"I do not have time to recharge your powers," her voice was faint as the Metal Gear's steps were deafening. "You can only operate at 50%. You have two and a half minutes to take your friend out."

Spiraling around their bodies, Zoe was equipped with her exoskeleton and sword, sans stealth camo; Clara held a Stinger and infinite bandanna but had lost her auto-aim ability; and Adam could dodge bullets with dexterity but had no weapons.

"Well, shit!" he cried, as Max lowered himself into the cockpit and the Metal Gear's eyes glowed. "How am I supposed to attack?"

The timer on their dog tags activated. Zoe crouched, ready to spring while Clara fired the Stinger missile into the cockpit. It sailed harmlessly into the armor but did no damage.

"Hahahaha," came Max's taunting voice, amplified throughout the arena. "I'll destroy you with this tank!"

"Its weak spot is in its mouth, when it uses - " Adam began.

"I know that!" claimed Clara, reloading the launcher.

The Metal Gear landed on the platform, glaring down at them all. It raised one of its arms and pointed it at the three of them.

"Watch out!" Adam leapt at Clara, saving her from the onslaught of bullets which narrowly missed.

Zoe sliced the remaining bullets in half, sprinting forward with her sword raised. Metal Gear froze stiffly, panels embedded within the Metal Gear's knees opened -

"Rockets!" cried Adam. Clara aimed for the openings and fired.

Missiles launched from the MG's knees and Zoe dodged one but the second exploded as it missed her, knocking her awry. The MG raised its leg to stomp -

Adam rushed forward to help her, but both he and Zoe got out of the way in time, while Clara held her position, waiting for the right time…

Zoe soared into the air, landing on top of the Metal Gear with her sword above the cockpit.

"FUUUCK!" yelled Max.

The MG gave an almighty shake to buck her off, then rose into the air, landing back on the platform with a resounding quake. Clara and Adam tripped over from the force, while Zoe was hurtled to the ground, in front of the resumed MG. It stared at her, opening its mouth -

"Fire, Clara, FIRE!" shouted Adam.

Clara waited for the Stinger's lock-on targeting, then fired a missile which wove past Adam's shoulder, above Zoe's fallen form -

The MG gathered energy pulse and fired its water cannon, not a millisecond before Clara's missile blasted it in the mouth. Stumbling about as systems went haywire, Zoe got to her feet -

"Pass me your sword!" cried Adam, rushing forth. He caught the blade Zoe tossed him and launched into the air, landing unsteadily atop the writhing MG and plunging the sword into the cockpit.

With a great roar, Metal Gear collapsed to the ground. Adam just managed to leap to safety before the crash sent ripple waves skidding across the lit platform. The rest of Arsenal Gear came into illumination, revealing a gigantic super weapon out to sea. The MG's cockpit disengaged and Max crawled out, his shoulder bloodied where the sword had pierced him.

"Aah," he groaned, trying to stand. He was unarmed, no longer wearing his Tengu armor. "Ocelot! Solidus! Where the fuck are you?"

Clara marched forward, gesturing for the sword which Adam gladly handed her. She held the hilt at his neck, but he ignored it and stared back into her eyes with malevolence. Her own glittered with disgust.

"I'm your brother," he pleaded. She dealt him a blow which silenced him permanently.

They caught movement in the corner of their eye and turned, weapons raised. Metal Gear RAY stood dormant behind brooding, shrewd Ocelot and Solidus, his power suit equipped with mechanical tentacles, a pair of swords at his side and a P90 at their other. Fortune stood to the side, wearing her tight uniform while equipped with a railgun. Crouched and bound in handcuffs was Snake, a thin line of blood on his cheek. He looked weathered, but his spirit not yet broken.

"So! You managed to take him down, after all… I was hoping there'd be slaughter on both sides…" mused Ocelot.

"You told Max to switch sides," said Adam, stepping forward. "He killed my sister."

Ocelot eyed them without fear. "Precisely."

Adam turned to Clara and Zoe. They readied their weapons. "Let's get 'em - "

With a sudden vault, their dog tags disengaged and all three were relieved of weapons and equipment. They stood quite defenseless; their timers having run out.

"Where's the ninja?" hissed Zoe. "We need help - "

Ocelot laughed, loud and barking as Solidus and Fortune watched him.

"I arranged for the ninja to aid you, so that you could proceed through Big Shell without hazard," announced Ocelot. "This entire exercise has been scripted so that you five - three remaining - could be challenged."

"What!?" Solidus rounded on Ocelot.

"GW was always under my control. The virus eliminated the Patriot's names just as I intended, so your plan failed, Solidus, right from the very beginning…"

Fortune faced Ocelot. "Are you saying - "

"Killing your father, husband and family in the process was just a part of the - " Ocelot stopped.

Fortune took a step back, raised her railgun but faltered as Ocelot reached his revolver first, firing in her chest. The bullet hit its mark.

"H-how did you - "?

"You're no witch. There's no such thing as the supernatural," Ocelot patted a mechanical device on his belt, slightly dissimilar to the stealth camo gadget. "This is the little gizmo."

"Grrr - damn you!" Solidus whipped out his P90 and fired upon Ocelot, but the onslaught of bullets whizzed harmlessly away. Ocelot leapt with surprising dexterity atop MG RAY, climbing into the cockpit and securing himself within.

"Now the final step is to clean up the damage…" Ocelot activated RAY and its eyes glowed in the night sky. RAY opened the missile hatches on its shoulders -

"Get down!" cried Snake, throwing himself prone despite his handcuffs.

Fortune ambled uneasily in front of everyone, hands held out in a protective shield.

"What are you doing!?" demanded Solidus.

The missiles fired from RAY's shoulder, illuminating the night sky and plummeting down into the group. Inches before contact, they swerved in different directions and exploded harmlessly far away.

"How - "? Zoe managed.

"My name is Fortune, a loyal soldier," she coughed up blood and collapsed, death taking her.

"Hmm. Fine! Try this, then!" cried Ocelot, and RAY opened its mouth for its water cannon.

"No!" shrieked Snake.

There was a pause, then MG rattled and a new voice surrounded them all:

"Snake! It's time to go!"

"Liquid!" shouted Snake. He struggled for a moment, straining against his handcuffs.

RAY turned its back on everyone to dive into the ocean. Snake broke free and ran towards RAY, unhindered.

"Snaaaake!" cried Adam and Clara at once.

"LIQUID!" roared Snake, following RAY into a dive.

A gush of water crept up and flooded their ankles, ceasing slowly. Suddenly a crash jolted them all out of place, and Adam - Zoe - Clara - Solidus - fell off Arsenal Gear, rolling onto the roof of a federal building. Arsenal Gear had crashed into Manhattan.

"Your final mission," Solidus got to his feet, having lost his P90 but still holding his blades. His mechanical tentacles swung about as he rose. "Are you up to the test?"

He drew double swords, facing the three who remained unarmed and quite injured.

"I will take pleasure in this," he crouched, preparing to strike like a cobra.

"Shiiiit!" yelled Zoe, as Mr X leapt out of the shadows.

Brandishing his sword, he landed in front of the group, facing Solidus.

"Well, well… I wondered when you'd show yourself, Olga."

"Olga?" asked Zoe. The ninja's visor flickered to reveal its occupant.

"I will take care of Solidus. You must get away!" said Mr. X.

Solidus took hold of the tentacles which squirmed underneath his underarms, ejecting missile after missile from their depths. Everyone clambered for safe ground to avoid the missiles, but all were knocked back as they exploded near their feet.

"You must save yourselves!" Mr X sprinted forward, narrowly avoiding the tentacles which shot out like mechanical serpents, locking blades with Solidus who was more than a worthy match for the ninja.

"How can we get down?" Clara glanced at the rubble and detritus below, with not a foothold in sight.

"Aaaaahhh!" cried Solidus, his backside igniting as he accelerated forward, sword slashes were exchanged and Mr X was blasted backward, toppling past the group's feet, exoskeleton singed beyond repair and sword out of reach.

"Olga!" cried Adam, rushing to her aid.

"No, Adam!" cried Zoe, pulling him back just as one of Solidus' missiles sailed past Adam's face and promptly extinguished what was left of Olga's life.

Heat singed their eyebrows as they recovered from the burn. Solidus' tentacles were malfunctioning; he tore them loose and they sailed backwards, out of sight. Flexing his muscles, he positioned himself in a stance, both swords ready.

"Adam! Come on!" cried Clara. There was a way down without too much injury, she hoped.

Adam picked up Olga's fallen sword, facing Solidus.

"I'm avenging Olga - "

"No, you're not!" shrieked the two girls.

Solidus' grinned wryly. "You've got your chance to run - take it."

Adam held his head high, refusing to step down. "I won't let you get away with this - "

"You can't beat him, Adam," scathed Clara. "He killed a ninja! How are you to stop him?"

"It's about taking a stand," Adam stepped forward, brandishing the sword. "I'm seeing this through. The rest of you - go on ahead."

Reluctantly, Clara began to climb down, Zoe watching in disbelief. Solidus' accelerator charged, embers still trailing in his wake.

"Bring it!" cried Adam, rushing forward…

THE END