Chapter 2
September 23rd, 10:27 p.m.: Somewhere in Chernobyl.
"It's not normal for a wound that serious to heal so quickly. What exactly are you, and who are you working for?" Snake asked Morrigan.
"For now, lets just say I'm...different. And I'm here on my own, for personal reasons." she answered.
"You're here with no support or back up? How the hell did you get this far?" he asked.
"As I said, I'm different. Now, what kind of ammunition do you have on you?" she responded. Snake frowned.
"Barely enough for a firefight, why does that matter?" he inquired.
"Because, if they aren't silver like the ones I gave you, they won't help you much. Here." she answered. She then pulled three clips of silver .357 ammo from a small pack strapped to her thigh, and handed them to Snake.
"Silver?" Snake said. Before he could ask more, the codec in his ear started to ring. He grumbled, then answered it.
"Snake, I've found an alternate route to the stockade, but it's somewhat lengthy, you'll have to use the underground tunnel system. I'm sending directions to your soliton radar. There are a lot of interconnecting paths, so be sure to follow the directions down to the letter." Otacon said.
"Understood. I've met up with another infiltrator, a woman. She claims she has no support, and she mentioned Dimitri. Apparently his last name is Maximov." Snake responded.
"Maximov, huh. I'll start searching." Otacon said.
"Also, look up the name Morrigan Aensland, that's what the woman called herself." Snake continued.
"Alright. Be careful Snake." Otacon said, then ended the transmission.
"I'm assuming that was your support." Morrigan said.
"In a way. I'm going to grab a few more supplies here, then head to my next destination." Snake said. He then started to look around for anything that could be of use.
"Well, I'm going to follow you, and even though I don't look it, I'm quite experienced in battle." Morrigan responded.
"Then what what happened earlier with Romulus?" Snake asked.
"He was much faster than I expected." Morrigan said flatly.
"Right. Lets get going then." Snake said.
September 20th, 2011, 7:32 a.m.: Glasgow, UK.
On a somewhat empty street, a young girl, who appeared to be in her early teens, was walking alone. She yawned, and then stretched. There was then a muffled sound, like a rock song. The girl opened her book bag and pulled out a cellphone, then answered it.
"Hey sis. No, I don't think I'll be late." The girl said in a slight Scottish accent. A small bit of hair fell in front of her eyes, and she brushed the lavender lock aside. "Yeah, sure, I can get that after school. Is there anyth..." the girl said, then dropped her cellphone. She then crumpled to the ground, a dart sticking out of her neck. A black van pulled up next to the girl, and the door slid open. She was then quickly pulled into the van by a man wearing all black, while another man in similar garb left a sealed envelope in her book bag that was left on the ground. The van then sped off, and all was quiet, except for the faint sound of a voice emanating from the cellphone.
"...ly, what happened? Are you ok? Lily!?!"
September 23rd, 2011, 10:36 p.m.: Somewhere in Chernobyl.
Snake and Morrigan slowly made their way through the tunnel system, sneaking past the few small guards they encountered. After a while, Snake's codec started to ring again. He signaled to Morrigan to stop, and he answered the call.
"Snake, I have some information on the names you gave me." Otacon said.
"Alright, what have you found?" Snake asked.
"Well, the only records I found on a Dimitri Maximov are a man by the same name during the late 1400's. He was a nobleman in Wallachia, which is present Romania. It says that he fled to the British Isles, but was driven away by Scottish fighters, led by a man named Meterbuchus. When he returned to Wallachia, he tried to start an uprising against Vlad Tepes, which ultimately failed. It then says that he disappeared in the forests, swearing revenge." Otacon explained.
"And how does that history lesson apply to this situation?" Snake asked.
"I'm not finished yet, Snake. I also looked up the name of the woman. I only found basic records, birth certificate, diploma, etcetera. She's apparently highly skilled in hand to hand fighting. An odd thing though, she had no medical records, other than her birth certificate of course." Otacon said.
"The knife wound..." Snake said quietly.
"Huh? What was that, Snake?" Otacon asked.
"Oh, nothing, continue." Snake responded.
"Okay. Anyway, I found more hits on the Aensland name. Her father was a man named Belial, he passed away about two years ago. He was an influential, but somewhat unknown politician in British Parliament. Focused mainly on defense issues, environment cases, and preservation of ancient ruins. Not much is said on his death, but there are rumors that he was assassinated. Here's the odd thing though, when I searched for more information on Belial, I found that the name was used once before in history. Remember the Scottish fighter I mentioned earlier, Meterbuchus?" Otacon asked.
"Yeah, why?" Snake responded.
"His full name was Meterbuchus Belial Aensland."Otacon said. Snake looked over at Morrigan, who was keeping watch for roaming guards.
"What the hell?" Snake said under his breath. Morrigan looked back at him.
"It looks clear, for now at least. We really should get moving." she said. Snake nodded.
"Otacon, if you find anything else keep me updated." he said.
"Right Snake. Also, try not to mention anything I said. I know the info is a little odd, but we need to keep a lid on it for now." Otacon said, and ended the transmission. The two started to move through the tunnels once again, though now at a more relaxed, yet observant pace.
"I've been wondering, why will only silver bullets work? This is a terrorist movement, not some Hollywood horror superstition." Snake inquired. Morrigan frowned slightly.
"...There is a lot more going on here then you realize, Snake. Tell me, what do you know about vampires, werewolves, and other creatures?" Morrigan responded a few moments later. Snake chuckled.
"You honestly believe in that? It makes for a good story, and that's all it is. Only a fool would believe in those things." Snake said. Morrigan frowned again, and looked down.
"Tell me then, what's your reason for Romulus catching on fire as he died?" Morrigan asked.
"He most likely had a flammable weapon with him, like an incendiary grenade." Snake explained. Morrigan sighed, and was about to reply, when she suddenly stopped. Snake stopped as well. There were the faint sounds of voices echoing in the distance. The two slowly and quietly moved forward, listening intently. Eventually, they came to a T-junction in the tunnel. The origin of the voices was coming from the right path. Snake pressed up against the wall, and moved silently to the edge. Carefully looking around the corner, he spotted four guards. Two were moving quite oddly, slowly shuffling from one end of the room to the other, while slouched over. The other two were standing by a door, engrossed in a casual conversation. Snake moved back, and signaled to Morrigan. He first pointed at his eyes, then pointed his thumb toward the direction of the guards, then held up four fingers. Morrigan nodded. She silently moved to the edge, and took a look for herself. She instantly moved back.
"Shit!" she said quietly.
"What's the problem?" Snake asked.
"The two that are talking are vampires. The other two are ghouls. If we don't do something quickly, the ghouls will sniff us out, and we'll have a major problem on our hands." she said quickly. Snake gave her a blank stare. "Fine! Don't believe me. Regardless, we need to take them out before..." Morrigan started to say. Instead, she was interrupted by a very loud and inhuman scream.
"Looks like we may have something, could be another rat." One of the guards said.
"Quick, we need to find cover!" Morrigan said. The two looked around, and saw a large pair of crates on the left side of the tunnel. They quickly moved behind the crates, and waited. Morrigan unholstered her pistol, a Beretta 8357 Cougar. Snake shook his head and mouthed 'No', but she merely scoffed. She looked over the crates, and as soon as the guard was in sight, opened fire. She missed, and the guard quickly moved back behind the wall.
"Intruders!" He yelled. He then leaned around the corner and fired his assault rifle. Snake popped out from cover and fired two rounds, one round hitting the wall, the other hitting the guard's hand, and promptly ducked back down. The guard cried out in pain, and moved back into cover. "Send the damn ghouls out, NOW!" The guard yelled. There was a loud shuffling sound, and the two odd acting guards stood in the middle of the T-Junction, firing at the crates. Morrigan popped out from the side of the crate, and fired. She managed to hit both of the guards in the knees, and they dropped to the ground. Only making an odd moaning sound, the two guards started to crawl towards the crates. Snake popped up from his cover again, and fired at the crawling guards. The other two guards started blind fire around the wall, and Snake ducked again. The injured guard poked his head out to get a better shot, and was instantly dropped from a shot by Morrigan. There was a loud yell, and the other guard ran out from cover. In a blink of an eye, the guard jumped on top of the crates and aimed down. Snake was startled at the speed of the guard, and quickly fired off a few rounds at the guard's torso. Suddenly, there was an odd sound, not unlike the sound a blade makes when cutting through the air. Immediately, the guard collapsed into dust. Snake's eyes widened, and he looked over at Morrigan. Protruding outwards from her back was a large pair of black bat wings, and a smaller pair protruded from her head. The ends of the large wings shined, and partially had the appearance of a metal blade. The look didn't last long, as they changed, and appeared like the rest of the wing. The wings slowly folded down behind Morrigan, as the small wings in her head flapped slowly. Snake immediately pointed his SIG at her.
"What the hell is going on here?!?" Snake yelled. Morrigan sighed.
"I told you I was different, Snake..."
September 20th, 2011, 7:40 a.m.: Glasgow, UK.
A blue colored mini-cooper sped down an empty road. It suddenly screeched to a stop, and the door flew open. Morrigan stepped out, and ran up to a book bag and a cell phone that had been left lying on the sidewalk. She picked both of them up, and ran back to the mini-cooper. Visibly stressed, she set the bag in the passenger seat, and opened it. Inside was a set of school books, and a sealed envelope. She took the envelope, examined it for a second, and ripped it open.
"To the politician's whore of a daughter that his concerns,
It must be rather hard, juggling the responsibilities as an older sister and as a ruling force in the realm of Makai. Therefore, I'm giving you an offer. Step down as Ruler of Makai, and I shall take your place. To make your decision easier, your sister's life is in my hands. Send your response to Prypiat, sometime in the next two weeks. Failure to comply within the two weeks time, and I'll send your sister's head to you, and take over Makai by force. Do not be fooled, I do have the resources necessary to assist me.
Dearly yours,
Dimitri Maximov"
"That fucking insignificant little prick!" Morrigan yelled out, crumpling the letter. She started to pound on the steering wheel of the mini-cooper while yelling, and after a few minutes, started to calm herself with deep breaths. She then pulled out a cellphone, and started dialing. "Hey, it's me." Morrigan said after a few moments. "Sorry, I'm not calling to talk, something bad just came up, and I need your help. That bastard Dimitri just kidnapped my sister, and is threatening to kill her if I don't give into his demands. No, we can't just run in foolishly, that'll just get us killed, and I know your sister will agree with me. I just need your help finding out what Dimitri has up his sleeve, and getting the right supplies to deal with it. Alright, thank you Lei-Lei..."
September 23rd, 2011, 10:42 p.m.: Somewhere in Chernobyl.
"What the hell exactly are you?!?" Snake yelled, still pointing his SIG at Morrigan.
"Listen, if I was going to harm you in someway, I would have done it a while ago, so could you please put your gun down? I'll explain everything." Morrigan said. Snake stared at her for a few moments, then lowered his SIG, though he kept it out, just in case. "As you can see, I'm not a normal person. I'm a demon, a succubus." Morrigan started.
"If you're a demon, then why should I be trusting you in the first place?" Snake growled.
"I'm not evil, if that's what you think. Demons are just like normal human beings, there are those who are good, and those who are not. Unfortunately, you only hear about the bad ones doing something, so it's given us a bad name." Morrigan answered. Snake merely scoffed. "Regardless, my reason for being here is still the same as yours, but for a different purpose." she continued. She then sat on the ground, and sighed. "You see, Dimitri has my sister hostage, and he plans to kill her if I don't give in to his demands."
"And those would be?" Snake asked.
"He wants to rule Makai, the world of demons and other creatures. With my father gone, I have stepped into his place to keep order there, though Dimitri believes he should be the one in control. It wouldn't be the first time the arrogant bastard has tried to take over, though this time he actually stands a good chance of succeeding." Morrigan continued. "Though he doesn't plan to stop there. With the help of a few friends of mine, we found that he has been working for a group, and will rule Earth under their orders. All we know about this group is their name, the La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo."
"The Patriots? So they are involved." Snake said.
"Is that their real name?" Morrigan asked.
"Yeah, we've been dealing with them for a while." Snake said. He then put his hand to his ear. "Have you been getting any of this, Otacon?" Snake asked a few seconds later.
"I've been keeping track for a while now. I don't know what to think of it." Otacon responded.
"I'm still having trouble believing all of it." Snake said.
"It will be a while before you get used to it. Most people would panic and do something stupid." Morrigan said.
"So I guess you were right about the guards, and Romulus." Snake said.
"Sort of. The guards are vampires, there is just something...odd...about them. They're too weak, it's like they don't know their full potential." Morrigan said.
"What I want to know is how Dimitri took this place over without the Ukrainian government finding out." Snake inquired.
"I can guarantee he's been there much longer than you think, my boy." Macmillan said over the codec.
"What are you talking about?" Otacon asked.
"You forget, I've been to Chernobyl before..."
November 6th, 1992, Noon: Somewhere in Chernobyl.
While I was officially part of the S.A.S., myself, along with Leftenant Price, had been given a black ops assignment, to eliminate a man by the name of Imran Zakhaev. We were told he had planned a meeting, to profit from left over nuclear waste. We thought it was a standard job, but things turned strange during our hike to the target location...
"...too much radiation, we'll have to go around." Macmillan said. He was laying down amongst the weeds and dead grass, perfectly camouflaged, thanks to the ghillie suit the S.A.S. had provided him. A few feet behind him was Leftenant Price, also wearing a ghillie suit.
"Then where do we go?" Price asked.
"We'll cut around these abandoned buildings, but we are going to encounter more guards patrolling the area. We should be alright though, we're practically invisible in our ghillie suits." Macmillan said. He stood up, and moved slowly over to decaying sheet metal shed. "Stay low, and follow me. Don't wander off, there are pockets of radiation all over the place, absorb too much and you're a dead man."
"Understood." Price answered, and moved behind Macmillan.
"Stand by." Macmillan said. He then moved through the shed, and Price waited. "Contact, two of them, dead ahead." Macmillan said. Price moved through the shed, and crouched behind him. About fifty yards ahead was an old house with a moderately sized stable nearby, with two guards patrolling in front of it. Macmillan inched forward slowly. "Take one out when the other's not looking." Macmillan ordered. Price nodded, and waited for a few moments. Once he had the opportunity, he fired, taking out the leftmost guard with a shot to the temple. "He's down." Macmillan said. A few seconds later, he fired at the other guard. "Good night."
"If this is all we're dealing with, we should be find." Price said. Macmillan shrugged, and headed toward the stable.
"Move." He said. Price followed behind, and the both crouched outside. Macmillan looked inside the stable, then back at Price. "We'll have more cover if we move around. Let's go." he said. The two moved around the stable, and ended up under a window at the house. Macmillan cautiously peeked inside. "Four tangos inside. Kind of an odd time to be drinking red wine, comrades." Macmillan said. Price pulled out his pistol, but Macmillan shook his hand at him. "Don't even think about it, lets just leave them." Price nodded, and the two slowly moved down the side of the house. A lone guard was walking between the house and a broken down car. "Tango by the car." Macmillan said quietly. Price took aim with his rifle, and shot the guard through the neck. A few moments later Macmillan ran up behind the car, with Price following slowly behind. Eventually, they made it to a small group of trees near a church. Macmillan held his hand up and slowly crouched. "Don't move." he said quietly.
"Tangos?" Price asked.
"Yeah, one to the north, and one in the church tower." Macmillan answered. "You take care of the tower, I'll get the one on the ground." Price took aim again, and shot the tower guard through the eye. At the same time, Macmillan took out the other guard, with a shot between the eyes.
"Perfect." Price said, and the two moved into the church. Macmillan quickly looked around inside. Near the tower ladder was a large metal crate. Macmillan cautiously moved up and inspected it.
"Looks like more ammo for our rifles. But why silver of all things?" Macmillan said. He then shook his head. "Doesn't matter, stock up what you can." Macmillan opened a couple of pouches in his suit, and put a few clips of ammo in. Price followed suit, and the two were outside once again. After moving a few yards from the church, there was a low rumble echoing through the air.
"Do you hear that?" Price asked.
"Yeah, get in the shadows, it's a helicopter." Macmillan answered. The two laid down, and stayed in the small shadow of a nearby wall. A few moments later the helicopter passed over head, and the two continued onward, into a field.
"Think that's the end of our troubles?" Price asked.
"Spoke to soon, lad, look ahead." Macmillan said, then immediately went prone. Up ahead was a large number of soldiers, and a few tanks, slowly moving through the field. Price followed suit, and laid down right behind Macmillan. "Now there's too many of them, we'll have to avoid them. Try to anticipate their paths, and if you have to move, do it very slowly." Macmillan said. They both waited, shifting slightly as a soldier moved too close. After what felt like an eternity, the squadron had left, and the two were able to move ahead. Not far from the field was small gathering of wrecked vehicles and train cars. There were two guards looking around, and another two throwing bodies from a large truck into some water. "Looks like they took care of a few that couldn't be bought out. If we do this smart, we can take them all out, but you need to fire on my mark. Understood?" Macmillan stated. Price nodded, and the two took aim. "Three...two..." Macmillan started. Suddenly, one of the guards disposing of bodies yelled out, and grabbed a body from pile. It was a man who was still alive, though bleeding from a small cut on his forehead. The other guard smiled, and mumbled something. The two guards restrained the man, and to Macmillan and Price's horror, bit into his neck. A few minutes later, the guards threw the body into the water, blood staining their faces.
"What the fuck?" Price said, breaking the silence.
"I don't know, just kill them." Macmillan said. They both fired at the guards, striking them in the head, and shot the other two standing watch. However, the guards got back up, and started yelling. Macmillan and Price moved behind a wrecked car as bullets showered around them.
"What the hell are these guys?" Macmillan yelled, and fired more rounds at them. Price reloaded his rifle, and fired at one of the guards running towards their location. He managed to get a chest shot, and the guard collapsed into dust. Price, wide eyed and stunned, removed the clip and checked the ammo. It was the silver bullets they had grabbed earlier.
"Captain, use the ammo we just got!" Price yelled. Macmillan nodded, and reloaded his rifle. A few shots later, and the other three guards had collapsed into large piles of dust...
...even with that horrific situation, we managed to focus on our mission, and finally made it to our sniping location. Since the meeting wouldn't occur for two more days, we waited, and discussed what had happened. Even though we had a tough time believing it ourselves, we came to the conclusion that we were dealing with vampires, or something very similar. We were able to get radio contact with our support, and debriefed them. We thought we were going to be the laughing stock of the S.A.S., but they took us seriously, and told us to continue the mission. We did, and the next day, Price managed to blow off Zakhaev's arm. Unfortunately we were spotted, and started to run for our lives. Price managed to take down a helicopter with a round from his sniper, but the damn thing messed up my leg when it crashed. Broken, but not finished, we finally made it to the landing zone. That ammo we picked up came quite handy, we were taking the bastards out right up until our helicopter landed. Once we returned to England, we were brought in front of our commanding officer, and a strange man from some other department named Arthur. Once giving them the full debrief, we were ordered to stay silent. I started drinking that same day as well...
Authors Note: Finally managed to finish this chapter, I had to put it on the back burner due to some projects at college. Hope you guys enjoyed it though!
Authors Note 2: A few days after I posted this, I realized I had a continuity error. Fixed it, though i'm not sure if anyone noticed it, lol.