Disclaimer- I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.
Adam woke up for a moment and turned over to see what time it was on his clock. "6:30. I've been out for a while." He thought as he sat up and scratched his head. He yawn and stretched before he got up to walk over to his dresser. He looked at himself in the mirror, his hazel yellow eyes staring right back at him. "How did you do it, Snake? How could you go back to all of that after you left? Why did you keep fighting?" He thought and wondered to himself.
He heard a knock on his door, making him jump before he turned around with his hands raised in defense. He sighed and relaxed his body. "Come in." He said. His door knob turned and Lynn walked in. "Hey, Adam. How are you?" She asked him. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Tired, but I'm doing alright." He answered. She nodded with a smile. "Well, if you want a bite to eat before you head back to bed, every one is waiting for us in the mess hall." She told him. Adam thought about it for a moment before nodding his head. "Yeah, sure. I could eat." He said as he grabbed a shirt and slipped it on while walking out of his bed quarters with Lynn.
He and Lynn made their way to the mess hall and walked in to see it empty except for all their friends sitting at their favorite table. Craig looked up to see them and waved. "Yo, Adam, Lynn! Glad you could make it!" He called out as Adam and Lynn made their way to grab as much food as they could to eat. They both sat down and started eating, but Adam noticed that they were all staring at him while they, too, ate. "What are you guys staring at?" He asked them. "We're staring at you, Adam." Jennifer answered. "Why?" He asked. They all shrugged.
"Normally, you're the one that makes it out just fine from all the combat and weapons tests. But today? You decided to take a dirt nap after the second VR test. Why?" Craig asked him. Everyone nodded, but Adam just shrugged. "I think the question is, why didn't you guys do the same thing?" He countered. Everyone just stared at him then put their heads down. "We couldn't tell you even if we wanted to, Adam. Because we don't know why. We just... I don't think that we can bear to see what happened to Gray Fox again. That was..." Lynn said but then trailed off before Juno finished her sentence for her. "Horrifying." She said as everyone nodded as they all now sat in silence. Until one of the other male cadets spoke. "Well, good riddance, I say. The dude was seriously out of his mind siding with Big Boss anyway. Complete waste of real talent." He said.
Then everyone all shot glares at the cadet. "That's real low, Evan. If anyone of us were in Foxes boots, what would we have done?" Another cadet, Logan, asked him. Evan just chuckled before taking a big, quick, bite out of his meal. "I don't know about the rest of you losers, but I know what I WOULDN'T have done. Not sided with Big Boss, that's what." He said as everyone just kept shooting glares at the cadet.
"You don't know that for sure, Evan." Adam spoke. Everyone just looked at him with curiosity. "Excuse me, Eagles? What did you just say?" Evan asked him. Adam looked up at Evan with a look on his face that told everyone at the table, that the second VR test hit Adam the most emotionally. "I said, you don't know that for sure. Big Boss and Gray Fox may have had their hearts in the right places, but the things they did, were all wrong. You may think that you wouldn't have joined Big Boss if given a choice. You say that NOW, but what about if you were there while they were still alive?" He said to all of them, not just Evan. Everyone sat at the table looking at Adam before putting their heads down to think about it, but Adam and Evan just stared fiercely at each other.
"You can think and say what you want about those men, Evan, but they were both TWICE the soldiers you can ever hope to be. And even if either one of us at this table earns the title of Snake, we can never be like he was. We will have to make a name for ourselves, regardless of who gets the title." Adam declared. This made all the cadets look at Adam, except Evan. He just scoffed and spit on the floor. "Whatever. I'm going to bed. All you idiots can sit around a campfire and hold hands if you want, but keep me out of it." He said with his hands in his pockets as he walked out of the mess hall.
Everyone just looked at him before they went back to finishing their meals. Craig looked at Evans plate and smirked. "Haha, he wants to call us idiots, but the bastard hardly touched his plate." He said as he took the rest of Evans food. Everyone looked at him, annoyed. "Seriously, Craig?" Juno asked him. Craig looked at everyone then laughed. "Haha! Hey. You know how the saying goes. You snooze, you lose." He said while everyone shook their heads and finished their food before turning in for the night to rest up for the next test.
Next Morning...
All the cadets got up the next morning as usual and headed for the test building. They all walked in and sat down in the chairs, waiting for the Sergeant to walk in and escort them to the rooms.
It was deathly silent as they all waited, it was silent with the first two test, but the silence was nothing like it was today. 8 of the cadets were on the verge of hyperventilating, but it took everything they had to keep calm, because when they looked at the other two cadets, Adam and Evan, they saw that they were as calm as they possibly could be. So all the 8 cadets just took in deep breaths and let it out slowly to calm themselves while continued waiting. A few moments later, the Sergeant walked in, but no one got up to salute him. Not even Adam or Evan. He understood why, so he wasn't going to say anything to them about it. But he still had to take them all to their testing rooms. "Alright, I know you all are having a rough week, but you still have to take 3 more tests. So, follow me please." He said as they all stood up and followed him.
Like the past 2 days, Adam walked into a room where he sees a doctor, another female doctor, standing in the room next to a computer and the VR chair. She looks up after she writes on her clipboard. "Adam Eagles?" She asks, offering her hand to shake his. Adam nods. "Yes, ma'am." He answers while taking her hand and shakes it. "Good. Well, you should know the drill by now." She says with a smile while motioning her hand at the VR chair. Adam nods again then sits down in the chair, waiting for the doctor to put on the VR headset and begin the test.
After a few minutes, the headset slowly comes down and hangs just a few inches above Adams head. The doctor puts it on him and adjusts it to make it snug and comfortable for him. Adam, once again, sits and waits in darkness until he felt his mind being pulled into the VR world. Once everything became digitized, he then saw that he is inside a one man SDV, an underwater vehicle that looks just like an underwater missile. "Ok, Shadow Moses Island. Let's do this." Adam thought to himself as he waited and braced himself for the vehicle to launch out of the submarine.
Adam heard mechanical whirring and hums, meaning that the SDV was about to fire. And then, not long after...
BOOM!
The SDV shot out of the submarine and Adam held on for dear life inside the little mini underwater vehicle. "Jesus Christ! Whose bright idea was this?!" He thought to himself as the SDV shot towards it's destination. After a few rough moments, the SDV stopped shaking violently and the ride was going smoothly. Adam then used the SDV's miniature camera to scan everything under the water to pass the time until he got to where he needed to be, until the SDV suddenly bumped into the side of the island and began to sink and flood on the inside.
Adam then pulled a lever to open the hatch, releasing him from the sinking SDV, once out in the open water, Adam watched for a moment as the SDV sank before swimming the rest of the way to the surface. "I better hurry and get out of the water soon, the sneaking suit was designed to prevent hyperthermia, but it can't do that forever under water." Adam thought to himself as he swam to the surface.
Moments later...
Adam continued swimming under the water and found that he had swam into the islands docking area. "Alright, I'm here." He thought as he swam over to the stairs. He hoisted himself up out of the water and took off his flippers but froze when he heard a voice. "Stay alert! He'll be through here. I know it." Adam already knew who the voice belonged to, but he turned around to try and catch a glimpse of the man, but couldn't due to the large cargo containers blocking his view of the elevator. "I'm going to swat down a couple of bothersome flies." He heard the voice again while hearing footsteps walking into the elevator.
The alarm went off, signaling that the elevator was going up to the surface, to the helipad. Adam turned back around and nodded his head before standing up and walked quietly to the large water pump and kneeling behind it. He put his finger up to his ear and activated the codec.
Beep, beep!
"This is Snake. Can you hear me, Colonel?" Adam asked when his call was answered. "Loud and clear. What's the situation, Snake?" The Colonel, Roy Campbell, asked. "The elevator in the back of the docking area is the only way up." Adam answered. Colonel Campbell sighed. "Just as I expected. You'll have to take the elevator to the surface, but make sure nobody sees you. If you need to, contact me by codec. The frequency is 140.85. When you need to use the codec, just press your finger up to your ear. When we need to contact you, the codec will beep. When you hear that noise, press your finger up to your ear to receive the call. The codecs receiver directly stimulates the small bones in your ear. No one but you will be able to hear it." The Colonel informed Adam, who listened intently and nodded his head. "Got it. Alright, I'm ready to go." He answered. "Good luck, Snake." Campbell responded before ending the codec call.
Adam crouched down and crawled underneath the large water pump, and observed the enemy patrols making their routes around the large cargo containers. When he saw an opening to make his way closer to the elevator, he quickly crawled out and made a quick move to silently take out one of the patrols before looking to hide again. He saw a few lockers near the elevator then quickly, but quietly, ran over to them before stepping inside one of them to hide.
Adam wasn't hiding in the locker for very long until he heard the alarm blare again, letting him know that the elevator was coming back down. When the alarm stopped blaring, he peeked out of the lockers slits to see if the coast was clear. An enemy soldier walked into his narrow view, the way to the elevator wasn't clear yet, but Adam didn't have to wait long. The enemy soldier looked right then left before walking down the center of the room to start his own patrol.
Adam made a quick, but silent, rush to the elevator, the elevators gate closed and the alarm blared once again. The snake in training was now on his way to the surface of Shadow Moses Island.
Adam took this time to remove the rest of his scuba gear, leaving just his sneaking suit for the remainder of the mission. The elevator rose above the water, letting Adam know that he wasn't in the docking area anymore, he was outside in the cold, harsh chill of Alaska as the elevator rose higher and closer to the islands helipad. "Alright, Adam. You got this." Adams thought to himself just as the elevator ride now stopped.
Adam looked around to see helicopter blades rotating. He crouched low and made his way behind a stack of small, metal containers. He peeked out from behind his position to see enemy soldiers surrounding the helicopter, protecting it from any potential intruders or enemy forces. He hid back behind cover and pressed his finger up to his ear to make a call.
Beep, beep!
"This is Snake, I'm in front of the disposal facility." He said when the call was answered. "Excellent, Snake! Age hasn't slowed you down one bit." Campbell answered. Adam looked a little annoyed at that comment. "Snake wasn't that old when this incident happened, you old geezer. You want to talk about old though..." He began thinking to himself, but was interrupted when someone cut into the conversation. "How's that sneaking suit working out?" The new voice, Naomi Hunter, asked him. "I'm nice and dry, but it's difficult to move." Adam responded.
"Bear with it. It's designed to prevent hyperthermia. This is Alaska, you know?" Naomi answered, coldly. "Don't sound so harsh, Naomi, I'm grateful. If it hadn't been for this suit or your shot, I would've turned into a popsicle out here." He answered. "An anti-freezing peptide, Snake. All of the genome soldiers in this exercise are using it." Naomi said with a smile, though Adam couldn't see it. "I gotcha, I'm actually relieved to hear that. It's already been tested, huh? By the way, how's the diversionary operation going?" Adam asked.
"Two F-16's just took off from Galena and are headed your way. The terrorists radar should've already picked them up." The Colonel pitched in and told Adam, who cautiously peeked his head out from behind the stack of metal containers. He then saw the type of helicopter that was sitting on the helipad, he also saw Liquid Snake stepping inside of the cockpit. "A Hind-D? Colonel, what's a Russian gunship doing here on the island?" He asked. "I have no idea, but it looks like our little diversion got their attention." The old man answered as Adam watched the chopper rise into the air before it flew away from the island. "Now's your best chance to slip in unnoticed. There are only 18 hours left until their deadline. You have to hurry." Colonel said with angst. "Wow, he must be crazy to fly a Hind in this kind of weather." A young female voice pitched in.
"Who's that, Colonel?" Adam asked, although he already knew who it was. "Oh, sorry, I haven't introduced you two yet. This is Mei Ling. She was assigned to us as our visual and data processing specialist. She designed your codec, as well as your soliton radar system. Contact her if you have any questions about either of them." The man answered before Adam heard a giggle. "Nice to meet you, Snake. It's an honor to speak to a living legend like yourself." Mei Ling spoke to Adam, but Adam didn't respond.
"What's wrong?" She asked. "Nothing. I just didn't expect a world class designer of military technology to be so... young and cute." Adam admitted. Mei Ling giggled. "You're just flattering me." She said with a smile. "I'm serious, Mei Ling. At least I know I won't be bored for the next 18 hours." He said with a smirk. "I'm hitting on a virtual model of a woman from the past. I'm actually ashamed of myself." Adam thought. Mei Ling gasped. "What's this? I'm being hit on by the famous Solid Snake? But, really, I'm surprised. You're very frank for a trained killer." She said.
"I guess we both have a lot to learn about each other, Mei Ling." Adam smirked. "Indeed. I'm looking forward to knowing more about the man behind the legend. But, first, let me explain about your soliton radar system." She said before explaining. Adam lifted up his left wrist to look at what looked like a watch with a miniature screen that was the soliton radar system. "The bright dot in the middle is you, Snake. The red dots are your enemies, and the blue cone shape represents their field of vision." Mei Ling began before Naomi spoke. "But be careful, Snake, the genome soldiers have heightened developed senses of hearing and vision due to their gene therapy. Make sure you DON'T let them see you." She said.
Then the Colonel began to speak. "First, I want you to infiltrate the disposal site and locate the DARPA Chief." He ordered. "The DARPA Chief was injected with the same GPS transmitting nano-machines as you." Naomi added. "He should appear on your radar as a green dot." Mei Ling also added. "Get whatever information you can from him about the terrorists. If he's alive that is." Campbell finished.
"Snake, your radar isn't affected by the weather, but if you are discovered by an enemy you won't be able to use it." Mei Ling continued. "Yes, it gets jammed easily I'm afraid." Campbell said, slightly frustrated about the radar. "Yes. It's all made from currently existing technology. You won't be able to use it in an area with strong harmonic resonance. So be careful." She finished. "We'll be monitoring your movements by radar. So contact us by codec anytime you want." Campbell spoke after Mei Ling.
Adam nodded. "Right. I'll call if I feel lonely." He said with a chuckle. Naomi sighed. "Seriously, Snake. We're here to back you up, so call if you need information or advice." She said before Mei Ling chimed in again. "I'm also in charge of your mission data. Contact me if you ever want me to record your current mission status. My frequency is 140. 96. It's a dedicated frequency for saving data. Don't forget it." She informed Adam with a wink, though Adam couldn't see it.
"Also remember, except for your binoculars you're naked. You need to arm yourself with whatever weapons you can find." Campbell once again ordered. Adam had to think for a moment about what his response would be before he answered. "I wouldn't have to if I hadn't been strip searched by Dr. Naomi here and have all my weapons taken away. Imagine yourself in that position Colonel." Adam responded.
"Well, maybe if you make it back in one piece, I'll let you do a strip search on me." Naomi tried to flirt, but Adam could hear that her voice didn't match the tone. "I think I'll pass Doctor. You're not exactly my type anyway. And I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I did manage to smuggle out my smokes." Adam admitted, although he doesn't smoke. He then heard Naomi silently gasp. "And how did you do that?" She asked him. He smirked. "In my stomach. Thanks to that shot you gave me that suppressed my stomach acids." He admitted.
"Cigarettes? How are those going to help you?" Mei Ling asked. Adam chuckled. You never know." He said as he pulled out his binoculars and cautiously peeked his head out from behind the metal containers. "If want to get in, there's the front door. It's the fastest way, but there's too much risk of being spotted by the enemy." Campbell said as Adam looked at the hanger door with the binoculars. "Yeah, I can't just walk up to it, knock on the door and ask them to let me in." He said as he looked to his left then right. "There's one sentry on the left, and another on the right." He then looked at their gear. "Their armed with five five sixers and pineapples." He informed.
"What about the air duct near the door?" Campbell asked. Adam looked back to the left of the heliport to see a soldier standing in front of an air duct under a security camera. "That could work, but it's also a risky move because of the security camera." Adam admitted. "There should also be a second duct on the second floor." Campbell informed. Adam looked up to the second floor and tried to find it, but shook his head. "I can't see it from where I am, Colonel." He said.
"I'll let you decide the best COA. I'm counting on you, Snake." Campbell said as Adam put away his binoculars.
He stood up and silently snuck past the enemy soldiers and their security cameras to make his way up to the second floor of the disposal facility to find the second air duct. Once he found it, he quickly and quietly crawled inside of it to make his way inside the facility.
As he crawled through the ventilation system he heard a conversation between two enemy soldiers, so he stopped and kept quiet to listen in. "I moved the DARPA Chief to the cell in the first floor basement." One of the soldiers said. "What about the vent shaft cleaning?" The other asked. "Oh, they just opened the vent covers, they're about to start spraying for rats." The soldier answered. "Also keep your eye on that woman in the cell. Don't get careless now." He finished. Adam narrowed his eyes. "Woman in the cell? That's probably Meryl he's talking about." He thought as the two soldiers walked away to continue their patrol.
Adam continued to move through the ventilation system until he found a ladder to climb down into the hanger. Once he climbed down he crouched down to try avoid being seen for the moment. He took note of all the enemy patrols in the hanger, once he counted how many there were, he jumped over the railing, landed on his feet and silently made his way over to the elevator. He rapidly pressed the button to get it open before someone spotted him.
When it finally arrived, he got inside it and pressed the button for the first floor basement.
After the short elevator ride he slowly walked into the room before he looked at his his wrist, that had the soliton radar, to see a big green dot to the left of him. He looked at the wall before he made his way down the hallway. He stopped and looked at the door, but it won't open for him anyway, as he currently doesn't have a Level 1 security card. He continued to walk down the hallway to and turned left to find a ladder leading back up into the ventilation system.
Adam sighed. "Well, this is a dirty job after all." He thinks to himself as he climbs up the ladder. Once he's back up in the vents, he uses the radar to maneuver his way to the DARPA Chiefs cell. A few minutes later, he reaches an air duct with an opening, he looks down to see a young woman with red hair exercising in the cell. "It's Meryl, but I need to reach the Chief." He thinks before he continues crawling to the second air duct.
Once he does, he looks down into the cell to see the man sitting on the bed. Adam then takes out the screws holding down the opening. The Chief, hearing the noise, looks up at the ceiling and stands up to back away to see Adam lowering himself into the cell. "Who-who's that?" He asks. Adam drops down and lands on his feet before looking at the Chief. He stands up slowly and raises his hands to show that he isn't a threat. "I'm here to save you. You're the DARPA Chief, Donald Anderson, aren't you?" He asks him.
The Chief, still backing away, looks at Adam suspiciously. "You're here to save me, huh? What's your- what's your- what's your- what's your- what's your- " He says over and over again before he freezes. Adam narrows his eyes. "What the hell? Is there a bug with the programming?" He thinks before the Chief suddenly disappears. Adam stood in silence in the virtual cell for a few moments.
"Well, that's great. There's a problem with the program and I'm stuck in here with no way out." He thinks in frustration before the virtual world suddenly throws him into darkness. Adam feels himself falling, but he doesn't know where he'll end up until suddenly he lands hard on his back. He groans as he turns over on his stomach to watch the new area around him taking form.
Adam doesn't recognize the area at first, but once he looks up to the two twin radio towers, he instantly knew where he was. "I'm in the snow field where Snake fought Sniper Wolf the second time, but this isn't right. I'm here too early. What the hell is going on here?" He asks himself as he turned in all directions to get a grasp on his current situation.
It was only a few minutes that he was brought to this area until he saw a pair of glowing pale green eyes in the distance of the field. "What the hell?" He thinks as the roar of the snow storm engulfed his ears. Then another set of glowing eyes appeared in the distance. Then another and another. Four sets of glowing eyes were now staring at Adam.
Then, over the roar of the storm, he could hear hissing. And since Adam was the only one out in the open of the field, it was clear that, whatever those things were, they were hissing at him before the eyes suddenly disappeared and he could hear the hissing all around him.
Adam looked all around him in the snow storm to see what these things were, but all he could see was glimpses of what appeared to be shadow figures that moved super fast. And every time he tried to see who or what he was up against, they would disappear in a quick flash before he could even see them.
"How on earth can I fight something I can't even see?!" He thinks himself before one of the creatures suddenly stood in front of him. It was clearly a male, and it's skin was very pale. It had no hair anywhere on it's body, it wore what looked like a mix between a muscle suit and a stealth suit. It also wore some type of mask, either to help it breathe or keep it from breathing on anyone, but it's most disturbing feature was it's eyes. Glowing pale green eyes glaring at Adam.
It's glare sent a chill down Adam's spine. "Wha- what the hell are you?" He asked, but he wasn't expecting an answer. "We..." It started to speak, making Adam freeze. "are... the... Skulls..." It answered before pushing Adam, making him fly across the air before he crashed against the wall.
Adam looked up to see the other three "Skulls" walking towards him. All glaring at him. Adam normally was not one to panic, but he was fighting an enemy that he doesn't even know about. And he wasn't even sure if they were real or not.
"SOMEBODY GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!" He shouts into the storm as the Skulls continued their walk towards their prey.
