A Quiet Interruption
A few weeks had passed to allow Jonathan time to continue using his prosthetic arm. Among light physical training and firearms practice, he also had considerable time spent on normal tasks like holding fragile objects with his new limb to relearn gripping them with appropriate strengths. However, it had not stopped Ocelot from tossing him back out into the field for another assignment. Now sat in the back of the helicopter once more, Jonathan was watching the scenery pass by below him. The assignment he'd been provided was simple, according to Ocelot. He was to be dropped off near a road that was to be the route for a Soviet convoy. Jonathan was to ambush it to assassinate a high ranking officer that would be part of the convoy.
Jonathan began sifting through the equipment on board the helicopter to select his weapons. Aware of the need to remain at a distance, he put a rocket launcher to one side so that he could take it with him once he landed. He also picked out a sniper rifle and a Wu tranquilliser pistol so that he was capable of protecting himself if anything was to go wrong. Satisfied that his choice of guns would meet any requirement during the assignment, Jonathan tidied away the weapons he had not chosen and then approached the cockpit to talk to the pilot.
"How long until we reach the LZ?" Jonathan rumbled, his vocal chords straining to imitate the person he was pretending to be. The pilot silently raised his fist and let four fingers stretch out. Guessing that the time was four minutes, Jonathan opened his mouth to thank the pilot, but was cut off as the sound of shattering glass echoed round the confines of the helicopter. Shards of glass peppered him while the pilot slumped forward limply. Jonathan pulled the pilot back up to check whether he was okay, but was shocked to find that his face was covered in blood. The pilot had been shot, the wound that was inflicted clearly fatal due to the hole that had been neatly drilled through his forehead by the bullet. Jonathan let the corpse slump again as the helicopter began to roll to the right. As his balance was undermined, Jonathan yelped as he fell towards the side of the helicopter and landed against the side door with a loud thud.
"Ocelot!" Jonathan yelled into his earpiece. "The pilot's dead. He was shot while flying me to the LZ!"
"What!?" Ocelot asked in shock. "Are you sure?"
"He has a hole in his forehead! Of course I'm bloody sure!"
"It must be her."
"Her!?"
"Quiet."
Jonathan's blood froze at the name. The sniper that was tasked to eliminate Big Boss had finally struck. However, Jonathan's moment of fear was ended abruptly as the helicopter continued to roll and made him fall to the ceiling. Cursing in discomfort, Jonathan grabbed hold of the door handle and pulled on it with all his strength. The side door slowly opened to show the scenery barrelling towards them as the helicopter spiralled out of the sky. The spinning was beginning to make Jonathan nauseous as he held onto the door frame in preparation to throw himself out of the helicopter. If he remained, he was bound to die when the helicopter hit the ground, but if he threw himself out, he had a slim chance, in his mind, of surviving.
After muttering a desperate prayer, Jonathan launched himself out of the aircraft. His fall was brief and his landing was painful as his body impacted against solid rock. He had landed upon the edge of a cliff, while the helicopter continued its descent to the valley below. Jonathan lay in agony, his torso and arms aching, while his combat fatigues were badly scuffed from landing on rock. Groaning, Jonathan rolled over onto his side and gently began to feel his torso with the intent to see if he'd broken any bones. His examination yielded the information that his torso was fine and his left arm would have been fractured beyond repair if it hadn't been made of metal. Jonathan murmured a silent thank you for his stroke of luck and awarded himself a few minutes to let the pain from the bumps and bruises he'd sustained ebb away.
"Ocelot." He whispered while resting. "I jumped from the helicopter. I'm all shook up, but nothing badly damaged."
"That's amazing!" Ocelot remarked. "Do you know where you are?"
"Some kind of cliff." Jonathan began, but was cut off when a loud explosion signalled that the helicopter had finally crashed. Jonathan peeped over the edge of the cliff to confirm this before continuing to report to Ocelot.
"Cliff." He repeated. "Other than that, I've no idea."
"I'll see what I can do to evacuate you from the area. Stay in the immediate area of the crash site and await further instructions."
"What about Quiet?"
"Pray that she thinks you died in the crash."
"Thanks for the optimism." Jonathan replied with a roll of his eyes, while Ocelot merely chuckled before cutting the connection. After the aches and pains had begun to subside, Jonathan picked himself up and glanced around. The surrounding area was nothing but sand and rock without end, except for one site that caught Jonathan's eye. Near to his current position was a ruin crafted from sandstone. What it previously was before becoming a derelict site was impossible for Jonathan to determine, but it was obvious that it was some form of building. After informing Ocelot of the landmark, he began to walk towards it.
Five minutes past of complete silence as Jonathan concentrated on getting to the landmark. His hope was that since it was a stark contrast to just sand, it would be much easier for the rescue helicopter to find from above. It became apparent that the structure he'd spotted was part of a much larger collection of ruins. Jonathan swiftly concluded that it must be a settlement, long since deserted, as he approached a large stone arch that separated him from a basin in the rock that comprised the surrounding landscape. Within the basin was scores of more ruins, not as prominent as the first structure he'd seen, but confirming his observations and conclusions nonetheless.
Taking a moment to admire the scenery, Jonathan's gaze settled upon a large arch that had stairs leading up to it on the far side of the settlement. A truly magnificent structure, even in its current state. Jonathan whistled in appreciation of the architecture, but was suddenly distracted when a glint of the sun reflecting off a reflective surface began to appear on top of the arch. Tilting his head, Jonathan watched it silently as he considered what the phenomena was.
Suddenly, his eyes widened as he remembered that he was not alone. There was a sniper with powers beyond that of a human looking for him. Snipers have rifles with telescopic sights, which are made of glass. Glass reflects light.
"Shit!" He yelped as he dived to the right. As his feet left the ground, the loud crack of a solitary gunshot echoed round the basin, followed by the soft thud as the bullet hit the stone arch he'd passed under. Jonathan landed moments later, his body complaining as his already present bruises were aggravated by the sudden impact. Hissing in anguish, Jonathan scuttled behind a nearby rock and tapped his earpiece.
"I found Quiet." He reported. "She just took a shot at me."
"Are you hit?" An unfamiliar voice asked, causing Jonathan to mentally scold himself for not imitating Big Boss.
"No, I was lucky enough to dive out of the way." He grumbled back, swiftly slipping into character as best as he could.
"Drop the bullshit. It's Miller speaking." Miller replied acidly. Jonathan gave a sigh of relief, his charade safe for now.
"What do I do?" Jonathan asked while looking through what few belongings he had. "I wasn't able to take my firearms with me during the crash. I've only got my tranquillizer gun."
"Running would be a good option."
Jonathan deadpanned and rolled his eyes at the idea. Past experience had resulted in him losing an arm, he had no intention of repeating his mistake and getting a much more fatal result.
"You mean the best out of crap ones?" Jonathan asked sarcastically. "Quiet has a rifle that can kill people and has powers that gods would be jealous of. I have a tranquilliser gun."
"And what do you suggest?" Miller snarled. "Taking her on?"
"Do I have a choice?"
Silence fell, Jonathan smirked for a moment as he realised that his radical suggestion had surprised Miller. In Miller's eyes, Jonathan was a waste of skin that looked slightly like Big Boss, a tool that would be discarded as soon as the real article had recovered. However, the aforementioned waste of skin had suggested taking on a super soldier and probably die in a blaze of glory in the wastelands of Afghanistan.
"Ocelot." Jonathan said quietly. "I need advice. How do I go about doing this?"
"You're going to try?"
"I tried running from The Skulls before." Jonathan explained. "I lost an arm that way. I might as well take my chances, if I fail, Miller won't have to be such a whiny bitch anymore."
Ocelot chuckled softly at the jab at Miller before humming in thought.
"Not much you can do here." Ocelot mused. "Counter-sniper tactics don't exist for an unarmed man out in the open. Breaking cover will reveal your position, but staying in cover will force the sniper to relocate. It's pretty much impossible."
"Well, that's helpful." Jonathan replied a sigh. "It'd be a miracle if I could get a proper gun."
"That can be arranged."
"Excuse me?" Jonathan asked in surprise. "I can get a gun?"
"Sure." Ocelot explained. "We have helicopters or planes that can airdrop you supplies."
"And you're only telling me this now!?"
"You never asked."
Jonathan's temple throbbed in rage, but swiftly calmed down as he realised that being angry at Ocelot was not the priority. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, he reasserted control over his emotions and calmly placed his order.
"I want an assault rifle and a sniper rifle." He asked politely. "A new arm, ticket out of this mess and a replacement eye too."
"HA!" Ocelot guffawed. "The first two are already enroute. I didn't think you'd be able to get your equipment out, so I had some replacements dispatched when you reported the crash."
"Thanks, Ocelot." Jonathan replied as he looked up at the sky. The faint sound of plane engines catching his attention as he saw the aircraft and a small object falling from it.
"It's just arrived." He reported as he saw the package's parachute deploy. "I think it's going to land..."
Jonathan frowned as he watched the package slowly drift in the direction towards Quiet's location. Jonathan cursed quietly as he peeped out from cover to see the package land in front of the arch Quiet had positioned herself on..
"Literally in the field of fire." Jonathan finished. "Thanks, Plane Guy, you really helped me out."
"Maybe next time you should take your guns with you when jumping out of helicopters."
Jonathan laughed back sarcastically before cutting the connection. Sighing heavily, he hid back behind cover and rubbed his forehead in thought. The decision was simple; attempt to get to the package and take on Quiet or abandon it and flee for his life. Neither option had any realistic chance of success, considering the circumstances, and Jonathan knew it. Grunting in frustration, Jonathan peeped out once more to see if he could spot Quiet. Amazingly, the tell-tale glint of a scope was still glinting from the same position. Jonathan thought it perplexing that she'd not moved, but swiftly realised that his opponent didn't need to. All Quiet had to do was sit and wait for Jonathan to move and victory would be for the taking.
"Clever." Jonathan whispered as he hid once more. "But can I sneak to the crate?"
He glanced left and right to see if there was any nearby rocks he could either crawl or run to. Both sides showed plenty of choices, but none were close enough to sneak to. He would have to run. Glancing between the two, Jonathan gauged how many rocks there were on either side. Left of his current position was a grassy verge that slipped down into an area empty of rocks, but plenty of grass to hide in, while the right lead round the edge of the basin along a road with rocks marking the edge. Believing that the right would be too predictable, Jonathan picked left and leaped out of cover. Sprinting madly down the verge, Jonathan leaped into the air as he approached the bottom. The expected solitary gunshot followed, the bullet smashing into the ground as it missed the target.
Jonathan breathed a hiss of agony and a sigh of relief. His bruises were crying out for mercy, while his luck had allowed him to missed shots. He was certain that every shot he chanced would inevitably be the one that struck him, but he couldn't hazard climbing back up the slope and fleeing now. Hiding in the grass, Jonathan retrieved his binoculars and looked through them. He was easily able to spot his target, a humanoid shape with frequent glints confirming that it was Quiet. Jonathan quickly stowed his binoculars, aware that he could cause glints too and reveal his position again. Instead, he was going to play it safe and crawl through the grass. Quietly and tentatively, he edged his way through the undergrowth, his gaze firmly set on his foe as he monitored their position.
Minute after agonising minute passed while Jonathan crawled, aware that his cover was running out. However, he was relieved to find that there was another rock large enough for him to hide behind. Once in cover, he breathed another heavy sigh of relief and let his hand creep onto the top of the rock to help him peek out. Suddenly, another gunshot rang out and Jonathan became overwhelmed by a burning sensation that was agonisingly painful emanating from his hand. He swiftly snatched it back and found, to his horror, that he now had a small hole in the centre of his hand. He had been shot. Taking a deep breath, Jonathan released a gut-wrenching scream as blood oozed from the hole. He clutched his hand and cursed without restraint to numb the pain as tears rolled down his cheeks. Curses turned to hysterical laughter as Jonathan rocked back and forth, his eyes clenched shut.
"Oh my fucking god!" Jonathan hissed between laughs. "This is the worst thing ever!"
His laughter eventually began to slow down as the effort wasted what little air he was breathing, the lack of oxygen tiring him. Once regular breathing began again, his faculties began to regroup as his lungs began to receive air to process. Wearily, Jonathan retrieved a bandage from what few belongings he had and wrapped his hand tightly, followed by rolling up his sleeve and wrapping another round his upper arm to act as a semi-torniquet. It wouldn't be tight enough to cut off blood flow, but it should, in his mind, reduce it to some degree. Satisfied that he'd done what he could, Jonathan became acutely aware of flecks of sand trying to irritate his remaining eye. Squinting, he looked up to see a massive sandstorm tumbling towards him. Raising his arm defensively, Jonathan watched as the sand buffeted him, leaving tiny scratches against his face as it was thrashed against him mercilessly by the elements.
The urge to lay down and let the storm pass was present, but this was his only chance. While the storm was here, it would be impossible for Quiet to see him, just as it would be for him to see them. Bravely, Jonathan stood up and began to walk through the swirling vortex of sand and dust, operating via memory as to where the package would be as visibility vanished and his rock, which was a reference point for direction, vanished with it. Jonathan muttered expletives as he continued to trudge through the swirling mass of particles, completely lost as all visible landmarks for reference disappeared. As the realisation he was lost began to hit home, Jonathan was suddenly tripped up. His descent was quicker than expected as he landed against something with corners that was angled upwards, which he swiftly discovered was a set of steps.
Gasping lightly, Jonathan realised that he was near the arch that he'd last seen Quiet on top of, as well as the package, which caused him to crawl up the stairs and towards it. As he began to see the arch, he became aware of the storm beginning to subside, causing him to mutter a prayer of gratitude. He swiftly hid himself under the arch, his opportunity to retrieve the contents of the package had passed. Quiet would have seen the package land and kept an eye on it. Since the storm was passing, he'd be unable to get to it without them noticing. Even if he had been able to reach it, he knew that the moment Quiet saw the empty package, they'd know he was near by and relocate. Taking a deep breath, Jonathan sat down, his back resting against the arch and rested, the sandstorm now subsided completely.
With his eye closed, Jonathan became faintly aware of a soft humming. He furrowed his brow in concentration as he focused on the sound, his ears attempting to tune out the ambient noise to better recognise the hum. Slowly, he became more aware of it, revealing that it was a soft melodic humming, female in origin, repeating the same collection of notes. Jonathan looked up at the ceiling of the arch, above him was the sniper, quietly humming a tune to pass the time before he, in their mind, would eventually run for it and be cut down like a sacrificial lamb. The thought made Jonathan smile as he noticed he possessed the element of surprise. After picking himself up off the ground, he crept towards a set of stairs that lead up to the top of the arch.
Half way up the steps, he laid down and began to crawl up the final few to stay silent. His sight slowly began to reveal the top of the arch, where he could finally see his prey. What he saw made his jaw drop. Laying against the hard stone, humming softly, was a woman dressed in the most ludicrous clothing possible for a super soldier. A pair of military boots gave way to a pair of ripped tights, which united with a plain black thong and a green holster strapped to her thigh. Above that was a scant set of webbing that emphasised the light load of a sniper, consisting of a harness and belt accompanied by two dump pouches and a knife scabbard. Mingled between that was a simple black bikini, above which was a brunette head of hair, restrained in a pony tail. Lastly, her hands were covered by gloves, the left had a long, black glove that ended just below the shoulder, while the right had a standard green glove.
Jonathan blinked a few times, his mind processing the stark contrast between this member of The Skulls and the members of the Mist Unit he'd encountered before. Both had super human powers, yet this young lady had nothing of the genuinely terrifying aesthetics The Mist operators had. By all accounts, this was a woman ready for a day at the most violent beach on earth. Jonathan shook his head and finally finished crawling up the steps. He stood up and took a silent step towards her. Quiet made no indication that she had sensed anything was wrong, her humming continuing to fill the air. Jonathan took a deep breath and readied his tranquillizer, aiming squarely at the sniper's back. If he was to take the first, and probably last, shot at this woman, it couldn't miss.
Gingerly, Jonathan put his metallic hand on the slide, once he'd pulled it back he'd have to take the shot instantly. The Mist Unit were capable of vanishing into thin air, it was likely Quiet could too. Slowly, he dragged back the slide, sweat forming on his brow as his prey continued to hum obliviously. He let go and the slide clanked back into place with a sound that, under the circumstances, sounded deafening. Quiet stopped humming, her ears pricking up in surprise at the noise. Jonathan gasped and pulled the trigger as he saw the scantly clad female vanish before his eyes. Sighing heavily, Jonathan threw the pistol on the ground in frustration. His chance had passed and Quiet had vanished. He took a few steps towards the spot she'd been laying in and fell to his knees in resignation. As he lifted his hand to tap his earpiece, he noticed that the dart he'd fired wasn't there. If he'd missed, the dart would have embedded itself into the ground or bounced to somewhere nearby. Jonathan glanced around frantically, but found no sign of the dart.
"Did I hit her?" He wondered out loud before looking out across the ruins. His question was answered when he saw a fast moving cloud of dust, indicative of footsteps, quickly slowing into the form of Quiet running sluggishly towards, what Jonathan assumed was, her next sniping position. The run deteriorated rapidly into a walk, followed by a stumble, which finished with her collapsing in a heap in the centre of the ruins. Jonathan watched her silently, expecting her to vanish again as a final gesture of defiance, but she didn't.
"Ocelot." Jonathan uttered in disbelief. "I... I got her."
"You what?"
"I think I got her."
"Well, find out!"
Jonathan nodded and practically threw himself down the stairs as he ran towards the downed sniper. After briefly stopping to retrieve the assault rifle from the package, he sprinted towards his captive. Upon arrival, he levelled his rifle at her and edged towards her, cautious of whether this was still a trick. After gently kicking her hand to see if a reaction was gained, Jonathan sighed as Quiet didn't respond. He slung his rifle behind his back and knelt down to examine her. He was quick to notice that the dart had indeed hit its mark, embedded in her lower spine. Jonathan pulled the dart out and tossed it aside, reasoning that he must have been able to temporarily paralyse her legs with the dart's payload, whether he was right, he'd have to ask a doctor.
"It seems so." He grumbled, his voice slipping into character in case Quiet could still listen. "I've got her."
"Good." A voice that Jonathan realised was Miller's said. "Kill her."
"No." Ocelot countered. "She could have information. Spare her and we'll interrogate her."
"She's a Skull!" Miller argued. "I'm not letting one of those things on Mother Base!"
"It's not our choice, Miller. Snake's the only one there right now."
"You know the truth, Snake!" Miller snarled angrily at Jonathan, hinting at his position as a body double. "Kill her, now!"
Jonathan shook his head. He had killed before and the experience was horrible, even though the person he had killed was attempting to eliminate him. He couldn't stomach shooting Quiet in cold blood, even if she had every intention of killing him.
"We're taking her back." Jonathan stated passively.
"You son of a-" Miller began to yell furiously, but his line was cut off.
"That was very brave of you." Ocelot said. "He's not going to take your decision seriously."
"He'll take yours seriously though, surely?"
"Maybe, we'll see." Ocelot mused. "He and I are equals, The Boss is who we look to for orders."
Jonathan opened his mouth to reply, but heard a gun being drawn from a holster. He looked down to see Quiet struggling to retrieve her sidearm, causing him to drop to his knees and grab her wrist. The sniper grunted defiantly as she struggled to take back control of the pistol, her eyelids suddenly gaining a strange set of black markings. Jonathan grunted in return as his wounded hand pointed the gun away from him, while his metallic hand clamped round her wrist like a vice. Unable to wrestle control from her completely, Jonathan slotted his finger into the trigger guard and pulled the trigger, causing it to fire. The shot missed both individuals as it was pointed away from them. He pulled the trigger again repeatedly, the gun swiftly emptying itself of ammunition. As soon as the gun merely clicked in response to having its trigger pulled, Quiet sighed in resignation and let go of the pistol. Jonathan tossed the gun away and retrieved Quiet's knife, which he discarded also. Shaking his head, Jonathan wagged a metallic finger at Quiet, silently signalling his disapproval of her attempt to struggle. The response he got was a huff of frustration, followed by the woman closing her eyes.
Satisfied that she wasn't going to try again, Jonathan untied one of his boot's laces and removed it. Lacking any rope or handcuffs to restrain Quiet, Jonathan improvised by tying her up with a boot lace. He wasn't convinced it was a suitable solution, but it was better than leaving her hands free. As Jonathan finished tying the knot, he looked up to see a helicopter approaching.
"This is Pequod!" He reported over the radio. "Will be landing near you very soon, Boss!"
"Thank you, Pequod!" Jonathan rumbled. "Home sounds good right now."
