Chapter 11
Snake made his way to where Otacon had signalled was the energy signature strong enough to be housing Metal Gear. Snake's mind was racing, but he had to focus, too much was at stake now.
"Snake" The now familiar sound of static popped into his inner ear, it was Otacon's voice "I know it must be hard to hear…I…" he stumbled on his words.
"Save it. There's no time for feeling sorry" Snake didn't have any more time to entertain this.
"Right. Well the hangar they're holding Metal Gear in is just up ahead. Remember, take out the legs. The thrusters needed to launch the missile are housed in ZEUS' legs, if you take them out, it was also ground it for good. They're armour plated and are designed to withstand ballistics, but repeated direct hits from stinger missiles should see to that." Otacon was doing his best to stay calm. He couldn't believe they were all in this situation again. "Please Snake…"
"Don't worry. They won't launch that nuke." Snake reassured him, with a determined grit in his voice.
Snake entered the hangar which was deserted. The metal mech rose above him like a tower, the enormity of the task before him now dawning. He'd never seen anything like it. It literally took his breath for a moment. "Otacon…"
"Yeah Snake?"
"It's big"
Snake was trying to picture what this Metal Gear looked like in comparison to the previous versions that he'd seen in the mission briefings. It had RAY's legs, nimble and agile although they were adapted. Otacon had mentioned boosters, allowing the launch of the missile in place of the old railgun, and also to allow flight to this colossal beast. It still had a mouth and cockpit area for a single pilot, similar to REX. Looks like they've adapted and combined a lot from the previous models, Snake thought to himself. The thought was sickening, this is what they chose to spend the Legacy on, more machines to prolong and encourage war?
"Welcome Pinyin! Welcome to your destiny dear nephew!" Li's voice boomed out across the hangar, high above Snake on the walkways leading to the cockpit.
"I'm no nephew of yours" Snake shouted, his voice hardly carrying across the massive space.
Li jumped into the cockpit before Snake could say or do anything else. "You will witness first-hand the new face of world power. Watch as the world bows down to the Metal Gear. I hear you Americans have a codename for it, ZEUS. Ahh yes. Poetic, sure. But we have a different name for it dear nephew. Long or simply, Dragon. The Dragon and the Snake. Now that is much more fitting for a battle, don't you agree? Come Snake, come face the wrath of the Dragon!" With that speech concluded, the 'mouth' of the Dragon snapped shut and the giant machine whirred and shuddered to life.
After Snake found a place out of range of the mounted machine guns and rocket launchers, he readied his stinger missile and checked it was loaded properly. He took a breath to steady himself and dismissing the chaos surrounding him momentarily, he thought of Jessie back in Alaska. It gave him comfort and hope. Time seemed to stand still for a moment. After all this was done, he'd be back with her. Li and the Dragon interrupted his train of thought as some massive explosion went off nearby, knocking him back and the stinger launcher out of his hands. "SNAKE!" Li's voice boomed out of the cockpit, amplified by exterior speakers "I SEE YOU SNAKE. SNAKE'S DON'T BELONG HERE. YOU ARE FACING A DRAGON NOW. PREPARE TO RETURN TO THE EARTH!"
Li forced the Metal Gear to bring its foot down hard in an attempt to crush the life out of Snake. He reacted instinctively, diving out the way and towards the stinger launcher, although still out of reach. The ground all around Snake shook like a highly ranked earthquake. "YOU'RE FORGETTING ONE IMPORTANT POINT LI…" Snake shouted back in defiance "I'M NOT JUST A SNAKE, I'M ALSO A FOX! AND YOU DON'T CORNER A FOX!" And with that he rolled whilst diving through the air to grab the launcher, span, raised and fired all in one swift motion.