METAL GEAR SOLID: THE NOVELIZATION
by Alex Greene, aka Pika132
Disclaimer: Metal Gear and all that is Metal Gear © Konami and/or Kojima Productions
Author's Note: Less than a month between updates?! Clearly, there is a rift in the space-time continuum compressing the fabric of time itself, allowing me to actually do the two hours of work a chapter takes in two hours without sitting on my ass for two weeks!
Chapter Eleven: Oscar Winning Performance
The security camera network in Outer Heaven revolved around three security hubs, one in each building. Each camera was connected by cables to the hub for its building. A network of radio transmitters carried the signal from each hub to the two other hubs and the Commander's bunker beneath building 3.
The trap that had been laid for Snake, when activated, would have sent an electric pulse to the security camera in storage room B of the building 2 basement. This would detonate a quantity of C-4 connected to the camera, destroying the entire room. The failure of this pulse to arrive immediately following the Commander's order can be directly attributed to Drummond's decision to make a radio call at the exact moment the radio signal was sent out, causing interference that ultimately resulted in a loss of about four seconds.
In these four seconds, Snake bolted from the room. He had gotten perhaps ten feet when the C-4 detonated, killing the thin man and the unconscious grunt inside.
Snake cursed under his breath. The elaborate trap meant that if the enemy hadn't known about the intruder in their midst before, they certainly did now. Factor in the explosion, and Snake figured he had maybe a minute before they reached his position. Somewhere, Snake decided, there is a God of Stealth Missions, and he hates me.
Having allowed himself a moment for self-pity, Snake scrambled to his feet and did what he was sure the enemy would not expect him to do--he kicked the door to storage room B off its one remaining hinge and entered. The thin man's chair had disintegrated in the blast, as had most of the soldier's face.
"This'll do," murmured Snake to no one in particular.
Resistance Hideout Comm Center, four minutes later
"What've you got, Diane?" asked Schneider.
The female analyst removed her earphones and handed it to the resistance leader. "This is coming through on the building 2 guard team's frequency," she said. "It's not pretty."
"Nothing ever is," grumbled Schneider. He donned the headset and caught most of the transmission.
...are dead. I repeat, the intruder and Madnar are dead.
Bravo team, do you have confirmation?
I'd say so, HQ. Storage room B is destroyed, and there's two bodies here. One's definitely Madnar; Carver brought this guy down here an hour ago himself. The other one's got a silenced pistol and a backpack with...lemme see here...a mine detector and a grenade launcher. No radio, dog tags, nothing. Looks like him, HQ.
"Kyle?"
Copy that, Bravo team. Any idea what caused the blast?
Well, that's the funny thing, HQ. The blast residue looks like some kind of plastic explosive, but there's not a brick of the stuff to be found on this whole floor. All the C-4 is on the third floor, in the armory. If we had forensics or something down here...
I'll see who we can get from the residential sector. Good work, Bravo. Over.
"Kyle, I'm getting a call. I need the earphones."
Schneider blinked and turned to Diane. "A call? From who?"
"Well, I won't know without the earphones, now will I, Kyle?" Diane stood up, took the earphones from Schneider's head, and placed them on her own. She spoke into the microphone on her control board. "This is Diane Segal."
"This is Solid Snake. Schneider wasn't answering his transceiver. Is he there?"
Diane was momentarily dumbstruck. "Uh, hold on." She turned to Schneider. "It's Snake."
This time it was Diane's turn to have the earphones yanked from her head. "Gimme the mic," barked Schneider with uncharacteristic force. When this order was obeyed, Schneider fairly yelled, "What the hell are you doing alive?"
"Sorry about that. Had to put on a show for the cavalry. I take it they're captivated by that grunt's performance as me?"
Schneider sighed with visible relief. "And the award for Best Direction of a Fake Death Scene goes to..."
"First things first. Madnar wasn't Madnar. The guy who was faking it tells me the real guy is on the roof. Can you tell me if there's anything to that before I go on another wild goose chase?"
"Possible. There's a rooftop heating and ventilation facility. That's where he'd be if he's up there."
"On my way. By the way, are you on a secure line?"
Schneider frowned. "No one else can hear your end. Why?"
"Do you have any reason to doubt the trustworthiness of your people? There was a trap set for me and I'm starting to think there might be a leak."
Schneider's expression remained neutral as he said, "I'll look into it. You'd better get to the roof and find Madnar."
Chapter Notes: I am very, very proud of this chapter. The first bit is on par with the Drummond and Snake scene in chapter 8, IMHO. Which hardly makes it great literature, but eh. Metal Gear / The Grapes of Wrath. I hated that book anyway.
