There are, uh...really no excuses for how long this took. I can't vouch for the quality, nor do I think I deserve to.
Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy.
"Boss, we're almost as your drop-off."
"Alright, Pequod."
Snake fitted a gas mask to his face, adjusting the straps so it fit tightly against his hair. He checked his pistol and rifle one more time before nodding to Pequod to fly low. He crouched at the door as the helicopter slowed down, signalling to Quiet to get ready. "Bring a mask."
Quiet made a face, pointedly tapping his shoulder and making an exaggerated breathing in-and-out motion. Snake's shoulders slumped, and he nodded begrudgingly before focusing on the destination. "Right, you don't breathe. Fine, fine, suit yourself."
He hopped out, feet making a light splash against the marshy shore of the island. Quiet crouched silently next to him, hands braced against the mud like a cat until she grabbed her rifle and put it to her shoulder to scan. Pequod wished them both luck and made to leave, leaving the duo to themselves. For now.
Snake quickly checked his map and pointed to one of the supposed outposts Eli had set up.
"Scout ahead. Let me know if you notice any of the traps the pilot told us about."
Quiet grunted affirmatively, placing her rifle on her back and disappearing in a plume of dust. He watched the trail for a moment, setting off into a light run into the jungle. "Snake."
"Yeah."
"Confirmed visual of at least one platoon of XOF soldiers. They're heading towards what looks like the northernmost part of the island."
"North? Huh."
"Mhm. I'll hold position for now, there are footprints by groups that may have already passed through here."
"Thanks. I'll meet you at your lookout, then."
"I noticed some strange vines, too. May be those are some of the traps. Watch your feet."
"Got it."
Snake found the origin of the footprint trail minutes later, ducking into a crouch but not slowing down. He pressed his back to a tree and carefully peeked around it when he heard someone talking on the radio. "We've located the target. We have two squads circling around and waiting for a third….Yes, the last two have fallen to what seemed to be makeshift traps. Falling boulders, stakes, the like."
Snake couldn't make out who was on the other side, carefully stepping closer and drawing his pistol. "The losses are insignificant. We will move on as planned….Affirmative."
Just as the soldier put down the radio, Snake levelled his gun at his back. "Freeze."
The XOF soldier complied, raising his hands above his head as Snake crept closer; suddenly, his reflexes screamed a warning, and he leaned back as the soldier tossed a knife out of his sleeve and grabbed it out of the air, cleaving downwards onto Snake's head. Snake twisted his body to the side, letting his metal fist quickly whip forward in a brutal jab to his gut. A dull slam echoed gently through the air, and the specialist was sent crashing against the radio set his was just using. Snake quickly holstered his pistol and leaned away from a blind haymaker, jamming a thumb into the nerve bundle in the XOF's armpit. While he was reeling from the pain, Snake grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close. "Start talking."
Quiet leaned out from the tree she was nestled in, idly watching over the XOF patrol waiting to be joined by the third. She turned down the volume of her radio broadcast of Snake's live interrogation, choosing instead to listen for the sound of something approaching. She curled lithely into the tree and aimed her rifle downwards, counting on her augmented strength to keep the heavy firearm steady. Numerous XOF troops passed underneath her to join the ones that were waited, but Quiet noted that their formation was broken. "...Snake."
"Yeah, just-...finishing up here. Be there in a minute."
"Hurry. I have eyes on the platoon your friend was talking about. It seems that they've lost maybe two or three to more traps. Less trouble for you, huh?"
"Hurrying. Stay out of sight."
"Is that a joke?"
"If you want it to be. Going silent for a bit."
Quiet's earpiece fed her a light clicking noise to signify his point, so she simply watched the two platoons slowly set off further into the jungle, evidently wary of any more oncoming traps. She holstered the rifle and slid down and off the tree, landing silently in the marsh of their meeting spot and ducking behind a rock. Snake arrived by her side just as they moved out of sight. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder and silently asked if she was alright. In response, she simply smiled and brushed some drying mud off his brow and placed a gentle kiss there before jerking her head in the direction of the departing soldier. Snake nodded, pointing a thumb at the tree he assumed she was occupying, then pointing forward to indicate that she scout ahead through the treeline. He started moving again just as soon as she jumped back up, taking care to keep his footsteps silent as he moved through the marsh. He did his best to keep an eye on them, relying on Quiet to show him the way when he briefly lost focus. "...Kaz. Are the troops mobilized?"
"We have all the choppers that aren't essential to base operation and foreign assignments ready to go. We'll be waiting on your call, Boss."
"Good, thanks. Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
"Well, he's got skill, and that's about it. Probably gonna leave himself wide open to show off his ego. Just watch out for the kids, yeah?"
"Sure, Ocelot. I'll see if I can get them out before bullets start flying."
"XOF ain't gonna make this easy. Either take them out or let them try and take down Eli. Gonna give you fair warning, those kinds of troops don't care about collateral damage."
"Uh-huh. Guess we'll see."
A scream piercing the air pulled Snake back to the mission, but he was briefly confused by how some of the XOF's had disappeared into apparently thin air. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the barely perceptible pitfalls filled with large stakes at the bottom. "Damn...kids're prepared."
A whooshing sound caused him to raise his head just in time to see a large log swinging through the air, a soldier or two plastered almost comically on the surface. He quickly rolled to the side, raising an arm over his face as it crashed through surrounding trees, sending chunks of bark and wood everywhere.
Quiet slid off the tree limb she was sitting on and hung off the side to dodge the debris, dropping to ground level as she saw the XOF soldiers evidently rushing towards something. "Snake!"
"I see 'em. Go."
They both broke into a sprint, jumping over the scattered stake pits and fallen trees as trap after trap was set off. Suddenly, Snake felt something whip around his leg, and he found himself being dragged forcefully along the ground by the vine around his foot until his journey was suddenly halted. Quiet rushed over and retrieved her knife, taking Snake by the arm and hoisting him up. He nodded when she tried to look him over and gently nudged her back towards their target. Just as they reached what looked like an open field, Snake grabbed Quiet's arm and pulled her behind a rock for cover. "There's Sahelanthropus."
"Look. The XOF soldiers…"
The XOF troops were advancing on the seemingly derelict hunk of metal, guns at the ready at the first sign of Eli. "We need them out of the way."
"There's not too many left. We can just use CQC."
Snake smirked and gave her a look. "CQC?"
"Fine. You can punch them. I'll try to use some tact."
"Sounds good. On my mark."
The leader of the splintered platoon glanced back at his remaining troops, swallowing his fear of the arsenal of weapons adorning the Gear. "Move up."
Snake followed close behind, grabbing one of the troopers and throwing him back to Quiet as he seized another in a headlock and pulled him behind a rock. Quiet moved forward just as he dropped the unconscious soldier, leaping onto the back of one and onto another foot-first. Snake rapped the side of the one she used as a stepping-stone, throwing him to the floor with a hefty lift. Only the commander remained, so Snake broke into a quick run and introduced his fist to the back of his head. Quiet pulled the body out of sight and jumped into the treeline, levelling her rifle at the empty cockpit of Sahelanthropus. "I don't see him."
"Hm...keep an eye out. I want to try and get some of the kids out of the line of fire."
"Roger."
Snake made to move forward only to almost be thrown off his feet by Sahelanthropus awakening. "Damn."
"Snake, I see him! He's entering the robot!"
"Kaz, move in. Eli's gunning down the XOF."
"I hear ya."
"I knew you'd be through here!"
Snake turned to face Eli, gazing into the still-open cockpit as the White Mamba menaced him with the full power of Sahelanthropus. "You're not a kid anymore. You call your own shots."
He took out his pistol, checking its magazine idly as he said, "But at this rate you'll be dead before you even get the chance."
Quiet leapt from her lookout point into another tree, bracing her rifle on the sturdiest limb and taking aim at Eli. "I have a shot."
"Don't miss."
Snake's answer was subdued as he watched Eli rant, tensing his muscles as he sensed the murderous intent from the boy surge. "I will break the curse of my heritage! And to do that...first, I will kill-agh!"
A tranquilizer dart embedded itself into his shoulder just as the cockpit closed, and Sahelanthropus's glare darted up to menace Quiet. "...You."
Quiet shrugged and offered a mocking salute before cloaking and jumping further back into the treeline. It drew its whip and flailed wildly at where she last waited, wreaking havoc upon the tops of the trees as the sniper snuck down to meet Snake. "Fire! Aim for its weapons!"
He turned to her and nodded. "The damage should get him to pry open the cockpit. See if you can get him then."
"Right."
A barrage of missiles sailed into the Gear, denting and burning the already damaged plating and innards. Its whip blade was useless, but Eli was ready to fire again when the entire body oddly lurched to the side. "...Tranquilizer's taking effect. Kaz, I need another volley!"
"Second chopper's comin' round. Be there in two."
"Die!"
An armored fist crashed into the rock Snake and Quiet were hiding behind, sending them both back in a blast of debris. Sahelanthropus stumbled and fell, nearly crushing the two if Snake wasn't able to jump up and pull them both out of the way. A Diamond Dogs helicopter flew overhead, firing a salvo of fresh missiles into the downed Gear's back. Its systems damaged beyond operation, Eli was forced to open the cockpit and attempt to keep up his offense with his remaining weapons. Snake made to fire another tranquilizer, but a new squad of XOF soldiers attacked then from both sides.
Snake and Quiet stood back to back, firing at the newcomers before they could try to attack Eli. Then… a grenade sailed through the air, landing and rolling gently against Snake's foot. Quiet noticed and reacted first, grabbing his arm and throwing him a short distance away.
"Quiet!"
The explosion sent him flying back, his head colliding painfully with the floor. His vision swam, colors blending and mixing for a minute before he felt in control again. He fumbled against the earth, crawling onto his knees as he searched for his partner. He found her lying in a small cloud of dust and smoke, blood and cuts strewn across her body as she tried feebly to sit up. She was conscious enough to acknowledge him with a small smile before reaching into his belt and taking his spare pistol, pressing it into his hand when he tried to pick her up. "Finish...what you came here to do."
Snake blinked rapidly, trying to focus his vision as he stumbled to where Eli had fallen out of the cockpit, barely conscious and surrounded by XOF. He raised the pistol and fired, a bullet seeking out every white-clad figure in the area. His mind spasmed briefly as he levelled the weapon at one who looked like he was rising with a weapon, firing the last bullet just as his vision reoriented...and the color red returned to his world, and he realized what he did. A chopper landed nearby as he crouched down next to Eli, reaching down to take the pilot helmet off his head and check for a pulse. "...Still breathing…"
He glanced over to where his bullet had landed, cutting the material of the red suit he was wearing with his knife. "A vest. Kid was prepared."
Ocelot put a hand on Snake's shoulder briefly, nodding to his commander as he looked up. "Good job with the tranquilizers. Made this a lot easier, and we managed to keep our boys safe."
"And the kids?"
"Surrendered. We'll evacuate 'em before we sanitize the island."
"Hm."
"What about this one?"
Snake rose, taking the magazine out of his pistol and ensuring that one bullet remained. Satisfied, he dropped it next to the sleeping Eli and made to walk away. "His choice. Quiet needs medical attention."
"I'll call for a stretcher and a medic."
"...I'll patch her up myself.
"What? But...Boss, I-"
"Ocelot." Snake turned to look at his friend. "I'm trained. Know what I'm doing. Where's Pequod?"
He followed the pointing finger and located his go-to chopper, quickly making his way to where Quiet was lying and picking her up. She moaned weakly against his uniform as he ran to Pequod, carefully resting her on one of the seats. "You're gonna be alright. Was the best medic of MSF, y'know."
Despite the pain she was in, Quiet managed a light laugh before she coughed and tried to relax. "Good, good. Just stay still, gonna make sure there's no shrapnel stuck in you."
Quiet tried to stay awake and be as helpful as she could, but she slowly gave in to her hurts and fell into a deep sleep.
The sun had set when she woke up, but she found that she was seated in an oddly familiar, and comfortable, place. "Good, you're awake."
She looked to her right to see Snake seated nearby, nursing a glass of what looked like the same brand of alcohol she had pilfered for him way back when. "Feeling better?"
"Y-...yes."
She looked down at her body, carefully running her fingers along the swath of bandages around her waist and legs. "I assume the reason you're even in one piece is because your body is strengthened by your parasites."
Quiet's ears perked slightly at the slight irritation in his voice, accompanied by the light slur.
"I assume so. A-are you drunk?"
"You had me worried, dammit. Course I'm drunk."
She smiled softly at that, motioning for him to come closer. He frowned, but complied, scooting his chair closer and resting an elbow next to her. She moved close enough to pull him into a hug, letting his chin rest on her shoulder as she murmured, "Thanks. Maybe I should get blown up more often if it means you'll take care of me."
He scoffed, letting one of his hands rest near her smooth stomach. "Hmf. Don't even think about it."
For the next few minutes, Quiet simply held him and weakly patted his back, trying to ease some of the tension out of his back. She only noticed that he fell asleep on her shoulder ten minutes later. Not that she minded.
I feel like I've disappointed with how short the chapter was compared to the potential of episode 51 and that I've botched the ending. Let me know if you'd like.
Aside from this story, I'm working on smaller drabbles that I can hopefully update more often than not.
