Chapter 2



Jon Wimbleston had been a marine biologist for all his life. He lived with the animals, played with the animals, and sometimes even talked to them. He couldn't stand the people of modern society, so he instead devoted his to the study of whales. Now living alone in the arctic, he felt so free. But not today.

He was in his tent, crouched over his electric heater. He, like everyone else, sat with their eyes glued to the television screen; watching the horrifying images over and over again. The image on his satellite TV turned to static. He shook the device and hit it with all his might, cursing modern technology at the same time.

Suddenly, the ground beneath his legs began to shake. He scrambled out of the tent in time to see the ice crack below his feet and the terrifying outline of a gigantic creature coming at him. Jon Wimbleston was dead before he knew what hit him, his body slammed against the thick metal armor of Metal Gear RAY.

Liquid smiled at himself when he saw the scientist's limp body floating on the surface of the water. How long would it take for his remains to be discovered? Would they find him before he turned into a frozen ice cube, or would the fishes get him instead? He looked down at the control panels in front of him. The coordinates matched the ones' stored in Ocelot's memory.

It was interesting how this Liquid/Ocelot "partnership" worked. Not only did Liquid seem to possess Ocelot's physical attributes and memory but also his mind and his sadistic love for torture.

He scanned the horizon, searching for something or someone that would be waiting for Ocelot's return.

"Strange . . . There's nobody here . . ." Liquid muttered to himself.

An alarm went off in the cockpit. Liquid instantly knew that it was a missile lock. He gunned RAY's motor, launching it a hundred feet into the air as two missile splashed down where he was just a second ago. Liquid looked down at his radar. Two other RAYs were approaching fast under the ice so he would have a hard time tracking them. He aimed slightly ahead of one and pressed the missile button. But much to Liquid's surprise, nothing happened.

"Damn you, Ocelot! The fool wasted all of the ammo!"

Liquid switched to the laser, but the two RAYs had surfaced already. An explosion rocked Liquid's RAY as a missile found it. Liquid launched his RAY backward simultaneously firing the laser at one of his opponents. There was a flash of light as the laser cut through one of the RAY's legs. The disabled RAY fell to the ground with a ground-shaking boom. Another missile hit Liquid's RAY and the armor indicator blinked red.

Liquid cursed. He couldn't take another one of those missiles. This was a battle that he couldn't win. He plowed his RAY though the ice and began his decent into the deep, murky depths of the ocean. The remaining RAY followed him. Liquid had to swerve constantly to avoid the lasers from his pursuer. Suddenly, he heard the missile lock alarm again. He glanced at the sonar display. The other RAY was equipped with torpedoes and a pair was cutting through the water straight at him! He put his RAY in a complicated set of evasive maneuvers, but the torpedoes still tracked him. Liquid searched the cockpit for electronic countermeasures or anything that he could use but there was nothing. The torpedoes were gaining fast and Liquid's was running out of ideas.

He slowed the RAY to a near stop and turned to face the oncoming projectiles. Carefully timing his each and every move, he waited. As soon at the torpedoes were about to impact Liquid gunned the motors once again. The torpedoes whizzed by but quickly began to search for their target again. Liquid zoomed toward the enemy RAY. The torpedoes once again found him and began their pursuit. At the last second before colliding with the enemy RAY, he swerved. The torpedoes now saw two targets. Liquid gambled that the torpedoes would track the other RAY. One of the torpedoes turned towards Liquid once again as the other, unable to find a target, detonated between the two RAYs sending shockwaves through the water.

Liquid took the opportunity to once again head for the enemy RAY, but this time, swerving around it and coming out the out side. The torpedo plowed though the enemy RAY, instantly vaporizing the armor and exposing the vital electronics to the seawater. Electricity ran through the RAY as its internal components fried.

"Stupid machines." Liquid said to himself as he plotted his course for the Mediterranean Sea. The Patriots had fooled him once but it wasn't going to happen again . . .

Meanwhile at Snake an Otacon's Hideout

Otacon sat there, hard at work on his laptop.

"Hey Snake! Come and take a look at this!"

Snake walked over. "What's the problem?"

"I'm getting a signal from that transmitter on Liquid's RAY!"

"Oh? And where is he?"

"The Arctic Circle. I don't have an exact location; must be some weather interference."

"Switch over to visual."

Otacon typed a few commands into the computer. The screen showed a fuzzy picture of the Arctic wasteland. Suddenly, the camera was jerked upward as it had jumped. Explosions rang out below. Through the camera, they could faintly make out two Metal Gears below the ice. A missile streaked out from nowhere and impacted right next to the transmitter. Then the picture broke up.

"Damn it! Just when it was getting interesting." Snake said as he got up.

"Do you think that did it for Liquid, Snake?"

"No, not a chance . . ." Snake replied, recalling that day at Shadow Moses. Liquid had survived the Hind crash, the destruction of Metal Gear REX, the fall from the top of Metal Gear, the jeep crash, and even FoxDie. Liquid must have had survival written into his genes. Never had Snake met anyone as with as many lives as Liquid. 'And now he lives through Ocelot - two foes in one . . .'

"What do we do now? That disk didn't help. It gave us more questions than answers. Now we've lost track of Liquid. We're back to square one."

"No, not exactly . . ."

"You have an idea, Otacon."

"As a matter of fact, I do . . ."