Chapter 5

First Encounter

Raiden stepped out of the van that brought him and Snake to the end of the mainland. You could just dimly see the Marine base, if you looked through binoculars. Raiden and Snake had both changed into their Skull Suits. Snake looked across to the base through his Scope, a special type of binoculars.

"Looks normal on the outside…" he said. "Who knows what's going on in the inside." Raiden and Snake both felt a buzzing sound in their ears. It had been a while since Raiden had heard this. Otacon was contacting them via Codec. Both Snake and Raiden touched their earlobe, and they were engaged in a Codec conversation. Codec was a revolution in espionage. It was the 21st century equivalent of the radio. Codec allowed you to hear and speak with someone without anybody hearing you at all. It was almost like telepathy.

"Alright Snake and Raiden, listen up. How you're going to infiltrate the base is going to be a very tricky thing. It has to be precise. In the back of the van, inside a chest, is some equipment." Snake nodded to Raiden. Raiden walked over to the back of the van, and opened the chest.

"Scuba gear…" Raiden said over the Codec. He shifted through the contents of the box. "Um…what are these, Otacon?" Raiden had stumbled upon two small consoles that looked like they could be attached to a belt. They looked almost like pagers.

"Oh. That's a small invention of mine. This way, you'll be able to infiltrate the base via water access. See, there are small holes scattered around the bottom of the base. This is where waste is released. Now, the Marines know that this is an easy entry point. So, they built up defenses, such as torpedoes. As technology advanced, they were able to distinguish between fish and humans so that the torpedoes didn't actually fire. Now, with this device, you attach it to your belt. When it's attached, it sends a signal through your internal nanomachines. Whenever radar picks you up, it will just see you as a fish. With this attached, you shouldn't have any problems."

"So, we're just supposed to swim all the way out there?" Snake asked.

"Oh, no. Raiden, look next to the box." Otacon told him. Raiden pushed the box out of the way.

"An inflatable raft." Raiden told Snake.

"Exactly. Just blow it up, and ride out there." Otacon replied.

"How far can we go before they pick us up?" Snake asked.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I have your signal back here. I can tell you the exact moment before your raft goes too far. Good luck guys. Otacon, out." Raiden brought out the box, and Snake brought out the raft. He hooked it up to an air machine, and air started pumping through the raft. Raiden started pulling some stuff out of the box, and handing them to Snake.

"Oxygen tank…fish thingie…" Raiden handed these to Snake. Soon, the raft was full of air. Snake took it off, and put the machine back in the van.

"Let's go." Snake said. He pushed the raft out in the water. Both Raiden and Snake got in the raft, and started rowing out to the base. They had been rowing for a few minutes, when Otacon called them up again.

"Alright guys, stop rowing. You're just about to come up on their radar. Turn on your devices, and swim the rest of the way." Raiden and Snake both switched on their camouflage devices, and put on their scuba gear. They gave each other the thumbs-up sign, and fell backwards into the water. Raiden looked hard through his scuba mask. There were many fish here. Raiden couldn't see any sharks, so they were in luck. Snake was swimming a little bit ahead of him, which Raiden didn't really mind. He couldn't believe that only a few hours ago, he was complaining about how boring his life was. It seemed like it would take a sharp turn for the better.

Eventually, the bottom of the base came into sharp focus. Raiden could barely see the holes around the base, but they were definitely there. That's when Raiden saw a shark.

The shark was swimming around close to the base. Snake started to swim lower, trying to avoid it. Raiden followed. But it was too late. The shark started to swim closer to them. Raiden was not too fond about fighting sharks. He was very careful about not scratching his leg on protruding coral. He didn't want to attract it. Snake, however, wasn't so lucky. Raiden heard Snake grunt suddenly, and he saw that blood was flowing from Snake's leg. Snake had swum right into a piece of coral. The shark noticed it, and swum right towards Snake. Snake waved his arm forward, and Raiden started swimming as fast as he possibly could towards one of the holes.

Raiden suddenly heard a gunshot. He looked back, saw that Snake had grabbed the shark, and shot it directly in the stomach. But it was still alive. It thrashed about, trying to get to Snake. Snake had swung himself up until he was right on top of the shark, and he gripped it in a bear hug, trying to get off another shot at it. Raiden suddenly heard a loud click from behind him. Looking up slightly, Raiden saw that a torpedo was being cocked. Raiden tried contacting Snake on his Codec, but he wouldn't respond. Finally, the torpedo fired. Raiden looked over at Snake, seeing that when he had swung up, the device had fallen off his belt. Snake looked up, and saw the torpedo heading straight towards him and the shark. Snake swum down, keeping the shark at bay. Raiden could see that Snake was getting tired. He wouldn't last much longer.

Finally, the torpedo came. Snake made a well-placed hit on the shark's stomach, and knocked it up. It floated up a few feet, until it decided to charge towards Snake again. It was just about to do so, when the torpedo came straight towards them. It impaled the shark on its side, and propelled it far away. Snake grabbed his device, and put it back on his belt. Snake started swimming towards Raiden fast, and Raiden followed his lead. They both swam through the hole.

They ended up swimming through a tunnel after they got in the hole. As they swum, they heard the torpedo explode behind them. They both stopped, and looked behind them. The force of the explosion had just carried all the way through to the tunnel. Raiden and Snake were both caught in the force, and propelled rapidly forward. Raiden couldn't see Snake through all of the bubbles. He had lost him. The force was painful on Raiden's body. He grunted loudly, until finally, it ended. Raiden, with his last ounce of energy, looked around. But Snake was nowhere to be seen.

Raiden swum up the rest of the way, and found himself in what seemed to be the sewers. Luckily, they were clean right now. Well, as clean as sewers can be. He swam some more, until small grates started to appear above him. Sewer grates, leading into the base. Raiden looked up into the first one. There was a Marine standing above him. Raiden decided to swim some more. Eventually, on the eighth grate, it was a clear coast. He pushed the grate up, and climbed through, into a bathroom.

He was in.