Chapter 8

Lone Warrior

He knew. Raiden knew this. Vamp knew that he was Raiden. But why hadn't Vamp exposed him for what he was? Soldiers could have been in the room in seconds. Vamp could have taken out Raiden single-handedly. So, why didn't he do it? These questions flared through Raiden's mind.

'I shouldn't be here…' Raiden thought to himself. 'I should be at home with Rose…I don't even know what I'm doing here. As far as I know, Snake is dead. I'm all alone, in enemy territory. And all I can do is wait for the Codec.' Raiden suddenly remembered the request given to him by the superiors of this takeover. He was to make 'his' unit try to find Snake, if he was still alive. But, naturally, there were problems with that for Raiden.

For one thing, obviously, Raiden didn't want Snake to die. He needed all the help he could get. So, he needed to find out a way to dispose of the unit without blowing his cover. But there were going to be problems even before the unit could begin their fake search. Naturally, Raiden needed to issue a command for the search to begin, but he wasn't entirely sure that he could perfectly mimic the voice of his uniform donor. Raiden remembered from his VR Training on Shadow Moses a man named Decoy Octopus. He had a unique skill, that of being the ultimate undercover agent. He had his jawbone, nose bone, and ears removed so that he could substitute them with holes. He could perfectly mimic the voice and accent of any man that he was disguised as.

'Oh, what I'd give to be him right now…' Raiden thought. Finally, Raiden came upon his unit. There was only four standing in front of him, all of which saluted him. Raiden saluted them back, while trying to size them up. The smallest one seemed new. He was skinny, lightweight, and it almost seemed as if he was shaking. From then up, the size and supposed strength of the men rapidly increased. From then on, a plan formed in Raiden's mind. He could take out each of them, one by one. The problem was how? But he would get to that later. Raiden practiced the previous owner of this uniform's voice in his mind, but it was too rough for Raiden to mimic. Luckily, the soldier that escorted him to the room with Vamp in it continued to stand by his side. Raiden thought quickly, and nodded towards the man. The soldier took the hint.

"Yes, uh…the word from the top is that there's a possibility that the glitch earlier today might not be a glitch. They are requesting you to try to find this intruder, if there is one." Raiden nodded to the man, who saluted to Raiden, and left. Raiden started to walk ahead of the group, and motioned them to follow. He could hear their boots echoing on the metal flooring.

'So far, so good…' thought Raiden. But now he needed to find a way to eliminate them. If Snake was alive, there was a chance that they could find him. Snake would be outnumbered. They rounded a corner, walking down a long hallway. They eventually came to a part of the hall where there were two doors on either side. An idea formed in Raiden's mind. He motioned two soldiers to go into the one on the left. Raiden went into the one on the right with the two smallest and weakest soldiers. Raiden was amazed that nobody had discovered him yet, due to his lack of wanting to talk. But sure enough, nobody seemed suspicious, which was good.

Raiden let the two men walk ahead of him a bit. A clever idea formed in his mind, but he just needed the right location. He scanned the area as they passed. There was nothing special in here. It seemed to be a storage area. There were racks containing food, and boxes scattered around the room. As they walked, Raiden saw one that was empty. He stopped and stared at it for a moment. Perfect. He slowly pushed it up, and climbed under it. He barely fit in the thing, but it was good enough. He kept a small crack open so that his voice wasn't muffled, and then he let out a small scream. At the end of the scream, he added a sudden stop, making it seem as if he was quickly silenced. He could hear the soldiers turn around, their grinding boots echoing in the stillness. Raiden could hear them moving closer and closer to the box. Raiden raised his SOCOM pistol underneath it.

Eventually, they moved past him. Raiden lifted up the box just a small bit, just to see them. The weaker one was behind the other by a few steps. Raiden could use that. As slowly as he could, he lifted up the box, and got out from underneath it. He crept towards the men, making sure not to make any sound whatsoever. He quickly put his arm in front of the closest one, and draped his hand around the man's mouth, muffling his screams. Raiden dragged him back to a corner of the wall, out of sight of the other soldier. A curtain of shadows blocked it. Raiden dragged the man over to these shadows, before applying pressure on his neck. The man went limp in Raiden's arm, his neck broken. Raiden propped him up against the wall, making sure that the shadows covered him.

Raiden could hear the startled gasp of the remaining soldier. Apparently, he had just discovered that his partner had disappeared. Raiden thought quickly. He found a box, full of supplies, on the opposite side of the wall from where the solider was. Raiden hid behind the box, making sure the box was a small bit away from the wall. There was no way the man could see him. Raiden waited a few moments, and crept out to look at the man. He was positively frightened. Raiden could then see him lifting up his radio. But he couldn't have that, now could he. Raiden raised his pistol, and fired a silenced shot squarely at the radio. It was a perfect hit. The man couldn't call for backup.

But this frightened him even more. He turned and ran for the door as fast as he could. Raiden stood up, and aimed through the empty spaces of the rack in front of him. He fired a single bullet, which hit the man dead in the back of the head. He hit the ground, hard. Raiden walked over to him, and dragged him over to the box he had used. Raiden lifted it up, and put the man underneath it. He was perfectly hidden. But he still had two more soldiers to worry about. And they didn't look like they were going to be as easy.

Raiden walked back out into the hallway, moving slowly and carefully. His pistol was drawn. He walked into the other room, making absolutely certain not to make a single sound. This room was also a supply room it seemed. But this one was less organized. Almost every box in the room was overturned; food was all over the floor. Either a Marine was a complete moron, or the terrorists were very thorough in their search. He suddenly saw the glow of a flashlight on the wall on the other side of the room. Raiden hid behind an overturned box, letting only the slightest bit of him pop out so that he could see what was going on.

"What was that!" one shouted. The other moved up close to him. They were moving closer to the wall. Raiden squinted through the darkness, and saw that there was a vent close to the ceiling. That must be what they were looking at. Raiden had a clear shot, however. He could use their current distraction. He raised his pistol, aimed…

The ceiling behind the two soldiers collapsed, a single figure falling behind them. He fell with grace, his trenchcoat floating behind him. Faster than the human eye could see, the man grabbed the one on the left by the neck, and crushed him into the wall. The soldier screamed, but was quickly silenced when the man stabbed a knife through the man's throat. There was now no mistaking it; Vamp was in the room. The soldier slumped to the ground. The largest soldier raised his gun, but Vamp quickly grabbed it, and used it as a bat of sorts to slam it right into the man's face. Blood fell from his face. Raiden was reminded of the time that he first saw Vamp. Vamp drew his knives, and slashed and stabbed at the man until he was nothing more than a red corpse. Vamp spun around. He seemed to be looking for something. Raiden had an idea whom.

"That should take care of your current difficulties." Vamp spoke. Raiden remained hidden. He did not want a rematch with the man. "You should know that I recognized you in the meeting room," his voice echoed out, in his usual style of seeming to relish every word he spoke. "If you wanted to know why, I direct you to Shadow Moses…" Raiden had a strange expression on his face. Shadow Moses? Raiden could hear Vamp moving closer and closer to him. "Solid Snake was searching for a man. Along the way, a ninja appeared in front of him. It was revealed to be Gray Fox, Solid Snake's former comrade, whom he had supposedly killed in Zanzibar Land. Gray Fox returned solely for the fact that he wanted a rematch with Solid Snake. And that is exactly what I want with you." Raiden shut his eyes in fear.

Vamp was one of the most powerful opponents he had fought in the Big Shell. He had gotten lucky that time. There wasn't much cover for Vamp to hide behind in the area he had defeated him in. But now, there was cover everywhere you looked. Raiden looked straight at the door. It was only a few feet away from him. But Vamp possessed unmatched speed. He could get to Raiden in a matter of seconds. So, there was only one thing left for Raiden to do.

Raiden rolled out from behind his cover, and raised his gun straight at Vamp, who was amazingly closer than Raiden had anticipated. Vamp knocked the pistol out of Raiden's hands, sending it flying.

"I'm pleased to see your cooperation with my wishes. But you won't defeat me with guns this time." Vamp stepped back from Raiden, allowing him to stand up.

"Why should I fight you, Vamp?" Raiden asked. Vamp chuckled.

"I'm going to kill you either way, so it doesn't seem to matter." He grinned, and raised his fists defensively. "Come on! Give me your best shot!"