chapter TWENTY: Be Careful of the Shadows
"The title 'Metal Gear' was adopted a good number of decades back when the nuclear bi-pedal walking battle tank Alpha Gear was developed as a means to protect the Patriot in office at the time. But, after the structural specs of Alpha Gear leaked into the hands of international agents, from nearly every country on the planet, slight variations of the original were built – later being called Metal Gears. The first popular model, codenamed REX, was introduced on Shadow Moses Island around 2010 and was often described as 'angry metal.' The second, RAY, more resembled a dragon and took a sleeker design and more advanced means of control. The third, known as Arsenal Gear, was merely a weapons stockpile with an elaborate system – titled GW – constructed to control the flow of digital information in the aftermath of an explosion of 'useless data.' The Fourth was CELL, the combination of REX and RAY, showcased at Hell's Outpost in the Western United States. But the fifth, to be sold to the chairman of Present Future, Phil Harte, on the fourth day of Trinket's reactivation in Russia – was soon to top them all."
~*~
[00:00:00]
SAT Search…
//Enter Search Loc Below
USER INPUT: Trinket, Russia
SAT Connected…Tracking…Locked
Awaiting Transmission… … … … …
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - || | ||| || - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Codec Transmission Detected
CODEC Transmission Recording… [00:32:20]
//Recording to LAPTOP
RECORD LOC: Moscow, Russia…
CALLER LOC: Scramble Device Present… … …Unknown
RECEIVER LOC: Trinket…
UNIDENT 2: Otacon?
OTACON: Loud and clear. What is it?
UNIDENT 2: I got some clothes off a soldier. I disposed of him in a storage closet.
OTACON: Good job. Where's Snake?
UNIDENT 2: He's heading for the south entrance. Solidus and someone they're calling 'the American broker' are here now.
OTACON: Solidus? What's he doing there?
UNIDENT 2: I'm not entirely sure yet, but I'll bet it surprised the hell out of Snake to hear he showed up.
OTACON: Wait until he finds out about Big Boss.
UNIDENT 2: I'm going to follow Snake. I'll contact you as soon as I know more.
OTACON: Good luck.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - || | ||| || - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CODEC Transmission Ended… [00:51:22]
Archiving to
Reenter Transmission Access PASSCODE for replay
//Enter Title Below
USER INPUT: Philanthropy 2
//SAVED
~*~
Snake had to stop several times in the hallways, yielding to soldiers hurrying to greet George Sears, former president and corpse, at the South Entrance. He'd grabbed more SOCOM ammunition from the men he'd killed in the cell blocks, as well as a USP, silencer attached. He was feeling better about the mission now that he was well-equipped, but the weight of knowing Solidus Snake was not dead – not dead at all – was nothing he needed to deal with at the time. Then again, was it really a surprise that something like this had happened? Or how Metal Gear had suddenly shown up? Or, even, how Mei Ling still hadn't contacted him since the computer lab back in the Cold Bay with that ghost over his shoulder…?
Snake stopped his progression down the hall and swung into a side room as two men came round the corner and continued to the South Entrance, their pace quick, almost running. Snake watched shadows scurry through the light coming under the door as they passed, heard their gasping breaths and the words that they uttered to one another about how their children were doing in school and what not. He smiled a little to himself and waited for the halls to be silent once again before reemerging from the side room and continuing on his way.
It wasn't more than five minutes later that he was standing in the doorway to the Primary Control Room. Through the window in the door it looked like a still from the movie "Apollo 13," terminals setup in rows before a giant screen, though this screen was broken, black, nothing showing on it. He couldn't tell where soldiers were positioned inside, as his view through the tiny window in the door was very much limited, but as he stepped away and inspected the hall again he found a stairwell no more than twenty paces back, a sign, paint chipping, assuring him that it led to the second floor catwalks above the Primary Control Room.
Taking the stairs quickly but quietly, not sure where any more of the soldiers could be stationed, he found himself in a hallway the next moment, one that ended at the entrance to the Primary Control Room catwalks. There were no soldiers in sight and when he looked through the next door-windows to inspect the upper-level he found none moving about. Cracking the door less than an inch, he could hear voices float through the space – the words they formed were unintelligible and like gibberish to him, but they were verification that he was very near the South Entrance.
Opening the door completely now, he slipped through, crouching all the while, and slowly closed it behind him.
The catwalk was not a catwalk in the traditional sense. The floors were not like the walls of a cage, but rather tiled, and along their sides were finished railings that reached above Snake's head as he was crouched. They would still leave him exposed if someone were to shoot a glance upward, though, so he stayed quiet as he crawled along the outer-path, eventually moving onto the path that stretched through the center of the room, supported by columns reaching up from the ground level.
Below, he could hear more than just the voices. Their words rang clear.
"Mr. Sears, it is an honor," one man remarked, his voice carrying a heavy German accent. "I am Jerald Hermein," his last name proof of his nationality. "I am in charge of security here. If there is ever anything that you need, something up my ally, just call on me."
There was a long pause, time Snake assumed was being used either shaking hands or for something insignificant. Stopping on the center path he curled his eyes over the side of the walk – and there was Sears, just as he remembered seeing him those years ago on the back of Arsenal Gear. There was a fake smile on his face, one Snake could instinctively recognize, and a feeling of superiority in his stance. He wasn't there to meet with the worker bees, the grunts. He was there for another reason. "Thank you," he said, not worrying to get names right, as he was next approached by a soldier in all-black apparel, a red piece of cloth strung around his uniform at his upper-arm.
"Lieutenant Becker," the soldier said, saluting Sears like an American man. Sears noted the red band on his arm and smiled, saluting him back. The Lieutenant dropped his salute after Sears had done so.
"A young one," Sears said, seeing how young the soldier was – no older than nineteen.
"I'll be at your side for the remainder of the operation, sir," the soldier said. Sears looked amused.
"Who recommended you to my detail?" he inquired, and just then a door swung open on ground level and a man, heralded by a crowd of black-clothed soldiers similar to Becker but lacking the red band on their arm, came to face Sears. Snake moved along the catwalk to get a better look of the two and when he had a pleasing view he stopped and sat in awe at the sight laid out before him.
"I did," the man who'd just arrived said, smiling. Sears was happy to see him, smiled at the sight of him. "Good evening, son."
Snake couldn't believe it, had to touch his chest once to make sure his heart was still beating. But when he found that it was, he was disturbed at how quickly.
~*~
Big Boss put his hand on the back of Sears' neck and pulled him closer, kissing to the left and right of his face and then drawing back again. "I see you have the American one," he said, noticing Daves who was standing beside Sears. "What about the Russian? Where is he?"
"This brat killed him," Sears retorted. "Khirshnoff will not be coming today." By this, Big Boss looked angry, but also excited.
"Mr. Daves, I believe? Were you…intimidated by Mr. Khirshnoff's offer?" Big Boss asked. This was the first time Daves raised his head, a smile stretched across it. He wasn't intimidated by all this. He'd seen worse, before, in his line of work.
"He wasn't going to give shit," Daves said, straight-faced now. "I thought I'd save him the time and just kill him where he was comfortable. You would have killed him eventually, am I correct?"
"Yes," he said, after looking sideways once at Sears. "I suppose I would have." Big Boss very much liked the fire of Daves' personality. He was bold, daring – cool. "Well then, Mr. Daves, what, may I ask, is the offer that you bring to the table?" Daves took a step closer to Big Boss, an act that called all the surrounding men to grab at their weapons before being halted. Then, when it was safe, Daves whispered something in Big Boss' ear and Snake saw a strong interest in the arch of his brows. Daves backed away, then, and took his place again beside Sears.
"Would three of you please direct Mr. Daves to his cell? I will be calling on him within the next hour, as soon as all is in place and we are ready to move onto the next objective." Big Boss turned away from Daves as he was led out of the Primary Control Room. Sears stepped up to his side, many of the soldiers having filtered out by now, only four remaining – three of which were on security detail for Big Boss, and one of which was on security detail for Sears (Becker).
"Has everything been moving along smoothly?" Sears asked. Big Boss was hesitant to reply.
"We've had a few…incidents. We've found four men gunned down in the western building. Three others in the genetics lab."
"So there's someone inside…any guesses who?"
"Your brother," Big Boss answered, grimly. He remembered painfully how Snake had shot the bullet through him only a few years ago atop a building in Manhattan. That was what had landed him in jail for over two years.
"Solid?" Sears breathed, hissed under his breath. "Perhaps he wishes to reenter into the family. What a surprise that would be."
"He's here to kill us," Sears said.
~*~
Daves continued down the hall, hands cuffed and head held high. Three soldiers accompanied him, each of them escorting him to the cell block on the main floor. Two of the men were talking with each other, conversing about this or that, but the third looked strangely subdued and shunned from conversation. Daves noticed this almost immediately.
"So I told her that there was no way she was copping out of college, and you know what she tells me?" one of the men continued to the other.
"What?" the other responded.
"Nothing! She gave me the finger and stormed outta the house! Can you believe it?" The other man made an unsurprised look and nodded. "Sure can," he said.
The halls were long and quiet. The lights were dim and flickered on and off time and time again. Daves listened closely to the hymn of the soldiers' equipment, rattling as they walked. Their grenades shook at their beltlines, their AK's and M4's, slung over their shoulders, swung at their sides and brushed their hips. Clickety-click. Swooshity-swoosh. Then the soft clap of their boots. And the instinctive flipping on and off of their safeties. Clickety-click. Swooshity-swoosh. Clapity-clap. Flippity-flip.
Then, they stopped before the door of the cell block, cracked only slightly and a stench of death curling under their noses. The front two men readied their guns, Daves almost laughing at the situation for one reason or another, and the third soldier standing a few feet back. Twisting the door knob and stepping through, the first two men were shocked at the sight – the bodies bleeding across the floor, their skulls and chests impaled with shining steel. Daves looked at it with surprise, not fear or horror but with surprise. And the third soldier.
He was very different.
There was shock in his eyes, yes, and when he saw what had happened he left "Shit!" escape between his teeth, but he was also quite quick to his holster, drawing a SOCOM and turning it on the two others' backs. Pft! Pft! Two silenced shots between the shoulder blades and they were both down, their weapons scattering, their newly-bled corpses joining the others on the floor. Daves turned to the third man who then removed his ski mask and aimed his SOCOM at his chest.
"Shit, Snake…did you do this?!" He exclaimed, looking about the room, not paying attention to Daves yet. Then, looking straight at him: "You're going to tell me right now. Whose side are you on?"
"Ha! I've been threatened with worse things than a bullet. I've seen your face. You'll kill me, I'm sure?" There was silence despite the rustling of bodies in the cells. Daves rolled his eyes. "Fine. First, your name."
His hair was blond, a tint of white streaking through it in some places. It was cut short up his neck, cropped close to his head, and his face was squared, or more so than in his earlier days. Breathing heavily and recharging his gun, he held his aim steady on Daves' heart.
"What's my name worth if I kill you here?"
"Hmm," Daves grinned playfully. "You've got me."
"Are you working with Sears?"
Daves did not hesitate to answer. "I am."
"I can't kill you now," the man admitted, spitefully. He wasn't a friend of Snake's, but he wasn't an enemy either. If he were to choose sides he would fight against Sears without a doubt. He was torn, though. He either killed another, Daves, or he left him alone and waited to figure out who he was, to figure out what was happening here. "You're coming with me. Are you fit to do a lot of running?" Daves nodded. "Can you handle a gun?" he added, cautiously. Daves eyed him strangely, then finally nodded.
"Don't trust me," Daves said. "I may be working with Sears, but he is no friend of mine, and neither are you. Everyone is gray to me."
"Good for you," the man said, "now come on."
~*~
Snake was still watching over Sears and Big Boss when the radio attached to Becker's hip sparked on and began to crackle loudly. The room froze, all attention turned to Becker.
"I have Daves, now. And I have this base." Big Boss turned slowly to Becker, eyeing the radio on his hip. "Whether you see it now or not, you'll not be leaving here with your lives. Daves is my hostage. You are all my hostages. Soon, you'll realize." Sears was furious. "The time is running out for you. Metal Gear will fall as will the rest. Keep your eyes open wide. Don't let the shadows deceive you. For if they do, it will mean I have come. Come to kill." "What is this?!" Sears hissed. "It's soon. This night will turn into day and your life will turn into death. And you'll know it was me, and those at my side, who stomped you out. You'll know – it was Raiden." "No," Sears breathed, unbelievingly. Snake stared ahead, just as surprised. And Big Boss just eyed that radio, piercing it with his wretched cold.
"Be careful of the shadows."
And the radio cut to static.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thought I'd give you something special for the '20th Anniversary of the King's Company.' I hope everyone enjoyed, and just to clear this up in case you didn't quite follow the story back – Raiden is the one who stole the troops' clothes and contacted Otacon in the beginning of this chapter and the chapter entitled 'Philanthropy1.' Again, hope you enjoyed, and if you are reading this now please review, even if it is not customary to you!! I REALLY appreciate the reviews, guys! I'll be updating again soon, and do realize – it's kicking into high gear now, so you'll be getting a lot more for each chapter as time goes along. I've got a lot left for you, so stay tuned!
- espresso