Chapter 21- Man vs. Machine
Snake's head was throbbing. The soldier's eyes slowly opened, blinking several times, adjusting to the sudden change in light. He shook his head back and forth several times, getting rid of the figurative cobwebs.
It may have been minutes since he passed out. Or hours. The battered mercenary doesn't know or care.
The Philanthropy commando slowly made his way to his feet, still feeling some ill effects from his passing out. He was slightly dizzy, barely able to stand upright, his head was pounding, and his legs were weak, barely able to hold his two hundred-pound body upright.
Despite this, Snake quickly snatched his sidearm from its holster and aimed it in front of his eyes. The aim was unsteady, the red dot that was the laser sight moving about hurriedly.
He tried to remember what had recently happened, but couldn't recall, his mind fuzzy. However, about half a minute after getting up, he got a not-so- friendly reminder:
"Solid Snake..." an oh-so-familiar disembodied voice rang out. "I believe that it was you... it was you who said, 'Reality is no match for the legend'. Well, if you feel that the reality can not take you down, perhaps the illusion can!"
Snake then saw the entire room around him dematerialize, disappearing right in front of him. Slowly but surely, it vanished into nothing. The floor suddenly evaporated into nothingness and Snake felt his boots crunch in the snow.
The commando then heard that too-familiar screech. A deafening roar made its way into Snake's ears, and the ground shook under the impact of something large... very, very large.
The soldier's head craned around and looked at his new enemies. He saw three steel monsters, mammoths that were larger than anything he'd ever seen before. The trio of Metal Gear RAYs stomped their way lethargically towards Snake, in a triangle formation. Their "tails" swished back and forth like a tiger waiting to kill its prey; its "eyes" lit up a deep crimson, and its "mouth" separated into four steel plates as it roared at Snake, an intimidating gesture... to a normal human. Snake was not a normal human... the legend was not intimidated.
He had a tall order ahead of him... literally. But Snake had taken down bigger problems than this, but it was never easy, and this would be no exception.
The mercenary might as well have been unarmed; he had nothing to fight the mechanical behemoths with. His two pineapples, chaff grenade and half-empty pistol would do nothing against Metal Gear except get him killed... very quickly.
Snake's pistol found its way back into its holster, and Snake stood, a calm but intense gaze staring the RAY down. The Metal Gear bent down, its "mouth" inches from Snake's face. It let out a devastating roar, easily enough to make the toughest of soldiers quiver in fear. It did not intimidate the Philanthropy commando. The action did not phase him; it only made him more intent on winning the battle.
Snake had a steep hill to climb, and all he could do now was stay on the defensive as the Metal Gears began their respective attacks. The RAY standing in the rear launched three heat-seeking, homing missiles, looking to end the fight early. The trio of projectiles soared through the air, high over the heads of the other RAYs, an airborne light-blue streak that flew across the sky in formation towards Snake's exact position. They aimed to leave him as nothing more than a bloodstain in the snow, but Snake was far too quick.
He broke out into a sprint in the opposite direction, but so did the missiles, changing course to follow its target. They winged through the sky, slowly descending, following Snake's every movement.
The Philanthropy soldier then saw a large crate in his path, easily six and a half feet high. He then thought about his options; it took him only about a second... it was all the time he had.
Snake had no choice. He continued his run and bent his knees and dove over the obstacle, swan diving to the other side, completing a forward roll upon his landing.
The missiles, aiming for Snake, struck the crate instead, with a sound that could only be described as an earsplitting 'crack!' and a deafening explosion rolled into one. Wood and whatever else the crate was made of flew through the air in Snake's direction. The mercenary hit the deck, dropping to his stomach to avoid being hit by any flying debris. The fragments of the crate flew over his head, and he watched them land at least six feet ahead of him.
Snake quickly got to his feet and immediately looked over his shoulder. He saw the hulking beasts, staring him down, ready to attack the enemy.
He then caught sight of two rockets heading towards him, fired from the lead RAY's knee pods. They traveled in a half-circle until they would both meet... with something between them. Snake did not want to be that "something".
He hastily sprung into the air, performing a backflip over the missiles; it was both beautiful and effective. The two projectiles sped under his back and met, exploding upon the impact. He had dodged two literal and figurative bullets, but the Metal Gears had a lot more up their nonexistent sleeves.
Snake turned around without any hesitation, and saw the RAYs' next plan. The lead Metal Gear once again went in for the attack. Its "mouth" opened into four steel plates, revealing a small barrel, no bigger than that of a large gun. However, this mechanism packed quite a punch.
It was activated, and a rail blast shot out at an insane speed, cutting through anything in its path. The rail gun was a wonderful weapon; it would slice with ease through any cover that someone may be using, and then would proceed to destroy said person in mere fractions of a second.
Snake wasn't going to let this take place, however... or at least that what he thought. The RAYs had different thoughts on the matter.
The Metal Gear was too quick for Snake, however. It struck, and the rail blast traveled through the air, headed for Snake's anatomy. He turned around and sprinted away from the attack, but wasn't fast enough to evade. The mercenary was hit, by a powerful rail cannon blast. It hit the spinal cord, dropping the soldier at once.
He groaned in pain, a loud, raspy cry of pain... if that word could even be used to illustrate the sensation. Snake then spotted a crane near his position, and he crawled his way over, the sound of the RAYs' monstrous screech ringing in his ears. He propped himself against the base of the makeshift support and brought his left hand up and around to activate the codec, slightly tapping his right ear several times.
"Otacon!"
"Snake!" Otacon exclaimed, worry easily evident in his voice. "Where have you been?!"
"No time to explain...!"
"I understand, Snake. I see that you're hurt... that rail cannon is a killer. But don't worry. You can shoot out the pod in the RAY's mouth, even with a pistol! It's a very weak mechanism, not capable of sustaining much damage. It may take a few shots, though, and I don't know if you've got a targeting scope on any of the guns that you have right now. You may need to get a little close to the Metal Gear."
"This advice would've been great before I got hit..." Snake told his partner, in all seriousness. He groaned again, the pain killing him every second.
"Sorry, Snake. It won't happen again."
"For my sake, I hope it doesn't."
Snake killed the line after those last words and got back to business. He was still hurting, but he was alive, and as long as was living, he had a chance. He waited about two or three minutes before attempting to get up.
He then tried to stand, and couldn't, dropping back down to a crouch, leaning against the crane.
"Snake!" yelled out that recognizable ethereal voice, the rasping, low tone far too familiar to Snake's ears. "Don't give up yet! You've got more fight in you than that... don't you?
"Defeat these Metal Gears, Snake, and your reward will be great."
The commando, taking in what Arcane told him, stood, which was a feat in and of itself, and went around the crane. Nothing stood between he and his enemies at this point in time.
The RAY in the back, to Snake's left, fired its rail cannon from its mouth. Snake was well able to avoid the attack this time, however. He simply ran to his right and the attempted strike completely bypassed him.
The Metal Gear nearest to the commando, at this time opened its mouth, ready to fire the rail cannon at him. But the mercenary knew how to counter this attack. He performed a diving roll to his right and began his attack.
Snake then bent down on one knee and grasped his pistol from the holster attached to his hip. The soldier, at that moment, pulled the Beretta's trigger back three times, ordering it to send a trio of bullets into the RAY's mouth. Each bullet connected with the area in the middle of its mouth, causing an emission of sparks, indicating a malfunction. Otacon had been right.
The RAY then roared, a loud, earsplitting screech. It seemed angry at Snake's attack, and the fact that it was successful. The other Metal Gear, the lead, was just closing the four steel plates that formed its mouth, and the soldier let out a salvo of bullets into it before that could occur. Sparks could be seen from inside this RAY's mechanical jaws before they closed completely. The rail cannon attack was now not much of a threat for Snake, and it would make the battle that much easier.
The last Metal Gear, the only one whose rail cannon was still functional was smart enough to not use it, to not even open its jaws. Snake could do nothing now, except look, once again, for adequate cover.
However, Snake then found something infinitely better than good cover. He saw a downed chopper; it appeared to still be functional. A Kasatka, not the best attack copter out there; but it was better than nothing.
Snake, fortunately, knew the basics of piloting a chopper; you had to in order to join Fox-Hound. He looked in the door, hurriedly, before the RAYs had a chance to attack again.
There were two soldiers in the two front seats, presumably the pilot and co- pilot. Snake grabbed the shoulder of the corpse nearest him and shoved him out of the seat, then slid into the now-vacant space. He kicked the other soldier out of the other door, deciding to get into that seat; the left side was usually reserved for the pilot, the right for the co-pilot.
That's when Snake's codec ring sounded. He tapped his inner ear, "answering" the "call".
"Snake! You found a Kasatka!" Otacon praised.
"Yeah. It's in good shape. Not too great for attacking three fifty-foot tall machines."
"No, Snake. That's a special model. These aren't even normally available for military use; they're still being tested.
"Anyway, you know what a Kasatka is normally used for," Otacon told his partner.
"Troop transportation, reconnaissance and the occasional target designation for partner gunships," Snake answered. "They can be used for special ops and radio-electric jamming as well."
"Exactly. But this model can do more than that. This has some heavy- artillery weapons, and that's saying a lot for a chopper. You have control of great air-to-air missiles; Sidewinders, to be exact. You have two machine gun barrels mounted on both doors, and Mk-82 air-to-ground missiles. In other words, Snake, you're armed to the teeth.
"However..."
"This isn't going to be good..." Snake commented.
"This new Kasatka isn't near as fast as the old model; you'll be twice, if not three times as slow in the air. But, like you already know, the weapons make up for that... plus the fact that these new models have heat masking. Besides, that Beretta isn't going to do anything to those Metal Gears except make them angry."
"Then this should be fun," were Snake's last words before the connection between the two friends was discontinued.
Snake started up the chopper, and the engine roared to life. The blades atop the bird began to spin, initially slow, but speeding up quickly, until their look changed from four separate blades to one spinning blur. Its base soon rose from the snowy floor, gaining air fast. Three, five, ten, soon fifteen feet in the air was the helicopter, and the machine was still gaining altitude.
Snake flew the mechanical beast above the Metal Gears' heads, trying to get a good feel for the handling of the chopper before going into battle. He flew around, and one RAY, showing its impatience, fired its machine gun from the barrel mounted on its left arm. The near invisible barrel lit up and spat a salvo of slugs smacked the side of the helicopter, rocking it in the sky.
"Damn!" Snake showed his anger, mostly at himself for acting so haphazardly.
The chopper went in the opposite direction that Snake had piloted it, still swaying from the impact of the shooting. Snake fought to regain control, and finally did, but not after a tough struggle. He flew away from the Metal Gear, who, once again, let out a stream of bullets at Snake's newly found vehicle. The soldier was able to steer clear of the attack however, dodging nearly every bullet. Those that did hit, however, did nothing but ping off of the steel body of the mechanical bird, not doing much damage, if any at all.
Snake answered with an attack of his own, activating one of his air-to- ground missiles, targeting the lead RAY's knees, the commonly known weak spot of any bipedal Metal Gear. It hit, a successful shot for the Philanthropy commando. The rocket exploded against the knee of the RAY, and it reacted with human attributes. Its arms flailed, knees bent down slightly, and mouth opened wide as if it were screaming. Red nanopaste (which looks similar to human blood) that was used to treat the "injury" secreted from the "wound", dropping to the snowy ground below.
The mercenary then wasted no time in activating his air-to-air missile, aiming to nail the inside of the Metal Gear's mouth, which was wide open. He let off two of them, both hitting their target. The RAY screamed in pain and actually staggered back several steps; it might as well have been a giant human.
Snake was ready to deliver a couple more shots into the RAY's still open mouth, but another RAY figuratively stepped in to help its ally, aiming and launching three guided missiles at the chopper out of the rocket pod sitting on its back. Snake then put the proverbial pedal to the metal and zoomed off, dodging the rockets one by one, turning and changing direction constantly. They all, eventually, harmlessly hit the ground; this made the Metal Gears angry, and the lone RAY in the back attempted to use its rail cannon; it was the only one still with a functional rail gun.
Its mouth opened, but Snake's hands were too swift. A bombardment of bullets was released into the Metal Gear's mouth, nanoseconds before it planned on letting out the rail cannon. The familiar sparks signaled a breakdown in the RAY's rail cannon apparatus. Rail blasts wouldn't be a problem any longer.
Snake then let off two missiles into the mouth of that same Metal Gear; they both connected, and the RAY staggered. Lurching about, the Metal Gear stood for approximately five more seconds... before it fell to the ground, a deafening crash heard upon the crash. Snake had felled one of the giants... but he only one-third of the job was done.
He swerved out of the way of the falling beast, as not to be hit. The mercenary made it out of the way, barely missing the plummeting machine skimming his chopper.
Snake then veered in the opposite direction. He was now facing the two remaining steel behemoths, hovering in the air, the only sound heard being the constant hum from the rotary blades atop the helicopter.
The soldier, at that moment, turned around and ascended, soaring higher and higher into the air. He waited until he was at a reasonable elevation, and performed a nosedive between the two mammoth machines. He let out two air- to-ground missiles, his last two; Snake was not a man afraid of risk.
Each rocket connected, one with each of the RAY's knees. They both showed the typical reaction; their knees bent and they roared in discomfort as nanopaste spewed out of the "gash". He then looked at the display inside the chopper: two air-to-air missiles remaining. He knew that one was not enough to take down either RAY, and he couldn't waste both on one of the Metal Gears. The combatant had no choice, however.
He soared back up, eye-to-nose with the RAYs, still screeching. Snake launched two air-to-airs into the open mouth of the RAY on the left. It was sufficient enough damage to take the monster down. The RAY staggered, and dropped to the ground, the sound of the raucous impact penetrating Snake's "soundproof" windows easily.
Snake then, still in the chopper, stared down the last RAY. The Metal Gear wasn't intimidated, if it even could be. It showed this, and launched various rockets from its back pod. They flew up, aiming for Snake's chopper.
The soldier simply flew backwards, but the missiles followed him, soaring through the sky right behind him; it might as well have been a race. Snake then hit a sudden and unexpected U-turn and fired the machine gun at the oncoming projectiles. They exploded, saving the commando from possibly dying. But there was one remaining that Snake had not hit, and he had no time to dodge it.
It blasted against the chopper, exploding instantaneously. The mechanical bird went up in flames and took an involuntary nosedive.
Snake had no choice but to leap from the quickly descending chopper. He leapt, landing brutally, both knees taking in all of the impact.
The chopper, however, landed in front of the RAY.
Snake was now hurt, lying helpless on the ground, with nothing that would be effective in defeating the Metal Gear. The RAY, however, stood tall. It slowly walked over to its fallen prey, stepping on what was left of the helicopter, crushing it underneath the weight.
The RAY then roared loudly, a victory cry. But the fight was not over...
Snake stood, battered, bruised, but alive. He looked high up at the Metal Gear, roaring in victory.
The worn out soldier then looked to his left, noticing Kyle Schneider's body lying, motionless, the missile launcher still clutched in his dead hands.
Snake then checked his equipment compartments, and found a chaff grenade. He brought it out and looked at it, studying it, thinking. The combatant then looked up at the RAY, still in its victory roar.
He then pulled the pin off of the chaff grenade and cocked his arm back as far as it would go and launched it towards the RAY's mouth.
It seemed to take forever, but it finally landed... in the Metal Gear's mouth. It seemed not to notice, continuing its screech.
Snake, while waiting for the explosive to detonate, rushed to Kyle's side and looked back at the RAY... malfunctioning, going crazy. The grenade had exploded; it was even more lethal when in the mouth of the Metal Gear. It tore apart the AI program built into its "head", scrambling it, confusing the mammoth beast.
The gargantuan machine then bent over, staring Snake in the eyes, its head shaking violently. Snake stared back, with something in his hands. The gigantic missile launcher being held up by his left hand, his right hand on the "trigger"... and the barrel pointed at the Metal Gear's head.
Four missiles exploded into the Metal Gear's mouth, and the rocket launcher fell to the ground.
The RAY swayed back and forth from the tremendous impact... its "life" was ending, promptly at that. It then fell forward right in front of Snake, a heart-stopping impact that did not affect the hardened soldier.
Snake had won this near-impossible battle.
David had defeated Goliath.
Snake's head was throbbing. The soldier's eyes slowly opened, blinking several times, adjusting to the sudden change in light. He shook his head back and forth several times, getting rid of the figurative cobwebs.
It may have been minutes since he passed out. Or hours. The battered mercenary doesn't know or care.
The Philanthropy commando slowly made his way to his feet, still feeling some ill effects from his passing out. He was slightly dizzy, barely able to stand upright, his head was pounding, and his legs were weak, barely able to hold his two hundred-pound body upright.
Despite this, Snake quickly snatched his sidearm from its holster and aimed it in front of his eyes. The aim was unsteady, the red dot that was the laser sight moving about hurriedly.
He tried to remember what had recently happened, but couldn't recall, his mind fuzzy. However, about half a minute after getting up, he got a not-so- friendly reminder:
"Solid Snake..." an oh-so-familiar disembodied voice rang out. "I believe that it was you... it was you who said, 'Reality is no match for the legend'. Well, if you feel that the reality can not take you down, perhaps the illusion can!"
Snake then saw the entire room around him dematerialize, disappearing right in front of him. Slowly but surely, it vanished into nothing. The floor suddenly evaporated into nothingness and Snake felt his boots crunch in the snow.
The commando then heard that too-familiar screech. A deafening roar made its way into Snake's ears, and the ground shook under the impact of something large... very, very large.
The soldier's head craned around and looked at his new enemies. He saw three steel monsters, mammoths that were larger than anything he'd ever seen before. The trio of Metal Gear RAYs stomped their way lethargically towards Snake, in a triangle formation. Their "tails" swished back and forth like a tiger waiting to kill its prey; its "eyes" lit up a deep crimson, and its "mouth" separated into four steel plates as it roared at Snake, an intimidating gesture... to a normal human. Snake was not a normal human... the legend was not intimidated.
He had a tall order ahead of him... literally. But Snake had taken down bigger problems than this, but it was never easy, and this would be no exception.
The mercenary might as well have been unarmed; he had nothing to fight the mechanical behemoths with. His two pineapples, chaff grenade and half-empty pistol would do nothing against Metal Gear except get him killed... very quickly.
Snake's pistol found its way back into its holster, and Snake stood, a calm but intense gaze staring the RAY down. The Metal Gear bent down, its "mouth" inches from Snake's face. It let out a devastating roar, easily enough to make the toughest of soldiers quiver in fear. It did not intimidate the Philanthropy commando. The action did not phase him; it only made him more intent on winning the battle.
Snake had a steep hill to climb, and all he could do now was stay on the defensive as the Metal Gears began their respective attacks. The RAY standing in the rear launched three heat-seeking, homing missiles, looking to end the fight early. The trio of projectiles soared through the air, high over the heads of the other RAYs, an airborne light-blue streak that flew across the sky in formation towards Snake's exact position. They aimed to leave him as nothing more than a bloodstain in the snow, but Snake was far too quick.
He broke out into a sprint in the opposite direction, but so did the missiles, changing course to follow its target. They winged through the sky, slowly descending, following Snake's every movement.
The Philanthropy soldier then saw a large crate in his path, easily six and a half feet high. He then thought about his options; it took him only about a second... it was all the time he had.
Snake had no choice. He continued his run and bent his knees and dove over the obstacle, swan diving to the other side, completing a forward roll upon his landing.
The missiles, aiming for Snake, struck the crate instead, with a sound that could only be described as an earsplitting 'crack!' and a deafening explosion rolled into one. Wood and whatever else the crate was made of flew through the air in Snake's direction. The mercenary hit the deck, dropping to his stomach to avoid being hit by any flying debris. The fragments of the crate flew over his head, and he watched them land at least six feet ahead of him.
Snake quickly got to his feet and immediately looked over his shoulder. He saw the hulking beasts, staring him down, ready to attack the enemy.
He then caught sight of two rockets heading towards him, fired from the lead RAY's knee pods. They traveled in a half-circle until they would both meet... with something between them. Snake did not want to be that "something".
He hastily sprung into the air, performing a backflip over the missiles; it was both beautiful and effective. The two projectiles sped under his back and met, exploding upon the impact. He had dodged two literal and figurative bullets, but the Metal Gears had a lot more up their nonexistent sleeves.
Snake turned around without any hesitation, and saw the RAYs' next plan. The lead Metal Gear once again went in for the attack. Its "mouth" opened into four steel plates, revealing a small barrel, no bigger than that of a large gun. However, this mechanism packed quite a punch.
It was activated, and a rail blast shot out at an insane speed, cutting through anything in its path. The rail gun was a wonderful weapon; it would slice with ease through any cover that someone may be using, and then would proceed to destroy said person in mere fractions of a second.
Snake wasn't going to let this take place, however... or at least that what he thought. The RAYs had different thoughts on the matter.
The Metal Gear was too quick for Snake, however. It struck, and the rail blast traveled through the air, headed for Snake's anatomy. He turned around and sprinted away from the attack, but wasn't fast enough to evade. The mercenary was hit, by a powerful rail cannon blast. It hit the spinal cord, dropping the soldier at once.
He groaned in pain, a loud, raspy cry of pain... if that word could even be used to illustrate the sensation. Snake then spotted a crane near his position, and he crawled his way over, the sound of the RAYs' monstrous screech ringing in his ears. He propped himself against the base of the makeshift support and brought his left hand up and around to activate the codec, slightly tapping his right ear several times.
"Otacon!"
"Snake!" Otacon exclaimed, worry easily evident in his voice. "Where have you been?!"
"No time to explain...!"
"I understand, Snake. I see that you're hurt... that rail cannon is a killer. But don't worry. You can shoot out the pod in the RAY's mouth, even with a pistol! It's a very weak mechanism, not capable of sustaining much damage. It may take a few shots, though, and I don't know if you've got a targeting scope on any of the guns that you have right now. You may need to get a little close to the Metal Gear."
"This advice would've been great before I got hit..." Snake told his partner, in all seriousness. He groaned again, the pain killing him every second.
"Sorry, Snake. It won't happen again."
"For my sake, I hope it doesn't."
Snake killed the line after those last words and got back to business. He was still hurting, but he was alive, and as long as was living, he had a chance. He waited about two or three minutes before attempting to get up.
He then tried to stand, and couldn't, dropping back down to a crouch, leaning against the crane.
"Snake!" yelled out that recognizable ethereal voice, the rasping, low tone far too familiar to Snake's ears. "Don't give up yet! You've got more fight in you than that... don't you?
"Defeat these Metal Gears, Snake, and your reward will be great."
The commando, taking in what Arcane told him, stood, which was a feat in and of itself, and went around the crane. Nothing stood between he and his enemies at this point in time.
The RAY in the back, to Snake's left, fired its rail cannon from its mouth. Snake was well able to avoid the attack this time, however. He simply ran to his right and the attempted strike completely bypassed him.
The Metal Gear nearest to the commando, at this time opened its mouth, ready to fire the rail cannon at him. But the mercenary knew how to counter this attack. He performed a diving roll to his right and began his attack.
Snake then bent down on one knee and grasped his pistol from the holster attached to his hip. The soldier, at that moment, pulled the Beretta's trigger back three times, ordering it to send a trio of bullets into the RAY's mouth. Each bullet connected with the area in the middle of its mouth, causing an emission of sparks, indicating a malfunction. Otacon had been right.
The RAY then roared, a loud, earsplitting screech. It seemed angry at Snake's attack, and the fact that it was successful. The other Metal Gear, the lead, was just closing the four steel plates that formed its mouth, and the soldier let out a salvo of bullets into it before that could occur. Sparks could be seen from inside this RAY's mechanical jaws before they closed completely. The rail cannon attack was now not much of a threat for Snake, and it would make the battle that much easier.
The last Metal Gear, the only one whose rail cannon was still functional was smart enough to not use it, to not even open its jaws. Snake could do nothing now, except look, once again, for adequate cover.
However, Snake then found something infinitely better than good cover. He saw a downed chopper; it appeared to still be functional. A Kasatka, not the best attack copter out there; but it was better than nothing.
Snake, fortunately, knew the basics of piloting a chopper; you had to in order to join Fox-Hound. He looked in the door, hurriedly, before the RAYs had a chance to attack again.
There were two soldiers in the two front seats, presumably the pilot and co- pilot. Snake grabbed the shoulder of the corpse nearest him and shoved him out of the seat, then slid into the now-vacant space. He kicked the other soldier out of the other door, deciding to get into that seat; the left side was usually reserved for the pilot, the right for the co-pilot.
That's when Snake's codec ring sounded. He tapped his inner ear, "answering" the "call".
"Snake! You found a Kasatka!" Otacon praised.
"Yeah. It's in good shape. Not too great for attacking three fifty-foot tall machines."
"No, Snake. That's a special model. These aren't even normally available for military use; they're still being tested.
"Anyway, you know what a Kasatka is normally used for," Otacon told his partner.
"Troop transportation, reconnaissance and the occasional target designation for partner gunships," Snake answered. "They can be used for special ops and radio-electric jamming as well."
"Exactly. But this model can do more than that. This has some heavy- artillery weapons, and that's saying a lot for a chopper. You have control of great air-to-air missiles; Sidewinders, to be exact. You have two machine gun barrels mounted on both doors, and Mk-82 air-to-ground missiles. In other words, Snake, you're armed to the teeth.
"However..."
"This isn't going to be good..." Snake commented.
"This new Kasatka isn't near as fast as the old model; you'll be twice, if not three times as slow in the air. But, like you already know, the weapons make up for that... plus the fact that these new models have heat masking. Besides, that Beretta isn't going to do anything to those Metal Gears except make them angry."
"Then this should be fun," were Snake's last words before the connection between the two friends was discontinued.
Snake started up the chopper, and the engine roared to life. The blades atop the bird began to spin, initially slow, but speeding up quickly, until their look changed from four separate blades to one spinning blur. Its base soon rose from the snowy floor, gaining air fast. Three, five, ten, soon fifteen feet in the air was the helicopter, and the machine was still gaining altitude.
Snake flew the mechanical beast above the Metal Gears' heads, trying to get a good feel for the handling of the chopper before going into battle. He flew around, and one RAY, showing its impatience, fired its machine gun from the barrel mounted on its left arm. The near invisible barrel lit up and spat a salvo of slugs smacked the side of the helicopter, rocking it in the sky.
"Damn!" Snake showed his anger, mostly at himself for acting so haphazardly.
The chopper went in the opposite direction that Snake had piloted it, still swaying from the impact of the shooting. Snake fought to regain control, and finally did, but not after a tough struggle. He flew away from the Metal Gear, who, once again, let out a stream of bullets at Snake's newly found vehicle. The soldier was able to steer clear of the attack however, dodging nearly every bullet. Those that did hit, however, did nothing but ping off of the steel body of the mechanical bird, not doing much damage, if any at all.
Snake answered with an attack of his own, activating one of his air-to- ground missiles, targeting the lead RAY's knees, the commonly known weak spot of any bipedal Metal Gear. It hit, a successful shot for the Philanthropy commando. The rocket exploded against the knee of the RAY, and it reacted with human attributes. Its arms flailed, knees bent down slightly, and mouth opened wide as if it were screaming. Red nanopaste (which looks similar to human blood) that was used to treat the "injury" secreted from the "wound", dropping to the snowy ground below.
The mercenary then wasted no time in activating his air-to-air missile, aiming to nail the inside of the Metal Gear's mouth, which was wide open. He let off two of them, both hitting their target. The RAY screamed in pain and actually staggered back several steps; it might as well have been a giant human.
Snake was ready to deliver a couple more shots into the RAY's still open mouth, but another RAY figuratively stepped in to help its ally, aiming and launching three guided missiles at the chopper out of the rocket pod sitting on its back. Snake then put the proverbial pedal to the metal and zoomed off, dodging the rockets one by one, turning and changing direction constantly. They all, eventually, harmlessly hit the ground; this made the Metal Gears angry, and the lone RAY in the back attempted to use its rail cannon; it was the only one still with a functional rail gun.
Its mouth opened, but Snake's hands were too swift. A bombardment of bullets was released into the Metal Gear's mouth, nanoseconds before it planned on letting out the rail cannon. The familiar sparks signaled a breakdown in the RAY's rail cannon apparatus. Rail blasts wouldn't be a problem any longer.
Snake then let off two missiles into the mouth of that same Metal Gear; they both connected, and the RAY staggered. Lurching about, the Metal Gear stood for approximately five more seconds... before it fell to the ground, a deafening crash heard upon the crash. Snake had felled one of the giants... but he only one-third of the job was done.
He swerved out of the way of the falling beast, as not to be hit. The mercenary made it out of the way, barely missing the plummeting machine skimming his chopper.
Snake then veered in the opposite direction. He was now facing the two remaining steel behemoths, hovering in the air, the only sound heard being the constant hum from the rotary blades atop the helicopter.
The soldier, at that moment, turned around and ascended, soaring higher and higher into the air. He waited until he was at a reasonable elevation, and performed a nosedive between the two mammoth machines. He let out two air- to-ground missiles, his last two; Snake was not a man afraid of risk.
Each rocket connected, one with each of the RAY's knees. They both showed the typical reaction; their knees bent and they roared in discomfort as nanopaste spewed out of the "gash". He then looked at the display inside the chopper: two air-to-air missiles remaining. He knew that one was not enough to take down either RAY, and he couldn't waste both on one of the Metal Gears. The combatant had no choice, however.
He soared back up, eye-to-nose with the RAYs, still screeching. Snake launched two air-to-airs into the open mouth of the RAY on the left. It was sufficient enough damage to take the monster down. The RAY staggered, and dropped to the ground, the sound of the raucous impact penetrating Snake's "soundproof" windows easily.
Snake then, still in the chopper, stared down the last RAY. The Metal Gear wasn't intimidated, if it even could be. It showed this, and launched various rockets from its back pod. They flew up, aiming for Snake's chopper.
The soldier simply flew backwards, but the missiles followed him, soaring through the sky right behind him; it might as well have been a race. Snake then hit a sudden and unexpected U-turn and fired the machine gun at the oncoming projectiles. They exploded, saving the commando from possibly dying. But there was one remaining that Snake had not hit, and he had no time to dodge it.
It blasted against the chopper, exploding instantaneously. The mechanical bird went up in flames and took an involuntary nosedive.
Snake had no choice but to leap from the quickly descending chopper. He leapt, landing brutally, both knees taking in all of the impact.
The chopper, however, landed in front of the RAY.
Snake was now hurt, lying helpless on the ground, with nothing that would be effective in defeating the Metal Gear. The RAY, however, stood tall. It slowly walked over to its fallen prey, stepping on what was left of the helicopter, crushing it underneath the weight.
The RAY then roared loudly, a victory cry. But the fight was not over...
Snake stood, battered, bruised, but alive. He looked high up at the Metal Gear, roaring in victory.
The worn out soldier then looked to his left, noticing Kyle Schneider's body lying, motionless, the missile launcher still clutched in his dead hands.
Snake then checked his equipment compartments, and found a chaff grenade. He brought it out and looked at it, studying it, thinking. The combatant then looked up at the RAY, still in its victory roar.
He then pulled the pin off of the chaff grenade and cocked his arm back as far as it would go and launched it towards the RAY's mouth.
It seemed to take forever, but it finally landed... in the Metal Gear's mouth. It seemed not to notice, continuing its screech.
Snake, while waiting for the explosive to detonate, rushed to Kyle's side and looked back at the RAY... malfunctioning, going crazy. The grenade had exploded; it was even more lethal when in the mouth of the Metal Gear. It tore apart the AI program built into its "head", scrambling it, confusing the mammoth beast.
The gargantuan machine then bent over, staring Snake in the eyes, its head shaking violently. Snake stared back, with something in his hands. The gigantic missile launcher being held up by his left hand, his right hand on the "trigger"... and the barrel pointed at the Metal Gear's head.
Four missiles exploded into the Metal Gear's mouth, and the rocket launcher fell to the ground.
The RAY swayed back and forth from the tremendous impact... its "life" was ending, promptly at that. It then fell forward right in front of Snake, a heart-stopping impact that did not affect the hardened soldier.
Snake had won this near-impossible battle.
David had defeated Goliath.