Tanker Chapter, Sneaking II

Snake stood over Olga's unconscious body, with his M9 drawn. He only had four rounds left for it, and it was still raining, without any sign of it letting up. Snake moved around to the right of the bridge, and passed a set of stairs leading up to the crow's nest. He came upon an area identical from that which he just fought Olga. When he got to the corner, he heard a hatch open, then footsteps, then the hatch close. Snake pressed up against the wall, and peeked around the corner. A Gurlukovich soldier was walking toward the edge of the platform, with his back turned to Snake. Snake decided to make a run for it, and got to the bridge hatch unseen. He began to open the hatch, slowly but surely, and eventually made it back inside the bridge. Snake inspected one of the Marine's bodies, and found fifteen 9mm bullets. Snake took the time to load the magazine that was in the USP, because he knew that when he needed it, he wouldn't have to load it. Once the USP was loaded and put away in favor of the non-lethal M9, he walked down the stairs to reach Deck-D.

Moving to the right, towards the Semtex, Snake heard more footsteps. He got down on his stomach, and crawled under the laser beams once again. When he was directly under the beams, he saw a patrol moving toward him from the left. He hadn't seen Snake yet, but he was going to soon. Snake knew this, and he quickly aimed his M9 at the man's head, and pulled the trigger. The dart hit the guard square in the temple, and he dropped immediately, the anesthetic taking effect. Snake crawled out from under the lasers and moved on, traveling down the stairs to Deck-C.

As Snake approached the bottom of the stairs, he saw the hallway's guard walk in the direction Snake planned on going. Snake walked over to the wall where the hallway opened up, and flattened his back against it, waiting for the sentry to return. As expected, the man turned around once he reached the end of the hall and started to walk back toward the stairs. He passed right by Snake, not seeing him, and kept moving in the opposite direction. Snake saw the security camera on the wall at the last second, dodging out of its view and against the wall. Snake reached the stairs and proceeded down them.

Snake reached Deck-B and moved up to the hallway leading to where he wanted to go. The corridor up ahead turned to the right, and Snake saw the shadow from the sentry posted in the hallway projecting into view. As the shadow moved to the right, Snake pressed up against the wall and peeked around the corner, watching the guard. When the guard reached the end of the hall, he stood there for a moment, then turned around to the right and walked back toward Snake. Snake watched him another two times, and each time, the guard did exactly the same thing. So, when the guard began to walk away for the fourth time, Snake silently followed him. When the guard got to the end of the corridor, Snake pressed up against the left wall, right next to the guard. The guard turned around to his right, like clockwork, and walked away from Snake. The sneaking expert continued around the corner down the hall. Snake came across a door on his right, and entered it.

Upon reaching the other side of the door, Snake found himself standing on the top landing of a staircase that connected with another just like it on the left, then turned to the right and formed another set of stairs leading down to Deck-A, the crew's lounge. Directly in front of the stairs was a large separating window with passageways to the left and to the right of it, with tables and chairs behind it. To the right of the tables was a small bar, various bottles lining the shelves behind it. A guard walked the corridor between the window and the stairs. Once the guard was past the stairs and heading left, Snake hurriedly ran down the stairs and to the right, entering a small area with a large set of stairs going down. Snake took to the stairs, and reached the bottom of the stairs to find a door on the right. Snake walked through the door.

Snake was in the engine room, on the starboard side. Snake walked up the corridor to find a row of four lockers. Snake tried opened the one on the far right, only to find it locked. So, he tried the one to the left of it, and it opened with ease. Snake looked through the locker to find mostly personal effects: letters, deodorant, a toothbrush, and some pictures. However, upon closer inspection, Snake found thirty 9mm bullets worth of magazines. Snake took these and put them in his magazine holsters on his sneaking suit. Snake closed the locker and moved on to the next one. This one was unlocked as well, but Snake found nothing useful. Closing the locker, he went to open the last one. The door quickly opened on its own after Snake twisted the handle. Snake saw a Marine in yellow coveralls stuffed in the locker with its throat slashed. Snake stepped back as the cadaver fell forward onto the ground. Finishing in this area, Snake moved toward the door on his left.

He opened the door to have his senses attacked by the loud, constant noise of the gigantic engine that powered the tanker. Upon coming back to his senses, Snake found found a guard ahead of him, stretching his arms above his head, standing overlooking a long drop down to the next level. The guard was going to turn around any second. Snake had to take action. He punched the guard with his right hand, then his left hand, and finished with a round-about kick. The kick sent the guard over the rail, falling on top of a guard below. Both were knocked unconscious. Snake continued down the catwalk to a set of stairs at the end of the walkway. A guard below the stairs began to walk away from Snake, unaware of his presence. Snake eagerly walked down the stairs to come to a rail overlooking another level below him. With the guard coming back on his patrol, Snake jumped over the railing and caught himself on the ledge. He let go of the ledge and dropped about five feet to find himself on the lowest level in the engine room. There was a large crate to the left of him, and a wall to the right of him. The crate was held up by legs, which created a two-foot space between it and the floor; the perfect place to hide. Snake got down on his stomach, and entered the crawlspace. He spied a small connecting bridge to the left of the crate, joining the ground he was on, and the walkway immediately surrounding the engine. The only trouble was that there was a guard watching the bridge from a corner. Snake knew sneaking around him would be difficult even for him, so he drew his M9 and aimed it at the guard's heart. Snake fired the dart, and hit its mark, spreading the anesthetic into his heart, and in turn, his entire body. The guard dropped in less than two seconds. Only one dart left. Snake moved out from under the crate and ran across the small footbridge to the other side.

Snake moved to the left after crossing, and came to a long set of stairs going up. Snake bypassed the stairs, instead opting for the long catwalk to the right of it. About a quarter way down the catwalk, Snake saw a sentry coming his way from the end of the path. Snake turned around and sprinted back behind cover. The sentry stopped and turned around at the place where Snake first saw him. The guard began to move back to where he came from, and Snake darted out and tried to catch up to him, but he wouldn't be able to in time. Instead, Snake aimed his M9 and fired, the dart finding its way into the back of the guard's neck. The guard looked around for a bit, but then shrugged it off. He was unconscious before he had the time to investigate his neck. Snake moved up and followed the walkway around to another set of stairs. Snake followed them up to come to a landing. More stairs. At the top of these stairs, there was a soldier overlooking the rest of the engine room. Snake moved swiftly around the man, and he went through the door at the end of the walkway. As he moved up the corridor, he came to a room with only one way to progress: through a door in a short hallway that had Semtex hooked up to three sets of laser beams running across the walls of the hallway. Snake's codec chirped.

"Snake, there's another set of infrared sensors in place," Otacon warned, "If you touch that, the explosives will detonate and that ship will be pulverized."

"I'm not in the mood to go sleep with the fishes," Snake quipped, "But there are too many sensors. Looks like I'll have to find another way."

"No need to worry; there's a way through. Take a close look: Do you see the thing with the blinking green light right next to the explosives? That's the control unit for the sensors. Destroy that and the sensors stop functioning. You can't get in close enough to touch it, so you'll have to shoot it out. But the M9's tranquilizer rounds won't work. The USP you picked up should to the trick. Use that gun," Otacon didn't give Snake a chance to reply as he closed the connection. Following his friend's advice, Snake began to shoot out the control units for the laser beams. There was one on the ground, just to the right of some Semtex – Snake shot it with ease. When he did, he heard a set of sensors go offline. There was another on top of a shelf behind a pack of Semtex. Snake had to stand on his toes to get a clear shot, but a clear shot he did get. The last sensor was just to the left of the door down the corridor; Snake had to move past the other two deactivated sensors to reach it, but he shot it out, and the passageway to the hatch was clear.

As soon as Snake entered Deck-2, a voice came over the P.A. system of the tanker.

"Verrazano Bridge checkpoint passed. All non-essential personnel, report to the holds in ten minutes' time for the scheduled briefing session with the Commandant. You are ordered to continue manning your posts until that time."

After listening to the announcement, Snake began moving through the narrow passageways. Every so often, there would be a small room with a door leading out of the passageway to the right of the hall. The hallway was dark and wet – most of the lightbulbs above Snake flickered in and out constantly. Some didn't work at all. Several of the pipes on the left of the hall dripped with water. Snake continued running down the hall; it was deserted so far. But then, Snake saw the silhouette of a guard moving toward Snake in the dark. Snake darted into one of the rooms on the right, and hid behind a wall. The guard stopped at the entrance of the room Snake was hiding in, but he didn't come into it. After several seconds, the guard continued on his route. Snake did the same, traveling in the direction in which the guard came from. As Snake neared a turn in the long hallway, he heard footsteps and soft music. Snake hugged the right wall as a sentry came to the corner, headbanging to the music coming from his headphones. He was still facing the wall, paying more attention to his music than his guard duty, so Snake tiptoed around him and continued on his path. He came to a hatch at the end of the corridor, and entered it. Another hallway.

Snake continued on his run down the corridor until he heard the sound of a hatch opening echoing in the narrow halls. Snake aimed his USP down the corridor as he dropped to one knee beside a small, waist-high crate. The hatch opened to reveal three Gurlukovich soldiers. One was watching the other two's backs, while another opened the hatch and the third ran through the open door. The one covering their flank walked backwards into the small room adjacent to the long hallway as the one who opened the door came into the room and closed the hatch. One soldier walked out of the small room into the hallway and checked the right. Snake ducked behind the crate before the guard checked the left. When everything was secure, one soldier lifted his radio to his mouth and spoke in a Russian accent.

"Colonel, we have sealed the stern hatch."

"All right," came the reply over the radio from Sergei Gurlukovich.

"The lift is also under our control."

"We're on the foredeck, about to descend into the holds."

"Sir, the Marine commander has started his speech already."

"We will complete the preparations before the end of the speech."

"All the communications to the holds have been severed. No one is aware of our presence."

"Let no one down into the holds until we are out."

"Yes, sir! We will secure your exit, with our lives if necessary."

"There is one more thing…"

"Yes, sir?"

"My daughter…keep her safe."

"Yes, sir!" the soldier said as he put the radio back on its belt. All three soldiers moved into the long hall, and started towards the box Snake was hiding behind. Snake's nose began to itch. He was going to sneeze. He tried to stifle it, but it was no use. Snake sneezed, and immediately grabbed the attention of all three guards. "Who goes there!"

Snake didn't have enough ammunition for his M9 to take out his enemies, so he had no choice but to use lethal force. The soldiers began to open fire on Snake as he stood up with his USP drawn. One leaned out from behind the left wall. Snake fired off a round at him, and it hit him in his left shoulder. Another guard began to fire at Snake, so he ducked behind his crate. He didn't hear any shots being fired, so he stood up to engage his enemies. The one on the left fired at Snake again, but his wounded arm decreased his accuracy; not a single shot hit. Snake fired at him again, but he ducked behind the wall before the bullet could find its target. A soldier on the right leaned out from behind his wall, and Snake shot him in his right arm. He then ducked behind his wall. The one on the right strafed out from behind the wall and began to shoot at Snake, but Snake fired, and scored a headshot on him. The soldier went down in a shower of blood. Only one more left. The guard popped out from behind cover, and Snake shot him in his left arm again. He screamed out in pain, but continued the battle. This time, Snake fired off a three-round burst with his USP, scoring hits on each of the three shots: chest, neck, and head. With Snake's USP empty, he swapped magazines.

In the aftermath of the battle, Snake stood victorious amidst the gunsmoke as he holstered his USP. Snake walked toward the hatch, and opened it. A lone guard behind Snake watched him, but he stayed back, away from Snake. Snake drew his USP and readied it as he moved through the door, not bothering to close it behind him. Snake moved through another doorway on his right, and disappeared from the guard's view. The soldier closed the first hatch and sighed a breath of relief as he heard a man's footsteps and the sound of jingling spurs behind him. He spun around and raised his AK.

"Who goes there!" The man simply kept advancing until his face was no longer in the shadows. "Oh, Shalashaska." Shalashaska stopped an arm's distance away from the soldier as the guard lowered his AK. "Why are you here? We thought you with the colonel." The guard looked over his shoulder, then looked back and pointed at the door. Shalashaska drew his Colt Single Action Army in a heartbeat with his left hand and pointed it directly between the guard's eyes. "What the…!" Shalashaska fired, blood spewing out of the back of the soldier's head as he slumped down to the ground, lifeless. Shalashaska spun his revolver before throwing his trenchcoat back a little bit so he could holster it. Shalashaska spoke to the corpse.

"The colonel will be joining you soon…comrade." Shalashaska walked away from the body, moving down the hallway.