Plant Chapter, Sneaking I

"Colonel, I'm on the roof. There are no sentries, but it would only take one to spot me in this light," Raiden spoke to Colonel Campbell over the Codec.

"You never had daylight VR training, after all," Campbell stated.

"What about the commandos?" Raiden asked.

"SEAL Team 10 has landed on Struts B and C."

"And the President?"

"Seems he was spotted on Strut B."

"Strut B?"

"The Big Shell is comprised of Shells One and Two. Each unit consists of a central core and six struts surrounding it," the colonel explained.

"So the whole thing is shaped like two hexagons connected end-on-end."

"Exactly. And you're on the roof of Strut A, Shell One at the moment. Get going, Raiden," Campbell closed the connection.

Raiden stood, and moved toward a cage surrounding the door leading down into the strut. Seagulls were gathered around the cage, and when Raiden approached them, they took flight. The cage gate was locked, but the bottom of the cage was cut, leaving a man-sized hole. Raiden lay down on his stomach and squeezed through the hole. Once on the other side, he stood up and moved to the door; it opened automatically. Just as Raiden moved inside, he received a Codec call from the colonel.

"Raiden, SEAL Team 10 is in."

"Do we really have no line of communication with the SEALs?"

"They don't know a thing about us. You know we work in the dark, and this mission is no exception. Only a few people know about your presence here," When Campbell said this, Raiden let out a small whimper. "There's no need for concern. This operation is under Pentagon's direct command, and the National Security Decision Directives came from the Vice President and the Secretary of Defense. Your mission may be top-secret, but it's gone through the usual channels," Seemingly satisfied with his talk, the colonel cut the connection.

Raiden moved down the stairs that were in front of him, and pressed against the wall at the bottom of the stairs. He poked his head around the corner, and saw two sentries speaking to each other; one was inside a large cubicle-esque worksation out of sight, and the other in the hallway, in Raiden's direct view. They both wore identical uniforms: grey tiger-stripe urban camouflage, a black balaclava, and combat boots, not to mention the plethora of weaponry each carried. The soldier in the hallway spoke.

"I'll go check the roof. I'll leave the first floor to you, okay?"

"Understood," Said the other. The man in the hallway turned his back to Raiden and began to walk towards a staircase on the opposite side of the large symmetrical room. He reached the stairs, and walked up them quickly. Raiden jogged out into the hall and observed the guard inside the workstation. He made rounds; he first looked out the entry to the left, then walked to the right, then turned right to look at another entrance. He turned left again to return to his original heading, looked out the right entrance, then made his way to the left cubical entrance again. Raiden timed his dash across the doorway correctly, and started on his way to Strut B. Raiden approached a door at the end of the hallway, and it opened on its own.

Raiden received another Codec conversation from the colonel.

"Raiden, I just intercepted new intelligence on the operation being executed by SEAL Team 10."

"Intercepted?"

"As I said before, they need to be kept in the dark about our presence."

"So we just listen in."

"I'm patching it through." Campbell's voice was replaced with radio crackle, then a SEAL's voice.

"This is Alpha Zero. We have the President."

"Is he safe?" Questioned the SEAL's mission commander.

"He is."

"What about the package?"

"Tell the guys upstairs that we've secured the package. Easy money."

"Good work. Your retrieval is on the way. Come on home."

"Roger that," The SEAL said, just before the crack of gunfire rang out. "H-holy!" More gunfire, then nothing.

"Alpha Zero! Report!" Demanded the commander.

"Dammit! Cover the President!" Alpha Zero said, not paying attention to his commander.

"Come in, Alpha Zero!"

"This is Alpha Zero. We are under attack," The SEAL finally responded. "This is crazy! Is that…!"

"Alpha Zero, respond!" Silence. "All Alpha, respond!"

"Raiden, the President's life is in danger! Head to Strut B now!" The radio transmission was cut off, and was replaced with Colonel Campbell once again. The colonel went as fast as he came, and the connection was severed.

Raiden moved through the door and came to a short hallway emptying out into the AB Connecting Bridge. The connecting bridges were relatively short catwalks that connected the struts with each other. Each connecting bridge was a unique design to help increase efficiency depending on what the bridge was used most for between the two struts.

The AB Connecting Bridge opened up with a short walkway, then split off at two ninety degree angles for a short while, before each path making another right angle, resuming its original direction. It continued like this before making another set of right angles and joining back together to form a short course to connect to Strut B.

Raiden looked over the bridge and saw a guard on each of the branched routes. They patrolled the length of the routes again and again, simply turning around when the reached the end of the path. Raiden stepped out onto the connecting bridge and took the left path. When the guard turned his back on Raiden, he dashed out onto the walkway and flipped over the side of the railing, catching the rail with his hands and turning his body around to face the catwalk. Raiden caught himself with his hands on the floor of the catwalk and shimmied his way over towards Strut B. Suspended one hundred and thirty feet over the ocean by only his hands, Raiden went unnoticed by the guard as he walked by. Raiden brought his legs to his chest, then flung them back to use the momentum to flip himself over the railing and back on top of the catwalk. Raiden exited the connecting bridge and entered Strut B.

Upon entering Strut B, Raiden immediately smelled that unmistakable smell: blood. Raiden walked down the hallway, and found fresh blood smeared graciously on the walls and floor. The bright red contrasted highly with the bright greys of the hall. Raiden turned the corner to find three corpses of SEALs strewn about the floor, along with even more blood on the surrounding surfaces. Raiden stepped around the bodies and made his way to the door on his right. Inside, three SEALs slowly stepped about together, their M4s at the ready. A knife was suddenly thrown with incredible force from above and in front of the SEALs. The blade entered the SEAL who was on point's skull, and he dropped with a groan. The other two SEALs panicked, and began firing their rifles wildly, praying to hit their unseen adversary. One SEAL cursed as a brown blur seemingly flew from one point to another with incredible speed. The blur hopped down to one of the SEALs and cut both of his Achilles' tendons. The SEAL dropped to the floor, emptying his weapon's magazine as he fell.

"Alpha Zero, come in, Alpha Zero!" one of the fallen SEAL's radios sounded. The last remaining SEAL backed himself into a corner and continued spraying his weapon. Raiden, outside the room, listened to the mayhem going on inside. The SEAL emptied his magazine, and quickly replaced it with a full one while a man was crouched in the dark rafters above. He leaped down to the floor and stayed in a crouch. The SEAL was consumed in terror as he tried to fire his M4 at the man. Nothing happened. "Oh no, no!" The crouched assailant lifted his head to look at his prey. He breathed out, and breath was visible, even though the room was rather warm. He stood up, and the SEAL finally got a good look at him: He was a tall white man with shoulder-length slicked back black hair, and a goatee. He wore nothing on his torso under his open brown trenchcoat, and his dark, coarse chest hair was visible, in addition to four large horizontal scars. On his belt were a total of nine knife sheaths, eight of which were separated into two four-knife arrangements, and were hanging over each leg. Between these was a longer sheath, with a large knife in it. Leather pants covered his legs, and boots protected his feet. The SEAL pulled the trigger on his M4 over and over with no results, until he realized that he didn't chamber a round. He hurriedly pulled the bolt back, and fired. The man in the trenchcoat spun around, moving towards the SEAL, all the while dancing around every bullet. He took the large knife out of its scabbard, and stunned the soldier with a few quick slices to his arms, and made his way behind him. He held the SEAL's head back with his left hand, and slit his throat with the right. The SEAL fell to his knees with his head back, blood shooting into the air from his jugular veins. As the SEAL collapsed to the ground, the man walked past him. Another SEAL's radio came to life. "All Alpha, come in! What's going on? Alpha, respond!"

Raiden stood outside the door, hesitant to enter the room now that the gunfire had ceased. However, he walked to the door, and it opened. Raiden entered the blood-soaked room, and came to a railing that overlooked the lower area that the fighting had taken place just before. Raiden saw the silent killer holding a SEAL's body up against a wall, with his mouth over his neck, occasionally making slurping noises. After a moment, he noticed Raiden out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look at him, and exhaled quickly, his breath visible again. He let go of the SEAL's body, and it crumpled to the floor. He turned around to face Raiden.

"What…are you?" Raiden asked. He didn't answer Raiden's question; instead, he drew his largest knife.

"Five today…" he said, and cut a long incision into his chest, above the scars on his chest. "Or rather, six?" He grinned, then leaped up above and landed behind Raiden. Raiden was still stunned, and didn't turn around. The man started to reach out with his left hand, but someone who looked like a SEAL entered the room and called out to Raiden.

"Get down!" Raiden complied, and crouched quickly. The newcomer opened fire with his M4, but when Raiden looked behind him, there was nothing there. The new SEAL entered the room, and stepped slowly. His eyes searched the room, but found nothing. "Where is he!" he spoke to himself. The man in the brown trenchcoat dropped down from the girders above the SEAL directly in front of the SEAL. He raised his M4 to aim, but he was too slow; the man knocked the rifle out of his hands and toward Raiden, cutting his left forearm in the process. He grabbed the SEAL by the head. Raiden rolled toward the M4 and grabbed it. As he came out of the roll, he was already aiming. The man then pinned the SEAL against the wall with one hand on his head, the SEAL's feet dangling above the floor. The blow knocked off the SEAL's radio headset. The man then put his face close to the SEAL and sniffed a few times.

"Hmm? Strange smell…" He moved closer and took another whiff. "You smell like -- !" He threw the SEAL to the ground and mumbled to himself, "Are you – it has to be!" The SEAL looked at Raiden and spoke.

"Shoot him! What are you waiting for!" Raiden fired the M4 at the man, but he danced around the rounds. The magazine ran out of ammunition. The man started towards Raiden with a knife drawn, but he stopped mid-dance when his radio came to life.

"Vamp?" A female's voice said through the radio.

"Yeah, Queen?" The man said, as the SEAL slid a full magazine across the floor to Raiden.

"Are you all done cleaning up?"

"Yes. But wait till I tell you what I found."

"Something…interesting?"

"I'll tell you in person. Where are you?" The clip of ammo finally reached Raiden, and he quickly loaded it.

"In the central unit, with the President."

"Be right there," He said as Raiden pulled the bolt back on the rifle. Raiden took aim, but the man was gone. Raiden heard a grunt and aimed toward the source, but a brown blur streaked across the room a couple times, then it was gone.

Raiden approached the slightly wounded SEAL with the M4 pointed at him. When he began to get up, Raiden took aim.

"Hold on, I'm not an enemy. Calm down," the SEAL said. Raiden kept the rifle aimed at him. The SEAL slid across the floor to lean against a wall; Raiden kept him in his sights. "My name is S…My name is Pliskin. Iriquois Pliskin. Lieutenant Junior Grade." Pliskin removed his balaclava to reveal a white face, with long brown hair, stubble, and green eyes.

"Are you a Navy SEAL?" Questioned Raiden. No reply. "How did you get in?"

"Fast rope decent, from a Navy chopper." A sea lice crawled out from under Pliskin and scurried away.

"Have I seen you before?" Raiden asked. Pliskin looked Raiden over.

"That suit – are you FOXHOUND?"

"That's right," Raiden answered, slightly surprised that Pliskin knew about the covert group.

"FOXHOUND was disbanded," Pliskin said. "Where were you before FOXHOUND? Delta Force?"

"I was part of the Army's Force XXI trials."

"Force XXI? That's about tactical IT deployment, right? Any field experience?"

"No, not really."

"So this is your first," Pliskin said.

"I've had extensive training – the kind that's indistinguishable from the real thing."

"Like what?"

"Sneaking mission 60, Weapons 80, Advanced –"

"VR, huh?"

"But realistic in every way."

"A virtual grunt of the digital age. That's just great," Pliskin said sarcastically.

"That's far more effective than live exercises."

"You don't get injured in VR, do you? Every year, a few soldiers die in field exercises."

"There's pain sensation in VR, and even a sense of reality and urgency. The only difference is that it isn't actually happening," Raiden said, defending himself.

"That's the way they want you to think, to remove you from the fear that goes with battle situations. War as a video game – what better way to raise the ultimate soldier?" Raiden, trusting Pliskin, handed him his M4.

"So you're saying that VR training is some kind of mind control?" Colonel Campbell called Raiden on the Codec.

"Raiden? What's going on?"

"The Alpha team from Navy SEAL 10 is dead…" Raiden glanced at Pliskin, who was standing up, "No, a single survivor."

"The kid's wired with nanomachines," Pliskin said, seemingly to himself.

"What about the President?" Campbell asked.

"Looks like they took him somewhere else," Raiden said.

"I see. You said there was a survivor from SEAL Team 10?"
"Yeah. Lieutenant J. G. Pliskin."

"Has he seen your face?"

"What?"
"This is a top-secret mission. No one can know that we're involved."

"It's a little too late for that," Raiden said as he closed the connection.

Pliskin had gathered his gear and bandaged his wounds while Raiden was speaking to the colonel. He walked down the small set of stairs to the area where the three SEALs had died. Raiden followed him. There was another body, however, that had gone unnoticed.

"What's up?" Raiden asked, as Pliskin stopped in front of the body.

"Take a look," Pliskin said. A man in Navy dress blues sat limp in a puddle of his own blood against a wall. He had half of a pair of handcuffs on his right hand.

"What the hell?" Raiden said.

"A Navy Captain." Pliskin became light-headed and started to fall backward, but he regained control and sat down on the set of stairs next to them.

"You alright?" Raiden inquired.

"Give me a few minutes," Pliskin said, as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Must have lost a few more pints than I thought." Pliskin put a cigarette in his mouth, and lit it.

"Who was that man just now?" Raiden asked.

"That bloodsucking freak? That was Vamp. He's Romanian, and a wizard with knives, as you saw."

"The way he moved didn't seem human!"

"You won't see that in VR, I guarantee."

"What is he?"

"One of the members of Dead Cell."

"Dead Cell…Him?"

"A special forces unit created by Ex-President George Sears. The name was originally intended to reflect its anti-terrorist functions. The unit would launch unannounced assaults on government complexes, for the ultimate simulation. They were needed to show VR troopers like you to deal with the real thing. But around the time their original leader died in prison, the unit began to unravel. They were always close to the edge, but they became more and more extreme; began to go after U.S. allies, even civilians. We estimate than no fewer than a hundred people died as a result of 'accidents' Dead Cell arranged on their own. They were out of control – and it all came to a head six months ago."

"What happened?"

"Two of their members died. The unit was devastated. There are only three left now – and you just saw one of them."

"Why would they go after the Big Shell?" Raiden questioned.

"How should I know? I told you they were on the lunatic fringe."

"What about the leader? He says he's Solid Snake?"

"Snake died two years ago."

"You mean the incident that made this Big Shell necessary in the first place."

"Right. And he was the one that sank that tanker."

"But he's a legend –" Raiden tried to defend him.

"Legends are usually bad news. There's not a lot of difference between heroes and madmen."

"You're saying Snake is still alive and pulled another one?"
"No, he's not involved in this one. His body was positively ID'd two years ago."

"Snake is dead…" Raiden said, mournfully.

"And buried."

"I saw Russian equipment on those guards."

"Former Soviet military. They're probably mercenaries. The Big Shell is too much ground for just Dead Cell members to hold down. You weren't briefed on any of this, and you cam in alone, to boot? Why?" Raiden didn't answer. "What are you really doing here?" Again, no response. "Can't tell me, huh? Fine with me." Pliskin offered Raiden his pack of cigarettes.

"I don't smoke," Raiden declined Pliskin's offer.

"Keep them anyway. May come in handy." Raiden took the cigarettes and put them with his gear. "Take this, too." Pliskin took out his holstered SOCOM pistol and gave it to Raiden.

"Come in, Alpha Zero!" A dead SEAL's radio rang out, "This is Bravo Zero, currently at the bridge between Struts B and C. The President is – Damn! I can't hit this thing! It's like some kind of bad dream…Alpha! Anyone! Come in, all Alpha! This is Bravo Zero!"

"Aren't you going to answer him!" Raiden asked Pliskin. Pliskin slowly reached to the radio behind his left shoulder, but a loud scream came from the speaker, then static.

"The BC Connecting Bridge."

"We need to get there. Can you handle it?"

"I need a few more minutes," Pliskin said. Remember my frequency – it's 141.80." Pliskin tapped the radio on his shoulder. "I've been briefed on this plant's layout. If you need information on the place or about Dead Cell, contact me."

"141.80. Got it."

"You're using nanocommunication, right?" Asked Pliskin."

"Yeah, but I can patch into your frequency."

Raiden began to walk up the stairs, when Pliskin spoke to him.

"Hey – What's you're name?" After a pause, he answers him.

"Raiden."

"Raiden? Strange codename."

"Makes up for the boring ones my parents gave me," Raiden stated.

"Maybe I'll find out one day," Pliskin said as he gave Raiden a little wave as he left. Raiden was just about to go through the door to the BC Connecting Bridge, when he got a Codec call from Rose.

"Jack, do you remember what day tomorrow is?"

"That again…" Raiden said. "I'm sorry, but I still don't have a clue."

"That's okay," Rose said, disappointed.

"What is it, Rose? Talk to me."

"I'd rather you figure it out. It's important."

"How important?" Raiden asked.

"Important enough. And we'll talk about it tomorrow."

"Why not now?"

"Tomorrow seems more – appropriate. I need all the help I can get so that I won't chicken out, anyway."

"Is that the reason you decided to be a part of this mission?" Rose didn't answer.

"Okay, I'm going to finish this thing by tomorrow, no matter what."

"You know I'll do everything I can to help you."

"Rose, there's something I need you to do as an analyst."

"What is it?"

"It has to do with Solid Snake. The leader of this takeover incident is claiming that he's Snake himself."

"The legendary mercenary? Hm."

"I need as much data on him as possible. Everything they have on him after the Shadow Moses incident."

"He's dead now, isn't he?"

"Yes. Should be a burial record somewhere, too. You should be able to request toplevel security clearance from the colonel. That should get us into the most classified material."

"I'm on it. I'll contact you as soon as I find out something," Rose said. The connection was cut.