Before you continue, both me and NO. MCCXXII have some important words to say. Please take the time to read what we have to say.
The following is from NO. MCCXXII:
"Normally, I don't physically talk to the readers as I hold most of my communications with my friend Anzu and Raven. But I would like to say these past few months have been busy for both me and Anzu, mainly situations regarding the welfare of our friends on our discord server and troubling mental state that the main writer was going through at the time. I dearly apologize for procrastinating for so long on this project we started. I hope you understand that as writers, we all have our own problems to deal with, and our own demons to face. Thankfully now, we conquered ours and have got back to writing. I hope you enjoy reading chapter 4 of this story and that you look forward to what the future has in store. Me and the boys are certainly eager to continue writing. I would like to thank my good friend Anzu for starting this project and all for reading our story. I would especially like to thank our friend Armored Raven for bearing with our dilemmas and sticking with the project to the end. You've have been a big help to us as an expert on Azur Lane lore."
The following is from me:
"Yes, what NO. MCC said up there is true. These past months have not been the best for me... I had so many things thrown at me right after I posted that little update, that I found absolutely no time or motivation to finish this chapter. It's been a long 2 months, but I never forgot about this story. To those who have continued to wait in bated breath, hoping that the next chapter would finally release, I thank you for your extreme patience... this chapter has some of the best stuff I've written yet, plus some of the best stuff MCC has written too. Even Raven got in on the action, so maybe the wait will be rewarded with something truly awesome. Regardless, we are back, and I've evolved. Here's to Chapter 5... because that's when things will start to get really interesting."
Raven has no specific words to give.
And as always, the soundtrack link on youtube: playlist?list=PLfUttKNcUeSbjeMmG9z98WlI5VDId3X0P
Note: this chapter contains longer-than-usual acts.
-Chapter 4: Tora! Tora... Tora? Act 1-
-Many days later-
🎵Metal Gear Solid 4 - Tailing The Resistance🎵
-Prinz Eugen's POV-
It has been nearly over 2 weeks since the skirmish between Ironblood and the Royal Navy ships. Prinz Eugen has managed to fully recover over the course of a week and has been currently plotting assaults on the bases of Azur Lane with Bismarck and the other higher ups in Ironblood's chain of command.
Prinz Eugen has been up for nearly over 60 hours, with the strain of insomnia slowly deteriorating her train of thought (and mood). She was tasked by the higher ups to plan an attack on an Eagle Union stronghold, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, the majority of Ironblood's forces are currently tied up; locked in a heated battle between the Northern Parliament over territory in Europe. This has left Ironblood's elite division with little to no reinforcements.
This critical flaw in most of Eugen's plans has driven her over the brink of insanity. She couldn't come up with an effective plan to assault this base. From what she's heard from espionage planes, this was one of Eagle Union's strongest naval bases in the Azur Lane alliance, practically a hub second to the main headquarters near the coast of the U.S. Because of its status, it's one of the most heavily fortified bases in the world. An assault on the base with the current unoccupied Ironblood forces would be a deathwish that would inevitably end in failure.
Prinz Eugen slammed her head against her desk over a map, groaning over the irritation of her failed attempts to draft an effective assault. She didn't bother reacting to the pain of slamming her skull against metal, as she was so tired and fatigued that she could care less about pain. After a brief moment where she nearly passed out, Prinz Eugen forced herself to lift her head back up, trying to regain her thoughts over the progress she has made so far.
Over the course of 60 hours, she has attempted over 83 different assault plans; with all of them lacking a major breakthrough or void of any real practicality. Normally, she would never stay up this long on strategic planning, but due to the pressure the higher ups had given her division, she refused to rest until she came up with a solid plan to report to Bismarck.
While Prinz Eugen was attempting to regain her vision from a complete collapse in functionality, someone slowly opened her door. She quickly reacted by turning around to see who it was. Still drowsy from her lack of rest, she was barely able to make out who was standing at the door.
"Eugen, have you prepared another plan to attack the Eagle Union base yet?"
Prinz Eugen couldn't determine who was speaking to her, and she quickly started to slowly collapse from exhaustion once again.
"Eugen?!" The voice said, fast footsteps following.
She didn't want to reply, as she felt more inclined to close her eyes. Prinz Eugen shut her eyes for a brief moment, only to be rudely awoken by the same voice who started shaking her.
"EUGEN! Stay awake!" The voice yelled while shaking her, forcing Prinz Eugen back into consciousness.
"Huh!? What... who... is..." Her vision finally cleared up, revealing a blonde haired woman in a black military uniform. It was Bismarck, who looked to be almost irritated by Eugen's current state.
"It's me Bismarck, you're slacking off again!" She said seriously with disappointment in her tone.
"I'm sorry... dammit!..." Prinz Eugen replied drowsy while slowly sitting up in her chair. Bismarck looked briefly at her friend's current state before redirecting her attention to the map on Eugen's desk.
"There is nothing on here." She said coldly, "did you even try to plan anoth-"
"NO!" Eugen quickly interrupted Bismarck, with frustration and irritation in her voice. "I-I've spent nearly three days strategically planning t-t-this assault!..." she paused briefly to yawn, "There is no way... we going to put a d-dent… in t-this base!"
Bismarck gave her a somewhat surprised look. Eugen stood up and drowsy walked over to a filing cabinet with a globe sitting on top of it. She then lifted up the globe and pointed at a location near the Gulf of Finland.
"Most of our forces right now... are currently tied in eastern front..." Eugen said while harnessing the last ounces of energy she had in her.
"That Eagle Union base is one of the highest c-concentrations of naval ships in the world... it will foolish for us to attack with our current forces still available!..." She said with malicious intent and a raspy voice. Eugen was also so tired, that her grammar slipped up while she struggled to talk.
Bismarck's eyes widened by her friend's frustration. Prinz Eugen quickly followed up, "There is no way we are going to make a dent in that base... not without a greater numbers!"
Bismarck looked into her friend's eyes for a moment, remaining silent. Seemingly trying to put together a response to say to Eugen. But before Bismarck could open her mouth to respond to what she said, Prinz Eugen fell on her back, landing on her bed while hitting her head against the wall.
Prinz Eugen, from using the remaining amount of focus on communication between Bismarck has left her practically depleted of energy. She layed on her bed, with her head up against the wall and legs off the back, not even bothering to move to get into a more comfortable position on her bed.
The room fell silent for a few minutes. Eugen not wanting to open her eyes heard the sound of footsteps followed by a loud slam of a door closing. The sound made her jump in response, but she could faintly tell that Bismarck had walked out of her room. But after that... she was out like a lightbulb.
-Bismarck's POV-
Bismarck stormed away from Prinz Eugen's quarters, with frustration and irritation on her mind. She was troubled by the same problems that have been plaguing her friend. While not sleep deprived, Bismarck was also thwarted by their unsuccessful attempts at coming up with an effective plan to assault this Eagle Union base.
She and Prinz Eugen had spent a week's worth of brainstorming on this attack. Without little to no break of planning, it has driven both of them mad with frustration, her friend to a greater extent. After the battle between Royal Navy ships somewhere in the Denmark Strait, Prinz Eugen has been in a dire need to seek retribution against the County class cruisers. Bismarck can recall her friend talking about how the fight humiliated her and how much she wanted to "blow those two ships to oblivion" as she put it.
Bismarck approached the door to her dorm, she slowly opened the door and walked inside. She took a brief moment to look around her room, it was clean and well kept as she always has maintained it. Bismarck then closed the door behind her and walked over to her bed, sitting down on top of it.
Bismarck expected more out of Prinz Eugen, hoping she would be able to finally come up with a plan to assault the Eagle Union base located in the pacific. Nonetheless, she couldn't blame her current state of mind. Watching her spend almost 3 days of planning by herself while being persistent on not asking for help had made Bismarck worry for her. Despite this, she had problems of her own that made her care less about Eugen's struggles. With a good majority of Ironblood's ships absent and fighting on the eastern front, she had also been tirelessly trying to help maintain order in the base.
There were only a few other Ironblood ships stationed at the base. Besides Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, Gneisenau stayed to file reports and manage paperwork while U-47 was on guard duty in the surrounding waters. Leipzig was the only light cruiser that had volunteered to stay behind, so Bismarck had assigned her as the radio operator. The last ship that stayed behind was Admiral Graf Spee, who had chosen to tend to base maintenance.
While Ironblood was amongst the strongest naval powers in the world, it paled in comparison to the numbers of Eagle Union and the Royal Navy. Despite this disadvantage, Ironblood made up for their lack of numbers for their sheer strength and fire power. Thanks to superior technology, strategy and willpower of their units, they became amongst the strongest and most feared naval powers in the world.
Bismarck always did her best to live up to their legacy. Being diligent in battle and striking down every opponent that crossed her with an ironfist, she had quickly risen in the ranks as one of the leaders of Ironblood. Her service in Ironblood has made her the most decorated ship in Ironblood. Many of her subordinates say that she is "the pride of the nation", the "beast made of steel" and that she "was made to rule the waves across the seven seas."
Despite all the stories and declarations they gave her, Bismarck never looked at herself as a ruler, but rather a soldier. She believed that her service is for the sake of Ironblood's cause; to bring peace to the world through strength, and strength through dominance.
With all this self reflection slowly making her fall asleep, she decided to settle down and get some rest. While Bismarck may be a battleship built for war, she was still human. She then took off her hat and set it on a table near her bed. She laid her head down on her pillow and began to drift off into sleep.
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…
"... rck... Bismarck..."
Who could it be in this damned hour?… Bismarck thought to herself as she heard an unknown voice urging her to wake up. Her eyes drifted towards the clock on the wall, showing the time to be 4 in the morning when the sky was still dark.
"...Are you coming to? You're not dying from your stress, are you?"
After a few more seconds of processing, Bismarck now had a good idea as to who was calling her. Normally, members of Ironblood who were part of the same fleet as her would not be allowed to meddle with her room because of two reasons: there was no need to and Bismarck was always known for being orderly and in keeping of decorum. However, there was another reason which the vast majority of Ironblood had not known of.
That reason being that the burden Bismarck had been carrying since the moment she had been appointed an acting admiral. The burden was a certain relic hidden underneath her bed.
"What do you want?" In stark contrast to the somewhat playful tone of the call coming from the relic, Bismarck's tone was full of irritation, as she had not calmed down from the multiple days of stressful futile efforts in plotting an assault on the enemy base. She did not attempt to hide the venom in her voice.
"Just letting you know about the relevant information."
"Like the flaw of the Azur Lane base my fleet was tasked to destroy?" Bismarck asked, even though knowing that the caller wouldn't deign to provide such information.
"Hehehe… you know I'm not authorized to give that kind of information." The caller answered playfully, but switched to a more serious tone of voice. "Although, this piece of truth is about something affecting all sides equally."
Bismarck's eyebrows twitched upon hearing the abrupt shift in tone. If the caller had anything to be said with a serious tone, it would be wise to assume this information would be more important than orders from the heart of Ironblood itself.
"I'm sure you had a feeling that's been bugging your mind. Why has the Royal Navy not been coming after you specifically after you struck down the glory of the Royal Navy itself? Surely you did have some doubts for days on end, didn't you?"
"What are you getting at?" Bismarck was never good at following the caller's rhetorical questions, so she chose to press for answers instead, even though the words did point out one truth.
"Simply put, an anomaly happened." The caller answered, "An anomaly so great the predictions of possible actions of the other side of this war were off the mark. This has neverhappened before..."
"How does this concern both sides?" Bismarck was curious in a concerning way. If this anomaly was to be a danger to Ironblood itself, she felt that she might need to defy her orders and use this chance to take her fleet to a well deserved rest away from the exercise in futility that was assaulting the base.
The caller giggled slightly, "I cannot say for certain. But it is possible that you might see a very cruel change in the upcoming battles. Imagine that the ranks of your enemies include... flesh... and blood... put simply, humans..."
"You must be joking!" Bismarck snarled immediately upon the mention of humans. As a Kansen, Bismarck's reaction to the notion of fighting humans on the waters of war was thinking it to be disgusting, to put it lightly. Literal humans, threatened with the fate of extinction from the advent of technologically advanced beings many years ago, had no hope of matching Kansen in combat even in the present day.
To say that humans would be a part of the war now was to say that Kansen would have to violate their collective raison d'etre, no matter which faction it would be.
"You better hope I am. At least from the looks of things, there's no sign of the humans' involvement decreasing in momentum. Complicated still, there are different camps of them as well..." The caller replied. "...And they're experienced. From the intelligence we gathered, these humans appear to be organizing together, and wear identical apparel... as if they're part of a collective faction."
If Bismarck was already reeling from the information before, the words just now were enough to deliver a metaphorical uppercut to her chin. Sleep was out of the question now. "You mean to tell me that those humans' involvement in this war somehow bought the Ironblood time...?"
"Your time, specifically." The caller giggled, "You should use this chance to prepare yourself for whatever unpredictable matters that will come your way. Personally, I'm also invested in Eugen's well being, so give her the order to rest if you can."
"Will that be all?" Bismarck asked while sitting up from her bed.
"Yes... Long live the fatherland, hehehehe..." The call ended on an unsettling note, leaving Bismarck to worry about her and her fleet's new situation...
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...
-Several hours later-
*Knock Knock Knock*
The sound of loud knocking on Bismarck's door woke her up. It only has been a couple minutes since she received a call that alerted her of possible future events. Irritated by the constant knocking, Bismarck forced herself out of her bed and walked over to the door to see who it was. She opened the door to reveal a white haired girl with a long red scarf and a black dress. It was Admiral Graf Spee, who like usual is blank with her emotions.
She stared blankly into Bismarck's eyes, causing a quiet tension to form between the two. Before Bismarck could break the ice by asking why she came knocking at her door, Graf Spee finally spoke up.
"Your excellency, U-47 is awaiting approval of two ships that arrived 15 minutes ago. She said these two individuals would like to have a meeting with you and Prinz Eugen." She said with an empty tone. Bismarck wiped the drowsiness out of her eyes before responding.
"Did Leizig specify what these two indivduals look like to you?" Bismarck asked.
Graf Spee remained silent for a brief moment, "Both similar in appearance, one has brown hair and the other white… Both have fox ears."
Bismarck's eyes widened, and she immediately recognized Graf Spee's vague description. She quickly closed the door. Bismarck then began quickly fixing her uniform, putting her officer cover on her head before opening the door to address Graff Spee's response.
"Inform Leipzig to let the two pass. Once they arrive at the docks, escort them to the meeting room," Bismarck said while adjusting the medals on her uniform.
Graf Spee nodded and quickly walked away from her room down the left side of the hallway. Bismarck made her way in the opposite direction and headed towards Prinz Eugen's room. She knocked on the door and got no response from Eugen. Realizing she passed out while in the middle of a conversation, she slowly opened the door to find her friend still fast asleep, practically in the same position as she left her.
"Eugen, we have visitors who wish to have a meeting with us." Bismarck said formally. Prinz Eugen didn't respond to her and was out cold.
She then raised her voice, "Prinz Eugen, WAKE UP!" Eugen suddenly sprang to life at Bismarck's words. She looked around her surroundings in shock before fixing her gaze onto Bismarck.
Prinz Eugen quickly stood up, "Bismarck…" she quickly yawned. "What is going on?"
"We have visitors who wish to have a meeting with us," Bismarck replied.
Eugen gave her a skeptical look, "Huh… I don't suppose it is the fox sisters who wish to speak to us, no?"
Bismarck nodded at her response, "Yes, make your way to the meeting room as soon as possible, they will be arriving shortly." Prinz Eugen then began to stretch,
"...Very well..." She replied, still sleepy.
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...
-10 minutes later-
🎵Metal Gear Solid 4 - Tailing The Resistance [Level 2]🎵
Bismarck and Prinz Eugen were sitting at a conference table in a room, with no one else sitting in the room with them. Both waiting quietly for the supposed guests to arrive. Normally, Ironblood will always destroy or neutralize any ships that intrude on their waters, but Bismarck knew that these ships weren't enemies, but rather mutual allies.
After what has felt to be over an hour of waiting, the door finally opened. Admiral Graf Spee walked into the room, behind her trailed two women. As she described it, they were both very similar in appearance. They both had fox ears and many tails, but one had long brown hair while the other had short white hair. The first wore a black japanese robe, while the latter had a white robe and both of them have a metal sash around their waists with a golden crest at the center. Graf Spee stood behind them, watching them from behind.
"Greetings Ms. Bismarck." Brown haired woman said formally, "We have come to have a meeting with you."
Bismarck replied, "Greetings Akagi and Kaga, you may both have a seat. Admiral Graf Spee, leave. I wish to speak to them without your presence"
Graff Spee nodded and left the room, leaving her and Eugen alone with the two women. The brown haired woman sat down at the opposite end of the table, the white haired woman soon followed and sat down next to her.
"Has there been any progress in the assault against the base?" Akagi asked with a confident demeanor.
Bismarck glanced over at Eugen, she did the same and looked at Bismarck. Considering they have made no progress in developing an effective strategy, Bismarck didn't know how to respond to her question. Eugen looked to be in the same boat as her, unsure on how to respond as well. Despite being unconfident in the situation she was in, Bismarck kept her blank expression amongst the silence in the room. After a few exchanges of glances at each other, Prinz Eugen finally broke the ice.
"Unfortunately, with the current available ships we have in our ranks, we are unable to create an effective strategy to assault the Eagle Union base."
Akagi smiled at her response, "Oh, I see not even the toughest in our alliance is able to come up with a battle plan."
Bismarck quickly responded, "Most of our forces are currently tied up on the Eastern front, fighting the northern parliament. An assault with our current forces would be nothing but a fool's errand, and if I may be so blunt, I do not desire the taking of responsibility for a defeat that can be avoided."
"Sister, shall we?" Kaga, the white-haired fox woman whispered to Akagi while glancing at her.
"Very well." Akagi grinned in response, then looked back at Bismarck, "Regardless of the outcome of your assault, the two of us have come bearing good tidings. As allies of the same front, the Crimson Axis, neither of us can afford a collapse in military power. Word doesn't take long to travel far that your other ranks have been occupied."
Then Kaga added, "Which is why as Sakura Empire, we've been amassing a force for a total assault in your place."
Bismarck raised an eyebrow, giving her a skeptical look. "What do you have in mind?"
"We only seek to claim 60% of that base's functions and resources as compensation. Not a bad offer, considering the amount of trouble we'll be putting ourselves in." Akagi grinned, "Not like you cannot put your own available warriors to the test, but we're not exactly having the time to recoordinate ourselves on a joint mission."
Bismarck took a few moments to take Akagi's offer into account. There hasn't been much operations going on at the base since the majority left. With little to no demands for oil and ammunition, they have managed to stockpile an abundance of resources, enough to last 2 months without resupplies. She didn't have much to lose in this offer, other than the pride that all Ironblood ships including herself shared. However, her current fleet's size was something that she had no control over.
"Very well. But first, I would like to hear your plan on going about an attack on the base in the pacific." Bismarck asked with a serious tone.
"It isn't anything fancy. Our tactic is to commit an assault force which we believe to be sufficient to overwhelm the defenses and the ranks of the base. Of course, as the famed 1st Carrier Division, the two of us will be a part of the assault as well." Akagi smiled upon mentioning herself and Kaga, while Kaga herself barely had any reaction.
"It's simply a consequence of not having any spies available, and I believe the same issue also plagued the dear Prinz Eugen."
Prinz Eugen frowned at her remark, "I was simply toying with them." She said with irritation in her eyes. "I couldn't react in time to avoid the artillery fire."
Akagi continued to smirk at Eugen who was slowly starting to descend into anger. Kaga however, kept a straight face. Bismarck, realizing the frustration in her friend's eyes, spoke up.
"A mistake on her part. Regardless, she had to risk herself for any amount of information she could've gotten away with. Her action was not a waste, and I will see to it that it won't become such." Bismarck said confidently.
Her words seem to ease Eugen's held back anger as she slowly relaxed her expression. Akagi, however, was unphased by Bismarck's words.
"We do not require your information in order for our assault to work. There are little problems that a few hundred bombers cannot destroy, and our assault force just so happens to be able to deploy that number." Kaga spoke with certainty, which reminded Akagi not to slight the Ironblood just because they were here to make an offer.
Bismarck thought about the possibility of an assault carried out by hundreds of attack planes being a success. Potentially, it could work. However, the Eagle Union base in question had incredibly powerful anti air defenses with many ships at their docks on standby. The only way they would be able to carry out such an attack was if they struck when their guard was down. Bismarck decided to test Akagi's and Kaga's proposed plan, with a question.
"Your hundreds of bombers are no match for their defenses. Are you both prepared to face an impenetrable wall?" Bismarck asked.
"It's not good to think little of our experience in battle, Ms. Bismarck. Our aim isn't to achieve total victory in one strike, but to accomplish our goal in gradual steps. First we remove them of their ability to mobilize their ships. Then we strike hard on their morale. Finally, we simply wait for them to collapse on themselves." Akagi grinned. Her words showed that they had indeed thought this through. Few military strategies worked better than resorting to overwhelming force when it came to dealing with an opposition whose information was unavailable.
Kaga followed by adding, "It is always the darkest before dawn. We will give the base a rude awakening…"
Bismarck nodded in response, "When do you plan on launching this attack?"
"If there are no mishaps, then a few days from now." Akagi smiled, "There will likely be a margin for losses when the assault takes place, but until then, we will prepare ourselves accordingly."
"Good." Bismarck replied simply, before quickly glancing over at the clock. It read 06:43 hours, which meant the meeting had carried on for over an hour and half. Before she could cut the meeting short, Prinz Eugen spoke up.
"It is almost morning, best if you both are on your way now if you seek to carry this assault."
Akagi and Kaga then stood up from their chairs. "Thank you for your time, we will deprive them of their fighting spirit." Akagi said sinisterly
Kaga nodded but remained silent. They walked out the door and left the room. Bismarck then pressed down a button at the end of her table and spoke into a mic.
"Graf Spee, escort Akagi and Kaga out." She then released the button and looked over at Eugen. She had her head down on the table, still tired from continuously being awake for more than 60 hours.
She passed the responsibility of attacking the base to Akagi and Kaga. Not disappointed at this action, she knew that they had a better chance at a successful attack than the current available fleet of Ironblood. With Akagi and Kaga carrying out their plan, Bismarck knew that it was a matter of waiting.
Waiting for their attack to commence…
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…
-Chapter 4: Act 2-
🎵 No Music 🎵
-Snake's POV-
-04:00 AM-
"...Ake..."
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..
...
"Sn...E..."
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...
"...Snake... me in...!"
The voice of a nearby radio gradually awoke Snake from his deep slumber. Gradually, he was awoken by the harsh buzzing from his earpiece. For some reason, he hadn't taken it off when he went to sleep yesterday on the oil rig. Irritated, he tapped a small button on the earpiece.
"Now I'm here."
The voice of Z23 greeted him frantically. "Oh good, you are awake! We need you to mobilize your men! One of our bases is under attack by a squadron of Sakura Fleet airplanes!'
A fleet of Sakura Empire airplanes? Who is the Sakura Empire...? Snake opted not to question this for the moment, but another question had to be asked instead.
"What is the name of the base?" Snake asked through the radio.
"..."
Silence followed, which made Snake speak louder. "What is the name of the base?"
"Pearl Harbor."
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...
Pearl Harbor? Snake thought to himself. Quickly he realized that was the attack that got America to fight in the 2nd World War... Wait a moment, This was happening as they spoke!? Immediately, Snake quickly forced himself out of his bed. "I see. Well, go get Saratoga and tell her to bring the plane to my base. I can't mobilize most of my men because we don't have vehicles, so i'm only bringing a few of my men with me."
"Oh..." Z23 sounded disappointed. "Alright then, but please hurry! We're already experiencing casualties!"
🎵Warframe - Hunhow's Theme🎵
"Roger." Snake said as he quickly put on his suit and Battle Dress and quickly ran out the door. "Give me an ETA on Saratoga's arrival."
"10 minutes. I already had her deployed and have been trying to contact you for a while now. Next time, please pick up!" Z23 responded through the radio, sounding increasingly distressed. Snake didn't respond, and quickly sprinted down the hallways towards the combined barracks. Right as he opened the door, he saw a familiar face hobbling across the floor.
"MILLER!"
The man quickly turned around, nearly stumbling onto the ground thanks to the pure ferocity and urgency of Snake's yelling.
"Snake? What's the problem?"
Snake wasted no time, and quickly answered. "My ally is being attacked. It's a base in the middle of the ocean, getting overwhelmed by enemy air."
"Hmm..." Miller leaned against the wall, taking off his glasses. "And what's the name of this base?"
"Pearl Harbor."
Time suddenly seemed to go in slow motion, as the man dropped his glasses from his hand. The clatter of the plastic on the ground was immediately followed by Miller's serious voice, only used for when serious things needed to get going.
"Pearl Harbor? The base that caused America to mobilize to fight Japan in World War II!?"
Snake nodded his head quickly. "The very same. It's happening as we speak - I'm going to equip myself with what's left in the inventory. Go get Ocelot to grab a few talented men; we're gonna need some medics."
"Alright, boss. You go raise the base alarms and I'll go get Ocelot, since the men will want to hear you asking for their help."
Snake hastily ran off down the hallway in front of Miller. He took a left at a nearby staircase, entering an office room which overlooked the entire oil rig. This must've been where Ocelot saw him... regardless, Snake wasted no time again and quickly hit the alarm. The dreadfully loud sound echoed through the hallways, and he quickly turned on the microphone.
"All hands, This is Snake. An allied base is getting attacked by enemy air... and unlucky us, the base is none other than Pearl Harbor. We have been transported to the past...Those who are willing to help rescue some people from a historic battle, meet at the southern side of the oil rig for further briefing."
Snake shut off the microphone and quickly ran back down the hallway... but quickly 180'd around to press the button that turns on the lights throughout the entire building. He turned back around and sprinted down the hallways again...
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...
-5 Minutes Later-
"Alright, men. You have gathered here to help me assist an allied faction from taking further casualties. You stand here, knowing that what you could do today could very well be the last thing that you ever do. Even in the face of certain death, are you still ready to do what it takes to save some souls you don't even know?"
"YES SIR!"
"YES SIR!"
"YES SIR!"
The three men that Snake had gathered up responded without hesitation. Ocelot smiled at them when they responded to his long question with no lack of courage. Snake, too, was also smiling.
Snake stepped forward. "Alright, men. We don't have much equipment, but it's better then nothing. Take what you think will be necessary. We will leave when the seaplane makes a landing next to our oil rig... and if you get cold feet, you're free to back out."
Snake said that last part in a gentle tone. The three men shook their head in response, and collectively took one step forward. Snake turned around and entered the armory. Each of the men grabbed what little equipment that had survived the rift: several UN-ARC's assault rifles - mixed between lethal and non-lethal variants, an ALM-48 LMG and two M2000 sniper rifles, plus a handful of WU 's. Each of the soldiers grabbed an S Pistol, two grabbed UN-ARC's, both lethal and non-lethal and one grabbed an M2000-NL. With all the soldiers ready, Snake grabbed an ALM-48 for himself, and they exited the armory after the soldiers geared up.
The soldiers equipped their balaclava's that concealed their faces as always, and soon after they departed down the hallway towards an exterior catwalk. Snake toggled his radio a short while into their walk.
"This is Snake. Give me an update on Saratoga's ETA."
"ETA 2 minutes, you should hear her plane right about now." Z23 responded from the radio. "Have you gathered your men?"
"Yeah. We'll be ready when she gets here."
Snake shut off his radio. Right on cue, he heard Saratoga's plane from the dimly-lit sky. Ocelot, who was standing next to him, chuckled silently. "That thing could probably get shot down, with how loud it sounds."
Snake gave Ocelot a wry smile. "...Yeah."
Snake speed walked off to rejoin his soldiers at the dock of the oil rig. Right as they reached the docks, the plane touched down on the water, and slowly taxied it's way over to where Snake and his group of soldiers were standing. Quickly, Snake and his squad took no time to hesitate and jumped straight into the water. They furiously swimmed over to the plane, probably with a little too much effort. Right as they approached the vehicle, Snake could just barely hear the side door opening up. Right after that was a childish voice yelling loudly.
"Up here, men!"
He had no time to look up from the water, and instead grabbed onto a rail that was next to the side door. Snake pulled himself into the airplane, his men doing the same one at a time. Once he immediately took a seat, he looked around to see three small girls. One of them had long, light brown hair with purple eyes and wearing what seemed to be a school uniform. Said girl also spoke up, standing with her arms crossed and wearing a brave face.
"So you're the men that The Commander enlisted? I hope you're proficient enough to deliver swift justice to those who are attacking our allies!"
Snake looked to his side, where his men were sitting, then back at the girl. "Yeah. Pearl Harbor, right? I think I know what's happening down there."
He declined to comment that this had already happened in his world. Even though this was a separate universe, not many people would believe that he already knew what would happen. Not without further explanation, anyways. After he replied to the girl, she smiled and took a seat.
Suddenly, a flash briefly showed Snake's own shadow in front of himself. He and his men looked behind to see an orange-haired girl holding a camera. She lowered it and gave a smirk to the incredulous men.
"This will make for a pretty good photo to give to the press!~"
Snake wanted to get up and snatch the camera away from the girl, but something in the back of his mind told him that was a very bad idea. He simply grimaced, hoping that the girl wouldn't idiotically sell the photo off to the public like she said she would.
"Hey, Gridley!~" A voice rang out in the intercom - Saratoga's voice. "That's a very bad idea! The other factions don't know about them yet, so I think The Commander would want to keep them a secret for now."
The girl clicked her tongue in audible irritation. "Fine... In that case, you'll have to give me a private photoshoot later as compensation!"
"Deal." replied Saratoga.
Immediately after Saratoga replied, she gestured from behind her seat to another girl sitting next to the light brown-haired girl. The other girl seemed to understand the gesture, and got up from the seat to close the side door. However, she quickly took a seat and the plane began to take off from the water. Everyone on board immediately strapped their seat buckles in as Snake performed a round check on his ALM-48 light machine gun.
.
..
...
Several minutes after they were in the sky, the sound of the intercom crackling signaled Saratoga was about to say something.
"You can get out of your seats now!"
Before Saratoga had even finished speaking, all three girls unbuckled themselves and stood up, stretching. The girl with long light-brown hair started talking.
"Alright, I think we should introduce ourselves."
Snake eyed the apparent girl in front of him with a bit of skepticism before letting the girl do the introductions, "I am Charles Ausburne, captain of the Little Beavers! Under my wing, there shall only be justice, and I can tell with my two eyes that you seek to exact justice on your accord as well, mister!"
"That's a bit too far, don't you think?" Spoke the girl in short blonde hair tied in two short twintails, "The name's Gridley, as you no doubt know just now. I'm here to capture Saratoga's charm with my camera, so can you please not look at me like I'm about to do a gossip report? I'm not from any press, I swear…"
The last girl on the seats, one who looked like a sports runner with pale blonde hair spoke, "I'm Maury. I heard about what's going on briefly from Saratoga. If my speed is what's needed, I will do my part."
Snake simply nodded, but when he wanted to open his lips in response under whatever precious little time was allowed for conversation, he couldn't speak up. His mind wasn't finished with sizing up the girls in front of him. He wanted to inquire about their experience in dealing with disasters, but was afraid that it would trigger psychological traumas; something he was all too familiar with.
"Hmm, for a big soldier guy, he certain seems to have a shortage of words." Charles held her own chin in wonder.
"What? Oh, no…" Snake was stirred into speaking by her remark, "I was wondering if you had that kind of experience. What's going on is likely war in action... think you can handle it?"
"I can see you're giving us little credit, but very well." Charles grinned, "If there is trouble, all we need to do is to solve it. Saratoga didn't gather us to fight back right away. Am I right?"
"Well, yeah." Gridley nodded confidently, "What about the other guys with covered faces?"
One of the men sitting opposite to Gridley looked up from inspecting his firearm. "Who, us? We're just his men, but you girls look like you need some help too." Another one moved his gaze from the window to the girl. "No offense but you don't look like you pack the muscle."
"What he said." The soldier next to him remarked.
"Hahaha… Oh, you better not let Glowworm hear that. She won't let you have the end of it." Charles laughed heartily like the men's assumption was a rookie mistake in itself.
"Well, I don't know who this 'Glow Worm' of yours is, but I'm known as 'Fire Lizard'. My real name is classified." The soldier holding an assault rifle introduced himself.
The soldier who told the girls not to mind him then introduced himself. "I am 'Shaken Ape', mostly because of my flexible joints and reflexes."
"And I'm 'Resting Crow', the guy who looks at things twice." The last soldier introduced himself while raising his hand before putting it down.
"Hmmm, if I didn't know any better, I'd say those are the names of robbers." Charles mumbled, "So, you three have seen a lot of action following the boss man over here?"
Lizard replied, "Sure enough. At first we were actually Boss' enemies, you know? But then he came at us without being seen, then one thing led to another before we were taken under his wing. After that, we were sent on missions where we could liberate other soldiers from unsavory employment. At least, as much as we could anyway…"
Crow added, "But nothing we did could compare to the deeds of our Boss himself. We're not gonna go through them ourselves. They're stuff that are best heard from his own lips."
"Mysterious, mysterious~" Gridley grinned, "Just for the sake of curiosity, is there any reason why you're called 'Snake'?"
Snake was taken aback by the question, but then the gears inside his own head started to spin differently from usual. The only reason why he himself was called Snake was due to a deception. One that was also a desperate attempt to buy time for the real owner of the callsign. To the world, he was still Big Boss, and fewer knew him as Snake if they had been keeping track of the background story. But only an extreme few knew that it wasn't always the case.
To put it simply, he wasn't called Snake due to voluntary circumstances. He could recite the reason, but it wouldn't be honest. Eventually his mind came to a daring decision to cast it all aside in this strangely different world.
"For most people, I'm Snake because I'm the best in acting out that name on the battlefield. I sneak around without a sound and without attracting attention, and like a venomous snake, I strike in a sudden manner. But like snakes in general, they will shed their skins as they grow. My skin has yet to shed for the final time…" Snake spoke, ".. My name…
...is Ahab."
Gridley asked, "You mean Ahab as in Captain Ahab from 'Moby Dick'?"
"Yes, that Ahab." Snake nodded, "I prefer to be called that name. I'm no whale hunting maniac, but I do lead a crew of people looking to survive in this world." Charles looked at Snake for a brief moment, nodding at his words.
"You must have fought in many battles... you have my respect... Mr. Ahab," Charles said with a smile.
Suddenly Saratoga spoke over the intercoms, "Heheh, I'm still going to call you Snake, snake!~"
Gridley tried to hold back her laughter but it broke out anyways. It was then followed up by Charles Ausburne and Maury giggling at Saratoga's response. Snake looked over and noticed that Crow appeared to be silently laughing as well - Snake could tell he was laughing at Saratoga's response, regardless of the fact that his men were wearing masks.
He didn't think much of his subordinates laughing at a joke directed at him. However, he is very serious about wanting to be called Ahab. There was a good reason why he specifically wanted to be called the name he was given at the Cypress hospital instead of Snake: Snake was the codename of Big Boss, the man that he himself was made an imperfect clone of. A puppet being pulled by the strings for a greater purpose. Now that he was in a world where he only had himself, his soldiers and his friends, he had no reason to keep up the facade. No nations to deceive to conceal another man in a master plan.
It was time that he became his own man, just like he was before the accident all those years ago.
45 minutes later
BANG!
"Sn...ake…"
"S-Snake..."
"SNAKE! WAKE UP!"
A sudden loud bang ringed in his ears, and Snake woke up from the shock from the loud noise. His vision was still blurry for his nap, and he blinked multiple times until his vision finally started to clear. There standing before him was Maury, shaking him rapidly with worry in her eyes.
"Snake! You're awake… We're under fire!"
🎵MGS4 - Escaping Shadow Moses (Infinite Loop - Surface Tunnel)🎵
Snake, now on full alert, took off his restraining harness and darted towards the nearest window of the plane. They have finally arrived at the island, and were heading towards the large port off the side of the island. 'Pearl Harbor... ' The thought of Snake living through history sends waves of adrenaline through his spine. He watched as the fighter planes swarmed the island, dropping bombs and stirring chaos and destruction upon the Iand. Snake's 1000 yard stare was quickly interrupted by the panicking of the girls and the commotion of his men. Soon the ringing in his ear stopped. Finally being able to hear again, he was quickly approached by Crow, who already has his parachute put on.
"Boss, we gotta jump now! There is no way our plane will be able to make it to land in one piece!" Crow said as he swung his rifle onto his back. Before Snake could respond, Saratoga quickly spoke over the speakers.
"No can do! There're enemy submarines in the waters, you'll be shark meat before you could get a chance to rest easy, Crow!"
Charles Ausburne, took off her restraining harness and stood up. "Then we gotta get closer to the shore… Fly us in as far as you can Saratoga!"
"I'M TRYING! THIS PLANE ISN'T AN F6F HELLCAT!" Saratoga said while yelling over the comms with desperate urgency.
Snake watched as everyone stood up from their seats, preparing in anticipation of jumping out of the plane. Without thinking, Snake rushed over to a parachute in the seat next to Lizard and put it on. Lizard looked over and handed him his ALM-48 LMG. Thinking fast, he grabbed it and quickly loaded in a box of non-lethal rounds. After he had loaded his LMG, he turned around to check on the others and noticed that Maury and Charles had bits of ship parts, like hull armor, guns and torpedo launchers hanging on metal arms attached to their bodies.
Gridley, however, doesn't seem to be preparing for the situation they were in. Rather she was looking out the window taking pictures of the chaos erupting on the island.
"GRIDLEY!" Fire Lizard yelled, "This isn't the time to take pictures, we're gonna jump here real soon!"
Gridley turned around with a smirk on her face, "Aww, I was just getting a good shot of the action… Oh, that reminds me!" She quickly stood up and walked over to the cockpit of the plane.
"Sara~ Smile!" She said out loud and took a snapshot of Saratoga with her back turned. The bright flash alerted Saratoga as she turned around to see where the flash came from. Soon after she was then blinded by the flash of Gridley's camera.
"Heheh, that one is going in the flight album!"
"Gridley! This isn't the time to be taking pictures… I didn't even get to smile in that picture… can we do that aga-..."
BANG!
A loud boom followed by the plane shaking, caused everyone onboard to fall onto the ground or against the wall. Snake quickly pushed himself up and ran over to the right window of the plane. He saw smoke trailing behind what remained of the right side of the wing. There was also a rapid, high pitched beeping coming from the cockpit. The plane then started to shake and buck up and down and side to side rapidly, They were gonna crash.
"Fuck… what the hell was that!?" Shaken Ape yelled while holding onto the rails in the plane.
Saratoga yelled at the top of her lungs, "WE'RE GONNA CRASH! Everyone hold onto something!"
Snake instinctively grabbed onto the railing of the plane. With the blink of an eye, Charles Ausburne got up and rushed to the rails and held onto it with both hands. Gridely not prepared for the situation they were in, frantically rushing over to the railing to grab it only to be jerked backwards by the constant shaking of the plane. Maury leaned forward to grab Gridley by her camera and pulled her towards her.
"I got you, grab a hold of the railing!" She yelled over the inaudible sound of the plane ripping apart from the outside.
The plane then began to slowly take a big dive, and all the stuff on the floor began to fall forward. Everyone hung on by the rails as they braced for impact. Snake's grip on the rails got tighter as he felt his body being pulled by the gravity of the plane descending. From the grip slowly weakening in his hands, Lizard suddenly fell forward.
"AHHHHHHH~!" Fire Lizard screamed as he quickly slid on the floor towards the cockpit. The shaking of the plane then jerks everyone to the right, causing Lizard and the boxes on the floor to hit the walls of the plane hard.
"LIZARD, GRAB ONTO THE RAILING!" Shaken Ape Yells.
"I'M TRYING!" He yelled back. Snake then felt the plane slowly roll to the right, watching as the boxes and Lizard landed on top of the hatch of the plane, causing the door to swing wide open. All the boxes flooded out of the plane, without hesitation Lizard quickly anchored himself at the doorway.
"FUCK! Snake, Ape… Maury, HELP ME!" Snake desperately wanted to pull his subordinate away from the window. However, due to the position he was in, he wouldn't be able to save Fire Lizard without being pulled in by the turbulence of the wind.
"I can't reach you!" Maury yelled over to Lizard.
"Snake! What do we do!?" Resting Crow yelled out to him.
Due to the dire situation they were in, Snake couldn't do anything to help pull Lizard away from the window. He knew there was only one thing he and his men could do.
"EVERYONE, HOLD ON!" Snake yelled out as loud as he could.
Charles looked over to Lizard who had lost grip in his right arm and now was only holding onto the plane with his left arm. Without any further hesitation, Charles suddenly let go of the railing, quickly sending her sliding towards the hatch.
Lizard losing the last amount of strength in his arms lets go of the framing of the door. Before he could fly out, Charles quickly grabbed his arm.
"I've got you!" She yelled, "Give me your other hand!"
Lizard jerked his hand forward as it was being pulled by the turbulence of the wind. Charles Ausburne then grabs his other hand.
"Hold on!" She yelled as a bright blue aura surrounded her. Snake's eye widened at the anomaly happening before him. Like a bolt of lightning, Charles Ausburne darted up the plane with Fire Lizard trailing behind, running up to the side of the plane at an incredible speed.
"Alright, grab onto the rails!" Ausburne yelled as the aura surrounding her subsided and Lizard quickly and without hesitation grabbed onto the rails with both hands.
Snake was amazed at the feat Ausburne just accomplished, but also relieved that he and his subordinates were all out of harm's reach. But before he could further contemplate the sight before him, Saratoga yelled over the coms.
"WE'RE COMING IN FOR A CRASH LANDING!"
Soon after, Snake felt the plane making heavy contact with the ground. His head slammed against the wall of the plane hard. His vision went black, he was thrown into darkness.
.
…
….
🎵Music Stops🎵
-Unknown amount of time later-
"Snake… come in… are you there?"
.
..
...
"This is Z23, do you copy!?"
.
..
...
"SNAKE!"
The screaming of Z23's voice into Snake's earpiece suddenly sprung him back to life. He woke up with a gasp, surprised that he was still alive from the crash. He tried to sit upwards but there were bits of debris from the remains of their plane on top of him. He pulled his arms out from underneath and began to push the large and heavy sheet of metal off of him with a mighty grunt. Slowly, he slid himself out freeing his legs before standing up to begin surveying his surroundings. They landed in a forest, with remains of the plane scattered around him. Looking behind himself, he saw a lot of toppled trees - perhaps they were what cushioned the crash landing? Off in the distance, the harsh crackles of repeating gunfire resounded throughout the vicinity.
"Snake… are you there? I-I think I've heard you grunt… are you okay?" Z23 said over coms.
Snake took a few moments to catch his breath before replying, "Yeah, we have landed on the island… barely surviving a crash landing."
"Oh thank goodness, you made it to land." Z23 paused for a moment to sigh with relief. "I've looked into the base's reports and found that there was submarine activity in the waters surrounding shore… you all would have been swarmed by subs if you choose to jump early."
Snake wiped off the sweat from his forehand, and looked at his hand to find blood on it. Realizing he was bleeding from his forehead, he reached over to a bag on his side to pull out a bandage. Before he pulled it out of the bag, he heard the sound of men yelling names… It was his men.
"WHOEVER THE FUCK IS STILL ALIVE, SAY SOMETHING!"
The voice of Fire Lizard yelled loudly. Shortly after, the voice of Shaken Ape followed suit. "SAME GOES TO YOU, GIRLS! IF YOU CAN HEAR US, COME TOWARDS OUR VOICE!" yelled Shaken Ape. Immediately, Snake stopped reaching for the bandage and was about to make a beeline for his men. However...
"...Someone... Help... me..."
🎵MGS4 - Outer Heaven [Caution]🎵
The faint and struggling voice of Saratoga came from behind Snake. He quickly turned around, and started banging on the fuselage. "IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, KEEP TALKING!" he said while deliberately raising his voice so that his men could hear him. As expected, his two men came running over as soon as their leader's iconic voice barked that command. Snake took a few seconds to apply a bandage to his cut forehead before addressing them.
"I need help. Saratoga's stuck under the debris, and she's probably getting flattened into a pancake. You two, help me move the fuselage." Snake barked an order to his two men, who immediately ran over to the fuselage. Before they started moving it, Snake quickly decided to warn Saratoga. "WE'RE GONNA FREE YOU! IF YOU CAN STILL MOVE YOUR ARMS, THEN PUSH AS HARD AS YOU CAN!"
Snake didn't even wait to hear the mischievous girl's response. He and his two soldiers started their attempt at freeing her. They pushed with all of their might, and with the combined strength of three well-trained soldiers, they managed to free Saratoga. His two men stopped to breathe after successfully freeing Saratoga, but Snake hastily began to perform a field inspection on her condition... but that's when he noticed that she had her rigging equipped, and it was severely damaged. Regardless, Snake placed a nearby rock under Saratoga's head, and placed his index and middle finger on her carotid artery. Luckily, it was still pulsing at a steady rate. Quickly, he began to check her pulse on various other places; surprisingly, she was still in good shape, but she had numerous bruises and scrapes all over her skin.
"Do you feel pain anywhere?" Snake asked Saratoga, who raised her head off the uncomfortable rock.
"Uh, not any I can feel."
Snake immediately asked another question. "Then how about a fight or flight response?"
"That already kicked in when I found out I was buried under my plane. Now that it's worn off, I still don't feel any pain." She responded with equal parts seriousness and cheerfulness... the latter of which was a surprisingly good balm for Snake's soul right about now. Snake reached out a hand to Saratoga, pulling her up onto her knees. After she got her footing, he spoke again. "Where are the other girls?"
"How should I know? I was trapped under debris, remember?"
Abruptly, Fire Lizard spoke up. "Don't talk back. He's asking because anything we can know will help us track your comrades down." he said with deadpan seriousness.
Saratoga was about to say something, but an abrupt flash blinded the four for a second. Snake immediately tensed up, unholstering his Wu S. Pistol. However, when he raised it in preparation to subdue whatever enemy had tossed a flashbang at them, he saw Gridley with her camera pointed at him.
"Gotcha! The papers are gonna LOVE the shots I've gotten today!"
Snake slowly lowered his pistol, and did not hesitate to let out an irritated groan at the unintentional scare. Shaken Ape's voice spoke from behind Snake, seemingly to Gridley. "You might like that thing, but to us that's pretty damn dangerous. Do us all a favor and keep that thing off, will you?"
Gridley rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine. One of your guys already told me off, anyways."
"One of our guys?" Snake repeated. As if his remark was a cue, he heard the sound of bushes rustling behind Gridley and quickly raised his pistol again to face whatever threat was trying to ambush him. To his surprise, Resting Crow, Charles Ausburne and Maury emerged from the bushes. They were also badly injured, and part of Crow's balaclava was damaged, revealing part of his face. Immediately, Snake holstered his pistol and cleared his throat.
"Status report?" he asked.
Resting Crow also cleared his throat, and responded with diligence. "No casualties, all accounted for. Some wounded, but still combat effective."
"Good. We're pretty damn lucky to have survived that crash thanks to those trees." Snake remarked, turning around and pointing at the trees. Resting Crow made a whistle of astonishment, and Snake turned back to face the group. "Saratoga, can you still use your weapons?"
Saratoga looked up at the sky. "I can try." she responded simply. After her reply, she raised her flag up with both hands and began waving it around... and just stood there in anticipation.
.
..
...
"Huh? Why isn't it working?"
"Why's what not working?" Fire Lizard asked, dumbfounded.
"Normally when I do this, I summon a bunch of planes. But I guess since my runway is all messed up from the crash, I can't summon them like I normally can!"
"What!? That is quite bad!" Charles Ausburne remarked. "Without air support, we might be in deep trouble!"
Snake raised his voice in a commanding fashion. "All of you, calm down. Screw your heads on a little tighter, and think about the situation we're in before you start thinking about what you can't do. We're in a forest, and we just crashed our plane. We're lucky to even be alive... any of you who can still use a gun - or rigging - is going to be more combat effective than a person who panics."
Silence settled upon the group for a good number of seconds, with nothing but the sound of the bombs going off in the distance and fighter planes flying above. Snake's words seemed to hit hard for them, as they all collectively averted their gazes from each other in a melancholic fashion. The one to break the silence was, surprisingly, Saratoga.
"Yeah... Snake's right. My planes might not work, but my artillery can!"
"Good. Everyone saddle up, we're Oscar Mike." Snake announced to the group. The soldiers and the shipgirls responded with 'Yes, sir!' as they all departed from the wrecked plane.
.
..
...
-10 Minutes Later-
Eventually, the group had made their way from the wreckage and reached a cliff, overlooking a sight that was both impressive and disheartening at the same time - enormous pillars of black smoke and fire coming from Pearl Harbor, along with the sight of many fighter planes continuing to fuel the destruction by bombing the base. Hundreds of men were evacuating to safer grounds, and a few were seen carrying the injured and deceased over their shoulders and in stretcher beds. On the water, many shipgirls were battling each other and the smell of gunpowder completely drowned out the smell of foliage and gasoline. Lifeboats full of men slowly made their way back to the shore, with a few unlucky boats getting caught in the crosshairs or bombarded by fighter planes in the surrounding waters. Ship debris and dead bodies were floating nearby in the sea. To say it was sad was an understatement... but to actually see it in person was soul-crushing.
Everyone fell silent at the scene. Saratoga, Gridely and Maury watched with horror in their eyes of the carnage in Pearl Harbor. Charles Ausburne took off her hat to mourn the loss of all the men who lost their lives. After a few moments of silence, Lizard spoke up
"Boss..."
The voice of Fire Lizard brought Snake back to reality. He turned around to see his soldier holding a UN-ARC, and looking straight at him. "I know you're used to this kinda thing and all, but just remember; we can still save some of those people."
"Yeah... good reminder." Snake remarked. "Listen up, everyone: forget the official orders from your commander, because the situation is hopeless. Our new mission is to save anyone we can. Do not engage enemies unless necessary, and save anyone you can." With those words, he grabbed the ALM-48 he had slung around his torso, and finally cocked the loaded box-magazine since he didn't have the chance to earlier. They all responded 'Yes, sir!' and the group started gradually making their way down the island. Rushing past the hundreds of soldiers and military personnel, none of them seemed to take notice of Snake and his men despite bumping into multiple people on their way to the edge of the shore. The soldiers and shipgirls alike had to hurdle over rocks and cliffs, clear fallen trees and check for sounds repeatedly until they arrived at the end of the cliff where they spotted a battle in the surrounding waters. A squad of shipgirls were firing upon a group of regular ships that were surrounding a squad of hostile shipgirls. Once the hostile shipgirls came into view, Snake and his soldiers immediately took cover. However, the shipgirls in his squad didn't even bother to conceal themselves.
"Huh? What are you guys do-" Charles Ausburne attempted to question them, but she was forcibly yanked behind a rock, and interrupted by Resting Crow.
"Shh! Keep it down, or we'll get spotted!" he quietly whispered to her. Sensing the urgency from his voice, the other shipgirls cautiously and hastily did the same. Charles Ausburne peeked at the side to watch the friendly squad of shipgirls finish off the remaining hostile ships attacking them. Snake looked at Resting Crow, and nodded at him. At Snake's signal, Crow loaded a magazine into his non-lethal UN-ARC and took aim at one of the enemy girls who were retreating. Fire Lizard and Shaken Ape did the same, both taking aim at separate targets. Snake tracked their movement for a few seconds, all the ambient sound was entirely drowned out in the Diamond Dog's collectively calm focus.
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..
...
"Drop 'em." Snake ordered.
Without any delay at all, the three soldiers pulled the trigger at the same time. Combined quiet gunfire of three suppressed weapons made a loud high pitched squeal sound as multiple rounds flew towards the hostile shipgirl squad as they dropped one by one, neutralized by the non-lethal rounds. The sudden drop of the enemy shipgirls made the friendly shipgirls flinched in surprise. Charles looked especially unnerved by what they did... however, she seemed to internalize whatever issue she had. Snake performed a brief survey of the area before giving his group the all-clear to emerge from cover. Cautiously, the group continued through the island.
They quickly moved across the shore, while rushing past more soldiers fleeing from their ships. Suddenly, the sound of a dive bomber flying overhead caused Snake to look overhead. He looked up, and saw an object falling towards them... OH NO...!
🎵MGS4 - REX vs RAY Theme🎵
"INCOMIIIINNNGG~!"
Snake yelled at the top of his lungs, and everyone in the area around began sprinting for cover while Snake and his squad rushed for safety. While sprinting to cover, Snake bumped into another soldier, causing him to stumble and fall on his back. Snake looked up and saw the bombs had nearly hit the ground. Quickly bracing for the impact, he rolled over onto his back and covered his head, while the few men nearby dropped low to the ground.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The explosions from the bombs caused an inaudible ring in his ears. The immense shockwave hit him like a truck, and momentarily left him shellshocked. Now covered in sand and dirt, He pushed himself up, disorientated from the blast. He blurrily watched as a couple men got up and continued to make their way away from shore. Once his vision had cleared up, he took notice of the fact that a few men were decapitated by the explosions. Luckily, the man he had bumped into had narrowly avoided that fate himself - the shrapnel had embedded itself centimeters above his head. The explosions also destroyed a nearby building that was now set on fire. Snake took a moment to help a few men nearby get up, and paid respects to a man who lost his life in mere milliseconds. He quickly switched to looking around for his men and the girls, looking in every direction several times. He spotted Saratoga who was waving her flag nearby a destroyed building. Snake got back up on his feet and rushed over to her to group with his squad.
"Oh, thank goodness you're still alive! You really had us worried!" Said Maury who was still breathing hard from seeing Snake cheat death.
Charles Ausburne, angered at the sight of seeing more men being claimed by the chaos, looked up at the sky as small anti air guns materialized on her rigging. She bawled her hands in a fist as a wave of bullets fired from the small guns, most of the shots missing with a few hitting some planes flying high above.
"Grrr…. STUPID PLANES!" Saratoga yelled as she swung her flagpole hard at a fighter plane nearby. A bright orange ball shot out of her pole at a high speed towards the plane. Amazingly, it made impact with the plane and suddenly exploded in a ball of fire as wreckage came crashing down into the forest foliage nearby.
"Good shot, Saratoga." Snake remarked. "However, because you took out one of them, our position is now compromised. We must move now before more come by and glasses our position."
Saratoga smiled brightly. "Ehehe~ Thank you!" she said in a positive way that once again gave Snake a nice cleaning for his sanity.
He moved his head to the right, facing his men. "We need to move fast. That building will claim the rest of the nature in just a few minutes. Anyone friendly who you see laying in the ground, pick them up and take them with you until we've reached a safe position where we could radio for medical help."
"OH! In that case, I'd better go radio to another fellow aircraft carrier if they could lend us a plane~," Saratoga quickly followed up as she extended the antenna on the mainmast of her pole and held it to her head.
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..
…
"Okay! Unfortunately, there is no other aircraft carriers stationed here, so I managed to convenience one of the big battleships if we could borrow her seaplane!~"
"Who did you convince?" Resting Crow asked.
"Pennsylvania!~" Saratoga said with great confidence.
"Alright, if we want a ride back to the base, let's keep moving." Snake said urgently.
The joint-faction group all saluted him in response. They quickly exited the area, and indeed did encounter a few unconscious military personnel in the grass. Fire Lizard, Shaken Ape and Resting Crow each picked up and carried a person, while Maury and Charles dragged another crudely along the grass. Eventually, they reached another patrol next to a broken down shed. Putting down the friendlies, Resting Crow carefully opted to scout the area. On lower ground under some trees, he spotted a couple hostile shipgirls who seemed like they had just retreated after a successful battle. Once again, the Diamond Dogs took cover behind trees and in bushes. Like a hivemind, the three soldiers along with Snake took aim with their weapons. From behind, Snake could hear Charles grunt in opposition, but she again decided to say nothing.
.
..
...
"Fire." Snake whispered. The combined sound of three rifles and an LMG, all silenced, made a high pitched sound that was louder than an unsuppressed gunshot. Snake clicked his tongue in irritation as he watched the bodies fall unconscious onto the grass and foliage. Looking around for other enemies, he immediately grabbed the attention of his group.
"We might risk getting ourselves found if we keep knocking them out." Snake announced. "Men, take off your suppresssors. Stealth is impossible in this situation."
"Boss? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Resting Crow questioned Snake. "You aren't the kind of person to make that call."
Snake sighed. "Your right; it's a bit abnormal for me to do this, but we're surrounded by an unknown amount of hostiles and we are outnumbered in firepower and forces. Coordination tactics like that are a liability, and alternating turns is impractical. We've got no choice but to go loud."
Fire Lizard lowered his rifle, placing a hand on his weapon's suppressor. Fire Lizard grunted from the intense heat from the suppressor as he slowly detached it. "*Ack*... Not sure if I really agree with you on this being a good idea, but we trust you. I hope you didn't doom us, though."
"We don't have time to think about the what-if's." Snake replied objectively. "We only have time to think about what will keep us alive, and what will save our allies who are still alive."
Snake emerged from the foliage after saying that, his group following suit instinctively. As they continued onwards through the mass destruction, Snake thought to himself - 'If only we could have stopped this in the first place...'
.
..
...
-Another 10 Minutes Later-
"Stop."
Snake ordered the group to stop again. They had successfully reached the beach area of the island, but the attacks on Pearl Harbor were still continuing without mercy. Several friendly shipgirls were evacuating the area, and there was heartbreaking destruction along the sea as more men abandoned their ships and were escaping to land in lifeboats. Immediately on the beach, Snake noticed a man crawling with his arms. Wasting no time, Snake bolted straight towards the man while making sure he wasn't sprinting to his death. Once he had reached the man, Snake immediately grabbed both his arms, bringing him up to his legs and immediately asking him a question.
"Can you stand?" he asked hastily.
"...Yeah..." the man's strained voice answered.
Snake furrowed his brow. "Are your legs damaged? Your arms?"
"Yeah, but I can still walk." the man said, coughing.
"Can you use a gun?" Snake asked another question.
The man struggled to stand on his own. "If you can give me one, then yeah."
Snake immediately grabbed his non-lethal Wu Pistol, giving it to the man. "This is a non-lethal weapon. I want you to watch our backs, literally." The man looked at the pistol with confusion, before giving Snake a weird look.
"It's a rather strange firearm, sir." He said while further inspecting it.
"That's the least of our concerns. You see anyone not friendly, shoot them in the head." Said snake while quickly checking his ALM-48 LMG's ammo count.
"Roger." The soldier replied loyally.
Snake let go of the man. He was wobbling on his feet, but managed to keep himself up. Fire Lizard and Shaken Ape both applied some bandages to the man, and the group reorganized to account for a faux rear guard. The joint-faction group continued briskly forward along the beach, continuing to rescue more soldiers. More and more soldiers were brought back up to speed, and one Snake ordered them all to search for the fallen and to bring them to the back of the island, with the exception of the man he gave his pistol to. Their rescue duties done, as they weren't able to find any more soldiers to rescue, the group turned their attention to the battle out at sea - several ships and shipgirls were battling while fighter planes flew above, dropping bombs on them. Some were small and some enormous.
But among one particular ship stood out that immediately caught Snake's eye. One that was receiving the worst of the planes' collective wrath.
The USS Arizona.
🎵Call of Duty MW2 - Shepard's Death🎵
Immediately, Snake rushed to the sea, and the group soon followed after. A few hostile shipgirls noticed them, and Charles and her squad providing cover fire for the Diamond Dogs. Snake had ordered the one man he gave his pistol to to remain at shore, as he was in no condition to swim. His men were quick to catch up to him, and they all seemed to have the exact same thought as Snake. 'If these ships had girls controlling them, then wouldn't that mean that he could technically helpsave Arizona?' This thought fueled Snake, and he furiously swam across the water.
-Another Perspective-
At that moment, Snake felt time slow down. All he could think of was one thing - that if he could save the USS Arizona, he could prevent this world's America from being dealt a fatal blow to their morale. His men wanted to ask questions, but deep down they knew what Snake was thinking...
...And they agreed all the same.
*Splash*
"WAIT!" Gridley screamed to Snake and his men, "WHERE ARE YOU ALL GOING!? AREN'T WE GONNA WAIT FOR THE PLANE TO ARRIVE!?"
Snake and his men ignored her question as they continued to rush forward off the shore and into the water.
"WHAT ARE THEY DOING!? THE PLANE IS GONNA SHOW UP HERE IN A FEW MINUTES!" Saratoga asked as she dumbfoundedly watched Snake and his men began swimming away from shore.
Charles Ausburne looked off in the distance and noticed a large battleship that was under heavy fire.
Her eyes widened, "They are going after Arizona!" Charles yelled.
"ARIZONA!? OH NO! Charles quick, we gotta go after them! NOW!"
Without responding back, Charles Ausburne sprinted off the shore and into the water, sailing after Snake and his men.
"Gridley, Sara, Stay on the shore, I'm going after them too!"
Maury got into a 4-point stance. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, the next second she was sprinting after Charles at full speed. When she reached the water, she noticed a long rope wash to shore warped around a piece of scrap metal. Stopping in her tracks, she grabbed one end of the rope
'This could be useful.' She thought as she continued her mad dash towards the USS Arizona, with the long rope dangling behind her.
*Splash*
Wordless and dutifully, the majestic group of Diamond Dogs swam across the water, not letting fatigue or foe stop their rescue efforts. The men at Snake's side couldn't find an opening to be able to catch up to Snake, but his position was so heavily compromised that they opted not to risk their lives, even if it was for the esteemed Venom Snake. Together, they fell back towards the shore, guilty that they decided to leave their boss open. However, to their great surprise, a seaplane was on approach to the beach. They furiously flagged it down.
*Splash*
Meanwhile, back at Snake's side, he was being covered by Charles Ausburne and Maury who had just caught up. With the help of the allied shipgirls in the area, they were able to eventually reach the USS Arizona, which was heavily damaged but yet still afloat. Next to it, was a girl who was taking heavy fire by many enemy shipgirls and fighter planes. Charles's squad had managed to repel the enemy shipgirls against the overwhelming odds. However, fighter planes still held domination in the sky, so this area was by no means captured. The planes one-by-one mercilessly strafed the ship, and any enemies they could lay their crosshairs on. Snake felt more and more hopeless as he swam closer and closer to the girl.
*Splash*
But suddenly, the enemy shipgirls dispersed. Immediately after they did, the unknown girl collapsed onto the water as the ship made an extremely loud metallic groan, and began to capsize. Several fighter planes also strafed the ship as well for extra measure, which gave Snake the scare of his life. However, instead of his goal of saving the ship somehow - which was failed before he could even start - he opted to save the girl instead. He may have failed to protect the USS Arizona, but he could at least save this mystery girl who looked like she was trying to defend the ship. He swam under her, and moved to secure her. Together with his Charles and her squad of shipgirls, Snake successfully fought back to shore with the unknown girl...
...Right as another seaplane landed on the beach.
-Chapter 4: Act 3-
-Snake's Perspective-
🎵Warframe - Rapid Adaptation🎵
"WATCH OUT, ENEMY FIGHTERS!"
The sound of a squadron of enemy fighter planes strafing them from above really cemented into Snake's mind how they were really living through history. Now carrying a wounded shipgirl, they continued to struggle to the shore. Snake and his Diamond Dogs were lucky to have friendly shipgirls covering them, because every single enemy had turned their attention to the group. Fighters upon bombers upon shipgirls were relentlessly assaulting their position, and Snake was secretly praying to whatever lord above that he would be able to successfully make it to shore. He didn't have time to look back, or even to his side. For his only objective at this point was to save the girl on his back. He didn't consciously realize, but after he had grabbed this girl, all the enemies redirected their attention to him... even though they were previously firing at USS Arizona.
He had few seconds to ponder this thought, because his enemies sure weren't giving him any breathing room at all. Countless bullets flew by them, and he was very much equal parts thankful and confused that they haven't hit him or the mystery girl yet.
*Splash*
*Splash*
*Splash*
Snake heard many loud splashes next to him, immediately followed by the sound of a plane flying overhead.
.
..
...
'Motherfu-'
BOOM!
Snake didn't even have the chance to finish his thought before an explosion knocked him clean out of the water, him losing his grip on the mystery girl. His life flashed before his eyes, including his previous life before taking on the role of Venom Snake. He remembered the day he first joined Militaires Sans Frontière at the behest of his friend, Pequod. Or rather, the Pequod at the time. Then he remembered the day Big Boss personally took an interest in his medical skills. And finally, the day before everything went to shit.
"Hey, -."
The sound of someone's voice grabbed his attention. He looked to his right to see a certain soldier - one who had achieved the status of Major in MSF.
"Good afternoon, sir." - bowed to Sageful Advisor, the oldest man in MSF at age 55.
"You look like you've been hit with a star." Sageful Advisor commented. - simply said nothing in response.
"Sorry sir, just a bit excited to hear what Big Boss wanted to personally see me for."
Sageful Advisor snickered in a way only a wise person would. "Don't get too excited, kid. He's probably gonna tell you off or something."
"Hey, don't crush my spirit please. Let me dream at least a little bit."
"Heh..." Sageful Advisor smirked. "Alright. I'll let you have your fun. Just remember - calmness is what keeps you alive. Big Boss probably thinks that you haven't learned that lesson yet, so he's probably gonna teach you that."
.
..
...
That advice he gave him... 'Calmness is what keeps you alive.' Snake reminisced on that thought while he was currently experiencing hyperdilation. Yet that advice from nearly two decades ago was something that he desperately wished could come true. At this prayer to whatever deity was listening, time immediately resumed to it's normal speed, and Snake's senses started to work again all at once. And he could see himself falling towards the water. Bracing himself to either land in the water or die, he closed his eyes.
*splash*
Underwater, Snake quickly opened his eyes. Above, he could see the faint silhouette of Charles and Maury stumbling while firing their cannons, with the unknown female body that he had attempted to save floating behind them. A group of friendly shipgirls quickly circled around the duo, and quickly allowed the two to take a breather. Maury, with a rope hanging from her shoulder warped it around the unconscious girl before tying the other end around her waist. Looking to the sky, he watched helplessly as a group of dive bombers darted directly towards him and the girls around him, Snake's vision suddenly faded to black.
'So this is how it ends, huh... killed in action while involved in an historic battle.' Snake soberly thought to himself. At that moment, he felt calm. Calm in the sense that he would soon meet his end.
...But then he abruptly felt himself getting pulled up through the water.
*Splash*
*Splash*
*Spash*
*Splash*
BOOM! BOOM!
Snake then opened his eyes. He was being pulled above water away from the action, and he saw that it was Charles and Maury who both were surrounded by a blue aura, dragging him above water and moving to shore at a high rate of speed. Confused, he quickly looked around to see if they were risking their lives... but they weren't. The few friendly shipgirls that had arrived provided covering fire. However, they seemed to be taking heavy fire, and it appeared they couldn't keep up the role of being a diversion for much longer. Wasting no time, he quickly signaled a 'thank you' to his two benefactors via a smirk. Now at a distance from the carnage and with his returning strength, Snake then pulled the girl in closer to untie her from Maury and began swimming furiously the rest of the way with all of his might. Thanks to his mad dash, and the assistance of Charles and Maury, he managed to reach the shore with incredible time and saw that the seaplane had already been started up. His men had already entered the fuselage and were also providing covering fire while Saratoga and Gridely were shooting their cannons at the circling fighter planes in the air.
Immediately after Snake touched down on shore, he heard one of the men shouting. "GET IN BOSS, WE CAN'T KEEP THIS UP FOR MUCH LONGER!"
As much as Snake wanted to enter the plane, he couldn't. He took a deep breath, and shouted back. "WE CAN'T! THOSE PLANES HAVE US PINNED DOWN!"
"""WELL WE CAN AT LEAST TRY!""" All 3 of his men replied in unison.
So Snake gets to choose how he dies, is it? Either in the air attempting to flee, or by the hands of the enemy. Sighing with the same calmness from before, he opted to enter the plane with the girl. But as if fate itself had him sealed, he heard a plane fly over his right side... and the all too familiar feeling of dread filled his head again.
BOOM!
Yet another bomb exploded nearly right next to Snake, and shrapnel flew by all sides of him. He felt himself get jerked to the right hard enough to get knocked off his feet. He knew he was hit; falling down onto the sand, he immediately forced himself to stay conscious and looked to his right arm... and saw that his prosthetic arm had been completely ruined by a large metal shard. While still laying on the sand, he quickly inspected his legs and left arm as well, which had miraculously survived unscathed. And he couldn't feel pain in any of his other body parts, or see shrapnel in them. Even though a small piece might have impaled him, the adrenaline was keeping him combat effective.
"Boss, are you alright!?"
Snake looked up to see Shaken Ape kneeling over him. Snake grunted in response. "Yeah, but my hand is fucked."
"Damnit, those bastards!" Shaken Ape stood up and stomped his foot on the sand, nearly kicking some into Snake's face by the force of his foot. Suddenly, another plane flew overhead, but it didn't drop a payload. Shaken Ape quickly knelt knelt down again, outstretching an arm.
"ON YOUR FEET BOSS, WE ARE LEAVING!"
Snake grabbed Shaken Ape's Left arm, being pulled up fast enough to feel the blood rush to his head from the rapid ascension to his feet. But he had no time to feel funny, and they wasted no time to make a beeline for the plane, with Snake's slung LMG shaking clumsily and almost impeding his movement. Immediately after boarding, Snake noticed that Charles and her squad weren't following them.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Snake yelled. "COME ON, WE'RE GETTING OUT OF HERE!"
Charles looked back. "NO, YOU MUST LEAVE WITHOUT US! YOU'VE MANAGED TO SUCCESSFULLY SAVE AN IMPORTANT MEMBER OF AZUR LANE! ME AND MY FELLOW KANSEN HAVE DECIDED TO PERFORM A LAST STAND SO THAT SHE CAN SAFELY MAKE IT BACK!"
A Broken Arrow?That was insane! For the first time in years, Snake - no, Ahab felt mixed emotions at what the girl was deciding to do. These shipgirls were unlike any of the soldiers he had. This wasn't to say that he didn't cherish his men, because he did quite dearly... but something about these girls and their ability to maintain cheery personalities in the face of a desolate war that surrounds them gives Snake something he also hadn't felt in years: Hope.
Hope for a brighter future.
"GRIDLEY, SARATOGA, TAKE THEM BACK TO HEADQUARTERS! WE'LL PROVIDE COVER, GO!"
Unfortunately, he had no choice in the matter. The plane began to take off from the beach, and Snake instinctively yelled "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~!" as Saratoga and Gridley dragged him to the plane that was preparing to take off. He looked out of the window to give his assigned teammates one last look... and it filled him with dread to see them taking a last stand for his sake.
But what he wasn't expecting, was to see the planes that were taking passes at them get destroyed the next second. All of them were destroyed by a storm of bullets, and two planes that looked different from the rest flew over them. Were they friendly? Snake had absolutely no idea, but the truth was that they had just completely decimated their air support, and possibly had just covered their escape. From the side, he saw that the planes weren't going back for another pass... perhaps they were friendly, and decided to give some brief air support before getting the hell out of there.
A bright flash went off in the opposite end of the passenger cabin. "Wow, did you see that guys!? Those were P-40 Tomahawks! Our Guys!"
The sound of cackling amongst his men and Gridley filled the cabin as fate had answered Snake's question.
But one thing's for sure. If Snake ever met them in person, he owed them some wine.
.
..
...
-Chapter 4: Act 4-
🎵 Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker - Love Deterrence (Acoustic) [OR] Ennio Morricone - The Funeral🎵
(Authors Note: We decided that two songs fitted this scene equally well. Both are linked in the official soundtrack playlist; take your pick.)
-8 hours later-
"We have gathered here today to mourn the loss of the many people who perished by the hands of the people who we previously considered our allies."
The sombre voice of The Commander spoke through a from both Azur Lane and Diamond Dogs had gathered at the request of both The Commander and Snake, both noticeably serious and sad when they had made the announcement. The Commander continued.
"December 7th 1941, will be remembered as one of the darkest events in war. We lost many good men, but we're fortunate enough to not have lost any of our fellow KANSEN ships. I cannot express the gratitude in my heart that none of you here today, shipgirl and man alike, were there to witness the horrors that unfolded. However, we have lost more than just our men. We lost one of our strongest bases. We lost many ships, planes, and even resources. Yet despite all of this, one particular ship that had received heavy damage, survived thanks to the courageous efforts of a joint-force team of both Kansen of the Azur Lane alliance and human soldiers of the Diamond Dogs. We will now have a moment of silence for our fallen brethren."
Everyone present lowered their heads. Sombre music played over the speakers placed next to the stage. Only the sound of the music and the ocean waves could be heard. Some people were silently sobbing to themselves, others were wearing heavy expressions of many conflicted feelings - all of them negative.
.
..
...
Only once did the song end, did the people finally start talking again. The Commander, however, quickly resumed talking before the audience chatter could become loud.
"What the Sakura Empire did... it was unforgivable. We had previously lived in harmony, and peace. We did not treat each other as adversaries, but as common friends... But it seems that our hopes - my hopes were dashed in a single day. Our losses are devastating... but we will NOT take this loss lying down. As of today, I officially declare war on the Sakura Empire. To those who do not wish to participate in this war, you may leave without fear of retribution. I understand that some of you may not be ready for another war on a new front. But to those of you, old allies and new, who wish to bring the battle to our new enemies... I thank you for your selfless decision, and look forward to serving with you in our upcoming battles. Our battles... to end this war."
The audience rapidly broke out into deafening applause. The Diamond Dogs, however, opted to remain quiet. From the chair he sat in, Snake could see The Commander smiling slightly. Gradually, though, the applause settled down as they waited for The Commander's next words. Knowing it was time to speak, he stepped forward to the microphone.
"Thank you all for attending today's memorial ceremony. I encourage you all to spend the rest of the day amongst friends, to cherish those who had successfully survived the attack. And to those who lost someone dear to you... may you be comforted by those close to you. Finally, to the rest of you - we shall spend the next three days recovering from what has transpired today. I will not rest easy until those responsible are brought to justice for claiming the lives of those who we hold close to us, under the false pretense of an allied friendship. That is all for the ceremony... you are dismissed."
In gradual waves, everyone stood up from their seats and slowly walked off towards the dorms. The Diamond Dogs, however, gathered at the harbor next to a nearby ship that The Commander had specifically prepared for transport purposes. They slowly boarded the large ship, and Snake simply watched them do so in silence. A while later, once the last person had entered the ship, Snake took out his pack of phantom cigars - but because he wasn't able to "light" it, he instead pressed a button that initiated the chemical reactions instead.
🎵 Metal Gear Solid 1 - The Best Is Yet To Come 🎵
-4 Hours Earlier-
Snake sat down in a chair, and it creaked loudly in indignation. He was surrounded by several people, all leaders of their various countries. How he got into this situation was simple; The Commander has requested Snake's presence at a meeting he was attending, citing 'You will likely wish to be present. The matters we shall talk about considers what you yourself were involved in not 8 hours ago'. And thus, here he was, sitting at a large oval table seating over a dozen world leaders. But notably absent were leaders from the Sakura Empire and Ironblood... something both Snake and The Commander took note of.
"What do you mean it was the Sakura Empire!?" one of the leaders shouted loudly, but not fazing the others. It seemed as if they were used to his behavior. He wore a black-and-white suit, and had an emblem resembling what appeared to be Eagle Union. Snake had received the very briefest of explanations of the various nations in this world.
"We have not yet confirmed it, but we have evidence to support this claim." The Commander responded. "Various pieces of wreckage we were able to scavenge after the attack were traceable to designs seen on Sakura Empire ships." As he was saying this, Snake noted that he seemed to have difficulty remaining 100% composed. It didn't seem like he would explode, but he understood that The Commander would have some strong feelings about this.
However, the world leader representing Eagle Union wasn't as composed. "Then we should be attacking them right now! Why are we even having this talk if they could be plotting something in the background!?"
"You must remain calm." A voice responded. One of the leaders sitting across from him had spoken up - they wore a blue-and-gray suit, and wore a different emblem - one representing the Royal Navy. They spoke in a british accent. "It would be brash to mount an assault on them right after a heavily fortified base was razed in mere hours. I recommend we pool together our resources towards this investigation."
Another world leader replied, speaking in a heavy french accent. "Yeah. Clearly they must have some impressive firepower to have taken down Pearl Harbor like it was nothing. However, may I suggest an alternative?"
"You may." The Commander replied.
The french world leader, representing the Iris Orthodoxy, continued. "It is clear to me that the Sakura Empire must not be underestimated. In our time of unified peace, we have forgotten the possibility of a nation preparing for war without us noticing. Perhaps the Sakura Empire has grown so powerful, that we individually cannot match them with our respective militaries. So I suggest an idea, one that some of you may oppose: we unify together."
Silence fell upon the meeting. Every single leader there had a serious face, and all seemed to be considering the idea. For many seconds, an uncomfortable tension(?) lingered in the air, unnerving even Snake. He wasn't the kind of person to attend these kinds of meetings - Ocelot or Miller were usually ones delegated to that kind of thing, but he did attend some Diamond Dogs meetings once in a while... such as the one regarding the second quarantine incident. The few meetings he had attended however... were times when he got frighteningly serious.
And so, Snake spoke up for the first time during the meeting.
"I'm not a world leader, and I was just dragged here because I was involved. But I'm just gonna throw in my two cents: It'd be smarter to work together, than alone."
The Eagle Union world leader turned his head towards Snake, an audible cracking sound resounding loudly in the room. "Well, how do you suppose we do this?"
Snake sighed, but quiet enough to not let others notice. "This "Azur Lane" of yours... there's ships from all over the world combined on that base. You could unify the same way your shipgirls had on that base. And using all your resources, you could continue to improve these ships and the equipment they use."
Once again, silence fell upon the meeting room. However, it was short lived, as The Commander quickly spoke up once more. "I agree with Snake. The Kansen within my employment all have performed superbly. I also think it would be wise if we all unified together and combined our efforts to combat the stronger Sakura Empire. All in favor of the idea, I ask you raise your hand."
There was visible hesitation in most of the leaders, but one-by-one they all raised their hands. A unanimous vote.
"Well, I think we have our answer." The Commander said proudly. "Under the combined banner of Azur Lane, we shall combat the Sakura Empire and restore peace to our world."
Applause filled the room, all of the world leaders clapping in various intensities. But what Snake wondered is if he was included in that vote...
-Present Time-
After everyone had dispersed and the various equipment was moved away, Snake stood at the harbor of the Azur Lane base, looking out at the setting sun. His Phantom Cigar had performed it's job - it was time to find out the answer to that himself. Switching off the cigar and putting it back into its container for reuse, although having to make use of the ground thanks to his prosthetic arm being broken. he turned around and made his way back to the main building. The cold winter breeze glazed his skin, and as Snake was walking towards the buildings, he noted that all of the shipgirls he had passed had solemn looks on their faces. The overall mood of the base had been dampened by the recent events... no surprise there. But unlike the regular soldiers he had, it seemed like these shipgirls had a different demeanor altogether... like there was a bright side to war. But Snake immediately dismissed that thought - war is true hell, the real tragedy of it is that it uses man's best to do man's worst.
He used to offer his and his men's services to the highest bidder... with morals of course. Yet he has been in several incidents... Paz's takeover of the Carribean Mother Base, him waking up from his coma and being introduced to Diamond Dogs, and the various little incidents in Afghanistan and Africa, almost always being linked to Cipher - no, Skull Face's wrath. Snake has never known what peace truly is, and he doubted he would get the chance to see the end of it.
But yet, the everyday moods of the girls weren't the same as his or his men. They were all seemingly unbothered by the harsh realities of war, like they were either oblivious to the concept or simply didn't let it affect them. Snake combed his brain for any potential answers to this strange observation, but all of them didn't seem to apply. But before he could continue, he had half-consciously passed through the gates to the building and had already entered. He was about to make his way up the stairs, but a girl was already walking down them - Belfast. He let her pass by, saying hello with a mere wave, to which she performed a silent curtsy and continued on her way. Ascending the stairs, Snake's footsteps loudly echoed through the hallways. The usual banter of the dorms had all but ceased, and it sent a chill down Snake's spine. It was one thing to see his soldiers in low morale, but these girls? It was almost alien... sad, even. This thought in mind, Snake had reached The Commander's office. Z23 was stationed there as usual.
"Is The Commander in?" Snake asked. Z23 looked up.
"Yes. He has been oddly focused since that assembly. I am concerned about his approach... he hasn't even eaten since lunch."
"I see." Snake remarked. "I'd like to talk to him... about something important. Can I enter?"
"Yes. The Commander has given you explicit permission to seek him whenever you'd like." Z23 replied. These words made Snake feel something that was exceedingly rare for him... warmth in his soul. He had few friends, limited to mainly Miller, Ocelot and an old soldier that didn't seem to survive the world transition. So it was rare for him to be able to make new ones, considering his overall approach to life. Snake smiled as he knocked on the door to The Commander's office, and opened it right after with no hesitation. Z23 was right - there were pieces of paper all throughout the office, not just on his desk. It was oddly familiar, reminding him of how Miller was at his worst during his obsession with Cipher. The Commander was so zoned in, that he didn't seem to even notice Snake's presence.
"Commander." Snake said loudly. That seemed to finally break him out of his trance, making him look up from his desk.
🎵Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - Mother Base Theme🎵
"Ah, Snak- I mean, Ahab. I was not expecting visitors for the rest of today." he replied, but in a cold tone of voice. Something that concerned Snake.
"Yeah. I would have left you alone, but I have something important to talk about."
"Something important?" The Commander repeated a part of Snake's sentence.
"Yes." Snake replied, now in a serious tone of voice. He walked over to The Commander's desk, taking a chair and sitting across from him. He continued. "That meeting we had earlier today, about the nations merging into Azur Lane... was I included in that?"
The Commander shook his head. "It wasn't intended that you join us. Why do you ask?"
Snake furrowed his brow. "Because... the world I came from experienced this exact event, over 40 years ago."
The Commander's pupils dilated. "What...?" he said in utter disbelief, as if his entire world was just shattered.
"You might not believe me, but it's true. That Pearl Harbor attack was what got Eagle Union - The United States of America in my world, into the war. This happened when I was just a kid... and because of that, I know you will need help to take down the Sakura Empire, Imperial Japan as called in my world."
The Commander sat there in complete silence for a moment, a look of utter dread on his face. A dozen seconds later, he finally spoke.
"...You're from the future...?"
"No." Snake answered flatly. "This world is a lot more advanced than mine already. The war that has just begun here, happened over 40 years ago in my world. But the tech I see here is more advanced than the tech in my world, but not in all areas. If you want to defeat the Sakura Empire, you'll need better tech... and some good men to use it."
"Are you suggesting...?"
"Yes." Snake cut him off. "I'd like to join forces with 'Azur Lane'."
Once again, The Commander fell silent again. But this time, he seemed completely lost in thought. Only after nearly half a minute had passed, did he speak again.
"What can you offer to our alliance?" he asked.
Snake paused for a few seconds. "I can't offer to merge with your alliance. I've got too much to lose by doing so. But what I can do is ally myself to Azur Lane, but privately. Me and my private army are about stealth and non-lethality, so I don't want me and my men to be in the history books if I can help it."
"Non-lethality, you say...?" The Commander answered in a deeper voice then usual, seemingly still lost in thought. He moved his head out the window, which overlooked another dock on the island.
.
..
...
"Very well. I'd like to enlist the help of Diamond Dogs as a private 'contractor' of Azur Lane. That will be the official term for your employment. But secretly, you will be as much of a core member as the others. Therefore..."
The Commander paused suspensefully.
"...I'd like to rename Azur Lane to Diamond Union."
Diamond Union. A name that incorporates the Diamond part of Diamond Dogs, with a representation of the merging of allies. Something about the name caught Snake's interest in a way he hadn't expected. He had just said that he wanted to remain on the down low, but this... well, Snake liked it.
"I approve." Snake said after several moments of consideration. "But under the following terms; my faction is kept unmarked we can help it, we are not to be talked about outside of this base or Mother Base, and I will attend those meetings as an 'advisor'."
"Very well, I can agree with these terms." The Commander said with a smile on his face.
The Commander outstretched his hand. But he then noticed that Snake's prosthetic arm was removed. "What happened to your arm?"
"It was ruined while I was exfiltrating Pearl Harbor." Snake replied. "And as of right now, I have no idea who to go to in order to get it repaired."
The Commander, arm still outstretched, pondered Snake's words. "Ah, I see... In that case, one of our shipgirls on this island will be able to help you. However, she is notorious for being very business savvy... to the point that some of our staff call her greedy. I will put in a good word for you this time, but I cannot help you in the future with that."
"Just so I know, what currency does she use?" Snake asked.
"Shiny red crystals we refer to as 'Gems.'" The Commander replied. "They are similar to Diamonds, but they have tangible properties that make them useful to someone like the shipgirl I am referring to. They are known to be minable from Micronesian islands, and thankfully only we are aware of its properties... for now. It may not be long before our enemies soon discover Gems and their usefulness."
"So I've got to also worry about mining... not an issue." Snake remarked. Using his left arm, he also took The Commander's hand and shook it, formally establishing the name change and enlistment of his services. They let go of their hands. However, before they continued, The Commander seemed to have an idea flash into his head. He extended an index finger.
"Wait."
Before Snake could say anything, The Commander reached under his desk, grabbing a bottle of wine. The fancy stuff, eh...?
"This is... not exactly a celebration since a tragedy happened today, so let us call it an 'establishment of a contract'."
The Commander grabbed 2 glasses, pouring the wine into each of them. He carefully slid over Snake's glass. Snake clumsily grabbed the glass with his left hand, being somewhat tired. Regardless, he took a sip from it without hesitation.
And so, ended one of the most historic days in history... but relived by Snake himself.
