Continuing Diamond Dog Coatl's story, as Snake rescues Miller from De Wiallo Khalai and barely escapes the Skulls.

"Metal Gear" and all related names and terms are property of Konami.

We are Homo Ludens.

D-Diary by KaidanTONiO

Chapter 1: Phantom Limbs

March 21st, 1984

Its barely morning, and I'm with the men on the chopper back to Mother Base, but the recent events prevent me from sleeping further. I might as well write.

Our small escort team left Cyprus by ship, and passed through the Suez Canal, all the way to the Arabian Sea and stopped at a place called Port Casim, right at the southernmost tip of Pakistan. There, I parted ways with Snake and Ocelot, and headed to Mother Base. Those two are to head through the country by chopper, and then enter Afghanistan by horse, now that the Boss is more or less back to his physical/mental health. It may sound lunatic to others, but that's the Boss for you. Asleep for 9 years, then back to the playing field.

The whole trip was fairly uneventful, but we should be so lucky in the future. The Boss was exercising every day since Cyprus, making up for the lack of proper physical therapy in his own way. Really, seeing him inspired me and the team to work out with him, only to fall behind him by Sunday!

In between the Boss's exercise sessions, Ocelot briefed him on Afghanistan's political situation, and the state of the Soviet war. It's a lot of information to digest within a week, but Ocelot only gave him short summaries of the past decade's essential politics. We figured that Snake could learn everything else later. Pop culture was never really his forte.

He's also given Boss the new arm, specially built by a bionics expert Miller hired months ago. It looks and works just like Zadornov's (except no lighter), which felt creepy. Not just because it's a fully-functional prosthesis - I swear I felt irony tickle my spine when Snake was testing the arm.

First the Boss came back, now Miller is next. Who else but Cipher would have gone after him, if Miller's bodyguards were the best men we had? All dead. Less family, less chance to beat Cipher. Miller's been gone for over a week, so time is of the essence. Our Intel scouts managed to find out about the "blonde-haired foreigner" being kept prisoner in a small village in Northern Kabul, guaranteed to be Miller. If Snake doesn't rescue him in time, Miller will be executed, another claimed by Cipher. More reason to see those bastards gone forever. An organization like that shouldn't be allowed to continue, not just for what we lost, but for what they are capable of doing to anyone else.

I remember Chico and Paz.

9 years ago, I was with some of the MSF crew sent to Cuba for R&R before Mother Base was attacked. I was 16. I suppose Snake and Miller sent me away because they couldn't have a minor's presence affecting their public image (for the phony inspection). We were first notified of the attack via a radio distress call from Mother Base. Looking back, I think it was just someone calling for us as a last resort despite the situation's hopelessness. There was no way we could have been of any help, given our distance and small numbers, and all we could do was use the radio to track down anyone who escaped the attack. As far as I recall, only Miller and the Boss escaped by chopper. I'm unaware of anyone else who might have escaped.

A couple of days later, Miller contacted us. It was safe, for he knew our frequency, and he directed us to the hospital where he and Snake were being treated. Half of us were to guard the AFVs and the other half to go to the hospital. After we come back, the AFV group would proceed to the hospital

We were not allowed to see Snake, but our morale was pretty much shattered when the doctors told us of his condition. However, Miller was not badly injured, and he briefed us on what happened: that the UN inspection was a ruse by Cipher, Mother Base and ZEKE were gone, and that anyone affiliated with MSF should lie low and do whatever it takes to avoid being associated with it, lest Cipher find us too. That meant the soldiers would retire from MSF and join other armies, or go home to family and friends.

In my case, I had to go back to my original family.

Before we left, I suggested we check out what the chopper survivors still had when they were rescued. Miller allowed us to inspect the items in storage: a couple of broken guns, a charred Sneaking Suit, and cassette tapes (miraculously intact, plus Miller managed to keep his silly sunglasses on throughout). At that moment, Miller told us to listen to those tapes in a separate room using my Walkman's speaker (back then, we all could afford our own Walkman, and many of us did, at least to emulate the Boss). He wanted us to know what really caused our home to be destroyed. He must have wanted us to know how serious our situation was, to know what kind of people were trying to destroy us.

I listened to what those heartless bastards did to Chico and Paz. Chico's idiocy was unbelievable - he honestly thought he could rescue Paz all alone. He was no soldier any more than I was. Of course Cipher's men caught him, but until we listened to the tapes, I never imagined what Cipher could do to its victims. Chico may have sold us out, but I can't blame him. Not after the hell he suffered.

And now he's dead. Another lost to Cipher, another soul to avenge.

What bothered me the most from those tapes besides the torture is what Paz said to her captives…"Cipher is watching". I know that Cipher sent Paz to that black site for interrogation, but were her torturers really part of Cipher or…?

How could she still venerate Cipher if the camp guards were killing her? The answer must be in the last tapes: whoever tortured Paz and Chico was also against Cipher, wringing answers from Paz as to Cipher's/Zero's actual location. But attacking Mother Base - was that also to feign allegiance to Cipher?

Too many questions for now. We're close to base and I must continue my work. By now, Snake and Ocelot are at Kabul, heading for Miller's location. This time around, Miller lost the glasses. Not a good sign. Ocelot found them at the site where Miller was taken, and will give them to Snake so he can return them to their rightful owner. Here's hoping.

Its evening and Ocelot just came back by chopper a couple of hours ago. He told the medics to get all their gear ready for Miller's arrival. Boss found him in that little village after all, but ran into trouble with Cipher before giving them the slip. Miller is also in bad shape, missing an arm and leg…possible half-blind. This news won't let me sleep, so I'll write about the day's events. I should watch out for insomnia.

I finished the morning's inventory reports before rushing to Intel's office. When I know that Snake is on an important mission, I make the extra effort to either finish my work quickly or at least postpone it; it'd be easier with more people to hand the work over to.

Ocelot wasn't there yet. He doesn't really need to be with Intel thanks to this nifty radio communication system they use between themselves. Snake, Ocelot, and Miller could be in constant communication with one another no matter who's on the mainland or on Mother Base. I haven't the faintest idea how it works; the few R&D people we have are the ones who really pulled it off at Miller's request. Boss describes stuff, Intel logs it, Miller, Ocelot, or other local experts give instructions or advice, Support may be requested to assist by delivering resupply boxes to any chosen area. Given my history with MSF, I was allowed my own audio line that focused on the Boss' missions. No direct voice support, though, that was left to the experts while I continue my work. I don't really need to be in Intel's office to listen in, as a great bonus. I can give emergency orders to Support from anywhere on Mother Base should my superiors demand it, otherwise I'll spend my shift at the warehouse office.

After spending the day using "D-Horse" to track down Miller, Boss found him in that village-turned-Soviet outpost, but the chopper couldn't pick them up afterwards. Apparently, an unnatural mist appeared before the Boss was assaulted – by the same Cipher boys that killed Miller's entourage. Miller calls them the "Skulls", though I don't know why (because they're unstoppable killers?). Freaks of nature, from what I've heard: the spooky ghost-mist appearing at the same time as the Skulls; their glowing eyes, jerky/spastic bodily movements, and their bodies covered in tactical battle armor. Worse is how they moved when they saw the Boss: huge leaps and bounds that put gazelles to shame. Reminds me of the old stories of Operation Snake Eater, multiplied exponentially.

I heard those stories back at MSF, how Snake faced a bunch of comic book-styled weirdoes with superpowers called the Cobras whom supposedly won WWII, the battles that led to him gaining the tile "Big Boss". But while the Cobras all challenged Snake one at a time, the "Skulls" are a whole unit of freaks working together, all gunning for the Boss and anyone related to him. He gave them the slip somehow. The horse is certainly a champ if it could outrun those monsters, and so the chopper extracted them with no mist to prevent its landing.

Or perhaps the Skulls chose to fall back by Cipher's orders? The thought just occurred – if any Cipher agents were to track down Snake back to the new base, they wouldn't have to rely on a bunch of freaks to wander Afghanistan hoping to kill him there. Besides, after Paz's betrayal, Miller started being strict about letting in new recruits to MSF, and now that attitude would become full-blown paranoia. He was training Mujahideen to fight the Soviets, and what if the Soviets that captured him are in league with Cipher? Is that why Miller was spared, while the rest of his troop was killed?

Or perhaps the Skulls are indeed as they act – mindless zombies that attack anyone on sight. Perhaps they didn't even recognize Snake, and the man's pretty hard not to recognize on a battlefield. He's got a heavy reputation amongst soldiers worldwide. Perhaps I'm overthinking it, but it pays to be even a little paranoid in our case.

Boss and Miller are expected to arrive tomorrow morning, and I intend to be present with the men to welcome them.