A Brief Summary of the Outer Heaven incident.

When the typical citizen thinks of Solid Snake, they think of the book by Nastasha Romanenko: In the Darkness of Shadow Moses.

One should note that this project was carried out with the help of Ms. Romanenko, whose aid has been invaluable.

But in any case, this story that made the headlines all throughout the country told of the tale of Shadow Moses, and a government coverup that, at first, had most people thinking that Romanenko was a mere conspiracy theorist.

However, soon enough, others came forward corroborating her claim with evidence, and Solid Snake grew to be known as a hero...until the tanker incident in 2007.

But I digress. In any case, it may surprise you to know that Shadow Moses was not the beginning of Snake's career.

Snake's career began when he joined Fox-Hound, an elite unit that specialized in the most difficult infiltration missions, and was led by the legendary soldier Big Boss.

Big Boss has his own story, one that I will tell in time, but that will have to wait.

When Snake first joined Foxhound in 1995, at the age of 23, a crisis was occurring. America had received intelligence that a weapon of mass destruction was supposedly being developed deep within Outer Heaven, a heavily fortified state that had been supposedly founded by a legendary mercenary in the late 1980s.

A mission was issued to Fox-Hound's top soldier, Frank Jaeger, AKA Gray Fox. Infiltrate the fortress that was Outer Heaven, assess the situation, and stop the weapon if it poses a threat.

After successfully infiltrating the facility, Gray Fox proceeded, relaying back information regarding the layout of the building for any future operations. He eventually discovered information regarding the new weapon, but was captured soon after. His last transmission was cut off after two words.

"Metal Gear."

Some readers will no doubt know the meaning of those words. Others may not. For those of you that do not, bear with me: I will elaborate on it shortly.

A few days after the failure of "Operation Intrude N312", as it was called, Solid Snake, who was at that time still a rookie operative, was called in for his first operation in Fox-Hound. His mission? Rescue Gray Fox, and complete the original mission.

At the time Solid Snake may have wondered why he was given this mission as his first. Despite the fact that he was no mere rookie, as his acceptance into the elite group that was Fox-Hound shows, surely there were other, more experienced operatives to take on the task? Why was he, a new operative, being sent to take on a mission that Gray Fox himself couldn't complete?

Whatever the case, Solid Snake accepted the mission. Upon arriving in Outer Heaven, he cooperated with the Resistance's leader, Kyle Schneider, to locate Gray Fox, who was being held within the prison.

However, Schneider warned Snake against attacking head-on, as the guard of the prison was the formidable Shotmaker, a former Spetsnaz agent, and capable enough to guard the whole prison by himself.

If somebody other than Snake had been in that situation, the mission might have ended there. They might have decided to give up, and go into hiding to escape from the wrath of the higher-ups. They might have tried a head-on attack, and died in the process. However, it was at this moment that Snake attempted a dangerous move that no one was expecting, least of all Outer Heaven.

He let himself be captured.

Once inside the prison, he quickly broke out of his cell and searched for Gray Fox. Upon finding him, Gray Fox informed him of the true nature of his last transmission.

'Metal Gear' was the codename for the new weapon that Outer Heaven was developing. A bipedal tank capable of launching a nuclear weapon from any time of terrain.

Of course, nowadays, many know of Metal Gear, its various incarnations, and its abilities. But at the time, the news delivered by Gray Fox was devastating.

Fox told Snake to find Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar, the creator of Metal Gear, who would know how to destroy it before it became active.

Snake proceeded to escape from the prison after retrieving his weapons and defeating Shotmaker. Shotmaker had been used to protecting the prison from outside attacks and was not prepared for an attack to come from the inside.

When Snake eventually discovered Dr. Madnar and saved him and his daughter Ellen, Dr. Madnar informed him that Metal Gear TX-55, as it was known, had not yet been activated, and told him how to destroy it by placing explosives at its feet.

As Snake proceeded towards the hangar where Metal Gear was being held, he received an urgent transmission from Kyle Schneider, the Resistance Leader. Schneider claimed to have obtained important information about the leader of Outer Heaven, but the transmission was cut off before he could relay the discovery.

It was here that things began to take a turn for the strange. Big Boss's transmissions to Snake became erratic, providing false information that jeopardized the mission, and at one point flat-out told Snake to abort it.

Nonetheless, Snake refused to let this hinder his progress, and managed to reach Metal Gear, destroying it. But upon attempting to escape the base, he came face to face with Outer Heaven's leader.

This leader was none other than Big Boss himself.

Big Boss had thought that sending Snake, a rookie operative, would make the mission fail for sure, and give Outer Heaven the excuse it needed to launch an attack on the rest of the world. However, Snake had proven to be a prodigy, exceeding all expectations, managing to destroy Metal Gear and forever cripple Big Boss's ambitions.

Big Boss vowed that he would not die alone, and that he would take Solid Snake down with him. There was never a record of this battle, as the only witnesses were Solid Snake and Big Boss themselves. All that is known is that Solid Snake emerged victorious, and returned to America as a hero: albeit an unknown one.

Solid Snake, however, had no idea of what would happen after he left the area. As soon as he was extracted, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) performed a massive aerial bombardment. They launched a pinpoint strike on the nuclear weapons facility of Outer Heaven using bunker-busting bombs.

Many perished in the aftermath, Outer Heaven soldiers and Resistance members alike. While some, such as Dr. Madnar and Gray Fox, were extracted before the bombing run occurred, others such as Kyle Schneider and the other Resistance members who helped Snake, disappeared in the aftermath. And the media never knew the truth, and neither would Solid Snake…

Until three years later...