4
141.80 to 141.33
"Hey, you catch any of that?"
"Hey Snake... Only the last two lines, and yes, I'll look into it. If what he said was true, you're going to need a sniper rifle. From what Raiden reported, there was nothing useable on his floors, and Rayne never mentioned finding anything outside when she last contacted me. They probably keep spare weapons in the north building."
"There's problems with that... 1) The only way up there is through the path where Meryl was shot five years ago, 2)There's probably a sniper placed out there, and 3) Once I get over there, I'm gonna get shot at some point 'cause there's gonna be tighter security. Any other ideas?"
"None at the moment. Give me some time and I'll let you know when I come up with something."
-codec off-
He was confused. "Better start looking for a PSG-1..." He climbed the steel ladder and went through the same door, following Scyth. Hopeful that he would find something, he began searching.
Otacon had finally established a link with the security cameras outside. He tried to reach Rayne, but she wouldn't answer. All four monitors on his side displayed a different area, including all three heliports on the East side. One of them showed the northern complex.
"I need to go check on something." He checked to see if his silenced 9mm was loaded.
"Where are you going?"
"Like I said, I need to go check on something. I'll be fine. I've had my share of work in the field. This should only take ten minutes or so."
Turning corners and going through several doors, Otacon found himself at the pathway that connected the northern and southern buildings. Owls hooted through the darkness. Otacon took cover behind a wall while looking through a pair of binoculars in hopes to confirm that he did see someone outside on the second floor of the northern building.
Something caused a small dent in the dirt just inches away from his right foot. Otacon paid no heed to it, and continued to look through his binoculars. There was a small flash on the second floor.
"What was that? Is someone there after all?"
There was another flash. Within seconds, a small puddle of blood formed on the ground, growing larger bit by bit. Maniacal laughing came from the other end of the pathway.
"This is what you get for betraying us, Dr. Emmerich!"
"Sn-Sniper...Wolf... you're..." He began to cough up blood. "Dead..."
"No scientist! You're dead!" She stopped laughing and disarmed herself. "Call him if you want, I'll just kill him as well... Besides, he's already on his way here to save the woman who S-4 took captive."
Otacon coughed up more blood. "R...Rayne..."
141.12 to 141.80
"Otacon? I need a PSG-1. Have you seen one around?"
"Snake... Sniper..."
"Otacon, what's going on? Where are you?"
"Sniper..." There was some coughing. "Path to...north..."
"Otacon!"
There was no response.
-codec off-
141.80 to 141.33
"Where's Otacon?"
"Um... He went to check out the path that connects this building to the north. Why?" Snake didn't answer. "Snake?"
-codec off-
Raiden had finished his sweep of the second floor, and was heading to the main entrance. He wasn't alone. Drawing hid M9, he peered over the railing.
"Freeze!"
The man stopped almost instantly, raising his hands in the air. Raiden slowly climbed down the stairs, keeping his gun aimed at the man.
"Who are you? Do you work for S-4!?"
His eyes were closed. "You gonna kill me?" Raiden's finger was on the trigger. "Hmmm... Fine. I go by Soren, Fourth in Command of S-4."
"You're one of them!?"
Soren was fairly young, looking to be around the age of 20 or 21. He had blonde hair, flipped at a few of the ends. He had blue-green eyes. He was wearing light and torn blue jeans, a black t-shirt with a white symbol on it, black and red gloves, as well as a dark blue cloak. On his back, there was a crossbow and a PSG-1 sniper rifle with an SVND2 scope attatched. On his left hip, there were crossbow bolts, and a pouch that was most likely filled with extra ammo for his rifle.
"You gonna kill me?" He asked again, impatient.
"What do you know about the new forms of Metal Gear?"
"Metal Gear? Well, I actually know only the basics."
"Tell me!" He began to squeeze the trigger. "I will fire!"
"Oh please! That gun is a converted M9 beretta, made to fire tranquilizer rounds." He sqeezed the trigger even harder. "SIN is the next-generation machine in nuclear warfare. It's the strongest and fastest version of Metal Gear that has ever been created, surpassing REX, RAY and the Patriots Arsenal Gear. More weapons, better defence and strength, an electronic disruptor, stealth camo... It's virtually impossible to surpass its abilities, not to mention the 50-target lock-on system that it's equipped with."
"I already know all of this..."
Soren shrugged. "Well, that's all I know. Look, I didn't develop it, and I'm no scientist. I know almost nothing about nuclear physics, only that nuclear energy can be used as a source of power, or turned into a weapon."
Raiden breathed in deeply. "Sit on the stairs and disarm yourself, tossing your weapons toward me." Soren did as he was told, tossing the crossbow and all other weapons at Raiden's feet. "Tell me about S-4." Soren was hesitant. "Do you want to die!?"
"Well, we're a resistance force that consists of those who were formerly on the Army, Navy, and Marines. Only a few come from the military, but most of them are pilots. Now, there are four leaders within S-4. The Commander is known as Scyth, commander of the whole unit. The there's Scar, Second in Command, and then there's her... Satora..." He shuddered at the mention of her name.
"Who is she?"
Soren sighed deeply. "She's Third in Command, and is the most terrifying and brutal person I know. A few years ago, she went on a solo misson on an island in the south Atlantic, shooting anyone who she came across between the eyes. One time, she invited her lover over to her apartment, and killed him. To do so, she restrained him by the hands and ankles, cutting open the jugular vain and letting him bleed to death."
Raiden could see the fear in his eyes. "I get it... Anything else?"
Soren nodded. "No... You already know my rank, so..." He seemed hesitant. Raiden still aimed at him, but in less than a second, Raiden had been disarmed and Soren was behind him, holding the G-18 pistol he had hidden in his cloak. The M9 dropped to the floor.
"H-how?" Raiden was amazed. "How did you...?"
Soren was now pressing his gun against the operative's head. "You said you wanted to know about S-4. There's something else I could tell you, but I'm not sure that I should..." Doubting himself, Soren released Raiden, but still aimed at his head. "I'll make you a deal."
"What sort of deal?"
"You help me, I'll give you anything you might benefit from on this mission of yours."
"What do you want that I can offer?"
Soren had a dumbfounded look on his face. "You can't see what I want? Hmmm... Look, I'll explain. To be honest, I hate being a commander of S-4. It sort of scares me. You help me obtain freedom, I'll help you with anything that you need." He held out his hand and lowered the pistol. "Deal?"
Raiden was cautious. Soren still had the gun in his hand. "If you want me to agree, drop the gun." Soren did as was asked, the gun clunking as it his the floor. They shook hands. "Deal."
"You want to know a secret about us?" Soren asked as he picked up his weapons and ammo. Raiden nodded. "Our DNA... It's been altered significantly."
Raiden picked up both of his guns. "How so?"
"We all have 24 chromosones instead of just 23. We're sort of, for lack of a better word, superhuman. We heal faster than a normal person, we're smarter than the normal person, and we're also more skilled in certain tasks. Other than having 24 chromosones, about 9 of the original have been altered to give us our abilities." He looked at his watch. "We've wasted too much time."
He was just about to go through the door underneath the stairs when Raiden called his name.
"Do you have nanomachines?"
"Yep." The twenty year old said. "My frequency is 140.93. Yours?"
"141.27."
Otacon's blood covered a large amount of the ground, turning fresh white snow to a vibrant red color.
"Damn." Snake kneeled down, checking his partner for a pulse, blood pressure, and breathing. The wound didn't look that bad, but chances were good that the bullet had hit either his lung or heart. "Damn..."
141.80 to 141.33
"Damon, listen closely. I need to know if there's a medical room of some type in the southern building?" He was grunting.
"Why? Something wrong?"
"Answer the qeustion."
Clicks of the keyboard could be heard. "Yes. There isn't one far from your position. I don't think it's been used recently and some of the medicines are probably pretty old."
"It's fine."
"Snake, what's going on? And have you come across Rayne?"
"You want to know, then get down to the medical room."
-codec off-