5

She felt dizzy. A sharp pain ran down her neck and the back of her head. Rayne had curled up in a corner, trying to block out the sensation of pain. In addition to being sore, she was stiff. Noticing that she'd been disarmed, she came to the conclusion that she had been put through some kind of torture; small holes lined both arms around the inside of the elbow and on certain areas of her forearms.

Rayne was in a small white room, with nothing but a cot and a knee-high table. The only window was in the door.

"This isn't...right..." Her head bobbed as she struggled to stay awake. "The Codec...doesn't...work? Why?"

A man peered through the small window. He had a scar that ran down the left side of his face. From what Rayne could see, he had green eyes, and short spiky brown hair. She could tell that he'd said something to another soldier, but didn't know what.

The door opened slightly and two men armed with .45 handguns entered.

"Just stay calm..." The first soldier had said. "We don't want to harm you. Come with us." He moved closer to her. "You'll be fine if you cooperate."

"Go...to hell..." She struggled to her feet. "I...I can't..."

The two men held her by the arms, supporting her weakened body. They basically dragged her to a wall where she was placed in restraints, her body ib the shape of a 'Y'.

"What did...you...do to me? Why can I..." Her breaths were short. "Why..."

The man with the scar on his face looked even worse than the first time she saw him. He was wearing a black muscle shirt and dark baggy jeans. The scar on his face ran down even further, down his left arm as far as his elbow. On his right leg, Rayne could see three small daggers. In a holster on his left thight, there was a silenced HK-5.

"Who...are...you?"

"I go by the name Scar, second in command of S-4. Do you want to know why you feel so weak and can barely move?" Rayne tried to nod. "You've probably noticed all of the puncture marks on your arms by now."

"You...drugged me, didn't...you!?"

Scar nodded. "Don't worry, we had good reason to, other than it would lessen the chances of you attacking us. We hoped that you wouldn't do any harm to yourself as well." He moved closer, so that his face was only inches away from hers. "Are you in any pain?"

She struggled to answer. "No..."

"What do you...think, jackass!? I can... barely...move."

Behind Scar, three guards were laughing. As soon as he turned around and grunted, the three of them stopped.

"Very funny. All of you, get down to B2 of the southern complex. Help Scyth and his men finish moving the cargo." Turning to face her, he sighed. "Tell me your name. What are you doing here? Why are you here?"

"Nghh... Why should I...tell you?" Her voice cracked. "For all I know..."

"What, you think we activated your strain of FOXDIE? Heh, as if. It'll activate soon enough..." His eyes shifted from the ceiling to her. "Tell me why you're here on Shadow Moses."

"My mission... even I don't know... why I'm here..."

Scar's arms were crossed. "Your name?"

"R...Rayne... Black Rayne."

His eyes grew wider and one eyebrow was raised. "You're supposed to be dead... Romainia... New Zealand... You survived both ordeals...? Hm." The two guards armed with the handguns walked back in. "Put her back in her cell. We'll get whatever else we need later."

Her restraints were removed, and she was dragged back into her room; thrown on the floor. Once the door locked, she crawled back to her corner, but once she was there, Rayne curled up, holding her knees.

141.27 to 141.63

"Rayne?"

"Ugh... What? Raiden?"

"Are you alright? We lost contact with you... Where are you?"

"Solitary...in the north."

"What's happened? You don't sound well."

"They drugged me with something. Heavily drugged me..." She coughed a few times. "My whole body's numb... and I...can barely move. Where are you?"

"The main entrance. I've made a new friend." Raiden paused. "We're on our way to your position. Stay where you are."

"What the...!? No duh, genious... Have you... forgotten that I can't move well?" She moaned. "Just hurry... I don't know...how many more injections I can handle..."

-codec off-

Both Raiden and Soren were glaring at one another, unhappy of what was going on. Soren's head was turned toward the ceiling while sitting on the steps. "So what now?"

Raiden stared at him in disbelief. He was just about to walk out a door. "Are you...!" He grunted and sighed at the same time. "Look, I have a comrade to save. You can stay here if you want."

Soren stood, protesting. "You'll be killed if you try to go to the north complex alone. We have a sniper positioned out there. I, however, can help you out of this."

"How so?"

Now in a hall, Soren began explaining. "Technically, I'm still with S-4, so I can get into areas where you would be killed on sight. I'll go over to the north complex and eliminate the sniper, than you can go through the path without getting a bullet in the brain." He paused. "Make sense?"

"Yeah, but couldn't you just snipe out the sniper?"

Soren took a few moments to think. "I guess I could do that, but I risk being spotted as a traitor when I still need to retain my identity within the organization."

Raiden doubted Soren's plan. Something about it just didn't seem right. "Fine, but you better not betray me, not now"

"I don't plan on it." He moved through the hall, passing several doors adn turns. He turned right. "I may not look like it, but I need friends. When you first came in, you probably saw quite a few dead men." Raiden was clueless. "Well... Those men were under my command. Any that you came across in this building on the first or second floor. And now...over three quarters of them are dead."

"You feel betrayed?" Soren didn't answer, but instead, headed through a door on the left at the end of the hallway. "Well, do you?"

"Can't you tell!? Of course I feel betrayed!" He slammed his fist against the wall on his left. "Damn." He whispered. "Scyth's been out to get me ever since I became a member of S-4, let alone, one of its commanders."

"Why?"

"You... I'm not gonna say it. Try to figure it out on your own for a little while. It might become obbvious if you ever come across him." His head turned left. "That door leads outside to the path. From there, we can get to the northern complex and then to where they're keeping your ally."

Raiden ran to the door; Soren stopped him.

"Once we're outside, you have to hide until I take out the sniper. If she spots you, both of us will be dead. Got it?"

"Yeah."

Damon was following a small trail of blood. Handprints of blood were spaced alomost evenly on one wall. The door on his right had blood smears all over it. He turned the blood-covered handle, and pushed oped the door. Inside, sma;; amounts of blood covered different areas of the room. Damon saw that Otacon could hardly breathe and was struggling to speak. The left side of his torso was soaked in his own blood. He then saw Snake, who's hands were covered in blood, along with other parts of his body.

"How is he?"

Snake remained crouched, but backed away a small distance. "The wound was clean, but the bullet hit either his lung or heart. I can't exactly tell; there's too much blood. It's been plugged, but..."

Damon moaned. "Still, he's alive. You've got a mission to get back to, so get back to it."

"Yeah." He lit a cigarette, heading out to door and following the path of blood back outside.