Author's Note: Sixth chapter and I'm still waiting for someone to review my work…come on! The story's not all that bad!
Chapter 6: Conference
Snake, Lynn, and Andrea managed to make it to the apartment without any more trouble. By the time they got there, however, Andrea was huffing and puffing from carrying her charge.
Otacon opened up the door within three seconds of Snake knocking. The door flew open, and Otacon rushed the three inside.
"Here, put her down," Otacon said quickly, gesturing to Snake's couch. Andrea squeaked as Lynn slid off her shoulder and landed on the couch, sitting up. Andrea collapsed onto the seat at the other end, trying to catch her breath. Snake was forced to stand as the two girls took up the middle seat as well.
Otacon bolted up the door, and darted over to his favored office chair.
"Alright, give me a rundown on what happened," Otacon said, leaning intently forward.
"Well," Snake said, sitting down on the floor, "in the restaurant, both the buyers and the sellers had men stationed in the restaurant, and like I said, things went haywire. These two were also there, and the macho chick was shot in the shoulder." Snake gestured over to Lynn, who lowered the shirt on her shoulder to show the bandage that was crusted with a small spot of blood.
"Why didn't you take her to a hospital?"
"We didn't need to," Snake replied.
"I know she has her Certificate, but the hospital would have a lot better equipment to take care of her," Otacon protested.
"That's not her style, I think," Snake answered. "She just wanted a quick patch-job, like what we were able to manage. I'm surprised she can even move with the amount of blood she's lost."
"She couldn't have lost that much," Otacon said disbelievingly.
"Two soaked sheets, and whatever's on the floor," Snake said. "A lot, trust me. The hospital would've gone haywire and said she needed a blood transfusion." Otacon opened his mouth to say something but Snake cut him off. "Trust me, it's better off this way. Besides, they're coming with me."
"W-what!" Otacon exclaimed loudly. He rose out of his chair. "They may be special, but they're still too young! Do you want to be responsible for their deaths!"
"Macho chick here's already made up her mind. She said she's going with me, regardless. Besides, she knows way too much to not be involved."
"What about the medic? You should at least send her back to the base!" Otacon pleaded.
"I-I can't," Andrea said softly. "If Lynn's going, then…so am I."
"You heard the lady," Snake said. "Besides, Lynn here said she'd cover any expenses encountered. Or do you have a secret stash of money I'm unaware of?"
Otacon stayed silent, and slowly sat back down in his chair.
"Have you at least briefed them on what you know?" Otacon asked. "Or who we are?"
"Well, I guess everyone should be introduced then," Snake replied. "They already know who I am, though."
"My name is Hal Emmerich, though most people in this business call me Otacon," Otacon said.
"What do you have to do with this?" Lynn asked.
"I…was the primary designer for Metal Gear Rex, that was being built at Shadow Moses," Otacon replied. His face saddened, remembering about Wolf…
"Okay then," Snake said quickly, "Why don't you two girls let Hal here know your names?" Snake looked at Andrea.
"My n-name is Andrea Delintoro," the girl said shyly. Snake then looked at Lynn.
"Recruit Janice Lynn, service number--"
"--Okay, the service number's not needed," Snake interrupted. "Anyways, Otacon, until we get things sorted out, these two will need to stay here. Lynn needs the healing time."
"This is a single bedroom apartment, where are we going to put everybody?" Otacon asked.
"I guess," Snake said, regretting what he was about to say, "the girls can have the couch. I'll use the extra blankets and make myself comfortable on the floor." Snake saw Andrea redden as she saw the small couch, and the fact that both girls had to sleep on it. There wasn't much space--they were going to be very crowded.
Snake suddenly had a craving for a cigarette; he had not had one since the morning of the day before. He trotted over to the side of the couch, and stuck his arm under. He fished around with his arm until he produced a small plastic bag with cigarettes. He motioned Andrea to sit to the side while he plundered his lighter from under the cushion.
Snake sighed with pleasure as the fresh smoke filled his lungs. Andrea coughed violently for a few seconds, but that subsided.
"So," Otacon said, leaning forward in his chair again, "I think I know what our next move should be."
"Do tell," Snake said gruffly.
"Well, in that article on the web I said I was reading, there's two facilities that no one's ever been allowed into, one of which is stationed right here in Manhattan," Otacon explained. "I think it warrants a closer look. It's one of their oldest facilities."
"What about the other one?" Snake asked.
"It's stationed way up in the northern parts of Canada, in the North-West Territories, snuggled within some mountains," Otacon said. "Apparently it even has it's own runway. It's the most suspicious of the buildings, as it cost the most, is the largest, and it would've been even easier for them to secretly expand underground."
"So that's most likely where the Metal Gear is being housed," Snake said, understanding. "But I take it we should take a look at the local facility first?"
"It's worth a shot, to see if there's any incriminating evidence, or at least some sort of lead," Otacon answered. "Recently they've had a few lay-offs, so the facility must've dropped production on something."
"Any idea what?" Snake asked.
"Not really, but that's part of why you're going there."
"When?" Snake asked.
"Not right away, we need preparation time," Otacon responded. He looked at Snake. "Which brings up a problem. We don't have any equipment to do a proper infiltration."
"I know where I could get everything," Lynn spoke up. Snake looked at her.
"Say," he said, "how expansive is your credit card?"
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That night, Bonavero was handcuffed to a bed in a hotel room. Forrester had taken a total of three rooms--one for Bonavero and a constant guard (the James Statham guy), another one for Adam and the old guy, and the last one was an expensive suite for Forrester herself.
It was drawing near late-night, and his roommate was propped up against the headboard of his bed watching some ancient movie. Bonavero had his back turned to the guy, and was trying to get some sleep. Who knows, he thought, this might be my last chance to sleep in a real bed.
Reality sucked for Bonavero.
The movie apparently ended, and the guy turned the T.V. off. He stuffed the remote into the bedside drawer.
"Get some sleep, eh?" he said before rolling over.
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Gagarin got the call at nine o'clock. It was Ocelot calling back with the results of the PDA's analysis.
"Shouldn't take more than a few days," Ocelot said intensely. "The cryptology was excellent to be sure, but our experts are no laughing matter."
"Very well then, let me know as soon as you've managed access to its contents," Gagarin replied.
"Remember Gagarin, I'm leaving it to your men to do your end of the bargain," Ocelot spoke over the cell phone. "Otherwise…you answer to the Patriots, not me…"
"All is well, Ocelot," Gagarin replied in a soothing tone. "Once you find out where Shadow is being kept, the hulking metal beast will be yours." He shifted the phone a bit so he could massage the arthritis in his right hand. "I have no interest in giant machines, but the money was a most welcome gift. For that you have my utter compliance. Your 'Patriots' do not have to worry, they will have their machine of destruction soon."
"Until next time," Ocelot replied evenly, and the line went dead. Gagarin flipped his cell phone shut and inserted it into his pocket. The man certainly was intense, and his voice was even more so. But it did not deter Gagarin, as not much did nowadays. His simple wish was to side with whoever had, or was going to have, the most power.
Power was the only thing that deterred him.
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It was decided that Lynn would pay for equipment expenses. She had said she would, that her father piled on a lot of money just in case something like this happened. In the next week they would need to each get whatever equipment they needed. Lynn had suggested they opt for silenced automatics, but Snake had turned down that idea saying that movement was more important than firepower, considering the whole aim of the operation was to avoid shooting anyone in the first place.
So Lynn had agreed when M9 tranquilizer dart guns were suggested by Otacon. Even Andrea was being forced to carry one. Apparently it had been the weapon of choice for Snake during his infiltration of the oil tanker all those years ago. That, a few smoke grenades, Chaffs, and a duo of GPS, encrypted-channel two way radios that could be given to the two girls. They were compatible with Snake's Codec, so communication wasn't going to be a problem. Everyone was also going to be wearing some Kevlar-like body armor, but it was slightly thinner, denser, and stronger.
Then there was the specific things each person needed, like Andrea wanted to have a small backpack filled with everything and anything she'd ever need for a field emergency. Lynn seemed to know what she was doing, as she wrote down her own list of things, including a digital camera, some night vision goggles (they had planned to go in at night), and left it up to Otacon to produce something that they could use to hack into any security systems they encountered, or to plunder computers for information without being detected. Lynn still wanted to take a more powerful weapon just in case, so one silenced sub-machine gun was on the list as well. Snake himself wanted his sneaking suit cleaned, and some more ammo for his sacred SOCOM. Besides that, Snake was good. He was the stealth expert here--although Lynn was good, Snake was undeniably better and more experienced.
The last important thing on the list was some sort of combat uniform. Civilian clothes certainly wouldn't do the trick, special uniforms were needed for the two girls that could suppress noise, keep their visibility to a minimum, and store many things on their person. Like what Snake had, but newer.
Other than that, there were a few loose odds and ends that needed to be picked up, all listed with exact quantities.
And thus, the planning stages mostly over with, it was quite late. After everyone had taken a shower, they set up for some sleep. Otacon headed off into the bedroom, Snake took up the most comfortable bit of floor he could find, and Lynn just…well, there was no way to describe it other than 'went to sleep.' She had fallen down onto the couch again after stumbling out of the shower, in a sitting position, the same spot she had been sitting previously. Andrea was forced to try and sleep on the other end, and Snake had a sneaking suspicion she'd end up just like she did that morning.
Snake was laying basically horizontally, minus the small rolled-up sheet he was substituting a pillow with. He closed his eyes, thinking about the next day to come.
The following day was going to be their search for uniforms, and Snake's chance to have his repaired and cleaned. He needed someone in the proper profession to do that. That, and Lynn said she'd try and teach some basics to Andrea about stealth, and how to use the M9.
What a way to have their first date, Snake thought sarcastically to himself.
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Jack, otherwise known as Raiden, laid awake on his bed that night, Rose curled up around him.
It had not been because of a nightmare that he was awake, no, those had stopped (well, dropped in occurrence) when he and the legendary Solid Snake had put an end to Arsenal Gear.
It was because he was reminiscing about those times, that kept him up. He had left FoxHound, and now had lots of free time to spend with Rose. It was like getting to know her all over again.
The baby that was due in two months would also be sure to change their lives. Jack was glad that he could finally settle down and start a family.
Raiden hadn't been in contact with Snake since the Big Shell/Arsenal incident, but Raiden was still worried about Olga Gurlukovich's own child. Snake had said that if he found any solid leads, he'd follow them… but how long would that take? He felt for Olga because of his own lover's pregnancy. Maybe he worried too much, maybe he was right. He didn't know.
Raiden was glad, though, that he had left FoxHound. It had given him a chance to not only discover Rose, but discover himself as well.
What he had discovered was that he felt like something was missing in his life.
"Jack, are you awake again?" Rose said groggily from beside him. She snuggled closer to him, and he smiled.
"Sorry…" he said. "It's just…"
"Not another nightmare, is it?" Rose asked worryingly, frowning.
"No, not that," Jack replied. He looked sideways at his lover. "I'm just worried about Olga's child, you know?"
"You're going to make a great father, you know that?" Rose teased, kissing Jack on the cheek. He patted Roses' bare stomach, which had quite a bulge to it.
"Really?" he asked half-seriously.
"Of course," Rose answered softly. Raiden felt something akin to relief . He turned to face Rose, feeling that he was finally able to fall asleep.
Author's Note: That's right, folks! What, you didn't think Raiden would be in this? It wouldn't be Metal Gear without him! Find out what the girls pick out to wear when they go shopping--uh oh, girls+shoppinglarge debt. I hope Lynn's credit card can hold out…lol