CHAPTER 7:

GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K SHADOW MOSES

Harry was glad he had erected that Shield Charm. Ocelot seemed to think it funny to greet Snake by firing a bullet at the operative's feet, shortly after Snake spotted the C4 and tripwires around that idiot Baker. Unfortunately, the ricochet nearly hit Harry. Ocelot, as he emerged from behind a pillar, said, "Right, touch that wire, and the C4 will go up, along with the old man. So, you're the one the boss and Griffin go on about."

Harry decided not to linger in the chamber. It was going to be the site of an all-out gun battle any time. But he stayed and watched for a moment. "And you are Revolver Ocelot?" Snake asked.

"Of course. I've waited a long time to meet you, Solid Snake. You've quite the reputation to live up to." Ocelot smirked behind his moustache as he twirled his revolver. "The resemblance is uncanny," he said. "To your father. I knew Big Boss. We even had a duel back when we first met in the Sixties. He taught me many things. I wonder, how do you compare to him?"

Snake's response was simple and laconic. "I killed him."

"When he was past his prime, Snake. I wonder how well you would have done when he was in his prime. Still, let's have a remount of that duel," Ocelot declared. He displayed his gun proudly. "The Colt Single Action Army revolver. The finest handgun ever made. And six shots are more than enough to kill anything that moves. Even you. You have a SOCOM, the latest in soulless weapons tech. Still, ought to be interesting." He removed the spent round, replaced it, and then holstered his weapon. Shrugging, Snake did the same.

Harry got out of the chamber. As he did so, he heard Ocelot say, "Now I'll show you why they call me 'Revolver'."

Harry stifled a groan. How cheesy could you get? Ocelot enjoyed playing a role too much, frankly. Harry felt privileged to know more about the man than most people did, but even then, he couldn't be sure how much he had seen was yet another mask, and how much was the man.

Suddenly, Ocelot yelled, "DRAW!" Thankfully, Harry's groan was obscured by the sound of gunshots. Really? Did Ocelot think he was at the O.K Shadow Moses? He was obsessed with Spaghetti Westerns, the man. In fact, Ocelot had once managed to persuade Hal Emmerich to watch A Fistful of Dollars by pointing out that it had been based on a Japanese film, Yojimbo.

Snake must have taken cover, because Ocelot taunted, "Hiding won't help you! I understand the bullets, you see. I make them go where I want them to!"

"This place is too cold. How about a sauna?" Snake snarked, before a gunshot heralded the sound of a blast of steam. Harry grinned a little at Ocelot's pained yelp at being scalded.

It went back and forth for a while, Ocelot and Snake trading shots and snarky remarks. Eventually, there was a lull in the shooting. But then, Harry realised he could sense something moving by. He heard the faintest of sounds of footsteps. But he could see nothing. He realised, with a chill, what was about to happen. Who had just passed him.

"You're pretty good. Just what I expected from someone with the same codename as the boss. I haven't felt this way in a long time, but I'm only just getting warmed…GAH! MY HAND!"

Harry was in the chamber in an instant, summoning Ocelot's hand even as he registered the gunslinger clutching a bloody stump. "Ocelot! C'mon!" Harry yelled, whipping off the Invisibility Cloak.

Snake whirled to face him briefly, but as Harry rushed Ocelot out of sight, he knew that Snake would be preoccupied with whoever had attacked Ocelot. And Harry was sure it was Gray Fox…

They hid in one of the weapons rooms in the armoury proper. Harry held the hand to Ocelot's stump, and began casting a healing spell he had learned not long after he made the decision to join FoxHOUND.

Ocelot hissed in pain as his hand was reattached. As Harry finished, he snarled, "Dammit, why the hell did Jaeger do that?!"

"He's off his meds, Adamska," Harry said quietly. "He's obsessed with Snake now, more so than Liquid, and that's saying something."

"It'd be funnier if that bastard didn't try to take my hand." Ocelot flexed his hand, wincing in pain, but clearly able to use it again. "Thanks for the save, Harry."

"You're welcome. Do you reckon Baker's on the FoxDIE list?"

"Houseman hates that fat son of a bitch. He'd do it if he could get away with it, which he can. By the way, did you make contact with Snake?"

"Of course. He knows me as 'Nemo'. He knows about FoxDIE, and about what happened to Anderson. I've also warned him to be careful of Campbell's intel. Houseman will be keeping Campbell on a leash. I've also told him about the Boss, and how Big Boss is in a coma. Oh, and about Gray Fox."

Suddenly, they heard an electronically distorted scream. Thankfully, the source ran by them without stopping. "Speak of the devil…" Ocelot said. He then looked at Harry. "Okay. By this point, you should get to the second-floor basement of the Warhead Storage Building. Snake will probably head there before long to touch base with Emmerich. Plus, with Jaeger on the loose, we might need you to protect Emmerich from that crazy ninja. You keep feeding Snake intel. Be careful how much you tell him: he may let slip to Campbell things that Houseman will get suspicious of."

"Should I tell him that Liquid is masquerading as Miller?"

"…Save it for later. I want to see Solid Snake shit his pants. I was taking it easy on him, but damn, he's as good as his father, not to mention Ahab. His body double," Ocelot explained. "He was pretty much a second Big Boss in every way. Snake may have gotten less of the better genes, but he's still better than Liquid."

"I'll touch base with Wolf. Do you want me to Apparate you to the command centre?"

"Yeah, that'd be great."

A couple of Apparations later, and Harry was now at Emmerich's lab. The engineer had been startled at his sudden appearance, but was relieved to hear that Harry was guarding him from a homicidal cyborg ninja. As much as Emmerich would love to SEE a cyborg ninja, he didn't want to be on the wrong end of said ninja's sword.

Soon after he arrived and explained the situation to Emmerich, he got a call from Wolf. "Griffin, are you there?"

"Yeah. Snake's probably talking to Baker at the moment. Silverburgh's on the loose, and so is Gray Fox. From what Liquid told me, Raven's waiting just beyond the Tank Hangar with one of the tanks."

"…Isn't that a bit much? We're only trying to slow him down and make him think he's fighting for his life. A tank…"

"Yeah, I know. Raven was pretty insistent. Anyway, I'm guarding Emmerich in case Gray Fox decides to come this way. I'd come over and keep you company, but we need Hal alive for the moment."

"You mean you want him alive."

"Don't you?"

"True, but good people get killed in our line of work."

"Wolf, one of my oldest friends once told me I have a 'saving people thing'. She was very right."

"…So why go through with the revolution, then?"

"…I want as few people to die on this island as possible, Wolf. Including you." Only a partial lie. "I'd rather die than see you dead."

"…Thanks. But you do know that there's a good chance we won't make it out alive?"

Harry chuckled. "Wolf…did I ever tell you something about me? I had a nickname that I didn't know about until I was eleven. I got it at the age of one. I told you about that wizard terrorist who killed my parents…but what I didn't tell you is that he used the same Killing Curse on me, only for it to rebound. I got that scar, and that terrorist got vanquished. They called me the Boy Who Lived, simply because I was the first person to survive that curse. Even though it was something my mother did, some ritual or other. I told you about that Basilisk, and how I barely survived that. And there's all sorts of occasions where I got lucky, or I did my best to survive a situation. I will make sure we make it out alive, Wolf."

"…Thank you, Griffin. I hope we do too. We'll talk later. Wolf out."

Several minutes later, Snake called. "This is Snake. Nemo, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Snake. Looks like Ocelot and Griffin managed to get away from you. What's up?"

"You were right. That ninja was Gray Fox. He seemed to recognise me, but after a brief fight, he ran away. I just had a talk with Baker. He told me how to contact Meryl, as well as the emergency key card. He also gave me the disc with the test data for Metal Gear REX. He seemed on the verge of revealing some sort of secret to REX that might ruin his company when he had a heart attack. FoxDIE again, if what you said was true. Campbell and Hunter are still playing the fool, but Campbell did say I can trust Meryl more than I can trust him."

"Yeah, he's right. Campbell doesn't want to betray you, like I said. That being said, keep an eye on Meryl. I think Mantis is using her as a pawn sometimes. She's still herself most of the time, but even so, keep an eye out for any strange behaviour. You can trust her, as long as she's still herself. Oh, some intel: apparently Vulcan Raven's waiting for you in a tank between the Tank Hangar and the Warhead Storage Building. Plus some Claymores. Hope you've got a mine detector."

"…Great. As it happens, though, I do have a mine detector. I found one. Anyway, where are you?"

"Need to know basis, and you don't need to know. Ocelot and Liquid are at the command centre, supervising this whole shebang. Griffin's with Emmerich in the computer labs, making sure Gray Fox doesn't get anywhere near him."

"Huh. Figures Griffin would be on protection duty. I met him a couple of times. Nice kid. Used to call himself Harry Potter. I was surprised he went along with this."

"Yeah, well, he's worried about his girlfriend. You do know he's Sniper Wolf's lover, don't you?"

"Campbell told me. Unfortunately, if either of them get in the way of my mission…I have to take them out. That's my job. I don't like doing this mission. I'd rather be dog-sledding. But the brass have me by the balls. And I want to stop this new Metal Gear from being unleashed. Anyway, what makes it so special? Baker hinted at something before he kicked the bucket."

"Long story short? The railgun. Apparently it can fire nuclear warheads with ridiculous accuracy. Not only that, but it gets around treaties because of the definition of what constitutes an ICBM, and the launch wouldn't show up on thermal imaging, as those looking for nuclear missile launches would spot a certain signature. The railgun round would still leave a trail of plasma in its wake(1), but by the time you realised that, well, the warhead would hit. It's almost a stealth missile, and certainly impossible to intercept."

"…Damn. And with Sears signing that START treaty…"

"Of course. If word gets out, a major scandal will erupt. Which is what Liquid is planning. I know you couldn't care less about the government, which is a viewpoint I frankly share, but unfortunately, it means more trouble from overseas. Not to mention every man and his dog will want their own Metal Gear REX."

"Not if I have anything to say about it. I'll contact you once I'm in the basement of the Warhead Storage Building. Anything else I should know about?"

"Yeah. They flooded most of the labs with poison gas to try and keep Emmerich in, and part of the floor is electrified. I suggest a gas mask and a Nikita Missile Launcher to cut the power for the floor. You know, standard fun party gear."

"Some party," Snake griped. "Snake out."

Yeah, some party, Harry thought. Nothing said 'party' like an armed terrorist uprising. And here he was, playing both sides against each other, and hoping that he could get himself, Wolf, and as many of the others out alive as possible.

Still, he had time to kill until Snake arrived. So he turned to Emmerich, and asked, "Any new anime you think I'd like?"

CHAPTER 7 ANNOTATIONS:

Some Ocelot versus Snake, and some conversations between Harry, Snake, and Wolf. The dialogue in the fight is a combination of the original game, The Twin Snakes, and Raymond Benson's novelisation, with my own spin on it. The sauna line, cheesy though it is, is all my own.

Review-answering time! A couple of you have asked whether I will go beyond Metal Gear Solid with this fic. Broken Tools will end with the end of Metal Gear Solid, but I won't rule out a sequel, depending on my motivation.

CCBottle: Hal doesn't want to speak to Huey, and the feeling's mutual. Huey probably had more than a few unkind words to say to Harry about his son, but as Harry knows what Huey did, he basically told him to fuck off. One day, though, Hal will probably talk to his mother.

1. Technically, a railgun projectile will actually leave a heat trail behind. It's not from propellant, but, from what I heard, it's plasma created from the projectile moving so damned fast. There's pictures on the internet from railgun tests showing railgun projectiles in mid-flight (through the magic of slow-motion cameras), and you can see the air warping in front of it from the sheer air pressure in front of the projectile.