METAL GEAR SOLID: RESURRECTION
by Rookie's Eyes (based off of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake)
Disclaimer: the Metal Gear series and their characters are property of Kojima Productions and Konami
Chapter 17 Contacting Marv
Snake stood atop a roof thirty-one stories from the ground. It was a plain roof, with little more than a fence enclosing the edge, a few crates and barrels placed haphazardly along the floor, and an unmanned guard tower.
Snake looked around for any sign of the bird. He searched behind crates and even searched along the fence line with no luck. It was then that he saw a feather, caught by a draft and stuck in the fence. He saw another feather farther off, and another. Following the trail, it went cold at the foot of the unmanned guard tower.
Snake heard the ruffling of wings, and the scratchy pitched voice of a parrot, "RAAW! Venus in cancer!"
He looked in the direction of the sound, coming from up above… in the guard tower. Snake slowly climbed the ladder, listening to the bird screeching, "Good morning! Teliko wants a cracker! Good morning! RAAW!"
As snake climbed inside, he saw the bird, an almost fluorescent green with a red beak, and a red streak across its neck. A brown piece of paper was folded around the parrot's leg. Snake had to get a better look.
The Alexandrine Parakeet looked at Snake, its head turned sideways for a better look at him. The bird whistled as Snake crouched low, slowly and deliberately stretching out his hands to grab the parrot. It screeched, alarmed when Snake's hands lunged. "RAAW! Grandpa! Grandpa! RAAW!" The bird said as it flew away, violently pounding it's wings in the rush.
"Dammit!" Snake cursed, pulling out his Berretta and taking aim at the parrot.
*Call*
Reluctantly, Snake lowered his firearm. Kneeling, he turned his codec dial to 'RECEIVE' and answered the incoming call.
*140. 76* "Snake!"
"What?!"
*140. 76* "You weren't about to kill that poor defenseless bird? Were you?"
"How..! How'd you know!"
*140. 76* "I've been monitoring you by a camera hack I'd been using for recon! Lucky too, or you'd have already shot Teliko!"
"It's just a bird! And.."
*140. 76* "And what!"
"I, uh, well,.. The rations taste like crap…"
*140. 76* "You were going to eat her! Snake, C'mon! Have some respect for animals!.. It's fortunate that I have a contact for you who can help you with your bird issue."
"That still doesn't solve my problem…" Snake griped.
*140. 76* "What other problem is there?"
Snake mumbled rather reluctantly, "How… How does it taste?"
*140. 76* "Uh! Snake… I'm not even going to comment… Here, I'll patch you over to Johan Jacobsen, he's a zoologist who should know what to do."
The radio crackled as she passed her's to someone else, and a man's deep voice spoke into the codec, *140. 76* "Hello Snake. I'm told you have a problem with a parakeet? Alexandrine's are one of my favorites… Parrots are an average of forty centimeters long and are found from Europe to South Asia. Did you know there are over two-hundred-sixty varieties of parrot in the wor-"
"Yeah. This is all very fascinating doctor, but what I really need to know is how to catch this little bastard."
*140.76* " Oh, uhm, try some food. Parrots will eat almost anything, try some potatoes or nuts. If you can get it close enough, you can grab it while it's eating. You know, I just got a large order of fries myself… Oh right *Chuckles* tough to find a burger stand on a battl-"
"Yeah sure, sure." Snake cut transmission, pulling out his rations and reading the contents of the first can. 'CONTAINS: SLICED HAM, CHICKEN, TURKEY, SPAGHETTI, CHEESE, COFFEE'
Snake tossed the ration aside, pulling out his only other ration and checked that one as well. 'CONTAINS: MEATBALLS, NUTS, BEANS, FRANKS, BEEF, POTATOES, KOOL-AID'
Snake ripped open the can, specifically pulling out the potatoes and nuts, and climbed down out of the watchtower.
The parakeet was perched atop the fence, watching Snake suspiciously. He placed the food on the ground, backing away slowly. The bird chirped and fluttered down to the ground, landing only a few feet away from Snake. As the bird nibbled on the potatoes, Snake moved in for the strike. Thrusting his arms forward, he wrapped his hands around the tiny bird, and it squawked wildly until Snake let it go after having removed the small slip of paper. Opening up the slip, it said, ' Kio Marv W I S . O h I O'
"What the hell? Wisconsin? Ohio?" Snake spoke, only delayed for a moment with the unorthodox code.
The h is lowercase, what could that mean? It was oddly shaped, as the h's arc was a sharp ninety degree point. It was the same case with the s, the bottom half of the s' arc was sharp as well. And then it hit him, They're numbers! He flipped the paper sideways, and through the back it said, 'O I h O . S I W vraM ioK ' and by flipping it vertically, it finally made sense, ' O 1 4 0 . 5 1 M vraM ioK'. Not very clever, is he?
Quickly, Snake dialed in the codec frequency, turning the codec's knob to 'SEND'.
An older man answered, with an older voice, he spoke with obvious fear, *140.51* "To je Npozú! Děkuji vám Bůh vytvořili odpověděl: "mé námitce! NEVÍM kdo jinak bychom mohli kontakt: "Co mám dělat?!"
"Slow down, Dr. Marv. Can you speak any English?"
*140.51* "Solid Snake, s výjimkou mi prosím! I pouze chtěli mír! Bylo všech chybu! NÁKLADNÉ chyba!'
Snake ran his hand down his face in frustration, "Doctor, I'll be back, I need to find an interpreter."
*140.51* "Počkejte! Počkejte, prosím! Neopouští mne-"
Snake cut transmission, dialing Madnar's frequency, "Doctor, can you tell me what Marv is saying? I can't understand a word."
*140.82* Marv can only speak Czech and Slovakian. He's also the wary type, probably especially in his current predicament.
"What about you?"
*140.82* "I can speak Only Russian, English, and Spanish, I would be of no help to you… But,.. Do you remember that STB agent I told you about last we met?"
"Yes."
*140.82* "Her name is Gustava Heffner, She is Czech like Dr. Marv, and Marv trusts her with his life."
"This Gustava,.. Is she still alive?"
*140.82* "You need not worry about her, my friend. Gustava is a seasoned professional, not an ordinary woman. When we were captured, she had to get away to figure out a plan to get us out later. "Last I contacted her, she had stolen an enemy uniform and as we speak is posing as one of the guards in Zanzibar building one, no doubt she's somewhere in there, waiting for the right time to make her move. I just hope it is soon."
"If Marv can't speak English, then why does his parrot?"
*140.82* "The bird took a particular liking to Gustava, who's known English for about twenty years now."
"Does Gustava still have her radio?"
*140.82* "I am afraid not, when we were speaking, she was nearly caught. She had to destroy it or risk compromising her cover. All I can tell you is that her beret is green. Does that help at all?"
"Only if she's still wearing it."
*140.82* "There are no other female guards in this fortress, Snake. You should be able to find her easily if you know where to look. Good luck Snake."
Snake cut transmission, and made his way back to the stairway. He managed to vault his way over the gap in the platform. As Snake walked, his steps echoed eerily in the empty stairways, passing the bodies of several of his earlier adversaries littering the path. He found the crumpled scrap that was once the elevator, and as Snake made it to the first floor, he dialed *140.23* into his codec, turning the knob to 'SEND'.
"Bennet." Snake spoke into the codec, with no answer. Snores rang in the background. Evidently Bennet had fallen asleep at the wheel of his stolen supply truck.
"Bennet!"
Snorting followed by grunting were a pretty good indicator that Bennet had awoken.*140.23* "Huh! Huh, what, who's there!"
"It's me, Snake."
*140.23* "Wha, what do you need?"
"Are you still parked outside the loading dock of the tower building?"
*140.23* "Yeah, yeah I'm still there."
"How about the tank?"
*140.23* "No, that's been gone awhile, something about searching the forests after they found the wreckage of a certain helicopter."
"Good, I'll be outside in a moment. I want you to drive to Building One when I give you the signal."
*140.23* "Roger that."
Snake found himself once more in the spiraled hallways of the first floor, and this time he had to get outside. Using his radar, he saw that the only way out was the southern door. Two guards patrolled the area, one of which was guarding the exit.
He headed toward that door, checking his silencer. Snake hid behind a corner, just out of the guard's peripheral vision. He turned the corner, raising the Beretta and pulling the trigger. A bullet lodging itself straight into the man's lungs so that he could no longer breath, neither could he yell.
Snake passed the suffocation guard as he passed through the door, gurgling blood from his maw as he silently slipped away.
Snake stepped outside, taking cover quickly behind one of the supply trucks lining the building's perimeter. He followed the line, until he came to Bennet, calmly leaning against the side of their truck, waiting for Snake's arrival. "Get in quickly," he said, rounding the front of the truck to enter the driver's seat.
Snake opened the back door, climbing in and seeing the same cardboard box he had used earlier, only written on it in marker were the words, 'Zanzibar Land Building One' Snake climbed inside for the short trip back to the first building.
Author's Note: unfortunately, there's going to be a short lull in the action for a time. Right now Snake needs to find Gustava, and not much exciting happens on the way there. More action soon, I promise, just not right now. And I have a few ideas for Gray Fox's fight. It's been great receiving all your comments, I really enjoy writing when it is well received. I promise to keep it up.
With this story about two-thirds complete, my thoughts turn toward my next story. I want you guys to give me input on what you would like my next work to be. A brief summary of each idea is listed in my profile, please read and send me a message. Sorry but I won't accept opinions made in reviews unless they are from signed members.
Another chapter up. Enjoy! Up next, Chapter 18
(Wow, only two months and I'm already on 18!)