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
A belated Thank You! to all of you who have read my fic. I'm telling the truth when I say that were it not for all the wonderful feedback I probably would have lost the incentive to continue. I've tried writing fanfics before, telling myself I would post them when I was finished, but I never got around to it. For example, the fic about The Boss was one I had began last year, but I never posted it, and I just recently found my old notes and basic storyboard. Once again thank you!
Chapter 18 Into the lion's Den
1026 Hours, December 24, 1999
A loud guttering shook the container, and Snake awoke, mouthing a groan after a jolt made his head collide with the side of the box. Rubbing his neck, he could feel the unsteady shake of the crate, some guard unwittingly loading him into back Zanzibar Building One.
He waited until the shuffling feet of the guards walked away, then pried open the box, to find himself in a small room in the south-western corner of the first floor. The storage room was pitch dark, as all the lights had been turned off when the guards had left. A small eight inch by eight inch clouded window was the only source of light, it was a door window.
He dialed Bennet's codec frequency, "Jonathan,"
Snake heard scuffling on the other end from Bennet fumbling with the microphone, "Yeah Snake? What'ya need?"
"Is there a Woman's restroom in this building?"
*140.23* "Snake? Is now really the most appropriate time to be thinking about stuff like that?"
"No, Bennet!.. I'm looking for Gustava and odds are she'll be most likely to be alone in the bathroom."
*140.23* "Oh … uh okay, there's only one bathroom for women and it's on the fourth floor. Watchout for guards Snake, that floor was set aside as military barracks so there's sure to be a lot of off-duty personnel there."
Snake thanked Bennet for the warning, and turned the codec off. He made his way toward the door of the dark room. As Snake reached for the doorknob, a small blinking pixel on his radar, a guard in actuality, began to approach the door. Snake leaned against the wall, holding his breath so that no sound could give him away and the darkness would conceal his visage. The door creaked open, and the guard stepped inside, carrying another cardboard box. Snake had been graced with luck when the guard left the door ajar, allowing him to slip through undetected.
Snake was once again back on the floor filled with Goliath tanks, this time opposite the corner of the entrance where he had infiltrated the facility the first time. Two guards and a camera separated him from his destination; an elevator in the center of the room that would take Snake up to the fourth floor of the Zanzibar building.
Snake hid behind a nearby crate, waiting until the first guard had his back turned to sneak past, slipping under the strafing camera. He snuck behind the final guard, wrapping his arm around the soldier's neck and constricting, until his body no longer struggled. Snake dragged the limp man behind a few crates, and went to the elevator, pressing the fourth floor button and ascending.
The elevator beeped, signaling that its ascent was over, and the doors slid open into a short hallway taking a right turn into a four way intersection of halls, with three guards together in the western corridor. The walls were tan, with potted plants every ten feet or so decorating the walls. It looked more like a hotel. Snake made his way to the intersection, careful to stay behind the wall so that the men would not detect him.
They spoke, "… has any one found that boy yet?" the first asked.
"They're still looking for the brat in the lower levels. He's gonna get wasted for sure!" the second answered
"Man, I sure hope the kid had the sense to get outta here, I don't wanna be the one to shoot him if he's caught."
What's a kid doing in the Zanzibar building? Snake watched as the group made their way down the westerly hallway. Snake took the northern, walking past a corner and turning left into a long corridor, along which there were only two doors.
Snake entered the closer of the two. He walked straight into a trap. Rows and rows of guards, at least a hundred strong, stood inside the room, everyone of them facing Snake. CRAP! Snake bolted out the door running down the hall… but no one followed.
Tentatively, Snake walked back over to the door, opening it, and stuck his head through to the entrance. They're just… standing there? Snake walked though the doorway, gun raised as he cautiously made his way toward the group of soldiers everyone had a blank stare, and as Snake came closer he realized why. They were mannequins. Each and everyone wore the same uniform, with red berets and arm bands. Apparently this was where Zanzibar land stored their extra uniforms.
Snake was just recuperating from the scare when he noticed a small child ducking behind one of the dummies. He approached the kid, but as he did the child backed away, and ran back behind the rows and rows of mannequins.
Snake chased, shouting, "Hey, kid! Stop!" Pushing over many of the dummies in an effort to get through, Snake finally reached the child, grabbing the boy by the shoulder and turning him to face his captor.
The boy was frightened, maybe ten years old, and speaking French so quickly that Snake could barely understand, "No! Please mister, do not harm me!"
Snake spoke French in as calming a voice he could muster, "Relax, no one is going to hurt you. Please tell me, what is your name?"
"My name? I - I am called Léon-Julian."
"Léon-Julian, what are you doing up here in this building? How did you get past those men with guns?"
"It was simple, I just used this." The little boy pulled out a tape-recorder, and pressed play. It was the Zanzibar Land anthem. "The grown-ups have this rule, you see. They must salute and cannot move while this is playing. It is how I got past the guards. I simply walk behind them."
Intrigued, Snake asked, "Where did you find this?"
"It was given to me. We are asked that we play this song before every meal so that we do not forget the reason we live in this country."
"Why do you need to remember?"
"So we continue to serve our country the way it has served us… I would not be here were it not for our leader's soldiers. Most of the children here are orphans," the boy looked down, "including myself."
"Where could I get one of those tape recorders?" Snake asked.
"The soldiers keep them in their lockers in the barracks, you should be able to find your own tape there."
Snake was about to leave, but then he remembered the soldiers' conversation, "Hey kid, how often have you done this?"
"Seven or eight times, why?"
Snake was satisfied, if the boy could get back out seven times safely, then another probably wouldn't be any different, "Be careful, those men are looking for a boy, and they shoot on sight."
"They haven't hit me yet."
Snake exited the room, back into the hallway. Inferring from the concentration of yellow dots on his radar, the barracks were on the eastern side of the floor. He made his way over to the concentration of men, stopping only to avoid detection by the camera and guards.
He entered into a long room, lined with twenty bunks and six guards asleep among them, lockers lay at the other side of the barracks, Snake's destination. Snake crept through the beds careful not to wake the men that lay upon them. As Snake made it past the final few rows, a guard's hand reached out across the aisle, blocking Snake's path. Snake froze as the guard sat up, in a daze that could only mean he was sleep-walking, or in this case sleep-sitting. The guard gave Snake an empty gaze, yawned, then mumbled under his breath, "I – I feel a- asleep," and he fell like a rock back onto his bunk.
Snake finally made it to the locker room, checking each of the rows of lockers for any that were not secure. After a few moments of searching, Snake found what he was looking for; a tape-recorder with a miniature cassette labeled 'Zanzibar Land's Hymn'.
Hearing two men's voices behind him, Snake took cover behind another row of lockers and watched as two off-duty guards came out of a sauna. They dressed in uniforms that had been in lockers, and walked away, off to perform their duties.
Once the coast was clear, Snake made his way back through the barracks, this time going straight through the intersection into the western hall. There was a single door, and above that was a sign, it read 'Mess Hall'. There's bound to be a bathroom nearby, Snake thought. There were two guards inside the corridor, easy enough for Snake to dispatch. But then Snake noticed that the second was wearing a green Beret. Gustava! When the first guard had his back turned Snake started the Anthem, and both froze, saluting to the song just as the kid had described.
Snake snuck in from behind. Placing his left leg behind the soldier's right, Snake closed his hands around the sentry's throat, pulling him backward onto the pavement. The guard passed out when his head hit the floor with a painful THUD. The green Bereted soldier turned, and trained her rifle on Snake's head. Snake stopped the recording, and in her best impersonation of a man's voice, the woman spoke, "Who are you?"
"Why don't you put that thing down before you shoot someone's eye out," Snake suggested. Gustava lowered the gun, but didn't put it away. Snake continued, "You've done well for a woman in the field, I'm impressed."
"… No it's not him…" Gustava spoke to herself. She asked Snake, "Just exactly who are you?"
"I'm the fool they sent in to take care of this whole mess."
"You came by yourself? You think you're some kind of one man army? Are you even armed?"
"Your concern is touching," Snake said, "But I'm the last guy you should be lecturing."
"What's your name?"
"It's… not important."
"Aha. Could you be Solid Snake? The hero of Outer Heaven?"
"No, I'm just Solid Snake, the moron who swore he wouldn't get involved in another war, but went back on his word… And you're Gustava Heffner, Marv's bodyguard and translator."
"Yes, that is me, Gustava Heffner of the STB, former… bodyguard and translator… I fear I have failed in my endeavors to rescue him… Please, every moment we speak here, we risk exposing ourselves to the enemy, meet me in the Woman's restroom, we need to talk in a more private place.
She went through the mess hall doors, Snake waited a moment the continued through the doors after her.
He entered into a large cafeteria, filled with rows and rows of lunch tables. Because it was only ten-thirty the place was deserted, save for a single soldier mopping up in the kitchen behind a serving table. Snake could see on his radar that the bathroom was in the north-eastern corner of the room, and Snake cautiously made his way over, careful not to attract the man's attention, ducking behind the tables and trashcans until he reached his destination.
There were three doors, an elevator, and a separate lavatory for men and women. He entered the women's bathroom, to find Gustava, half-changed out of the soldier uniform. Brown-eyed and Brunette, she was quite attractive wearing only a t-shirt and underwear, but Snake kept this to himself. "You're Gustava? There's no way you could have passed for a man much longer."
"What do you mean? You know, men aren't allowed in here."
"Very feminine for a soldier in the field… Have we met somewhere before?"
"Hmmm. Typical western man, always ready with a pickup line… It's a waste of time. I had psycho-therapy to destroy my interest in men."
"No, nothing like that," Snake thought for a moment, "Now I remember, you're Natasha Marcova, The Ice Princess. You won gold at the '87 Calgary Olympics."
"Natasha was just a, how you say, stage name. I lost that identity when I joined the STB… What do you know of Marv?"
"As for Marv, I know his frequency, I made contact with him, but he doesn't speak English. I need a translator… We're after the same thing, We'll need each other's help if we are to successfully rescue Dr. Marv."
"Then he's safe? Good. I am glad he kept the micro-transmitter. Snake, please, lend me your radio…" Snake pulled out the codec passing it over to Gustava.
"The frequency is 140.51." She placed the codec into her ear, tuning to the right frequency, and then turning the knob to 'SEND'.
She spoke into the codec when Marv answered on the other side of the line, "To je Gustava..."
*140.51* "Cmj dsuji nebesích, Gustava, jak dobrá je slyšet váš hlas znovu."
"Iste bezpečné?"
*140.51* "Ano, ale pouze v tuto chvíli. I vytvořili byla v přípravě na mučení dlouho přitom nyní. Oh! I třeba na přemýšlení o tom, co jsou jdou dělat! Prosi musíte pomoz mi!"
"Doktore Marv. Sami Táhnou spolu! Můžete mi říkat nic o případech, kdy jste? Soustředit Doktore Marv!
*140.51* "všechny vím je, abychom prochází velkou crevasse severní věže budovy. Slyšeli jste nic o lékaře Madnar?"
"Ano, jste nemusí znepokojení nad tím, Madnar je bezpečné. Nemají strach, budeme vás dostat z jejich, pochopit?"
*140.51* "Cmj děkuji Vám gustava! Poji rychle!"
Gustava cut transmission, tossing the codec back to Snake, "Dr. Marv is safe… for now. He says there is a large crevasse to the north of the tower building. The prison should be on the other side. Dr. Marv also expressed concern about Dr. Madnar."
"Don't worry, Madnar is safe. They won't hurt him until the Metal Gear is completed. Right now we have to get Marv out of the enemy's hands."
"I did not plan on worrying about Madnar. In fact, I was about to free him when you interrupted me. You passed an elevator on you're way in, correct?"
"Right."
"Madnar is in the B3 Detention center. That elevator will take us directly to his cell, and I know the pass code it requires."
"Why then are we wasting time talking?"
"My thoughts exactly," When Gustava had finished dressing, she wore combat boots, khaki pants, a black t-shirt, and a flak vest. They exited the bathroom, and Gustava entered the code into a console on the side of the elevator. It beeped, and the elevator doors slid open as the elevator came to a stop at their floor. They both entered the elevator, pressing the button for Floor B3, and descended to find Madnar.
Author's Note: Gustava was originally named Natasha Marcova in the original MSX2 version of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Her name was changed to Gustava Heffner in the re-releases. This was presumably done to avoid confusion with the similarly named Nastasha Romanenko. I simply wanted a way to incorporate both names because i prefer her original name myself.
Also in the the game, there were children hanging all around the coumpounds and various locales in Zanzibar Land. That didn't make much sense to me to have children walking around military buildings even if it was a military nation, but I still wanted to include a kid in the story. Another strange part of the game was the anthem, I was wondering how I would figure that into the story without it looking thrown in at last minute. So I figured I would have the kid tell Snake where to get his own anthem for sneaking past stupid guards more easily. Though, I assure you, he won't have it for long, otherwise the mission wouldn't be very exciting would it?
As I get farther and farther into the game, stranger things are beginning to happen. So bear with me because it is going to take a while through the following chapter because of the sheer difficulty figuring out how to explain it. Rest assured I shall complete this fic if it this last thing I do, and I'll make it as epic as possible.
Once more i feel compelled to ask 'Please review my chapter, it'd be much appreciated and feedback has been wonderful.' Another chapter up! Enjoy.