Disclaimer: Metal Gear Solid is owned by Hideo Kojima and Percy Jackson is owned by Rick Riordan. Both are some of my favorite fandoms since I was a kid, and this story is mostly out of love. I will say I'm deeply surprised by how well Chapter 1 did. After all, it is the 1st ever crossover between Percy Jackson and Metal Gear Solid! I want to thank everyone who gave chapter 1 a chance. It does mean a lot. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Heavens Divide
Chapter 2: Power Stays In the Shadows
Every mission takes its toll. Sometimes he could go through entire operations without feeling torn. Even his last tour in Afghanistan and Syria hadn't been so bad. There was always a problem with suppressing things, eventually, all that stress and anxiety he'd bury in his soul would come out when he didn't want it to. Percy felt his left hand vibrate and his whole world became hazy. Memories sifted through his mind distorting his reality. Instead of doing what he needed to do, he took a moment to calm down and clear his head of these doubts. Everything was going his way. His halo jump into Wuhan, China was executed without a hitch. He even broke into the Wuhan Institute of Virology an hour after landing. Now he had to go deeper into the laboratory.
He came this far, and he'd be damned if he turned back now. Percy walked around the room and scanned any documents he could get his hands on. Reports on Dengue Fever. Research into finding possible cures using mosquitos, coronavirus research on local bat populations, and even Japanese Encephalitis. The reports for the most part were useless to the mission but they might come in handy for NATO analysts. Percy then toggled with the computers. He took out a flash drive and inserted it into the USB port of the computer. He turned on his Codec and turned to the radio frequency 140.85.
"This is Fox! I'm still in the same room, I inserted a flash drive with Pegasus into the computer's hard drive. The network should be infected by the virus once it's done downloading. I'll need you to give me any feedback once it's down downloading."
"Good work Fox! This is Alice Hari. I love your forward-thinking, it's very endearing and nice for a change. We will have full awareness of everything that goes on in that lab in the future. How long until Pegasus is on the computer?"
Percy looked at the blue screen on the computer. A grey box had popped up with the caption "85% complete", it made him smirk and feel a little bit of relief. Pegasus quickly finished downloading and the installation process was going on. "Pegasus is finished downloading and it'll take two minutes for it to finish installing. Is it true that Pegasus can infect every device it encounters?"
"If Pegasus is ever downloaded onto a device, it'll infect not only the device but the entire network it's on. Phones using an infected network's Wi-Fi will be infected too, anything that encounters Pegasus will be infected no matter how much cyber security is set up. Pegasus can't be detected easily, even scrubbing the network of viruses or malware won't detect it. It'll only grow more secure the longer it's on the network. Just don't use the building's Wi-Fi or else your entire internet history will be revealed to me."
"You sound almost like you're hoping for that to happen. Snooping into my history won't bring much up," Percy replied his voice barely hiding his amusement.
"I doubt you watch funny cat videos or search up memes."
"You'd be disappointed, I don't have a cellphone… I mean I do. Look it's complicated…" Percy fumbled and smacked his forehead as he noticed Pegasus still had another minute to download.
This whole discussion on the Pegasus virus reminded him of Blackjack. If only he still had Blackjack. Percy set him free the day he joined the military. It wasn't that he didn't love his Pegasus, he'd leave this mission right this second if he knew that winged horse was in danger. What good could a winged horse serve underground in Wuhan, China?
"Fox! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, the damn virus is almost done installing," Percy muttered quietly, only to hear his Codec flaring in his eardrums.
"Why don't you use your phone? I'd imagine you'd have a girlfriend or two on standby. You are the legendary Fox after all, unless… don't tell me you're still single?" Alice's amusement and humor didn't faze him, after all, he'd heard worse fighting alongside Mormons and crazed Texans during the Battle of the Palm Grove in Iraq. Thinking about it didn't stop Alice from poking more fun at him. "Do you have a cellphone number by chance?"
"I never use my cellphone. Do you have any updates or information regarding this Gain of Function research?" Percy replied as he watched Pegasus complete its installation into the computer.
"As much as I'd rather discuss your personal life, we both have a job to do. Some of the documents you've scanned on your Idroid mention room B3-004. It appears to be where the PLA are storing all the diseases before testing. If you find any documents that stand out in room B3-004, please record them on your Idroid! There should be a Fire escape down the hall. If you ever run into any trouble, need any IT assistance, or want to chat with the hottest Indian woman in the US. Give me a call on radio frequency 141.15, and I'll always respond."
"Pegasus is done installing. I'll speak to you later!" Percy huffed out.
"Likewise, Alice Hari out!"
Percy watched the computer's blue screen turn back to normal as if nothing happened. He glanced around the room before exiting room B2-004. He activated his stealth camouflage device, which caused the light to distort around him. Percy walked down the hall and turned a corner near the fire exit. He hadn't taken more than three steps before hearing a loud ding. The elevator doors clanked open.
The elevator was situated across from two separate restrooms that had cameras swiveling side to side. He watched as three scientists in white lab coats exited the doors accompanied by four PLA soldiers wearing ventilated masks. They were wearing dark grey digital camouflage Percy heard was called Xingkong (Starry Sky). The soldiers weaved into the hallway, the butts of their QBZ-95-1 assault rifles on their shoulders.
"Ban Chuqu! (Move out!)" A Chinese soldier hollered.
Percy stayed still and watched the scientists move down the hallway toward B2-008 and B2-007. Three of the PLA soldiers moved behind the entourage, while one PLA soldier stood guard next to the elevator. The soldier then took out their phone and started playing TikTok videos. Percy smirked. He was still undercover in his stealth camouflage. He crouched slowly towards the doorway towards the fire escape.
Opening and closing the door behind him. He quickly deactivated his stealth camouflage to preserve its battery. Percy walked down the grey concrete steps of the fire escape. Right as he got to the door to B3, he felt a strange pulse of energy. The door was right in front of him, nothing was keeping him from pushing the code and opening the door. Except for that spike of energy, it made his hair stand up and his stealth suit jittery. What was this energy? It felt electric, almost like he was with Thalia Grace and her dumb brother Jason. Something was going on, but Percy pushed passed the feeling.
He unlocked the door and quickly reactivated his stealth camouflage. In front of him were three scientists wearing yellow plastic biohazard outfits with heavy respirator masks on. They walked out of his line of sight around the corner. Percy dived out of the Fire Escape into the hallway. He took cover behind a pallet of white biohazard containers. Percy activated his Soliton Radar System that was strapped to his right arm. It allowed him to gain a perspective and layout of the entire floor, along with picking up on the movement of people.
Two people were walking down the hallway coming from B3-002 which was at the end of the hallway. Unlike floor B2, this floor was much wider encompassing roughly half a football field in area. Percy looked away from his Soliton Radar System as he saw the two red dots passing by him. They were both PLA soldiers dressed in their dark grey Xingkong uniforms. Both were holding QBZ-95 rifles strapped to their shoulders. The butts of their assault rifles were straddling their shoulders with the barrels pointing toward the ground.
Both guards walked passed Percy, they were heading down the hallway behind him toward B3-001. Hearing the guards chattering in Mandarin, Percy turned around hoping Gabriel could hear what they were saying on his Codec. Room B3-001 was surrounded by two pallets with possibly 50 empty white biohazard containers. Percy moved out of the cover of his pallet. He crouched down to avoid making any noise.
Even though his stealth camouflage made him almost invisible, people could still hear him. FOXHOUND gave him only the necessities. His scanning and infiltration gadgets like the Soliton Radar System, his Codec, Sneak Suit, lockpicking box, a Fulton Device for escape, the usual stuff. Except he didn't have a weapon save for an all-purpose machete. Usually, he was given a Navy Seal issued tomahawk. After the Chad Basin Clash in Diffa, Niger in 2017. Sadly, Tomahawks were deemed too American for FOXHOUND.
Not that they couldn't be called in for support drops, and depending on the mission he was given a wide variety of weapons. This mission was different, he needed to disappear without a trace. Dating back to 1971, FOXHOUND doctrine stressed using the enemies' weapons against them to avoid leaving a trace. Missions like this one were the reason why FOXHOUND was brought back in 2012. If he got into a fight, he would have to use CQC until he acquired a weapon. He wasn't the best at CQC, but it'd have to do.
"Fox, this is Gabriel! I'm reading your location. You are close to room B3-013. Within half an hour we'll be turning off the power to floor B3. When this happens, you'll have half an hour to get out of the Wuhan Institute of Virology!"
"Half an hour," Percy softly said, he turned his head a full 360 degrees to sigh alone in relief. "You're giving me an hour to not only get the research but also extract this test subject!"
"You realize that the morning shift is approaching. We are still undetected by Chinese radars, but that will quickly change by sunrise. You have one hour, we are entering orange alert status. The PLA Air Force is deploying five squadrons of J-20 stealth Bombers over the South China Sea in four hours. I'd rather us be close to Taiwanese airspace before that happens. The entire building will be put on lockdown when the power goes out."
"Kinda putting me in a bind here! Fox out!"
Percy shook his head and internally growled. That didn't stop him from growling out loud. The radio chatter that echoed in his ears, caused Percy to growl again. He turned off his Codec and then weaved down the hallway. He got to the edge of what led to a new corridor which led to rooms B3-003, B3-004, and B3-005. The rooms each had only one door, however right at the end of the small corridor was room B3-004.
Percy quickly moved to the door's pin pad. He punched 1, 0, 4, 6, and smirked as the pin pad glowed green. No sooner had he closed the door quietly behind him did a PLA soldier pass by the room. The soldier looked at the closed door. Percy noticed the soldier's eyebrows and their gun were raised high. Only for the soldier to lower their barrel and walk away whistling. Flipping his night vision goggles over his eyes, he looked around the room, which had numerous fridges with alarm sensors if he dared to open them.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There were tables with test tubes, an entire bucket filled with clean Petri dishes, and another with unused needles. There were a few computers, but nothing out of the ordinary. Percy moved across the laboratory of B3-004. He saw a file with a list of Chinese characters and statistics, which he quickly scanned on his Idroid. Percy then looked at an open document on a table. It looked out of place compared to the others, so he scanned it.
His eyes widened as the words came out in English on his Idroid.
Chimeric Research Consultation
Research Analysis conducted by Hua Pumi
Thanks to our consultation with the CDC, we have made great breakthroughs in Chimeric research concerning Coronavirus in bat populations in both China and the United States. Gain of Function research is necessary to predict the evolution of diseases, however, a major issue has arisen. A spike protein in recent tests has shown that a simple Sars-Covid virus can manifest differently in hosts. Zoonosis likely will be the cause of the next great global pandemic, especially given the world has record high pollution, high amounts of human contact from globalization, and even greater contact between animals and humans. Zoonosis is when diseases can be transmitted from another species to a human. However, this could also be a good excuse for the CWBP to release a disease that has a great chance of Zoonosis transpiring.
The Vocal Cord Parasite is too deadly to be used in this exercise. Japanese Encephalitis, Sars-Covid, Dengue Fever, and almost any sort of influenza will halt global trade. Code Talker's research into Gain of Function has proven to be influential in Test Subject #3 not being able to transmit the English strain of the Vocal Cord Parasite. By forcing bacteria, fungi, viruses, and even parasites to evolve. We can essentially control the pathways to how people evolve. Life starts at a microscopic level! Test Subject #3 has proven to be useful in studying forced evolution. Because she is one of the last hosts of the Vocal Cord Parasite, she must remain alive and in constant pain. Pain is the only way to keep her from teleporting out of the facility. The last thing we need is for news to come out that we've been using Uighurs as test dummies for the Vocal Cord Parasite.
Terminating Test Subject #3 will go underway in September, but I heavily stress that we need to push back her termination. There's so much research and knowledge we're gaining from her even today. It would be a waste to get rid of her now!
"What the hell?" Percy stared at the report completely bamboozled by the revelations.
This test subject 3 was a woman, and not just any woman but someone who could teleport. The other report made it out that she was caught in Afghanistan in 1986, yet she had perfect cardiovascular and reproductive health. Closing his eyes, Percy bit his lower lip drawing blood, he felt this woman's sorrow. This woman has been in constant pain and torture for thirty-three years! There was also the revelation concerning the PLA testing the diseases on Uyghurs. He heard they were a minority in China. Since 2017, Uyghurs have been targeted because they were culturally, religiously, and linguistically different from other Chinese people. Maybe this report could shed some light on this crisis!
"This is Gabriel! I have gotten the reports you've sent over to us. We now have confirmation that the PLA has been working on Chimeric research! Your final mission objective is to extract Test Subject #3. From what I've read you shouldn't worry about catching anything from her."
"I'll get to her fast, how much time do I have left?" Percy placed the reports back where he left them and crouched his way around a long rectangular lab table. He listened to his Codec but heard nothing.
"You have forty-five minutes! Fox, you need to hear this… Tao Sun saw four trucks carrying twenty PLA soldiers each. They're heading your way!"
"An entire platoon! Thanks for the heads up!"
The doors to room B3-004 opened with a loud creak. A bright white beam of light flashed around the room causing Percy to momentarily freeze. He dived down below the rectangular table, but he was too late. The PLA soldier charged into the room and his boots squeaked as he held his rifle steady and true. The soldier moved to where he saw the shadow of a phantom.
Percy grabbed the soldier's left foot and pulled hard. The PLA soldier fell to the ground hard on their ass, but Percy charged out from under the table like a jaguar. He straddled the PLA soldier's chest and covered the soldier's respirator with his left hand. The PLA soldier's gun was on the floor, and the safety of their QBZ-95 had been switched off. Percy applied more pressure to the man's mask-covered mouth. He wrapped his right hand around the soldier's neck.
Buzzing radio sounds chirped from the soldier's intercom radio strapped to their shoulder. Their legs twitched as Percy took his left hand from the soldier's mouth. He wrapped his left hand around their warm neck to increase the pressure. He picked up their head from the ground only to smash it hard into the ground. Once, twice, again and again. He continued choking and smashing the back of their head into the ground. He didn't stop, not until their legs stopped twitching and their body lost its warmth. Percy released his hands from around the soldier's broken neck.
Percy pushed himself up from the body and started taking deeper breaths. He looked at the dead PLA soldier's terror-stricken eyes. Their eyes had turned red from popped blood vessels. Percy traced the fingers of his right hand across the man's sweaty black hair, down their forehead. Closing the dead man's eyes, he took one final deep breath and smirked.
"Fox, are you okay? I heard fighting!"
"Yes, I just took down a PLA soldier with CQC. Damn fool, they wanted to play hero." Percy said as he felt his bones and face tingling. "I messed up and got spotted. I made sure to dispatch the fool before he alerted security. Just give me a second… because goddamn!"
"Get rid of their body and get to the Test Subject now!"
"Will do!"
His adrenaline was in overdrive. He looked around the room and saw a metal locker. He dragged the PLA soldier's corpse from the back of their collar towards the locker. He stuffed their corpse in the locker. Before closing the door, he grabbed three 30-round magazines. Percy looked at the cartridges, of course, they were 5.8x42mm high-velocity bullets.
A bright white light took his attention from the dead body. Percy closed the locker door and moved to the fallen QBZ-95 rifle. He picked up the rifle and turned off the flashlight attachment below the barrel. Percy smiled at his luck, not only did he gain a PLA standard-issued assault rifle, but it might do if that platoon stormed the lab.
Percy closed the door to room B3-004 behind him and reactivated his stealth camouflage. His rifle was hanging from behind his back, and the strap of the rifle was over his left shoulder. He weaved out of the cul-de-sac of rooms B3-003, B3-004, and B3-005. He turned right and crouched quietly down the hallway. He made his way into a much longer hallway. He slowly passed by guards around B3-007 and continued down this hallway before turning right into a new hallway. The first room he saw was B3-009.
There weren't many guards near B3-013. All he saw was a single camera swiveling left and right. Percy punched the code into the pin pad and entered the door, only to be overcome by that strange electric sensation he felt before.
CHING! A long array of fluorescent lights turned on above Percy's head. CHING! CHING!
He looked around at the long concrete corridor. The walls were painted a light green. He deactivated his stealth camouflage. His footsteps echoed down the corridor as he slowly walked forward. He turned left at a corner. This new hallway was long with three open metal cell doors. The doors were made out of Titanium alloys and looked state-of-the-art. The final door at the end of the hallway was closed. Percy noticed a large black screened window along the left side of the hallway facing the three open cell doors.
Inside of the black windows was a security/lounge area where a large 6'5 Chinese stood in the open doorway. The man walked out into the light of the hallway. He had a smooth and shiny bald head that had three sickly pale scars that ran from the left side of his forehead over his right eye. This stranger's eyes were amber, and they reflected a white glint of fury. This man wore light grey armor almost like Percy's solid black sneak suit. The man opened his mouth revealing shiny white teeth and a deep red tongue.
The cameras inside B3-013 all shut off. The man in front of Percy took out a long staff with black metal coils at each end of it. Electric sparks flared around the coils as the mysterious man smiled. Percy's sea-green eyes widened in absolute shock as he realized who this was.
"I've been awaiting you," the tall man said across the hallway. Percy took a step back. "I've fought in Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, and even here at home in China. Killing is easy for guys like us. I've fought all kinds of animals, but this will be the first time I'll fight a fox," the tall man said before twirling his staff. "What brings FOXHOUND into the heart of China?"
"Are you… Lu Bu?" Percy asked, his voice hollow and the hairs on his neck raised.
"You've heard of me. Must mean the legends have traveled as far as FOXHOUND!" Lu Bu proclaimed with a wide smile. Lu Bu's smile became twisted under the blue light of the electricity flying off his staff.
Lu Bu (Ying Kwan)
Lu Bu, also known as Eagle. He was part of the PLA Flying Dragon Special Forces in Nanjing back in the 2000s. Lu Bu was in his mid-40s, he spent most of his time in the Flying Dragon fighting American allies and interests in Africa and Central Asia. Lu Bu gained a reputation among special forces worldwide for what he did in East Africa. Percy knew he was responsible for the infamous 2012 Ethiopian-Somalian bombing on the border that killed forty people. Not that the West cared for poor people in East Africa dying, but it still made him frown at Lu Bu.
Lu Bu twirled his electric staff high in the air causing an arc of electricity to fire at Percy who somersaulted out of the way. Lu Bu laughed hysterically and said coldly, "Why so salty?"
Percy frowned and raised his clenched fists high. He placed his left leg behind his body, and he then placed his right foot forward. Percy took a classic CQC opening stance. "Thought you were still in East Africa? Did you get tired of killing innocent people!"
"Don't act like you are so innocent! Men like you and I... we live for one thing. The thrill of the mission, escaping death, and testing our strength. I follow my orders and so do you!" Lu Bu's amber eyes flashed a bright blue.
Percy dodged several jabbing thrusts from Lu Bu's electric staff. Sidestepping closer to the crazed PLA super soldier. Lu Bu's eyes widened in shock as Percy narrowed the gap between them and grabbed the center of Lu Bu's staff. Lu Bu threw Percy off with an ungodly amount of strength. Percy flew across the room towards the locked cell door.
Lu Bu disappeared in a flash causing Percy to sweep the ground and flip himself back onto his feet. Lu Bu appeared in a black smokeless vapor above him. This caused Percy to somersault away from the door. Lu Bu's electric staff slammed into the concrete ground causing the concrete to crack. Hundreds of bright white sparks flashed from the end of the staff.
"For a legend, you sure are a disappointment," Lu Bu said his sadistic smile gone. He pulled his staff out of the concrete and then pointed the other end at Percy. "I can't let you extract Test Subject Three."
"Get out of the way! You aren't Raiden," Percy took out his machete from the sheath on his back. It was made with titanium alloy fused with tungsten.
"Never compare me to that high-heel-wearing bastard!" Lu Bu growled out.
"That strip pole is no match against a master swordsman!" Percy pointed the tip of his blade at Lu Bu.
Percy deflected a smiting blow from Lu Bu's staff. Only to quickly twist his body a full 180 to deflect another lunge. Lu Bu disappeared in numerous black vapor clouds all around Percy but he kept deflecting each blow in dozens of directions. Percy lunged his machete blade forward grazing Lu Bu's cheek. "How the hell are you able to teleport?"
Lu Bu smeared the blood flowing from him with his left hand and disappeared in a cloud of black vapor. Percy tried to sidestep out of the way but Lu Bu appeared in front of him. With four furious swipes of his staff, he electrocuted him. Blue and white volts of electricity flew across Percy's body as he was pushed into the concrete wall.
He kicked Lu Bu's ball sack causing Lu Bu to fall onto his knees. Percy raised his machete high in the air and then brought it down. His blade cut through the air only to be stopped by the middle of Lu Bu's staff. CLANK! Lu Bu's amber eyes stared up at sea green eyes. Percy pressed more strength against the bigger man's anchored stance. Instead of his blade pushing back Lu Bu, the much bigger man pushed Percy back with his electric staff.
"That's all you got!" Lu Bu rose to his feet. His staff still holding its own against Percy's machete. Sparks flew around the edge of the blade as it wobbled on the metal staff. "My orders may be to kill anyone who breaks into the institute. When you taste the battlefield for the first time it's hard to walk away. I haven't had the pleasure of killing a warrior in several years… so, I'll take my time killing you!"
Percy kicked Lu Bu's chest causing the man to stumble back. He slashed at Lu Bu who blocked each strike with his staff. Sparks flew off the staff, yet Percy continued his counterattack. Metal clashed against metal. Electricity flew around Lu Bu who screamed a harrowing scream. Lu Bu slashed his staff horizontally as a stream of electricity flowed around him.
Bright blue electricity flew around Lu Bu's feet.
Percy slashed his machete with all his power. Lu Bu blocked the blow with his staff. SLING! CREEENCH! The machete connected with the metal staff and went straight through the metal. The fluorescent lights above flickered on and off. Lu Bu's amber eyes reflected horror. Lu Bu screamed.
Percy slashed the tall PLA soldier across his chest. Crimson blood flew in the air. Streams of blood poured from Lu Bu's torso staining his dark grey uniform. It didn't look like a mortal wound as the lights went off. He placed his machete inside the sheath on his back and then closed his eyes. Darkness was his friend. It kept him hidden, made him quiet, and a shadow of terror. After all, he trained for months without being able to see. He could pick up on the sound of a pen dropping from across the institute.
"Aghhh… you motherfucker! My power... it's gone! Why am I drained?" Percy charged and wrapped his right bicep around Lu Bu's neck. He felt the large man struggling to break free. "This is just the beginning! American parasites will be destroyed! You'll die... sooner or later."
"Keep talking big guy! You'll only pass out... agh, faster! You're not even worth spilling blood on Riptide," Percy said only to feel Lu Bu lose consciousness in his arms.
He settled Lu Bu next to the open doorway of the middle cell. Red emergency lights replaced the normally white fluorescent light. The cell door at the end of the hallway opened. Percy slowly walked toward the door as his eyes adjusted to this odd blood-colored light. A loud ringing noise rang inside Percy's ears. His codec flared up and he answered the call.
"This is Gabriel! The entire institute is on emergency lockdown, but don't be afraid. You have thirty minutes to get out as the virus should allow every door to be opened. I must ask… what happened? I've been hearing fighting, are you okay?"
"I've been warming up. I encountered Lu Bu before Test Subject Three's cell. I took that big bastard down... I doubt he's going to get up any time soon."
"Lu Bu? Leader of the Black Eagles PSC, Lu Bu. Are you sure that's who you encountered?"
"I'm fucking positive! And PSC? What is that?"
"Private Security Companies. They essentially are private police security forces for internal and sometimes external policing. China has over seven thousand PSCs, the Black Eagles is a Hubei-based company... Lu Bu likely was forced into making the Black Eagles after what happened between Ethiopia and Somalia."
"Why didn't he make a PMC?"
"Many Chinese PSCs are fronts for PMCs. They have been deployed to countries partnered with China's Belt and Road Initiative. Partly to protect Chinese workers and to enforce Chinese interests in construction projects. Lu Bu must have pissed off the PLA for them to deploy the Black Eagles in Wuhan. I must say... I can't believe you defeated him. I've heard tales that he can control electricity."
"For a man named after a famous Chinese warlord, his performance wasn't that shocking..." Percy held back a snicker.
"You and your puns. As much as I'd love to laugh about them, you have a mission. Test Subject Three can be extracted. I advise getting out of the Institute through the sewers on the second floor."
"Affirmative, Percy out."
It was quiet, too quiet.
Percy walked slowly through the doorway of the now-opened cell. His eyes scanned the dirty room. He saw a brown-haired woman barefoot and chained to the walls in the far right corner of the room. She was crouched away from him in the fetal position. He approached the quiet woman. His boots squeaked as he approached her.
Only for him to hear a spine-tingling scream.