OPERATION INTRUDE N313
DAY SIX – 1310 HOURS
OUTER HEAVEN NORTH – APPROACHING THE BUNKER
There were no guards posted at the gate to check the truck as it rolled in; the exterior guard towers were empty. The brunt of Outer Heaven's work force was focused solely on the Rebel encampment in Outer Heaven West. The truck rolled right through the open gate. A few mercenaries posted on the rooftops and a skeleton crew outside the bunker were looking their way, but if they saw anything amiss, there was nothing to show it.
"Okay. So far, so good," Snake breathed as the truck moved past the threshold in the outer walls, driving westward toward the bunker. Snake pointed in their ten o'clock direction. "Turn left here," he instructed. "We'll need to loop southward to avoid that minefield."
Willem nodded, carefully turning the wheel to angle the truck southwest. They sat in tense silence as they did their best not to draw any attention to themselves, only the rumbling of the diesel engine pulling them along and the far-off sound of gunfire broke the monotony as they rolled across the sandy flatland.
"Alright, that's far enough," Snake said. "Divert north by northwest."
Willem complied and corrected the angle of their approach. The bunker was looming closer and closer; the side entrance was in sight, just a half a click away.
Suddenly, an explosion underneath the cab briefly lifted them into the air, the front wheels dislodging from their axle. The cab skidded with the screeching sound of metal scraping on the asphalt underneath them, careening over onto its side in a tumbling heap. Willem and Snake were violently shaken and left limply dangling by their seat belts as smoke churned from the engine, the acrid smell of burning fuel and oil lifting into the air.
Snake, being in the passenger seat, was higher up, forced by gravity to uncomfortably lean down onto Willem's body. Snake braced his feet against the floorboards and gripped the seatbelt to pull himself up off of his driver. Both of them were coughing furiously as Snake pushed as hard as he could on the door above him to open while Willem was kicking out the windshield.
Adrenaline pumping, Snake flipped up the cab door and popped his head through the opening to climb out. Not two seconds after he was out of the cab was he met with the sound of bullets whizzing by his head, forcing him to throw himself down and roll over off the side of the cab, landing painfully onto the asphalt. An explosion of pain burst in his midsection; he hoped he didn't break or puncture anything vital.
Snake lifted his mildly concussed head just in time for his blurry vision to register the figures of Mandla dragging a feebly crawling Petrus out of the ruined truck bed while Vusi fired from behind the cover of the wreck. Snake shook his head, brain pounding as he pushed himself to his feet and helped pull Willem out through the opening left behind by the busted windshield.
"You broken?" Snake asked, gripping Willem's hand tightly as he yanked him to his feet.
"None the worse for wear, sir," Willem replied as he quickly dug out their rifles from the cab, trying to stay out of sight of the enemy shooters. He handed Snake his rifle and together they took up firing positions. Willem glanced around and found the culprit behind the truck explosion: a small crater scooped out of the road just a few yards away. It was a wonder that the floor didn't burst open into shrapnel and leave them shredded. Those Outer Heaven trucks must be armored underneath.
"I thought we were supposed to be driving away from the minefield!" Willem shouted, spraying bullets downrange from their position, taking out a hapless merc moving between cover.
"They must have planted these ones overnight before my people took over the cameras!" Snake yelled back, putting a couple of bullets into another target and sending him tumbling off of the roof of a small building near the bunker's entrance. "It's the only way they could've had time to set up this ambush!"
Snake grimaced as he laid down covering fire. It's like the Outer Heaven bastards knew they were coming. There was no safe place to move to with mines potentially all around them, and even if the mines weren't there, the Outer Heaven forces had them pinned down. Snake fumbled with the radio on his hip.
"Architect, Fox, come in! Do you read?" he shouted over the gunfire.
"This is Architect! We're a little busy here, Snake! What's your situation?" the radio squealed.
Snake leaned out of cover and took another couple of potshots, leaning back to avoid the return fire. He gripped his headset with his offhand. "Outer Heaven ambushed us! We're pinned down just outside of the bunker."
Another voice joined over the radio. "Snake, this is Fox. I can see the smoke. I'm guessing that's you?"
Snake looked up at the towering plume of black rising from the engine block and nodded, more to himself than anything. "Yeah, probably," he said, coughing. "Where are those offsite reinforcements, Architect? Think you can spare any?"
"They just arrived onsite in the AO," Kyle replied. "The squad closest to you is RT-4, but they're currently engaging enemy forces like the rest of us. I'll radio them and see if they can help out, but for now you're on your own. Try to hold out as best you can."
Snake hissed a curse under his breath. "Affirmative," he acknowledged.
Snake was sweating profusely. The heat of the nearby burning wreck combined with the sweltering humid air was making it unbearable.
"Sir! Look!"
Snake looked to where Vusi was pointing; about thirty yards away were a couple of shipping containers a little closer to the bunker. With nothing between them and the containers though, that distance was a yawning chasm.
Snake peeked around the corner, nearly getting his head shot off. They were sitting ducks where they were, and probably weren't going to be much better off at the containers. But they needed to gain more ground, and they couldn't just stay there.
"Okay…okay!" Snake wiped the soot from his face. "In a couple of seconds, I'm going to make a run for it and take up a firing position by the containers to cover the next guys. You'll come to me two at a time. Got it?"
The men firing downrange nodded, and the others gave him a thumbs up. Snake nodded. "Alright," he said, "Get ready!"
RESISTANCE OPERATION: JUDGMENT DAY
1323 HOURS
OUTER HEAVEN WEST - RESISTANCE F.O.B.
"Trevor! Put some suppressing fire downrange onto those trenches! Don't let the enemy set up any mortar pits! Mbali, where's my fookin' ammo!?"
Mbali jogged up behind Luke, switching out the ammo box on his machine gun for a fresh one. Luke flipped open the receiver to load the new belt from the box. Mbali, out of breath, pointed her rifle over the top of the trench to lay down suppressing fire with Trevor while Luke reloaded. Once finished, Luke slammed the weapon closed, yanked back the bolt and sprayed fire out into no-man's land, buzzing through a couple of unfortunate Outer Heaven troopers that dared to pop their heads up from behind the makeshift walls for an advance.
The three rebels were occupying a dug out trench just inside the lower walls on the eastern perimeter of the supply storage building. Outer Heaven had rolled in with trucks and tanks and were immediately hit claymores and anti-tank mines, turning their front vanguard into roadblocks for the armored APCs and tanks bringing up the rear. Rebels on the rooftop started to lay down mortar fire on the rear lines, only to be stymied by the arrival of two Blackfoot helicopters harassing them from above. Without the threat of the mortars, the rear armor inched steadily closer, while squads of infantry and mounted Walker Gears flanked from the north.
The rebels supplied the groundside with five 12-man fireteams—the reinforcements brought in from offsite to stall the ground advance, while three smaller teams made up the rear closer to the perimeter. Luke, Mbali, and Trevor made up on of these smaller teams on the northeast side.
Taking a break in his fire, Luke wiped some sweat from his forehead, growling in frustration. They didn't make it out of imprisonment just to die on some dusty hill, he thought to himself. His radio squawked.
"Rear Team Seven! This is R-Leader," Kyle's voice announced.
Luke leaned over to Trevor. "Take the call! I'm a bit busy here! Mbali, watch the northern flank! They might try to circle around!"
As Luke and Mbali watched the bottom of the small hill on which they sat, Trevor threw himself prone to the relative safety of the bottom of the trench as he responded to the radio's hail. "T-this is Team Seven," Trevor gasped out. "Send it, Leader!"
"Our American friend and his squad are pinned down outside the bunker and can't get in. They need an assist. I've asked—Imke, get an RPG on that Blackfoot! Everyone, get down!"
A few seconds later, an explosion was heard above, and a loud whine pealed through the air as the screeching metal bird above them spun in a terrible display of light and fire down to earth just a few yards ahead of them. Team Seven dove deeper into the trench as the chopper slammed into the ground. Kyle's voice returned on the radio, coughing and breathing heavily.
"Everyone okay? Good. Team Seven, are you still alive?"
"Rattled, but still breathing, sir," Trevor responded. "What'd you need?"
"Good! As I was saying, Snake's been ambushed. I've asked RT-4 to assist, but they've been stopped by two Walker Gears and an APC of Outer Heaven troopers six kilometers to the northeast, just outside the range of our snipers. I need you to go assist RT-4 and help clear the way for them to take the heat off of our American friend."
Trevor looked to Luke and Mbali, who both returned his worried look. Pushing into No-Man's Land to help RT-4 was going to mean putting a hole in their northeastern defenses for Outer Heaven to pry open and tear through.
"Sir," Trevor asked, "What about the rear line?"
"Fox and I will cover it from up here while I arrange your replacement! Now, go!"
Trevor nodded, his lips tightening in a thin grim line. Luke and Mbali nodded back to him in acknowledgment. "Understood, sir. Moving now," he said.
Luke hefted his machine gun while Mbali helped Trevor to his feet. "Alright, you two. You heard Schneider. Let's get Team Four out to Snake."
The three gathered what ammo they could carry and gathered at the edge of the trench line, looking in all directions for any tank cannons pointed their way. The air carried the heat and loud booms of explosive tank and mortar shells, and bullets whizzed and cracked over their heads. Keeping low, Team Seven scrambled up and out of the trench, crawling forward and sliding down the hill on their backs to keep their profiles low, using the momentum from hitting the bottom to spring to their feet and launch themselves forward.
Gray Fox watched from above through his sniper's scope, covering them as they made their advance. Suddenly, he changed direction as he saw one of Outer Heaven's tanks pivot towards Team Seven's position. Fox reached out next to him, slapping Kyle's shoulder.
"Armor 20 degrees left, approximately 2.5 kilometers. Elevation thirty degrees lower."
"I see it," Kyle said, making his adjustment.
"Send it."
"Sending! Fire in the hole," Kyle shouted, dropping the 120mm mortar shell into the launcher and diving low to cover his ears.
Fox followed suit, covering his ears as well. The mortar fired, arced through the air and fell squarely onto the tank. Fox looked into his scope to witness the impact.
"Direct hit," he reported. The machine gun turret gunner was nowhere to be seen, likely killed by the blast, but the tank itself looked mostly unharmed. They had succeeded in getting its attention though, as the armored vehicle turned its front and main gun in the direction of the supply storage building.
"We should get back," Fox said, getting up.
"What?" Kyle asked.
"Get back!" Fox shouted, pulling Kyle away from the edge of the roof just in time to avoid being blasted by a tank shell which tore a chunk off the top corner of the building where they were standing moments before.
Loyiso and Imke charged into the black smoke carrying RPG launchers and as soon as the smoke dispersed, put their rockets to work on dispatching the tank, taking it out in two shots and leaving behind a smoldering wreck. Two Outer Heaven troops climbed out of the heap and tumbled to the ground outside; Gray Fox dispatched them both with the sniper rifle.
"We might actually win this!" Loyiso cried, his voice shaking.
Kyle shook his head, pointing. "Get back on the southern corner! It's still too early to celebrate!"
A hail of bullets rained down on the roof to punctuate his words. The Rebels fell back to take cover as an APC parked just outside the remaining minefield to spray the building with its mounted machine gun.
NO MAN'S LAND, NORTH SIDE
1412 HOURS
HALFWAY BETWEEN THE RESISTANCE F.O.B. AND METAL GEAR'S BUNKER
Team Seven were all breathing heavily as they moved to cover as much ground as they could as quickly as possible while praying that Outer Heaven's forces didn't take notice of them as they crossed the extremely exposed landscape stretching between them and RT-4. Trevor's lungs were on fire as he gasped for air, looking behind them for rear security. His senses were still wired from that close call with the tank. Mbali fared little better. Luke was worried for his team; they couldn't afford to lose it now, in the middle of no man's land.
"It's just a little further, just over the next hill," Luke promised, glancing around wildly. He gripped his radio. "RT-4, this is Team Seven. What's your status?"
There was a burst of noise over the radio—gunfire and static. There was the sound human voices crying out—whether in pain, fear, or rage, T7 couldn't tell; it was all just a chorus of human suffering, and they couldn't make out whether it was RT-4's or Outer Heaven's. After several seconds, a reply was finally heard.
"This is the TL of RT-4. We're currently under fire by Outer Heaven forces. We're pinned down just south of the bunker. We can't reach the Infiltration Team, and we're already down two men. If this keeps up, we're going to be overrun. We need immediate assistance!"
"Faster, T7!" Luke barked to Mbali and Trevor. Team 7 pushed themselves from a run to an urgent sprint. Luke said between breaths, "We read you, RT-4. We're on our way to you now. Just hold on! What should we expect when we get there?"
"There's a technical with a living gunner and driver. It had a crew of five additional, but we've knocked that number down to three. There's also two manned Walker Gears making sure we can't poke our heads out from cover. They're closing in on us. We need you here sooner than later, T7!"
"Understood!"
Team Seven continued in their mad dash over the top of the hill from which they could see the APC and Walker Gears in question. A head poked out from a hatch out the top of the APC, where an Outer Heaven trooper was laying down fire with a mounted machine gun turret on a ridge where they could see RT-4 hiding. Just as the team leader had said, there were also two Walker Gears walking up the side of the smaller hill on either side of the ridge, attempting to flank RT-4 on both their left and right sides.
Team Seven crouched underneath an acacia tree as they checked their weapons and ammo. Luke set up the tripod on his machine gun and got into a prone position, aiming down at the Walker Gear closest to their position. He turned his head to Trevor. "Trevor," he said, "ready your grenade shells and put some fire on that APC. Mbali, aim for the Walker Gear on the far side."
Trevor loaded a grenade shell into the underbarrel grenade launcher of his rifle and flipped up the sight attachment to check the trajectory before firing. A distant explosion was heard as it came into contact with the APC's rear. The machine gunner looked around wildly before pointing up at them. The closer Walker Gear crouched down onto its wheels and spun around before driving towards them. The machine gunner on the APC fired on the hill, and Trevor's torso exploded open just as he was firing another shell. The grenade landed right on top of the APC, killing the gunner.
Luke didn't have time to regard his fallen comrade beyond the blood that sprayed onto his skin, as he instead was focusing on raining bullets down onto the approaching Walker Gear. The Walker Gear swerved as its pilot ducked behind the frontal armor. Luke could hear the mounted chain gun on the Walker spinning as it came closer, and he rolled away from his own weapon just in time to avoid being turned into Swiss cheese.
Rather than aim at the far side Walker Gear like she was ordered, Mbali aimed down her sights at the Walker Gear driving towards Luke's position and expertly took the driver's head clean off. The Walker Gear collided with another tree, sending the driver's corpse flying.
Mbali lowered her rifle and looked to Luke who was laying in the dirt below, covering his head with both arms. "Target down," she shouted. "Are you alright, sir?"
Luke lifted his head. "Never better," he grunted. "What about Trevor?"
Mbali looked over to Trevor's tattered and still steaming body and gasped softly. She felt tears in her eyes and screwed her eyes shut as she breathed in sharply. "Trevor's dead, sir."
Luke shook his head and pounded the ground with his fist as he pushed himself to his feet. "Fuck…," he swore softly.
He hurried over to his friend and gently closed his eyes. Picking up Trevor's discarded rifle and grenade shells, he joined Mbali on the hilltop and aimed down at the remaining Walker Gear, which was becoming surrounded by the remaining seven members of RT-4 (the remaining five having been killed in action), who quickly subdued the driver. The APC however, was starting to back away for a retreat.
"No, you fookin' don't," Luke whispered. He aimed the grenade launcher and fired a shell at the APC, catching it near the wheels. The APC swerved to avoid the explosion, and drove itself into a berm, getting its tires stuck into a ditch. RT-4 moved onto the vehicle as the rear hatch opened, revealing two Outer Heaven troopers with their hands up.
Luke lowered his weapon, then looked to Mbali, thumbing in the direction of the crashed Walker Gear. "Think you can get that thing working?" he asked.
Mbali shrugged. "I can try."
Several minutes later, Mbali was skidding down the hill with the Walker Gear in driving mode while Luke clung onto the side, lurching forward as the machine hopped off its wheels into walking mode and jogged up to RT-4. Luke hopped off the Walker Gear into a jog and halted in front of RT-4's TL.
The Team Leader was a bald and top-heavy Swazi man with a beard. "Are you the leader of Team Seven? Thanks for the assistance. I'm Sibusiso." Sibusiso was a name meaning "blessed."
Luke nodded. "You certainly are," he said, without any humor. Luke looked over Sibusiso's shoulder. RT-4 was tying the enemy troopers' hands behind their backs and leaning them against the grounded APC.
"What are you planning to do with them?" Luke asked.
Sibusiso shrugged. "We can't take them with us. We need to assist the American and his Infiltration team." Sibusiso eyed Luke, a single brow raised. "Why? What did you have in mind?"
Instead of answering, Luke walked around Sibusiso and up to the two Outer Heaven prisoners. One was a scared kid, couldn't have been more than 19 or 20 years old. The other was an older veteran, face lined, and battle hardened. The vet sneered at Luke.
"You think you've won, haven't you? You have no idea what kind of hell you sewer rats are in for. Once the boss comes through here to clean up, we're going to track down your villages and raze them to the ground. By the time we're done, there will be no one left to remember you." The vet's lips twisted into a cruel smirk.
"Your families will be ground into bloody paste by the boots of Venom's forces. Your elders and your children will be made to work for us, while your spouses and brothers and sisters will litter the mass graves to be burned as our fuel. This tiny victory you've won here is nothing. You hear me, rat? Nothing!"
Luke said nothing. He raised a pistol to the vet's head and splattered his brains onto the APC's armor.
"That was for Trevor," he muttered.
He turned to the younger trooper and pointed his pistol at the boy's head. The younger man screwed his eyes shut. Luke lowered his pistol and put a round through the young man's leg. He fell over, twisting and screaming in the dirt. Luke holstered his pistol.
Luke looked to RT-4. "Leave him for his masters," he said. "The Infiltration Team still needs help."
Sibusiso and his team looked warily at Luke. Sibusiso nodded uneasily before commanding to his men, "We're done here. Let's go!"
"We'll take the Walker Gears and circle around to give you some fire support," said Luke.
"Understood," Sibusiso agreed. "Take a couple of my men with you. We'll surround the Outer Heaven bunker crew and spread out to give them some harder targets to hit."
Luke nodded, and together he and Mbali mounted their Walker Gears with two of RT-4 hanging on the sides opposite the mounted chain guns and the new fire team split up to make their respective paths northward, leaving the younger Outer Heaven trooper crawling and weeping in their wake.
OPERATION INTRUDE N313
DAY SIX – 1500 HOURS
OUTER HEAVEN NORTH – BUNKER, SOUTHEAST SIDE
"Rebel Team Four to Infiltration Team! Do you copy?"
Snake peeked out from behind the door of the shipping container they were hiding inside to take some more pot shots downrange at an enemy rifleman lying prone on the roof of a guard station before scooting back behind the safety of the metal obstruction. He gripped his radio while Willem took over his firing position.
"This is Solid Snake. I hear you, RT-4. Send it."
"What's your status, Snake?"
Snake looked to Mandla and Vusi, who were desperately trying to stabilize Petrus with the remains of the trauma kit they'd managed to pull from the truck. Petrus had gotten shot while they transitioned out of cover from behind the truck, and he was now shaking and coughing up blood, and Mandla was turning Petrus on his side so that he wouldn't choke on his own fluids.
It didn't help that every few seconds either Mandla or Vusi had to trade off with Snake or Willem to lay down suppressing fire while the others reloaded or tended to their casualty. Snake swore. This container was supposed to offer them relative safety as they moved closer to the bunker's side entrance, but instead he'd just trapped them in a 5,000-lb steel coffin.
Snake pushed the button on the radio. "Our status is SOL, RT-4. We're pinned down in a shipping container just outside the east entrance to the bunker. There's a minefield to our immediate south just past our busted transportation, and there's an Outer Heaven motor pool crew who are real keen on keeping us trapped so we can't get in. We're holding them off, but we're starting to run low on ammo and we're down a man; we can't move without abandoning our injured. We could really use some extra help here."
"Copy that, Snake. We're on our way to you now to provide you with support. We've also commandeered a couple of Walker Gears who will likely get there before the rest of us do. Just sit tight, Infil Team. Help's on the way."
"Acknowledged," Snake replied before signing off.
Snake looked to his men and nodded to them, thankful for the chance to offer them some hope. "Cavalry's coming, guys. We just need to hold out a little longer."
A loud bang was heard on the closed side of the container. Snake and Vusi raised their rifles as the door caved in slightly to permit the entry of hooks and prybars. As the doors came open, Snake and Vusi opened fire and rushed forward to keep the three Outer Heaven troopers from encroaching on their territory. Two of the troopers fell over dead, and the third retreated, dragging one of his friends with him out of the line of fire.
Snake gripped his radio. "They're flanking us, Team Four! We need you here! Now, dammit! Now!"
Willem continued watching the opposite side they came in from. The gunshots had ceased. Everything was suspiciously quiet, save for Petrus's feeble moans and Mandla talking to him to try and keep him conscious. Mandla looked up victoriously.
"Okay, I've stabilized him! He's going to be okay!" he cried.
Willem looked over to Mandla to give him a thumbs-up. Mandla's eyes went wide.
"Willem! Behind you!"
Willem spun his head around just in time to see a Walker Gear sprint, jump, and land right in front of the half-open doorway, its robotic arm leveling a P90 in their direction. Snake and the three standing Rebels scrambled to put their backs against the side wall, so they'd be behind the closed door while bullets rained into the shipping container, turning Petrus into bloody mulch. Snake and the Rebels huddled in the corner against the door between them and the Walker, trying to avoid the ricochet.
Snake grabbed a flashbang from Vusi's belt and tossed it around the door. He and the others covered their ears as the bang was heard. Mandla spun around the door, pointing his rifle right at the Walker Gear pilot's head, and gunned him down with a guttural scream. More Outer Heaven troopers popped up from behind the bunker's exterior walls and the concrete barriers separating their lot from the helipad outside. Snake grabbed Mandla by the back of his shirt and yanked him back behind the door.
"Other side! We need to get out of this thing!" Snake shouted. He led his team out the pried-open end of the shipping container, where they found themselves surrounded by troopers. Two Walker Gears had their gatling guns pointed at them and spun as they revved up.
Snake cursed, and dropped his weapon, putting his hands up and urging his team to follow his example. Any further acts of aggression were just going to get them all killed. His heart was pounding in his ears, and he felt a lump form in his throat and sensation of vertigo in his stomach.
We were so close, he thought to himself. Dammit!
"Confiscate their weapons and secure them!" ordered one of the Walker Gear pilots. "Keep your guns trained on them—if they make any sudden moves, waste 'em!"
A trooper started to approach them, before his head exploded like a crushed raspberry. The troopers looked to the south to see two Walker Gears speeding toward them, spinning the barrels of their chain guns and turning the Outer Heaven troopers into chunky salsa. Snake and his team dove back into the shipping container in the confusion to avoid the .50 caliber bullets that spread over the lot.
As the friendly W.G.s got closer, their hanging passengers were dropped from the robotic arms that held them and hit the ground running, rushing the few surviving enemy troopers with their bayonets. On the other side of the shipping container, the rest of the Outer Heaven skeleton crew were getting bombarded by grenade launchers, and they scrambled to get back into cover. Two unlucky troopers tried taking cover in the shipping container, only to be met with Snake and his team, who dispatched them quickly by gutting them with their knives.
Within minutes, the Outer Heaven forces protecting the bunker had been put down, and RT-4 were celebrating their victory. Snake and his team gathered their weapons from where they had left them and replaced their dwindling ammo supply from the bodies of the mercenaries.
Sibusiso met up with Snake and introduced himself, with Luke in tow. Snake shook his hand and nodded to Luke.
"Nice to see you again, Luke. Thank God you guys came when you did. Any longer, and we would have been goners."
"Happy to help," Sibusiso said with a grim smile.
Luke looked down morosely. "Trevor didn't make it."
That pit in Snake's stomach returned. More allies to add to the list of deaths he's responsible for. Snake looked over to the shipping container, where Petrus's remains laid, and nodded. "Yeah," was all he could say.
"We lost a lot of good people to save you and your men, Snake," Sibusiso replied. "Please tell me it was worth it."
Snake glared at the imposing bunker. "It damn well better be," he muttered. He turned to the others. "Sibusiso, you're to take your team and head back to Outer Heaven West to assist the rest of the rebels. When I go inside, I'm going to have Kyle order a full evacuation of his people from the AO. Everyone needs to be ready to get out of Dodge after I go in. Willem, Vusi, and Mandla: you're to go with them and assist. I've got it from here."
"You're seriously still going to go in by yourself?" Vusi asked incredulously. "We barely survived as a group, and you're wanting to go in that bunker on your own?"
Snake nodded. "If I move on my own, I'll be able to sneak in under the noses of the guard. A group will just attract attention."
Willem shook his head vehemently. "No. That's not going to happen. We're going with you, whether you want us or not."
Snake's hands curled into fists. "This isn't up for debate," he yelled angrily. "I've got enough Rebel deaths on my conscience. I'm not going to add any more if I can help it."
"You're not a member of the Resistance, Snake. So, you're not in a position to give us orders," Willem shot back. "We knew what we signed up for when we agreed to fight. Don't presume to think you can abandon us for the sake of your selfish need to soothe your guilty conscience!"
There was a long moment of silence as Snake glared at Willem and the others, but none of them were backing down. "You want to do right by Trevor and Petrus?" Mandla piped up. "Then let us help you, so we can make their deaths mean something."
Snake swore loudly. There was another moment of silence. Then he grabbed his radio, pointing to Sibusiso and Luke. "As soon as we're inside you take your men haul ass back to Kyle. Got it?"
Sibusiso and Luke both nodded, smiling. Snake swore again and pressed the radio's call button to hail Kyle.
"Architect, this is Solid Snake. How copy?"
An explosion was heard, and Kyle's voice sounded with a series of coughs. "I read you, Snake. What's your status?"
"Your guys came through for us. Infil team is about to make entry into the bunker. I'm sending RT-4 back to you for assistance. Your mission's complete—start the evacuation from the AO and get your people out?"
"Say again—you said 'Infil Team' is making entry?"
"Yeah, well… I tried to tell them to go back, but they respectfully reminded me that I'm not the boss of them."
Willem grabbed his own radio. "We're not going anywhere, sir."
Kyle's heavy breathing buzzed loudly over the speaker. "Understood, Snake. RT-4, Team Seven, return to the FOB and start helping our people gather supplies. We're going to organize a retreat, and I want us to take everything we can carry."
"Yes sir," Sibusiso replied.
"And Snake? Good luck."
Snake nodded. "Affirmative, Architect. Right back at you."
Snake looked to his team, said, "Let's go," and led them towards the eastern door.
Suddenly, a screeching roar shook the ground as what looked like a giant metal crab slid into view over the sandy roads to the southeast. The head of the crab held aloft what appeared to be a giant cannon, aimed directly at Snake and his team.
"Inside, now!" he shouted.
The Infiltration Team hurried through the door as the cannon hummed with a giant electrical charge, and with a loud crack, the railgun spat a large metal projectile into the walls above the doorway, caving in the ceiling. Snake's Infiltration Team had to sprint to avoid the falling rubble behind them.
RT-4 commandeered all the Walker Gears in the area while the other foot soldiers ran as fast as they could to get themselves out of the open.
"Come on, everyone! We need to buy Snake some time!" shouted Sibusiso.
OUTER HEAVEN WEST: RESISTANCE F.O.B.
1522 HOURS
MOMENTS EARLIER
The gunfire was beginning to quiet down. The explosions had ceased. The No Man's Land below them was filled with craters littered with metal detritus and the dead. Imke lined up a target in her binoculars: a small Outer Heaven team that had settled into a crater to make an impromptu machine gun nest and was harassing Team Two and their rear support on the southeast side. She turned her head slightly to Loyiso.
"Thirty degrees lower, distance about one and a half kilometers out. The machine gun nest," she said.
"I see it…"
Loyiso fired, killing the gunner. The rest of the enemy team ducked their heads down into the crater. Another trooper stood up after a few seconds, frantically looking around to try and find out where the shots had come from. Loyiso pulled back the bolt to chamber another round and took off the enemy trooper's head. The other mercs kept their heads down, buying Team Two time to make their advance.
"Got them," Loyiso called out. His voice was a little smug.
"Good shooting, Loyiso," Imke said with a smirk.
"Wait," Loyiso frowned, adjusting his aim upward. The two surviving tanks and one of the APCs were rolling away eastward. "Where are those tanks going?"
Imke looked at where he pointed. "They might be repositioning. Get ready."
"No…" Loyiso pointed. "They're moving away from the FOB, showing their asses at us. It doesn't make any sense."
Could the enemy be retreating, Loyiso wondered? He gritted his teeth. Something wasn't right.
In the distance, they could hear Kyle walking toward them, talking on the radio.
"Say again—you said 'Infil Team' is making entry?"
Snake's hoarse voice buzzed over the speaker: "Yeah, well…I tried to tell them to go back, but they respectfully reminded me that I'm not the boss of them."
There was a few seconds of silence before another voice chimed in telling Kyle that they weren't going anywhere. Imke looked to Loyiso.
"Do you think that means that Snake made it to the bunker?" she asked.
"He must have," Loyiso said. "Which means our job here is almost done, too. We should be ready to move out at a moment's notice."
Imke nodded, relief in her eyes. "Right," she agreed.
"…start helping our people gather supplies," they heard Kyle say. "We're going to organize…everything we can carry."
The new voice affirmed Kyle's order, and as he got closer to the sniper team, Kyle signed off with, "And, Snake? Good luck."
"Affirmative, Architect. Right back at you."
Kyle put his radio away and addressed the sniper team. "Alright, RT-4 and Team Seven are going to be making their way back," he said. "Get ready to pack it up. I'm going to put the word out to the rest of the FOB: our job here is done. It's time to retreat."
Imke nodded, but Loyiso kept his eye glued to his sniper's scope. When Loyiso didn't respond, Kyle said, "Loyiso, did you get that?"
Still no answer. Loyiso's eyes were turning into a scowl. Kyle frowned. He noticed that there wasn't any more gunfire coming from either the Outer Heaven mercs or the Rebels. There were no screams, no explosions, just the sound of their breathing and the wind and the smell of used gunpowder, blood, and oil. Kyle didn't like it. He squatted low next to Loyiso.
"What do you see?" he asked. He held out his hands for Imke's binoculars. He saw the vehicles moving away, the surviving merc troopers loading up into their Jeeps and APCs, moving north by northeast. There was the sound of a boom in the distance, and both Kyle and Loyiso adjusted their sights to the distance. Just south of the bunker, resting on a ridge was some kind of stooping metal figure with a weapon that they'd never seen before. The weapon was glowing having just been fired, but there was no smoke. It had fired straight into the side of the bunker itself. They saw human figures and little metal boxes with legs scattering around the faraway lot, taking up new positions as they prepared to engage the little toy crab.
Kyle's eyes went wide as he adjusted his sight further southwest. The vehicles were making a beeline for the bunker. He gripped his radio, calling down to the lower levels. "This is Rebel Leader to hangar staff. Please tell me we still have some of Outer Heaven's vehicles onsite and we didn't send all of them off when we claimed the FOB."
A voice responded, "We still have several land trucks, not counting anything that might have been abandoned in No Man's Land, sir!"
Kyle widened the transmission to the all-purpose radio band for the Resistance forces in the AO. "All rebel forces, this is R-Leader. Assemble in the hangar on the first floor and mount a vehicle. We have Rebel teams in need of immediate assistance to the north side!"
Loyiso and Imke got to their feet. Other Rebels on the rooftop were jogging over to join them, Gray Fox bringing up the rear.
"Sir?" one of the Rebels asked.
"RT-4 and RT-7 are in danger," Kyle replied, his mouth tightening. "We're not going to leave them behind if we can help it."
OUTER HEAVEN NORTH
1527 HOURS
BUNKER EXTERIOR, SOUTHEAST SIDE
Soder watched the displays for the exterior cameras of the Battle Gear, watching the Rebels reposition and circle around their vehicle while it sat immobile on the ridge. The cramped compartment was bathed in a soft orange light as the internal battery of the rail gun charged up and the stifling heat was vented via the heat sinks just outside the cockpit.
This gave the Rebels plenty of time to take up positions surrounding them while the commandeered Walker Gears drove in circles around their larger tank. Some of the Rebels fired on them, but the rounds plinked off of the Battle Gear's thick armor. After a few minutes of this, the light in the cockpit turned green. The heat sink vents on the vehicle's exterior closed shut, and the tank began to hover.
"Heat is fully vented, and all systems are now operational, sir," Soder reported.
Cpt. Ivanov nodded, savagely grinning down to his men below him. "Takashi, start making evasive maneuvers. Soder, you're free to open up on all hostile targets. Time to show these sewer rats what this thing can do."
"Yes sir!" Soder shouted with vindication as he moved the joystick on his console to lay the target reticle over two of the Walker Gears that were already revving their chain guns. He squeezed his finger around the trigger and turned one of the Walkers and its pilot into confetti while the other just barely managed to dodge and sprint away.
Soder looked at another camera view and saw that two more Rebels were leveling RPGs right at them, just out of reach of the mounted automatic machine guns' turning radius. Soder didn't know how much punishment their armor could take, but he didn't want to chance it.
Soder turned his head over his shoulder. "Takashi, we've got rocket launchers on our eight o'clock. Need you to spin around!"
"Already on it," Takashi grunted.
Takashi yanked the wheel hard left, and the Battle Gear spun with a quickness that none of the three men were prepared for as they were thrown into the sides of their pilot seats. Takashi pulled back on the rear throttle, just a little more gently, and the Battle Gear moved back far enough that Soder could properly target the rocket men. Both enemies managed to get a shot off of with their rockets just as Soder turned them into a fine red mist, but while one rocket hit its mark against the hover tank's armor, the other was knocked off course and sailed harmlessly into the distance.
"Good shot, Soder," Ivanov praised.
Takashi reversed the throttle to push them forward, flying off the ridge and bouncing just above the ground at the bottom while Rebels scattered to move out of the way. As Takashi drove forward, he pulled the vehicle into another spin, clipping another Rebel with the back of one of the tank's hover treads and sending him flying.
Soder looked at the rear cameras to see another two Walkers coming up on their rear in driver mode, with one of the pilots pointing directly at the camera and the other nodding as they wheeled just out of sight. What are they up to, he wondered?
"Takashi, reposition to point at heading 330, facing the shipping container. Some of the rats are taking cover."
Obediently, Takashi spun them around again, and Soder managed to catch two foot soldiers just as they disappeared behind an empty shipping container. Cpt. Ivanov pulled back the charging handle, and the whole cockpit began to vibrate and heat up as the railgun hummed. The metal projectile was loaded into the cannon, and Ivanov pushed the button on the end of the charging handle.
The magnetic field between the gun's metal prongs shot forward, flinging the projectile into the shipping container at hypersonic speed, tearing it in half. The two halves of the shipping container were thrown briefly into the air, one of the halves crushed another Rebel while the other two just barely managed to avoid becoming stains on the concrete by diving underneath the other half's path.
The cockpit was once again sweltering. The vehicle was lowered onto its wheels and the light inside changed from green to orange to indicate its charging. Their only defense now while they were forced to remain motionless was Soder's machine guns, which ran on auxiliary power, but the Rebels were already wise to this, scrambling to keep out of the front and side-mounted machine guns' cones of vision. The heat sink vents opened with a hissing sound, expelling hot air into the atmosphere outside.
"Outstanding, sir!" Takashi shouted.
"Thank you, Takashi," Ivanov replied. "But it's not over yet. There are still a few rats running around. Once we've finished mopping up here, we'll need to head over to Supply Storage to finish the job. What can you see, Soder?"
"They're keeping away from my guns, sir," Soder answered. "We'll be sitting ducks until that battery's charged again."
"No matter," said Ivanov. "It's not like they stand a chance against our armor, anyway."
"Sir, I have multiple land vehicles approaching on radar," Soder reported. "It's our men, coming to support. And it seems like the Rebels are following them with their captured vehicles."
"So, they're coming to finally face us all head on," Ivanov growled, smiling. "Good. Let's finally settle this, once and for all."
Takashi cracked his knuckles and Soder shifted lower into his seat as the men waited for that orange light to turn green again.
OPERATION INTRUDE N313
DAY SIX – 1535 HOURS
METAL GEAR'S BUNKER – GROUND FLOOR
Dust fell from the ceiling as the ground and walls shook from the explosions heard distantly through several feet of concrete. The Infiltration Team navigated further into the dim twisting hallways of the complex, wired from adrenaline as they peeked around blind corners. Snake spotted a surveillance camera down at the end of one hallway and held up his fist to signal a halt. He opened up the transmission on his radio and called the secondary Mission Control frequency.
"Snake to Mission Control. Do you read?"
Big Boss's voice came through crisp and clear. "This is Mission Control. We read you, Snake. Send it."
"I and the Rebel Infiltration Team have been pushed into the bunker, but our point of entry has collapsed. We will not be able to use it as exfil once mission is completed."
"Acknowledged. Camera feeds show two other exits to the bunker: the main southern entrance, and a rear parking entrance a few kilometers to the north. Either point should be viable."
"Roger. We'll plan for the northern exit, as it's further from the fighting, it'll make evac easier."
"Understood," came the reply.
"You mentioned view of the camera feeds. You mentioned before CIA and NSA had obtained access to camera feeds in the bunker. Does that access extend to the bunker's interior?"
"One moment, I'll check with them."
There was a short and tense silence as the Infil Team held their position, expecting Outer Heaven troopers to show themselves at any moment.
"Control to Snake. We have access to the bunker's interior cameras, but this access is only on the surface level. There is a freight elevator that can take you underground, presumably to Metal Gear's hangar."
"Can you guide us there? This place is a maze."
"Provided you stay in sight of the cameras, that will be more than possible. Our hackers will feed Outer Heaven looping footage to obscure your passing. It's unlikely that it will work forever, but it should buy you some time to move with greater stealth."
"Much appreciated, Boss," Snake said. "I'll keep the radio channel open."
Snake looked over his shoulder at the Infil Team, who all looked at him expectantly. "CO's got eyes on the inside, and they're going to lead the way. Follow close."
The three men nodded, faith and trust absolute. Together the team wound their way through the snakelike passageways as Mission Control led Snake through the labyrinth, communicating with each other only by touch and hand signals to avoid cluing in any enemies lying in wait. The further they got, however, the more unsettled they were by the silence.
Eventually, Vusi spoke up in a strained whisper and asked what they were all thinking. "Where are all the guards?" he said.
Snake shook his head, frowning. Something didn't feel right—this was the most important building in the whole complex of Outer Heaven. Yet they'd already been inside this sprawling building for close to twenty minutes and hadn't seen a single guard or technician, or even a janitorial worker. All the while, the cameras above whirred softly as the lenses tracked their movements.
At one point, they reached a large room with desks and tables for machining parts. There was what appeared to be some kind of large mechanical device suspended above with a chain and a pulley system—a weapon module or an engine, they couldn't quite tell in the dim lighting. There was a large door in the front, presumably for carting parts through and another two doors on the left side wall. The floor had painted lines of different colors in the open walkways, leading in different directions and continuing through each door.
"Alright, Snake. Take the first door on your left, following the blue line. There are no sentries on the other side."
Snake obeyed and entered a large hallway with a linoleum floor and a high ceiling. There were two doors on either side going down the hall, and a large set of double doors at the end.
"Through the door at the end is a storeroom. There's a door on the opposite side of it that should lead to the freight elevator, according to the signage nearby."
Snake waved his men forth and led them to the doorway. They stacked up against the door on the right, and after a silent three-second count, they burst through, only to find themselves staring at an empty twelve-foot by twelve-foot space enclosed on all sides by crates stacked up to the ceiling.
"What…?" Willem asked, confused.
Suddenly, the floor they stood on started to open up, and they scrambled to back up against the wall as the trap door gave way into a spiked pit. Mandla pulled back Snake and Vusi was able to grab and hold onto the pit's edge. Willem fell victim to gravity and fell several feet down, impaling his thigh, bicep, and torso. He screamed and coughed in pain as he struggled to lift himself up, but the movement just made it worse as he slid further down onto the spikes. In moments, he was dead.
"Willem!" cried Mandla.
Snake tapped Mandla's chest and together they ran to Vusi, grabbing him by his forearms just as he lost his grip and started to fall. With their combined strength, they yanked him up to safety, teetering a little on the slim edge as they fought to keep from falling forward back into the pit.
There was a series of bangs heard from back in the hallway: the doors had all opened, and four Outer Heaven troopers started pouring in, putting bullets down their way and forcing them to stick to the walls on the perilous edge and away from the open door.
"Ambush!" Vusi screamed.
Mandla blindly fired his pistol around the corner to try and get the troopers to let up. "Throw your flash grenade!" he shouted.
Vusi pulled his last remaining flash bang from his belt, pulled the pin and tossed it in. It went off two seconds later, and a flash was seen in their peripheral vision.
"Push, push, push!" Snake ordered.
The Infil Team turned the corner, and sprayed the hallway with bullets, killing two troopers, injuring a third, and forcing the survivors to fall back down the end of the hall into the technician's lab they'd exited before.
"I'm out!" called Vusi.
"Switch!" Snake responded, moving forward to lay down covering fire while Vusi reloaded. Once the hallway was empty, the Infil team pushed forward back into the lab. Snake tossed in a fragmentation grenade, heard a scream, and then moved forward to put the last few bullets into the last remaining Outer Heaven merc.
When it was quiet, Snake pointed back to the hallway they'd just left. "Let's check those rooms!"
They returned to the hallway and checked the rooms from where the mercs had emerged—a couple of inspection labs and generic offices. They checked underneath desks, inside closets and wall lockers, behind couches and inspection tables and equipment. After no threats were found, they called all clear and started gathering ammunition and grenades from the fallen enemies to restock their own supplies.
They walked back to the pit where Willem's corpse was impaled. Vusi swore loudly in Afrikaans. Mandla was fighting to keep it together, but a deep-seated rage was forming on his face.
He slapped Snake in the chest. "Your eyes on the inside led us right into a trap," he growled accusingly.
Snake's frown wore deeper. He looked back into the room with the gore pit, looking towards the ceilings. He pointed. "You see that?" he said. "No cameras. They must not have been able to see on the other side."
Snake spoke into his radio. "Mission Control, are you getting this? The route you gave us is no good; Outer Heaven knew we were coming this way, and we're down a man. We need an alternative entry point."
"We read you, Snake. If you go back through the technician's laboratory and head through the double doors, you'll be able to get to the freight elevator through the assembly line. Look for the signs and the yellow line on the floor, it'll take you right there."
Snake nodded. "Understood. We'll head through the assembly line. Snake out."
Mandla and Vusi both looked uncertain. Mandla was gritting his teeth and scowling. Vusi asked, "Are you certain we can trust these instructions?"
Snake nodded. "My CO is the best of the best, and he taught me everything I know. I trust him with my life. He'll come through."
His team didn't share Snake's confidence, but nonetheless they resolved to push on, knowing that there was no turning back from here, whether they wanted to or not.
"We know what Outer Heaven is capable of, between the mines and trap pits. They had electrified floors and gassed hallways back in the Supply Storage facility, too," Snake explained. "Just because the cameras give us a sight advantage, doesn't mean they won't have more tricks up their sleeves. Be ready for anything and watch for any suspicious signs."
The trio continued their expedition march, dutifully following the yellow-lined hall. They are brought down a short flight of stairs, around a corner, and down another small flight. Through another pair of large double doors, they emerge into an atrium with multiple inactive conveyor belts. Half-finished machine parts, tools, and wires litter the surface of every table. On the belts sit cogs, gears, hunks of shaped metal, and other odds and ends routinely separated.
The room itself is dark, illuminated only by cold blue emergency lighting. At regular intervals there are large, automated tools of unknown purpose the size of a restaurant refrigerator, with small green and red lights softly blinking and their attached computer terminals quietly humming. The room itself was very large, about the size of a high school gymnasium. Many of the desk chairs were pulled far away from their respective tables. Whoever was in this room had left in a hurry.
The Infiltration Team checked the ammunition in their magazines. Vusi switched his half full mag for a full one. Snake waved them forward, and they stayed close to the mounted conveyor belt machines so they could duck low behind them or quickly get behind and use the tools for cover if they got ambushed again. They continued following the yellow line until they reached another set of double doors on the opposite side of the room. The sign next to the door read, 'MATERIAL DELIVERY ACCESS.'
Snake nodded to Vusi and Mandla. They stacked up against the door, cracked it open to peer through, then filed in to spread out and cover the full area of approach. They moved toward a railing and moved around to descend a short series of steps into some kind of tunnel. The tunnel abruptly ended in a concrete wall on their right, and on their left it extended further into a larger cave-like room with what appeared to be naturally occurring solid granite wars.
Just ahead of the tunnel opening was a parked truck with a covered bed, much like the transport trucks they'd seen before. Snake motioned, and Mandla and Vusi checked the driver and passenger side windows of the cab before checking the wheels and looking underneath the vehicle. They gave him a thumbs-up. Snake moved up and looked into the back of the bed, climbing up and into the back. Inside were no enemies, just two small crates. With Mandla and Vusi's help, Snake pried open both crates. Inside of one were packages of C4 plastic explosive. In the other, held separately, were handheld detonators.
Snake grabbed a block of C4 and a detonator, placing it into his backpack, and instructed the others to do the same. "We'll need these for when we get to Metal Gear," he explained.
Once they each had their own explosive, the piled out of the truck and moved through the threshold into the larger chamber. Snake looked around and saw another couple of security cameras mounted in the constructed concrete wall just above the window of an abandoned security station. He grabbed onto his radio.
"Control, we've passed through assembly and have reached material delivery access. There's a security station with cameras. Where do we go from here?"
Another moment of silence, before Control's response. "The freight elevator will be down the tunnel past the security station. However, there is a branch to the left before you get there—down that branch is a storeroom where Outer Heaven troopers have been observed delivering and storing explosive ordnance and ammunition. I recommend obtaining those supplies before boarding the lift."
"We just picked up some C4, sir," Snake retorted. "No deviation will be necessary."
Vusi and Mandla both looked to Snake, confused by this turn in the conversation.
"If there is a pilot capable of utilizing any of Metal Gear's weapon systems, they will likely attempt to use those countermeasures to keep you from getting closer. Those mercs were carrying RPGs amongst the rest of the ordnance. It could help you even the odds with the weapon platform while still keeping your distance."
Snake exhaled harshly through his nose as he weighed his options. If they kept going, they could head straight to Metal Gear without further risk of life if it turned out that the Boss's projected detour led to another ambush; but if the Boss's intel was good, then they'd be willingly giving up a distinct advantage. Snake made a decision.
"We'll poke our heads in for a quick peek. If the coast is clear, we'll make the detour. Otherwise, we're continuing on."
There was no response from the emergency radio channel. Snake assumed that this meant there would be no argument from the Boss's end. Snake looked to Mandla and Vusi. "Just got a tip of some possible ordnance storage with rocket launchers. It'll let us take out Metal Gear from a distance. I don't want to commit to a milk run in case there's another nasty surprise, so we're going to do a quick recce of the tunnel. If it's too hot, we bypass it and head straight to the freight elevator."
Mandla and Vusi didn't look happy about the idea of detouring from the main objective, but they couldn't argue against Snake's cautious approach. "Let's just be careful," Mandla said.
Snake nodded. He led his men down the tunnel through a halfway open heavy metal blast door. About thirty meters in, they found the branch off that Control had described. Snake stopped them at the corner and leaned out to observe the tunnel. There was not a soul in sight. The tunnel ended at a steel door about fifteen meters in. Snake waited ten seconds for any sign of movement before motioning his men forward.
"Slowly," he warned with a whisper.
The three men crept closer and closer to the door, with no incident. When they reached it, they stacked up just outside of the doorway, with Mandla taking point. Snake put a hand on his shoulder and when Snake felt Vusi's hand on his left shoulder, he gave Mandla a squeeze. Mandla burst through the door—and walked straight through a tripwire.
Mandla had just enough time to recognize the claymores in front of him and turn his head to scream, "BACK UP!" before the ensuing explosion tore his legs from his body at the shins, sending his torso flying back out of the doorway past him. Snake grabbed Mandla by the collar and dragged him out of view of the doorway while Vusi threw a grenade into the room. The explosion shook the walls, and the ceiling in the room caved in. Short screams were heard amidst the sound of falling rock, only to be immediately silenced. Snake and Vusi looked up, seeing the ceiling above them just outside the room was also starting to crumble, and they both dragged Mandla back up the tunnel, desperately outrunning the falling rock.
When they reached the branch-off point, the entire section of the tunnel they'd just left was completely buried—if there was any ordnance to claim, there was no getting to it now. Mandla whimpered, and Snake and Vusi could feel him shaking.
"He's going into shock," Snake said matter-of-factly. "Bandages, now!"
He and Vusi grabbed bandages out of their packs and tied off tourniquets at the end of Mandla's bloody stumps above the knees, pulling tight to restrict blood flow. Snake grabbed a tube of morphine from the trauma kit that Jennifer had left him with and jammed the needle into Mandla's arm.
"Come on, stay with us, Mandla," Snake encouraged. "Don't you die on us, now!"
Mandla grabbed Snake's arm, looking into his eyes with a pleading expression. "Snake…," he whispered.
And just like that, the light in Mandla's eyes was gone, his accusing stare boring into Snake's mind. Another life he was responsible for, snuffed out. How many more will Snake have sent to a premature end before all this is said and done, he wondered? He put out a hand and gently closed the lids.
Vusi looked up at Snake, his mouth twisted in pain and fury. "This is your fault," he said.
Snake closed his eyes. He couldn't argue with him—every last Rebel entrusted to his care that died, died on his watch, for the sake of his mission. What right had he to protest when the blame rightly lay at his feet? Snake lifted his hand from Mandla's face. It was shaking.
Snake stood up, shouldering his rifle. "I'm going to the freight elevator. You can come if you want—I won't force you."
Vusi barked a laugh. "And what, go back through the meat grinder we'd just left behind? Don't act like I actually have a choice here."
Snake's face turned cold and impassive, his blue eyes piercing Vusi with his stare. "You all had a choice to leave with your men before I entered into this bunker, and I'm giving you the choice to leave now, so do what you want. I didn't ask you to come with me."
Snake started walking back down the tunnel, before Vusi grabbed him by the shoulder, spun him back around, and slugged him hard in the face. Snake rubbed his cheek, dumbfounded.
"Don't," Vusi said. He spoke evenly in a quiet voice that didn't match the rage in his eyes. "These men gave their lives for you so that you could keep going. We volunteered our lives for you. You will not disrespect them or me by speaking of us so lightly."
Snake looked to the ground, feeling shame. He had no response. A tense moment passed before Vusi spoke up again.
"You said you trust your commanding officer, yes?"
Snake looked up at Vusi's gaze. "With my life," he reaffirmed strongly.
Vusi approached Snake and flicked the off switch on Snake's radio. Snake gave him a questioning look, and Vusi continued, "And what about the people working around him? Do you trust them, too?"
Snake cocked his head, squinting in confusion. "What are you getting at?"
"You said they had hacked into Outer Heaven's cameras. If your commander isn't viewing the screens himself, then he's listening to someone who is. This person is feeding him the intel that he gives to you."
Snake's eyes widened as he considered the implications. "You're suggesting that someone at Mission Control might be compromised? That Outer Heaven has a spy working among my people?"
Vusi licked his lips, his mouth tightened. "Think about it," he said. "Three times, your commander has given us guidance since we made our way to this bunker facility. All three times, that guidance has led us into a trap or an ambush. Your commander may personally be trustworthy, Snake, but his advice is anything but."
"But if that's true, then…that means my people at Mission Control are in danger!" Snake exclaimed. He grabbed his radio. "I have to warn him!"
Vusi put a hand on Snake's shoulder and shook his head vehemently. "The informant doesn't know that we know or suspect. If you warn your commander now, you risk alerting the enemy spy as well. He could escape before you get the chance to detain him, or worse, you could put your commander's life in danger, along with the lives of any other loyal members of your group."
Snake dropped his hand, shouldering his rifle again. "So, what should I do…?"
"From now on, you should keep all correspondence with your commander to a minimum, and we should completely disregard his advice. If he asks questions, keep your answers vague." Vusi looked up and down the tunnels. "And perhaps it would behoove us to stop traveling within sight of the cameras as we make our way deeper underground."
Snake weighed Vusi's words. He nodded. "Agreed." He looked down at Mandla. "What about Mandla?"
Vusi closed his eyes, his face contorted in grief. "There's nothing we can do for him now," Vusi said. "We just have to keep going. Hopefully when this is over, we can collect Mandla's, Willem's and Petrus's bodies and return them to their families."
"Right…" Snake said. He breathed in slowly, then exhaled. He gave Vusi a couple of seconds to compose himself before pointing his rifle down the tunnel toward the freight elevator.
"Alright, I'll take point. Let's finish this. For them," Snake said.
"For everyone," Vusi replied.
Together, the pair continued down the end of the tunnel through to a large room with a massive freight elevator. After finding no immediate threats, Snake pressed the button on the console and the perimeter railing rose from the edges of the platform as it descended diagonally down into the depths below.
As they sank further, Snake kept pondering Vusi's warning of the traitor in their midst. He thought of Big Boss and the others at Mission Control, and silently hoped for their safety…
A/N: And so ends the infiltration of the bunker and the initial arrival of the Battle Gear tank. Next chapter there'll be less bouncing around hopping between different POVs of the battlefield as we hit the first part of the story's major climax, split between two halves: the first half of Chapter 18 will consist of Kyle and Fox's rescue of RT-4 and 7 and their battle against Ivanov's crew in the Battle Gear, and the second half of the chapter will be Snake's battle against the Metal Gear weapon deep in the bowels of the underground bunker.
The first half of this seventeenth chapter was a bit more fun to write than the second, if I'm being honest. I knew exactly where I wanted the sequence of events to go, but I'm getting impatient to get to the main event with the fight with Metal Gear and Venom. Having that in the back of my head turned this particular chapter into a little bit of a slog. Turns out that writing multiple perspectives of the same event at once all in the same chapter can be kind of exhausting. If and when I write any sequels to this story, I'm not sure I'll do it that way again. Good lesson learned!
Next chapter will be posted...honestly, I'm not sure. If I keep up this same pace, I may have another one ready by end of this month or beginning of the next, but I don't want to make any promises. Either way, I hope that I can continue entertaining you as we hit the last leg of Snake's journey. It's not going to end in the next few chapters, but you'll be able to see the end from where we'll be standing. You'll see what I mean when we get there. Thank you again to all my readers for your reviews and continued support! I couldn't do this without you.