A/N- I can't believe it's been over a year since I've updated this story. Sorry to those of you who have been waiting patiently for this story to be updated. This story has not been forgotten about.

A/A/N- Two reminders quickly. Firstly, the chapter lengths of this story vary in length wildly. Some will be thousands of words long and others will only be a few hundred words long.

Secondly, this fanfic will be roughly following the plot of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. It's a good, enjoyable game if you can forgive its flaws and if you can't play it, I'm sure there's videos around that'll show the game off.

Chapter 10b- Harbour Intrigue

Harry, Johnathan and their team were sat inside a building on the outskirts of the town where the harbour was. They had covered up all the windows and doors to prevent unwelcome eyes from watching. None of them even turned a single light on. "What's the plan, Boss?" One of the soldiers asked Harry.

Harry looked thoughtfully at the map laid out in front of Johnathan and himself. "We're going to wait until dawn. I don't want us to be ambushed by guards we can't see in the night." He said to his men, making his intent clear. "What did the intel team say about the harbour area?" Harry asked Johnathan.

Johnathan pointed to some directions marked in pencil on the map. "These two way arrows marked on the map here are the predicted guard routes. The intel team wasn't certain as to the exact numbers but they were certain of the routes that the guards would take." Johnathan then pointed to a number of thick dots scattered on the map. "These dots are indications of items and we have a list of the items we can expect to find while we're there." Johnathan then pulled out a small piece of paper just slightly bigger than his own hands from one of his pockets and handed it to Harry. "We don't know the exact locations of the items so we're kind of blind on that front but at least we know what we can find."

"Did they have any clue on what our objective is?" Harry asked.

"They seemed to suggest that they were in some crates on a container ship but other than that, they couldn't tell us anything."

"Well, something is better than nothing." Harry remarked. "What can the guards expect in the way of reinforcements?"

"Not much. If we raise the alarm at any point, they can call in a few squads of infantry and maybe an armoured car and a half track." Johnathan answered.

"That should be manageable." Harry said, pleased at what he heard. "Right everyone, get some rest and food and drink. We'll leave here around half an hour before dawn."

Early in the morning, before the sun rose, Harry, Johnathan and their team left the temporary safe house in their truck. It was a quick journey to the harbour and they encountered no opposition in their way and soon parked up at one of the harbour entrances. Harry got out of the truck and scanned his surroundings. He didn't like what he saw. The immediate area around the truck provided cover for both themselves and the guards and it was easily possible to get boxed in. "Right..." Harry said to himself with a grim nod. He then went back to the truck and smacked the side of it a few times. "When you get out, wait here until thirty seconds have passed. I'll take point and clear the route to the ship. You'll mop up behind me and gather up all the guards and items we can take with us." He ordered everyone in a loud whisper.

Johnathan nodded and then turned to his and Harry's men. "You heard Harry. Pair up and spread out in thirty seconds."

"Yes Boss!" Harry and Johnathan's men replied, ready for whatever came their way.

Harry cautiously made his way through the harbour, weaving between large crates and tall observation posts. The harbour guards were well positioned and were stood in the way of the container ship but Harry was able to stun and tranquilize every guard that posed a threat to his infiltration. Johnathan and their team followed Harry, knocking out whatever stray guards they came across and snatching whatever items they could carry. Some members of Harry and Johnathan's team dragged the knocked out guards back to the truck. With the area outside the ship cleared of guards, Harry and Johnathan snuck onto the container ship.

Harry and Johnathan were about to go round the corner of a container in the ship's hold when they heard a confrontation that forced them to hold back from going further into the hold. Harry glanced round the container and was surprised when he recognised one of the men taking part in the confrontation. A man with what appeared to be pins in his head.

"You dog! You dare defile my collection of antique weapons?! Keep your filthy hands off them!"

"Well, well, well. Colonel Mordeeb. I had heard you were on the run. Seems a lot of that nonsense is going on at the moment. I'm just thinking about how pathetic it is that a base commander such as yourself is hiding in a place like this..."

"SHUT UP! You scoundrels think you can do what you like on my base? When my reinforcements arrive, I'll show you who really runs this base."

"Pathetic... Is it hard to be an officer... a base commander when no one listens to your orders?"

"SILENCE!" The one known as Colonel Mordeeb fired an assault rifle at the other man. The other man then emitted a gas or cloud and the bullets were frozen in mid air before they could connect with him, hitting him harmlessly. The bullets then dropped to the ground like they were coins. Colonel Mordeeb then began to scream in horror as he saw what happened to the bullets. "What are you? You're a monster!"

The other man, the one Harry recognised, laughed briefly at Colonel Mordeeb with disdain. "You try to kill a man and call him 'monster'?" The man shook his head, remarking to him, "Such crude behaviour." The man Harry recognised then grabbed Colonel Mordeeb's assault rifle and Harry could see Colonel Mordeeb shaking where he stood as he continued to hold his weapon.

"Damnit!" Colonel Mordeeb then saw his assault rifle begin to visibly freeze. "Aagh! My arm!" He then cried out as his arm was caught up in the freezing of the assault rifle.

"I'd heard that there was an intruder who was lurking around here. And here I am, finding I've come all this way... for nothing." The man Harry knew sounded thoroughly annoyed, and seemed distracted. "I'd been hoping to see the face of an old friend, wasn't I? Harry..." The man laughed a bit. "My raison d'etre." The man then focused on Colonel Mordeeb fully once more, "You're not worth killing. I can't have you running around like this though." The man Harry knew then threw Colonel Mordeeb into some kind of cage before freezing the lock on the cage. "There that should hold you..."

Colonel Mordeeb was incandescent with rage, clearly feeling humiliated. "How dare you throw me in a cage like some farm animal!" The man Harry recognised shushed him up very sternly. "Quiet now. The lock will melt in a few hours. You shouldn't starve to death although it would be best for you to save your strength." The man Harry recognised then began to walk away until he could no longer be seen or heard.

"You're alive!" Harry said in disbelief.

"Who is he, Harry?" Johnathan asked.

"I'll tell you all in detail later but he was once a war buddy of mine during campaigns in Lustria and the Island of Blood. I thought he died." Harry explained briefly.

"Obviously he survived." Johnathan remarked off-handedly. The two men then approached Colonel Mordeeb cautiously.

"Have you come back to kill me?" Colonel Mordeeb asked bitterly, refusing to look up off the floor. He then began yelling out to no one in particular, "Guards, to my side! This is a direct order from Imperial Colonel Mordeeb, head of the coalition base here.!" Colonel Mordeeb then began laughing like a madman. He looked up and saw Harry and Johnathan. "You're not the same man as before. Neither of you are. Don't worry, my orders fall upon deaf ears anyway." Colonel Mordeeb then began recounting when Gene arrived at the base, "I think my sense of time is off but he, the whelp Gene, arrived here somewhere between four and six weeks ago.

"Is there no one still loyal to you?" Johnathan asked.

"You must be joking?! Wouldn't you like to know how in the short amount of time he's been here, he's managed to take charge of the peninsula?"

"He said announced he was building a military nation, a nation of soldiers." Harry pointed out.

Colonel Mordeeb let out a scornful laugh. "A military nation? Please... That piper has them all dancing to his tune. I won't be fooled though. His methods are simpler. His tools lie deep in the hearts of all men."

"Greed... Fear... he reaches past the mental barriers in people's minds and strikes there, doesn't he?" Harry said in realisation.

"Exactly... Especially fear. Compared with the fear that man brought with him, your puny weapons are nothing. You have no idea how terrible that man truly is." Colonel Mordeeb told Harry and Johnathan.

Harry looked around and read some of the writing on the shipping containers and crates. "Ancient Empire rifles and cannons, old dwarven pistols? An old world war one era Sopwith biplane? What are they doing here?" Harry asked in confusion.

"They're parts of my collection. I like antique weapons. They give us an insight into our past and what we can learn from it." Colonel Mordeeb then began laughing like a madman again. Harry fired off a spell at the lock where the man had frozen the cage shut, unlocking the cage and destroying the lock. Harry and Johnathan then walked away as Colonel Mordeeb continued to laugh madly.

A few short moments later, Harry and Johnathan came across something that grabbed their attention. "That crate... It looks very out of place. Not like any of the others in this ship." Harry remarked as Johnathan and himself got closer to it.

"Reads made in USA, Empire and Russia. Harry, this has to be what we're looking for. What she told you to look for." Johnathan said to Harry.

"I think you're right, Johnathan. Let's take a look inside." Harry said as he and Johnathan forced the crate open.

Sometime later, Harry called Roy over the radio. "This is Harry. We found what were looking for."

"Great!" Roy said happily.

"Don't get your hopes up, yet. Whilst we found the crate they'd been keeping the prototype weapon in, it's long since been removed from there and the crate itself is largely empty apart from a few spare parts." The radio transmission then seemed to get interrupted. "Roy? Campbell?"

"Heh, heh."

"Who is this?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just heard a familiar voice and thought I'd say hello. I can't thank you enough for taking care for taking care of that Orc warlord a few years ago. That Rorzor creature."

"I remember. Rorzor had that offshore mobile battle station with all those prototype super weapons."

"That's right."

"Who are you?"

"I'm sorry but can't reveal my true name for the time being. For now you can call me... Ghost."

"Ghost?"

"That's right. After all, names and titles are nothing more than decoration." Ghost affirmed to Harry. "More to the point though, I was listening in your conversation just now. You seem to have developed an interest in the weapon."

"You know about it?" Harry asked.

"Indeed I do. The weapon you are seeking is a new kind of metal gear."

"Oh bloody hell!"

"I understand your sentiments. The model Gene stole is designed to undertake multiple tasks and take on multiple enemies at once. Furthermore, it can be launched in a ballistic trajectory to infiltrate nations, bypassing almost all defences in the process."

"I'm guessing it can operate without support."

"You're correct, Harry. It can indeed operate without support of any kind but it is also designed to support allied forces in combat." Ghost told Harry. "If you're able to, you might be able to stop or at least delay its activation if you can destroy or steal the warheads to its primary weapon systems."

"Do you know where they're being stored, these warheads?" Harry asked Ghost.

"They should be in a facility somewhere on that side of the peninsula but I don't know the precise location." Ghost replied.

"They must've had help getting the warheads here. Was it Gromgor Grimhide?" Harry asked adamantly.

"No. I believe it was an official from either the USA or The Empire that helped get the warheads to the peninsula."

"Do you know where this official is?"

"No. He is said to be dead but if I were a government official, I think I'd be feeling great shame about what I'd done and would most likely be hiding out at an airport or a similar place."

"So I find this government official to find these warheads. Will that stop the activation of this new Metal Gear?"

"It might or might not. Even if it doesn't, it should delay the activation of Metal Gear." Ghost told Harry.

Harry wasn't quite sure if he believed Ghost but they had no other leads to follow up on so he chose to trust the anonymous Ghost. "Ok Ghost, I'll believe you."

"I'm counting on you, Harry. The world counts on you."

The radio call ended and Harry, Johnathan and their team returned to their harbour base and before they debriefed with Roy, Johnathan pulled Harry to one side. "Wanna tell me who pinhead was?"

Harry sighed. "His name is Python. We fought together in campaigns on the Island of Blood and in Lustria. I thought he died in Lustria. As for the pins in his head and his apparent ability to freeze objects, I've never seen them before but I think they must be something to do with his survival."

"Why does he seem to have a Grudge with you, Harry?" Johnathan asked.

"I don't know. I'm not even sure if it's truly a grudge. I think that there's something driving him, a trauma maybe but not a grudge." Harry answered. He then sighed again, "Look, Johnathan, if we come face to face with him, I must face him myself. You mustn't get involved."

"But-"

"No buts, Johnathan. Consider that an official order."

"Yes Boss." Johnathan replied reluctantly.

"Don't be down, Johnathan." Harry said to the younger man reassuringly. "Come on, before we go to see Roy, why don't we go and try and find something decent to eat, shall we?"

Johnathan gave Harry a small smile and the pair walked around to find something good to eat.

A/N- I hope you have enjoyed the chapter and please review. I'll try not to take too long with the next chapter of this story.