"You bought what!?" Snake yelled over the codec. In all honesty, this was the kind of reaction Miller was expecting. It was a pain to get the aircraft carrier back to Mother Base, mainly because no one knew how to sail it. It came down to Strangelove jerry-rigging an AI to the ship's controls, and having a few men staying around to make sure it worked. Needless to say, the jets on the ship were a thing a beauty, the Broker had not let him down. All sixty-four were in working order and were being moved onto Mother Base.
"Look, Snake it was a good investment opportunity," Miller replied, looking over the blueprint of the vessel.
"Investment? Kaz that carrier is going to be bleeding us dry before we ever find a use for it." Snake retorted, the sound of him smoking a cigar clear over the codec.
"But I do have a use for it," Miller replied, or more accurately it was the R&D Department's idea. But he was the one to sign off on it.
"Already?"
"Huey sent up an idea a while ago. He wants to transition Mother Base to a more reliable power source. One where we won't have to keep raiding oil fields and natural gas pipelines. But…"
"But he was suggesting nuclear, and the only nuke we have was what he wanted to use." Snake surmised, his exasperation already palpable.
"I have to say Snake, I gotta agree with him on this one. It could save us a fortune on energy costs." Miller continued. It was one of the rare occurrences that he had agreed with Huey, but it was a decent idea.
"Kaz, it's too risky, transferring the nuclear reactor to Mother Base could end badly in far too many ways."
"I know that Snake, it's why we're going to take as many precautions as necessary."
"This still doesn't solve the problem of the carrier, it instead gives us a ship that can't go anywhere. Forever stuck on Mother Base and draining our pocket."
Miller… hadn't thought about that. He mentally swore as he ran through their options. If they do nothing with the reactor, they would have a functional aircraft carrier. It would be draining their pockets, but they could at least have a use for it. The other option was to leave it hanging off the side of Mother Base, eternally dry-docked. He began finding himself in a similar position The Broker was in. Maybe blowing it up was a good idea.
It certainly seemed cheaper than the alternatives. He needed to think for a moment, what use did a paramilitary organization have for a warship? War obviously, but only war it could afford. He was going to need more contracts. And maybe more sailors on Mother Base. But it was something they would have to do, even if he wanted the nuclear reactor idea.
"Shit," Miller responded over the codec. Maybe he could see if the Broker had any spare alcohol. He heard Snake sigh over the codec, taking another puff of his cigar.
"Did you at least get the information from him?" Snake inquired.
"Yeah, though it wasn't much. You remember that raid in China a while back?" Miller started.
"The one with the genetic research lab?" Snake had remembered parts of it. Some Triad group had attacked the place and stolen billions. They hadn't been seen or heard from since.
"That's the one," Miller began, "you see, Night Owl was behind the raid. He had the Triads steal something for him but The Broker wouldn't say what it was."
"Hmm, if not money, then research." Snake reasoned. Why else would you attack a research institute? Snake could already see the plan that had taken place. Go in, destroy some things, steal some money as a distraction, and then go for the real goal. The problem would be what that data was, and what its purpose would be. But before he could continue, Pequod called him over.
"ETA three minutes Boss!"
It seemed they were nearly there.
"I'll have to go," Snake spoke over the codec, checking over his weapons.
"Gotcha, good luck out there Boss," Miller replied, the codec going silent.
To the lone parrot sitting on a tree branch, it was a calm day. No predators were in sight, and it had found plenty of food to eat. The sky was a nice shade of blue and it didn't spot the black dot on the horizon. It simply enjoyed the day on its tree branch. Then the bird heard something, it didn't know what it was but it was loud. A strange beat happens every few seconds. The black dot was closer now, its shape becoming more defined. The noise started changing as well, a lone voice became present. The black dot was now right next to the parrot, the bird flying out of the way.
"Take on me! Come on Boss, you have to admit it's catchy!" Pequod shouted over the helicopter's blades. Snake had the doors wide open as he prepared to leave.
"It gives away our position too easily," he replied, watching over the canopy of the jungle below. Memories flashed through his mind of certain events.
"Who is going to see us out here? Besides, it makes this seem more exciting!" Pequod retorted, the helicopter nearing an opening in the jungle canopy.
"What a thrill," Snake sarcastically responded, before leaping out of the helicopter. Pequod then signed off and flew back to Mother Base. Now Snake was alone, his only companion being the rifle in his hands. The same equipment as all his other missions. Tranq pistol, MRS assault rifle, and Renov with tranq rounds. The jungle was stirring up old memories though.
It was far too familiar not to. He tried to ignore this as he went forward, keeping his eye on the trees. He trekked through the area, stumbling across a burnt-out farmhouse. Scorch marks were visible on the wood that wasn't burnt, with bits of shattered glass littering the insides. It still seemed mostly intact, and it was close enough to the rest of the town to provide a better view. Moving inside, he carefully inspected the rooms one by one. Everything inside was destroyed or looted, the kitchen's fridge missing and its shelves ripped off the walls.
He found the old occupants as well, a broken photo of an elderly couple lying on the ground, next to two burnt bodies. Slowly he made his way up the stairs of the farmhouse, continuing to check the rooms. He soon got to the tallest part of the house, overlooking the fields and giving a better scope of the town. Pulling out his binoculars, he got a better scale of the destruction the town had received. Holes were found in almost every building. Scorch marks covered whatever wasn't burnt away, with debris all over the streets of the town.
Checkpoints also covered the streets, with several cartel members standing guard with mounted machine guns nearby. Snake spotted mortars on rooftops and supply trucks driving in and out of the city. He didn't see everything, but it was clear they brought a lot of hardware into the area. Snake was about to check his Idroid for a satellite view when he heard a floorboard squeak behind him.
"Hands in the air, Marrano." a voice spoke out behind him. It was feminine, and only a foot away from him. Slowly Snake complied, raising his hands carefully. He waited until he heard the floorboards squeak again, signifying the person was getting closer. When she was right behind him, he felt his arms get yanked down and handcuffed together. A professional it seemed, she moved quickly and efficiently. It was only then he got to see his attacker, with him being forcible turned around.
Five individuals were in front of him, all wearing camouflaged fatigues with body armor. Four had a TAR-21 rifle and one had an M60 light machine gun, with pouches of ammo visible on their vests. The female standing next to him had eyes and hair that kept changing color constantly, while the others' features were covered up by balaclavas. They didn't resemble cartel members though, they were too professionally organized.
"What's your purpose here?" the woman demanded as she faced Snake. The others decided to fan out into the rest of the house, examining the area.
"I'm an entomologist, I came to find a few morphos" Snake replied. It didn't work with Huey but he didn't have a better excuse.
"Huh, you're quite well armed for an entomologist," The woman said, looking over the MRS rifle she confiscated from Snake.
"I'm not cartel if that's what you're insinuating," Snake stated. The woman looked back up at him then.
"Clearly, otherwise you would be over in the town. But I don't buy that butterfly bullshit, so who are you?" she demanded. It was clear lying would get him nowhere, especially if he wanted answers of his own.
"Call me Snake," he began, looking over at the woman. "I came to investigate the area for a target."
This seemed to have annoyed the woman, as a visible distaste became present on her face.
"Ah, so you're another hero sent by the Yanquis. In that case, you can fuck off." he noticed the extra venom in her tone when she said, hero.
"I'm not a hero, and the US didn't send me either." Snake retorted, the woman now very aggressively uncuffing him. He rubbed his wrist when she finally got them off.
"Sure you're not, you got a fancy codename, a hero costume, and some odd-looking equipment. So of course you're not a hero," she replied sarcastically.
"This isn't a costume," Snake told her.
"And this isn't a rifle." she retorted.
"Look," Snake started, knowing grabbing and holstering his weapons, "I am not a hero. I wasn't sent by the government, I came here on my own. I'm looking for this man." He pulled out his Idroid then, showing off a picture of Night Owl. The woman almost became surprised when the hologram first appeared.
"He calls himself Night Owl, and he was last spotted in that town working with the cartel." Snake continued, pointing over to Paraiso.
"Alright Snake," she began, skepticism already clear in her voice, "I'm going to assume you're telling the truth then. Maria Perez, Policía Nacional de Colombia."
"Colombian police? What are you doing in Venezuela?" Snake asked.
"Same as you, were after one of the cartel's heads and reports said he was in the area," Maria replied, walking over to the nearby window.
"Although, this was supposed to be an off-the-books operation. It seems that went out the window now."
"Who were you after?" Snake inquired, approaching the window himself. She passed him a lone photograph, detailing two individuals. It wasn't the best, seemingly taken off of a black-and-white security camera, but it showed enough.
"Alejandro and Diego Galvez. The heads of the Los Hermanos cartel. The one in the report stated one of them was in Paraiso, and was also responsible for the destruction."
"Hmm, if this is one of the heads, then he might know where Night Owl is," Snake commented, handing back the photo.
"I wish you good luck with that then, because we don't know where the head is."
"Any idea where their command post might be?"
"None, though now that I think about it… they had a lot of hired guns operating near the school. Might have some decent info in there."
Snake took another look out the window, looking around the town to find the school. He found it, and sure enough, it was surrounded by guards. AA guns lined the roof, along with long lines of barbed wire. Whatever was in there must have been valuable. He turned to leave, before handing Maria his radio frequency. She accepted it but generally remained untrusting of Snake. From there he went back outside, slowly approaching the town center. The destruction was even clearer up close.
Corpses still littered the streets, with dozens of men taking them away to be burned. Long trails of blood flowed out to the town's sewers, staining the concrete red. And there wasn't any civilian in sight. Everyone Snake came across had the colors of the cartel, and a rifle in hand. He narrowly dodged a group of them behind a wall.
"I'm telling you, man, that dude does not stop smiling."
"Seriously? Is his face stuck or something?"
"Nah man, he's just always smiling for some reason."
Snake snuck by them, going around the rear of the wall. He could see the school now, though it more resembled a motel. Cars with smashed windows and burnt paint covered its small parking lot. A dozen guards surrounded the area, with a dozen more on the roof. It was far too many to knock them all out, it seemed he would have to do this lethally. He checked his MRS to ensure it was loaded and approached the school. He quietly walked next to an abandoned car, using it as cover.
His main goal was the offices, hoping that the main documents would be inside. He found two guards lounging inside, watching a lone TV mounted on the wall. A news broadcast was playing on it loudly. It helped cover his footsteps as he approached the men.
"In other news, CEO of Sheild Enterprises David Shield has announced the unveiling of his latest megaproject. A floating island he dubs will become the eighth wonder of the world. Investors still curious about the project estimate a possible…"
"Heh, a floating island. What kind of bullshit idea is that?"
"Bullshit? Man are we even seeing the same thing, that is the city of the future!"
"City of the future my ass. One well-placed bomb on that thing and it's sinking to the bottom of the ocean."
"Well… I mean…"
"And second, how the hell are they going to make sure that thing handles the waves of the fucking ocean. I mean have they seen the Pacific!"
"Since when were you an engineering major?"
"Since never! This is just basic common sense, they keep going on about villains, and then they announce the most vulnerable city concept known to man. I can't think of anyone more excited about the idea of an entire city you can hold hostage, by threatening to ram it aground. I swear it's like they want it to get taken over."
"I don't know, I still think it's cool."
Snake stood behind them now, drawing out his knife. He slices the first man's throat before his friend can notice. He then does the same with the second man. Snake finds nothing though, the documents in the room only being for the school. It seemed he was going to have to check every room. He peeks outside before leaving the lobby, making his way to the first room. He looks behind him, making sure the coast is clear and enters the room. It was empty, all the furniture was taken out, and no one was in sight. The same if for the second and then third rooms. When he enters the fourth he finds dozens of discarded rifles lying around.
A lot of the other weapons in the room were explosives. An idea came to mind as Snake began pulling out some C4. He placed the bricks all around the room, mostly on the cartel's explosives. He then left, keeping the detonator close to him. He then goes to the fifth and sixth, finding more weapons in both of them. Slowly it becomes more clear as to what the school's use is. It's not a command post, but an armory. He did one last check around the school, searching for any piece of information. He finds nothing. So like the other rooms, he straps C4 to the walls.
Completing the setup, he makes his way out of the building. Once outside he hides in an alleyway, planning his next move. If he had taken over a town, where would be the most secure location for a command post? He stopped when his codec came to life.
"So Yanqui, find anything at the school." Maria's voice came through the codec.
"No information on the brothers I'm afraid. They were using the place as a weapons stockpile."
"Damn it, and here I thought we had a lead. Ok, that was… No absolutely not!" Snake heard Maria say. The woman arguing with someone on the other end. It would sporadically be picked up by the radio, giving Snake a few details.
"We… know… trust… him… no… fine…"
It stopped cutting out, Maria came back on.
"Alright, I'm going to ask for a favor, think of it as gaining my trust."
"And what would that be?" Snake asked as he looked over his shoulder. The cartel members seemed more active now, a few scrambling around the area for some reason. They hadn't spotted him, that was for sure, but something was up.
"A colleague of ours was captured doing recon. We believe he's being forced to work in the fields in the East."
"And you want me to rescue him." Snake surmised.
"Yes, you do that, and I'll see if I can help."
Snake pondered this for a moment, weighing the options he was given. The extra help would be appreciated, especially with the majority of MSF's manpower on the other side of the world.
"Hmm, I'll see what I can do," Snake replied. The response he got back was silence, which Snake found strange. Still, he had a new goal, as he continued to the east. It wasn't far, mainly due to the field's sheer scale. Coca plants were the only crop in the field, with hundreds harvesting the plant. It must have been the whole town in the fields, if not the majority. He saw children ferrying large bags of the plant off, with the watchful eye of the guards. Throughout it all the man Snake was looking for stuck out. His uniform was torn and tattered, with a visibly broken leg barely keeping him standing.
Fultoning him was not an option then, doing it with him injured could very well rip his leg off. Slowly he made his approach to the fields, entering under its large fence. He crawled along the ground trying his best to avoid being spotted. He made it to the man, right as the man collapsed. Nearby a few workers tried to get him back on his feet, only to stop when noticing Snake. He slowly motioned for them to remain silent, before picking the man up. He was about to start sneaking off when he found a new problem. The other workers started to follow him. They wanted freedom and Snake could understand why.
But he couldn't sneak them all out, only a few at a time. Yet he couldn't just leave them, several of the workers were only children. It was clear that he needed a new plan. Then he remembered the armory, it was the perfect distraction. He began grabbing the detonator and activated his codec, calling in for several extraction helicopters. Moving swiftly, he pressed the detonator. A massive fireball engulfed the buildings behind them, catching the guards by surprise. Almost all of them began running towards the base of the explosion trying to figure out what happened.
With them distracted he made his way out of the fields, heading to the abandoned farmhouse. The civilians followed behind him, attempting to remain unseen. It seemed to go off without a hitch, as they reached their destination. Snake carried the man inside as Maria and the others assisted the people behind him. Setting the man down, Snake took a head count.
"Holy shit," Maria spoke, "I was expecting you to bring one man,"
"Well, I had to make a change of plans," Snake replied, holding onto his MRS. He doubted the guards wouldn't notice the civilians missing, even with how few Snake had escorted.
"You got a plan for all of them?" Maria asked, motioning to the crowd now in the house.
"I called in some helicopters for support, they should be arriving shortly."
"I should hope so, they'll need to-"
"Shit!" one of the officers yelled out, he ducked back under the window seal, then bullets struck the house's frame. Immediately the people began panicking, as two officers moved them to the back of the house. Snake meanwhile ducked behind one of the house's walls, a window right next to it. He quickly peered outside, finding the small army of trucks approaching them. One of the trucks had an AA gun on the back, its barrels aiming for the house. Before it could fire Snake shot at the gun's operator.
The operator was hit in the head and neck, dying quickly. The other trucks stopped near the house, its occupants swarming out. They took position behind anything they could find. A few tried rushing the front door, only to be met by two officers killing them. Snake, grabbed a grenade out of his bag, tossing it at an approaching truck. It detonated on its windshield, the shrapnel tearing apart the drivers.
He quickly turned back away, as bullets whizzed through the window. Finding a break in the enemy's fire, he aimed. Snake fired a three-round burst at a guard again trying to charge the front door. He's not entirely sure they can hold out long enough for the helicopters to arrive. Then, as quickly as the shooting starts, it stops. Replaced by a more menacing sound. Snake looked out the window and swore, right as a tank came to a halt. A truck followed behind it, with two men getting out.
"You know, when my men told me there was an attempted escape, I nearly laughed at them."
It was Maria who then swore, slightly peeking out the window.
"I mean, Paraiso is a town of smart competent people, right? Surely no one would be dumb enough to flee. But here we are."
"Well, I did tell you it would happen," A new voice rang out, one that peaked Snake's anger.
"Night Owl!"
"A pleasure to see you again Snake! It's been what, a year now? We really need to meet more often." Snake could already see the grin on the man's face. He peeked around the corner, spotting the bald man out in the open. Yet he couldn't get a clear shot without leaving cover.
"Ah, so that's the name of today's annoyance. Snake huh? Well, Snake, I'm going to be a generous man today." Diego began, with the tank's turret beginning to move. It stopped shortly, aiming directly at the house.
"You can either come out here and give back my workers. The smart option. Or, you can stay in there and die to this tank I borrowed. Your choice."
He checked his Idroid quickly, the helicopters were only a few minutes away. He just needed to stall them.
"Tell me, what happens if I do surrender?" he asked back, continually checking his Idroid for updates.
"Well, I could use a man of your talents Snake. Night Owl told me you are a mercenary after all. What do you say, a nice big contract in exchange for a few measle workers."
"How much are we talking?" Snake replies, noticing Maria's face shift to anger. He motioned for her to be quiet as he yet again checked his Idroid.
"You can name your price after you step outside."
Slowly, he stood out of cover, fully expecting them to shoot him. Instead, he finds nothing and slowly makes his way outside. Snake finds Diego out in front greeting him, all his men still training their guns on him. He keeps his MRS with him, lowered as he approaches the man.
"See, was that so hard, now we… can…" Diego paused hearing something off in the distance. It was faint in the beginning but slowly became more noticeable before the tank exploded. Diego's men scrambled looking for their attacker as the helicopters arrived.
"Take on me! Take me on! I'll be gone!"
"This is Pequod arriving at LZ!"
The helicopter's miniguns fired at the men on the ground, as the other helicopters provided cover for the civilians. A cartel member tried to get back on an AA gun, only for a missile to blow it up. Diego's men fired sporadically at the helicopters, trying to damage them at all. Snake had taken out his rifle now, attempting to capture Night Owl. But the man was gone, seemingly disappearing in an instant.
He was interrupted in his search though, as Pequod called him over the codec.
"Everyone's on board Boss, we need to go!"
"Do you have eyes on Night Owl?" Snake demanded, firing a quick burst at a lone enemy. Their body quickly collapsed to the ground.
"Negative Boss, but we have enemy reinforcements inbound! We need to go!"
Snake angrily ran back over to the helicopter. It would seem Night Owl escaped this day.
Night Owl watched as the helicopters flew away, what little Anti-air systems the cartel had nearby trying to shoot them down. All the while "Take On Me" blared from the vehicle's speakers. He was glad he had made that stealth camo when he did. Sure it was an absolute pain to get the blueprint, but it was worth the almost pure invisibility. Diego started to approach him then, the man had been trying to shoot a pilot with an AK but eventually gave up.
"Well, that was fun." Night Owl commented, watching as Diego pulled out a cigarette.
"Fun for now, my brother's going to chew me out for letting them escape though."
"Such is the price for entertainment, no matter if failure or success."
"So," Diego started, lighting the cigarette in his mouth, "this Snake guy, he doesn't seem like the usual merc."
"I did tell you paying him wouldn't work."
"Yeah, that's the thing, what kinda merc says no to a blank check?"
Night Owl chuckled at the question, continuing to gaze out over the horizon where the helicopters disappeared.
"Have you ever heard, of Big Boss?"
Diego paused for a moment, a little confused by the question. He only answered after taking a quick puff of his cigarette.
"Just rumors, he's some guy raiding oil fields in the Middle East right?"
"He's done far more than raid oil fields I'm afraid. He is secretly on the HPSC's most-wanted list. Not to mention a bounty of five hundred million dollars on his head." Night Owl replied, now looking back at Diego, the man now visibly intrigued.
"Let me guess, Snake works for Big Boss?"
"Heh no, Snake is Big Boss."
Night Owl could already see the gears turning as intrigue turned to calm anger.
"Shit. What the hell did you get us involved in now."
"I wouldn't worry about it too much." Night Owl stated.
"Wouldn't worry about it? We just messed with the man who has been pissing off oil dictators and winning for a year now. I'm going to have to beg to differ." Diego countered.
"I said he was on the HPSC's most wanted, remember? So expect some larger support when Madam President hears about this."