It was time for the assault on the Organisation.
After leaving the reliquary, Snake and the other two Seekers had found that Guggenheim had convinced doctor Nielson of the motivations of the Foundation.
After Snake showed the Mara amulet to the doctor, telling him that it was the only item they had removed (with Guggenheims explanation giving the reason), the Foundation agents left once more, and Snake returned to Mother Base with Eagle and those members of the Diamond Dogs who were only there in case the Organisation attacked once more.
From there Snake and Ocelot went over what they knew about the Organisations base, planning their attack.
It had been decided that they should field as many new Seekers Wasp had identified (using the stockpile of amulets from the Organisation) as was reasonable.
Thus far, they barely had a handful of active Seekers, each with the same couple of powers and a Redcap or Strix to call upon.
Ocelot had seemed surprised at how few of the soldiers they'd tested had the Seeker potential.
But in the end, there was one place in which the entire assault could fail.
Gaining access to the base in the first place.
Without someone on the inside to hold the door open, the Organisation would be able to hold Snake and his men off for long enough that the XOF or Cipher could locate him and come after him, the communications coverage in a city much better and faster than in the war zone of Afghanistan.
So their first priority had been to find a way to get someone inside, to open the doors to everyone else, said other members of the team infiltrating Prague to prepare for their role in the assault.
And that was why Snake was here.
Even if, at the moment, he was just puffing on one of his phantom cigars, iDroid showing the time flying by.
His radio sounded quietly, and Snake let himself come out of the trancelike state he'd entered.
Rapidly navigating his iDroid menu, he confirmed that he had arrived.
Popping the handle of the box, Snake took his first look at the inside of the Organisations base.
As had been the hope, he appeared to be alone in some kind of storage room, his box on the floor without others placed on top.
Whether he had been placed on top of other boxes shouldn't have mattered, but whether the Organisation suits would pay attention to the instructions on the delivery label.
But it seemed everything had gone according to plan.
Snake threw off and stored the box, looking around to be sure he hadn't been spotted.
There was indeed nobody in the storage room with him, and Snake grinned at the successful start to his infiltration.
It was time to get to work.
]
It had been a while since Snake had to infiltrate a closed facility, and he had forgotten how different it was to infiltrating the outposts in Afghanistan.
With the outposts, he was able to set up at a distance and identify every hostile, marking their location permanently, not to mention letting him track important locations without needing to stumble onto them first.
In the base, on the other hand, he would often only realise one of the suits was present shortly before they turned the corner and discovered him.
The only saving grace was the fact that the Organisation wasn't on alert, and didn't have guards patrolling, even if every member of the Organisation could double as a guard if needed.
Instead each of the suits around the place were heading to do a specific job, often enough in groups that Snake could easily hear approaching.
On which note, he heard a group approaching now.
The corridors weren't wide enough for his cardboard box to be an effective means of concealment, the suits being more likely to walk into him than around (going by past experience of such infiltrations), so he needed something else.
Fortunately there was a door next to him, and Snake slipped through before the suits could turn the corner.
Snake only spared the room enough of a look to be sure he hadn't been spotted, until he was sure the suits had passed by, before looking over the room properly.
It was some kind of library, the walls made of shelves. Those closest to him were covered in books, but towards the back of the room the shelves were increasingly bare.
Snake gave the closest books a closer look, finding the words visible on them to be written in a language he couldn't understand, something that looked ancient.
His brief examination was cut off by the sound of another door opening, and someone stepping into the library.
Turning round, his eyes met those of a blond man in a grey suit.
Time seemed to freeze for a moment, before the stranger laughed.
"Ah, an intruder. How exciting. Give yourself up now, and I would be happy to have you join my team. Someone with such foolhardy courage would be a true asset for the Organisation."
Snake stared at the man in disbelief.
"You think I'm going to surrender just because you ask me to?"
"I was simply giving you an easy way out, but I guess I'll have to drag you to the Professor myself. Enforcer!"
"Heirospecter!"
Snake had seen the stranger reaching for one of his amulets, and drew out his own to counter him.
As Heirospecter formed, so too did its opponent, the Enforcer looking like a larger Strix with three eyes.
"A Seeker," the stranger asked in surprise. "It seems I'll get a better reward than I was-"
He was cut off by Snake dashing towards him to engage him in a fistfight.
"That- no, this is- damnit, Enforcer, get that thing and help me!"
The man didn't seem prepared to fight for himself, clearly someone who relied on his Titans to fight for him.
Snake wasn't impressed.
He did attempt a throw on him, pushing him back to get a chance to look at the fight between the Titans.
The Enforcer was firing beams from its eyes, ones that looked a lot like the traps from the site in Afghanistan.
However, it only appeared able to fire one at a team, and Heirospecter was easily able to avoid the attacks, its lack of solid body, beyond the chestpiece, proving a significant advantage over a foe that attacked in such a way, while Enforcer was struggling to avoid Heirospecters lashing arms in turn.
The shots from Enforcer had struck a number of shelves, sending the books formerly upon them to the floor.
"Raypulse," he heard the man call out behind him, and dove into a dodge, the word sounding more like a power than a Titan.
A beam of orange shot over him, striking the Enforcer by pure chance.
"What? No!"
The power was enough to return the Titan to its amulet, leaving the Seeker alone against the three of them.
He grabbed another amulet out of his jacket. "Grand-"
A tranquiliser round from Snakes pistol cut off his invocation, leaving the Titan in the amulet.
"That was disappointing," Snake muttered to himself, considering how to hide the mans unconscious body.
He would have expected a Seeker willing to take him on alone to be a tougher fight, but it seemed he'd been up against one who let others do the fighting for him, and wasn't prepared for someone to run past his Titan to fight him directly.
The only place he could see to hide the man in the room was stowing him under a table, where he would be easily seen from the door.
There seemed to only be one solution.
]
It was only a short time later that Snake was ready to leave, the Seeker in a cardboard box under the table, his amulets confiscated by Snake just in case.
Snake glanced at Heirospecter, still invoked after the fight.
"I guess it's time for you…"
He remembered what the holotome had said about Heirospecter.
"An explorer class Titan is a scout, and you are supposed to be stealthy," he mused aloud. "Would you be up to finding the main entrance for me? Without letting anyone spot you, of course."
Heirospecter bobbed in a manner that Snake take as agreement, slipping out of its chestpiece to leave only the phantasmal wrappings that made its true body before slipping out under a closed door.
Snake set himself up in a second box, opening his iDroid while he waited for the Titans return.
"We need to find a way to connect Titans up," he muttered to himself.
If Heirospecter was able to mark hostiles for him, he would be able to identify the location of every hostile in an area without risking being detected.
"The perfect invisible scout. Or nearly, at least."
]
Snake had almost begun to wonder if Heirospecter had been caught somehow, and he'd simply missed its return to the amulet, when he saw the chestpiece lift into the air, his Titan reclaiming it.
"You know the way," he asked it, getting the response as when he'd asked it to scout. "Then lead the way."
It was quite different travelling through the Organisations base while knowing where he was going.
He still had to deal with some of the suits showing up unexpectedly in the corridors, but at least he knew he was making progress.
Which didn't mean they didn't run into trouble.
A couple of times, before they found their way to the main doors, they came face to face with unexpected suits, forcing Snake or Heirospecter to render them unconscious.
But overall, things went mostly according to plan.
With help from Heirospecter, Snake was able to reach and open the main entrance, letting his other forces in.
Eagle led the way in, followed closely by Wasp and the other Seekers they had found, and Heirospecter returned to his amulet.
"Right, Titans out everyone," Wasp directed. "We don't know how long until the Organisation notices our presence, and all of them have Titans of their own. We don't want to be overwhelmed. Redcap," she called out, following her own advice.
"You know it takes energy to keep a Titan invoked," Eagle pointed out, amid calls of "Redcap" and "Strix".
"Better to have the number advantage from the start," Wasp countered.
"That's pne way to look at things. Right, everyone should know where they are going, so get on it while me and Snake chase down their boss!"
"Everyone, head out," Snake ordered, his men only moving with his order rather than following Eagles direction.
"Right, right, you're the boss, not me. So, ready to get going?"
"Nearly. Whoever's in charge of the library, I left an unconscious Organisation officer there in a cardboard box. Now, Eagle, do you know where we are going?"
"Vaguely. I mean, yes, definitely. My memories from when I worked with the Organisation may not be the best, but I met the Professor in his office while still independent. It's where we met, where he brainwashed me. I know exactly where we're going."
Snake readied his rifle, checking the magazine. "Then let's go."
]
There were points during the search for the Professor where Snake started to doubt just how well Eagle knew where they were going.
Moments such as going through a door to find other members of the strike team heading towards them.
"They must have redone the interior, changed up the layout," Eagle tried to defend himself, shortly before leading Snake to a dust covered passage walled with bricks.
"Okay, maybe my memory isn't the best," Eagle admitted, without needing any prompting from Snake. "It would be easier if I had one of those fancy tomes, so I could just bring up a map. I mean, why didn't I rate a technonomicon? I was a top firld agent, gathering amulets. Why did the other guys get them, when they weren't likely to encounter unknown amulets?"
"Did you consider thet may have tracking devices, or other security? That by using it to guide us, you'd be alerting the Organisation to our presence?"
Eagle paused, hand on a new door. "You know, you may have a point there."
"Just find the Professor."
]
Snake was starring to get concerned about how long the search was taking, when Eagle finally opened the door to the Professors office.
He was already stepping inside when he saw the man behind the desk.
"What is this," the man demanded of Eagle. "Have you lost all sense, bringing an armed man here?"
He thought Eagle was still loyal, Snake realised, and took time to observe the man.
The Professor looked as though he had once kept himself in good shape, but had started putting on weight, letting his fitness slip. His hair was starting to go, despite appearing young to go bald, and was wearing a somewhat ill-fitting white suit, as though he hadn't updated his wardrobe while gaining weight.
"I have my reasons, of course," Eagle assured, stepping slowly towards the Professor, drawing his attention to one side of his desk. "I mean, am I ever the sort to do things for no reason? I'm sure I wouldn't be such a trusted operative if I did things for no reason. And as such, Boltflare!"
"Undergolem," the Professor invoked, clearly prepared for this betrayal, pushing himself back from his desk to stand up.
The Titan that formed between the Professor and Eagle looked something like a statue had come to life, and withstood the power without problem.
Snakes instincts took over, and he fired a burst at the Titan, the rubber bullets bouncing off to no effect, save drawing Undergolems attention towards him.
"Vigilante," Eagle invoked, calling out a humanoid Titan wearing a dark outfit and with two swords sheathed behind its back.
Snake briefly considered invoking one of his Titans, to join the fight, but decided against it, instead targeting the Professor and opening fire.
"Armourbrand," the Professor called, a sphere of light forming around him and deflecting the rubber bullets.
Snake glanced over to see how Eagle was doing, confirming that he and his Titan were dealing with the golem, before renewing his fire, keeping the Professor in place to prevent him using other Titans or powers while he held his shield in place.
His gun clicked empty, and Snake quickly reloaded, grabbing an amulet along with the new magazine.
"Mara," he whispered, attempting to invoke the Titan as quietly as possible.
The snake-like Titan seemed to get his intention, cloaking itself in an illusion as it slithered towards the Professor.
He spared another glance for Eagle, in time to see Vigilante plunge both swords into the golems back, dispelling it.
Snakes gun clicked empty again, cutting off his fire as he reloaded with the last magazine he had with him.
The Professor let his shield drop, standing before them as though to surrender.
"So, you have turned against me and brought some mercenary here to kill me and take over my Organisation. I had expected that fool, Wilder, to try taking over before anyone else. What next? Do you plan to leave this mercenary with knowledge of Seekers?"
"Well, that is basically what I was," Eagle responded with a shrug. "An independent amulet finder, a Seeker for hire. Why would I have a problem with my business cousins?"
"Well, maybe it was foolish of me to try and shackle such a… free spirit. I'll be more careful this time. Archwarder," he called out, suddenly holding an amulet high. "Araknos!"
The energy from the amulet formed into a three legged beast, that looked like a cross between a tree and some kind of gorilla.
The second Titan had its energy emerge from the ring the Professor was wearing, producing a figure with a mostly human body, but six clawed arms, and a spider like head with what looked like a massive brain visible behind its face.
"Are those..? Crap, Vigilante, back in the amulet!"
Snake glanced over at Eagle. "What's wrong?"
"Archwarder is bad enough, it disrupts the bond between Seeker and Titan, they turn hostile to their own Seeker! But that other? Its amulet was the ring. And the only Titans I've heard of whose amulets were rings…"
"Are legendary Titans," the Professor finished.
Snake backed away, considering his options.
He didn't think tranquilisers would work on Titans, he wasn't even sure if they had any biology to be affected, and his rubber rounds had already proven ineffective.
He could still call on Heirospecter or Freelancer, but with Archwarder that would be giving troops to the other side.
His only other equipment was grenades and explosives, and the area was too confined to risk an explosion in, and he doubted a flashbang would do any good.
That left…
Boltflare and hand to hand.
One look at Araknos disabused him of the thought that going hand to hand would be a good idea.
"We need the others," he told Eagle.
"Right, Strix are too weak for Archwarder to disrupt. Swarm them, and we should be able take them down, free ourselves up to use our other Titans. If only I hadn't considered Strix too common to bond with…"
"Others," the Professor demanded, rage filling his voice. "You have brought others into this facility, beyond just this mercenary?"
"Well sure, how else could I be sure of you getting my resignation?"
Eagles joke was weak, even without considering the way he was backing towards the door, but it distracted the Professor enough for Snake to risk signaling an alert on his iDroid, calling all his forces who'd already completed their objectives to his location.
Moments after, the Professors eyes snapped to Snake.
"What did you just do? Who did you signal?"
"And why should I answer? We're enemies, not friends."
"For now. Araknos?"
"Earthband," Snake cast immediately, the shield forming just in time to prevent the threads the Titan shot at him from its mouth making contact.
Rather than being deflected, like everything else he'd tested the power against, the threads stuck in place, falling to the floor when the Earthband ended.
"Change of plans," the Professor decided. "This base is no longer secure. Hold them back while I get clear," he ordered his Titans.
He lumbered out through a secondary door Snake hadn't noticed on the way in, slower than Snake could move but covered by his Titans.
"Boltflare," Eagle tried, more as a test than anything else, the power impacting Archwarder to no effect.
"Right, got any ideas?"
Snake shook his head slowly. "I've called for backup, but beyond that…"
"Boss," he heard Wasp call, and half turned to see her running up the corridor.
He could see the moment she spotted the Titans, her eyes going wide.
"It frees strong Titans," Snake summarised quickly. "We need Strix to take it down."
"Right," Wasp nodded. "I picked up a few extra, so Strix!"
One appeared from each of the three amulets she held, the cost maling her stumble, but Wasp came up with a pistol in hand.
The Strix shot straight toward Archwarder, only for Araknos to try and protect its ally, spitting another set of threads towards the smaller Titans.
Snake froze, remembering just how vulnerable Strix were to being disrupted, mind racing to find a way to protect them.
He didn't need to.
The threads shot past, missing the Strix completely.
Araknos took but a moment to reach a conclusion about what had happened, turning quickly and spraying thread wildly over the office.
Before the thread could hit, Mara burst forward, using its internal fire to burn away the thread.
Archwarder responded to the appearance of a Titan stronger than a Strix by releasing a pulse of energy, only for the Strix to impact one after another and sending it back to its amulet.
Leaving three Seekers and Mara against the legendary Titan Araknos.
Eagle wasted no time in calling out a new Titan.
"Furoji!"
The Titan looked to Snake like a red skinned man with burning eyes in a martial artists gi.
Araknos tried to fight, spraying threads at each of them and the Titans, only for the threads to be burned away before they could land.
And, between the Titans attacking and Wasps pistol rounds, Araknos was soon sent back to its amulet as well.
"Well," Wasp commented, that was certainly something. I'm not sure you needed to call everyone though."
"The Professor's getting away," Snake disagreed, recalling Mara and starting to chase after the Organisations leader.
There was one of his men on the floor outside the door, stunned Snake checked quickly, plus a blood trail that indicated the man had got a hit on the Professor.
Snake chased the trail, a bad run at a doorway sending the rifle from his hands.
The trail led to the surface, another of his men unconscious at the exit.
The professor was outside, at a helicopter, just out of range of Snakes pistol.
He took his soldiers rifle, aiming at the Professor.
He lined up the shot, finger against the trigger.
And froze.
He… he couldn't pull the trigger, couldn't kill the man. There was something in his mind, blocking him from the action.
He let the gun fall from his hands as the Professor escaped.
Words came unbidden to his lips.
"It is a medics job to save lives, not take them."
"What was that," he heard Eagle ask from close behind him, and turned to face him.
"I… there's something wrong."
"You… you couldn't kill him? Didn't you say you were in the army?"
Memories of his time in the war ran through Snakes head.
Of taking the shots, of extracting soldiers, of dressing wounds…
"I…"
Eagle placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Snake, this doesn't seem like you. I think you may have been brainwashed, like me."
"I… I think you're right. Mostly right."
"Mostly? What am I wrong about?"
"I don't think I am Snake."