Solid couldn't help but curse at himself in his head, how can he let himself get captured he thought, such a rookie mistake. Snake was tied up against a chair inside a cold, stone cell with all his equipment removed.
" No time to keep self loathing, I need to get out. Think David? " Snake looked around the room and began thinking of a plan. He stood up and walked toward a wall then ran full force into a wall, it suddenly not only broke the chair but also the weak wall which sent him into another cell. He groaned slightly, realizing that was probably a dumb idea until he looked up to see a handcuffed man with white hair and blue eyes. Despite being older, the man barely had a wrinkle or even showed physical signs of aging, the only thing he had was a few scars on his face. Noticeably, the man's forehead was bandaged and it was easy for Snake to realize who this is as he's seen him before.
"Fox?" asked Snake, Gray Fox turned towards Snake,
"Guess they took your time sending you here, what do I call you now?" Gray Fox asked,
"Solid Snake, I'll get you out of those handcuffs in a second." He replied as he began pulling off the ropes from his arms and ankles.
"I almost gave up hope thinking there was no one left, guess I was lucky you came along."
"Yeah, what happened, Steve said it was something about a tank?" asked Snake as he picked the lock, Gray Fox looked at him with genuine worry,
"What I saw was no tank, it was a monster." Gray Fox replied as he stood up from his handcuffs,
"Monster? What are you talking about?"
"When we were attacked, I was one of the lucky ones who didn't get knocked out by its first blast. It was like a titan, a hulking metal titan that had a giant missile launcher on its shoulder and dual machine guns but even by that alone, I still feel like there's more about it that meets the eye." Snake was heavily confused by what Fox was describing,
"What was it, Fox?"
"A bipedal tank…the mercenaries call it Metal Gear…"
"Metal Gear?" Snake asked, bewildered by the name. It sounded something out of a dystopian horror movie yet the name still intimidated Solid Snake.
"It's Madnar's monster. Ever since World War 2, every country strived to make the next weapon to rival the atomic bomb, the Soviets were the first to experiment with the idea of a moving war machine to surpass the tank but ultimately that project failed. This idea of the ultimate mobile weapon was a secret Cold War feud between the Americans and the Russians that the public never knew. They tried everything until one day in the mid 70s, a scientist defected from the Soviet Union to escape and protect his young daughter. That doctor was Doctor Madnar and his weapon is Metal Gear." Solid Snake had many questions about what Gray Fox explained, but he knew the mission mattered first,
"Is there a way to stop it?" asked Snake, Fox shrugged,
"I don't know, we can only ask the monster's maker but we don't know where he is."
"Maybe we can find out, if only I had my codec I could contact Steve to see if he made it to the server room." Solid Snake suggested,
"I overheard the mercs saying that there's a room down here where they took our confiscated weapons. If we can bust out of this cell, we can find the room." Fox ran up to the door,
"Pass me that chair leg, Snake." Fox pointed at the broken chair leg and Snake handed it to him. The clever Gray Fox swung the leg onto the knob to break it off. Aggressively, he shoved it hard into the hole and pushed the knob on the other side to fall down. Fox grinned at Snake and pushed the door open,
"And now we're free. Let's get a move on, Snake." Gray Fox began walking and Snake followed after him in the dark dimly lit corridor. Fox led while Snake followed and occasionally turned around to see if there was something after them. Fox then suddenly stopped which caused Snake to bump into him,
"Warn someone when you-" Fox raised his hand to gesture to him to be quiet and then pointed forward. Snake glanced and noticed a canine with orange and black spotted fur with ears round like a mouse. The canine was snarling as Snake and Fox both synchronized their movements and stepped back cautiously,
"An African Wild Dog….there's probably a pack nearby….on my mark, Snake…" Gray Fox mumbled, Snake nodded as the wild dog walked towards them. Gray Fox then tapped Snake's wrist to signal him now, both men then ran at the dog as the wild dog ran towards them, barking. Gray Fox then kicked the wild dog and Snake grabbed it while in mid air and tossed it behind them. As they began running, they could hear multiple sounds barking coming from behind them, getting louder as they were running. Snake turned around and noticed two then four and six African wild dogs,
"Shit!" Snake shouted, the African Wild Dogs were gaining on them. Fox looked around to see if there was something to stop the pack of African Dogs and noticed a large pipe above them,
"Snake, are you a smoker?" asked Fox,
"Yeah what does this have to do with the pack of dogs after us?!"
"When I give you the signal, throw your lighter at them." Gray Fox ordered. Solid nodded and waited for Gray Fox to give him the signal. The rabid and savage African Wild Dogs were barking and drooling, craving for their flesh. Snake felt them getting closer, hearing their breathing and barks getting louder and louder. They turned the corner and that's when Gray Fox leaped backwards on the pipe and pulled it down to break it, releasing some gas at the dogs.
"Now, Snake!" ordered Fox, Solid Snake slid under Gray Fox and threw his lighter as Fox launched himself and Snake towards the corner as the gas was ignited and blew the dogs up. Snake and Gray Fox took cover behind the corner to shield themselves from the explosion. They both let out a sigh and continued walking around the basement.
"You owe me a new lighter." joked Snake,
"Yeah yeah, I know. Can't believe all we had left was a rookie." Fox replied,
"A rookie that did a decent job getting here."
"A rookie nonetheless. If you plan to leave a mark on FOXHOUND, you're going to need to think smarter not harder. Relying on what you know from the military will only get you so far here, you need to use anything you have as a way to succeed in the mission. A lighter is expendable but we are not. Never forget that, Solid Snake." explained Fox, Solid nodded in agreement and took note of what Fox said, engraving it in his mind. The men arrived at a door which when they opened, led them to an empty room with some tables and a door on the right.
"That's probably where our stuff is." Fox walked to the door and pressed the button to open it, he grinned once he saw Snake's weapons and grinned wider once he saw his trusty weapon. Snake followed Fox inside and grabbed his stuff, he put his codec earpiece on and began contacting Big Boss.
"This is Solid Snake, come in?"
"This is Big Boss, thank god you're alright. You haven't contacted us in a while, what happened?"
"I got captured, Big Boss, but I found Gray Fox. He's alive."
"That's great news Snake, did he tell you anything?"
"Yeah, he and the others were ambushed by the weapon. It seems that the weapon is a bipedal tank called Metal Gear."
"…Damnit the bastards actually have done it…Snake you cannot leave the mission until you destroy that weapon. If the mercenaries are already learning how to use it and they have Madnar, they can possibly upgrade that monstrosity to be more deadly than it is. Have you found Madnar?"
"Yeah, there were a bunch of mercenaries leading him to the next building. Beta Building I believe right?"
"Yeah, the Beta Building, start making your way there, Snake." Gray Fox then held his hand out to Snake,
"Pass me your codec." He said to him, Snake took it off and gave it to Gray Fox,
"Getting to the Beta Building won't be easy, Boss." sternly stated Fox,
"Glad to hear your voice again, Fox. What's the problem?"
"Me and the others ran into a problem when going there. The roadway to Beta is heavily guarded and they inspect the trucks. The only other way is through a minefield and without a mine detector, we would be going in blindly to our deaths." Big Boss sighed,
"This Ishmael is playing it smart but we're smarter. Find an alternate way to Beta Building, keep me posted both of you, Big Boss out." The call ended and Fox handed back the earpiece to Snake and put on his own codec.
"Any ideas, Snake?" asked Fox,
"Not yet but I think I know a guy who can help." Snake dialed his codec and began contacting Steel Eagle,
"Snake, oh good you're still alive."
"Hey Eagle, did you make it to the server room?"
"Yeah, it was risky but I'm here. Did you find Gray Fox?"
"Yeah he's alright but I need your help with something. We need a safe route to the Beta Building. Can you find anything?" Asked Snake,
"Unfortunately no but I do think there's something that can help." Optimistically said Eagle,
"What is it?"
"There's a Hind D on the roof. If you can knock out the pilot and take it. We can fly to the Beta Building smoothly."
"Sounds good, where can we meet you?" asked Snake,
"Meet me on the fifth floor. Good luck, Snake." The call ended and Snake turned to Gray Fox,
"We found a way to the next building, we have to head to the fifth floor to meet Steel Eagle. You know how to pilot a helicopter?"
"Flew a couple, guess that's our way to the next building?"
"Yep, let's move." Snake stepped out of the room but suddenly, before Gray Fox could get out, the button near the door was shot, trapping him and Snake turned around to see the shooter. The shooter had a dark blue uniform with kevlar armor, a combat helmet, a ballistic mask, knee pads and holding in his hand was a striker shotgun.
"So you're the guy FOXHOUND sent. Glad to finally meet you." he spoke with a Russian accent, Snake assumed a stance and aimed his M1911 at him,
"Who the hell are you?"
"I am the Shotmaker, Spetznaz's deadliest gunman and the last opponent you will ever face." He quickly aimed his shotgun and Solid Snake quickly leaped to the side as the Shotmaker fired. Snake rolled and fired his handgun but the bullets didn't phase the Shotmaker. Shotmaker rushed towards where Snake was hiding but Snake quickly kicked the striker shotgun out his hand and spun to throw a roundhouse. Shotmaker ducked and grabbed his shotgun but Snake quickly kicked the gun away once more, Shotmaker drew out a handgun and caught Snake with a gunshot. He aimed for the chest but Snake had managed to dodge in time so the bullet hit his arm. Quickly, Shotmaker aimed the gun at his head but Solid Snake quickly lunged at Shotmaker then grabbed his wrist and pushed his arm aside as he stabbed his arm. Shotmaker grunted and swung his elbow into Snake's ribs then slid out his other handgun and twirled it as he pressed his gun at his abdomen. Snake felt it and quickly struck his hand with his knee then grabbed Shotmaker and flipped him over his shoulder. Landing on his back, he frustratedly grunted and spun to sweep Snake but Snake caught himself and flipped backwards. Solid Snake drew out his M1911 and Shotmaker reached for his back to grab his other handgun but Snake quickly shot the Spetsnaz soldier's gun out his hand. Shotmaker then grabbed Snake and attempted to take him down by putting his foot behind him and pushing Solid Snake but the quick thinking Snake spun and swept his leg. Solid Snake rolled backwards but Shotmaker grabbed his leg then pulled him back and struck him with a punch to his ribs, Shotmaker then struck Snake with an elbow to the eye and tossed him onto a wall. Snake felt his ribs snap on impact and spat some blood out as he fell onto his stomach, next to Shotmaker's striker shotgun. The confident Shotmaker laughed and began to approach Snake with a handgun in his hand.
"The Americans should know by now not to send rookies against us. You are out of your league here, best to accept your death right now, rookie." Shotmaker aimed his gun and cocked the hammer,
"The name's Solid Snake." Quickly, as Shotmaker fired, Snake kicked the gun out his hand despite the bullet grazing his other arm. Luckily for Snake, it wasn't the arm that held the gun as Solid Snake fired three rounds of the shotgun into the Kevlar vest to damage it. Solid Snake then grabbed his knife and went to stab Shotmaker but the Shotmaker punched and broke Solid Snake's nose. Blood came out of Snake's nose but he wasn't going to give up that easily. Shotmaker reached for his shotgun and aimed it at Solid Snake,
"Game over, Solid Snake…"
"It's not over yet…" with little time left, Snake kicked the gun up, rotating it towards Shotmaker. Unfortunately for Shotmaker, a round was fired straight to his ballistic mask, the impact strong enough to rock him. Solid Snake kipped up, grabbed the shotgun and blasted his damaged Kevlar chest. Desperately, Shotmaker lunged and disarmed Snake, taking back his shotgun and taking aim once more. With one last ditch effort, Solid Snake unloaded three rounds into Shotmaker's chest right before he could pull the trigger, piercing through the damaged vest and hitting a lung. Shotmaker grasped on his chest, he began to cough out blood then stumbled and fell on his back as he was bleeding out.
"Ish…Ishmael…take me home…my home was stolen…you gave me…a new home…so please…take me home again…" Shotmaker's hand fell onto the ground, his eyes closed and he lay dead as a doornail. Snake sighed and sat down, breathing heavily, he couldn't believe he won that fight. He glanced at the bullet wounds in his arms and grabbed his knife to dig the bullets out of his arms. Snake was suddenly spooked as he heard something puncture through the door, he turned to see that the door to where Fox was just got stabbed from the inside by a sword. The door was cut to shreds and Fox ran out towards Snake,
"I heard the commotion from inside. I tried prying that door open but I guess you didn't need my help there, Snake." stated Fox,
"Yeah…the guy called himself the Shotmaker." Snake told him, Fox raised an eyebrow as the name sounded distantly familiar.
"Shotmaker, that name rings a bell. Maybe Big Boss knows, contact him while I try to fix you up." Gray Fox helped Solid Snake up and led him back inside the room as he contacted Big Boss,
"Big Boss?" he called out,
"I'm here, Snake. What happened?"
"I ran into some trouble trying to get out of the basement. A mercenary named the Shotmaker attacked us."
"Shotmaker huh, that's a name I haven't heard in a while."
"You know him?" curiously asked Snake,
"Yeah, Captain Dimitri Shaltov Aka the Shotmaker. Shaltov made a name for himself in the Soviet Union by being an expert marksman skilled with a shotgun. According to what I heard, he went into mercenary work after the fall of the Soviet Union 4 years ago. He was extremely skilled from what I heard too, how did you manage to beat him?"
"He sucked at CQC." joked Snake with a chuckle, it even made Big Boss chuckle,
"That's what I like to see, Snake. Finding your enemy's weakness and exploiting them, now you're showing why you are FOXHOUND. Did Shotmaker say anything that can help you with the mission?"
"Other than praising this Ishmael like a saving angel. I don't understand what's wrong with these guys. What's so special about some terrorist leader?"
"Have you heard of a cult of personality?"
"Uhh the Living Colour song?" asked Snake,
"Allow me to educate you on some politics. A cult of personality is when a leader puts effort into being blindly praised by his followers, like a cult. Think of it like this, a far left wing democrat can commit acts of violence or war and yet they will still be praised and justified as their followers enter a state of denial. It's the reason why Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union lasted so long. When one hears a leader speak, the followers feel moved by their words, inspired to the point where they worship the leader as a God. In the war zone, God abandons the soldier and thus the soldier abandons God, so they look towards the closest authority figure they have as God. It's this ideology that has led soldiers to commit many acts for their nation, all under the orders of their Gods. Their captains, their generals, their commanders who accept their role as God and lead their flock to madness." Snake raised an eyebrow after Big Boss elaborated,
"It sounds like soldiers going insane." Snake noted,
"Sometimes for the soldier, insanity is the only sanity they have left. I digress, have you found a way to the Beta Building?"
"Yeah, Steel Eagle found a Hind D on the roof of Gamma Building, we're going to steal it and fly it to Beta." informed Solid Snake,
"Excellent, then get to it quickly. We have no time to waste, Big Boss out." Snake walked and searched Shotmaker to find that he had a keycard that had a number 2 engraved on it. He put it in his pocket, took Shotmaker's striker shotgun and then turned to see Fox gesture for him to come back to the room,
"Listen…" whispered Fox, Snake did so and he heard someone faintly whimpering. Both men slowly stepped in the room, each step they took, the whimpering got slightly louder. They figured out that the whimpering came from inside a locker, Fox unsheathed his sword and Snake held his handgun as he slowly opened the door only to see it wasn't an enemy. It was a young woman close to Snake's age with raven black hair, an elegant red dress and black heels. The woman was visibly shaken up and terrified, hugging her knees in a fetal position.
"Please…please don't hurt me…" she said in a Russian accent,
"We're not going to hurt you. Don't worry, we're not with the other guys." Solid Snake reassured, the woman glanced up,
"You're not?"
"No, I'm Solid Snake and this is Gray Fox. We're here to help." Solid explained,
"R-really? Then you must help my papa, please?" She begged,
"Is your papa on base?" asked Gray Fox, the woman nodded,
"Yes, he was taken to the next building. I came here just to visit him and that's when these soldiers came in and took us prisoner. They said they would hurt me if papa didn't teach them how to use his machine." Once she said that, Fox and Snake put the pieces together on who she is,
"Wait…you're Dr Madnar's daughter right?" asked Snake,
"Yes, Ellen. Ellen Madnar" Ellen confirmed, Snake and Gray Fox looked at each other then turned back to her,
"We're going to save your dad, don't worry. Do you know why the mercenaries want this machine?" asked Snake, Ellen shook her head,
"Papa kept his work private from me. I didn't know he made weapons for these kinds of men, please I just want to leave this place with papa. Can you get us out of here?" Snake warmly smiled and held his hand out,
"Of course, we're going to go save your dad, destroy that machine of his and get the hell out of here." Ellen smiled and held Snake's hand as she got up. She dusted off the dirt from her dress and looked at Snake,
"Alright guys, let's get moving."