Chapter 45: A Floor of Lava
Ocelot went over the lesson plan with a sigh. Why had he even agreed to this? Sure, he had nothing better to do, but the task he had been given seemed idiotic. He'd go through with it though, no matter how much he hated it. His lesson plan was to introduce himself as their sub, take them to field Beta, and have them fight a zero-pointer. Now, he had no general clue what a zero pointer was. However, he could already tell this was a terrible idea.
Why? He didn't know, but something about it irked him. Especially when he looked up from his plan and found he had arrived at the class. With a calm sigh, he stood by the door, waiting a few seconds before it opened. And out stepped Midnight, with a sly smile on her face. She looked him up and down for a few seconds before stepping out to the side.
"They're all yours cowboy," she told him with a sultry tone, her hips swaying as she walked. Ocelot didn't react, remaining stone-faced as he peered into the class behind her. Midnight groaned in response, annoyed her tease had failed.
"I swear, it's like trying to seduce a statue." Midnight muttered, to which Ocelot laughed in response.
"I've met women who've tried all the things you've done, and then some," Ocelot replied, some of his more extravagant escapades while he was still with Cipher coming to mind, "Believe me, you can't win."
"Hmm, maybe I'll bring a pair of chaps next time," Midnight teased, hoping to get a response. It didn't.
"Anyways, you know the lesson plan?" she asked, Ocelot nodding.
"Most of it. Still can't tell what a zero-pointer is," he replied to which Midnight's face soured.
"Of course, that's what's happening," she stated angrily, "A zero-pointer is the name for UA's giant exam robots."
She grabbed her phone then, quickly pulled up a couple of pictures. It left Ocelot stunned as he looked at the thing. It had to be bigger than ZEKE, at least twice its height. Massive didn't even begin to describe it though, as its arms had to be wider than some semi-trucks. It brought two questions to Ocelot's mind. The first was why did UA have this. It seemed massively expensive and looked like it would take a lot to destroy. That said, it brought forth his second question. What dumbass thought building this thing was a good idea?
He had little engineering knowledge, so he couldn't comment on how the damn thing even works, but military experience told him this thing would be a maintenance nightmare. It had hundreds of moving parts for the arms alone, where if even one broke the entire thing would be inoperable. Hell, it's the reason ZEKE was now relegated to launching nukes only. It took twenty-four hours' worth of work, to ensure ZEKE's legs would be active for an hour. But ZEKE at least had a purpose. It was a nuclear platform that could go anywhere in the world, be it the bottom of the ocean or dry land. The zero-pointer?
Ocelot couldn't even begin to see what role this thing would serve on any battlefield. Be it the military, heroics, or basic rescue work it's impractical due to its size. It couldn't fit through any urban street without destroying a skyscraper and was visible from every angle when out in the open. Logically, no one, not even a hero, would ever encounter a threat like this in the field. If they did, then everyone is going to see it and scramble everything to destroy it. And yet, he knew that trying to fight this thing would be suicidal. For all its flaws, it was still a giant robot capable of killing you, especially if you lacked the firepower to take it down.
"...So, this lesson… was it the teachers that created it?" Ocelot asked, hoping he was wrong.
"It's the HPSC's new guidelines. Somethings got them spooked, so they're trying to train some heavy hitters." Midnight replied, the dissatisfaction clear in her voice. It made Ocelot sigh in relief though; glad his suspicions were wrong.
"I don't think they're ready yet," Midnight continued, "Half of them are still catching up with the rest of the class."
"Well, then it's a shame UA's only zero pointer isn't working," Ocelot stated, already deciding to drop the lesson plan. It took only seconds for Midnight to see what Ocelot was saying before a sly smile covered her face.
"Truly a shame," she said, her eyes wordlessly communicating with Ocelot. He simply nodded and looked back into the classroom, as Midnight went to "inspect" a zero pointer. Now here Ocelot laid his eyes on the students. If he were to describe the first student he saw, the word toothpick came to mind. That didn't describe this kid well enough. It was as if a calm breeze could push him over. As if a small cough could burst his lungs. As if even the slightest amount of sunlight touching his skin would instantly incinerate him. His hair was a mix of red, blue, and green, the only semblance of color on the boy.
He looked around the room nervously, as if anything could jump at him. Ocelot noted it odd when the kid's eyes turned to him. He looked at him for two seconds, before wordlessly turning away. Most odd, Ocelot decided, but he said nothing of it. Instead, he pulled out one of his revolvers and started spinning it as always. He also spotted a small group of students chatting loudly amongst themselves.
"Please! I'll buy you lunch for a week!" a student begged. He had long brown hair and a pair of circular blades on his forearms.
"I told you; I didn't do the homework either!" a different student replied with a loud shush. She was relatively tall with short black hair, with nothing else standing out like the others.
"Why am I not surprised? To think you numbskulls, want to be heroes." a third student stated smugly. His hair was a dark brown, and his skin had a slimy green hue.
"At least I earned my spot, you wouldn't be here if it weren't for Daddy's money." the student with sawblades mocked, a smirk arriving on his face when the other boy turned to look at him. It didn't escalate further luckily, as Ocelot decided to enter the classroom. As soon as he did the entire class quieted down, with all looking at him curiously. Their eyes fell onto his revolvers, with the student with the red, blue, and green hair seeming to recognize him. To Ocelot's surprise, he somehow turned paler.
"My name is Ocelot," he began, ignoring the pale kid for now, "Today I'm going to be your substitute. Now, I'm going to make one thing, and one thing only clear. I am going to make your life hell."
A few students scoffed at the notion, and he noted it quietly.
"If by the end of this lesson, you despise me with every fiber of your being, then I've done my job. If you can't handle that, then leave."
None of the students did so, and Ocelot wasn't sure if it was due to arrogance, confidence, or sheer fear. He simply smirked in response; this was going to be fun after all.
"Now grab your gear and meet me at Ground Beta in half an hour," Ocelot ordered, and the students moved to grab their costumes. As they did so, Ocelot walked out and started heading over to the support department. He had half an hour to get ready and could only wonder if he had given himself too much time.
Snake ran through the halls as fast as possible, ignoring any guard that came his way. This damn base was nothing more than a massive maze at the moment. Every twist and turn led to a blocked-off dead end or a four-way intersection without a clue as to where he was. He was making progress though and managed to find the group of kids several times. But every time he found them, the guards would lay down suppressing fire and force him to take cover.
It was infuriating every time it happened, as he tried desperately to push forward. The farther he went the more the bodies added up, with entire sections of the hallways becoming bleached red. Especially now as he ducked back behind the shattered remains of a break room's coffee table. The walls of the would-be room had been torn down decades ago, creating a large open hallway. Yet the furniture had been left behind, providing a small amount of cover as the 5.45 rounds ripped through the wooden table.
Across the hall, three guards ducked back behind the base's concrete walls. Both Snake and the guards took turns firing potshots at each other, but both sides knew Snake was on borrowed time. His rifle clicked umpty for a fourth time, causing Snake to silently swear. The last of his ammo was running out quickly, and what remained of his equipment was a couple of flashbangs and his knife.
Quickly loading the last of his magazines, he peeked out at the hall ahead of him. Any second now enemy reinforcements would arrive and cut him off from the kids. With little time he tossed out a flashbang and ran out seconds after it went off. Charging towards the guards, he body slammed into the closest one. He and the guard both fell to the ground, allowing Snake to quickly grab the guard's AK-74. Snake aimed it down and fired, shooting the guard point-blank in the chest.
With the first guard dead he turned back and shot the remaining two guards as they stumbled about stunned. There was little time, so little time. With barely any time he grabbed what he could from the guards and took off running again. Room B had to be nearby, it had to be. Every turn in this maze made him think otherwise, but he found it. He stopped slowly as the large door with Room B in Russian scribbled onto it. There was no epic fanfare as he arrived, no swarm of guards standing at the ready.
It was there vacant and in the open. It was suspicious, horribly so. Slowly he walked over to the door, his eye scanning every inch of the surrounding area for any hint of a trap. There was nothing. He was right next to the door now and could visibly find no handle anywhere. There was a slit going through the middle showing where the door would slide apart to open. Snake was about to try and force it open when a voice rang out over the radio he had stolen.
"First off, ow." the Showmaster began, and Snake froze, not believing what he had just heard. He had shot him; no, he had killed him. He saw the bullet go through the psychopath's head and saw his body hit the ground. This couldn't have been happening, but the Showmaster kept talking.
"You just had to go for the head, didn't you? I swear the face is the money maker and now I've got a gaping hole in my forehead. Ugh, and second, I'm glad you could finally join us Big Boss. A bit late, but hey, you're here now!"
Snake looked out around the room, trying to find any hint of a camera or a drone. He found it popping out of a small hole at the top of the doorway. It looked down at him and Snake shot it with the AK-74 he took. It fell to the ground broken but was swiftly replaced with a new camera.
"These things are expensive you know. Now are you going to keep hiding away in the dark corners of my studio, or are you going to play along?"
"Play along? This isn't a damn game!"
"Please, everything is a game! It's just a matter of perspective. But the question is are you going to play along? Because let me tell you,"
The doors in front of Snake began to open up slowly, with Snake turning pale as he got a glimpse inside. A large obstacle course raised only a foot or three above a pit full of molten steel at the bottom. And all along it, children clung desperately to the obstacles. The game had already started, and Snake could already see a few kids boiling away in the steel. The Showmaster's words could only infuriate Snake more.
"It's pretty boring at the moment. But now that you're here things can get interesting! So, the rules are simple, the first ten people to make it to the other side win! Those that don't, get to feel some warmth in their final moments." the Showmaster explained, with Snake becoming angrier by the second.
"You sick bastard!" he yelled out, wishing he could crush the man's windpipe.
"Geez, I haven't even finished yet." the Showmaster admonished, "Didn't your mother ever teach you it's rude to interrupt someone? Anyway, I gave the little scamps a head start to make it a little fairer. Now, go!"
Snake looked back out at the obstacle course in front of him, watching as the kids ran out amongst the obstacles. He could see the fear in all of them, especially the few who turned to look toward him. Those who saw him tried to move faster, afraid of what would happen if he reached them. Snake took one step forward, the radio still in hand.
"I am going to find you, and when I do, I'm drowning you in this metal," he promised. Wordlessly he put the radio away and jumped out to the first obstacle. Most of them were what you'd expect on a game show. Several large rickety bridges, a couple of fake platforms, rope swings, and a few random platforms barely above the metal. Landing on one of the platforms he continued jumping across, quickly making it to a rope bridge. Looking out he quickly counted the kids, finding at least three hundred.
He silently swore as he recounted. Three hundred kids and the only people here were him and Nagant. He would deal with that problem later, at the moment he needed to make sure they made it out alive. So, running out he kept moving forward, looking out to ensure some of the kids were making it. A few feet away Snake spotted one boy standing on a platform. The boy looked over at Snake and quickly panicked. Snake paled, realizing what was going to happen.
The kid jumped, aiming to land on a nearby platform, but tripped on the edge. Wasting no time Snake ran over, grimacing at the child's pained shrieks. Leaping over the platforms he reached down and yanked the boy out of the burning metal. Bits of liquid steel stuck to his skin, covering it in third-degree burns and tearing off bits of flesh. Snake tried his best to get it off the child, with his gloves protecting his hands, but there wasn't much he could do. The child's cries died down to small whimpers, the majority of the pain wearing off. Trying his best not to hurt the boy even more, Snake picked him up and carried him over his shoulders.
The other children kept running, with several others having close calls. Yet they kept running forward, towards… something? Snake couldn't tell. He looked out at the vast hall full of obstacles and molten steel and saw it go on endlessly. Confused he pulled out his binoculars and looked through them. The hallway went on for miles, literal miles. What was this even built for? This entire base was nothing but pure chaos incarnate, with no shred of rhyme or reason. But that's when it hit him, it was a trick.
He turned around and found the door he walked through still open. The exit was behind them all along.
"All of you! Stop! The exit is here!" Snake shouted, hoping the kids would stop to listen. They did luckily, the word exit quickly drawing their attention. They looked on terrified, but quickly saw the door was still open. Turning back around the kids tried to book it back to the entrance, as the Showmaster's voice echoed over the intercom.
"And we're back after that short break ladies and gentlemen! Let's see how- fucking damn it already!? Ahem, I mean, it appears our contestants are nearing the exit! But who will make it out alive?" the Showmaster commented, before quietly muttering, "Thats the last time I let Pyotr design a set. It's like all his puzzles are for children... oh wait."
Snake for his part, jumped back out to the exit, managing to arrive quite quickly. Landing on solid ground he turned around the hall and gently set down the boy. Then he looked out around the hall as he reflected on the Showmaster's rules. Only ten people were allowed out. He wasn't going to allow that, so he scoured the walls, looking for the wires hooked up to the door. There had to be a hollow spot in the wall, and he soon found it.
Cutting it open with his knife, he yanked out the wires inside, cutting off power to the doors. Satisfied he turned back and ran into the obstacle course. A couple of kids had reached the exit, but all the others remained. Searching the area, he found a small group clustered on a platform. Finding they were stuck; Snake went over to them. As the group saw him approach, they backed up slightly, only to stop when they found they reached the end.
Snake slowed down then, holding his hands up to try and calm them down.
"Can any of you jump across?" he asked loudly, receiving a few confused looks and a few shaking their heads no. Looking out, Snake found a smaller platform resting behind the group.
"I'm going to get all of you out of here, ok? I need some of you to jump to the platform behind you!" he told them, with a few of the kids looking back. Most seemed distrustful, but a few had a desperate pleading look in their eyes. A couple did as he said and jumped to the platform behind them. It gave Snake enough room to jump over to the group. He almost missed his footing and felt the sole of his boot heat up a little. But he made it.
"Alright, I'm going to carry you over one at a time, no pushing or shoving. Believe me, everything is going to be ok," he stated, before looking over at the smallest child, a small six-year-old boy. Carefully he picked him up and jumped back over to the platform. Then he set him down and turned back to the rest of the group. He'd do this over and over, bringing over the small group. Silently Snake realized he hadn't heard the Showmaster talking anymore. It was a blessing, but it left him worried.
Eventually, the last kid was taken to the other platform. By now the majority of the kids had reached the end, but not all of them. Snake could see dozens of bodies sinking into the molten metal, with him unable to do anything. Counting again he found the number of kids had dwindled to two hundred. A hundred were gone in such a short time. He couldn't focus on that now, only on getting the rest out alive. So, Snake looked out at the obstacle course and found the last kid jumping over to the exit.
"Come on! You've almost made it!" Snake shouted, trying to bring the kid's hopes up. At the same time, he went over to him. The kid, a young girl, had just jumped to the next platform. To Snake's horror, she missed and landed awkwardly. Her right leg fell into the metal submerged, while her left landed on the platform. A loud crack was heard as some bone was broken, with Snake unsure what it was. Rushing over he pulled the girl out of the metal, painful tears covering her eyes.
She shrieked out as Snake carefully looked over her. It was worse than the first boy, with the metal clinging to the entirety of the girl's leg. Snake tried his best to remove it like before but found the metal had burned through, almost reaching muscle. It was bad. With little time Snake removed what was left of the metal and picked the girl up. She whimpered in pain quietly, as Snake quickly jumped back over to the exit. It was only then that the Showmaster was heard.
"-about now? Is it working now? I swear, why is everyone here so incompetent!? I pay you to fix up this place, to guard it, to keep it tidy, and not one of you fuckers can do that!? If I find one more problem, I'm killing you. What? Oh!? We're back!? We're back! Yes, thank you for your patience ladies and gentlemen! We appeared to be having some technical issues, something about the wiring going out or something." the Showmaster boasted loudly as small camera drones began to fly in from somewhere.
"Now if we check in on our contestants, we'll find… You dirty little cheater." the Showmaster muttered as the camera drones focused in on Snake.
"Cut the broadcast," the Showmaster ordered to someone on his end, "Now I distinctly remember saying, that only ten people are allowed to win. Either I could be going senile, or someone didn't listen to the rules."
"Damn your rules. This isn't a game." Snake replied, not noticing the kids slowly crowd around him.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO! This is my game you play by my rules! I don't think you realize who is in charge here Big Boss! I didn't spend all this money to bring you here, just so you could ruin my show!"
The loud scuffle of boots sounded off behind Snake, as he quickly turned around. The kids cried out in fear as hundreds of guards surrounded the area behind them. Rifles all pointed at Snake as the two sides stared each other down. The soulless eyes of the walking corpses, the sadistic looks of psychopaths, the bored glares of mercenaries. All against the furious stare of Snake.
"The Legendary Soldier is what they call you! A man of myths! A man I thought would be the perfect addition to my show! Yet you keep fucking up everything! So, I'm giving you a choice. You can't win this Big Boss! So, either you play along, or I end this here and now! What's it going to be?"
Looking out, Snake was sure he couldn't win. They had him out in the open and surrounding. If even a single shot was fired, any number of kids could get hurt. Could he make it out? Maybe. But at such a cost, it would be unacceptable. He was tempted to put down his weapons. Yet something stopped him. He noticed a small object slide along the ground toward him. It took Snake a second, but he realized what it was. Carefully, Snake held up his hands.
"You win," he said, calmly, the kids around him looking over afraid.
"Good, set your weapons on the floor. Slowly." the Showmaster ordered, and Snake complied. He grabbed his M4 and AK-74 by the barrels and held them out for the guards to see. Then slowly, he crouched to the ground. In a split second, a gunshot echoed around the room. The children cried out, dropping to the ground in fear as the single bullet ricocheted above them. It flew through the skulls of the guards, tearing them apart effortlessly.
"W-WHAT!?" the Showmaster yelled out, confused as his camera drones were shot out soon after. The chaos stopped as swiftly as it had started, with Snake picking up the Idroid from the floor.
"Everybody good?" Nagant asked, walking over to the group of kids.
"Got a couple wounded, but they're alive." Snake replied, quickly standing back up, "You find anything?"
Nagant simply motioned toward her Idroid.
"More than you can imagine. That hallway led to a treasure trove of info, and I barely scratched the surface of it."
"Good, I'll go over it later. Right now, our priority is getting them out of here." Snake stated, with Nagant looking over at the kids worriedly.
"You have a plan for that? Cause I don't think the SUV is big enough for that." Nagant stated. Snake could see she was counting the kids, and he understood why. Kowalczyk's tampering had left them unprepared for the mission, and now they had no way of getting all the kids out of there.
"We'll deal with that issue, once we make it outside. The blizzard should have hopefully cleared enough by now that Miller can get us extracted." Snake replied, calmly. Nagant only nodded.
"Kids," Nagant started, "We're going to get you out of here, but we need your help, ok? If you see someone is to hurt to move, we need you to help carry them, ok?"
The kids nodded along quietly, as they moved around each other. A few picked up some other kids. The wounds were gruesome. The majority of the kids hadn't gotten caught in the molten steel, but they had at some point accidentally touched it. Bits of the metal clung to parts of their skin, be it their arms or their legs. And then, a loud boom shook the facility around them. The kids looked around terrified as Snake and Nagant brought their weapons ready. At the same time, the Showmaster's voice came over the intercom.
"GET YOUR ASSES OVER THERE NOW DAMN IT! AND DON'T CALL BACK UNTIL YOU HAVE BIG BOSS'S CORPSE! AND THE WHERE THE FUCK IS THE REST OF THE SURFACE GUARDS!?" Showmaster yelled out furiously, with several kids covering their ears in response. A second loud boom shook the facility then, leaving both Snake and Nagant further confused.
"The hell is going on up there?" Nagant wondered aloud.
"Doesn't matter. The Showmaster is distracted, and his guards' attention is divided. We need to move, now." Snake ordered. Quickly, the two began moving the children forward.
The C-17 shook violently as Osprey clung to his parachute. Below them, dozens of outdated anti-aircraft guns fired into the cold night sky. Every few seconds a round would crash into the plane denting its outer fuselage. It made Osprey wonder how the gunners were so damn accurate. Around the plane, the paratroopers did a final check of their equipment. With everything ready to go, Osprey made his way to the back of the plane. There he found a couple of technicians carefully going over the equipment.
Looking up he found the jump light still red, yet he knew at any moment it was going to turn green. Right as he thought so, the C-17's ramp began to open up.
"Troopers!" he called out, "In formation!"
"Sir yes sir!" the paratroopers replied, quickly getting into place. Osprey did so as well, moving over to the side of the plane. Once the ramp had fully opened the LATVs were dropped out, and the vehicles' parachutes quickly opened once they were gone. The light remained red for only a few seconds longer before it switched over to green.
"Go! Go! Go!" Jump troopers! Let's move it!"
Swiftly, the paratroopers ran out, leaving the plane empty in mere seconds. With a calm breath, Osprey then joined them, jumping out of the plane swiftly. The sensation of freefall took hold of him for a few moments before he felt his parachute begin to slow his descent. His feet dangled in the air, as Osprey looked out at the ground below. The anti-aircraft guns kept firing, only they were focused on the parachutes now. This wasn't an issue for long luckily, as an F-35 flew in to provide ground support. It was hard for Osprey to see it from this distance, but the explosions he heard confirmed its presence.
Looking back down, Osprey found the ground rapidly approaching him. Bracing himself, he landed into a roll and got up quickly. With his rifle in hand, he booked it over to a small squad of soldiers that were beginning to form up.
"There's no time for lollygagging!" he yelled out, "Enemy base is a thousand feet that way, let's move it!"
With a silent nod, the soldiers began to move out. Sticking to the trees for cover they made it over to where the base was supposed to be. Instead, they found a vacant open area, with a sign resting in the middle. Osprey was confused for a second, before remembering the report he had been given. He was about to walk over to the sign when the shooting started. He ducked down quickly as a bullet flew by his head. He looked out at the surrounding forest as the enemy appeared from out of nowhere.
He fired back in response, while slowly crawling back into cover. Making it back, he turned over to the rest of the squad.
"Roach, Squid, Dolphin, provide covering fire! Tucan, where are those LATVs?" Osprey called out. The soldiers did as ordered, with the three quickly firing into the dark forest. It forced several guards to duck back. Seeing an opportunity, Dolphin readied an under barreled M320 grenade launcher. He fired it quickly and watched as it tore through a couple of exposed guards.
"They finished unpacking! ETA three minutes!" Tucan replied, the soldier ducking back behind cover. Looking out into the forest Osprey could see lights in the distance, most likely the LATVs. With a small breath, Osprey turned back and fired into the dark forest.
Chapter 46: A Race to Escape
Snake's biggest problem with the Showmaster's facility, was how it was built. Be it incompetence, corruption, or a statement, the Russian military had built this base to be ludicrously large. Every hour that Snake had spent wandering through this base was a testament to that knowledge. Not to mention all the random dead ends, loops, and random intersections that made it a maze. Now, normally he could handle a base like this, he had done so many times before.
But never in any of those times, did he have a hundred kids following him closely. Now he was ducking back into rooms with a massive crowd following his every footstep. It was only by a miracle that they had escaped the base's patrols. Whatever chaos was going on upstairs seemed to have stolen their attention, and for that Snake was grateful. Yet as he kept moving forward through the winding halls of the large base, only one question came to mind. Where is the exit?
Deciding to answer this question, Snake had Nagant stay with the kids in a small office space as he went to find a lone guard. Quietly, he walked through the dark halls, his M4 at the ready. Looking out through the hall's corners, he found two guards slowly inspecting the area. Seeing they were walking towards him, Snake stayed to the side of the wall and pulled out a collapsible cardboard box. It was then the guards began walking by, uncaring for the box on the floor.
"This Big Boss guy… is he as good as they say he is?" one guard asked, unaware they had just passed their target.
"Why wouldn't he be? You don't become a legend over nothing." the second guard replied calmly, as Snake slowly began approaching the two with his cardboard box.
"Well yeah, but he's just one guy. If he's so damn tough, then what's his quirk?" the first guard asked again. At the same time, Snake drew his knife under the box, preparing to strike.
"I don't know, but who cares? Big Boss has probably killed more people than both you and me." the second guard countered, as the two came to a stop at an intersection. They looked around for a few seconds, silently debating what to do.
"And? What's he going to do against my quirk? Good ole Instant Death?"
"Probably shoot you in the skull."
With the opportunity, Snake stabbed his knife into the back of the first guard's skull. It immediately drew the attention of the second guard, so Snake quickly swept his legs. With the second guard falling forward he pulled his knife out of the first guard's falling body. Once the second guard hit the ground Snake held his knife to the back of his throat and quietly restrained the guard's arms.
"Where is the exit?" Snake demanded quietly, carefully pressing the knife into the guard's neck.
"O-oh shit! U-uh-" the guard stuttered out as Snake pushed the knife further.
"Talk."
"I-it's near G room, j-just take a right at this intersection and keep going straight," the guard replied. Satisfied, Snake choked the guard out and hid his body in a nearby room. With the information needed, he snuck back over to Nagant. With the group reassembled he led the way back to the intersection. He would constantly check over his shoulders, ensuring both the kids were still following, and that no guards had appeared behind them. Not far from the main exit, Snake grabbed the stolen radio he still had. He assumed the guards would have changed frequencies by now, but luckily, they hadn't.
"We checked the area, they're not here boss."
"Fucking damn it! You know, I'm getting sick and tired of you dumbasses being unable to do your jobs! So, get your asses in gear and lock down the exits!"
Snake silently swore at the Showmaster's remark. The door to the exit was now becoming visible, with a dozen guards standing at the other end. All but two were armed with AK-74s. The last two, however, manned an AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher, mounted onto a large tripod. Halting the large group of kids, Snake had them hide in a nearby hall. Looking back out, he found the guards carefully watching the area. Nagant soon walked over to him, before carefully looking out as well.
"You have a clean shot?" Snake asked.
"Kind of. I could manage to kill five with one shot, but the others aren't in good positions," she replied, her M110 held at the ready. Snake quietly grumbled in response, before grabbing a flashbang from his belt.
"You take the shot, I'll focus on the others," he stated, with Nagant calmly nodding.
"Just say when," Nagant told him before she brought her gun up and aimed at the wall. With Snake seeing she was ready; he pulled the pin and tossed the flashbang out. It rolled out and landed in front of the AGS-17, right as a guard noticed it. The guard screamed out to warn the others but was too late. The flashbang exploded into a violent light, and Nagant took the shot seconds later.
The bullet ricocheted off the walls, before flying through the guards' skulls. Snake meanwhile ran out into the hallway, firing his M4 at the surviving guards. Of the dozen present, seven remained. They stood about dazed, with a few managing to duck into cover quickly. The others weren't so lucky, as Snake gunned down three. Two fell to the ground bloodless, while the third was torn apart. Now there were four.
Yet, he had missed the crew manning the AGS-17. The duo of guards quickly scrambled into position loading the lox of grenades, as the gunner aimed the launcher. Snake seeing this, jumped out into a nearby hallway. It was almost too late, as the first grenade was shot. It exploded against the wall, launching shrapnel out as it did. It didn't stop though as the gunner adjusted his aim to fire at Nagant. The sniper was quick, however, and ducked back before it was too late.
Now in cover, she quietly thought out her next move. An idea soon came to mind, as Nagant pulled out her Idroid. Switching over to the camera feature, she slowly angled it to look out the hallway. Once the enemy came into view, she pointed her M110 at the wall and ran through a quick calculation. There were two other guards, aside from the AGS-17 crew, but they were behind cover. Quietly adjusting her rifle, she pulled the trigger. The bullet bounced off the walls, before flying through the barrel of the grenade launcher.
In seconds the entire weapon exploded, killing the crew and if the screams were any clue, wounding the last two guards. With them dealt with, Nagant looked over to Snake. Both stood up quietly and assembled the kids. A few steps forward, and Snake opened the exit door.
"Shit," he muttered, looking up at the large rickety fire escape inside the void of a room. The only escape broke every basic safety code Snake could think of. To the point where he couldn't see the top of the fire escape. It could have been worse though as he looked down at the floor and saw the metal stairs extend for miles. They didn't know any other way out, and sure as hell didn't have enough ammo to find a new one. So, moving to the side, he had the kids go first, while he and Nagant ensured the area was secure.
Once half of the kids had made it through, Snake heard the crackle of a radio. Searching for the noise he found it on one of the dead guards. Moving to pick it up, Snake felt his blood run cold.
"Unit thirty-nine, report." the Showmaster ordered, his voice lined with a quiet fury.
"For fucks sake, unit thirty-nine report." the Showmaster ordered again. Snake quickly turned over to Nagant, with the sniper already knowing what he was going to say. She moved the kids to hurry, while Snake scavenged for ammo from the guards.
"Unit thirty-nine, report! Damn it, they're dead, aren't they!? All personnel get to the G Room exit!"
The first of the LATVs drove by Osprey, as he ducked back behind a tree for cover. Bullets tore through its wood, splintering off but missing Osprey. Once it stopped Osprey turned around and fired into the darkness ahead. Unsure of if he hit something, he darted out as a second LATV drove by. He stuck close to it, using the vehicle as cover while a soldier manned the M2. The loud thunk of the fifty-caliber machine gun being fired made it hard to hear.
But the results were easy to see, as exposed guards were cut in half. Their chests were torn open and ripped off their torsos as the gunner fired in periodic bursts. Blood quickly stained the snow below, with both sides still unaware of who was winning. Both the blizzard and the night sky made it impossible to know, as even night vision could see past the raging winds and snow.
As Osprey continued to follow the LATV, others crowded around as well. With the small squad firing out into the surrounding area. He soon found Tucan running up beside him.
"Report!" Osprey asked loudly while ducking back as a bullet ricocheted off the LATV.
"No sign of an entrance yet sir!" Tucan began, the soldier quickly firing his M4 near a large tree. As he did so, the guard standing behind it moved, trying to open fire. He was cut down quickly, not expecting Tucan to fire.
"But Roach and his squad believe they found something!"
"Where?"
"At least nine hundred feet west of here!"
They were close he realized, possibly closer than the others. He moved over to the driver's side of the LATV, before hitting the door twice. The driver looked over at him, quickly seeing he was friendly.
"We got an area of interest nine hundred feet west!" Osprey ordered as both he and Tucan hopped into the vehicle.
"Got it, sir!" was the driver's only reply, before quickly turning the vehicle. It didn't take long to reach Roach, but the area was nothing but a massive firefight. Dozens of guards fired from somewhere out in the forest. Seeing the situation, the gunner fired out into the void, focusing on the muzzle flashes in the darkness. Osprey and Tucan did the same as they hopped out of the vehicle.
Sticking low to the ground, Osprey made his way over to a small hill of snow. Once there he looked out into the dark forest and found a lone muzzle flash coming from out in the open. Seeing his opportunity Osprey fired quickly and watched as an enemy fell dead. He turned his gaze then, finding another guard doing the same. For whatever reason, only half the guards were sticking to cover. The other half stood out in the open, barely reacting to anything. It brought questions to Osprey's mind, but he shoved them aside.
Command did say weird shit was going on at this place, so best to question it for later. Looking out again, he found Roach digging up something in the snow, while Dolphin and Squid provided covering fire. Carefully running up, he slid to a stop next to him.
"Tucan says you found something," he states, with Roach not looking up in response. The soldier continued to dig down, his hands reaching something underneath.
"I was running over to cover when I tripped on something. Not sure what, but I landed on something hard," Roach replied.
"Could be a covered-up tree." Osprey countered but he could see Roach's line of thinking.
"Sure, as hell didn't feel like one. Felt metallic, even heard a hollow thunk." Roach responded before the soldier moved to the side. Looking down, Osprey found a handle on the ground. He couldn't see what it was connected to, but he could logically guess what it was.
"Well, keep digging then," Osprey ordered before he started to help the soldier. Bullets continued to fly by as they did so, with the other soldiers providing cover fire. Minutes passed before the hinges came into view, then the rest of the door. All Osprey could hear was the sound of the LATV's M2 firing, and his loud haggard breath. They'd done it though, and the door was thoroughly dug out.
He inspected it for any sign of a trap, before carefully opening the door. What he saw was a deep pit, with a massive fire escape emerging from the depths. At the top of the fire escape was a ladder, which led up to the door Osprey had opened. Wasting no time, Osprey grabbed his Idroid.
"This is Major Osprey; we've found an entrance." he relayed while switching over to his Idroid's map. It took a second to find himself on the map, but when he did, he placed a beacon on it.
"All units regroup and secure the area at my position," he ordered. With that done he looked back at Roach and readied his M4.
"You, Tucan, Dolphin, and Squid are with me. Clear?"
"Crystal sir."
In a few seconds, the soldiers were assembled, and Osprey entered the facility. One by one they dropped onto the large fire escape, with flashlights illuminating the dark spot. Curious, Osprey dropped a bullet casing out into the deep pit. Seconds would pass, and no noise would be heard. A minute soon came, and still nothing. Then two more. In response, Roach let out a low whistle.
"Hot damn that's deep."
"Don't remind me, let's just keep moving," Tucan replied, a slight hesitance clear in his voice. Roach picked up on this as a small smirk covered his face.
"What, you got a fear of heights?" he jokingly asked.
"More a fear of falling," Tucan replied, the soldier very visibly standing away from the ledges. The answer left Dolphin surprised for a second, the soldier then looking over at Tucan.
"You're a paratrooper, how the hell do you have a fear of falling!?"
"Because normally I have a parachute with me!"
"Both of you shut up. And Tucan, just stay away from the ledge," Osprey ordered, already fed up with the squad. They moved quietly, the squad checking over every inch of the facility as they moved down. Eventually, they would find a walkway leading out to somewhere. Osprey assumed it connected to the rest of the base, and almost moved to inspect it. Then the door opened, and he ducked behind the fire escape's rails.
They provided little protection as the guards entering opened fire. Firing back Osprey shot into the open doorway. In response, the guards ducked back behind the hall's walls.
"Dolphin, grenade!" Osprey ordered. The soldier quickly did as ordered, loading a new round into his under-barreled launcher. With it in place, he waited a few seconds and fired when a guard peeked out of cover. The grenade collided with the guard's chest, and the shrapnel flew into his nearby buddies. Taking a calm breath, Osprey quickly noticed the sound of gunfire hadn't left. Looking around he found no more guards on their level.
But looking down, he saw the lights of muzzle flash and faint screams. Silently he motioned for the squad to keep moving down.
Madam President grumbled as another set of documents passed through her desk. Looking them over quietly she found the papers to be different projects asking for funding. This was becoming annoying, to say the least. Day after day the only news given to her from any number of associates was funding requests. No news on who was killing their reps, no news on the dimensional constant, and most importantly, no news on Big Boss.
That thought alone infuriated her. This never-ending struggle with an organization the public didn't even know about. Sure, heroes had been encountering MSF soldiers more frequently now. Such as a small group of heroes stumbling across the mercs on a "humanitarian" mission out in Brazil, or an anti-piracy battle out in the Indian Ocean. But there was never a sign of Big Boss.
So, the President focused on the paperwork in front of her, hoping it would dull her anger. The first document was one of Syntax Industries' projects, submitted by one of the company's officials. It requested investment funds to be allocated to a new series of support equipment for mutant heroes. It didn't explain anything further, but the President didn't need to read the rest. With not even a thought, the request was denied.
The media was still frothing at the mouth over the debacle in Africa, and Syntax was one of the many companies on the chopping block because of it. To gift them new funding would run counter to the President's message. Although, the project had some merit for later implementation, once the heat had died down. Next up was from Techno and his department. They were asking for a new set of spy satellites to be launched, in the hopes it would give them better surveillance capabilities.
It was an expensive proposal, and ultimately untenable. To go through with the proposal, she would have to enter a long boring conversation with an underpaid JAXA engineer, only to have the launch delayed by weeks, months, or even years. And then realize all the equipment being used was faulty the day after its completion. Honestly, she could understand Techno's request, but who exactly was going to build these? NASA was an underfunded joke, the JAXA couldn't build the number of satellites requested, and Space X was well… Space X.
At this point, the President could see a pattern growing, as more and more projects were denied. To think there used to be a day when all of these could be approved without the public batting an eye. Now she was having to walk on eggshells to appease even the smallest reporter. All these projects, dozens of them, were denied due to either the public or being unable to keep the public from knowing.
Once the last document had been denied, the President stood up. There was a lot more work to be done, but she wasn't doing it without a coffee. With a quick step, she walked over to the door of her office and opened it. Surprisingly, Techno stood on the other side, the usually stoic intelligence agent seemingly run ragged.
"What is it?" the President asked confused.
"We've got a sighting on Big Boss," Techno wheezed out, and it became clear he ran to her office.
"I tried calling an hour ago, but you never answered."
"Damn it. Alright, where is he?" the President asked a new eagerness lacing her voice.
"Siberia, near Kazakhstan. Our programs found him live on some dark web game show. They tracked where the broadcast was coming from and found him there." Techno explained further, stepping to the side as the President began to walk forward. Calmly the President thought for a moment.
"Notify the Russian authorities of his location." she ordered, "Do we have any satellites on him?"
"Negative mam, a blizzard and something else is covering the area."
"Something else?"
"We're not entirely sure yet, but it appears to be an artificial or real forest."
"A billion-dollar satellite and you can't see through some fucking trees. Still, keep them focused on the area. If there's even the chance, they find Big Boss I want them following him."
The two had reached the surveillance room now finding all the agents scrambling about as the live broadcast had been suddenly cut. The screens were stuck on a "we'll be right back" message, with someone in a white and pink suit and top hat in the middle. There was one question on the President's mind, however, what heroes were in the general area? She could choose between several nations' heroes to respond to this before the Russian authorities arrive, therefore keeping the glory.
But who to choose? Slowly the President fell to one conclusion as she turned over to Techno.
"Call the Moscow Wolves, tell them we have an assignment." the President ordered, with Techno calmly nodding in response.
"Right away mam."
"Hmm, the subject's vitals appear to be stable so far." Rabid Lion, a doctor on the medical team, commented while inspecting the MSF's latest prosthetic arm. The soldier it was attached to move about calmly, picking up items as smoothly as if his arm was still there. The prosthetic motion was efficient and natural, with the joints inside it moving like a real arm.
"How are the processors doing?" Devil Crab, an engineer from R&D, asked. Lion looked down at the monitoring tablet he had been given in response.
"Seems to be doing well." Lion replied, "Should be keeping pace with his brain's signals."
"I should hope so, the artificial nerves took a week to design right." Crab muttered although he was pleased with his work. To think what kind of technology this could lead to. He didn't linger on it long, no matter how badly he wanted to. Instead, he focused on having the soldier run through a few more tests just to ensure the arm was in working order. Once it was complete, Crab began to leave. That was until Lion called out to him.
"Oh, before you go, something's been messing with VIC. Think you can help?" Lion asked. Now, VIC was the collective name given to the medical team's predictive virus algorithm. It stood for Viral Intelligence Computer and was a project Dr. Strangelove had created that would map out possible future viruses, and simulations for vaccines to combat them. To do this, the algorithm was designed to learn through changes in the simulations. If one hypothetical vaccine didn't work in the simulation, it checked over its data to see if something was missing.
Then it began asking questions as to what data was missing and slowly tried to solve the problem. Usually, it was able to do this, but sometimes one of the medical staff had to manually input the data.
"I'm not a software engineer, so I might not be much help. But what exactly is the issue?" Crab asked.
"Well, someone left the program on for a week straight and it's been loading slower. The entire thing is backlogged with hypothetical diseases we're still going through." Lion explained.
"Again, not sure what I can do to help. I'll see if I can get someone who can." Crab replied, before quietly leaving the room. Somewhat satisfied by Crab's response, Lion walked over to the main console VIC was situated in. They had turned it off hours ago, but he decided to check in on it. Turning it on, he found the large page of reports he and all the other doctors had scrolled through before.
It would take hours to get through them all, and he was curious as to what diseases the algorithm had simulated at the bottom. But it was still taking forever to load. So, with his check done, he turned it off. Or he tried to. The screen stayed lit, and the program kept running. He hit the off button again, and still nothing. With an annoyed groan, he stood back up. He silently hoped Crab would send someone down because it was sure as hell broken.
Chapter 47: A Show's End
The farther down they went, the more guards they ran into. It was becoming annoying but understandable to Osprey. A base this large would need hundreds to fully guard it. Still, it was becoming a hazard as they moved forward. Bullets continued to fly at both sides, with rounds hitting the fire escape's rails and supports. And he could feel it shudder slightly every time it happened. It wasn't enough to cause a violent shake or have the thing start falling apart but the damn thing seemed like it could break at any moment.
With the endless void below them, Osprey could only pray it didn't happen. But on they went, occasionally ducking behind the slim cover the railings provided. The gunfire below them only drew closer as they moved. After reaching what had to be the seventh floor, Osprey had the squad stop for a moment. Looking around he didn't see any guards moving above them. However, he began to fear they may start flooding in at any moment.
"Dolphin, Roach, you two stay up here and keep the area secure," he ordered calmly.
"Got it," Dolphin replied, the soldier's eyes now watching over a nearby walkway.
"Tucan, you're with me."
Tucan calmly nodded in response, and the two quickly began moving down the stairs again. As they did so, gunfire echoed from the stairs above them. Seconds later a grenade went off and the gunfire ended. They kept moving forward, with Osprey being confident in the soldiers' capabilities. Below them, the gunfire seemed to slow down, with flashlights now becoming present in the dark.
While they walked, Osprey activated his codec. Command said they couldn't contact the Boss, but he wanted to make sure. Switching over to the correct channel, he tried to call.
"Boss, can you hear me?" he asked, receiving no response.
"Boss, this is Major Striker Osprey. Me and a squad of friendlies are above you. Please respond."
Still nothing. With a quiet grumble, he focused back on the path below. The flashlights below continued to get closer, and Osprey didn't want a friendly fire incident to occur. And in this darkness with the guards appearing from every corner, it was becoming more likely. What he needed was something to distinguish they were friendly, as the skull patch on his arm was barely visible and while he wasn't dressed as a clown, an adrenaline rush tended to ignore that fact.
He thought his Idroid might help, it did have a recognizable sound and most of the MSF had one. Yet that wouldn't be noticed until they were right next to each other. It was here he remembered something; they'd brought flares. Osprey turned over to Tucan, quickly having the soldier stop.
"Flare," he ordered, with Tucan complying quietly. He grabbed a flare from his bag and lit it. The flare glowed a bright red, illuminating the dark tunnel. The red hue displayed the rusted walls of the room. It brought the attention of the group below, with a flashlight being pointed up at them. Periodically it was turned off and on, giving out a code. He replied with his flashlight, quickly signaling that they were friendly.
With that dealt with, they descended further. Their flashlights continually sent back more signals the closer they got until finally, the two groups met. There was no epic fanfare, or loud cheers as Snake looked over at Osprey and Tucan. Only the still calm questions, as they came to a brief stop.
"Major," Snake greeted quietly, with Osprey soon noticing the trail of kids behind him.
"Boss," Osprey replied, the soldier carefully counting the kids present.
"I assume the chaos I've been hearing is your doing?" Snake inquired as they began moving up the stairs.
"It is sir." Osprey answered, "Commander Miller ordered us to paradrop in a few hours ago."
"Good, 'cause I've got a hundred-something kids here, and very little time," Snake told him, as another explosion shook the area around them.
"Orders then?" Osprey asked.
"We're heading top side to get them out of here. That's all that matters." Snake replied to Osprey's confusion.
"What about the enemy sir?"
"At the moment their leader is most likely hiding away somewhere in this labyrinth of a bunker." Snake explained, "And at best, we have a company of men with us, right?"
"Yes sir."
"Then we're going to be here for a few days searching. And the longer we stay the easier it becomes for the authorities to notice our presence." Snake continued with Osprey connecting the dots. It made sense, they were technically here illegally. By all logic, if the local authorities were to learn of their actions, then the hammer was going to come down hard.
"Once they make it top side, I want the men moving for Kazakhstan," Snake continued, "This blizzard isn't going to clear any time soon, so heading south is our best bet out of the country. If I had to guess, I'd say it's a three-day trip."
"Three days huh? Not sure if we brought enough equipment for this." Osprey muttered. Sure, they brought enough food and fuel for transport, but not nearly enough bullets. That's just the way it is though, so he kept walking forward. Behind him, Nagant ensured the rear was secure, as Tucan quickly moved to join her.
Oddly enough the ascent back up the stairs had been calm. When they reunited with Roach and Dolphin, no one had spotted any guards. There was no new gunfire, no doors opening, no noise except for the creaking fire escape. It was worrying. They were nearing the ladder back outside now, Roach and Dolphin taking point. The troops above had swarmed the area while Osprey was gone, and as such the surrounding location was effectively locked down.
Slowly they began helping the kids out of the bunker one by one. Continually they kept watch of the shadows, looking for any hint of movement. But there was nothing. Osprey looked over at Snake quietly, and his superior shared his suspicion. Once all the kids were out, all that was left was for him and his squad to climb out. Roach went first, quickly followed by Dolphin. Then Tucan left the entrance, with Nagant joining him once someone called for a sniper.
Then it was his turn. Quietly he walked over and began to climb the ladder, only slowing once he heard something behind him. Snake soon noticed as well, as both men looked out behind them. Something charged out of the dark, ramming into Snake, with both falling down the flight of stairs to the panic of Osprey.
Snake could feel the air rushing by his face, as he fell down the stairs he had just climbed. Every few seconds he would hit something as his body rag dolled against the fire escape. Every time it would slow his descent, not allowing the fall to kill him but hurting like hell. He finally came to a stop when he managed to grab one of the fire escape's railings. Breathing became painful, as he could feel every broken rib between breaths.
Something else was breathing next to him, and he noticed it quickly. Off to the side, he spotted the Showmaster lying against the stairs awkwardly. His neck was bent at a wrong angle, as were his arms and legs. In his hands was a long cane decorated with a gold top and pink diamond tip. It glistened even in the current darkness. Painfully, Snake began to pull himself up, managing to clamber onto the stairs. At the same time, the Showmaster slowly started to stand up.
His limbs popped back into place as he did so, as did his arms. Carefully he placed his cane in between his right arm and his chest, as his hands moved to his head. In one swift motion, he snapped his neck, readjusting his broken bones into their usual location.
"You just had to ruin everything, didn't you." the Showmaster began as the man turned to face Snake. Somehow his top hat remained on his head even after the fall, yet it barely covered the small hole in his head.
"Granted I should have expected someone of your reputation to do so. But you just couldn't play along."
"You can't seem to get it through your thick skull. This isn't a game." Snake stated angrily, his hand moving for his rifle. He cringed when he felt nothing but air beside him, realizing he lost it in the fall.
"Wrong! So incredibly wrong! What more is life, than a long game!?" the Showmaster countered, "A game to give yourself a goal, an opportunity to win! This right now, you win if you can kill me and rescue those kiddies, that is a game!"
The Showmaster spun around his cane, slowly walking over to Snake.
"You know, my first memory in life, was waking up in a dirty alley in Moscow." the Showmaster stated, the man scrapping his cane against the fire escape's railing. Its sharpened diamond created sparks as he went.
"No recollection of anything. No family, no friends, no name. The only possessions I had were this bright white suit, top hat, and cane."
The Showmaster continued to get closer, as Snake stood tall. His fists were raised waiting for the man to make a move.
"I had nothing of value. Not even a life to claim as mine, for I had an identity that didn't exist. With no knowledge as to anything I got up and walked out of that alleyway, not going anywhere. It didn't matter where, after all, I was nothing. I had no name, no identity."
He stopped walking then, standing across from Snake as the two stared each other down.
"The entire time my mind plagued me with one thought, who am I? Eventually, I found a large electronics store, displaying hundreds of TVs. Now I don't remember the name of the show that was playing, but I remember its premise. It was an extreme reality gameshow, marketing itself as the world's greatest."
He lifted his cane then, examining Snake through the pink diamond tip. Spinning it carefully, Snake could only wonder what the man was doing, why he hadn't attacked yet. He stood ready though, prepared to counter if needed.
"And you know, I was so bored. My only thoughts were of how I could do so much better. Then it struck me. I had no recollection of who I was. So, best to start fresh! In this big game of life, I would be the Showmaster, the creator of the greatest show the world has ever seen! AND I'LL BE DAMNED IF I LET YOU TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME !" the Showmaster shouted his eyes gaining a crazed glare. With impossible speed, he charged Snake, his cane thrust out like a spear.
Snake barely caught it, its tip pressing into his chest slightly. Despite the Showmaster's frail look, he was surprisingly strong, with the cane slowly inching forward. Quickly Snake swept the Showmaster's legs and threw the man over his shoulder. The Showmaster landed on the ground behind them, rolling briefly before he collided with the railing. In seconds he stood back up and charged Snake again.
Snake was ready this time, dodging left as the Showmaster thrust his cane forward. Snake then countered, throwing a punch at the man's skull. It struck the Showmaster easily, stunning him momentarily. At the same time, Snake threw a kick at his chest, only for the Showmaster to recover. He blocked the kick with his cane, now using it as a staff. Launching it forward he struck Snake in the head. He moved to do it again, only for Snake to block with his arm.
Quickly Snake grabbed the cane before the Showmaster could attack again. In seconds he pulled it and the Showmaster up close, and quickly grabbed the man's head. Before the Showmaster could react, Snake slammed his head onto the nearby railing. He did it again and again, before the Showmaster broke free from his grasp. Now free he thrust the head of his can up, upper cutting Snake in the jaw.
Effectively stunned the Showmaster then shoved the cane's tip forward. Snake barely dodged, side-stepping as the tip cut through his sneaking suit and flesh. Feeling blood begin to drip Snake blocked another strike from the Showmaster's cane, and then side-stepping around him. Now behind the Showmaster, Snake wrapped his arms around his neck. The Showmaster struggled as Snake did so, attempting to use his cane to free himself.
But Snake ignored it, attempting to choke the man out. Yet nothing happened. A solid minute passed as Snake choked him out. Then a second, and a third. Seeing it wasn't going to work, Snake went for the other option and snapped the Showmaster's neck. He suspected it wouldn't work, but with how this was going he would try anything. And he was right. The Showmaster continued to struggle, finally breaking free of Snake's grasp by stabbing himself through the neck.
The diamond tip of his cane ripped through his neck, while Snake narrowly missed his arms being impaled. They were sliced up horribly though, cutting down through muscle with the tops of his upper arms now bleeding heavily. They became hard to move, as he quickly backed away from the Showmaster. The man removed his cane from his neck, a now very present hole resting in its place. Only a few shreds of bone and flesh remained to hold up his head.
"You don't learn, do you?" the Showmaster taunted, somehow speaking with his torn-up neck, "Face it Big Boss! You can't fucking kill me!"
The Showmaster charged again, with Snake switching up tactics. He dodged, sidestepping the Showmaster again. Instead of grabbing him again, he shoved the man close to the ledge. He stumbled into it quickly turning back only for Snake to punch him in the face. The Showmaster fell over the ledge then, almost plummeting into the abyss, were it not for his cane. The cane's head popped open, with a small hook arriving at the top.
It latched onto the railing stopping his fall on the floor below Snake. With an annoying grace, he swung back onto the fire escape and walked over to the stairs. Slowly he walked back up, with Snake glaring at him all the while. No matter what he tried, the Showmaster had a counter. There was no winning this fight, not unless… Snake paused for a second, going over the insanity of his plan.
It was ludicrously stupid, but nothing else seemed to work. The Showmaster reached the floor Snake was on then, and in a desperate move, Snake charged him. He rammed into him, causing both himself and the Showmaster to fall off the fire escape. In the air he wrestled the Showmaster for control of the cane, managing to wrench it from the psychopath's hands. With it, his Snake held it out desperately, as the hook caught onto the railing.
The Showmaster tried to grab Snake, but his hands missed, only tearing away at the fabric of Snake's sneaking suit. He plummeted down into the void below, a desperate fury present on his face. The only noise heard was the Showmaster's furious yell before the room went silent. Snake only watched, taking a few solid moments to regain his breath. The same footsteps echoed around him as Snake looked over the rail. Osprey, out of breath, ran down the final flight of stairs reaching Snake's location.
"About time," Snake muttered, carefully trying to pull himself up.
"S-sorry Boss, j-just holy fuck there's a lot of stairs," Osprey replied, before quickly helping pull Snake up.
"Yeah well, the descent was the easy part," Snake commented, as the two slowly began moving up the stairs.
"I told you, it's not that bad- damn it!" Snake cursed as a medic tended to his torn-up arms. Against his will, his men had forced him to ride in one of the LATVs as they marched out to the Kazakhstan border. Once Osprey had reached Snake, the two had a very long climb up to the top. When they made it, they had one goal. Get the hell out of dodge. Every soldier booked it as soon as all the kids were loaded up.
Most were in the LATVs, like the pair of kids sitting next to Snake watching as the medic tended to him. However, they didn't have enough room for all of them, so some were wrapped up in whatever coats they could find and were carried by the soldiers.
"The more you struggle Boss the worse it gets," the medic commented as he did his best to stitch him up, "So stay fucking still or I'll stab you myself."
Snake reluctantly relented, instead focusing on the LATV's radio. At the moment nothing was going on. Only the occasional reports from recon drones, or the soldiers acting as rear guard. The Showmaster's men hadn't pursued them when they began to leave, but to be fair no one could understand why. The normal guards did it out of logic, as they were A. not paid enough to chase them down, and B. not in the mood to be blown apart like their compatriots.
However, as Snake now learned, the undead guards simply stood in place. They stood there, following the last order they had been given. To defend the base's entrances. Wordlessly Snake concluded those abominations could not be allowed to exist. Calmly Snake turned on his codec to call Miller. After a few seconds, the other end picked up.
"Snake, glad to see you made it out," Miller commented, with Nezu piping up after him.
"I assume the Showmaster has been dealt with?" he asked.
"I don't know," Snake replied, "I shot him in the head, snapped his neck, and he stabbed himself in the neck, yet he didn't die. Ended up shoving him into a deep pit, and I'm not sure if it killed him or not."
"Hmm, that is alarming," Nezu noted aloud.
"That's not even the half of it," Snake continued, "Nagant managed to find a lot of information on that base, and whoever was running it was trying to manipulate people's DNA to give them a second quirk."
The moment the words left Snake's mouth, Nezu went quiet. It was surprising, normally the rat would have been inquisitorial asking questions about what they had found. Instead, he sounded more worried.
"They were trying to give quirks?"
"That's what Nagant found. Even stranger she found audio logs documenting the experiments in Japanese, not Russian."
"And how long ago was this?"
"Best guess was around a century ago, and the project's test subjects have been there ever since."
"No one can learn of this." Nezu stated, "If the HPSC or any number of villain groups learn of this, then we could be facing an arms race in biological weapons. Regardless of if the tests are successful."
"Agreed," Snake began, "Kaz, the moment this blizzard clears I want an airstrike on the compound. None of it can be allowed to exist."
"I'll get right on it," Miller replied. At that moment the medic had finally finished bandaging him up. His arms still felt like shit, but they were usable. Snake had the driver stop then and hopped out. There he let another couple of kids take his spot in the LATV and began walking alongside it. The snowstorm around them still raged around them, with the winds making it hard to see. But they were moving forward, and that was all that mattered.
The Polish President paced around his office anxiously. He had spent hours going over paperwork to keep himself distracted, but he had completed everything. Now he was left with nothing but his thoughts. Memories still plagued him of his call with the MSF's second in command. How could this have happened? All that work, all that money to get his daughter back, only to discover his administration was colluding against him!
The very people he'd been working with for years, trusted colleagues and friends! And he didn't know who was with him, or against him. That didn't matter to him though. For all he knew his precious child could be dead. Every part of him begged for it not to be the case. Then, his phone began to ring. He didn't move. Part of him wanted to answer immediately, to hear that his daughter was ok. But, at the same time, it could be about her death. Reluctantly he answered.
"President Nowak?" the other end asked.
"Yes?" the President replied nervously, worried about what he would hear.
"This is Commander Miller of the MSF, we've got your daughter."
"Where!? Is she alright!?"
"She's alive but wounded. A couple of medics are treating her for third-degree burns on her legs, but she'll be fine. At the moment though she's being escorted out to the Kazakhstan border, where we should be able to extract her and the other kids out of the country."
"Where?" the President all but demanded. He was this close to seeing her again, to having his little girl safe. Warily Miller gave him the rendezvous coordinates before the call came to an end. Quickly the President stormed out of his office, finding his aide.
"Bazyli, get a helicopter ready! And call up the Hussars, I want them here in an hour!"
He couldn't be more grateful for the MSF's help, but at the same time, he didn't have a shred of patience left.
Soul stared at the tank ahead of him, with an unknown feeling in his chest. With the rise of drones and subsequently drone warfare, a lot of modern tanks have become very vulnerable. Now the MSF had been lucky so far, as none of the combatants they faced yet had a heavy reliance on drones. However, that wasn't to say this would always be the case. So, the MSF had two options, develop an upgrade package for their existing Abrams, or build a new tank from scratch.
They went with the first option as it was far cheaper and much easier. Now the upgrade package had yet to become fully adopted as it was still in development. It added reinforced armor to the top of the tank's turret, while also giving its pintle-mounted 7.62 machine gun a small radar system to detect and shoot down drones. The radar couldn't detect anything far away but could detect close threats. There were also other upgrades such as smaller armor improvements, engine adjustments, changes in optics, and adjustments in crew comfort.
Overall, they were small practical changes that made sense. So, Soul could only wonder what the fuck the other engineers had been smoking, when they put a railgun on an Abrams. Now, this railgun didn't have the usual separated two-prong look like the one on ZEKE or the handheld prototype. It was instead a very boxy rectangular shape, with curved angles on the corners, which seemed impractical.
It was a waste of time to shave off the barrel's corners, but he digressed. Inside the barrel, nothing much had changed. It was still a smoothbore 120mm cannon, with the interior luckily an empty cylinder and not a square. Why would Soul be thinking luckily? Because the treats had been swapped out for square tires. Honestly, what were they smoking? Now the barrel was designed with magnets on the top and bottom of the barrel, hence its boxy shape.
The Abram's engine had been swapped with an electric diesel one, and the entire tank had been painted a bright pink. It was ludicrously stupid. Yet there was a part of Soul's brain that said, I want one. He didn't say this though as he turned to look at the engineers responsible for the catastrophe in front of him.
"So, you mind explaining what happened?" Soul asked, to which the young engineers looked away embarrassed. They were brand new to the MSF, only having joined recently at ages nineteen and twenty.
"Well, uh, we may have had a small game night, and a few drinks may or may not have gotten involved." one engineer began.
"Do tell." Soul commented dryly.
"And uh, we kinda sorta started thinking up some shit." the first engineer finished.
"Should I be worried about the other shit you've been thinking up?" Soul asked.
"...no?"
"That sounded more like a question than an answer."
"...A soft serve yogurt machine with a built-in fifty cal." the second engineer relented, to the embarrassment of his friend.
"For crying out loud," Soul muttered as he brought his hand to his face. He turned away looking back at the abomination of a tank.
"Welp, start it up," he stated, before walking out to get the firing range ready.
"W-what?" the first engineer asked surprised.
"Start it up. You built the thing, may as well see it through." Soul replied, watching as the R&D platform's cranes moved several concrete blocks into place.
"I thought we were going to be reprimanded." the second engineer muttered.
"Trust me, you are." Soul told him, "However there are some things on this tank that could prove useful."
And he wasn't lying. While the railgun seemed impractical and something out of a sci-fi novel, it could be useful. It would be able to launch much weaker shells with the same amount of power as a regular one. It would dramatically increase ammo capacity and open up possibilities for better ammunition types. That said, they would need to test it first. The two engineers started up the tank though and set up a firing cord for the man gun. In little time the group stood behind a large ballistic shield, as the first engineer handed Soul the cord.
With everything in place, and the gun charged up, Soul pulled the chord. And subsequently watched as the shell punched through every concrete barrier before punching through the base's wall. It then kept flying for a moment, before falling into the ocean below.
"Well, next time we lower the power output," Soul noted.
"We may need to fix the barrel first," the second engineer muttered. Soul turned looking over at the tank's barrel, only to find a molten mess dripping down onto the tank's chassis.
"You know, this is the same problem we're having with the M1 handheld railgun." Soul commented, "If it's not the power it's the heat."