Chapter 17: One epic fight
“Come on, kill me…”Vamp jumped around to get some room to attack.
“Let’s kill that monster and get Naomi and Noi back!” Edward fired enraged at Vamp as he closed in on Snake which also fired with his M4 at Vamp.
Shortly before the “Immortal” man could hit Snake, he rolled out of the way.
Vamp jumped away after his attack had failed to repeat it.
He never changed his tactic but as he superhuman level of pain tolerance, the “immortal” man could take a lot of punishment.
Running low! As Edward noticed that his ammo was getting low, he switched to his Makarov and fired at Vamp, once empty, he switched to his GSR. When this pistol needed to be reloaded, the young soldier drew the engraved AM D114 from his leg holster and fired at Vamp.
Snake was also low on ammo, so he used his M60E4.
“Enough…” Vamp tried to throw a knife but fell to the ground as Edward scored a headshot on him.
He and Snake remembered Naomi's words during their escape from South America, so Snake grabbed Vamp in a CQC hold, so Edward could inject him with the nanomachine suppressor.
“What have you done?” Vamp asked as he held his neck.
“There…Now you’re a mere mortal – just like the rest of us.” Edward showed him the syringe.
“Clever…But can you kill this mere mortal?” He taunted.
There was an explosion and several Suicide Gekko moved in. A Suicide Gekko was a Gekko that carried nuclear demolition charge in the head but had apart from the standard internal mounted machine gun, no other weapons.
“Engaging self-destruct sequence. Self-termination preparations complete.” The female warning voice of the Gekko warned.
“Look out! They’re rigged to self-destruct!” Otacon warned.
The Countdown started. “5 4 3 2 1-“ Suddenly, something cut the heads of the Gekko off.
“That was bloody close,” Edward commented relieved. It was Raiden who did it.
“Snake, Edward…Sorry to kept you all waiting.”
“You ready for this?” Snake was unsure about Raiden’s condition.
“Sunny gave me the go-ahead.” He replied as Vamp jumped on REX’s head. More Gekko broke through the ceiling of the hanger.
“How about it, undying man? Care to die, too?” Vamp taunted Raiden.
“Sorry…But I can’t die just yet.” Raiden pointed his sword at him.
“Then kill me.”
“This one is mine. You keep those Gekko at bay.” The Cyborg-Ninja jumped also on REX Head.
“Here.” Snake gave Edward a M82A2 Anti-materiel rifle, while he equipped Wolf’s rail gun.
“Thanks. These Gekko won’t know what hit them.” He aimed down the scope.
“Otacon, we’re gonna buy you some time.” Snake said to him.
“I’ll do my best!”
Before Vamp and Raiden started their fight, Vamp noticed something about his opponent. “Wait…You're a scout, too, are you not? Then let us duel with blades.” He drew one of his knifes, Raiden dropped his sword and did the same.
While they started their fight, Edward and Snake destroyed the Gekko that came into range.
“I like this rifle.” Edward was happy at his new weapon, as it could destroy a Gekko maximum of two shots to the head. A fully charged shot from the rail gun had the same effect.
The Suicide Gekko were either attacking or arming themselves for self-destruction.
“Those are Suicide Gekko. They blow up, and they take us with them. You got to keep them back!” Otacon worked as fast as he could.
While Snake and his buddy held off the Gekko, Raiden gained the upper hand and stabbed Vamp into the gut. “Kill me…”He pleaded and Raiden responded by cutting Vamp down.
Vamp staggered and fell off of REX's head onto the floor, mortally wounded.
“Get out of the way!” The Mk.III had managed to reactivate REX, firing his missiles at more Suicide Gekko, destroying them and the entrances they were coming from. Edward and Snake were missed by inches.
“This thing might come in handy after all.” Otacon was proud. He lowered the machine so Snake could climb into the cockpit later on.
Edward looked at Vamp. He was still alive but in severe pain as his nanomachines were active again.
“He was never immortal.” Naomi joined them. “His natural healing abilities were enhanced by his nanomachines inside his body. But after so many battles…He’s finally reached his limit.”
Vamp reached his hand after her. “Doctor…Ease my pain.” She kneeled down to him.
“Naomi…Sunny asked me to tell you something. I cooked them right,” Edward told her.
“I see.” Naomi smiled and cried a tear of joy. “Good for you, Sunny. You finally did it.” She got up and pulled a syringe out. “No. I can’t safe you.” The woman looked at Vamp, then at the little robot. “You have to trust me, Dr. Emmerich. Give this to him. Not for Revenge, but to end his suffering.”
Before he could do it, Vamp took the nanomachine suppressor by force and injected himself. He permanently disabled his nanomachines and began experiencing massive convulsions.
“Now you can return to your true self. You can be at peace.”
“I can…die?”
“Yes.” Vamp died finally for good.
“Forgive me.” Naomi sobbed.
“This doesn't change anything. Why?” Dr. Emmerich wondered.
“We can’t…Erase the past. Nor…Can we forgive it. And so the only thing we can do…is end it.” She grabbed the syringe.
“Snake…Liquid’s down below us. He’s stolen the Patriots’ System…Slipped out of their sight, and taken their ark. A warship…Unfettered by land…Law…Country…Or network. The only place where they are truly released from the shackles of the Patriots…The place where they can be free. Outer Haven. Liquid plans to launch the nuke from that ship.”
She then told that Snake had given life for fulfilling his purpose and when it was over, he had no choice but to accept death. That they are only given life so that they could atone for their sins. His life was created for that very purpose. They all must atone for their own sins. They must not pass them on to the next generation. They must not leave them for the future. That was Snake’s true fate. One that even he couldn’t defy.
The hanger rumbled and she gave the syringe to Edward.
“Vamp and I…We are the same. We’re living corpses...Our bodies kept barely alive by nanomachines.”
“Then you…” Edward couldn’t finish it.
“Cancer. I shouldn’t be alive right now. The nanomachines have kept it from progressing…But there’s nothing more they can do. With the nanomachines gone…Time will unfreeze and begin to flow again.”
“What are you saying?” Otacon asked.
“Edward, forgive me for what happened to Noi. Like Vamp, she’s one of my sins too. I let it happen instead of preventing it. I’m responsible too that the sweet, innocent child is now a cold and heartless war machine, capable of more destruction than the B&B Corps could do together. Forgive me for everything.”
“I forgive you.” Edward injected her with the suppressors.
He caught her and laid her gently to the ground.
Hal cried. “Naomi…Why?”
The woman looked into the Mk.III monitor. “Give my best to Sunny. You have such beautiful eyes. I can’t live with such a sin like making a war machine out of a child.”
“Why does it always end this way? Just when I thought I was ready to fall in love.” He sobbed as Snake and Raiden got into the cockpit of REX as more Suicide Gekko entered the hanger.
Snake yelled at him to pull himself together.
“Snake…You’re right. I haven’t lost everything yet. I’ve still got a job to do.”
“That’s right. We need you.”
“I’m done crying. I don’t have any more tears to shed. We have to get out of here.”
"And how am I supposed to get out of here?” Edward asked as REX hadn’t enough space for all of them.
“I have already thought of that.” A gate opened, revealing a M151 Military Utility Tactical Truck, M.U.T.T. for short. Its key was in and the Petrol tank was full.
Edward got in, started the engine and followed REX out.
As Naomi took her last breath, she spoke, “Promise…Promise me…You’ll carry on…Our will. And save Noi.”
Snake took in the supply tunnel all Gekko out with REX that where in his way, so Edward could follow.
Halfway through, Raiden stayed back to slow the Gekko down.
Despite heavy resistance, they made it to the exit at the port area, as the Gekko were no match for REX.
Just as they made it out, the Gekko detonated, the combined blasts from the Suicide Gekkos caused the tunnel to collapse and buried Raiden.
Rex and the jeep came to a halt with screeching brakes. Edward jumped out to get Raiden out of the ruble.
There was a strange sound. “What’s that?” Edward wondered.
Out of the water jumped Metal gear RAY, an amphibious Metal Gear design created by the United States Marine Corps, originally developed as a countermeasure to the abundance of Metal Gear REX, piloted by Liquid.
Noi was standing on top of the tunnel roof, watching like an eagle waiting for it’s pray. Ray roared.
“Brother! It’s not over! Not yet. Moses! Where our fates were born. And where yours ends, Snake!” Liquid shouted before an epic battle began.
Edward, even it looked epic, didn’t pay much attention to it as he worked on freeing Raiden.
Broken Pony cheered on Liquid. “Show him whose boss! That old metal has no chance against you! I never saw such an awesome and epic battle before!” Her voice was full of excitement like only a child could be. Edward hoped that Noi wouldn’t suffer like Vamp when the Nanomachines got disabled.
Yet, because Otacon had secretly uploaded a program into REX during its development, a “Street Fighter” program as he called it, REX damaged RAY heavily.
Every time Snake uses the program, Liquid complained ,”Damn it! What?!”
“Not fair! Boo! Cheater!” Noi mocked Snake.
But with that advantage, REX could beat RAY but both collapsed due to heavy damage. The impact shocks sustained by REX's frame during the battle caused Snake to injure his shoulder.
Both pilots climbed out. “Snake!” He stretched out his arm in pain.
“FOX…” Snake began.
Time seemed to stop for a moment before Liquid exclaimed, “DIE!” and collapsed.
But he immediately raised himself from the ground. “Think again! Sorry, but this won’t work this time. Behold!” He laughed and escaped to the pier, the filly followed him.
Snake struggled to chase him as he noticed a figure emerging from the ocean moments later. It was Outer Haven, the hull displayed the likenesses of Big Boss and Les Enfants Terribles, in the style of Mt. Rushmore. “This is…Outer Haven?” Edward was so shocked and impressed that he had stopped his rescue attempt.
Liquid used a crane to get onboard while Noi used her wings.
“This is the liberty we’ve won for ourselves! Outer Haven! And with this weapon, I will destroy JD! Then…Everything ends, and everything begins! But as for you, brother…You’ll stay here to mark this island’s watery grave!” Liquid shouted triumphantly as he set Haven on a collision course with Shadow Moses' supply port, in order to crush his brother. “Die Snake!”
“Roadkill, Snake!” Noi cheered, jumping up and down. To avoid that Edward would die too, she used her control ability to guide him to safety. His body cramped and he collapsed in pain as he was out of danger. “For your own safety.” She said to him in his mind.
Snake had a seizure, unable to move. Raiden managed to get free by cutting off his own arm and using his cybernetically-enhanced strength to stand in the ship's path, and prevented Snake from being crushed.
Seconds before Raiden's strength yielded to Haven, Snake managed to get away. Edward saw this and was shocked as Raiden got crushed under the ship.
My god… An explosion tore him out of his shock.
“Mhm?” Liquid and Broken Pony looked towards the source of the noise. It was the USS Missouri, a WW2 battleship, commanded by Snake’s old friend Mei Ling. After Liquid took over the System, the Missouri was the only ship in the entire U.S. Navy that was unaffected, having never been implemented with the system due to its age and its time as a museum.
“Hah! Worthless fossil!” Liquid was not impressed as he got under deck with Noi to let Outer Haven dive.
Onboard the 71-year old battleship, Mio briefed the crew, consisting of US soldiers, Otacon, Snake, Meryl, Johnny and Edward. The PMC soldier had switched to his Praying Mantis uniform.
Mei told them all, that Haven was heading southward through the Pacific at a speed of 33 knots and that the Missouri was falling behind at a rate of two nautical miles every hour.
Otacon asked if this ship could go any faster but Mei replied that this was as fast as she’ll go.
Then she continued and told that Liquid's target was JD, a US military satellite disguised as orbital debris. In order to use the rail gun, Haven had to surface.
Akiba calculated that JD’s next perigee was in 15 hours, 6 minutes and 12 seconds. The Chinese-American woman confirmed it and said that Haven would hold position in the Bering Sea, 494 miles from the Being Strait, since JD would be over it in 15 hours.
As Liquid couldn’t use the rail gun until JD was at perigee, the Missouri could use that time to catch up.
The cover of the Raven had to be open to launch the nuke, which was the only chance to get into the ship and destroy GW from the inside with a worm cluster. Snake commented that this ship was Liquid’s own Death Star, Edward suppressed a chuckle at the Star Wars reference.
The plan was to get a Strike Team with catapults onboard, once Haven’s armored cover opens. Bad was that the corridor leading to GW was defended by directed-energy weapons that emitted certain types of microwaves. At that frequency, the waves would evaporate any living person within range.
Snake joked that you’d to have a death wish to go in there and that it sounded like the perfect job for him.
The outside was defended by Liquid’s soldiers, the inside by unmanned weapons. As Snake asked where she got all this information, she replied that Naomi left it for them.
Otacon told that all internal data from Haven came from her. This entire operation was based on the data she left them. On which side was she actually? Edward wondered.
“Attention!” Mei tore him out. “Listen up! A wise man once wrote…’The tongues of dying men enforce attention, like deep harmony. Where words are spent, they are seldom spent in vain.’ Any other questions?”
Snake raised his hand. “Anybody got a smoke?”
Edward suppressed a giggle. Even in times like this, he can’t stop.
Then the Strike team prepared for boarding the Haven. The young man joined the rest as Hal talked with Snake.
“Without the System to protect them, everybody’s losing their nerve. They say SOP’s aftereffects are so bad that a lot of soldiers are deserting.”
“The only people I have left to rely on are Meryl and…him.” Snake said as Johnny tried to take Meryl’s hand but she blocked it.
“And me,” Edward added.
“Can’t forget the past, Edward?” Snake asked as he noticed the Praying Mantis uniform.
“It all began that way, it will end that way. Plus you have to distinguish me somehow from the others.”
“So, Edward, what have you planned when this is over?”
“After this is all over, I go back to London with Noi, visiting my mother. You two?”
“I haven’t thought about yet,” Dr. Emmerich replied.
“Me either.”
Drebin joined them, saying that he laundered the US-soldiers’ IDs and gave them new, naked weapons, including the catapults the Strike Team would use.
His business was been slow ever since Liquid gained control of the System. As all weapons all over the world were locked now, the only customers left were Snake and his friends. So he made a trip out here, just for them.
He gave Edward his Soda and refilled all his ammo, free of charge, given the situation. “Thanks.”
And lit Snake’s last cigarette. He gave it to give it Drebin’s monkey.
They got on the catapults as Snake’s commanding officer, Roy Campbell informed them about Outer Haven.
“Liquid’s warship – Outer Haven – is a modified version of a Metal Gear model stolen from the Patriots. Inside it’s crawling with IRVING and other unmanned weapons. According to Naomi’s data, Haven is crewed by a battalion of enhanced soldiers…Each culled from the best the PMCs have to offer. If Liquid’ succeeds in destroying JD and gain control of the Patriots’ System…He’ll make Haven his flagship, and his PMCs will spread like wildfire across the globe.”
The Haven emerged. “And then mankind’s armed subjugation will begin.”
“Captain, Haven sighed.” An officer reported to Mei.
“Prepare to fire main gun!”
Some US soldiers panicked at the sight of the enemy vessel.
“Listen closely…This is our last chance to stop Liquid from enslaving the planet.”
“Edward, thank you for helping us through all of this.” Hal said to him.
“I do this not for any of you, or for me, but for Noi.”
“Failure will spell doom for the human race. You’ve got to stop them from using that rail gun…Then annihilate GW.” Campbell said via radio.
Commencing fire to defend against Haven's missile barrage and deployed Metal Gear RAY units, the Missouri collided into the other vessel, plowing along its side, allowing the Strike Team to get onboard Haven.
After deployed, Edward caught himself by rolling. Sports lessons in school paid off today!
Snake landed with the Mk.III next to him.
“Where are Meryl and Johnny?” Edward asked as Meryl radioed in.
“Sorry, it’s my ankle. I think I can walk.” She let out a cry of pain. “Hurts more without SOP.”
“Makes you feel alive, doesn’t it? Where’s Johnny?”
“He fell into the ocean, Edward. I’ll catch up soon. You two go ahead!” Screams and gunshots were on Meryl’s side, then static.
“Look like it’s all up to us now. Let’s do this. For Noi!” Edward exclaimed, ready for this final mission.