Rainbow asked, “Why’d you listen to him and let that guy beat you up, Twi’? Why didn’t you just break out of that cage and stop him?”
Rarity spoke, “She already said why, Rainbow. That Coldman brute would’ve killed Paz if she tried to escape!”
Rainbow argued, “She said he had a guy with one of those gun things holding her! Why should that be a reason to stop? She’s seen Snake using a gun before and all he did was put people to sleep for a while!”
Twilight finished pulling her boot back on before saying, “Snake did his work a little differently, Rainbow. The gun he usually took with him was made to fire specialized tranquilizer rounds.”
Cadance tilted her head, “What do you mean by ‘specialized,’ Twilight?”
Twilight answered, “They were made to put humans to sleep, Cadance. From what I understand, most animal tranquilizers contain enough sedative to kill humans.”
Fluttershy murmured, “They use tranquilizers on poor little animals…?”
Twilight heard and said, “Not all humans that work with animals have your kind of talents, Fluttershy. Anyway, Snake always did have a lethal weapon with him, typically on his other leg, but while he did take it out and point it a lot, he didn’t use it much. Not just because it might be loud or he wanted to extract people, but because that’s how MSF worked. Any of us could’ve taken the easy way out like the Peace Sentinels did, but if we could avoid resorting to violent measures, that’s what was preferred.”
Shining looked off to the side and thought to himself, “Well, I guess even a band of mercenaries has to have some sort of standards they adhere to when they work…”
Rainbow spoke, “Okay, but you hadn’t seen him or anyone else use guns like that on anyone before! So why did you believe Coldman when he said he would kill Paz?”
Twilight replied, “I’d gone into the Shooting Range and Kill House following training sessions a few times before this happened and looked at the targets. I saw the entrance and, in some cases, exit holes the bullets made. Seeing as they were wooden targets…”
Applejack finished, “It wasn’t hard fer you ta imagine what they could do to a real target.”
Twilight nodded, “Exactly. And guns like that are the only kind that the Peace Sentinels carried. The only way they knew how to incapacitate someone without beating them senseless was to grab and strangle them until they passed out.”
Luna raised an eyebrow, “The way you say that, you sound like you’re speaking from experience, Twilight.”
Twilight simply replied, “Well, that’s because I am, Princess Luna.”
Everyone looked over at Mr. Sparkle as he let out a groan at those words, the stallion rolling his eyes while looking like he wanted to be sick and angry at the same time. “I really don’t want to hear the specifics of that… but I know it’s important, so please continue, Twilight.”
The lavender alicorn was silent for a moment before she resumed, “We flew over the Rio San Juan to a U.S. military base on the Nicaragua side of the border. That’s where Peace Walker’s test launch was to be conducted, and Snake and Miller both thought that the test date was intended to coincide with the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, or SALT-II, negotiations that were going on in a place called Vladivostok at the time.”
Celestia spoke, “SALT-II… So that means they must’ve attempted to do the same treaty once before, correct Twilight? As an attempt to bring an end to the Cold War?”
Twilight replied, “It seems like that was the ultimate goal of it, Princess. Apparently Coldman told Snake that SALT along with Détente, TTBT, and the NPT were all tearing the Cold War apart. The last I heard, though, things hadn’t cooled off in that world yet. I’m not even sure how the negotiations went.”
Discord chuckled, “SALT sounds like an appropriate name to me. They’re probably going to go through a lot of that by the time they fix their big old storm of chaos!” Twilight refrained from rolling her eyes at Discord’s antics, instead managing only a mildly annoyed look in his direction.
Shining looked back at his sister and said, “Go on, Twilight.”
The lavender alicorn blinked and said, “Right. Let’s see, um… We arrived at the military base on November 23rd, and thanks to Amanda and her fellow Sandinistas, Snake wasn’t too far behind us. They managed to get him across the river, and it wasn’t long before we were both heading for the same location.”
________________________________________
Twilight sat in the middle of her cage, looking at the floor with a worried look on her face. After the helicopter had landed at the base, the soldiers had moved her cage into the back of a cargo truck like the one Snake had been looking for. Coldman had cited ‘security reasons’ as the need to move her, the soldier from before having taken the chance to torment/torture her some more once they were out of Coldman’s sight, taunting her and hitting her in spite of his buddy telling him to stop.
They did get her cage moved to the truck and put on board eventually, and she’d been sitting there with no idea of how much time had actually passed since. All she had to go on was the little bit of light coming through the opening in the canopy, the occasional talking of the soldiers outside breaking the silence. She wasn’t enjoying this one bit; she was confined and admittedly bored, but she didn’t dare make any attempts to escape. Coldman still had Paz, so she chose to remain where she was to keep her safe. One word from the soldiers outside and…
Twilight’s ears perked up as she heard a new voice on the other side of the canopy flaps talking to the soldiers. She recognized it as the voice of Dr. Strangelove, which immediately confused her. Everyone on the base should’ve been preparing for Peace Walker’s launch, and Strangelove was the one who programmed the Mammal Pod’s AI. What was she doing outside this truck?
A minute later, the talking stopped and one of the canopy flaps parted, letting more light into the back of the truck for a moment as Dr. Strangelove hoisted herself up onto the truck’s bed. Twilight’s confusion was replaced with surprise at this. “Dr. Strangelove? What are you doing here?” she asked the woman once she was all the way inside and standing across from her.
Strangelove finished straightening out her overcoat before she walked over to the alicorn, saying, “I decided to leave my post for a bit, little pony. I knew this might be my last chance to get a good look at you. Coldman is going to send you to America after this test proves successful, you know. The scientists there are going to be very interested in you.”
Twilight gave a flat look at the woman’s legs, “Yeah, I figured as much. I do know a thing or two about science, after all. I used to think it was my specialty.”
Strangelove replied, “Well, I have no qualms about saying it. I am a scientist; I conduct research and I expect to get answers that make sense. However, I am also aware of how far I’m willing to go to get answers, and frankly, I do not agree with the way Coldman has treated you. It’s still not enough to abandon my research here, but I think you deserve to know that I find this disgusting.”
Twilight moved up to the bars to try to get a better look at the woman. “Well, why are you here then? Coldman wants to fire a weapon with the full intention of ruining at least part of the world and people’s livelihoods, and it will probably make this whole Cold War thing worse. He’s using your and Huey’s work to get what he thinks he wants,” she said.
Strangelove knelt down and replied, “I’m well aware of that, and I can’t say I agree with it.”
Twilight asked, “So why are you here, telling me this? Hay, at all even?”
Strangelove replied with a question, “You heard everything that was said back at the lab, didn’t you? Do you know what we were talking about in regards to the Mammal Pod’s AI?” She paused for a short moment, not even giving Twilight a chance to say anything before she responded, “I’m sure you don’t. Snake is the only one who knows the full story, and why would he share it with the likes of you? Forgive me if that sounded rude, but he’s been protecting you all this time; why would he want to drag you into our problems, let alone his own?”
Twilight looked very confused now. “Um… what? I don’t understand, I’m afraid,” she said.
Strangelove nodded, “I imagine you are, so the least I can do is help you understand why all this is happening. Is it safe to assume you’re not the… pony you are today solely because of yourself?”
Twilight answered, “Well, no. I have all my friends to thank for that as well as my teacher…”
Strangelove cut her off by saying, “Teacher. That is exactly the word I was hoping to hear. Teachers usually play a large part in our lives, and Snake is no different. Let me tell you about his teacher. She may have left me for him, but I also knew The Boss well.”
Twilight did remember hearing that name from before. “Who was she?” she asked.
Strangelove answered, “The rest of the world may think whatever it wants about her, but I know who The Boss was: a woman who loved her country. It was a love that was not often reciprocated, sadly; no matter what she went through for America, regardless of the horrible pain she had to endure, no matter how close she came to dying, I witnessed her being brushed aside like she didn’t matter, as if no one would care if she died. And even though they weren’t worthy of her, she still offered up everything she had for her country, even her life.”
Twilight had a feeling she wasn’t going to like what she was about to learn, but she swallowed the sudden dry feeling in her mouth and asked, “What happened?”
Strangelove responded, “Ten years ago, she defected to the Soviet Union under orders from the CIA. At the same time, Snake was sent with orders to destroy a secret weapon being built there. He wasn’t allowed to know it was a ruse, that she had been sent to make America rich again. He had to believe the deception in order for it to work; he had to follow his orders. And his orders… were to kill her.” Her brow creased, “And they both succeeded. The Boss died as a traitor with no one knowing what she really wanted, and Snake gained his blood-stained title of Big Boss to show he had ‘surpassed’ her.”
Twilight could feel tears starting to fill her eyes. She had had her suspicions that Snake must’ve gone through a lot to be who he was, to have the knowledge and experience he had, but to hear that he had to kill his mentor when it probably wasn’t even necessary… Now she was starting to see that he in fact did have a good reason for turning his back on his old country. “He really killed her?” she managed to ask.
Strangelove replied, “Yes. He carried out his orders to the letter. Orders given by Coldman, no less.”
Twilight’s eyes widened at that. “What?! Coldman was… He… Then I definitely don’t understand why you’re here! Why would you help that man when he did something like that?! I thought you said The Boss meant a lot to you!” she cried.
Strangelove’s brow furrowed as she leaned forward, saying in a sharp whisper, “If you’ll kindly calm and quiet down, I will tell you that.” Twilight snapped to attention and went silent at the sharp tone. “I didn’t know that when I was approached, but I doubt it would’ve changed anything. Ever since The Boss left me, I’ve wanted answers. Who did she leave me for? Was he that much more important to her than me? And more importantly, why did he kill her?” She tilted her head downwards, her brow still furrowed, “I’ve had questions for so long, but what happened ten years ago… You have no idea how much I hated Snake for taking her life.”
Twilight softly asked, “Do you still hate him?”
Strangelove was silent for a moment before admitting, “…No. I let myself get caught up in my anger back at the facility, but it helped me move past it. And as I said, it helped me get the final piece I was missing to complete the Mammal Pod. Coldman and I both now have what we want.” She raised her head, “He has his so-called ‘perfect’ deterrent, and The Boss will finally be able to answer my questions.”
Twilight looked up at her, “Is she really… alive?”
Strangelove answered, “Snake had the crucial information I was missing, but the CIA had everything I needed to get started and almost complete her. I don’t really care for what Coldman wants, but agreeing to help him was the only way I could ever get my hands on the information they had. Why was a legendary hero forced to betray her country? Why was she targeted for assassination by her most beloved disciple? I’ve no use for fabrications. I want the truth… The Boss’ last will.”
Twilight looked up at the woman in wonder, awed at the reverence and resolve in her voice. It had to be hard working for the man that ordered the assassination of someone so important to her and yet… Strangelove looked at Twilight after a moment and said, “I did everything Coldman asked for in order to find the truth I’m looking for. I used him as much as he used me, but that doesn’t mean I agree with everything he says and wants to do. Especially what he wants to do with you.”
Twilight was a bit confused at the way she worded that last part. “What…” she started to say before being stopped by Strangelove, the woman reaching her right hand into the cage and pressing her palm against the back of her head. She wasn’t a very strong woman by any means, but Twilight’s confusion made it easy for her to press her head up close to the bars.
Strangelove then leaned forward and whispered in the alicorn’s ear in a less sharp tone, “Snake is coming here. He might even already be here. I don’t know where he is, but I’m sure as long as that man’s heart is beating, he’s not going to stop fighting. And that might present you with an opportunity. Pay attention and try to monitor what’s happening outside as best you can. When the chance to escape presents itself, you need to take it. I would suggest leaving this place immediately afterwards, but you’re free to do whatever you wish. Until then, be patient and observe.” Twilight looked up at the woman as she released her and stood. She then turned and walked away, one of the soldiers outside saying to her that Coldman needed her to get into position right away as she held one of the canopy flaps to the side with her hand.
While the flap was moved, Twilight noticed the soldier had his radio in his hand. It was easy for her to recognize it, considering she’d been given one back on Mother Base. Part of her was upset that she’d left it behind when she left, but the rest of her knew it probably wouldn’t have helped much in that situation, plus this wasn’t the time to dwell on that. While the electronic boxes weren’t quite as sophisticated as the phones that the humans in Sunset’s world used, it was apparent that the people of this world were still ahead of Equestria when it came to long distance and electronic communications. Twilight raised an eyebrow as she thought about this. Those radios were the soldiers’ primary means of communicating their situation to Coldman. If they didn’t have them…
Strangelove told the soldier to let Coldman know she was heading for the van now and he did so before she got off the truck and started walking away. Before she let go of the flap and stepped down, Twilight saw the soldier clip the radio on the back of his right hip and guessed that’s where the Peace Sentinels usually kept their radios. That gave her something to help her start working out a plan, but there were still other details to work out such as how she was going to deal with two soldiers at once from where she was and keep them from reporting to Coldman. She settled down in the middle of her cage and began thinking hard about how she was going to escape.
The time was unknown to her, but all of a sudden, a loud alarm started going off across the base, causing her to jolt in shock as she was pulled out of her thoughts. She looked around; she was still in the cage, so it couldn’t have been her that set off the alarm. That just left… “Snake! It must be him! Dr. Strangelove was right; he is still trying to stop Peace Walker!” she cheered in her head.
Her attention was redirected outside a moment later when she heard one of the soldiers talking. Judging from his pauses and the slightly garbled sound that accompanied them, she guessed he was talking on his radio. “What?! …He’s heading for the control tower?! …Damn! Okay, I’ll get over there right away!” he said. There was a moment of silence before he asked his partner, “You going to be all right standing guard here by yourself?”
The other soldier replied, “Of course. I can stand by myself and make sure the thing stays in the cage.” Twilight had come to expect him referring to her as less than a living thing for accidentally blasting magic in his face, but she still felt indignant about it.
“You ARE going to keep watch, right? After that little display earlier…” the first soldier reminded him.
The second soldier replied, “All right, relax. You have my word. I won’t try to do any harm to it… unless it tries to escape.”
The first soldier sighed, “…Fine. Only get rough if SHE tries to escape. If I come back to find her beaten to a bloody pulp and there’s nothing to indicate she tried to get out…”
The second soldier cut him off, “Will you just get going already?! You’re supposed to be going to help stop Big Boss, remember?” Below the still blaring alarm, Twilight heard the sound of rapid footsteps receding into the distance a moment later and guessed she was now alone with the guy who hated her.
“That’s definitely not a reassuring thought, but maybe…” she thought to herself as she raised her left hoof to the top of her head and rubbed the still tender spot there.
A minute later, the soldier outside decided to check on Twilight and turned around to face the truck, but as he was reaching for the canopy flaps, he suddenly heard a commotion inside. He could hear her crying out along with what sounded like her hitting her hooves against some part of the cage. He pulled back the left flap and saw her standing on her hind legs with her eyes closed, banging her hooves on the bars of the cage. “Hey, you stop that right now!” he yelled to her as he climbed up into the back of the truck.
Twilight stopped as he told her to, but she gave him a confused look as she opened her eyes. “What?!” she asked after a moment.
“I said stop it!” he said as he began to walk over to her.
“What did you say?! I can’t really hear you!” she said while turning her head so her right ear was pointed more towards him.
“Will you shut up?! You’re getting on my nerves!” he shouted as he stopped in front of the cage.
Twilight raised her left hoof to point to her ear as she said, “You hit my ear earlier, you jerk! Now this loud sound, whatever it is, really hurts!”
The soldier bent down and glared at her, “That ‘sound’ is called an alarm, you simple-minded beast, and you’re going to be in for a lot more pain if you keep this up! Now zip it already!” He pushed his right hand between the bars of the cage and roughly pressed it against Twilight’s muzzle, a slight slapping sound being heard as she fell back onto her flanks. When she looked up, she had an expression on her face as if she had in fact been slapped. The soldier stood up and took a few steps back before asking, “Are you going to be quiet now, or are you going to keep acting like an idiot?”
A glare slowly overtook Twilight’s face and she moved back up to the bars to get a good view of him. She then started, “All right, look. I may not be as perfect as some make me out to be, but here’s the thing…” She paused as she turned her head to look to the right. The soldier hesitated before turning to see what she was looking at. She caught sight of this out of the corner of her eye and she glanced at him as her horn lit up, wrapping her magic around him and pulling him forward. He let out a shout before his stomach hit the top of the cage, causing him to groan as he slumped over it. Twilight turned her head fully back to face him and focused her magic, first pulling his radio from his hip and throwing it behind her cage before doing the same with his gun. She then grabbed him again and threw him backwards onto the floor. He looked up in time to see her vanish from the cage and reappear on top of it. “I’m also not as dumb as you seem to think I am,” she finished.
The soldier looked up at her for a moment before his eyes narrowed. “Now it’s acceptable,” he muttered as he stood up, his right hand reaching for one of the pouches on his hip. He pulled out a black thread and held both ends between his hands, holding it out in front of him. Twilight’s eyes widened at this; that thread looked pretty sturdy, and she had an inkling of an idea of what it was meant to be used for. The soldier let out a yell as he rushed at her, but Twilight avoided him by simply jumping off the cage as he was about to reach her, causing him to crumple over the top of it again. Twilight looked up at him for a moment before looking back at everything behind the cage. Not wanting him to get her in a rough spot again, she used her magic to grab the radio and rifle and ran over to the opening, throwing them both out as far as she could.
Her relief at disarming him was short-lived, however. All of a sudden, she felt a thin line go around her throat and pull back hard. Twilight let out a gag as she was pulled up off of her hooves, the soldier behind her pulling her back against his chest and grunting as he kept choking her. Twilight flailed her wings and legs, but he managed to keep her restrained while he pulled. He soon managed to pin her front against the wall of the truck, reducing how much she could use her legs, and felt assured of his victory as he noticed her struggling being to die down.
Twilight’s awareness was fading due to oxygen starvation, but she had enough conscious thought to know she had to do something. In a last-ditch attempt to break free, she drew her magic into her horn and held it for a few seconds before releasing it as an explosive burst. It was a risky move, but it did the trick; the soldier was thrown onto his back with a shout and Twilight fell to the ground, her face a bit singed as she lay on the floor and breathed heavily, trying to get precious oxygen into her body.
After a few moments, her eyes shifted upwards as she heard the soldier let out a growl. He was standing up again and, from what little of his face she could see, he looked ready to murder her. She wasn’t really there yet, but at this point, any effort she might’ve had of trying to prevent this from escalating any further had left her brain with the oxygen he had squeezed out of her. When he started moving towards her again, her horn lit up again and she grabbed his left leg as he was lifting it up, giving it a sharp tug upwards and causing him to fall on his back. As he reeled from the impact of the fall, Twilight stood up and leapt on top of him, sitting on his chest as she swatted at his face with her hooves. Being a pony who didn’t regularly work out, she didn’t do much damage, but it didn’t matter; her hooves and flurry of strikes were able to keep him disoriented, and she managed to knock his helmet off of his head.
A bright flash of magenta light suddenly came from inside of the truck and the guard was sent flying out of it a moment later, landing on his back nearby. Twilight leapt out a second later and noticed he was still trying to get up, so she looked around for something that she could use to temporarily put him down. As he managed to sit up, he saw Twilight standing in front of him, and a moment later, the butt of his gun, held by her magic, struck him across the side of his face, knocking him over onto his front. He was still moving, but to a considerably lesser degree. She finally managed to knock him out.
As she calmed down, Twilight looked down at him in surprise for a moment before looking at his gun. She dropped it into her hooves a second later and grunted as she held its full weight. “Wow. I know they said these things were heavy, but I didn’t know they were this heavy,” she uttered, looking down at it for a moment before she took it back in her magic, levitating it at her side. She then looked around, “I have to find the control tower. Even if Snake is fighting his way through Coldman’s troops, the safest place here is probably with him.” She then took off running away from the airstrip the truck was parked near, hoping the tower wouldn’t be hard to find.
It didn’t take long for the buildings to start to become more clustered together as Twilight moved into the base, making it hard to get a good look around from the ground and opening up blind spots all around. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be anyone near her location; everyone was probably focusing on Snake at the moment, but she didn’t want to risk anyone seeing her, so she stayed on the ground and carefully made her way through the base, pointing the gun she had taken like Snake would do. In reality, she didn’t really know how to use it, but it had already proven its effectiveness as a club, so that was the main reason she held onto it. “Plus,” she reasoned to herself, “a pony with a gun would probably scare some people, or at least raise some confusion.”
After several minutes of working her way around and through the base, Twilight stopped and leaned against the side of one of the buildings, taking a moment to ready herself for anything she might come across before she peered out around the side. At first, she saw a stretch of structures very much like ones she’d already passed, but then she spotted a taller building that stood out compared to the rest of the buildings she’d seen. “Is that the control tower? It sure looks big enough to be,” she thought to herself. She decided to take the chance it was and, after triple-checking to make sure there was no one around, started making her way towards it.
While she was running, she looked off to her left and saw something that caused her to pause. It wasn’t clear to her what she was seeing, but it looked like there was a squadron of flying vehicles flying towards the base. They almost looked like choppers when she squinted, but they didn’t look like the CIA’s choppers. Their colors looked darker, which, against the cloudy sky above, was the main thing that had caught her attention in the first place. “Are those MSF choppers? …They must be coming to back Snake up,” she thought. She faced forward again, “All the more reason I should find him.” She started running again, doubling her efforts to get to the tower.
As she approached the tower, she could see one of the CIA’s choppers hovering in the air not too far up from the ground, the sound of its machine gun firing getting louder as she got closer. She was also able to see smoke rising up from it; it was a safe bet it was attacking Snake. Twilight decided it was time to stop sticking to the ground and spread her wings, flying up and firing a laser from her horn at the back of the chopper as she got closer. The explosion from when it hit caused the chopper to spin out of control, forcing her to drop down and land in the small area below. She heard the sound of machine gun fire for a few seconds afterward and when it stopped, she looked up to see the chopper losing altitude as it spun around, crashing and exploding somewhere beyond the small square.
Twilight was looking up at where she had last seen the chopper when she heard Snake ask, “Twilight?” She turned to her right and saw him coming out from behind a machine gun emplacement, likely the source of the gunfire seconds ago. She also noticed the gun she had taken had fallen nearby after she let it go. The silence between them was broken when they heard a whirring noise and they both looked to see the gate blocking the entrance to the tower sliding upwards, a trio of soldiers rushing out once it was high enough. Twilight looked over at her stolen gun and used her magic to pick it up and throw it at the soldiers. They were forced to stop and easily stepped out of the way, the gun clattering against the ground without going off, allowing Snake to easily tranquilize them before they could focus again. Once they were all down, he moved past where the gate had been followed closely by Twilight, getting on an elevator inside. The gate slid closed again before it started moving, going up.
As they stood waiting, Snake asked, “So how did they manage to capture you?”
Twilight was surprised by his bluntness, but she answered him, “Miller sent me out with one of your men, Wolf, to check up on Paz and the ‘professor’. On our way back to where the chopper would pick us up, we were… ambushed by Peace Sentinels and Galvez. I… don’t know what happened to Wolf, but they knocked me out and delivered me to Coldman.”
Snake grunted, “The professor and the CIA, working together? I doubt that; I can’t see the KGB ever cooperating with an American intelligence agency. You must’ve seen or heard something wrong.”
Twilight rolled her eyes before saying, “Okay. Obviously with the experience you have, you would know better, but I know what I saw and heard.”
There was silence between them before Snake turned around, saying, “We’re almost there.” Twilight turned around as well and looked up, seeing a door much like the outside gate a little further up the shaft. The control must’ve been on the other side of it. She took a breath and readied herself, knowing she was going to be by Snake’s side the whole way.
The elevator soon reached the top and the big door in front of them slid up, Snake exiting first followed closely by Twilight. They both came to a stop in the middle of the Control Room when they saw Paz and Coldman standing above them, Snake pointing his rifle upwards and Twilight standing at his side as Paz cried, “Snake, Twilight!” The sound of guns being readied filled the air later as soldiers on the circular catwalk above and around the sides of the room pointed their guns at the duo, Snake holding his rifle against his chest as he and Twilight took stock of their situation. They were surrounded and in the sights of at least a dozen soldiers, making it dangerous to attempt a retaliation.
They both looked up at Coldman as he spoke, “Big Boss, you made it. And you managed to rescue one of my prisoners as well.” He grinned, “Too late, though. The false data’s already in place.”
Snake asked, “False data?”
Coldman replied, “That’s right.” Several nearby monitors sprung to life, one showing live surveillance footage of Peace Walker’s position and another showing Dr. Strangelove working at a computer in the back of a van. “Peace Walker is designed for deterrence – nothing more. She is incapable of initiating a nuclear attack on her own. She will only awaken and attack when it’s time to retaliate. Peace Walker is a weapon of PEACE, after all. First, we’ll enter data for an imaginary Soviet nuclear strike on the U.S. homeland… After assessing the data as a threat, Peace Walker will automatically enter retaliation mode, selecting the optimal target from a pre-defined list… For this scenario, we have reverse-engineered the false data so that she’ll inevitably end up choosing the Caribbean Sea as her target,” Coldman explained.
“You’re really gonna do it, aren’t you?” Snake grunted.
Coldman said, “Know this: Peace Walker’s retaliation will be the first and last of the Cold War. It is the only way we will ever come close to achieving true peace…” He pulled the suitcase handcuffed to his left hand up in front of him and used his right hand to open it, revealing a laptop inside. He then pulled out a red card and held it to the side in front of him, “All that is left is to enter the code.”
Snake pointed his rifle up at Coldman and shouted, “No!”
The elevator to the Control Room suddenly opened and someone said, “Stand down, Big Boss.” Twilight’s expression became perturbed when she heard that; she recognized that voice.
She looked behind her and sure enough Professor Galvez was exiting the elevator, his prosthetic hand in his pants pocket as he casually strolled in. “I was starting to wonder where you were,” she grunted as she glared at him.
Coldman let out a hum as if he agreed with her and stated, “You’re late.”
Snake lowered his weapon and asked, “Professor?”
Beside Coldman, Paz looked surprised as well. “Professor…?” she murmured questioningly.
Galvez responded to both Coldman and Twilight as he continued walking forward, “Yes, well… taking over the base took longer than expected.”
Coldman was shocked by this, so much so that he couldn’t keep the suitcase properly balanced and had to tuck it under his arm to hold it. “Wha-! But…” he stammered with a raised eyebrow, his usual smug grin nowhere to be found as the soldiers standing at his sides behind him pointed their guns at him.
Galvez explained, “I brought the technology, you provided the land and the money.”
Coldman stuttered, “What…”
Galvez continued as he passed Twilight and Snake, “Tsentr alone could never have accomplished so much in so little time.” He came to a stop and looked up at Coldman on the platform above him.
“Zadornov, you backstabbing son of a…!” the bald man started to say.
“‘Backstabbing’? Correct me if I’m wrong, but were we not enemies all along? Do you really think my comrades were working for the Company? Do you truly think we’d faithfully serve a pack of depraved capitalist dogs?” Galvez, or rather Zadornov, interrupted.
“What are you going to do?” Coldman asked.
Zadornov gave him a hard look as he simply answered, “Launch a nuke… Target: Cuba.”
Coldman’s eyes widened, “Have you lost your mind?! What would you possibly gain?”
Zadornov replied, “We won’t be the ones launching it. You, the Americans, will attack our ally, Cuba.”
Coldman looked even more shocked at this. “What?!” he asked.
Zadornov said, “Think, Coldman. We’re on an American base, eagerly endorsed and supplied by a pro-American regime. What’s the international community to think?” He began making his way over to a small set of stairs and up to the platform as he continued, “The world will burn with anti-American sentiment! Communism will spread across Latin America unchecked.” Coldman let out a frustrated growl at this. “Let the age of deterrence be undone by the deterrent itself… Such is the Kremlin’s plan,” Zadornov finished.
Coldman grunted, “You son of a bitch…”
Zadornov focused his attention on Paz as he reached the top of the stairs, the soldier behind her still pointing his gun at her back. “Paz, come here,” he said while holding his right hand out to her, reaching forward and wrapping his arm behind her back when she didn’t come right away. He pulled her close and gave her a grin not unlike Coldman’s before saying in a low, husky voice, “Shoot him.” Coldman looked worried and Paz turned her head to look at him with a surprised expression.
As he used his left hand to slide a pistol into her right hand and ready it while holding her hand with his own right hand, Paz questioned, “Professor Galvez…?”
While still holding her in his arms, Zadornov answered, “Hm… I am Vladimir Zadornov. And Vladimir means ‘ruler of peace’.” He then wrapped his fingers around her hand, “Now… do as you’re told, Paz.” He used his hand to help her raise the gun up.
“Don’t do it…” Coldman nervously said as she shakily pointed the gun at him.
Zadornov kept holding onto her hand as he urged, “Remember what they did to you at their base on the coast… For what Coldman’s done, he deserves nothing less than death.” He released her hand and it stayed where it was, her whole arm still shaking as she pointed the gun at him.
“Paz…!” Twilight murmured in shock, realizing she might actually shoot him.
Coldman seemed to realize this too, sweat dripping down his face as he shakily said, “Paz… I… I’m sorry…” The tension was thick as Paz looked at him with wide eyes, her fingers quivering as she began to pull the trigger…
Then, suddenly, her arm dropped and she closed her eyes as she let out her breath. “I can’t…” she almost sobbed.
Zadornov frowned, “Truly a child of peace…” He grabbed her hand again, surprising her, and raised the gun back up.
Coldman’s eyes widened. “No, wait!” he tried to say before Zadornov forced Paz’s fingers back, two loud bangs filling the air followed by the sound of blood splattering. Zadornov grinned while Paz let out a shaky cry, Snake and Twilight both staring in shock as Coldman fell to the ground on his right side, the red card he was holding slipping from his grip. Twilight’s shock quickly changed to horror as she took in the blood. She was not at a vantage point where she could see the full extent of it, but what she could see was still more blood than she’d ever seen in her life and Coldman was probably leaking more of it on the floor. She could feel her empty stomach threatening to send up whatever it currently had in it and tried to find a stable mental footing in order to keep it down.
Zadornov released Paz and she fell to her knees on the floor as he pulled back the slide on his gun. “Only fitting that retribution be delivered by a ‘dead hand’,” he grinned. He then stepped around Paz and picked up the red card off of the floor with his left hand.
Coldman, through his pained groans, managed to say, “You… You missed on purpose…” Zadornov walked over to him and raised his foot, thrusting his shoe against Coldman’s left shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain.
He then held the card up in front of him and said, “Your part in this isn’t done. I need you to enter the code.” He then kicked Coldman harder, causing him to scream. He then spoke, “Doctor, the target is now Cuba. Please make the necessary modifications.” On the monitor, Strangelove stopped typing and appeared to be hesitating, her breathing becoming faster and shallower. Zadornov seemed to sense this since he added, “And don’t even think of resisting. I’ll crush you, but only after I crush your ‘beloved’, first.”
Strangelove gasped and let out a few breaths before saying, “No, not that…”
Zadornov repeated, “Cuba is now the retaliation target.”
Strangelove sat for a moment before nodding, “…Very well.”
As she started typing again, Zadornov said, “Good. It is done.” He then glanced over at Snake, “As for you, Big Boss… I’ve been watching you all along. You’ve performed beyond even my highest expectations – a true comandante.”
Snake asked, “What are you talking about?”
Zadornov gave a huff and asked, “Why do you think I summoned you to Costa Rica, had you make contact with the Sandinistas?” Paz let out a gasp as he continued, “A true intelligence operative never gets his hands dirty. Need a revolution? Manipulate the locals into doing it for you.”
Snake grunted, “You mean… Amanda?! And the Sandinistas…!”
Zadornov replied, “You’ve done well. You took a ragtag band of guerillas – children – and shaped them into a full-fledged formidable army. You even managed to get your hands on something not of this world. And now, you’ll truly become our ‘century’s most complete human being’!”
Coldman choked out, “…Che Guevara?”
Zadornov nodded, “None other.” As he made his way down the stairs and past Twilight and Snake, he went on, “A legendary hero who, gunned down by the CIA, becomes a legendary icon. The Sandinistas will rise up in revenge, overthrowing the pro-American regime and wresting Nicaragua from U.S. hands. And the nuclear strike on Cuba, naturally, will be the last straw.”
One of the Russian soldiers reported, “Mammal Pod data entry is complete.”
As he walked past Snake and Twilight, Zadornov grinned, “Dead at age thirty-nine… Just like El Che. Heh… ironic, isn’t it?” Three soldiers suddenly moved forward. Two of them grabbed Snake’s arms, forcing him down onto his knees, while the third approached Twilight and pointed his gun at her, forcing her to take several steps away from Snake. Zadornov pointed his gun down at Snake’s head as he said, “In the end, a legend is merely fiction. You’ll die as The Boss did and become as did she, an eternal fraud.” He glanced over in Twilight’s direction and looked about ready to say something when a loud banging sound followed by an alarm caught his attention.
Suddenly, Mother Base troops led by Miller stormed the room, entering on both levels with guns blazing. Among them were Amanda, Chico, and the rest of the Sandinistas, all of them packing the same weaponry as the rest of the MSF. “¡VENCEREMOS!” Amanda screamed over the sound of firing bullets, Chico yelling as well.
Snake dropped to the ground as the soldiers began falling, including the ones holding him and Twilight captive, multiple screams and groans filling the air as bullets tore into them. Twilight was about to follow Snake’s lead when she saw Zadornov taking aim at him again. She glared, filling her horn with magic. In less than a second, she appeared next to Zadornov and grabbed his gun with her hooves and left wing, his surprise at her sudden appearance more than anything allowing her to knock it out of his hand, the gun clattering to the ground in front of Snake. Reacting to this, Snake reached forward and grabbed it, raising himself onto one knee and whirling around, taking two shots at Zadornov while Twilight leapt back and dropped down.
Zadornov dropped to his knees to avoid getting shot, but he was forced to stay in that position when Amanda and Chico came up behind him, Amanda saying, “Freeze!” as she and Chico pointed their guns at his backside.
Zadornov turned his head to look back up at her and angrily asked, “You dare point your gun at a comrade?!”
As the sound of gunfire died down, Twilight looked up as Amanda said, “We will not be pawns of the KGB. We will win our OWN victory!”
Chico added, “¡Hasta la victoria siempre!”
As several MSF troops surrounded Zadornov, one of the Sandinistas called, “Amanda!” She looked up at that, Twilight noticing she seemed a bit put out at being called by name. “We’re home! Look, we’re back in Nica’! We did it, Amand- I mean, Comandante!” he finished, calling her by the title she had told Twilight she hoped to have one day.
As Snake and Twilight stood up, one of the Mother Base troops asked, “Boss, you hurt…?”
Snake was silent for a second before he grunted, “I’m fine.”
Another one of the troops surprised Twilight when he walked over to her and asked, “Twilight, are you all right?”
She stared up at him for a moment before replying, “I-I’ll be okay.”
As she caught sight of him standing up, Amanda let out a gasp and proclaimed, “Vic Boss!” The other Sandinistas said it as well, starting out quietly, then it became a crescendo as the rest of Snake’s troops began saying it. It wasn’t long before nearly all the troops in the Control Room were triumphantly cheering it.
While Amanda went over to Snake, Twilight turned and made her way up the stairs to where Paz was lying on the floor, her worry managing to push the aftermath of MSF’s rescue out of her mind for the moment. She carefully placed a hoof on the girl’s shoulder and asked, “Paz? Are you… all right?”
Paz took her hands off the back of her head after a moment and slowly looked up at Twilight. She looked like she was in shock, but she was able to shakily ask, “I- Is it over…?”
Twilight helped her raise her upper body up and kept her hoof on her shoulder as she softly answered, “It is, Paz. I know it’s not pleasant to look at, but the danger has passed.” She leaned forward and pulled her into a hug, “It’s over now.” They both looked up a moment later to see that Miller had made his way up to them, the man kneeling down next to them. They looked up and around the Control Room a few moments later, seeing Amanda pulling Snake into a hug and the troops still cheering. As they looked over all this, it really did seem as though the threat of Peace Walker being activated had ended. It was finally over.
Soon…
Twilight sat next to Paz on the helicopter close to the cockpit while Miller talked with Snake. Zadornov sat on the opposite side of the chopper from them in the back, a pair of Mother Base soldiers pointing their guns at him. And across from him, on a small bed they had laid out, was Coldman, the now-closed briefcase still attached to his left wrist. As the last of the choppers lifted off, Miller said, “Paz can stay with us until she’s back on her feet.”
Snake nodded, “And the ‘professor’?”
Miller answered, “We’ll find him a nice, comfy cell. Coldman’s lost a lot of blood; he may not make it.”
Snake asked, “Where’s Amanda?”
Miller replied, “Back with her compas. She’ll catch up later. How about you, Snake…?”
Snake answered, “I’m not done yet.”
Miller questioned, “The AI?”
Snake nodded, “I have to finish this. That… Boss is a fake. I’m gonna bury it.” Miller looked at him for a moment before looking looked towards the front of the chopper, giving a nod. At this, the pilot pulled back on the stick, the chopper lifting off the ground in response.
Miller looked back at Snake as the chopper went up, saying when they were above his head, “We’ll save the champagne until you get back. May as well celebrate peace while it lasts.” With that, he slid the door of the chopper closed and moved up towards the front, sitting down next to Twilight.
As they flew away from the military base towards Mother Base, Twilight kept her right wing wrapped around Paz, trying to comfort her as best she could. She was crying now as the full impact of what Zadornov made her do set in. Miller looked at them for a few moments before he tried to help as well. “Don’t pick up a gun unless you know how to use it. Aiming a weapon alone doesn’t make it a deterrent. You’re the Angel of Peace. Leave the guns to us,” he said to her over her sobbing. After a few seconds, he spoke again, “That was our agreement, remember? The army’s leaving Costa Rica now. The mission is complete.” He asked after a moment, “Paz?”
Even though she was clearly still distraught, Paz turned to him and made the peace sign with her right two fingers. She nodded and smiled, “…Thank you.” Both Twilight and Miller smiled softly back at her.
The peacefulness of the moment when Coldman made groaning noises, which were accompanied by the sound of clacking computer keys. Paz and Twilight were the first to notice, both of them looking towards the back of the chopper as the latter asked, “Coldman…?”
Zadornov soon noticed as well, but Miller didn’t pick up on it until Coldman let out a low chuckle and the suitcase let out a prolonged beeping noise. “…What’s that noise?” Miller asked as he turned to look at the back of the chopper. He quickly realized that Coldman had managed to get the suitcase open again. He stood up and moved to the back of the chopper, picking up the suitcase in both hands despite Coldman’s pained groans and looking at it for a few seconds before asking, “What’d he do…?!”
Zadornov huffed, “I should have killed you when I had the chance!”
Twilight asked, “What’s going on?”
Coldman groaned, “…NORAD’s nightmare is about to begin.” At Miller’s confusion, he slowly explained, “Peace Walker… *hah* determines retaliation targets… based on enemy nuclear strike data… That data… can be sent… to third parties, as well…”
Miller set the briefcase down on Coldman’s stomach and raised his right hand to his ear, saying, “We got big problems, Snake. Coldman’s activated the nuclear launch switch!”
On the other end, Snake asked, “What?! And the target’s Cuba?”
Miller answered, “Yeah, but that’s not it. The son of a bitch has screwed us all over.”
Coldman was sweating heavily as he struggled to say, “When Peace Walker was activated, it started transmitting the false data set to NORAD. *huff, huff* It’s using a spread spectrum MLF signal… it can’t be blacked out, even by EMP.”
Miller mused, “There’s no way to tell the difference between false data and the real thing on a radar screen. NORAD will have no idea it’s all a ruse generated by Peace Walker. They’ll think it’s a real Soviet attack. …They’ll pass on the data to the National Military Command Center…”
Snake finished for him, “And Washington will have to choose whether or not to retaliate.”
Miller said, “This could get ugly! Unless we stop it, we’re looking at a retaliatory chain reaction!”
Coldman started, “No…” He groaned and struggled to gather his strength before continuing, “No need to panic. The nightmare will end soon enough.”
Miller asked, “What do you mean?”
He turned to Zadornov when he explained, “Coldman’s aim is for the bureaucrats in Washington to see the importance of a machine like Peace Walker. …He’s trying to prove that humans don’t possess the will to launch nukes.”
Coldman managed a weak grin, “Everything will be fine. They’ll never retaliate. They’re only human…”
Snake contacted Miller, “Kaz, where’s the President?”
Miller responded, “…Last I heard he was in the middle of SALT-II negotiations in Vladivostok.”
Snake told him, “With the President gone, nuclear launch authority passes to the next person in the chain of succession.”
Miller replied, “The Vice President’s gone too, so after him comes the Speaker…”
Coldman sounded like he was trying to chuckle as he said, “…President, Vice President… Not one among them has the courage to push the button. No one willing to enter history as The Great Destroyer.” He let out a groan before continuing, “In the end, it’s not their lives that people value most… it’s their reputations!”
Dr. Strangelove, who was driving the van that she and Snake were in, said, “The bureaucrats in Washington may not be able to retaliate. Peace Walker, on the other hand… She’s loyal to the mission above all. And she’s well aware that guaranteed retaliation is essential for nuclear deterrence to work.”
Back on the chopper, Coldman, his head shaking as he kept trying to summon the strength to speak, said, “Peace Walker is the perfect deterrent. Cuba would not have been my choice of targets… but you can’t make peace without breaking a few eggs. Now that Peace Walker has the false data… retaliation is inevitable.”
Miller yelled, “Are you insane?! You think it’ll end there?! You’re about to unleash all-out nuclear war!”
Snake ordered, “Somebody find out what’s going on at NORAD!”
Strangelove spoke, “Mammal’s got a connection to NORAD. We could monitor it with the right equipment.”
Back at Mother Base, Huey began typing on his keyboard as he said, “I’ve got you covered.” After a few seconds, he reported, “I’ve got NORAD on the line.”
A male voice came through the chopper’s communications system, “Sir, we’re tracking unidentified targets. Current apogee twenty degrees. Estimated time of reentry is two-two-five-zero Zulu.”
Another voice asked, “Have you contacted the President?”
A third answered, “COVERALL is not responding.”
The first voice said, “Warning system checks out. No corresponding natural signatures. Data is assessed as reliable.”
Snake yelled, “Cut the data transmission! We can’t say for sure Washington isn’t going to retaliate!”
Coldman groaned, “The only one… who knows… the abort code… is… me… I die… and no one can turn it off… Even if they do strike back… I’ll already… be dead…” He began to raise his left hand, “I can only pray… that my theory… my peace… is proven right…” He managed to make the peace sign with his fingers. “Pea… ce,” he barely managed to get out before his hand fell, the suitcase crashing onto the floor of the chopper as the sound of a heart monitor flatline filled the air.
“…Go to Defcon 3.”
“Get SAC on the phone.”
“This is Crystal Palace. Standby for an emergency meeting.”
Thanks to the connection to NORAD, they were picking up other conversations regarding the false data being sent by Peace Walker.
“…They’re at Defcon 3,” Huey reported.
“The false data and the nukes are both coming from the same source… We have to stop Peace Walker!” Miller ordered.
Strangelove spoke, “The only way is to destroy her.” There was a screeching sound as the van slid to a stop, followed by her saying, “She’s entered Launch Mode. Peace Walker’s rendered her judgement. The target… is Cuba!”
Miller said, “Snake, don’t let it launch the nuke!”
A loud roar was soon heard from the machine and Huey reported afterwards, “It’s calculating ballistic trajectory… Once that’s finished, it’s all over.”
Miller said, “Snake, you’ve got to destroy the platform!” Twilight and Paz looked at each other worriedly. What was going to happen next?