Fan Fiction ❯ Metal Gear Solid: Sovereignty ❯ Rough Tide ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 1: Rough Tide

"Twelve hours ago a renegade terrorist group calling themselves the 'Sovereign Kings' launched a
nuclear warhead at the once largest city in the United States, Los Angeles. And as you know they
succeeded in not only completely decimating the city and surrounding area, and destroying
millions of lives, but bringing the world's largest superpower, the US, to its knees."

"This was the single most devastating attack in the world, since we bombed Japan in World War
II. We were struck hard and fast, even after all the precautions and steps we've taken to protect
ourselves, we were still caught off-guard. Our defense systems should have picked up the missile
the second it entered the atmosphere, but that obviously didn't happen."

A man wearing a thick pair of glasses and a white lab coat, piloted a Kasatka military copter over
the Arctic ocean. A few dozen feet below the chopper was a man dressed in an all-white sneaking
suit, in a small motor boat. The scientist seemingly talking to himself was actually using the
Codec, a system of communicating with others, thanks to intravenous nanomachines. The man
who sat in the pilot's seat was Hal Emmerich also referred to as Otacon.

Otacon continued his explanation, "Your mission, Snake, is to infiltrate the enemy facility, the
proclaimed 'Soviet Frontier' located at the edge of Murmansk. Which is conveniently right beside
the sea."

Below the Kamov was a small wooden boat with a motor attached to the back. The measly funds
the two received wasn't nearly enough for a more glamorous ship, but it would do. The inhabitant
of this boat was none other than the covert operative Solid Snake.

His all-white sneaking suit was ideal for the snowy climate. Snake's boots, slightly greyer than
the rest of his suit, were made from a special type of rubber that would lower noise while
sneaking. Snake's waist held a combat knife and other pouches. At the soldier's right side was a
tactical thigh holster containing an Universal Semi-Automatic Pistol .40cal, or an USP.

Snake wore a white padded vest, keeping him warm and safe from light gunfire. Four pouches
were attached to the vest, containing safety provisions. Four fragmentation grenades were clipped
to the front of Snake's vest, another "safety" measure. Gray gloves and special pads at his elbows
and knees offered further protection.

Snake and Otacon continued their Codec conversation, "You're only a few miles away from the
shore, from there you should be able to walk th rest of the way to the facility," explained Otacon.

"You couldn't have dropped me closer?" questioned Snake.

"That's a big N-O, Snake. If the Russians learn of our presence they'll launch another missile. The
first one was just a warning. Use your USP sparingly, too many dead bodies will grab the
Russians' attention."

"I'll try my best."

"The Russian government itself was not responsible for the attack, but these mercenaries. We
still don't know the name of the man in charge, but we believe it's a high ranking military
officer."

"What exactly are their threats?" asked Snake.

"They want US President Jackson and other political and government leaders to hand over their
power and control over the United States to the Sovereign Kings. Apparently, the terrorists have
written up a type of constitution they want Jackson to sign."

"Sounds crazy."

"It is," replied Otacon. "but right now these Sovereign Kings hold all the cards."

"And the American government can't retaliate?"

"Nope. One, even though the terrorists did reveal their location in tape sent into Washington, if
America launched a nuke of their own, they would also kill millions of innocent people. Two, if
America sent in their armed forces, the mercenaries would see them coming a millions miles
away. And either shoot them down, or launch another nuke."

"And the Russian government?" asked Snake.

"Same reasons. The terrorists main purpose is to bring Russia back to it's communist days, when
it was a true superpower, even if that means destroying the country itself, and rebuilding from
scratch. They aren't afraid to target their homeland, they'll do whatever it takes."

"A bunch of mercenaries that want to 'save' their country are willing to destroy it? Sounds almost
hypocritical."

"Well, you know how those fanatical groups can get. Anyway, this is where you come in, Snake.
The only way the terrorists could have launched an undetectable nuke was with our good friend,
Metal Gear."

"Not again."

"Yep. One of Metal Gear's main selling points is it's rail gun technology. Metal Gear is designed
to launch a completely undetectable nuclear warhead. No one, except the launchers, know where
it's going or where it came from. Normally, ballistic missiles go through four phases from launch
to impact." The first is the boost phase, which consists of the time between the missiles launch
and the point at which it leaves the atmosphere and exhausts its supply of rocket propellant."

"Really."

Otacon continued, "Following the burnout, the rocket enters the post-boost phase that concludes
with the separation of the reentry vehicle that contains the warhead. The third stage is the mid-
course phase, in which the reentry vehicle separates and achieves a controlled descent back into
the atmosphere and its arrival at the target mark -- the fourth and terminal phase."

"Why do I feel like I've heard this before?"

"Current missile defense systems are alerted to incoming ballistic missiles by detecting the rocket
burn during the missiles boost stage. However, Metal Gear's missile technology employs a rail
gun rather than conventional rocket propulsion, to achieve boost stage acceleration. As a result,
there is nothing for existing missile defense systems to detect. This first became a problem
during the Shadow Moses incident, but the US and other nations did nothing improve their
defense technology."

"Nice explanation, but what's the point?"

"The 'point' is you must infiltrate this 'Soviet Frontier', and find and destroy this new Metal Gear.
It has to be somewhere inside that base. Only problem is we know nothing of the specs of this
new Metal Gear, and what it's capable of, besides a nuclear strike. Destroy it Snake, and you take
away the terrorists upper hand."

"It almost doesn't feel right fighting the battles of the American government I.E the Patriots."

"I have the same feeling, but the terrorists are threatening the world with Metal Gear, and that's
our first priority. Besides, you can't really help someone if they really have been dead for a
hundred years."

Snake remembered what Otacon had told him, the information on the disc. Could it really be
true? Just when Philanthropy was on the verge of finding out the "truth" this happens.

"This ocean is damn cold, I stay out here any longer and I'll be fighting terrorists without any
limbs," Snake complained.

"Later," replied Otacon.

Snake sat in the small green boat, barely big enough for two people, it had only two seats, Snake
sat in the back one. He looked up at the Russian skies, watching his comrade fly off in the
Kamov they "borrowed" after the Big Shell incident.

The calm before the storm.

The harsh arctic waves raised and lowered Snake's boat, and they began to become unruly. Snake
braced himself and held onto the boat's sides, both of his hands gripped the wood. The waves
became more and more harsh as the winds began to pick up.

Behind him, Snake could hear an ominous rumbling. He turned to find a 20-foot wave racing
towards him. A wall of arctic water large enough to topple most buildings.


"Shit."

Snake reached his hand behind his boat and grabbed the cord of the motor. He pulled once then
twice before he heard the sputtering of the weak engine, it wouldn't be enough to escape the
wave, but that wouldn't stop Snake from trying.

The green motor boat raced away at a top speed of 25 miles per hour as the immense wave of ice
water came closer to the commando.

"Come on, come on . . ." whispered Snake wishing his boat faster.

Snake turned his head once again to see the giant wall of water only ten or fifteen feet away. Just
as the homeless man had witnessed the wall of flames come towards him, Snake could feel the
massive body of water slowly rise and it's shadow enclose the area in darkness.

Snake could feel the cold from the arctic water creeping toward him. Right before the colossal
wave would try to consume Snake in it's mass, something in the water caught his eye. He focused
his eyes into the unruly sea, looking for whatever was in there. Suddenly, two glowing red orbs
of light appeared in the deep under ocean's surface.

"What the hell?"

They looked like the eyes of death have been summoned to take Snake away. For as Snake glared
at the two red "eyes" the immense wave towered high above his head and came crashing down
onto him.

The force of the wave easily broke apart the boat into splinters, and almost broke Snake into
pieces. The mercenary was sucked down under the surface and launched back up again, over and
over. He could feel the ice cold water rush into his lungs, his sneaking suit couldn't protect him
now. Trapped in a sea of pain and suffering, trapped in a watery grave. Snake could still see the
glowing red "eyes" stare back up at him and slowly get bigger. Then the silhouette of a massive
"creature" appeared behind the red "eyes," just as Snake lost consciousness, and was left floating,
headfirst, at the surface of the water.

Life slowly slipping away . . .