Race to the Beta Building
Solid Snake, Gray Fox and Ellen walked through the basement and arrived at the elevator. Snake pressed the button and waited for the elevator to arrive,
"So what is that you do?" Snake asked Ellen,
"I'm a Bolshoi Ballet Dancer." Ellen explained,
"Bolshoi?" asked Snake,
"It's a well renowned classical ballet group in Moscow." chimes in Gray Fox, Snake jokingly chuckled,
"How would you know, Mr Serious?" sarcastically asked Snake,
"I enjoy ballet." Gray Fox stated,
"Do you enjoy ballet, Snake?" asked Ellen,
"Not really, never was into it."
"You should, it's a wonderful pass time. You get to learn a wonderful story through beautiful and rhythmic dance." Ellen explained,
"Not much of a dancer."
"You should be." chimed Gray Fox,
"Why?" asked Snake,
"Ballet takes a lot of discipline and focus like any form of combat. It also relies on every muscle and bone in your body to maintain peak excellency and elegance in the art." Ellen looked at Fox as the elevator arrived,
"I take it you are a fan of the performing arts, yes?"
"My ex fiancée used to be an ice skater." Snake and Ellen's smiles faded once he said that,
"Oh, forgive me, I didn't mean to touch a sensitive subject." Ellen apologized,
"No, it's alright. I still enjoy the arts even if I still think of her." They entered and Snake pressed the third floor button. The elevator passed the first floor then suddenly stopped, the lights shut down and the three inside were confused by what just happened,
"Guess they cut off the power to the elevator, c'mon Snake." Gray Fox looked up, used the hilt of his sheathed blade and hit the hatch hard enough to open it. Fox then jumped up and looked around the elevator shaft, he then drew out his sword and stabbed it into the elevator doors,
"Snake, up here." He told him, Solid Snake then climbed up the hatch and held out his hand for Ellen, Ellen tippy toed and grabbed Snake's hand, allowing Snake to pull her up as Gray Fox finished cutting the door open. The three then exited the shaft and entered the second floor,
"Gotta find another way to the roof." Snake stated, Ellen then pointed to her right,
"There's a stairwell on the other side of the building, perhaps we can take that-" Snake then pulled both Ellen and Fox behind a wall as two mercenaries were walking nearby,
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"Infrared lasers, walking past them will set the entire base on alert." Fox informed,
"Shit…" Snake stated,
"What do we do now?" Ellen asked,
"Your cigarettes can reveal the lasers." Fox informed,
"Only one problem, you threw my lighter at the pack of African Wild Dogs." sarcastically remarked Snake,
"You know you don't have to be a smartass all the time, Snake."
"I have matches." Ellen stated as she dug into her bra and pulled out her book of matches,
"What else you got hiding in there?" Snake slyly asked, Ellen briefly smiled and blushed while Fox just smacked the back of Snake's head.
"Ouch!" exclaimed Snake,
"I get it, sheesh…" Snake took out his pack and handed a cigarette to Gray Fox and Ellen, Ellen then handed a match to Fox and Snake. The three lit their cigarettes and laid on their stomachs.
"Slow movements." Fox reminded them. They slid their way slowly to the infrared light, their cigarettes emitting to reveal the thin red light an inch above them. Solid Snake moved slowly until he felt someone grab his hand with a gentle touch. He glanced down to see Ellen looking back at him. Snake just smiled back and continued crawling with her under the lasers. After narrowly avoiding the lasers, the three progressed more toward the western part of the building, avoiding patrols until reaching a giant hallway. They noticed the floor panels ahead being different from the usual floor panels,
"Snake, throw one of your magazines." suggested Fox, Snake took out one of his handgun magazines and tossed it on the floor. Once it hit, the magazine was electrified by the floor itself,
"Fuck…I think I see the switch to turn it off but we'd have to cross that electrified floor." Fox stated, Snake pondered for a few minutes and dialed Steel Eagle on the codec,
"Eagle, we ran into a problem." Snake told him,
"What happened, Solid Snake?" Eagle asked,
"They cut power to the elevator, we had to make way through the second floor but the floor is electrified, I can see the control panel right across the hallway, any ideas?"
"I think I have one, did you pass that area with the infrared sensors?"
"Yeah?"
"There's a room right beside the sensors. I saw from the cameras that the mercenaries use that place to store weapons, one of them is a Nikita Remote Control Rocket Launcher."
"Thanks, where are you now?" asked Snake,
"Fifth floor, gonna make my way to the staircase. See you soon, Snake." The codec call ended and Solid Snake turned to the other two,
"Eagle says there is a Nikita Launcher back there, we can use it to destroy that thing." Snake told them,
"We'll wait here then." Fox replied. Snake rushed back, sneaking past the patrols of mercenaries, arriving back at the infrared sensors. Solid turned and spotted the door that Eagle talked about,
" Alright, it shouldn't be too bad. " Solid reassured himself, he lit another cigarette and used the smoke to show the lasers, he then maneuvered himself by crawling under the lasers towards the door. Snake noticed the number 2 on the scanner then pulled out his level 2 keycard to unlock the door. Once he entered, Solid Snake dug through the crates inside,
"Oh shit, a set of thermal goggles. Definitely will come in handy." Snake put it in his pocket and pulled out some sets of C4 with a detonator,
" My luck just keeps turning around. " Snake happily thought as he put the bricks of C4 in his pockets. Finally, Solid pulled out the large Nikita Rocket Launcher with a big grin on his face.
" Jackpot… " Snake thought to himself,
" Now to move this giant thing undetected…. " Snake looked around and noticed a much more bigger and longer cardboard box,
" Eh it worked the last time… " Snake then took the longer box and carefully crawled while wearing it over him. Trying to be as quiet and evasive as he can from the patrolling mercenaries. He walked past two mercenaries who were standing nearby, one of them leaned his head to the right, seeing the box walk by. The other mercenary was confused why his comrade was looking into the distance.
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"" he replied as he rubbed his eyes. Solid eventually met up back with Ellen and Gray Fox,
"You got it? Good, have you ever used one of these before?" asked Fox,
"A few times before. I got this." Snake replied, he went on one knee and took aim, adjusting his scope then pulling the trigger. The missile was launched out and ignited from its bottom as it flew forward. Snake tilted it to the left then to the right to adjust the missile's path toward the control panel, destroying it instantly. The electrified floor shut off and Snake grinned and fist pumped,
"Awesome! Let's keep going." The three continued to walk through the hallway, passing the now shut off electrified floor. They then stopped as they spotted another electrified floor,
"I can't see the control panel, try using that rocket to look for the panel." Fox suggested. Solid Snake loaded up one more and fired his rocket again, he tilted to the right to have it turn the corner then tilted to the left to turn the other corner. Snake then found the panel and set the rocket to blow it up, shutting off the floor once more.
"We should be halfway there." Ellen told them, the men nodded and continued forward into the next room. The next room appeared almost like a shooting range as three large and wide walls separated the giant room. Snake took a couple of steps forward, about to pass one until he heard a gun being rapidly fired, quickly he and the other two took cover behind a wall. He glanced quickly to see a blonde mercenary, his face covered by a scarf and goggles, a light bulletproof vest, desert cargo pants and in his hands was a M60 machine gun.
"If you think you three are making it out of here alive, you thought dead wrong." He called out to the three with a British accent,
"Who the hell are you?" Snake called back to the man,
"I am the Machine Gun Kid and this is your last stop before you all go to hell!" Declared Kid as he fired a couple of shots in Snake and Fox's direction. Snake aimed his Nikita Rocket Launcher and fired it, directing it towards the far wall and turning it left. After reaching the end of the hallway, he turned to the right to direct it towards Machine Gun Kid but Kid was quicker than that. He snapped towards the direction of the Nikita rocket and shot it down,
"If you think you can just abuse that Nikita Missile of yours then you're not the soldier I thought you'd be." taunted Machine Gun Kid as he kept shooting. Solid Snake cursed himself internally, Solid gestured for Fox to move Ellen towards the door. Gray Fox nodded and both waited for Machine Gun Kid to run out of bullets, the gunfire then stopped. Quickly, Solid rushed towards Machine Gun Kid as Fox ushered Ellen towards him, the Machine Gun Kid was going to load in another magazine but Snake leaped towards him and kicked the M60 out of his hands. Solid then swung and socked Machine Gun Kid in the face, Kid then spun and drew out an Uzi to shoot Snake but Snake pushed his arm away as he fired, wrapped his arm around his neck to flip and toss Kid towards a wall. The Kid then pulled out his other Uzi but Snake quickly drew out his handgun, Snake shot the Uzi out of his right hand and the Machine Gun Kid fired at him; Snake leaped out the way but one of the bullets grazed his leg, he rolled and slid behind a wall.
"That's all you got?" taunted Machine Gun Kid,
"Just getting warmed up." answers Snake. Machine Gun Kid took out dual AR-57 smgs and chased after Snake. Craftily, Snake placed a C4 on the wall and lunged at Machine Gun Kid, he stepped aside and slid under Machine Gun Kid to wrap an arm around him and suplex him. Machine Gun Kid rolled backwards and swung his leg to trip Snake but Snake caught himself and flipped back up. The Kid got himself up and tripped Snake, making Snake slam on the floor. Machine Gun Kid then aimed both his smgs on the downed Solid Snake but the rookie quickly kicked his arms, knocking the guns out his hand. Solid then kicked Machine Gun Kid in the face then leapt onto his shoulders and leaned backwards to flip Machine Gun Kid on his back. Frustrated, Machine Gun Kid drew out his Uzis and fired at Snake but Solid Snake flipped backwards and rolled behind the wall. Solid Snake blindly fired his M1911 at Machine Gun Kid then picked up his M60 and tossed it toward his face, rocking and stunning the Kid. Solid then ran and leaped to dropkick Kid but Kid managed to get a few shots in the rookie's leg as Snake kicked Kid as hard as he could, knocking him back. Snake grunted on the floor as he was bleeding from his right leg, Kid looked up at Snake and looked back to see his guns behind him. Happily and with no hesitation, Kid rushed to his guns and leaped towards them but that's when Snake looked up with a wide smug grin as he held up the C4 detonator,
"THERE!" shouted Snake as he pressed the detonator, Kid turned and even though he noticed the C4, it was too late as it blew up right near him, sending Machine Gun Kid flying towards a wall. Snake let out a relieving sigh as Fox and Ellen rushed to him,
"Smart move, Snake. Here, give me one of your cigarettes." Fox asked. Snake took out his pack and handed it to Fox. Ellen gave Fox her matchbook and Fox lit five of the cigarettes.
"You know what cauterization is right?" asked Fox, Snake nodded,
"Good. Try not to squirm." Fox told him as he held the cigarettes in one hand. Gray Fox used his other hand to dig a finger into each of the three bullet holes, he was wiggling around inside to look for the bullets. Solid Snake grunted and clenched his fist tightly, trying his hardest not to move around. Ellen held Snake's wrist to reassure him as Snake simply held his breath and watched Fox burn the wounds shut. The three were all suddenly shocked as they saw Machine Gun Kid standing and limp slowly towards them. He was breathing heavily and he was badly damaged with blood leaking out from his wounds.
"Ishmael…Ishmael…I worship you…I honor you by wearing the attire…you wore…when you saved me…from when you…saved me…from being lost…I call to you…for you to save me again…" Machine Gun Kid stated before he succumbed to his wounds and fell right in front of them. Solid was still confused on how important this Ishmael is, Shotmaker and Machine Gun Kid both called out to this Ishmael like a hero, he wondered what did Ishmael do to make them worship him like a god. After Fox was done, he put out the cigarettes and went under Snake's arm to help him stand.
"Stand on that leg." Gray Fox told him. Snake nodded and started walking, he grunted and limped towards Machine Gun Kid weapons,
"Let the blood flow through your leg again. Walk a bit more." Fox told him, Snake nodded and grabbed the M60,
"Of course you're going to grab that one, you lucky bastard." Fox joked as he picked up the AR-57s, Ellen then picked up the Uzis and checked Machine Gun Kid's body for magazines which surprised both men,
"You know how to use a weapon, Ellen?" asked Snake,
"Papa taught me how to shoot. I can't rely on both of you forever now can I?" She said, Snake and Fox chuckled as Snake dialed up Big Boss,
"This is Solid Snake, come in?"
"Loud and clear, Snake. Haven't heard from you in a few minutes, thought you got captured again."
"You didn't think I was dead?"
"No, I can see your vitals from my end. That device on your wrist shows me your vitals from there to here, your heart rate spiked for a brief moment, were you engaged in combat?"
"Yeah, with Machine Gun Kid."
"Ah, the Machine Gun Kid, another mercenary like Shotmaker. Sergeant Sean Shepard of Royal Marines Commandos, illegally joining at 16. Sean was swift and quick on his feet, being a danger both in close range and long range. Unfortunately he ran into trouble back in the Gulf. You know of Operation Granby, right?"
"Yeah, British forces withdrew Saddam's forces out of Kuwait. What about it?"
"Shepard was sent ahead to do some reconnaissance. Unfortunately, he alerted the local Iraqi soldiers by getting trigger happy, which resulted in some of the civilians getting killed. He disappeared after being discharged."
"I see, he also called out to Ishmael. Is it true what you said earlier? About soldiers making their own God?"
"The battlefield is something where you can be whatever you want to be but it is also a wild beast that can punish you for going against it. Ishmael seems to have taken advantage of that and in his way, helped Sean and Dimitri from their own pain. It's like when a lost soul goes to a pastor to help them love themselves, Ishmael is the pastor and Sean and Dimitri are the lost souls of the battlefield."
"I see, it's an interesting way to put it. Anyways, we're almost at the roof. I'll contact you once we reach Beta Building, Solid Snake out." He hung up and noticed Ellen approaching him, she held a key card that had a number 3 engraved on it,
"I found this on Machine Gun Kid, maybe it could help us with the door." Stated Ellen, Snake took the keycard and walked towards the door, he placed the card on the scanner and it opened the door,
"Alright let's move." Snake told them both as they exited the room. The three then finally arrived at the staircase, they entered and walked up the stairs until seeing Steel Eagle with the same M16 in hand,
"Glad to see you in one piece, Fox." Eagle said to Fox,
"I'm surprised you're even alive with that mouth of yours. Where's the chopper located?" Asked Fox,
"Other side of the building, we're going to have to sneak pace the mercs on the roofs if we're going to make it. Who's she?" He asked, pointing towards Ellen,
"Ellen, Madnar's daughter. She's coming with us." Snake replied, Eagle nodded and began walking up the stairs. Snake, Fox and Ellen followed him up the final flight of stairs, Eagle leaned against the wall and Fox leaned against the opposite side of Eagle while Snake took aim at the door, with Ellen standing behind him. Eagle slowly reached for the knob, twisted and pulled the door open slowly. Once it fully opened, they were in for a shock as they saw the mercenaries aiming their guns at them, some of them even were hovering in mid air with the use of jet packs. This was no time to surrender and Snake knew it, he had to fight his way through them, that Hind D chopper was the only way to complete his mission.