Final Fantasy: Solid 2

[Weiila]

Episode 1: The Tanker
The Galbadian River, two years ago. We had just recieved word that a new kind of Metal Gear was being scheduled for transport.

The whole thing stank, but our noses had been in the cold for too long...

***

The bridge over the newly-formed Galbadian river was as active as ever, with cars buzzing to and fro across it. In fact, even in the light emitted from the lamps and beams from the cars, people didn't pay much attention to the dark-cloaked man standing at the side of the bridge, smoking a cigarrete.

The man put the cigarrete out, then turned his attention to the oil tanker heading his way. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary on it, but he knew better. He had all the information on the truth that he needed.

This was the transport for Metal Gear.

He threw off the cloak and immediately activated a stealth device, rendering him invisible. After tying a rope to both himself and the railing of the bridge, he waited for the boat to arrive. When it came within range, he jumped off.

Running along the sides of the boat, he found himself about ten feet up when the roap snapped. He hit the ground hard, damaging the stealth beyond repair.

Cursing his ill luck, Cloud stood up and called Butz.

(begin codec conversasion)
Cloud: Butz, I'm on the tanker.
Butz: How're things over there?
Cloud: Stealth camo's busted. Landing impact.
Butz: Guess you'll have to do without.
Cloud: Don't worry too much. I wasn't planning on relying on it, anyway.
Butz: Do you remember what happened after the Frozen Continent incident? About how the disc containing Atma's experimental results was circulated on the Black Market?
Cloud: All Irvine's doing.
Butz: Now every country on Earth has its own version of Metal Gear. Thank God the missle didn't get out.
Cloud: So what's the deal with this new Metal Gear.
Butz: Apparantly it was designed as an anti-Metal Gear unit to be deployed by the Marines. Unlike the others, it can function properly underwater, making it the perfect tactical weapon in the destruction of Metal Gears.
Cloud: Of course, something will go wrong.
Butz: Your mission objective is to take pictures of the new Metal Gear, then send them directly to HQ.
Cloud: The gaurds...they're simply wearing rain parkas and lanters. You wouldn't suspect them to be anything but civilians from here.
Butz: With the clear view of the river the city gets, placing uniformed soldiers on the deck would be a bad idea. But that doesn't make them any less dangerous; do NOT get caught under any circumstances.
Cloud: Remember, there's a price on our heads.
Butz: You worry too much.
Cloud: I sure hope so.
Butz: Your equipment includes a digital camera for the pictures, and a customized M9, equipped with tranquilizer rounds. Remember, you have to reload after each shot, so be careful.

***

Cloud continued to listen to Butz while watching the deck. Suddenly, he saw a uniformed soldier sneak up behind an unsuspecting Marine and slit his throat. Every other marine on the ship was killed in a similar manner, then tossed overboard. Then there were the choppers, droping off even more soldiers onto the tanker. Like always, things had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Cloud then saw someone who seemed to be the leader: an old, greyed man who just departed from a chopper. Quickly snapping a picture of the man, Cloud returned the Butz.

Butz:-and that's when I learned that natural fibers are the best.
Cloud: Listen, the whole damn ship's been taken over!
Butz: What?
Cloud: How many people would it take to take over a tanker this size.
Butz: Well, it's operated by computer, so I'd say about eighteen.
Cloud: A lot more then that just got on. I'm sending you a picture of who I think is the leader; identify him for me.
Butz: Can do.
(end codec conversasion)

Cloud knocked a gaurd out with a tranquilizer, then opened a hatch leading into the tanker. After outwitting even more gaurds, he made his way to the helm of the ship.

The scene at the helm was horrifying. The corpses of dead naval officers were piled onto the controls. Blood soaked the floors, making it seem like a drying-up lake of blood. The flashing on the directional computer showed the destination: Fabul. The Metal Gear was more prepared than they had thought.

Quickly, Cloud called Butz.

(begin codec conversasion) Cloud: Butz, the gear's headed for Fabul. Butz: It must already be ready for field testing. We'll have to hurry on this one. Cloud: Any word yet on who's in charge of this army? Butz: Not yet. Tifa's sending it through the usual channels. Cloud: I'll try to find out as much as I can. (end codec conversasion)

Cloud then heard a woman's voice coming from outside. Through the rain, he could barely make out a young, green-haired woman wearing a military uniform similar to those worn by the terrorists. Desperate to find some information, Cloud carefully made his way outside.

***

The rain was unrellenting, but Cloud found shelter behind two large crates. He was able to make out the conversasion.

(script only)
???: Father, the ship is ours now. How's Irvine doing?
Father: He's preparing the seizure of Metal Gear. This will be a glorious day indeed, Terra.
Terra: Finally, revenge at those who destroyed our lives!
Father: Terra, leave the ship.
Terra: WHAT?!!
Father: There is an ill moon tonight; I have a bad feeling about this mission.
Terra: But...but...my loyalty is to the unit!
Father: Enough of this nonsense, Terra! Need I remind you that you are carrying my grandchild?
Terra: *sighs*
Father: Leave immediately. That is all.
(end script)

As soon as Terra got off the radio, Cloud jumped from behind the crates, his M9 aimed at Terra. She raised her hands in surrender, then gave up her gun. When Cloud saw the knife handle in her boot, he told her to give that up as well. When she reached for it, she activated a secret trigger in the handle.

Cloud barely dodged the bullet aimed at his head. Terra then threw the knife, but Cloud shot it out of mid-air. Terra then drew out another gun, and prepared to take Cloud head-on.

(Boss: Terra)

Terra ran behind a bunch of steel beams covered by a rain tarp, peeking out only to shoot Cloud. She wasn't as fast, however, and Cloud easily struck her with a few darts.

She then grabbed the spotlight nearby, turned it on, and moved the beam directly into Cloud's field of vision. She then shot two of the support ropes for the tarp, causing it to further obstruct his view.

Cloud, however, simply shot the light out and shot Terra through the tarp. She then released it completely, and used spaces between the beams to fire, but Cloud succeeded in getting a head shot.

Terra fell to the ground, unconcious but not seriously wounded.

(end boss fight)

Cloud grabbed Olga's gun, but then noticed a floating platform with a camera on it fly nearby, take a picture of Cloud, then leave. Confused, Cloud called Butz.

(begin codec conversasion)
Cloud: Butz, I just saw a army cypher.
Butz: It's not only that, but I got an ID for you.
Cloud: Well? Who is that guy?
Butz: Gestahl. He leads a private army now.
Cloud: First the marines, then the empire, now the army. What the hell is going on?
Butz: I don't know. But we HAVE to get inside and finish the mission.
(end codec conversasion)

Cloud made his way to the engine room, where he dodged more soldiers than a man can count before reaching the passageway to the hold. After disposing of a guard, he found himself staring at a mess of lasers and symtex.

(begin codec conversasion)
Cloud: This looks bad. I can't go through here. I'll have to find another way.
Butz: There is no other way. But you CAN disarm the trap.
Cloud: How?
Butz: Use that new gun of yours to hit the control panels. You can tell what they are by the green light they emit. But let's save first, shall we?
SAVING...Saved.
Butz: Tifa, now what?
Tifa: Listen, Butz, you'd better have a good reason for standing me up last night!
Butz: You're so good when you're drunk!
Tifa: Oh yeah? *punches Butz out*
Cloud: I'd better get out of here before things get ugly.
(end codec conversasion)

*about a hundred Game Overs, loads, days, restroom breaks, and continues later*

Cloud finally disarmed the last light, and the passageway was clear. He made his way down a long, twisty hall, only to get ambushed by a sqaudren of soldiers. After disposing of them, he went inside a small room leading to the hold.

***

The only surviving soldier of the brief battle with Cloud locked the door behind him. Then he heard the familiar sound of heavy cowboy boots hitting metal.

"Sir," he said, "I thought you were with the colonel."

Then Irvine drew his gun and blew the brains out of the surprised man. As he followed Cloud, he said to the corpse:

"Your colonel will be joining you soon...comrade."

***

Cloud found himself on a walkway, overlooking an army of marines. They were all fixed on a television screen, which was projecting the picture of a tall, rather bald man who was in the middle of a lengthy speech (then again, marines are trained to withstand excessive amounts of boring speeches). Realizing that this was going to be a little difficult, Cloud quickly called Butz.

(begin codec conversasion)
Cloud: Butz, it looks like the marines are down here.
Butz: I guess they don't know about what's going on up on the bridge.
Cloud: Well, in any case, I'm not interested in fighting Galbadia's entire marine force. I'll have to sneak through.
Butz: The best time to do so would be during the speech.
Cloud: Do you have any amount of time for that?
Butz: I hacked into the ship's computer. I'd say you have seven minutes; longer if he throws a joke or two in.
Cloud: Okay, I'll be on my way.
(end codec conversasion)

Cloud climbed down the ladder, then grabbed onto the railing. He moved himself, hand over hand, to the end, where a guard was stationed with his back to Cloud. He simply knocked the guy out with a dart, and continued on his way.

The next area was an exact repeat, only without a guard at the end. Cloud thought about how stupid it was to design a ship this way, but didn't dwell on the subject. He just continued onward.

Finally, Cloud found himself staring at the behemoth of destruction itself: Metal Gear. This time, it was far different from the previous models; it looked more like a Godzilla rip-off than a Mechwarrior rip-off. After knocking out another guard, Cloud recieved a call from Butz.

(begin codec conversasion)
Cloud: Okay, I'm in front of Metal Gear.
Butz: You need to take those pictures, then use the terminal located to the side of the bottom floor to send them to me.
Cloud: Got it.
(end codec conversasion)

Cloud pulled out the camera and began to take pictures of the giant robot, all the while uttering "Oh, baby. Yes, that's it! Come to Cloud, come to Cloud! Yes, yes, yes!" Finally, after nearly being caught due to a very lame joke by the commander, Cloud made his way to the terminal and sent the photos to Butz.

Just as he did so, the speech ended with the commander saying, "We will save the world with Metal Gear Emerald!"

***

Just then, the sound of spurs filled the area as an all-too-familar voice filled the area.

"Interesting speech, my friend. The gift of the silver tongue; it is the sign of a talented speaker...and of a liar."

The commander rushed at the man, but Gestahl grabbed him from behind, a gun pointed at the man's head. The entire private army appeared as the marines stared in shock. That's when Cloud's mind figured out who it was: Shotgun Tiger, or, as he learned later, Irvine.

"What are you going to do with Emerald?" asked the commander, his voice critical of the terrorists. "Sell it on the streets?" Gestahl then launched into a monologue about how the Empire had fallen, and how everything was going to hell for him, and how he planned to use Emerald to rebuild the Empire. To this, Irvine laughed.

"I regret to inform you," said Irvine, "that I don't plan to sell Metal Gear. As I said, I've come to take it back. No, return it...to the Patriots!" Gestahl and the commander both stared in complete shock. Irvine continued. "Gestahl, you and your daughter will die here!"

Gestahl's response was an unbelievably angry and overly-dramatic, "DAMN YOU!!!" He then tossed the commander to the side and pointed his gun at Irvine, shouting, "Die, you dog!"

Suddenly, Irvine's jacket flew between the three men. Shots rang out from both sides, and the jacket was nearly torn apart by bullet holes. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for a few seconds.

The commander slumped over, dead. Gestahl fell to his hands and knees. Irvine moved his gun to his side, saying "Gestahl, looks like you were long overdue for retirement." Gestahl let out one last "Treacherous dog," then slumped down.

Suddenly, the soldiers turned their guns on the cowboy; however, he gunned all those that challanged him within two seconds. He then pulled out a detonator, taunting, "If you wish to live, swim now. It's two miles to the harbor; you can still survive if you swim for your life!"

He then pressed the button.

Explosions rocked the entire tanker. It swayed violently from side to side as both marines and Empirical soldiers ran around in blind panic. Irvine made his way to the Metal Gear cockpit, but Cloud had had enough of this shit. He then rushed up the catwalk, pointing his gun at the cowboy, who then turned in surprise and recognition.

Suddenly, the traitorous terrorist's arm began to shake violently. That's when Cloud remembered; Irvine's arm was sliced off by Shadow back at the Frozen Continent. Something was definately wrong here.

After screaming in pain, Irvine's voice suddenly changed. "How are you, dear brother?"

Cloud's response was complete shock. "Kuja?"

Irvine continued in Kuja's voice. "You're drowning in time. I know what it feels like, brother. Big Boss was in his fifties when his clones were created; but I live on through this arm!"

Cloud then realized exactly who's arm was taken...

Suddenly, the entire ship quaked. Irvine was tossed forward into the cockpit, while Cloud was thrown into the rising water. He climbed onto the catwalk and quickly called Butz, simply saying one sentence:

"Butz, we have a problem."

Emerald broke out of the side of the ship, hastening the sinking. Cloud swam through the hole, grabbing hold of some nearby wreckage.

***

Inside Emerald, Irvine began his own call.

"Yes, sir. The mission was a success. I can't wait to see his surprise when the news comes on tommorrow. Yes sir, I'll be at the meeting point. Good-bye, Mr. President."

***

In the tanker's last moments, Gestahl floated up to the surface of the water. He simply uttered "Terra," then sank to the bottom of the sea, along with the commander, many of the marines, and the entire tanker itself.

***

THE END OF THE TANKER EPISODE

[Weiila]

(2 years after the tanker...)

Steiner: Cloud, do you remember the sinking of that tanker two years ago?
"Cloud": Yes, I remember, Colonel.
Steiner: Terrorists blew up a tanker of crude oil off the shore of Galbadia, severely damaging the local wildlife and cotaminating the water supply. Fortunately, the government set up an off-shore cleaning facility called "The Big Shell", and has been cleaning up the mess ever since.
"Cloud": I hear it hasn't done much in terms of cleaning up the environment.
Steiner: It takes time. But the facility has become a worldwide symbol of Galbadia's commitment to cleaning up the environment. That's why this mission is so crucial.
"Cloud": What's going on?
Steiner: A group of terrorists have seized control of the Big Shell and are threatening to destroy the entire place.
"Cloud": An explosion from there would lite the oil spill on the surface.
Steiner: And that's not even the worse-case scenario. The clean-up has resulted in massive amounts of toxins being stored inside the base. If those toxins are released into the water, the entire river will become a toxic sludge, unable to support life for centuries.
"Cloud": What are the demands?
Steiner: $30 billion dollars. In cash.
"Cloud": How the hell do they expect to get that much money?
Steiner: They have several hostages inside, including the head of an environmental protection agency, and the most important hostage of all: James Deling.
"Cloud": The President?!
Steiner: You will have two mission objectives. Your first objective is to secure the President, and escort him to safety. Your second objective is to stop the terrorists from destroying the Big Shell.
"Cloud": Got it.

***

A lone figure, dressed in a skin-tight stealth suit and a black oxygen mask, descended into the water. As he reached the oil fence, he pulled out his wire cutters.

He then saw the gaping hole. Someone else had already cut a way through. Shrugging, he went inside.

Eventually, he reached a small loading dock. Getting out of the water, he contacted Steiner on his codec.

(begin codec conversasion)
"Cloud": Colonel, I'm inside the Shell.
Steiner: Any problems?
"Cloud": The oil fence was already cut. Apparantly someone else wanted to get inside before me.
Steiner: I don't understand. MOG-CHOCO always works alone.
"Cloud": Well, whoever it is, there's no sign of them here.
Steiner: Listen, there's another team infiltrating the base. They're Squads A and B from the SEALs.
"Cloud": Maybe they did that.
Steiner: No, they're landing on the roof. Try to avoid contact with both groups.
"Cloud": What?
Steiner: We work in the dark; we can't let your presence be known.
"Cloud": Fine.
Steiner: Also, we're changing your codename for all following transmissions.
"Cloud": What's wrong with Cloud?
Steiner: Nothing. It's just a precaution. From now on, your codename is "Squall".
Squall: What? That name SUCKS!!!
Steiner: Just get inside.
(end codec conversasion)

Squall grabbed a M-9 Tranquilizer Gun from nearby and opened the door. He saw an enemy guard crawl in the hallway before collapsing. Continuing onward, he saw two guards get tossed from an elevator. He was unable to see who was riding it.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: Colonel, there IS someone else in here! And whoever he is, he took down three soldiers single-handedly!
Steiner: Never mind him. Just continue with your mission.
Squall: By the way, how do I save my process?
Steiner: Well...
Rinoa: Hi, Squall.
Squall: Rinoa? Colonel, what's a civilian doing here?
Steiner: Your MOG-CHOCO technician had to cancel on the last second. Rinoa was brought in as a replacement.
Squall: What?
Rinoa: Squall, like it or not, I'm a part of this mission. And like it or not, I'll be saving your data.
Squall: Fine.
Steiner: This conversasion is OVER!
(end codec conversasion)

Squall got on the recently-returned elevator and headed for the upper floor.

(begin codec conversasion)
Steiner: The terrorists call themselves "Sons of Bitches"- wait, that's the name around here.
Squall: Then what is their REAL name?
Steiner: "Sons of Liberty".
Squall: All right then. Do continue.
Steiner: Their leader goes by the name "Cloud".
Squall: What? THE Cloud?
Steiner: That's what I thought as well, but it's not a possibility. Cloud's body was correctly identified two years ago when that tanker sank.
Squall: Then who's this new guy?
Steiner: Whoever he is, he's a clever imposter. Anyway, listen. The Big Shell is comprised of two shells: 1 and 2. Each shell consists of six outer struts and a core strut. You are currently on Strut A, located in Shell 1. The SEALs landed on Strut C. Reports indicate that the president is located on Strut B. Hurry there as quickly as possible!
(end codec conversasion)

The elevator stopped at the top of the Strut. The entire place was filled with crates, nets, and various other stuff. Fortunately, it wasn't guarded, so Squall easily snuck inside. When he just got there, Steiner called again.

(begin codec conversasion)
Steiner: Squall, we just intercepted a message from the SEALs.
SEALs: We have just retrieved the President. Preparing to pull ou- *gunfire is heard* What the hell? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Steiner: Hurry to Strut B NOW!
(end codec conversasion)

Squall reached the inside, where an office of sorts was placed. After knocking out a guard, he made his way to the bridge connecting Struts A and B. Unfortunately, it was under heavy surveillance, so he had to grab onto a railing and climb hand-over-hand to the other side.

When he reached Strut B, he was shocked at the site that layed before him. The walls and floor were covered in blood, guts, and dead bodies. The sound of gunfire continued further inside.

When Squall made it there, he found three SEALs searching the area. Fortunately, they didn't see him come in. Finally, after a while, one of the SEALs collapsed, his throat slit. Another then fell, cut straight through the abdomen. The third looked desperately, but couldn't find the mysterious attacker.

That's when the attacker, a black-haired man with a mostly hidden face and a hunting knife, appeared right in front of him. Desperately, the SEAL fired, but the man seemingly danced between the bullets. Finally, he jumped over the SEAL and cut the poor man's throat open, creating a fountain of blood.

The attacker looked joyous at the site.

Squall carefully snuck behind the man, where he saw the sickest site yet. The attaker had taken a body and was actually SUCKING THE BLOOD OUT OF IT!!! Suddenly, he turned towards Squall, took out his knife, and made a mark on his arm.

"Five today," he said. "Or perhaps six?"

Squall fired, but once again, the attacker dodged. Suddenly, a side door opened, revealing yet another SEAL. The new character shouted, "GET DOWN!", and fired at the attacker. Unfortunately, the bullets missed their mark. The attacker stabbed the SEAL in the arm, then pinned him against the wall.

"Hmmm," said the attacker, "strange smell." Suddenly, he backed away, saying, "No, it can't be!" He then turned and ran.

***

Squall pointed his gun at the SEAL, but stopped when the man said, "I'm not an enemy. Calm down." He then sat down on the steps and pulled off his mask, revealing a grizzled, yellow-haired face.

The man looked at Squall's suit. "Are you MOG-CHOCO?" Squall was shocked that he knew what he was, and answered, "Yes." The man sighed. "MOG-CHOCO was disbanded four years ago. Where were you before MOG-CHOCO, Delta Force?"

"I was part of the military's Force 10 training," replied Squall. "No field experience, huh?" said the man. Squall responed quickly. "But I was trained in the best there was, stuff better than field experience, like Sneaking Mission 60 and Weapons 80."

"VR? You kids call that training?" said the man. "Nothing can compare to the field, kid."

Squall had finally had enough. "Who are you, anyway?"

"My name's C-" he started, then stopped for a few seconds, then finally continued, "Pliskin. Iriquis Pliskin. Leuitenant Junior Grade."

Squall laughed inside at the man's ridiculous name, but suddenly got a call from Steiner. Just as he began to answer it, Pliskin whispered, "Kid's wired with nanomachines."

(begin codec conversasion)
Steiner: Squall, is everything all right?
Squall: Colonel, SEAL Team 10 is out- no, a single survivor.
Steiner: What about the President?
Squall: Looks like they moved him to another location. He's not here.
Steiner: I see...you said there's one survivor.
Squall: Yes, Colonel. Leuitenant J.G. Pliskin.
Steiner: Has he seen your face?
Squall: Huh?
Steiner: This is a covert operation. You must not let your presence be known.
Squall: It's a little too late for that.
(end codec conversasion)

Pliskin was transfixed on a corner. He stood up and walked over. When Squall followed, he saw a dead navy officer, completely drained of all blood, with half a handcuff on his right arm.

Pliskin suddenly fell back, dazed. "Guess I just lost a few more pints than I thought," he mumbled before seating himself again.

"Tell me what you know about the terrorists," said Squall.

(WARNING! LOTS OF PLOT AHEAD!)
Pliskin began. "That bloodsucking freak we just saw was Vincent. He and the other terrorist leaders once belonged to a Navy anti-terrorist organization, Dead Cell. They would fake hostage and terrorist situations in order to train other groups in how to handle real-life situations.

"When their original leader was falsely imprissioned and killed, the unit began to unravel. They were always at the edge, always causing trouble wherever they went. Eventually, they went to attacking civilians instead of embassies.

"Soon, the military had had enough. A conflict broke out between the military and Dead Cell, and Dead Cell lost. All of their members were killed except for three. They then recruited a new leader, and took this plant. And that's about it."
(THERE. THAT WASN'T TOO BAD!)

Pliskin handed Squall a SOCOM, telling him to be careful with it. He then gave him a codec frequency, and fell asleep. Squall wanted to curse him for sleeping on the job, but he had to find the president.

***

When Squall reached the BC connecting bridge, an armed conflict was breaking out between the last of the SEALs (minus Pliskin, of course), and a young woman in a purple dress sporting a huge railgun. It wasn't neccessarly the gun that was surprising.

It was the fact that the bullets seemed to "curve" around her.

A gernade launched at her, but it simply fizzled out. The bullets continued to fly, until she finally got annoyed.

"So," she said. "None of you can give me death." With that, she raised and charged the rail gun. The SEALs had only a few seconds to register a look of surprise before the weapon fired, completely destroying the small side-bridge where they were fighting. Several of the SEALs were tossed, lifelessly, into the water several yards away. One desperately grabbed onto a piece of mesh platform, but it broke off, sending him down nearly seven stories to the cold waters below.

That's when Squall saw the man lying by the side. It was the president!

Vincent appeared and picked up the unconcious man, as well as a briefcase lying nearby. "Come, Queen," he said. "The Boss wants to speak with you."

She simply looked back at the ruined walkway. "Another unlucky day, Vincent." With that, she went inside.

Squall, completely shocked, called Steiner in desperation.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: Colonel, some woman just blasted all that's left of the SEALs!
Steiner: It must have been Quistis, or as the group calls her, Fortune.
Squall: Colonel, those bullets swerved around her! She's invincible!
Steiner: Calm down!
Squall: What the hell's going on here? Why won't anybody tell me anything?!
Rinoa: Calm down, Squall! This is just First Mission Anxiety. Remain calm, and everything will be all right. Oh, and save right now!
SAVING......Saved.
Rinoa: Squall, do you remember what tommorrow is?
Squall: April 30th. Why?
Rinoa: I thought you remembered. Oh well, I hope it can wait.
Steiner: It had better. We have to move the President to secondary objective right now. We have to disarm any attempts to blow up the shell!
Squall: And who can do that?
Steiner: The SEALs brought in a Bomb Disposal expert. They wouldn't bring him into the front lines; try to find him.
(end codec conversasion)

Squall made his way up the bridge to Strut C. He went into a cafeteria, and rose his gun while shouting, "Freeze!"

The man was tall and yellow-haired, with green clothing and armor. His face showed signs of aging. He held up his arms and said, "Don't shoot!" He then reached for his cane.

"You'd better hold your fire, kid," said Pliskin as he came around the corner. "You're looking at our ticket to saving the Big Shell."

"Are you two with SEAL Team 10?" said the man.

"SEAL Team 10 is dead," said Squall, a sense of sorrow in his voice.

"WHAT?" shouted the man. "I can't disarm those bombs by myself!"

"Don't worry," said Pliskin. "We'll help you."

Squall gasped. "I...I have no training in bomb disposal! I don't have a clue what to do! Is this guy that good of a disposal guy?"

"Kid," said Pliskin, "this is THE bomb disposal guy. If you open any Indian Head textbook, you'll see his picture. This here's Leo, the king of disposals."

"That is, I was," added Leo, "until that incident. I wasn't able to disarm a bomb, and a famous church, as well as a playground full of kids, was blown to pieces because of it. All I lost was this leg." He pointed to his right leg, which was obviously crippled.

"Then why are you here?" asked Squall.

"Because of the demolition expert Dead Cell brought in is one of my students. The king of explosives: Palmer. He built a mako bomb when he was only ten. I created him, in a sense."

Leo then took out a small, yellowish-brown, box-like object with a small light attached. "This is a C4 bomb." He then pushed a button to the side, and the light flashed green. "When the light is flashing green, the bomb is active. Now, due to the lack of manpower here, we have to go with a temporary disposal." He then took out a small object resembling a can of deoderant and sprayed the bomb. The device was then encased in ice, its light stuck on red. "This is a Coolant solution. It will render the bombs harmless for at least 48 hours." He handed both Pliskin and Squall a can of Coolant.

"Also," he said, "take this." He tossed them a strange, rod-like device. "Palmer attaches a cologne to his bombs; kind of like his signature. This will pick up that cologne." He then retreated to a small pantry. "I'll be in here. If you need me, contact me by codec." He then shut the door.

"I'll handle Shell 2," said Pliskin. "You handle Shell 1." Squall quickly agreed, and they set off.

***

Squall's sensor picked up a cologne smell in the women's bathroom. He found a bomb wedged above the mirrors. After freezing it, he called Leo.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: I've disarmed the bomb in Strut C. It was above the mirrors in the women's bathroom.
Leo: Something's not right...
Squall: What?
Leo: That isn't the place to put a bomb!
Squall: Is this a trap?
Leo: I don't know, but keep your eyes open.
(end codec conversasion)

***

Squall made his way back to Strut B, where he found a bomb in the generator room, behind a door. He froze it, then returned to Strut A. There, he found a bomb in the pump room. After crawling through a jungle of pipes, machinery, and various other crap, he was able to freeze it and call Leo.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: I've deactivated the bomb on Strut A. It was located in the pump room.
Leo: Something is definately not right here. The locations of the bombs are all wrong.
Squall: Is this a trap?
Leo: Maybe. Just keep your eyes open.
(end codec conversasion)

[Weiila]

Squall then went to Strut F. After silencing a guard, he jumped down behind some crates and deactivated the bomb. He then made his way back up and went for Strut E.

There, he knocked out another guard and went to the helipad. When he reached the stairs, he saw a young, green-haired woman wearing a military uniform and talking on a radio about a ninja and someone else on the base. Squall stopped their little conversasion by whipping out his SOCOM, but she simply flipped over the side railing and dissapeared. Confused, he called Pliskin.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: Pliskin, I just saw a woman.
Pliskin: Kid, have you just hit the pubes or something?
Squall: Stop joking around!
Pliskin: That must be Terra. She's been leading the empirical private army ever since her old man, Gestahl, died.
Squall: So she's one of them?
Pliskin: Yeah. Keep your eyes open for her.
(end codec conversasion)

Squall found the bomb at the bottom of a Harrier-2 Airship. After freezing it, he called Leo.

(begin codec conversasion) Squall: I've just diffused the bomb on Strut E. It was located beneath a Harrier-2 Airship.
Leo: What? This is not like Palmer at all!
Squall: What?!
Leo: These locations would still be very damaging, but it wouldn't be enough to bring down the Big Shell.
Pliskin: Leo, I've checked out the bottom of Strut G, like you said.
Squall: What?
Leo: I had to satisfy my curiosity. There is indeed something wrong here.
Pliskin: I'll say. I found enough C-4 down here to blow the entire Strut out of existance.
Leo: So that's it.
Pliskin: The funny thing is, it isn't activated. Should I freeze it?
Leo: No. I'll come take a look.
Squall: On that leg? You'll never make it!
Leo: I-I can walk! I can even run, too!
Pliskin: Huh?
Leo: That church explosion...it wasn't because of an accident on the field. It was because I just got plain scared! I ran out of there, leaving the rest of the bomb disposal team to die! Not only that, but all those kids, too...I had to deal with the grief, so I made up that story about losing my leg.
Squall: So that's it.
Leo: I'm just scum to you, but I have to redeem myself. Pliskin, you go ahead and finish your rounds. I'll go take a look. Just don't ask for Peg-Legged Leo, though. He's dead now.
(end codec conversasion)

Squall went to Strut D. After silencing a guard, he found the bomb hidden under a grate. One deep-freezing later, he called Leo.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: Okay, the last bomb's disposed of.
Leo: Good. Now about this bomb...
Pliskin: I've found the last one, Leo. Here goes...
Leo: NO, PLISKIN!!! DON'T!
*sounds of coolant spray are heard, followed by beeping*
Leo: God Damn!
Squall: What happened?
Leo: Those bombs WERE decoys! When they were all disposed of, the big ones would be activated! Squall, get to Strut A on the double!
Squall: Why that one?
Leo: The Big Shell consists of a very precise balance. You can take a Strut down from Shell 2 without any trouble, but if you destroy two struts from both Shells, it'll create a massive domino effect, taking the entire place down.
Squall: Damn it!
Pliskin: Squall, get your ass over there now!
(end codec conversasion)

Squall rushed through the struts, knocking out any guards that happened to stand in his way. Finally, he reached Strut A. Boarding the elevator, he got a call from Leo, a call that sent shivers down his spine...

(begin codec conversasion)
Leo: It's over.
Squall: What?
Leo: Palmer has my number.
Squall: What do you mean?
Leo: These big bombs are rigged with a distance sensor. If you get too close, it'll shorten the countdown time. These tricks...I didn't teach him these...
Pliskin: Leo! Get the hell out of there!
Leo: I've only got thirty seconds. It's too late. Squall, whatever you do, don't get too damn close to that bomb!
Squall: I...understand...
Leo: Good luck. And please, stop Palmer. I created that madman; I must die for my sins. Don't allow him to take several more innocent lives, as well.
Pliskin: Don't worry. We won't let you down.
*a few eerie seconds of silence begin, followed by an enormously loud explosion*
Leo: AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhh....
*silence*
Pliskin: Rest in peace...
(end codec conversasion)

Squall raced down the hall into the same room he entered the Big Shell in. He found the bomb and quickly disarmed it. Just after that, he called Steiner.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: The last bomb has been disarmed, but at a great cost.
Steiner: It was a tragic loss for everyone. Still, you have to find the President!
Squall: Got that.
(end codec conversasion)

But just as Squall was leaving, Steiner called.

(begin codec conversasion)
Steiner: The terrorists have retaliated for us disarming the bombs. They've killed one of the hostages.
Squall: What?
Steiner: They even did it on top of one of the Struts, so we could see it. They've threatened to kill a hostage every hour until their demands are met.
Squall: I've got to get over there!
(end codec conversasion)

Just as Squall returned to the elevator, he saw her. The same woman that wasted the SEALs. She walked forward, the nearby swarm of roaches parting away from her. When she caught a glimpse of Squall, she raised the gun and shouted, "At last! I'll kill the one who caused my pain!"

Squall just got out the words, "Oh, shit!" He jumped away from the blast at the last possible second. It completely annihalated the boxes he was hiding behind.

"What?" she said. "You're...not him...This could be interesting..."

Squall raised his SOCOM and prepared for the battle.

(Gallo-note: Since the next boss is incrediably boring, I've decided to skip it. I'll go straight to the codec scene that ends it)

(begin codec conversasion)
Steiner: Palmer just contacted us.
Squall: He contacted us?
Steiner: He wants to meet you on top of Strut E.
Squall: I don't like the looks of this. But what about the hostages?
Steiner: Save the President. You don't have time for the other hostages.
Squall: Not if I work alone, that is...
Steiner: Do you really expect that Pliskin to pull through? We can't even contact him.
Squall: What?
Steiner: Deal with Palmer first.
(end codec conversasion)

Just then, Vincent came down. "Quistis," he said, "Palmer has lost it. He's little more than a stereotypical mad bomber now."

Quistis lowered her gun. "I see...This one couldn't give me death."

Just then, Squall jumped out of hiding and fired. The bullets swerved away from Quistis, but one hit Vincent straight in the forehead.

Quistis bent over Vincent, crying in a combination of grief and anger. "You couldn't give me death," she said, "so you killed the one who gave me life." Confused, Squall left.

Just as he went, Vincent came to and said, "I died once. I cannot die again."

***

Squall arrived at the strut and froze a small bomb. Palmer wasn't here, obviously; maybe it was all a bunch of lies.

Suddenly, a man skated straight past on roller blades. "Tick tock," he said, "do you know what that sound is? It's the passing of time. I grew up listening to clocks on department store counters."

Just then, a fat, disoriented man wearing roller blades stopped in front of Squall. His face was partly covered by a large neckpiece, but it was fairly obvious that it wasn't doing a good job is disguising the fact that the guy was bald. This had to be Palmer.

"Life is short!" Palmer suddenly shouted out. "Bombs tell the time with every moment of their existance, and nothing else announces it's death with such a fanfare." He then took out a glass of wine. "A toast," he said, holding the glass out, "to good old Leo!" The tone in his last words was quite sarcastic.

"If you blow the Big Shell down, you'll never collect your ransom!" said Squall, his gun drawn. But to his suprise, Palmer asked, confused, "Ransom? What are you talking about?!"

"THIRTY BILLION FREAKING DOLLARS IN CASH!!!" shouted Squall, a bit annoyed at his opponent's acting. But this time, Palmer let out a huge laugh, leaving Squall confused.

"Let the others do what they want to," he said, "but I have other plans in mind. I'm going to be the greatest bomber of them all. I'll go down in history as the man who beat the great Leo himself!"

"Shut up!" shouted Squall. "You have none of Leo's courage or-" But Palmer interrupted him with another one of his damn laughs. "That bastard died a dishonorable death six months ago!"

"...The end of Dead Cell," said Squall, now realizing what was going on.

"Call it what you want," said Palmer, slightly annoyed, "only the best of us survived that hell! But I'll go down in history."

"You're just a mad crook," said Squall, "and that's all they'll remember you for!"

"HOW DARE YOU!" shouted Palmer, smashing his wine glass into the ground. "I'M AN ARTIST!!!" He then laughed slightly. "It's time to start the party! Here's what I'm going to do. I'll throw a bomb, and it will explode shortly thereafter. If you want to survive, you'll have to disarm all my bombs. Let's go!"

(Boss: Palmer)

Squall quickly froze two bombs, then chased after Palmer, who was rollerblading around the rooftop. When his caught site, he fired his SOCOM several times into his enemy's back, but the attacks did little.

Suddenly, Palmer slipped on some seagull crap and fell flat on his back. Squall quickly shot him several times while he was getting up. Then the chase resumed.

(continue this for a half-hour)

Palmer fell against a crate. Blood began to soak it's way into his suit.

"My suit," said Palmer. "I'll have nothing to wear to the party."

"The party's over for you, pal!" said Squall. He ripped off the neckpiece, revealing Palmer's entire face. Suddenly, Palmer pressed a button on a small hand-held device. A loud beeping noise filled the area.

Squall recognized it quickly. It was the sound of a bomb! Quickly, he knocked the device out of Palmer's hand and aimed at it, but Palmer laughed heavily. "It's too late. Once the countdown starts, it can't be stopped. That connects to the biggest bomb in the place. If I die, I'll take all of Galbadia down with me! Too bad they won't be around to see the movies." He then died.

In desperation, Squall searched for the explosive. Suddenly, he realized where it was. A quick search revealed the bomb attached to Palmer. He quickly froze it, then called Steiner.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: Palmer's been neutralized, and the threat of the Shell exploding is over.
Steiner: Thank God.
Squall: But Palmer didn't know about the ransom demands.
Steiner: Intentionally kept in the dark, I'd say. But still, we must now find the President.
Squall: Right.

***

As Squall was walking away from Palmer's fat corpse, something jumped straight in front of him. It was some sort of cross between a cyborg and a ninja...

He then realized that this could only mean that the thing in front of him was a cyborg ninja!

The ninja simply stood there, even as Squall pointed his SOCOM straight at it's head. "We have much to talk about," it said. "Come." It then ran into a dark corner of the Strut. With no other possible option, Squall followed.

"Switch over to nanocommunication," said the ninja. "There are spies everywhere." With that, Squall activated his codec.

(begin codec conversasion)
Ninja: There. That's much better.
Squall: Who are you?
Ninja: Call me Sorethroat.
Squall: Sorethroat? From the Frozen Continent incident?
Ninja: Fine then. Call me Mr. Z.
Squall: God, that's even worse!
Ninja: Have movies taught you not to piss off a cyborg ninja?
Squall: Fine, fine. Now, what is this about?
Ninja: I was sent in by the La-le-lu-le-lo to help you with the mission. I know of someone who can help you find the president.
Squall: Who is it?!
Ninja: His name is Tseng. He works as a Secret Service Agent for the president. He's being held in the second level of the Shell 1 Core.
Squall: Sounds like a good lead.
Ninja: However, there's a slight problem. The core is incrediably heavily guarded. There's no way for you to sneak in unnoticed conventially, but I have been able to come up with an alternative.
Squall: Well, what's the alternative.

The ninja handed Squall a military uniform. "This is the uniform worn by the core guards," he said. "But you will also need an AK. All core guards are equipped with AKs. There is a camera in front of the elevator leading to the lower levels. If you do not have this exact uniform on with an AK, an alarm will sound, and you'll be trapped inside."

Ninja: There is one other catch. The hostages in that level are held in a single room, behind a laser eye scanner. Even if you get past the retinel test, you'll have to find Tseng. And unfortunately, I have no idea what he looks like.
Squall: Then how do I tell them apart?
Ninja: Tseng has a pacemaker; he's the only one in there who does. Using a Directional Microphone, you can easily pick up the noise emmitted. There should be one on the third level in the core.
Squall: How do I know I can trust you?
Ninja: Because you have no other choice.
(end codec conversasion)

The ninja handed Squall a cell phone, saying, "Check your e-mail messages on this from time to time." After that, it just flipped away. Confused, Squall called Steiner.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: Colonel, that ninja...
Steiner: I heard everything.
Squall: He called himself "Sorethroat"...
Steiner: I know what you're thinking, but that's not a possibility. That ninja was Shadow, and he died during the Frozen Continent incident.
Squall: Should I trust him?
Steiner: We have no choice but to trust him. We don't have any other possible leads on the president's location.
Rinoa: The colonel's right. Besides, I have to have an excuse to save your game.
SAVING...Saved.
Squall: Thanks.
(end codec conversasion)

[Weiila]

Squall returned to Strut F, where he found an AK after killing a few guards and reading a porno magazine. After this rather anti-climatic mission, he returned to the task at hand: finding Tseng and the president.

He returned to whatever bridge connects to the Shell 1 Core (IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I PLAYED, OKAY?!). He put on the rather tight camoflouge suit and black mask, which always denotes a terrorist, then equipped his AK and ran accross the bridge.

The core was actually fairly quiet compared to the rest of the Big Shell. A few guards where walking to and fro, but they paid little attention to Squall, since he was wearing one of their uniforms. He simply walked through them and stopped at the elevator.

As he pressed the down button, a security camera above him suddenly came on. But instead of an alarm, he heard a small "beep", and the doors opened. Wasting no time, he darted in and pressed the B2 button.

Down there, he found some more guards busy with their own things at the control panels. They were wearing different uniforms, but they were too involved in their own work to notice Squall. He just walked in, took the Directional Microphone off a desk, and left while they were reading porno magazines and drinking their asses off.

Now, he finally went up to the B1 floor, where Tseng was supposadely held. The instant the door opened, he saw a guard use a retinal scanner to open the door Squall needed to go through. With no other options, he came up with a plan...

Crouching behind some crates, Squall waited for the next guard to come. When he did, Squall jumped up, grabbed him in a bizzare wrestling move from behind, and jammed his head into the retinal scanner. The match was made, and Squall tossed the unconcious guy aside and entered.

Here was where the problems began. Row upon row of people were being held here, each one of them tied and gagged as to make it difficult to tell them apart. Squall carefully snuck down, activated the microphone, and prayed to God for a match.

(about a hundred yada, yada, yada, later...)

Upon realizing that this was pure luck, Squall turned to the nearest guy and asked, "You're Tseng, right?"

The man jerked his head up in surprise, then shook his head as to indicate "yes". Squall made sure the guard went out to the bathroom, then removed the blindfold and gag.

"Who are you?" asked Tseng.

"MOG-CHOCO, sir," responded Squall, enthusiasm in his voice.

Tseng looked dumbfounded for a bit, then said, "Switch over to nanocommunication. The guards might hear us right now."

***

Meanwhile, Irvine watched the scene on a large security monitor. Sighing heavily, he got up and set off for the Shell 1 Core.

***

(begin codec conversasion)
Tseng: There. That's better.
Squall: Where's the President?
Tseng: He's being held in the Shell 2 core.
Squall: What're the terrorists planning, anyway?
Tseng: They want something that's inside the facility.
Squall: What's here, anyway?
Tseng: This whole facility is a charade. The truth is, it was being developed by the military so they could design their newest weapon in secret.
Squall: ???
Tseng: That's right; it's a new Metal Gear.
Squall: So that's what they're after...
Tseng: But it's not only that. There are also nukes being held on the base. Their other plan is to launch one using Metal Gear.
Squall: But...how?
Tseng: The "football"-
Squall: Football? Nah, always hated it.
Tseng: No, you moron! It's the term for the detonation device for the nuke. Without it, Metal Gear will not fire any nuclear weapons, although it can still use the other weapons.
Squall: Then where is it?
Tseng: Half was in a briefcase. It was handcuffed to a navy sailor, but he was killed rather quickly, and it was taken.
Squall: And the other?
Tseng: The other half is the President himself.
Squall: What?!
Tseng: The President has a machine inside him measuring his heart rate and bodily actions. When a launch is requested, the machine checks his systems, then checks again an hour later. If his heart rate is anything above normal, the launch will be aborted immediately.
Squall: So they can't kill him...
Tseng: But that also means he has to be calm. That can mean only one thing: he's working with the terrorists.
Squall: What the hell?!
Tseng: Inside my pocket is a keycard for the Shell 1-2 connecting bridge. Take it.

Squall took the card, but just then, he heard footsteps coming. He saw three people: the first was Terra, the second was some guy in a cowboy getup, and the third was wrapped in a large black cloak. Pulling out his directional microphone, he listened to their conversasion.

Cowboy: King!
King: I take it the first check has been complete?
Cowboy: Yes, sir. Everything is going according to plan.
Terra: Like it ever has, Irvine.
Irvine: Shut up, you wretch!
Terra: You let my father die, you bastard!
Irvine: We've been through this before, Terra-
King: Stop fighting, you two!
Irvine: Why should we listen to you? This is a private matter!
King: Irvine, if it wasn't for my funding, you would only have one arm! And Terra, your soldiers had no home before I came along. You should both be grateful!
Irvine: Wait, what's that in there?

(returning to codec)
Tseng: Irvine's coming! Get your AK out and stand at attention!
(end codec conversasion)

Squall pulled out his AK just as Irvine came in front of him. "You there!" he shouted. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I was ill," Tseng said. "I told him to remove my gag and blindfold."

Irvine was slightly amused. "I thought Galbadia turned out first-rate liers. It looks like it doesn't, after all...Colonel Tseng!" Squall just stood there, unable to do anything, as Irvine continued. "They knew that the president was going to betray them, so they sent you to keep tabs on him. Well, it looks like your mission failed."

"You'll never escape the La-Le-Lu-Le-Lo!" shouted Tseng, filled with confidence that his skill in Talk Fu would defeat Irvine. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work.

Irvine pointed his pistol straight at Tseng's forehead. "We'll see who makes it out of here alive."

Just then, Tseng jumped forward, definately in pain. As he scrambled around in shock, he mumbled the words of a desperate dying man.

"You- you tricked me. Now I know what's going on. Irvine, you- you're..." As he said those last words, he slumped to the ground, dead from a heart attack.

Irvine now turned his attention to Squall. "You there, what's your outfit? Which team are you with?" When Squall didn't answer, the guard came to them.

"He is not one of mine."

Realizing what was going on, Irvine had several guards surround Squall, then pulled his mask off, revealing the handsome youth.

"Well, we meet at last!" said Irvine, once again pulling his gun up. However, Squall was a lot luckier than Tseng. The ninja jumped down from the roof, causing Irvine to draw his arm back. Gunfire opened up on all sides, and the hostages jumped for cover.

"Hold your fire!" shouted Irvine. "We need those hostages alive!" He then turned to the ninja. "You- but you're dead!"

Squall dashed to the door. The ninja jumped behind him, blocking another hail of bullets.

"Leave this to me," he said. Squall escaped from the firefight into the hall.

***

Squall ran into the hall as the announcer's voice blared everywhere. "An intruder has been found in the Shell 1 Core. All units be on your guard. Oh, and porno tonight!"

Squall jumped into the elevator. Returning to the first floor, he hid from the guards, dodged the cameras, and finally escaped.

After finding a nice place to hide, he called Pliskin.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: Pliskin, I've found the hostages. One dead, and several wounded.
Pliskin: Good.
Squall: Any word on the damage to Shell 2?
Pliskin: Two of the struts are completely blown apart. Most of the others are flooded, and the B2 of the Shell 2 core is completely underwater.
Squall: What about the toxins?
Pliskin: Huh?
Squall: The Shell 2 should have toxins from the clean-up!
Pliskin: I haven't seen anything like that.
Squall: What?!
Pliskin: Anyway, you'll need to get to Shell 2 now. I'll worry about the hostages.
Squall: Do you have a way to get them out?
Pliskin: I've found two Kasatka Helicopters over here. I should be able to fly it over there.
Squall: Alright. How do I reach Shell 2?
Pliskin: There's a connecting bridge by Strut F. Oh, and I left a Sniper Rifle for you there; I think you'll need it.
(end codec conversasion)

Squall made his way to Strut F, where he picked up a Sniper Rifle and reached the Shell 1-2 connecting bridge. To his horror, he found that it was covered with explosives. Suddenly, Pliskin called again.

(begin codec conversasion)
Pliskin: Aim at the green lights. Once you take all of them out, you'll be able to cross safely.

(about a hundred yada, yada, yada, later)

Squall took out the last of the lights. Pliskin called again.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: I've cleared the bridge.
Pliskin: Good. I was able to hijack one Kastka. I also took the liberty of sabatoging the other so they won't be able to follow us.
Squall: Can you fly one of those?
Pliskin: No, but I have someone here who can. I'd like you to meet Butz.
Butz: Uh...hi.
Squall: *hangs head in shock*
Guard: There they are! Kill them!
Pliskin: Shit! We're out of here!
(end codec conversasion)

Squall looked up to see Pliskin flying towards the Shell 1 core in his lovely Kasatka helicopter. After exchanging salutes, he flew off.

Just then, the same person who had been talking to Terra and Irvine before walked onto the bridge, still wearing a highly oversized black cloak.

"Well, look what the fools sent in now," he said. "Hmm...I'm certain I know you from somewhere?"

Squall turned around, his gun already drawn. "So, you're the boss here..."

"Not just any boss!" said the man. "I am the one who will surpass Big Boss himself: Cloud!"

Just then, Pliskin decided to take the Kasatka back towards Squall. "No! That is not Cloud!"

The man turned toward the helicopter, unfazed by Pliskin's words.

"Why, hello...dear brother."

Pliskin loaded his rifle and fired nearly a hundred rounds into Cloud (nobody was counting), but the bullets just bounced off like he was some kind of superman. Finally, Pliskin poped a gernade into his rifle and fired.

Cloud dashed right out of the explosive's range, causing it to take the area he was standing on instead. Cloud looked up, displeasure etched across his face. "I'm a whole different game from Kuja, brother."

Cloud jumped over the railing. Suddenly, the Harrier-2 Airship from before rose up, piloted by none other than Vincent! Cloud climbed into one of the seats, buckled up, and prepared for battle.

Pliskin tossed Squall a Scorpion Rocket Launcher. "Use it! Take that thing down!"

(boss: Harrier-2 Airship)

Squall quickly grabbed the Scorpion. Patiently, he kept an eye on the Airship as it flew around. Finally, he locked onto it and fired. The missle was a direct hit. Several more direct hits followed, from both the Kasatka and the Scorpion.

Finally, the Airship gained a lot of altitude, and appeared to be retreating. But just then, it dropped a few bombs. Which soon split into a few dozen bombs. And then into a few HUNDRED bombs!

Squall leaped over the railing, holding on for life's sake. The Kasatka tried to move away from the explosion, but didn't make it; part of the blast caught it. Nearly the entire walkway itself was blown apart.

Finally, Squall jumped back into position and fired away until the Airship was finished.

(end boss fight)

The final missle caused the entire Airship to catch fire. Cloud tried hastily to unbuckle his seatbelt, but a piece of debris flew up and struck him in the eye, ripping it out completely and sending him into unconciousness. Vincent leaped from the side and ran across the water.

Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, a gigantic robot, bearing a slight resemblance to Godzilla, jumped out of the water, grabbed the Airship in its mouth, and swan away.

With no other option, Squall called Pliskin.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: Pliskin, are you...Cloud?
Pliskin: Yeah, that's me.
Squall: Really? I mean, you are Cloud?!
Cloud: Shut up, okay. I don't do autographs.
Squall: Alright. But why are you here?
Butz: We heard that a new type of Metal Gear was being developed here. We came to investigate.
Squall: WHAT?! A new Metal Gear?
Cloud: We don't know the details yet. Anyway, we have to land and make some repairs. You need to finish your mission.
(end codec conversasion)

Squall then called Steiner.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: Colonel, Pliskin is really-
Rinoa: Cloud, former hero, now a wanted terrorist.
Steiner: Forget about him. He's not a part of the simulation.
Squall: Steiner, you and Cloud used to be on the same side. I read all about it in "In the Shadow of the Frozen Continent".
Steiner: I don't give a fuck about what you read! Just get back to the mission!
Rinoa: Oh, and have you remembered what April 30th is yet?
Squall: No. Sorry.
Rinoa: Okay. I'll just save your game.
SAVING...Saved.
Rinoa: Good luck!
(end codec conversasion)

Squall prepared for the most difficult climb/jump/crawl/run he had ever attempted. He had to climb across a steel beam, fall only a large piece of support, make his way down it while dodging seagul crap and various other debris, climb up some stairway-like steps, and reach the Shell 2 Core.

(about seventy million yada yada yada...)

Squall climbed up the ladder to the outside of Strut L. After carefully dodging some guards, he dashed across a weakened walkway, which fell into the ocean behind him. After stealthely taking down some of those helicopter-surveilance camera thingies, he carefully crawled across a pipe, climbed across a piece of railing, and dodged some more guards.

Suddenly, he heard a loud voice boom from above him. "Oh! I think I'm going to go in my pants! Nobody's looking, right?" Suddenly, a stream of piss came down from the roof. Carefully dodging it, Squall jumped down to a lower walkway, ran to the other side, pulled out his Sniper Rifle, and took out a BUNCH of cameras.

Putting his gun away, Squall continued to another busted walkway. After jumping across a large gap and making his way across another collapsing area, he finally reached the door leading into the core.

***

Squall immediately heard footsteps coming from around the corner. Making his way against the wall, he peeked over the side to find Terra pushing some buttons on a remote. The floor in front of her, which led to a door conveniently labeled "Where the President is being held", began to crackle with live electricity.

She then began to talk on a radio, but the electricity made it hard for Squall to here. He pulled out his Directional Microphone yet again to pick up the conversasion between Terra and the fake Cloud.

[Weiila]

***

Terra: The security of the area is complete. The Shell 2 Core will not collapse.
Fake Cloud: Excellent.
Terra: You went somewhat overboard with your attempts to kill those fools.
Fake Cloud: Just a minor inconvenience. Don't worry; Galbadia will soon hand over the ransom.
Terra: Good. Once we get our share of the money, I will divide it among the rest of my unit. We will then go our seperate ways.
Fake Cloud: Whatever happened to reviving the Empire?
Terra: The old man is dead. His dream is no more. I will live my own life soon.
Fake Cloud: Very well. I want you and Vincent to check in with Irvine. The hostages need to be treated.
Terra: I will be there shortly.

***

Terra then walked through a hidden side door. Squall quickly called Steiner.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: I found where the President is, but the floor's electrified!
Steiner: Don't test it! You'll be bacon, with a side of eggs and hash. God, I can go for that now...
Rinoa: Forgive him. He hasn't eaten in a while.
Squall: Okay, now what?
Steiner: We picked up evidence that the control panel for the electricity is inside where the President is being held. You have to launch a Nikita into there and destroy it, but don't hit the President!
(end codec conversasion)

Squall then called Cloud.

Squall found his way to the elevator (after snagging a M4 along the way), and went down to the second floor. He found that the entire basement, except for a few high places, was flooded. Jumping into the water, he swam around, dodging mines and opening doors. Finally, he reached a closed door, which he promptly opened.

A dead body floated by him, leaving some blood as a trail. It wasn't until he had left the room that he realized that he had passed Leo's body.

***

After somehow finding the damn Nikita, Squall went back to the elevator, got out of the water, and went back to where the President was being held. Standing in front of a ventilation shaft, he fired the Nikita.

Skillfully, he navigated the rocket down the shaft. It exited out the other side, but the President, having heard it, jumped and ran around, screaming like a lunatic. Fortunately, the rocket hit the control panel and not him.

Squall could hear the electricity dying. Putting his new toy away, he ran through the door to the President's cell.

***

The President simply looked at Squall for a few moments, then said, in a rather sarcastic tone, "So you finally showed up. I'm here, and I'm ready to face my punishment for my actions." He then, in a rather unsettling way, grabbed Squall's crotch. Fortunately, he backed away before anything else could happen.

"You're- a man?"

Squall, despite the fact that he was, for all essential purposes, violated, still regared the man with some level of respect. "MOG-CHOCO, sir."

"I see," said the President. "Now things are started to make sense." He sat himself on a small piece of piping and pointed to his head. "Switch over to nanocommunication. We don't want to be overheard."

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: Are you really working with the terrorists?
Deling: If you had talked to me a few minutes ago, the answer would have been, 'yes'.
Squall: But...
Deling: Sephiroth...backstabbed me...
Squall: Sephiroth?
Deling: The leader of the terrorists. He plans to use this base as an act of revenge.
Squall: What? But, why were you working for them? You're the President-
Deling: HAH! President, huh? The leader of Galbadia? Hardly.
Squall: What the hell-
Deling: There are people above me, people who have the entire world in their grip. "The Patriots."
Squall: The Patriots?
Deling: The Patriots are composed of twelve of the world's greatest minds. Their identities are unknown to everyone; even I recieve my instructions from a cut-out. They dictate everything that happens in the world and politics. Democracy is something for the history books.
Squall: But how does Sephiroth tie into this?
Deling: Sephiroth is a major enemy of the Patriots. And so is his brother, Cloud.

Squall: How do they connect to this?
Deling: Sephiroth was my predeccessor, President Wilcox. Like always, the Patriots chose him as the figurehead. For much of his two terms, he followed orders. Then-
Squall: What?
Deling: Would you stop interrupting me, please? Damn kids these days!
Squall: Sorry.
Deling: Anyway, Sephiroth gave the funding to MARKA to build Metal Gear Atma. The base, as I'm sure you know, was built under the cover of a mako-disposal site. He even sent Irvine, his best agent, in to supervise. He then faked the terrorist attack in order to test the weapon. However, Cloud stopped him, revealing the Metal Gear project and various other conspiracies, thus earning him the wrath of the Patriots.
Squall: Zzzzz...
Deling: WAKE UP!
Squall: Oh, sorry.
Deling: Anyway, Wilcox didn't resign, like was stated. In truth, the Patriots had scheduled for his health to unexpectadly fail them, thus ending his life. He escaped and went underground, where he joined forces with Irvine and Dead Cell. He then rose as the new leader following the death of the previous one.
Squall: So that's how he became an enemy of the Patriots, but how did Cloud fit into this?
Deling: Cloud became sort of a hero after the Frozen Continent incident. However, he wasn't suppossed to be a hero. The Patriots cannot let anything happen smoothly without their input. That's why they rigged the tanker.
Squall: WHAT?!
Deling: The tanker incident was faked. The one Cloud was on had no oil in it whatsoever. That one was sunk, then another one, full of oil, was brought in and sunk.
Squall: Those bastards...
Deling: Anyway, we have to destroy the new Metal Gear.
Squall: Where is it?
Deling: The whole Big Shell.
Squall: ?!
Deling: The Big Shell is actually Arsenal Gear, the newest Metal Gear. The Patriots are using it to continue their power by censoring the one thing left that's not under their control: the Internet.
Squall: ?!!
Deling: No more talk for now. We have to prepare you for destroying Arsenal Gear, the newest Metal Gear.
(end codec conversasion)

Deling handed Squall a small floppy disk. "This disk contains a virus, similar to MogDie. It'll take out the components neccessary for Arsenal Gear to run. This will ruin the plans of the Patriots."

He then backed away. "Well, that's it. Now there's only one thing left to do." He then lunged straight at Squall's SOCOM.

"Come on, you idiot!" he shouted. "Fire the damn gun! Any second now, the second check will be complete! You have to stop the nuke!"

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. Deling slumped onto the ground, a bullet hole in his chest. However, it wasn't Squall that fired.

Irvine put his gun away. "Oops, I guess my finger slipped. See you later, carrier boy." With that, he slipped off.

Squall began to follow him, but Deling grabbed his leg. "No, he did us a favor. The launch can't continue. Now, go. Stop Sephiroth!" With that, he died.

Squall exited the room, then called Steiner.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: Colonel, the president's-
Steiner: I...already know.
Squall: What should I do now?
Steiner: Your orders were to rescue the president and escape. However, given the recent turn of events, we have no choice but to go through with the president's last requests.
Squall: How in the world do we destroy Arsenal Gear?
Steiner: Why don't you just call Cloud? He's your FAVORITE person! Why should I give all the advice?
Squall: Whatever.
(end codec conversasion)

(begin codec conversasion)
Cloud: I heard about the president.
Squall: How?
Cloud: Easy. I know how these missions work.
Squall: Oh. How's the chopper?
Butz: It's pretty badly damaged, but I can repair it. The guards are a bit preoccupied with something right now. Oh, and Squall, I have a request.
Squall: What is it this time?
Butz: My sister, Cara.
Squall: What? Your sister?
Butz: She was working her as one of Arsenal Gear's top engineers. She's still inside here. I want you to find her.
Squall: Any ideas where to look?
Cloud: My guess would be in one of the unflooded areas of the second floor basement. That's where a lot of the programming went on. She might be able to help us.
Squall: How?
Butz: If she's the engineer, then she can help us find a way to disarm Arsenal before it goes completely active. Besides, I haven't seen her in a long time; I feel like I owe her a visit.
Squall: Fine, fine, I'll go look.
Butz: Oh, and there's one other thing.
Squall: What?
Butz: She's afraid of water.
Cloud: Damnit, Butz! Most of the B2 is flooded!
Butz: I know. She used to swim like a fish, until she almost drowned in our pool. Now she won't even put a bathing suit on.
Squall: Okay, I'll think of a way to get her out of there.
(end codec conversasion)

Squall made his way through the murky water, until he reached a previously unexplored area. He opened the door to find a small room. A square-shaped catwalk stood over a pool of strange-looking water, with a large gap in the middle. Another door was on the other side, but the big problem was still in the room.

Hovering just over the gap was Vincent.

"So," said Vincent, "you finally showed yourself."

"Give it up!" shouted Squall. "The president's dead. Your plans have failed!"

Vincent, however, was unfazed. "The final check was complete long before the president died, you fool! The weapon is ready for launch!"

Squall was completely dumbfounded. What the hell was going on here?

"The girl is up ahead," continued the villain. "Of course, the room she's in is flooding, so you'd better hurry if you want to save her."

He motioned to the strange water. "This is modified ocean water. Once you fall in, you don't come out. You'll sink like a stone!" With that, he jumped in and, remarkably, began to swim!

(boss: Vincent)

Squall pulled out his M4 and kept his eyes on Vincent. When the vampire jumped out of the water, Squall quickly fired at the bullet hole in his forehead.

Angered, Vincent charged forward, knife drawn. Squall rolled to the side, then fired again. Vincent then jumped onto the support beams.

Suddenly, a vast array of knives began to fly out of every corner of the room. Squall dodged them, finally caught a glimpse of Vincent, then fired.

The vampire jumped back into the water, swam around, then leaped back out. Squall dodged some more knives, then continued to shoot.

Finally, Vincent was standing in front of the gap in the center of the platform. Squall fired one last shot into him, sending him falling backwards.

(end boss battle)

(to be continued)

[d Galloway]

Normalcy has been restored. Fics will gain work back again.

[d Galloway]

I just realized something:

<b>I FORGOT FUCKING KEY PARTS TO THE PLOT, SUCH AS THE TERRORISTS' REAL PLANS!</b>

So I have to cool off on this a day or two, even though I was planning to update today. There WILL be more chapters in my fics for the next update. I promise.

[Weiila]

Ow... *winces* Sorry to hear that, Gallo. I hope you'll find a way to clean out the problems.

[Darkil]

Damn Weiila that was an awesome read. I can't wait to see more ^^

[Weiila]

Yes, it truly is a great piece of writing, Darkil. It's not mine though, I just reposted it for Galloway. Guess that got a little fuzzy...

[d Galloway]

Vincent tumbled straight into the water, the battle having taken its toll on his strength. His body sank into the deep, bizzare water. Within seconds, Vincent had dissapeared entirely.

Squall then decided to call Cloud and Butz.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: Another terrorist down. It's Vincent this time.
Butz: So, you killed the fag, huh?
Squall: What the hell?!
Cloud: Butz! This is no time for your prejudicial overtones!
Butz: Well, it's true, isn't it?
Cloud: He's a BI, not a homosexual, Butz!
Squall: That would explain a lot...
Cloud: Anyway, back on topic. We found out the terrorist plan.
Squall: What is it?
Cloud: They want to "liberate" the area along the Galbadia River and turn it into some kind of a Republic.
Squall: So, unless they get their own nation, they'll nuke Galbadia!
Cloud: No. It's much worse than that.
Squall: Huh?
Butz: They'll detonate the nuke while in the air.
Squall: What good is that?!
Butz: If they detonate it while it's airborn, it'll create an EMP-like field that'll fry all electronics. With Galbadia being the economic center that it is, it'll trigger a global depression, literally trapping the world in a living hell...
Squall: Okay, that's a long enough narrative for now. So what do I do?
Cloud: Get Cara and make your way to the control room in B2 of the Shell 1 Core. She'll be able to program the virus into the computer.
Squall: Got it.
(end codec conversasion)

(to be continued)

[Weiila]

Short, but still good, Galloway. I'm glad you beat the evil wall there. :-)

[MegamanX2K]

I'm sorry, when did they say Vamp was Bi? I totally missed that line. Was it in one of Campbell's codec calls?

[d Galloway]

I know I triggered it once, but I forgot where exactly. Also, Konami itself mentioned that he was bi, which was then taken as religion into the Metal Gear cult, which put it everywhere. So even if it was just a false memory or a complete rumor, it's been accepted so strongly into the MGS2 community that I had to put something like that in there.

Besides, every single fanfic writer has made everyone from FF7 gay or bi at some point, so it wasn't too much of a stretch.

[d Galloway]

Grrrr...

[Weiila]

>_>
<_<

Still having keyboard woes, eh?

[d Galloway]

No. My keyboard woes are fixed. In fact, there would have been a new Naar Saga RIGHT NOW if it wasn't for the school's damn censorship! I was growling at that lamer named Pinky, who posted links to porn sites!

[Weiila]

*thud* Goddammit!

[MegamanX2K]

Damnit, they've already activated Metal Gear Porn then!

[d Galloway]

I'll update after the next fanfic update, which should be sometime within the next century.

[Weiila]

I'd go off muttering if it wasn't for the fact that I'm starting to think the same. I WAS KEEPING A GREAT SCHEDULE <small>just after the last one.</small>

[d Galloway]

Note (not part of the fic): I hate the next scene SO FREAKING MUCH that I pushed most of it out of my mind. So I'm kinda winging it here. Bear with me.

***

Squall opened the door into the next room. Like so many rooms, it had sprung quite a nasty leak; an entire foot-and-a-half of water had filled the area. Inside was noting more than a bunch of lockers, indicating that this was a locker room. Squall didn't see Cara inside, so he went through a locker-to-locker search.

Finally, he found Cara. She looked up at him, fear in her eyes. Her blond hair was quite wet, her glasses were cracked slightly, and a small card hanged from her neck. Like her brother before her, she was quick to soil herself in the face of this new guy with a gun.

"AAAAAHH!" she screamed. "PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T HURT ME!"

"Sheesh," said Squall. "Are all of you scientists THIS freaked out by every single solitary thing?"

"Oh, sorry," said Cara. "It's been a very bad day, what with the terrorist takeover and all."

Squall picked her up. "Let's get out of here. We don't know when they'll show up again."

Cara started to walk, but suddenly fell forward. "My...my legs! They feel...so weak..."

At this point, Squall realized that he'd have to help guide Cara along the damn path every single minute he was with her. The thought of Rinoa was the only thing keeping him from blowing his brains out right there.

(to be continued)

[d Galloway]

Squall led Cara into the room where he fought Vincent. Fortunately, there was no sign of the evil vampire. At this point, Squall dropped Cara and called Cloud.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: I got Cara, like you said to.
Butz: Oh, and there's one thing I forgot to tell you.
Squall: Oh, I can't wait to hear this...
Butz: She's afraid of water.
Squall: What the hell?! THE ENTIRE BASEMENT OF THE CORE IS FREAKING FLOODED!!!
Butz: Figure something out. She has it pretty bad, though; she won't even get into a bathing suit now.
Cloud: Butz, you...are...an...idiot.
Butz: Well...can I at least talk to her?
Squall: How?
Butz: She should have codec. All staff on the Big Shell have it.
Squall: Fine, fine, go ahead.
Butz: Cara!
Cara:...Butz?
Butz: Yeah, sis! It's me!
Cara: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!
Butz: Is that any way to treat your brother?
Cara: You deserve it, considering what you put me and mom through, you soulless bastard!
Cloud: Hey! He may be a bastard, but he DOES have a soul!
Butz: Listen. Push everything about the past behind you for now. Just follow Squall to the Shell 1 Core.
Cara:...
Butz: Oh, and use your codec for a majority of the time now. We can't risk letting the enemy get ahold of any of our conversations.
Cara:...
Butz: And quit with the silent treatment! I'll kick your ass when we meet if you don't!
Cara: Hah! I kicked your ass every time we fought before! What makes it any different now?
Cloud: *tries to hold back a laugh* You were beat up by your little sister?
Butz: Shut up...
Squall: Let's go.
(end codec conversasion)

(to be continued)

[Weiila]

Neat, Gallo :)

Though, didn't somebody already say that Cara was afraid of water or is that just me?

[d Galloway]

Someone may have; I'll have to check and edit the story if this is so.

[d Galloway]

Squall took Cara to the next room, which was still flooded. Already he could feel Cara beginning to tense up.

"Just close your eyes," said Squall. "I'll carry you along through the water. Just close your eyes and count to one hundred. Oh, and before we go, just how does Arsenal work?"

"You remember the Y2K fiasco? How everyone was afraid that all the computers would stop working once the year 2000 came around? Well, the Patriots created a program to prevent the disaster, and sent it worldwide through the world governments. I should know; I helped program it."

"What?!" screamed Squall. "You helped the Patriots?!"

"Anyway," continued Cara, "when Arsenal Gear comes online, a trigger in the program will take over each and every computer it's programmed into, which is about every single one on Earth. They'll then be able to censor however they see fit."

Squall sighed. "Let's just go."

(ONE PAINFULLY BORING AND DIFFICULT SWIM LATER)

Squall and Cara reached the connecting bridges, only to find that they had nearly all collapsed for some odd reason. While Squall went into a corner to cuss, Cara motioned toward a door.

Squall grabbed her and dragged her to the door. Unfortunately, it was locked with a Level 5 lock. Just when everything seemed hopeless, Cara showed Squall a Level 5 card. After cussing her out for not giving it to him in the first place, he opened the door.

Following some passages, they reached a ladder leading down to the oil fence. Just then, they got a call from Cloud.

(begin codec conversasion)
Cloud: There's no other way to the Shell 1 Core except through the oil fence. Arsenal's start-up destroyed all the bridges that weren't damaged during the Harrier fight.
Squall: Great.
Cara: Don't worry. I think I can walk a bit.
Squall: Good, because that fence will NOT support more than one person at a time. I'll have to cover you.
Cloud: There are a few sentries, as well as some Cyphers. I'll be on the other side to give you some more cover, as well as take over leading Cara once she gets to the other side.
Squall: Got it.
(end codec conversasion)

[wingnut]

Crumbling bridges, yay... *shivers*

[Weiila]

I'm having a feeling that there'll be something like "about a undred continues, heavy cussing and a lot of breakroom sessions later..." in the future :)

[d Galloway]

(Note: I'm kinda winging it a bit here again. Sorry.)

Squall and Cara climbed down the ladder. The oil fence was ahead. It was a small, narrow bridge that was held into position by several columns, each with two guards on them. Several cyphers were also flying around, but were too far away from where the two heroes were standing to notice. The bridge itself looped around through the columns in a kind of semi-circle, leading to the bottom of the Shell 1 Core.

Suddenly, Squall got a call from Cloud.

(begin codec conversasion)
Cloud: I'm in position on the Shell 1 Core platform. Keep your scope on Cara; don't let her out of your sight.
Squall: Got it.
(end codec conversasion)

"Look at the sunset!" said Cara. Squall finally noticed that it was indeed getting quite late. "Isn't it beautiful?"

The sun itself began to slowly descend in the horizon. Squall thought it looked nice...then the codec went off.

(begin codec conversasion)
Rinoa: Hey, Squall!
Squall: What?
Rinoa: Have you remembered what tommorrow is yet?
Squall: Uh...no.
Rinoa: You...you...you...
Squall: Calm down, okay?
Rinoa: Remember when I went into your room?
Squall: Why now?
Rinoa: It was just so...empty...all there was was a bed, a picture, and a bare wall.
Squall: Shut up, okay?!
Rinoa: Well, if you're going to be like that, I have no choice but to save your game.
SAVING...Saved.
Squall: Damn!
Rinoa: No more Mr. Hot-Shot for you!
(end codec conversasion)

"Can you get onto the fence?" asked Squall.

"No," said Cara, "I'll be fine." With that, she jumped down onto the fence and began her trek across.

***

Squall ducked down and raised the sniper rifle. After dispatching of the two guards on the first column, he turned his attention to the Cyphers. However, two more guards went onto the column, so he took those out as Cara climbed onto it.

She stepped onto the next section of the fence. Squall turned his attention to the cyphers yet again, but Cloud had already taken care of a good number of them. A few more came around, but Squall took them out.

Cara climbed onto the second column. She then began to cross the third oil fence. Things were looking good...

***

Cloud smiled as Cara began to get close to the end. She was halfway across the fence now. Finally, Arsenal could be stopped...

Then a faint gurgling reached his ears. Just as Vincent jumped straight out of the water, knife in hand.

***

Squall saw what happened with shock. Cloud was paralyzed with shock. Cara was shocked with fear. Only Vincent wasn't shocked.

Grabing Cara from behind, he raised the knife to her throat.

(boss: Vincent)

Squall just aimed at the bullet wound in Vincent's head and fired.

(end boss fight)

Vincent lost his grip on Cara and the knife. Dropping them both, he fell back into the water, hopefully for good.

Cara began to stagger forward. At first, they thought it was just because of the shock she had recieved from the experience. Then they saw it.

Blood was slowly coming out of her chest.

(to be continued)

[Weiila]

Oh sweet...
And bad Vincent! STAY DEAD! Bad vampire... thing!

[d Galloway]

Cloud, in an act of complete rage, jumped down off the column and ran to Cara, shooting down several Cyphers along the way using only his SOCOM. Swinging Cara over his shoulder, he dashed back to the column and entered the Shell 1 Core. Squall followed in suit.

After climbing in, he recieved a call from Cloud.

(begin codec conversasion)
Cloud: Cara's begun to enter the virus. You have to get here. Fortunately, most of Terra's soldiers are already inside Arsenal, so this place should be rather empty.
Squall: How's Cara?
Cloud: She's...Just get your ass over here! We don't have much time.
(end codec conversasion)

Squall soon found that the few remaining guards were all busy listening to the evil music of Britney Spears, so he was able to easily sneak past them while they masturbated to posters of her. Of course, being somewhat sane, he nearly shot himself just looking at one picture, but that was the end of it.

Finally, Squall reached the B2 of the Shell 1 Core. Cara was nearly unconcious and being held up by Butz, while Cloud was simply watching. He almost immediately noticed Squall.

"He got some organs," he said, knowing what the question was going to be. "We can't stop the bleeding. She doesn't have long."

Cara and Butz soon began to exchange their final conversasion. Butz finally explained the truth about their father's death. Apparantly Butz had had an affair with Cara's mother (his stepmother). When his dad found out, he tried to drown himself in the pool, but Cara got caught up by mistake. Since Butz was too busy rocking out in his room, he didn't hear the struggle. He then left in shame.

Finally realizing why her brother had left, Cara finally forgave him. Then, as if on cue, she died in his arms.

(After much crying by Butz)

"Butz," said Cloud, "the chopper's working. Take the hostages and get out of here. We'll take care of Sephiroth."

However, just then, a loud alarm went off on the control panel. The screen that had once shown the progress of the virus simply flashed one word: ERROR.

"Shit!" shouted Cloud. "Arsenal has a damn Antibody system!"

"You mean the virus isn't going to work?" asked Squall.

"It'll still work," said Cloud, "but it'll take several hours for it to breach enough through the Antibody program to inflict enough damage to bring it down. We'll have to deal with the rest of Dead Cell and Terra's group while we wait, or they might still have time to launch the nuke."

With that, they all left.

***

Cloud and Squall soon ran into Squall's old friend, the cyborg ninja. He took his katana and cut off his helmet, revealing...Terra! Terra was the ninja the whole time!

Squall raised his gun in panic, but soon heard Cloud say, "It's night time, kid." Then he felt a strong blow to the back of his head, and everything went dark.

***

(begin codec conversasion)
Rinoa: Squall, can you hear me? I have a very bad feeling here. I'll save everything that has happened up to this point.
SAVING...Saved.
Rinoa: God, may he be okay...
(end codec conversasion)

***

(to be continued)

[Weiila]

Those soldiers are sicker than one ever could have guessed... :eek:
*hangs from a cliff on one finger* Damn you Galloooo!!

[d Galloway]

*quickly puts a matress down at the bottom of the cliff*

[Weiila]

*lands with a thud* Thank you, Gallo. Those cliffhangers can't be good for my bu... back.

[wingnut]

Eep. *hides*

[d Galloway]

Squall found himself strapped to some kind of metal bed. In front of him was none other than Sephiroth himself, only now he had an eye patch and a strange backpack-like thing with Dr. Octopus-esque tentacles. To his side were Irvine and Terra, with the girl now being dressed in her military gear.

"Are you awake, my son?" asked Sephiroth. "Don't tell me you don't remember me now...Squall?"

Suddenly, one of Sephiroth's mechanical tentacles lashed out and began to strangle Squall. Desperately, he struggled against this force, but it was to no avail. Finally, as if by an act of God, the thing fell back.

"Come on now!" shouted Sephiroth. "You could never have possibly forgotten me! I practically raised you, you little brat!"

"Why go through all this?" asked Irvine. "What does the boy possibly know?"

"His past is the key to the Patriots. If he can remember me, I'm sure he'll help." He turned back to Squall. "Now face the truth about your past."

(WARNING: LONG CUTSCENE!)

"The Jungle Continent, the 1980s. You were part of the Youth Infantry Mercenary Division. You were hired by one of the warring factions. Don't you remember those years? The killing? The slaughter? You loved it! It was your entire life!"

Squall was unmoved...he had known it all along...

"After the wars were over, you were returned to a Foster Home; your parents were long dead by then. You hid this single fact about your past. Now it's time to join me, your protector, in destroying the Patriots!"

Squall said nothing. However, Irvine finally broke the silence when his arm began to quiver again.

"Damn it!" he shouted. "This arm...it's like it seeks revenge against Cloud!"

"That means...Cloud's nearby!" shouted Sephiroth. "Terra, you stay here and keep watch over Squall. Irvine and I will make the final preperations for the Metal Gears. See you later...Squall."

Sephiroth and Irvine exited out the door while Terra aproached Squall.

(begin codec conversasion)
Squall: So you're the ninja...
Terra: Yes. I've been helping you since the beginning.
Squall: But why?
Terra: I joined the terrorists because I thought it would give me a chance to find Cloud. Together, we set this up so that you could stop Arsenal.
Squall: So you've been working with him all along?
Terra: No. We fought in the shell. It turned out that he saved me when that Tanker went down...and that Irvine was the one that killed my father.
Rinoa: Squall!
Terra: Talk to your girlfriend for a minute. I have to finish my cigarretes.
Rinoa: Squall, is that true? What Sephiroth said?
Squall:...yes.
Rinoa: But why didn't you say anything before?
Squall: That is my past, my secret. I swore I'd never let anyone know that about me again. I would be free from that hell.
Rinoa: Squall...you didn't...trust me.
Squall: No. I learned long ago never to trust anyone.
Rinoa: *hangs up*
Terra: You have no idea what a woman wants, do you?
Squall: Shut up!
Terra: Look, I'll let you out. You'll have to avoid the guards and meet up with Cloud; he has your equipment.
Squall: Okay.
(end codec conversasion)

Terra walked straight up to Squall. "But first..."

Then she socked him in the stomach. Hard. After Squall was done doubling over, she left and opened the straps.

Squall checked his wrists...then realized that he was naked...

***

Running out of the room, Squall ducked behind some boxes and recieved a call from Steiner.

(begin codec conversasion)
Steiner: Squall, you have to continue your m-m-mission.
Squall: I have to see Cloud first.
Steiner: Leave him out of this! He wasn't a part of the s-s-s-s-similation!
Squall: Well I can't do anything like this!
Steiner: That's true. You won't be able to attack or enter the Hanging Mode either.
Squall: Cloud has my gear. I have to find him!
Steiner: Your role- I mean, mission, is to stop Arsenal!
Squall: My role? Why do you keep saying that?
Steiner:...
Squall: Colonel, I just realized something.
Steiner: What?
Squall: That I never actually met you before. Not once.
Steiner:...
Squall: Who are you, anyway?
Steiner: You'd better do your mission. We have Rinoa.
Squall: What?
Steiner: Communication terminated!
(end codec conversasion)

(to be continued)

[Weiila]

Oh boy, twisted plots galore :o
... Sephiroth with tentacles... *bad mind flashes back to the most horrible fanfic submission. Ever.* ... AAAAAAARGH!!!!

[wingnut]

*goes even further into hiding after making a snack of some calamari* I hate seafood!

[d Galloway]

Squall ducked, dodged, and hid naked around the guards that were patrolling the lower floor. When he reached the stairs, though, a VERY wierd call came through from Steiner.

(begin codec conversasion)
Steiner: Squall, turn the gaming console off now!
Squall: What?
Steiner: The mission is a failure! Abort immediately!
Squall: What the hell are you saying?!
Rinoa: Playing for too long is bad for your eyes. You'd better stop.
Steiner: I was driving home one night. Suddenly, I saw these strange lights in the sky. When I came to, I was back at home.
Squall: That's it! This conversasion is over!
(end codec conversasion)

Squall continued his dodging game through Arsenal, while Steiner continued to give strange and inane codec calls. Finally, he reached an unguarded hallway, but the door locked behind him, and the other two were sealed. Just as things seemed at their worst, Rinoa called.

(begin codec conversasion)
Rinoa: Squall...
Squall: Rinoa, what the fucking hell is going on here?
Rinoa: I don't know. Something is seriously wrong with Steiner.
Squall: No shit.
Rinoa: Squall...I have a confession to make.
Squall: Shoot.
Rinoa: Our meeting...you know? The one big act of coincidence...
Squall: Yeah?
Rinoa:...it wasn't so coincidental. The Patriots have been watching you for years, Squall. They sent me in as their undercover agent. They changed everything about me, even my eye color, just to suit your preferences.
Squall:...
Rinoa: It was an act, Squall.
Squall: So the times you slept with me was an act, too?
Rinoa: But I eventually grew to love you-
Squall: SHUT UP, BITCH! I've been used by everyone, damnit!
Rinoa: Squall, please calm down!
Squall: That's it! I'm finding Snake and bringing the Patriots down! I can't stand this anymore!
Rinoa: Listen, I found out something about Terra. She was taken to a Russian hospital after the Tanker incident, where she gave birth. The hospital was controlled by the Patriots. They took her child, and have been using it to blackmail her.
Squall: Oh, great, another trick!
Rinoa: They've placed nanomachines inside that child. They're on the same frequency as yours, and if you die, then so will he! That's why Terra's been helping you! You have to stay alive!
Squall: I wasn't planning otherwise.
Rinoa: I can't ask you to forgive me...
Squall: Good, because I don't know if I can.
Rinoa: Squall...I'm...preeeeeegnaaaannnnnntt...wiiiiiiiii tttttttttthhh...your...
Squall: Rinoa! What's going on!
Cloud: Hey, kid! Snap out of it!
(end codec conversasion)

Cloud emerged from the shadows, holding Squall's sneaking suit. "You aren't planning on fighting the guards like that, are you?" he asked, tossing Squall the suit.

After getting dressed, Squall found that his equipment had been completely reloaded! Also, Cloud handed him a sword. "Terra told you to have this," he said. "I'd rather use a gun at the moment."

Squall drew the sword from the scabbard, and found that it was the ninja's sword! After performing a few pratice swings and thrusts, he sheathed the sword. The two heroes walked out through the unlocked door and back into Arsneal's rectum.

(to be continued)

[Crotanks]

Originally posted by MegamanX2K
I'm sorry, when did they say Vamp was Bi? I totally missed that line. Was it in one of Campbell's codec calls?

I got this one my first time through. Just call Snake, er "pliskin" a few times after you first encounter. Hell, it might be after the first fight with SOlidus...then again that was when you were fighting the plane (forgot the name of it). Contact snake a over and over after one of those events. Btw, pretty good D. Now post the next part!

[MegamanX2K]

Not having heard that, I can only assume he thinks Vamp isn't straight because of the way he jacked him up against the wall that one time; you could see the romance in their eyes. "What are you wait for? SHOOT HIM!" is Snake talk for "Take me, you big, romanian hunk of romance".

[Weiila]

Oh boy, things are just getting weirder and weirder... *laughs*

[MegamanX2K]

oh please, like you never asked yourself just why they call him "Solid Snake"? The implications are obvious...

[d Galloway]

***

Naturally, Butz called at completely the wrong moment.

(begin codec conversasion)
Butz: Cloud, Squall, I'm alright, and so are all the hostages.
Cloud: That's good to hear.
Squall: Butz, can you check in on something for me?
Butz: Sure. What is it?
Squall: Steiner's last transmission was...strange...
Butz: Strange? How?
Squall: I don't know. It was just...bizarre...
Butz: Where is Steiner, anyway?
Squall: I don't know. I never actually met the guy.
Butz: I'll check all the logs from your codec conversasions. Maybe I can find something.
Cloud: Come on, kid. Let's go.
(end codec conversasion)

Just then, an alarm went off. Hundreds of guards began to dash into the room. Cloud shot at those that were coming down from the roof, while Squall sliced the ones that made their way on the ground. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of slugging it out, the combat finally ended. Tired and bloodied, they entered the next room; a round, Star Trek-esque place with a glass floor. Just then, Butz called back.

(begin codec conversasion)
Butz: Squall, I found where the transmission was coming from.
Squall: Where?
Butz: Inside Arsenal.
Squall: What?
Butz: I know, but it all traces back to Arsenal. And it's not a relay point; it's the origin of the signal.
Squall: What the hell are you saying?
Butz: You've been talking to an AI, Squall. Ever since this whole thing began.
Squall:...
Butz: The bizarre communications are because the Arsenal AI is breaking down. The virus is finally destroying it.
Steiner: Squall, they have Rinoa!
Rinoa: Squall!
Squall: Rinoa!
Cloud: Listen, kid! Steiner isn't real, so he couldn't have grabbed Rinoa!
Squall: What is she isn't real, either?
Cloud: What?
Squall: What if I never really met her?
Cloud: Shut up, kid! I know that you're real, I'm real, and she's probably real. Just keep your head straight and let's finish this.
(end codec conversasion)

Suddenly, a bunch of ninjas jumped down from the roof. Then guards came in. Once again, a hectic battle began. And after a while, it was once again silent.

Just as they were climbing the ladder leading to the next area, though, Quistis entered, armed with her big-ass rail gun.

"Finally," she said, "we meet at last, Cloud. Kill me, like you killed my father!"

"Get the hell out of here, kid!" said Cloud. "I'll hold her off!"

"Are you crazy," said Squall. "She can't even get hit!"

"I'll think of something! Now go! Remember that you still have a job to do!"

Finally, Squall understood and climbed up the ladder.

"I don't know who you are," said Cloud, "but I didn't kill your father."

"LIAR!" shouted Quistis.

The sound of the battle reached Squall's ears, but soon fell silent when he saw an even greater threat.

(to be continued)

[Weiila]

What did he see? WHAT DID HE SEE? Tune in next week, same Gallo day, same Gallo thread!

This part was a little confusing though:

Butz: The bizarre communications are because the Arsenal AI is breaking down. The virus is finally destroying it.
Steiner: Squall, they have Rinoa!
Rinoa: Squall!
Squall: Rinoa!

Was the AI and Rinoa calling in there or what? A bit confusing...

[d Galloway]

Weiila: The AI butted in. Stupid evil AIs, they have no manners!

[Weiila]

Ahh, I see. Really, no manners at all! Spank 'em! ... you didn't hear that.

[d Galloway]

***

Squall saw...nothing! And this was quite literal! The floor looked like something out of a VR simulation, there was no roof or walls, a black void as far as the eye can see, and when the trap door slammed shut behind him, it dissapeared into the floor, as if it had never existed.

Soon Sephiroth's voice boomed into the room. He went off about some crap, mentioning only one important thing. Apparantly the Patriots were working on something called the C3 Program, an attempt to artificially create another Cloud. Squall, it seemed, was their lab rat in the whole experiment, and thus was sent to elminiate the terrorists in a perfectly Cloud-esque fashion.

Finally, the big bad guy showed himself. He still had on those damn tentacles, but he finally had a real gun; a M4, to be exact. "So, my son at last shows himself. Prepared to die?" He then vanished, just as Terra appeared.

"Are you all right?" she asked. "We have to stop this thing now, before the defense program goes active!" Just then, though, Sephiroth's voice boomed again, out of nowhere.

"The traitor! You sold out your own comrades for the Patriots! All those people, your friends, died believing you!"

"Not just friends!" responded Terra. "Family!"

Of course, Sephiroth showed up again. "Now you'll see what happens to traitors!" A tentacle shot out, grabbing Terra around the neck and forcing her to drop her gun. Sephiroth twirled the gun around in his fingers before aiming it straight at her forehead.

"My child," was all Terra could mutter before Sephiroth pulled the trigger.

***

Suddenly, they dissapeared again, leaving Squall alone in the room. However, he wasn't alone for long, because the defence system DID go active!

And in fact, it was the deadliest defence system of all. An entire army of Metal Gears approached Squall. He counted 25 of them in all. Arming the Stinger, he prepared for the battle of a lifetime.

[wingnut]

Minerva: I'll take the three hundred on the left, you take the twenty on the right!
*sweatdrops* There's only twenty-five, Min...
Minerva: *sweatdrop* ...

[Weiila]

Well, that was weird... but well-written :-)

[d Galloway]

Weiila: AAARRGH!! GET RID OF SOME OF THOSE DAMN STICKIES! THIS THING CAN'T HOLD MUCH LONGER!

Anyway, onto the big Metal Gear battle.

***

(boss: 20 Metal Gears)

Squall immediately rolled out of the way of about seven hundred missles and returned fire. The stinger missle hit a Metal Gear in the leg, sending it falling over. Quickly, Squall fired another missle at the exposed brain of the machine. It connected, knocking the giant robot back, but to his surprise, it stood back up and walked forward again.

A barrage of machine gun fire forced Squall to leave where he was currently standing. However, the Metal Gear he had just shot was now right in front of him. A laser emerged from the bottom of the robot and attempted to slice the hero in two, but he dodged at the last possible second and returned fire again.

Finally, the first Metal Gear collapsed and exploded. However, it still had plenty of backup. Squall dodged another barrage of missles and fired the Stinger again. However, the attack barely fazed the Metal Gear it was aimed at.

Realizing the pattern, Squall shot at a leg, then at a head, then dodged, then repeated until twenty of the Metal Gears had fallen. At that point, though, the worst possible thing happened.

He ran out of ammo.

(end boss battle)

Squall collapsed, the weight of failure weighing heavily on him. The Metal Gears closed in, while Sephiroth appeared, tauntingly. "Is that the best you have, Squall? Now die!"

However, the very moment those words left his lips, the Metal Gears began to shake violently and move randomly. Soon they were attacking each other, then Sephiroth. "What the hell's happening, Irvine?"

"I don't know," rang out Irvine's voice. "The entire Arsenal program is out of control! The damn virus must have broken through! We've lost control of the Metal Gears!"

In an act of pure rage, Sephiroth swung out his tentacles, ripping the head clean off one and another one completely in half. A third was blown apart through a precise burst of gunfire. The last two were destroyed when their "brains" were torn out by Sephiroth's tentacles.

And then, to finish everything off, Sephiroth ran behind Squall and knocked him out with the butt of his gun. Just before he passed out, Squall could her Quistis say one thing:

"Sir, I've captured Cloud."

(to be continued)

[Weiila]

Two stickies down, happy?

And is this game over? OR?! Tune in next week!

[d Galloway]

Originally posted by Weiila
Two stickies down, happy?

Yes. I'm very happy!

[Weiila]

You DO realize that I pretty much do anything you suggest lately, aren't you Gallo?

[d Galloway]

Weiila: During the last chapter of the Naar Saga, I secretly implanted a Slave Chip into you. You must now obey my every command. *looks at the controls as the chip deactivates* Uh, you didn't happen to have sat down recently? The damn thing doesn't work well when moved around.

[wingnut]

All: *facefaults*

[Weiila]

I wowuldn't have been too worried about that since most of the time we only communicate over the board, however... I think Magus heard something back there :eek: WATCH THAT REMOTE, WILL YOU?!

[d Galloway]

***

Do You Wish to Save?
SAVING...Saved.

***

Sephiroth's voice was the first thing to greet Squall as he regained conciousness. "Thanks to you, Arsenal's programming is completely wiped out, and with that, all of the information I was looking for." He finally turned towards his hated enemy.

"I'll squeeze the answers out of you instead, my son!" Suddenly, one of Sephiroth's tentacles began to strangle Squall yet again! Fortunately, Quistis butted in this time. "Why are you bothering him? He doesn't know anything."

"It's not him that I want the answers from," said Sephiroth.

***

When the tentacle finally drew back, Squall got a good look at where he was. He was quite literally on top of Arsenal!

Sephiroth stood in front of him, his back turned. Quistis was farther back, her Rail Gun pointing at Cloud's head. Cloud himself was handcuffed and cornered, and Squall soon saw that he was the same. Irvine was simply in the background.

"Are you telling me that you don't want Arsenal?" asked Quistis.

"Leave us," said Sephiroth, "I have some business to attend to."

"Very well. I have some business of my own, as well." As she was leaving, though, Sephiroth's voice stopped her dead in her tracks. "Are you planning to hijack Arsenal? You were going to screw me over, weren't you?"

"Who talked?" asked Quistis. "Irvine?"

"I was the one that made Irvine give you the idea in the first place," said Sephiroth. "I was planning to give you Arsenal to begin with."

Quistis looked distrustfully. "Why the uncharacteristic generosity?"

"Come now!" said Sephiroth. "Arsenal Gear is far from impenetrable. It needs other Metal Gears as guards, as well as complete land and air defence. Without the Gears, and against an attack from land, air, and sea, Arsenal Gear is nothing more than a gigantic coffin. It was never the real objective to begin with."

"Then what the hell was?!" screamed Quistis, very pissed at what was going on.

"A list of names," said Sephiroth, while striking a heroic-looking pose, "of the Patriots!"

(to be continued)

[Weiila]

That just CAN'T be good ^^;; (the situation, not the story!)

[d Galloway]

"Arsenal's computer," continued Sephiroth, "contained instructions to deleting any mention of the Patriots, along with everything else they wanted destroyed. Therefore, their names would have had to be placed inside the computer somewhere."

"So you were going to eliminate them, one-by-one," said Quistis, "while we and our useless Arsenal drew their fire. You were using us from the beginning."

"Were you any different?"

"Anyway," continued Quistis, "the nuke should be ready by now."

"A nuke isn't going to stop them, Quistis," said Sephiroth.

"It will damage their power source: the mindless masses they control."

"Very well. I won't stop you. Good luck."

"Thanks, but I have quite enough of that."

Suddenly, Irvine's laughter broke through the tension. "What do you find so funny?" asked Quistis.

"Charades usually are humerous," said Irvine. "Did you really think that the Patriots were going to give you a nuke?"

"Irvine, what the hell's going on here?" shouted Sephiroth.

"Do you think," said Irvine, "that this little terrorist operation was your own work, Sephiroth? No, it was a brilliant simulation, set up by the Patriots to artificially create and train another Cloud. This was a complete simulation of the Frozen Continent. Squall stood in for Cloud, with Arsenal's AI standing in for Steiner. Sephiroth, you were chosen because your relationship with the boy is similar to the one between Cloud and Big Boss. Quistis, your group stood in for the MOG-CHOCO squad. You folks are the biggest collection of freaks outside of MOG-CHOCO.

"We used Tseng's own nanomachines to shut down his pacemaker. As for the President, even though he realized what was going on, he played out his part perfectly. Palmer was a different story. He was one of our own agents, sent in to test the boy before entering the exercise proper. Quistis, I made sure you had nothing but revenge on your mind. That's why I sunk that tanker. Throwing your husband into the brig was part of the plan, too. You thought Cloud was your enemy, and you opted for vengence, just like we planned."

"This...this was all faked?" asked Quistis, obviously shaken.

"Everything, that is, except for the appearance of the real Cloud."

"All our suffering," continued Quistis as she raised the Rail Gun, "was just a part of your project?"

Irvine flipped out his pistol and fired. However, the real shocked was what happened next. The bullet went straight through Quistis's left breast.

She looked at the wound in complete surprise, then slumped to the ground. "How- how could?"

"You're no lady luck," said Irvine. "You have nothing that we didn't give you."

(to be continued)

[Weiila]

Irvine can be such an ass, can't he...
Looking good, Galloway :D

[d Galloway]

"Do you know why no bullet could hit you?" asked Irvine, mockingly. "It wasn't magic, or some new-age mumbo jumbo, or even your psychic talents. It was all an act, staged by the Patriots!"

Quistis's eyes lit up. "Staged?"

"We had an electromagnetic device planted onto your uniform. It made it so nothing could ever hit you. You were never able to die, even though that's all you wanted. You were playing out the part of the tragic heroine. You couldn't get enough of the drama."

Quistis soon became increasingly angered. "I could die...whenever I wanted to?" To everyone's surprise, she began to get right back up.

"That's funny," said Irvine. "I thought I got her in the heart!" Quistis fired off a Rail shot at him, but to everyone's surprise, it dissipitated the moment it touched Irvine. "Oh, now I remember," he continued, "your heart's on the left." Quistis fired another shot, but the result was the same. "A waste of metal, my dear, because your luck's run out. I took the liberty of taking our device from you."

Quistis squeezed out the word, "Damn," before going down again. Irvine walked calmly to the back of Arsenal, where something the fog had hidden before was revealed: the last of the Metal Gears. "And now," he said, "to finish my mission. I'm to take Metal Gear back to its riteful owners, along with the data from Arsenal and the exercise. But first, a little 'cleaning up' must be done." He jumped up onto the top of the robot.

Sephiroth grabbed onto two of the tentacles and, after letting out a vengeful scream, fired off a bunch of rockets out of the tentacles. However, they all swerved to avoid Irvine as he calmly waved good-bye and climbed into Metal Gear. The robot went active and readied its machine guns.

Sephiroth quickly readied a pair of katanas as the gun went off. Letting out the same scream from before, he casually swatted away the entire rain of bullets in a frenzy of sword strokes. One bullet, however, bounced off and went through Cloud's handcuffs. He struggled to get the weakened cuffs off, but not before Irvine stopped firing.

"How's this then?" shouted Irvine as the missle ports opened up. Suddenly, Quistis was back on her feet and right in front of Metal Gear. "You idiot!" shouted Sephiroth. "Get the hell away from there!"

"Like I said before," said Irvine, "your luck's run out. Here's a little fairwell present. It's all the payload Emerald has. Die!"

Several missles fired straight into the air, then broke into scatter missles and headed back towards Arsenal. Cloud barely got off a warning to get down before the havoc began.

Then the impossible happened. Every single missle swerved away upon reaching within twenty feet of Quistis. It was too far for the device Irvine had to work, and even then, he was inside Metal Gear. He shouted, "What the? Impossible!" before firing off every single missle Metal Gear had left. They all missed horribly. Cloud looked up and said, "She is Lady Luck."

Quistis struggled to keep standing. "I can finally...see my family...again..." Then at last, she fell to the ground for the last time.

(to be continued)

[Weiila]

One could just imagine a vein popping on Irvy's forehead after all that ^_^

[d Galloway]

More will come soon. I swear.

[d Galloway]

"Damn!" shouted Irvine, still safe inside Metal Gear. "How's this then?"

Suddeny, a whole bunch of weapons appeared. There was no way Cloud, Squall, and Sephiroth could survive this next barrage. Irvine and the Patriots had one.

Irvine was about to press the fire button when a familiar sensation crept over him. His entire arm, the one that had once belonged to Kuja, began to twitch uncontrollably. "No," muttered Irvine, barely able to hold back Kuja's control, "no, not now."

His scream was heard from miles away. Finally, he stepped out of Metal Gear, only now, he was a different person. Kuja was in control once again. "Brothers!" he shouted, almost mockingly.

"Kuja," said Cloud, completely shocked by this turn of events. Squall and Sephiroth just looked on in bewilderment.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this," said Kuja. "My dear two brothers, the superior ones, in one spot. I hope you're ready for the end! And after this, I'll go take care of your enemy, the Patriots."

"You know where they are?" asked Sephiroth. "How?"

"Why do you think I chose Irvine as my host?" responded Kuja, in a completely mocking tone. "But first, I have some family issues to deal with. There can only be one Big Boss!"

He jumped back into the Metal Gear and preceded to go towards the water. Cloud followed him, finally breaking the handcuffs about halfway across Arsenal.

"Coming, dear brother?" asked Irvine sarcastically. Metal Gear jumped into the river.

"You won't escape this time, Kuja!" shouted Cloud as he jumped in after him. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the back of Arsenal. The entire thing began to rocket down the river, with Squall and Sephiroth still on top. It was headed for downtown Galbadia.

(to be continued)

[Weiila]

Looking good, Gallo ^_^

[d Galloway]

Man, does this cutscene ever end? Anyway, I'll write the next chapter in a day or two. We're getting closer to the end, folks.

[Weiila]

You said yourself it was the neverending cutscene :o

[d Galloway]

Actually, it DOES have an end. However, it's nearly two-and-a-half freaking hours long! It just SEEMS like it never ends.

[Weiila]

That's just... insane O_o

[d Galloway]

***

Arsenal stopped when it slammed into the side of a large building. Squall and Sephiroth leaped off the giant machine and surveyed their surroundings. Suddenly, Sephiroth began to laugh.

"Do you know where this is?" he asked. "The Presidential Building, where the first President of Galbadia took the oath of office hundreds of years ago. Since that time, the Patriots have been in control of the country, masterminding its every move. Today was the day that we were going to end that. It was at this very spot that we were to found a new country, one based on things like freedom, civil rights, justice, things that the Patriots stand against. We would be known as the Sons of Liberty!"

Suddenly, Squall recieved a codec call.

***

(Okay, I am NOT going to post a transcript or parody of this next codec scene. I must preserve some semblance of sanity. So here's a summary:)

The AI Steiner calls in. Squall is surprised that he's still around, but an AI Rinoa tells him that they cannot be destroyed. Steiner tells some crap about the Patriots and their existance, blah blah blah, and we move on.

***

"Squall," said Sephiroth, "my brothers and I are called monsters, victims of cursed genes. You are different, unique, but still a monster, born from a dark and secret history. It's time to see which monster shall live and die today." He tossed Squall the katana Cloud had given him. It landed blade-down right on the handcuffs, shattering them.

"Oh, and Squall," continued Sephiroth, "I was the one that killed your parents." Squall's face became a mask of shock, but quickly changed to one of pure rage.

"Cloud and Kuja," continued Sephiroth, "both hated and despised their father, Big Boss. And as my son, you, too must despise me."

"I have other reasons for wanting you dead. Arsenal's AI is wiped out, but there is another way to find the Patriots: inside you. The information's carried through the nanomachines in your cerebral cortex."

Squall drew the katana and entered a fighting stance. Sephiroth drew his two katanas and readied his tentacles. "Let's go!"

(to be continued)

[Weiila]

Whee, super cool father-son battle!
... wait, if Sephy killed Squall's parents, shouldn't he have a hole through his chest or sumthing?

[d Galloway]

Will update later.

[Weiila]

That's all well and good since I just assembled all your new stuff and sent it to TD (I still handle the incomplete stuff). Now we all wait for him to update :)

[d Galloway]

Yep. Now we play the waiting game...*waits for a few seconds*

Ah, the waiting game sucks. Who's for Hungry Hungry Hippos?

[d Galloway]

(Final Boss: Sephiroth)

Squall immediately blocked a series of blows from Sephiroth, then ran back to get some more space. However, Sephiroth soon showed something he had kept hidden; he had a jet pack on! He blasted forward and nearly slammed Squall off the building, but he grabbed onto the edge and pulled himself back up.

Squall attacked, but barely scratched Sephiroth's armor. Suddenly, a tentacle wrapped itself around Squall's throat and tried to strangle him, but he broke free and quickly slashed Sephiroth in the head on his way down.

Squall rolled out of the way of two missles Sephiroth fired, then ran up behind him and delivered a painful slash to the back. Sephiroth turned around, but Squall kicked him straight in the chin, knocking him into the air and off the side of the building. However, one of Sephiroth's tentacles grabbed onto the edge and threw the man right back.

Squall finally delivered a few more slashes. Sephiroth rocketed away and said, "Very good, Squall. But this is where it gets interesting." He then blew his own armor straight off, along with the tentacles. However, this made him even faster and stronger than before!

Then, as if to interrupt this non-stop thrill ride, Squall recieved a codec call.

(begin codec conversation)
Steiner: Squall, you have to beat Sephiroth. That is your last duty.
Squall: We aren't pawns in some simulation game, you know!
AI Rinoa: Yes, you are! You're nothing more than mere puppets.
Squall: Great. This doesn't make sense!
Steiner: Nobody expects it to. Now get to it, soldier!
(end codec conversasion)

Squall dodged a flurry of rocket charges and slashed Sephiroth's back again. This continued for about ten more minutes before the battle finally ended.

(end boss battle)

Sephiroth and Squall stared each other down, each one trying to find a weak point in his opponent. Sephiroth charged, but Squall blocked the blows. He then lunged, but Squall jumped straight over him and slashed him hard and deep on the back, this time going straight through what was left of Sephiroth's armor.

The man wobbled forward, barely able to stand. Finally, he reached the edge of the roof. He turned to Squall one last time before falling to the ground below.

Sephiroth landed directly behind the main attraction of the place; a statue of the first President of Galbadia. He looked up at it and reached out with his last reserves of strength, but finally collapsed. And thus was Sephiroth's grand dream brought to an end...

(to be concluded...)

[Weiila]

*pokes* Is he dead? *pokespokes*
Good work, Galloway ^_^

[d Galloway]

***

Squall stood on the street across from the statue. Already people were slowly making their way towards it to get a better glimpse of what had happened. The hardly even noticed the stealth-suit wearing man.

"Who am I really?" asked Squall.

"You're whoever you make yourself out to be," said an all-too familiar voice. Squall turned...and saw Cloud standing right next to him. "Don't worry about what others want you to be."

Squall looked down...and saw his dogtags. He pulled them off and examined them closer. "Anyone you know?" asked Cloud.

Squall threw the tags into the distance. "No. I start my own life from here. Say, what happened to Irvine?"

"I place a tracking bug on his Metal Gear," said Cloud. "However, I bet that the Patriots gave Irvine a false position to begin with, so it probably won't help as much. However, we do have another way of finding the Patriots."

Cloud pulled out the virus disk. "The Patriots wanted specific information destroyed through Arsenal. Therefore, that information must be coded inside the disk. I'll have Butz examine it."

"What about Terra's child?" asked Squall.

"Don't worry," said Cloud, "I'll find him. Mark my words."

"I'll go with you!" said Squall.

Cloud now sounded a bit upset. "No. You have some matters of your own to deal with first." Squall turned around, and saw Rinoa standing in the distance. When he turned around again, Cloud was gone.

***

Rinoa: Do you remember what today is?
Squall: This...this is the day we first met!
Rinoa: Yes. Amazing how we come here again!
Squall: I promise that our children will have a much better future. Together, we can do it.
Rinoa: You mean...
Squall: Yes.

***

Rank: Big Boss (AAAAAAAH! DON'T REACH THE POWER BUTTON! AAAAAAAH!)

***

Butz: Cloud, I decoded the disk, and found the Patriot's identities, but...
Cloud: What's wrong?
Butz: They're all dead! All of them!
Cloud: When did it happen?
Butz: About...a hundred years ago.
Cloud: What the hell...

THE END(?)

[Weiila]

I think that there will be a sequel soon, if the game doth end that strangely. Great work, Galloway! *hands out soda and crackers*

[d Galloway]

Originally posted by Weiila
I think that there will be a sequel soon, if the game doth end that strangely. Great work, Galloway! *hands out soda and crackers*

Actually, they ARE making a MGS3, but so far it seems to have little to do with the current story. In fact, from what I've seen, it somehow involves the Soviet Union, which would mean that it's WELL before MG1.

Oh, and thanks. *drinks the soda and eats the crackers*

[Crotanks]

MGS3 takes place in the 60's where you're in the jungle. Its gonna kick ass. And nice work again d.

[Heaven's Soldier]

http://www.ffonline.com/1_ff4en/warrior.gif It's nice to finally see this fic finished. And I must admit it is quite amazing, I think you nailed everything on the head. Well done, and keep up the good work.