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Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
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Plot Summary/Analysis
by ssk9716757 (ssk9716757@gmail.com)
Version 0.75
To find any section in this FAQ, copy the characters in brackets next to the
section you want in the contents and use CTRL+F to jump to that section. If you
have any corrections, suggestions, or comments e-mail them to me at
ssk971657@gmail.com.
CONTENTS
I. Introduction/Disclaimer........................[01INTROD]
II. Plot Summary..................................[02PLOTSU]
A. Act 1: Liquid Sun............................[02ACT1LS]
1. Act 1 Mission Briefing.....................[02ACT1BR]
2. Infiltration...............................[02INFILT]
3. Gekko......................................[02GEKKOS]
4. Three Days Earlier.........................[023DAYSE]
5. Metal Gear Mk. II..........................[02MGMKII]
6. Drebin Number 893..........................[02DREBIN]
7. Rat Patrol Team 01.........................[02RATPAT]
8. The Beauty and the Beast...................[02BBEAST]
9. Liquid's Camp..............................[02LIQUID]
B. Act 2: Solid Sun.............................[02ACT2SS]
1. Act 2 Mission Briefing.....................[02ACT2BR]
2. South America..............................[02SOUTHA]
3. Drebin Explains............................[02DREBEX]
4. Raiden.....................................[02RAIDEN]
5. Naomi......................................[02NAOMIH]
6. Laughing Octopus...........................[02LOCTOP]
7. Rescuing Naomi.............................[02RESCUI]
C. Act 3: Third Sun.............................[02ACT3TS]
1. Act 3 Mission Briefing.....................[02ACT3BR]
2. Eastern Europe.............................[02EASTEU]
3. Big Mama...................................[02BGMAMA]
4. Raging Raven...............................[02RAGRAV]
5. The Patriots Bested........................[02PATRIO]
D. Act 4: Twin Suns.............................[02ACT4TW]
1. Act 4 Mission Briefing.....................[02ACT4BR]
2. Shadow Moses...............................[02SHADOW]
3. Crying Wolf................................[02CRYING]
III. The Themes of Metal Gear Solid 4.............[03THEMES]
A. Symbolism....................................[03SYMBOL]
1. Sunny's Eggs...............................[03SUNNYE]
2. The Beauty and the Beast Corps.............[03BBCORP]
3. No Place for Hideo.........................[03NHIDEO]
4. Snake's Age................................[03SNKAGE]
B. Themes.......................................[03THEME2]
1. "War Transforms Us"........................[03WARTRA]
2. "Without Light, There Can Be No Shadow"....[03WLIGHT]
IV. Credits/Thanks................................[04CREDIT]
UPDATES
02.21.09 - Guide created. Started adding some plot stuff.
03.01.09 - Finished up to where you meet the Mk. II in Act 1.
03.02.09 - Added to the "Themes of MGS4" section.
Worked on plot summary some more.
03.06.09 - Added more to Plot Summary and Themes sections.
Also reformatted the guide to make it easier to read.
03.07.09 - Added to Themes section.
---CURRENT VERSION: 0.65
03.11.09 - Added more to plot summary.
03.15.09 - Continued working on plot summary. Finished up Act 3.
---CURRENT VERSION: 0.70
03.21.09 - Began Act 4 plot summary.
03.29.09 - Finished up Mission Briefing for Act 4.
04.06.09 - Finished up to Crying Wolf in Act 4 Plot Summary.
----CURRENT VERSION 0.75
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I. Introduction/Disclaimer                                           [01INTROD]
===============================================================================
The Metal Gear Solid series is known for having some of the most complex plots
in video game history. The way this information is relayed is mostly through
movie-quality cutscenes which can be engrossing, but also a bit tedious at
times. Often times a lot of information is thrown at you at once, and the
pacing of the game may not allow you too much time to sit there and try to sort
out everything that has just happened.
Well, here's where this handy guide comes in. In this I hope to not only relay
the plot via play-by-play action, but I also hope to analyze it and pull out
any hidden meanings or subtle scenes that can help explain the story a little
better.
I'm a huge MGS fan, and one of the things I love is that this game has such a
huge, detailed story that you can spend hours figuring out. I chose to write
this guide to help you figure out this story in it's entirety.
I'd also like to give a quick disclaimer while I'm at it. This guide can only
be hosted by www.gamefaqs.com. If you would like to use this guide on your site
you can e-mail me at ssk9716757@gmail.com and ask my permission. I almost
always give permission, but only if you ask first.
Well, then, let's get started...
===============================================================================
II. Plot Summary                                                     [02PLOTSU]
===============================================================================
Please note that this guide contains massive spoilers. In fact, if I do this
right, every single thing about MGS4 and the Metal Gear series will be spoiled.
So make sure you don't go ahead unless you've played the previous games and
this game, or unless you just want to find out those spoilers.
Also, you should be at least somewhat familiar with the characters if they were
in previous games. New characters introduced in MGS4 will be given proper
background explanation as they appear, however.
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A. Act 1: Liquid Sun                                                 [02ACT1LS]
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1. Act 1 Mission Briefing                                            [02ACT1BR]
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The scene opens to Sunny, Olga Gurlukovich's daughter, frying eggs. She hums a
song of numbers while she cracks two open into the pan, one of the egg yolks
staying intact while the other yolk busts open.
We now cut to the interior of the Nomad: a plane that serves as a makeshift
headquarters for Otacon and Solid Snake. Colonel Campbell explains the
situation to Snake. Apparently the Big Shell incident that took place five
years ago during MGS2 triggered a massive public backlash, and as a result the
U.S. government is more hesitant about intervening militarily in foreign
affairs.
Due to the public backlash, militaries are beginning to become privatized, with
PMCs, Private Military Companies, being the big dogs in the movement.
Basically, since the public is against military intervention, PMCs secretly
deploy armies around the world. This way, things get done and the public is
none the wiser.
PMCs don't concern themselves with nations, values, or ideologies. They fight
only if it rakes in a profit. They dispatch armies wherever the profit is, and
also train the soldiers of the region and supply weapons. Thus, wherever they
are, war is close behind.
And they don't discriminate in giving their help. They help everyone from
military giants like the United States to small rebel factions opposing their
governments to terrorist organizations, and the fire of war they're causing is
spreading around the globe.
At this point, Sunny brings up the eggs she cooked, which are badly burned, and
gives them to Otacon, who is working at a computer. He says he'll eat them
later, leaving Sunny looking a bit dejected.
Snake and Campbell continue talking, and Snake brings up the point that every
age has its mercenary and that the PMCs are nothing new, having been there
since the turn of the century. Campbell corrects Snake, saying they're nothing
like the mercenaries of the past.
Sunny continues to try to get Otacon to eat the eggs, but he's too absorbed in
his work to pay attention to her.
Campbell explains exactly why these PMCs are nothing like what they've seen:
the Pentagon's produced and implemented a new battlefield control system that
was developed by ArmsTech Security, known today as AT Corp. The company used to
develop weapons, but now focuses on security tools.
The system that they've implemented is a way to control the battlefield. It
works by giving information on every single soldier on the battlefield, and
also information on field conditions, meaning that they can analyze this
information and turn the tide of war in their favor.
Sunny storms up the stairs with her eggs and slams the plates down angrily on
the table. Her hand bumps an ashtray packed with cigarettes, one of which falls
off the table and hits the ground. She stomps on it angrily and runs to the top
of the stairs, yelling down at Snake and berating him for smoking.
Campbell says that the reason for the spread of PMCs is their reliability and
efficiency. Regular armies are a thing of the past now that the PMCs are almost
everywhere. America and other countries have been exporting military goods,
turning the world into a kind of "War Economy": an economy totally dependent on
the profit of war. This has also led to things like unmanned weapons and child
soldiers.
Campbell goes on to tell Snake that there are five major PMCs in the world
currently. Two in the U.S., and one each in the U.K., France, and Russia. And
these five PMCs are run by a dummy corporation that acts as a single mother
company. This mother company's name is Outer Heaven, named after Big Boss'
fantasy of a world for soldiers.
The mastermind behind Outer Heaven is none other than Liquid Ocelot, and he's
planning to use this massive army for his plan: to create a world where
soldiers always have a place.
Campbell gets down to the reason he contacted Snake: he wants Snake to find
Liquid and stop him before he can put his plan into action, even if it means
killing Liquid. It's nothing but a hired hit, a covert plan to take out Liquid
Ocelot. This isn't a government order like Snake's previous assignments, but
something has to be done about the situation, and the world's governments are
too afraid to do anything for fear that the War Economy will colllapse.
Snake is hesitant to take the mission, but Campbell persits, saying Snake is
the only one he can trust. Eventually, Snake agrees and asks for the
intelligence they have on Liquid. Apparently, he's been spotted in the Middle
East. There are ethnic minorities there who are part of a rebel group waging
civil war on the regime in power, and the soldiers in the regime are provided
by the Praying Mantis PMC, one of the five major PMCs under Liquid's control.
Campbell breaks down how Snake is going to infiltrate the battlefield. The
rebels have hired soldiers from a local PMC to help them in their effort. Snake
is going to disguise as one of the soldiers and get aboard a transport truck,
which should take him into the heat of the action. Once there, he is supposed
to make contact with a team of informants known as Rat Patrol Team 01, who are
involved with investigating PMCs.
As always, it's imperative that Snake be as covert as possible and leave zero
evidence of his presence. If any info leaked out, it could lead to a global
firestorm, in Campbell's words.
Snake agrees to take the mission, saying he's not like the PMCs. He's not doing
it for the money, but because he's the only one who can stop Liquid.
2. Infiltration                                                      [02INFILT]
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In the not too distant future. On a tired battlefield. War has become routine.
A transport truck rolls through a dirty and war-ravaged desert town in the
Middle East. In the rear, rebel soldiers clothed in dirty garments can only sit
and wait until they reach the war zone where they fight. Among these soldiers,
one sticks out. He's wearing the same clothing as them but has his hood on,
which obscures part of his face. A cigarette dangles from his lip as he too
waits for the truck to stop, holding his gun.
The man is Snake. In voice-over, he talks about the condition that the
battlefield has sunk to. War isn't what it used to be. The age of war in the
world today is all about control, about micro-managing every soldier to do
whatever the commander wills. ID-tagged weapons and soldiers flood battlefields
with nanomachines in their bodies making sure they do only what they are
commanded to do.
War has become a well-oiled machine. War is no longer about fighting for
beliefs or values or ideologies. War has become the main source of profit for
the world and its War Economy. War is no longer out of place, it's no longer
unpredictable.
War has become routine.
The transport truck grinds to a stop in the middle of the city. The rebels rush
out, some getting picked off by gunfire. The surviving ones blow right past
their injured or dead allies and begin to fight. At the rear, Snake slowly
climbs out, keeping out of the line of fire. This isn't his battle.
The gun he's carrying locks up on him. The ID tag on it doesn't give him
permission to use it. He throws it to the ground. Around him, soldiers fight
and kill each other. Making sure not to get caught, he moves on through the
fighting.
3. Gekko                                                             [02GEKKOS]
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Snake hangs back as usual and arrives at a tense standoff between Liquid's PMC
soldiers and the rebels. As they fight, an animalistic cry is heard off in the
distance. The rebels look around for the source while the PMC soldiers turn
around and leave.
The cries continue, and the rebels continue to look around for the source.
Suddenly, giant mechanical robots with animal-like legs come down and crush the
rebels. These are called Gekko, and they are unmanned weaponry also under the
employment of Liquid's PMCs.
The rebels fire at the Gekko, but the bullets bounce uselessly of their armor
plating. Snake runs through the chaos, making it safely out of the scuffle.
He hangs back in a delapidated house and lights a cigarette. Everything seems
quiet until some blood drips onto Snake's shoulder. He looks up at the source:
a Gekko holding a dead soldier. Snake fires his gun at the Gekko, which loses
its footing and flips over onto the ground.
He runs into a room where he changes clips on the gun. A Gekko bursts through
the back wall and Snake rolls to the side to dodge it. His rebel disguise flies
off and we finally see Solid Snake in his sneaking suit, only this time around
his codename is Old Snake.
He tries to lose the Gekko by going upstairs. Once he gets up there, he
crouches down by some debris, and his suit begins to change color and texture
to match the debris, effectively camouflaging him. The Gekko comes up the
stairs and looks around, eventually spotting a cardboard box sitting in the
middle of the floor. Assuming Snake is inside, it crushes the box, which is
only filled with watermelons.
Unable to find Snake, the Gekko jump off across the rooftops.
Snake jumps down to ground level and finds a dead body with a rifle lying next
to it. He pops out his knife and checks to make sure the gun isn't booby-
trapped. Then he picks it up and points it at the body to make sure it's dead.
Satisfied, he turns around and heads off.
4. Three Days Earlier                                                [023DAYSE]
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A cemetery, three days before the beginning of the game. Snake, wearing a suit,
walks through the rows of tombstones, stopping at one and saluting it.
The silence is broken by the sound a helicopter arriving. It nears the cemetery
and sets down behind Snake. Otacon climbs out and walks over to Snake, telling
him that there's an old friend waiting for him. Snake stops Otacon to ask about
some test results. Otacon tells him that they reveal exactly what they thought:
Snake is aging rapidly, and has probably a year at best to live. Otacon makes
the suggestion to try another doctor, but Snake tells him that it won't make
any difference. He isn't an ordinary man to begin with.
Then there's also the matter of FOXDIE, which was injected into him during the
Shadow Moses incident in MGS1 and still remains within him today. It could end
up killing him at any second as well. Unfortunately, they don't know where
Naomi Hunter, the creator of the virus, is currently, so they can't do much
about it.
Snake heads over to the chopper and sees the old friend Otacon mentioned: Roy
Campbell, Snake's former commander. These days, Campbell is working for the
United Nations Security Council investigating PMC activity, a result of a
resolution passed recently.
Campbell mentions that he came across some information in his work. He's found
Liquid in the Middle East.
5. Metal Gear Mk. II                                                 [02MGMKII]
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Back in the present, Snake has just checked the gun for booby-traps and,
realizing that its clean, picked it up. He gets a Codec call from Otacon, who
asks him about the situation. The place is crawling with Gekko, codenamed
"Irving" by the U.S. military. The strange thing is that the amount of Gekko
present far exceed the amount the region can afford, which means that there's
someone else supplying the Gekko. In other words, Liquid could be close by.
Otacon tells Snake to get to a rendezvous point where he's got the Mk. II
waiting. The Mk. II is a small robot which can provide Snake with info, maps,
and even ammo and items. It's also a way for Otacon to help Snake on the
battlefield without actually being there. Snake heads off to the rendezvous
point to get the Mk. II.
Snake reaches the point, and the Mk. II rolls out of the shadows. It's a type
of miniature Metal Gear, like Metal Gear REX and Metal Gear RAY. Only this one
isn't a weapon, but rather a remote mobile terminal designed for operational
support.
Otacon uses the Mk. II to hand Snake the Solid Eye System: a gadget resembling
an eye patch which Snake can wear over his left eye. The Solid Eye can be used
for normal vision, night vision, or as binoculars in order to help with the
mission.
Snake notices that the rebels are outside launching an attack on the government
PMC soldiers. Otacon gives Snake an Operator: a handgun which predates the
implementation of the ID tag system, so Snake can use it just fine. He also
gives Snake a tranquilizer gun for non-lethal force.
The informants who saw Liquid here are up ahead, waiting at a rendezvous point.
Otacon switches on the stealth camo to hide the Mk. II and follows as Snake
heads out to the meeting point.
6. Drebin Number 893                                                 [02DREBIN]
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Snake makes his way through the war zone, eventually coming up some stairs to a
room where a giant military vehicle is parked. On the side, the words "EYE HAVE
YOU" are written. There's also a rifle lying on the floor.
Snake approaches the rifle, but as he enters the room he sees a monkey sitting
next to a bucket filled with ice and soda cans. He's about to pick up the gun
when a voice interrupts him, and a man walks out carrying a white handkerchief
as a makeshift white flag.
The man is Drebin, and he's a gun launderer. The ID-tag system that's in place
means that a soldier can only use a gun if his ID-tag matches the tag on the
gun, meaning that if Snake finds any weapons on the battlefield, he can't use
them because the ID-tags don't match up.
That's where Drebin comes in. He's a gun launderer, meaning he gets weapons
that either have no ID-tags or he takes your weapons and removes the ID-tag and
replaces it with a counterfeit one, making them perfectly usable. He gives
Snake the rifle on the ground, an M4, as a welcoming gift.
Snake checks out the gun and finds that it's actually a very high-quality
firearm. Drebin tells Snake to go ahead and fire it, but for some reason Snake
can't pull the trigger. Apparently it's because Snake has an older generation
of nanomachines that don't work well with the new system.
Snake becomes suspicious and asks Drebin who he is. Drebin says he works for
AT Security, and he's in charge of production control. That means he gets all
the ID chips before they're registered. Drebin offers to help Snake, who is
still skeptical.
Otacon calls up Snake and tells him that while he doesn't like Drebin, they'll
have to trust him. Sunny searched him up and found that he actually gets around
quite a bit, having offered his service to various armies all around the world.
Drebin works by replacing the ID-tag on the gun with unregistered tags, but
Otacon notes that even though he replaces the chip, it still goes on record as
having been replaced. This means that Drebin must have somebody erasing records
for him.
Snake wonders if the Patriots could be behind it, but Otacon notes that if they
were, a guy like Drebin would be a nuisance for them.
Otacon suggests keeping Drebin at arm's length and using him for strictly
business purposes. Snake agrees to this and follows Drebin into his truck,
where he has to inject Snake with the new generation of nanomachines so that
Snake can use ID-tagged weapons. Snake is hesitant, but eventually allows
Drebin to inject him.
Snake goes out and tries to fire the M4 again, which works perfectly thanks to
the new nanomachines. Drebin tells Snake that he'll be willing to make any gun
Snake finds on the battlefield usable in the future. He also talks about the
PMCs. The bigger they get, the thinner the line between soldier and civilian
gets. Sooner or later the whole human race will be fighting.
Drebin says his final farewell to Snake and heads off in his truck.
Outside, Otacon contacts Snake and tells him that Drebin has a point. The world
is dependent on war for its economy, so if war just disappeared the world would
collapse. He also talks about the war price: a price for weapons and soldiers
that fluctuates depending on how much battle is going on in a region. So the
quieter things are, the better the bargain.
Snake heads off to the rendezvous point to meet up with Rat Patrol Team 01.
7. Rat Patrol Team 01                                                [02RATPAT]
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As Snake exits the room where he met Drebin, he comes across a rebel soldier
going towards an oil drum with noises coming from it. The rebel removes the oil
drum to reveal a soldier underneath it with his pants haflway down, who
apparently has a bad case of gas. The soldier runs off passsing gas while the
rebel chases after him.
Snake looks to his right and notices a damaged cardboard box. It'd be useless
for sneaking. But the oil drum, however...
Snake proceeds through the battlefield and arrives at the rendezvous point. He
goes through a door only to be held up from behind by the soldier who had the
bad case of gas. Snake puts his gun on the ground and holds up his hands,
acting surprisingly casual for a guy being held up.
The soldier seems jittery and nervous. Snake tells him that he hasn't taken the
safety off his gun, but the soldier responds that he's a ten-year vet. Still,
the soldier checks the safety, and Snake uses this opportunity to disarm the
soldier and take his gun, asking him how he survived ten years.
A female soldier wearing a balaclava shows up and points her gun at Snake. He
notices the logo on her vest: FOXHOUND. The female soldier apparently
recognizes Snake, because she removes her balaclava to reveal that she is
actually Meryl Silverburgh, Snake's old lover.
The first thing she asks him is what happened to his face, and he tells her
it's accelerated aging, though he doesn't know the cause. Snake realizes that
Meryl is the informant who saw Liquid. The rest of her team shows up: Rat
Patrol Team 01.
Later, Snake is sitting at a table with Meryl looking at some photos. It's been
four days since Liquid arrived in the area, and since then a woman's been with
him. She doesn't seem like a combatant, but she could be a scientist.
Apparently, Meryl is the commander of the Rat Patrol unit. The other three
members are Ed, Jonathan, and Akiba, the soldier with bad gas. Meryl and Snake
share some history together. Snake quit FOXHOUND after Shadow Moses, but Meryl
kept on trying to fulfill her dream and join. Meryl just wanted Snake to accept
her for who she really was, but that was all in the past. Now she's all about
business.
Snake claims to be in the Middle East for threat assessment of the PMCs. Meryl,
however, has heard otherwise. She's heard there's an assassin targeting Liquid.
Snake still sticks to his story. Meryl says she knows about his insurrection,
but as long as AT Security's system stays in place Liquid can't succeed. Snake
is skeptical, but Meryl says the system monitors every single soldier and makes
sure nobody disobeys.
Every soldier is injected with nanomachines which keep track of their personal
data 24 hours a day. They monitor everything from their position to their sugar
levels and every single response within their body. The data is relayed to the
command center for quicker and more efficient decision making. It also makes
sure each individual soldier is kept alert and ready. Meryl mentions that even
Rat Patrol has the nanomachines, and it helps them work better as a unit. It's
also a security guarantee against PMC soldiers. Since the PMCs don't care about
values, only money, they could easily disobey their leader for a profit. But
the nanomachines make sure the PMCs don't do this. If they tried to revolt,
their weapons would automatically be shut down and they couldn't do anything.
Snake knows the Patriots are behind this system, but Meryl seems unaware of who
the Patriots are. The system is completely foolproof, known as S.O.P: the Sons
of the Patriots System. The AI that controls the system is a tightly guarded
secret kept by AT Security and the Pentagon, so there's no way a third party
could hijack it.
Snake brings up the fact that Drebin can launder guns, so the system isn't
completely foolproof. Meryl says that there can't be more than a few hundred
gun launderers, so it's not really a threat to the System.
Meryl goes on to say that Liquid had to register his PMCs to have an army of
the size that he does, meaning that they're monitored by the system. So if
Liquid tries to do anything, he can be anticipated and shut down by the U.S.
Meryl's team was sent in to investigate the PMCs. Even with SOP, there are
still things like disorderly conduct and contract violations to deal with. Rat
Patrol acts as backup to the System by monitoring soldiers. There were five
other patrols before them sent who were all killed, but this Rat Patrol is
smarter than that. They searched battlefield after battlefield and finally
found Liquid.
When they reported that they found Liquid, Rat Patrol's superiors ordered them
to provide the U.N. investigators, meaning Snake, with intel. Meryl says she
had no idea Snake would be the investigator. Snake asks if Campbell told her he
was coming, but she seems to not have known that Campbell was the one who put
Snake up to the mission. She loses her temper and it comes out that she's
bitter over the fact that Campbell is her father, having slept with his
brother's wife. Campbell apparently remarried, and his new wife is around
Meryl's age. She also has a kid.
The scene is interrupted by Ed having noticed that there are 20 units on their
way to where Rat Patrol is, and they're not from the Praying Mantis PMC either.
The units on their way are called Haven Troopers, nicknamed "Frogs". They're
Liquid's private troops, more skilled and more dangerous than the PMC soldiers.
Akiba gets a bit nervous, because he knows that it was most likely his fault
that the Frogs are on their way. Snake says he wasn't followed, but Akiba
mentions that they might've seen the reflection off the lens of his binoculars.
They have no choice but to move out before the Frogs arrive. They get out their
weapons and head out just as the Frogs arrive. They have no choice but to take
out the Frogs, and they go out and do so.
They battle through wave after wave of Haven Troopers, eventually making it out
in one piece. They get to a garage where they think they're in the clear until
more Frogs jump out at them. Rat Patrol, thanks to the nanomachines that help
them work as a single unit, take out the Frogs with no problem. Meryl explains
that the nanomachine network in each member's body lets them share each others'
senses, helping them function as one unit instead of multiple units. The System
also helps reduce pain.
Rat Patrol and Snake split up. Otacon contacts Snake and they talk about how
much more self-assured Meryl has become. Snake wonders how much of it is
beause of SOP, and expresses his distaste at the fact that the senses you
used to train to achieve are now gotten with the System, zero work involved. It
seems like you don't even need experience under the System. Otacon explains
that the need for PMCs required a more cost-effective supply of soldiers, hence
the System. The use of child soldiers has also increased.
Snake asks if the System can control Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, since
Akiba seemed to really be losing it. Otacon explains that the nanomachines
should provide psychological stability, and it also explains why Ed and
Jonathan barely felt any pain: the nanomachines were supressing it, but that
doesn't explain why Akiba was panicking so badly.
Snake says a soldier's got to have more than what the System provides. Times
have changed, however. Just like Meryl.
Snake heads off towards Liquid's camp.
8. The Beauty and the Beast                                          [02BBEAST]
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Snake continues forward until he arrives at a group of rebel soldiers. One of
them is dirving a bulldozer and breaking through barbed wire barriers set up in
the road. As he breaks down each barrier, the rebel soldiers move through the
newly opened paths.
Suddenly, the bulldozer grinds to a stop, as if it's hit something. But the
road was perfectly clear a second ago. The driver tries to move the bullfozer
but it just won't move. Then we see what's blocking it:
A giant, mechanical wolf.
It lifts the bulldozer up off its treads, the driver jumping out and running
off in fear. The rebels fire at it, but the bullets just bounce off its armor.
In the sky, a mechanical raven screeches and soars. The rebels panic, unable
to do anything. One rebel backs up against a wall, out of which a mechanical
octopus seems to melt out of. It wraps its tentacles around the rebel and
squeezes it to death.
One rebel tries to run and stops, seemingly stuck on marionette strings. There
is the sound of the strings being cut, and then the rebel dies.
The four mechanical beasts continue to destroy the rebel forces, unmatched in
their power, speed, and ruthlessness.
In the sky, a multi-armed mechanical mantis holds marionette dolls.
Soon, the four beasts finish off the last of the rebels and exit, leaving
nothing but destruction in their wake.
The four beasts, Laughing Octopus, Raging Raven, Crying Wolf, and Screaming
Mantis, make up the Beauty and the Beast Corps.
9. Liquid's Camp                                                     [02LIQUID]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snake sneaks past the PMC soldiers and arrives at Liquid's camp. Snake quietly
sneaks through the camp, looking for Liquid. He spots him standing on a second
floor balcony overlooking the camp.
Liquid Ocelot turns around and looks across over the camp. Snake sneaks up
behind a crate, aiming his gun at Liquid.
He gets a Codec call from Meryl, who is nearby with Rat Patrol. She now
realizes that Snake isn't here for threat assessment, but to kill Liquid. She
says her mission is to inspect the PMCs, so she can't stop him or help him. If
he's going to do it, he's on his own.
Snake points his gun at Liquid Ocelot, who continues to look out over the camp.
Rat Patrol sneaks through the camp on their own. Liquid pulls out a radio and
speaks the words "Activate it".
There is a noise that seems to increase in intensity. The PMC soldiers look
around cluelessly, unaware of the source. Suddenly, they drop their weapons and
begin to keel over in pain, screaming and crying hysterically. Among those
affected are Meryl and Rat Patrol, save for Akiba, who seems unaffected and
tries to help out his comrades.
Liquid looks around at the chaos with satisfaction, saying he never knew it'd
be so easy. He looks at a woman standing next to him, who is wearing a cloak.
She scoffs in disgust and walks away.
Snake, while affected, pushes through the chaos towards Liquid. He struggles,
pointing his gun, trying to fire through the confusion. Liquid sees him and
tells him that he and Snake are not copies of their father after all, and that
they're free of the shackles of fate.
Snake begins to keel over, struggling to stay conscious. Liquid tells Snake to
watch as he surpasses his own origin. Then he turns and leaves.
Before he passes out, Snake sees the woman who was with Liquid walk up to him
and remove her hood. It's Naomi Hunter, and she injects herself with a syringe,
dropping it near Snake. She tells him that if he won't be a prisoner to fate,
then he should go and fulfill his destiny.
Liquid gets to the roof, where a helicopter comes and picks up him and Naomi
and departs. As it leaves, the Gekko jump along, following it.
Akiba runs up just as Snake loses consciousness and helps carry him off the
battlefield.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Act 2: Solid Sun                                                  [02ACT2SS]
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1. Act 2 Mission Briefing                                            [02ACT2BR]
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The scene opens once again to Sunny frying eggs. This time, she cracks the eggs
open into the pan and both yolks bust open.
Sunny takes the eggs down to Otacon, who thanks her and takes them. Snake, who
was unconscious on a bed, finally wakes up. Seeing the eggs and their busted
yolks, he makes a joke about the sun being flat, which upsets Sunny quite a
bit.
It seems Snake was out all day. Akiba saved Snake's life by carrying him out of
there. Snake is angry that Liquid got away, and talks about how his body seized
up all of a sudden, just like the PMCs, when Liquid activated his device. Naomi
was there, on Liquid's side. Otacon found traces of her DNA in the syringe she
dropped near Snake, so it was actually her.
Sunny comes down with some eggs for Snake, who makes an excuse about having to
watch his caloric intake and picks up a cigarette. She mentions that he isn't
watching his nicotine intake, and goes back upstairs, dejected. Otacon tells
Snake that he hurt her feelings, and he quips that he should teach how to make
eggs properly then.
Otacon tells Snake that he got some video mail from Naomi just a little while
ago. In the message, Naomi says that she is being held captive in South America
and forced to do research. Liquid is trying to seize control of SOP, and to
do that he needs to analyze the nanomachine structure and find out how they
communicated with each other, which is what Naomi's being forced to research.
The nanomachines being used by the military are third generation, but their
basic design is the same as the first generation, which was created by Naomi.
FOXDIE was a part of that first generation, which she injected into Snake. The
technology used by FOXDIE was used to make SOP, which is why Liquid's using
Naomi specifically to help him hijack SOP, because she knows the framework.
Naomi says that Snake has to rescue her. Liquid's found a loophole to get into
the system, and the preparations for his insurrection are almost complete.
Snake has to hurry.
Naomi sent her location data in a separate file, excrypting it as Soliton Radar
data, the kind Snake used in Shadow Moses. She did it so they would truly know
the message was from her. Sunny was able to convert the data in video data.
Otacon and Snake get a call from Campbell. He tells Snake about Naomi's
detainment nine years ago after the Shadow Moses incident. However, someone
arranged for her escape, and Snake was accused of it. Campbell suspects it was
Liquid, who kidnapped her to force her to do research. The location she gave is
most likely the location of Liquid's base.
There's currently a struggle between the regime put into power by PMCs and a
rebel army formed by remnants of the old one. The rebels have hired a small
local PMC to help them. The new regime is still in shambles, so the regime is
still run by Pieuvre Armement, a PMC under Outer Heaven's control. With a nasty
political climate like that, it's the perfect place for Liquid to make his
haven.
Snake brings up the fact that it could be a trap. However, Otacon says they
were able to trace the origin of Naomi's message to a server in South America,
so it could be credible.
Snake inquires about the whereabouts of Meryl, and Campbell tells her she left
the Middle East chasing Liquid. Naomi is their only lead.
Campbell's secured landing clearance for the Nomad in South America. Snake is
to land and then take a 4x4 to get as close as possible to the PMC security
perimeter around Naomi's lab. From there he'll have to sneak through alone.
On the video screen, the new wife Meryl mentioned brings Campbell his meal. He
thanks her and she leaves.
Campbell goes on to say that the rebels are in battle with the PMC soldiers,
and the commotion should make good cover for Snake to slip in.
They land in 20 hours. Snake has a smoke while he still can.
2. South America                                                     [02SOUTHA]
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In the middle of a jungle in South America, Snake lies in wait. In voice-over,
Snake asks Campbell how deeply the Patriots are involved in everything. He
mentions that the data from Arsenal Gear, the fact that the 12 founders of the
Patriots had been dead for 100 years, was a load of crap. If the purpose of the
battlefield control is to control IDs then the Patriots plan works perfectly.
For the Patriots, the ultimate prize is to gain control of the battlefield and
then use it to gain control of the economy and information flow. Everything
that Solidus tried to fight against five years ago in MGS2 has happened.
The media and global opinion are under complete control of the Patriots, and
even the U.N. can't stand up to them. Liquid's insurrection is against the
Patriots, and he plans to create the world Big Boss envisioned. The PMCs and
their war business is the first step toward that world.
Right now, Liquid is under control of the Patriots and forced to fight their
proxy wars. As Campbell puts it, a new Cold War is brewing between Liquid and
the Patriots. No matter who wins, the world will be enslaved. Until Liquid is
stopped and the System is torn down, people will be enslaved.
However, what the world knows as peace is just an equilibrium kept in check by
the war economy. Destroying the System would cause the world to collapse. In
the end they may have no choice but to keep the System going for the good of
the world.
Snake crawls forward out of the grass. Once he gets to the perimeter, Otacon
contacts him. Rebel guerilla units are advancing on a PMC base, which is also
Liquid's safe house. Naomi is being held prisoner inside that compound. Snake
has to get in and rescue her.
Snake watches the PMCs lead captured rebels. Suddenly, a PMC gets knocked back
by some invisible force, which turns out to be Laughing Octopus. She emerges
from the shadows, as does Vamp, who has survived since MGS2.
Laughing Octopus comments that Snake isn't there. She turns away for a second,
and when she turns back around, the camo on her face has changed to mimic
Snake's face exactly. She proceeds to kill several soldiers brutally. She is
about to kill the last one, but Vamp stops her, telling her to leave one.
She makes sure that the remaining soldier sees Snake's face, telling him to
remember it, because it's the face of the one who killed his comrades.
Vamp says more guerilla units should be coming to ambush the safe house, and
Snake will be among them. He tells them to keep up their guard and jumps on a
truck. Laughing Ocotpus climbs onto the back of the truck, which pulls off.
Otacon contacts Snake once again, and they talk about Vamp's alliances with
Liquid. Vamp was commanding PMC soldiers, so he could be on Liquid's side.
Otacon is apalled that Vamp is still alive, despite them having seen him die in
Manhattan. He asks if Vamp could be immortal, but Snake says there's no chance.
The facility where Naomi is being held is further up the path. Otacon says he
got the data from Mei Ling, who is the captain of the Missouri, a World War II
battleship. After Shadow Moses, she was promoted by Campbell to the position of
captain, an impressive position for someone of her age.
Otacon reminds Snake once again that the conflict between the rebels and the
PMCS is not his business, but creating some impact on the battlefield could
make sneaking easier.
Snake brings up Laughing Octopus and the OctoCamo she was using, asking if its
the same one Snake is using. Otacon replies that it is, and that it's not
actually his own design, but rather based on some designs Otacon snagged from
DARPA. The PMCs know Snake is coming, so he has to be careful.
Snake sneaks past the enemy ranks and is eventually contacted by Campbell, who
introduces him to a psychological counselor. She's there to help deal with the
stress of battle. The counselor is Rose, who used to work as a data analyst for
the Pentagon and helped Raiden during the Big Shell incident. Afterward, she
switched over to psychological counseling. Her job is to assist Snake and help
calm his stress levels.
Snake notices that Rose contacted him from Campbell's house, and makes a
connection. The woman Meryl was talking about, the one Campbell married who was
her age, was Rose. She was engaged to Raiden, but he seemed to have disappeared
without a trace shortly after rescuing Sunny from the Patriots. Campbell
consoled her over her loss and one thing led to another. Snake and Campbell
bicker over this for a while, and it comes out that Campbell used his
connections in the Army to get Meryl the job as the commander of Rat Patrol. It
was the least he could do for his daughter.
Snake continues to move ahead when he gets another transmission, this time from
Raiden, who warns him that there is an ambush up ahead, and then abruptly cuts
transmission.
3. Drebin Explains                                                   [02DREBEX]
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Snake eventually makes it to a clearing where he sees an old truck parked. He
leans against the truck and lights a cigarette. Suddenly, it's snatched away by
a monkey, who smokes the cigarette and throws Snake an apple.
The camo on the truck changes and we see that it's Drebin's truck. Drebin steps
out and invites Snake inside. Drebin's been following Snake around since Snake
has piqued his interest, being a legend. And the nanomachines that Drebin
injected Snake with in the Middle East let him track Snake's location.
The Beauty and the Beast Corps rush by and Drebin explains to Snake about the
B&B Corps. They're a squad of enhanced female soldiers that belong to the PMCs.
They come into clean up any messes that need cleaning.
Since Snake showed up in the Middle East, the B&B Corps have been given orders
to kill Snake. Each of the B&B members were traumatized by war, suffering
shellshock on the battlefield. The only way they could deal with it was to
become war machines themselves. The outside, the suits they wear, are their
beast forms. Inside, they're actually beautiful women. They've been convinced
that by killing Snake they'll be free from all the pain they've felt.
Since Drebin is able to trick the "foolproof" system, Snake asks him if he's
with the Patriots. Drebin denies this. Snake asks who the Patriots are, and
Drebin says they're the law of the world, keeping the world together.
The Patriots are the embodiment of the war economy. Somebody started the
Patriots in the beginning, but the law took on a life of its own. The country
and the System is all run by an information processing system. An AI.
There are three peripheral AI's and one main AI that make up the Patriots.
The AI's run everything. If someone could hack the System, they'd find a
Haven: a place where conventional rules don't apply. Drebin's gun laundering
follows the Haven concept. There's supposedly no way to break into the AI's.
Still, Liquid has something in mind.
Drebin says his farewell to Snake and drives off. Snake continues on his
mission.
4. Raiden                                                            [02RAIDEN]
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Snake is contacted by Raiden, who claims to be close by. Snake asks him where
he's been all this time. Raiden was on a mission to find the corpse of Big Boss
in exchange for Sunny's location by a woman called Big Mama, the leader of a
small resistance group.
The transmission is interrupted by the sound of a war. Raiden tells Snake that
Big Boss' body is with Big Mama now. Raiden cuts transmission.
Rose contacts Snake, and he tells her that Raiden contacted her and seems okay.
Rose seems relieved and tells Snake to not tell Raiden that she's involved in
the operation. This leads Snake to ask exactly what happened between her and
Raiden.
After the Big Shell Incident, Raiden started being haunted by memories of his
childhood. He used to be a child soldier under the command of Solidus during
the Liberian Civil War. Rose was pregnant with their child, and Raiden would
stop coming home as often. The times he did come home he'd be drunk and covered
in cuts and bruises. Eventually he just stopped coming home at all and
disappeared.
Campbell supported her and consoled her when she was grieving. Rose says she
needed to get on with her life. Even though she cared about Raiden, she was
afraid of him. Campbell being so kind to her eventually led them to get married
and live together.
Snake assures her that he'll keep her presence a secret.
5. Naomi                                                             [02NAOMIH]
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Snake moves forward and eventually reaches Naomi's lab. He works his way around
the perimeter of the lab, watching Naomi through the windows. She's speaking on
the phone to someone.
Snake gets around to the back door of the lab and enters. Naomi finishes up
speaking on the phone, and as she hangs up her body is suddenly seizes up. She
starts groaning and has to inject herself with a syringe to get the convulsions
under control.
Snake calls out to her, and she says she knew he'd come. It's been 9 years
since they last saw each other at Shadow Moses. She also concludes that Otacon
is working with Snake, since he'd be the only one able to open the mail she
sent.
Snake asks her who she was just talking to over the phone, and she responds
that it was Liquid, or rather, Ocelot, from a medical standpoint. Snake thought
Liquid would be here, where Naomi is, but it turns out for the moment he's not.
There are no guards because they know she won't escape. She has no choice but
to cooperate.
Snake inquires about what happened in the Middle East, referring to whatever it
was Liquid activated that made the soldiers go haywire. Naomi explains. The
soldiers went hysterical because they were overcome by their emotions. Snake
asks if this was a side effect of SOP.
Naomi asks if Snake trusts her, and he's not sure yet. She agrees to answer his
question to try and gain his trust. Apparently, SOP has a function beyond
just helping to maintain control in battle: the ability to control people's
senses.
The nanomachines injected into each soldier release neurotransmitters and