Free Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriot by Project Itoh Page B

beaded down her forehead.
    “Please rescue me.” She was visibly distressed. “Liquid’s found a loophole he can use to get into the System. Preparations for his insurrection are nearly complete. There’s no time to waste. Snake, hurry!”
    The video ended.
    Snake covered his mouth in thought. Meryl had told him that Liquid’s PMCs would be unable to stand up against the world governments—even if he was Liquid, the System couldn’t be beaten by military force.
    But if the SOP could be hacked, the PMCs would be freed from the System’s control, and they could proceed to make war however they wished. The leaders of the war economy, now more powerful than the US military, could bare their fangs against the world that had used the war economy for its own benefit.
    “This is bad,” Snake said.
    I nodded. “Naomi created the technology. Given enough time, I’m sure she could do anything.”
    The screen flashed CALL . I checked the encrypted ID tag and told Snake, “It’s Campbell.”
    The line connected, and Campbell’s office appeared on the screen. The colonel sat with his arms resting on his oak desk.
    “Snake,” he said, “as you’ll recall, following the Shadow Moses Incident nine years ago, Naomi was detained by the authorities. But someone arranged for her escape.”
    Snake and I knew all about that. We had, after all, been official suspects. As fugitives, we kept a close eye on all of the charges against us—including the false ones. Snake and I have shared more than a few beers together while laughing at our names on the tops of the FBI website’s wanted lists for crimes we certainly didn’t remember having anything to do with.
    Snake laughed sarcastically and said, “Yeah, I hear they added that to my rap sheet too.”
    “I suspect it was actually Liquid. He must have taken her prisoner and forced her to do research at his facility in South America.”
    I said, “Naomi sent her location data in a separate file. It was encrypted, but Sunny decoded it for us.”
    Campbell nodded, and then his expression turned even graver. “Chances are the location she gave us is the site of Liquid’s main base.”
    As he searched his pockets for a smoke, Snake asked, “But is there any actual proof?”
    “Yes,” said Campbell. “There’s an ongoing skirmish between a new regime put into power by PMCs and a rebel army formed by remnants of the old one. The rebels have hired a small-scale local PMC of their own to stir things up. It’s the quintessential example of the war economy market. The new regime is still in shambles, so it’s really Pieuvre Armement—one of the PMCs under Outer Heaven control—that’s calling the shots. You might say it’s a perfect place for Liquid to make his haven.”
    “Or it could be a trap.”
    “True. But even if it was, we’d have much to gain.”
    “I had Sunny trace the origin of Naomi’s mail,” I said. “The address was fake, but Sunny was able to track the message back through its proxies based on time stamps and data transfer volumes. Apparently, the message originated from a server in South America. I wouldn’t exactly call it one hundred percent credible though.”
    Out of gratitude for her help, I didn’t tell Snake that she had hidden his cigarettes—just a modest trade to help ensure our continued stay on Nomad would remain a pleasant one.
    Campbell said, “I’ve secured you landing clearance at El Dorado International Airport. You’ll be acting as UN inspectors.”
    “South America …” I said. “That’s about twenty hours from here. What happens when we get there?”
    “I’ll arrange for them to get you a four-by-four. The location Naomi gave us—the PMC’s base—is in a mountainous region surrounded by forests. Use the four-by-four to get as close as possible to the PMC’s security perimeter. From there on, Snake, it’ll be a solo sneaking mission. The rebels are still pitched in battle against the PMCs. The commotion should help