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Brothers in Arms	By : ktatters Category: +M through R > Metal Gear Views: 3912 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
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If you're in a fair fight, you didn't plan it properly. - Nick Lappos

The provisions room was perhaps the largest room on the base. It had two parts to it: one side held reserve supplies of food along with water casks, while the other side was full with weapons of all kinds.

Semi-automatics: the Tokarev and Makarov, the Stetchkin and the Grach... And then there were double action revolvers: the Nagant and an Anaconda. Explosives of almost every kind. RPKs and... what was that? Some sort of PK gun, but with a longer barrel and a shorter receiver...

He picked it up. Weight and balance were quite nice... a proper optical sight would make this almost perfect... Arthur could probably do that in a heartbeat. Having a weapons engineer on his team was going to make everything a lot easier. And more fun. Big Boss grinned and strapped the automatic onto his back.

A quiet beeping in his ear reminded him that he had other things to worry about. [Big Boss here.]

[It's me, Arthur. I'm almost ready to go.]

[Good.] He just had to set up the last of the explosives and detonate them. That, more than anything, would ensure an easy escape for the scientists. And once they were out, maybe he'd hire some of them, too. Just needed some information from Arthur about them. [Wait a few minutes and then--]

[Who's car is it? The other one?]

[What other car?]

[A military car... It's not as nice as yours. Kind of beat up, pretty long in the front and short in the back. Hm. The gas tank looks like it's right under the driver. That's a bit weird, don't you think? I mean, if there was a collision, or someone was shooting the car, the whole thing would explode right under the driver, and besides that--]

[That sounds like a UAZ469. Military car...] And definitely Russian. His team hadn't managed to commandeer one on short notice. [Get driving.]

[Okay. Um... over and out!]

Big Boss winced at the phrase*, and added some radio procedures to his internal list of things he needed to teach Arthur after they got home. [Out,] he replied. In some ways, Arthur hadn't been out of America long enough.

At any rate, another Russian officer was bad news.

Big Boss placed the last of the detonators with care underneath the table covered with automatic weapons. His support team had given him the locations for the bombs on the satellite surveillance maps before he'd come here, so he had no worries that the explosion would be too difficult to handle, or would bring down the building, but--

The sound of metal and a footstep distracted him from his thoughts and he turned, gun already aimed at the door.

"You!"

Big Boss' mouth turned up in a half-smile as the man appeared in the doorway. "Ocelot. I see you still like hats," said Big Boss, waving his gun at the red beret.

"I thought we were on the same side these days," said Ocelot, somehow managing to sound accusatory and slimy at the same time. He had his pistols out, one trained on Big Boss, the other aimed rather haphazardly at the edge of a window, presumably so that he'd have something off of which to ricochet.

"Hm." Too close to set off the explosion... He'd have to lure Ocelot away. He had no desire to kill the younger man. Just because he hadn't gotten around to recruiting him yet didn't mean he wasn't going to in the future. In fact, it was a very real possibility, once he managed to figure out the twisted webs the Philosophers had woven.

Which, admittedly, had so far proven a near impossibility on its own.

"Why are you here?"

Big Boss shrugged and stood a little straighter, keeping his gun on the other man. "Finding a new weapons analyst."

"Oh, that's right. The last one died in a chemical spill." Big Boss' eyes narrowed. His last weapons analyst had died in a chemical spill, and Big Boss had kept that quiet. He'd never accepted that it was purely accidental, either. One competent, dead engineer was unfortunate, but it had been the second in a year. He needed to monitor things better. "Word gets around," said Ocelot, tilting his head to the side. He definitely needed to monitor things better.

"I think my newest one will last a little bit longer. He pays attention to details."

"I'm sure he does. But if you're not on my side, I'm not sure you'll make it back to your--"

The siren sounded suddenly, a piercing wail in the silence of the night. Big Boss lunged at Ocelot. The younger man had definitely improved since the last time Big Boss had seen him: he got a shot off and almost managed to avoid being knocked over. The shot went wide, and Big Boss sent him crashing to the floor.

"You talk too much," he said, and gave Ocelot a teasing smile before hitting him. The punch was only strong enough to daze the other man momentarily, giving Big Boss a few seconds lead time to start running down the hall away from Ocelot.

As expected, the sounds of Ocelot's footsteps started ringing through the compound behind him, a strange rock beat of staccato drumming to the harsh cymbals of his spurs while the siren sang its discordant melody above. Big Boss counted the number of guards as he sprinted out of the main building. Arthur's plan had worked to a degree: there were only five guards left. Unfortunately, they seemed to be more alert than they might have been, if only because no other guards had left the barracks.

Big Boss glanced behind him and saw Ocelot turn the corner. He moved his back against the wall and pressed the trigger for the explosives. The resulting fireball caught the guards' attention in a heartbeat. The scientists started moving fast while the guards stared at it.

"Don't just stand there, put it out!" shouted Big Boss.

The guards looked at him for a moment, grateful for the leadership, then ran around looking for the sandbags Big Boss had hidden against the far walls earlier that afternoon. By the time Ocelot ran outside the building, it was too late to call the soldiers back.

Big Boss gave another half-smile when Ocelot scowled.

"How dare you?" Ocelot pulled out his gun and fired. Big Boss was already rolling. He glanced around for a quick analysis of the battlefield.

The scientists were behind him, moving as quickly as they could, which was still too slowly for his comfort. The guards were off at the other side of the base, lugging sand bags. The fire in the main building was growing, and some of the scrub brush around was starting to light thanks to the smaller explosions of gunpowder in the main room. Ocelot was reloading one of his guns-- or rather, he was finished.

Big Boss ducked again as the sharpshooter took aim, then grabbed some sand and threw it in Ocelot's face. Ocelot wiped his eyes with a frustrated swipe of his hand. "Can't you ever fight fair?" he spat out.

Big Boss ignored him and used his quick distraction to get behind Ocelot. He pulled out his special ops MK22, and fired into Ocelot's neck. Ocelot pulled it out and shot at a window on the burning upper floor. Big Boss barely dodged it as it ricocheted back toward him. While he was dodging, Ocelot turned around and fired again.

Big Boss' body twisted to avoid the second shot. He landed badly, and felt a rib crack, but rolled to a stand and caught Ocelot's arm up into a painful hold. He broke it with a casual ease born from repetition. Ocelot's third gun was still in the holster, so close that Big Boss could reach out and touch it.

Ocelot gasped, gun falling from his right hand and beret falling from his head as he spun around. He tried to bring his left up to shoot Big Boss, so Big Boss knocked his second gun away with a hard punch to Ocelot's hand.

Big Boss grinned. Ocelot grit his teeth against the pain as Big Boss twisted the arm he still held one handed. "You're... you're too cocky," said Ocelot.

Big Boss raised an eyebrow. "You're the one without a weapon," he said reasonably.

"You don't fight fair!"

"Since when is war fair?"

"Huh." Ocelot lifted his obviously heavy eyelids and looked at Big Boss. "You know," he said quietly, "you're right. So I--" Big Boss smiled as Ocelot reached for his third gun. "I won't fight fair either!"

Ocelot pointed it at Big Boss and fired. The gun clicked uselessly. Twice. Three times. "I traded you," said Big Boss finally, pulling out Ocelot's gun and flipping it on one finger in the same useless, showy technique Ocelot had used. "Hope you don't mind."

"You..."

Big Boss winked. "Well, I didn't want to be shot."

Ocelot fell, the sedative finally taking over. Big Boss sighed and looked up. The fire was burning higher, and it seemed distinctly unlikely that the sand was going to put it out. Ocelot wasn't really a bad person, just a soldier on another team. A young soldier, and one who reminded him of himself, at that.

He dragged Ocelot away from the burning building and propped him up against the wall. He pulled Ocelot's keys out of his pocket. He couldn't have Arthur or himself being followed when they left.

The sound of the car engine turned his head. Arthur returned with a flat tire and three guards still behind him. They looked triumphant, as though they had corralled him back to the base. And given the amount of time he'd been gone, they might have been right.

Big Boss added a driving course to the list of training, pulled out his gun, and fired three rounds. The soldiers fell almost instantly from their motorbikes, each one rolling on the ground before coming to a stop in a heap of tangled body parts.

Arthur pulled up to a stop beside Big Boss with a grin on his face. "I did it!" he said, his eyes too wide, lit from within by the fire of triumph and from without by the blazes Big Boss had set.

Big Boss gave back a smirk. "I knew you could do it, Arthur."

"You did! And I did... I'm not unreliable at all. I did what I said I'd do!"

And if he'd needed a little help, there was certainly nothing wrong with that. And absolutely no reason to take anything away from Arthur's first victory by mentioning it. "We're going to be good partners," he said finally.

Arthur nodded, suddenly serious. "I was thinking in the car. You weren't here to let everyone free." Big Boss inclined his head. "You came here to blow up Algeirs, and you helped me do this instead."

Slightly wrong. Hadn't Arthur noticed that Big Boss himself had sabotaged the labs? No reason to say that, either. Let Arthur think he'd been more powerful than he had been. "I take recruiting seriously."

"You must," said Arthur with a small smile. His brow pulled together. "I don't understand it... but..." Arthur bit his lip.

"Don't worry about it," said Big Boss with a shrug.

"No, I--" Arthur looked down briefly, then leaned in to kiss Big Boss on the cheek. His eyes locked themselves with Big Boss' eye. "Thanks. I mean it."

Big Boss' eyebrows raised. "Mean what? A kiss on the cheek is supposed to mean something?" Big Boss shook his head. God damn it! What the hell was Arthur Emmerich playing at? "You're going to be reliable by--"

Arthur interrupted him by kissing him full on the lips.

Finally.

He pulled back abruptly, an angry look on his face that was gradually moving to nervousness as Big Boss said nothing. "L-look... I..."

"You're either on or off, aren't you," Big Boss mused as he took out a cigar. He offered one to Arthur, who shook his head. Arthur looked confused, so Big Boss put an arm around him. "We've got years ahead of us."

Big Boss laughed at Arthur's confused and slightly disappointed look. He was, what, the same age as Ocelot? Youth never understood patience.

He frowned. Arthur and Ocelot were the same age... That really made Arthur young, didn't it...

"Someone's coming out of the main building!" The shouts from the soldiers distracted him from his thoughts.

"K-Kayin," whispered Arthur.

"This has to stop," muttered Big Boss. "Come on, Arthur."

Big Boss grabbed Arthur's arm and more than half dragged him closer to the burning building. "No, he'll kill-- He's already killed Habil!"

"Has he? Then accuse him to his face!" There were a few things Big Boss had no patience for either.

"But--"

"Kayin! What the hell happened here?" Big Boss put on his best commanding voice. Kayin didn't respect him, had just killed his brother and committed treason, but there wasn't a military man with a rank below colonel that could ignore it. "Where's your brother? He should be overseeing this!"

"He's dead," said Kayin, his voice a little far away.

Arthur tried to pull away from the soot covered man, but Big Boss held him firmly in place. "I leave for a few minutes to pull this one back into the base, and I come back to this? Habil dead, the stores burning--" A particularly loud explosion blasted out debris, and Arthur tried to bring his arms up and move behind Big Boss, away from Kayin.

Kayin noticed the movement and blinked slowly, eyes turning inward for a moment before focusing on Arthur. "You," he said quietly. "Emmerich. Somehow you did this..."

Arthur shook his head and looked at Big Boss.

"Where are the rest of my soldiers, Emmerich?"

"I d-d-don't know," said Arthur. "M-maybe they ran off."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Arthur bit his lip and looked at Big Boss again. Kayin didn't give either of them the time to speak. "You! You killed Habil!"

"What... But you--" Arthur started.

" I valiantly tried to save my brother's life in there, but you had no respect! You shot him six times at close range, and that was probably the only way you could hit him!" Kayin jabbed a finger at Arthur. Big Boss let go of his new partner's arm. "The Russian government is going to... lobotomize you!"

"It was your g-gun! I don't even have a g-gun!"

"Sir, look at how he lies!" Kayin said to Big Boss. Big Boss raised an eyebrow. A guilty conscience was enough to make some men believe they'd been wrong about everything. This turn of opinion was... enlightening.

"Oh, right, I'm lying? If I'm l-lying, then what happened? Did I overpower y-you, who's got the military t-training? You've got to be k-kidding!"

"How did he get your gun, Lieutenant?" asked Big Boss with a small, probably superior smile on his face.

"I..." Kayin looked around as though searching for a solution. "He snuck in while I was sleeping. I woke to all this smoke pouring through the base! He's destroyed the munitions supplies, sir!"

"Oh, I can see they've--," started Big Boss.

"How do we know y- you didn't start the fire?" asked Arthur suddenly. "You killed your brother and then started this so that no one could find the body! That stuff in there is dangerous! Toxic! You know the kind of chemical cloud you can create like this?"

Chemical cloud? Big Boss glanced up surreptitiously at the thick black smoke. His people hadn't said anything about airborne chemicals. A chemical cloud was dangerous... it was probably time to leave. "Arthur," he said quietly through his teeth.

"Oh, we don't have anything like that in there," said Kayin dismissing Arthur's comments. "I know our supplies--"

"So you admit it! You started it!"

Kayin looked about as though finally noticing something. "Where are the rest of the scientists?"

"Gone," shouted Arthur. "Far enough that you'll never find any of them again, you... you... fratricide!"

"You little pissant. You really did set the fire." Kayin's eyes narrowed and he pulled his gun out. "You're going to regret blowing this mission."

Big Boss readied himself for a CQC hold, letting his cigar fall to the ground. Arthur took a step backward, then paused. "You've never got more than one extra clip on you," he said finally, his voice tight and his breathing starting to speed up. "So go ahead."

For a moment, it looked as though Kayin was going to back down. The hand holding the gun twitched and he put it back into the holster. He nodded at Arthur. "You're right," he said. "I'm out of ammo." He tilted his head back to stretch his neck and Big Boss allowed himself to relax.

Without warning Kayin's teeth clenched and he lunged at Arthur. Big Boss caught him mid-stride and threw him to the ground. Arthur jumped backwards. Big Boss leaned down. "You know and I know," he murmured into the other man's ear, "just who killed your brother. But don't you worry about it. No one's going to court martial you for his murder."

Big Boss pulled out a gun, one with live ammunition and placed it against Kayin's head. "Sh," whispered Big Boss when Kayin tried to say something. "You're going to live with his murder, and the pain and deaths of Arthur's friends that you caused. You know why? Because a true leader of men knows how to make his people do what he wants while they're protected, and a true leader knows that his men are his strength. You ate your strength out from under you, so now, you will have no strength."

"Big Boss?" Arthur knelt down next to him. "The smoke is... I think we should leave."

"Fatal?" he asked sharply, his eye still on the lieutenant.

"I don't think so, but it won't be good for our lungs..."

"Get in the car, then. Not mine, the other one." He threw Ocelot's keys at Arthur, who promptly dropped them in the sand. The scientist scrambled around for them for a moment, then headed to the car. "I'll be driving," he called out.

Big Boss took a breath and risked a glance upward. Arthur was right. The smokey cloud was beginning to descend. He returned his full attention to Kayin. "One day, you might find your guilty conscience hurts more than anything you can imagine," said Big Boss quietly. "But in the mean time, you're going to remember tonight. If I could cut out your heart and leave you alive..." He shook his head.

Over the years, he'd picked up a lot of knowledge that was useful in battle. One of those bits of wisdom was how to disable opponents. Permanently.

He fired two shots into Kayin's elbows, his gun silenced. Kayin yelled his pain out into the night. The soldiers were too busy fighting the fire to even notice it.

"That marks you, Kayin," said Big Boss, his voice quiet and yet above the screams. "As traitor to your family, traitor to your men, traitor to your superiors. Three times traitor." He spat on the man. "Goodbye, Kayin. May our paths never again cross."

He was still moaning as Big Boss stood and walked casually to the car, putting his gun back in his belt. When he got in, he strapped on his seat belt and started it up. Arthur was staring at Kayin from the passenger's side. "It's funny. I almost feel sorry for him. I don't even know why..."

Big Boss shrugged. "There's no such thing as an absolute enemy. A very wise person told me that once."

"He killed his brother, though, and for what? What was he killing for?" Arthur sounded frustrated.

Big Boss put the car into drive. "What everyone kills for. What they think is right."

"Is that why you kill? Why you were going to destroy Algeirs?" Big Boss didn't quite know how to answer that, so he just started driving out of the compound. "What did you say your name was again?"

"I didn't," said Big Boss.

"No. I guess you didn't at that, did you.**"

Big Boss smirked and reached for his belt as they started to gain speed. "Here," he said, "have some water."

This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. -- Winston Churchill

Notes

* 'Over' means 'I have finished speaking and am awaiting a reply.' 'Out' means 'I have finished the communication.' 'Over' and 'Out' should NEVER be used together in serious radio communication.

** High Plains Drifter, conversation between Mordecai and the Stranger

(In other words... to be continued...)
- 9
- 10
- 11
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Brothers in Arms