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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
- 4
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- 6
Generals speak often of their military duty to their superiors, but never of their duty to their soldiers. - Helmut Lindmann

"Relieved? Dismissed?" Kayin threw his hat down onto his soft bed. At least there were some benefits to this army. "I will not let him do that to me. Bad enough I have to fight my own men, but he expects me to give them what they don't deserve! Mercy to a traitor? And I suppose he'd have me give work to the laziest men on the base, and wine to the soldiers thrown here for drunk and disorderly conduct."
Kayin looked in his mirror. His face was almost red from his boiling blood. He poured himself a mug of water and downed it, wiping his chin as it dripped out of his mouth. "He knows nothing of power, or fame, or respect." He poured himself some more and drank it quickly. "A soldier without any real education. A man who lost his eye! A successful man? Ha."
He tossed the mug against the wall and smiled as it hit with a sickening crack. Water stained the stones black. "And who is it that trusts him more than my own dear brother? He sees no villain unless that man comes with a rifle. A vain killer can smile, with his pistol hidden under his smile, with his safety off and sparks flying, but Habil? He'll only see the glitter of a man's straight teeth."
He pulled off his tie, then the other accoutrements: the belt, the sash, the jacket. Russian uniforms were uncomfortable in the extreme when one wasn't in the motherland.
"And who but Habil would take the side of that man over his own family? Armies kill, battalions die, but they fall together as family!"
He carefully undid the top button. "Does my brother think of me? I gave up my chances at all the things I wanted so that he might rise through the ranks." He undid the next as carefully as the first. "And now he wants to become more, yet leave me behind here? He'd do best to listen so someone who has his interests near and dear to his own heart, like me. I can see straight through the lies..." He paused then undid the third. "I'm a wiser man than he. I can see that man for what he is: a liar and a cheap betrayer who will lead us both to ruin!" He pulled the shirt away, causing the final buttons to fall speedily to the floor, tinkling against the rocks. He started, then threw the shirt away with an angry shake of his head.
"Why must Habil trust this stranger? I could lead us both to safety, away from this man, but no!" His pants he took some care not to damage as he pulled them off and folded them onto the bed.
Showers were a thing limited to command out here where water was so expensive. Kayin knew he was going to relish every drop as he turned the water on and let it run. "Why, Habil? Why trust this man? Who leads your mission, you or him?"
Kayin growled and tested the water. "Dismissed, relieved... I've worked for years, and ideas that changed the face of war were mine alone: gas and explosives, destruction and arms."
Kayin stepped into the stream of water and let it course down him. Too hot for this time of day, he turned the temperature down until it was ice-cold. It was a pleasure he was certain none of the bastards below him had the chance to feel. "Inspiring fools is a task for rank and file, not for a man like me. I have brains, unlike the rest of them. My sycophantic peons can understand only the most lowly of my thoughts." He shook his head violently. "They don't even understand the most basic of concepts that I show them, despite the fact that their pretenses. Why else would they be unable to implement them?"
He pulled his soap from the chain that held it to the shower head.
"I could show them the universe, if they were intelligent enough to understand it. And him!" Kayin spat the word out with such force that the water seemed to almost pull back from it. "He think they know what they're doing better than I do. Not only that, but he thinks the men will trust him with their lives."
Kayin leaned his head against the warm stone of the shower stall as the icy rivulets flowed down his back. "Oh, I'll see to it that they can trust him with nothing," he murmured. "Trustworthy men? They're Russia's dregs, damaged long before they came to this base, to my command." He pushed himself up and away from the wall. "What's he think that he can prove? Giving trust to men so untrustworthy, giving choice to men without loyalty... it's waste."
He shut the taps off and grabbed his towel as he stepped out, watching the water flow down the drain. "And controlling science is a task for a man with strength and wisdom, brains and will. It's not something for a hired gun to do. Might as well ask a foot soldier to control an entire army. Science is deadly and powerful."
His hair dripped. He let it continue dripping and went into his room, staring at the uniform he'd left half-falling off of his bed. He took another shirt and began to dress again. "Relieved!" He bit it off as if it were a curse. "Dismissed!"
Kayin frowned and his eyebrows drew together. "In my own office, he gave the order, but I can see his true intentions. He's intending to push my brother into being a traitor, leading him there by example!"
He scowled. If only he hadn't broken the cup, he'd have something to throw now. He poured the water into his hands and drank, throwing the water off once he was finished. "I have a fool for a brother. He gives me scorn and shame by backing this man in return for nothing."
Water wasn't good enough for this. Kayin walked to the locked cabinet at the end of his bed where he kept his stronger drink and opened it, pulling out a bottle of wine. There was something he could do, of course. This newcomer wasn't the only one in charge. There was Ocelot. He was the one ultimately in charge, had more seniority. Talking to him would be a problem, with the communications down and the radio silence, but it had to be done. "There is no choice for me. I only hope I've the strength to disobey. The man's a traitor," he said quietly to the bottle. He grabbed another glass from within and poured slowly.
Habil was infatuated. It was Kayin's familial duty to save him from himself. "He pursue the regard of that man with all the intensity of a hopeful lover, but I swear, that man will fall and I will be the instrument of his demise," said Kayin, circling the wine and sniffing it. In the heat here, it could easily have turned to vinegar, but it hadn't.
He closed his eyes and sipped the liquid. It burned like the desert sun as it went down, but somehow it steadied him.
"There is but one choice for me. I'll tell our finest colonel. Then we'll see who will be known as dismissed. I will gain his power. Both their power. And I'll throw them down." He drank again, but more deeply, steadily. "I'll show you power can't be bought, Habil."
Kayin placed a cork back into the bottle and gently placed it into the cabinet. Locking the cabinet, he smiled. "I will tell Ocelot."

"That idiot... can't even lock his own door!"
Big Boss was having a hard time holding back his grin as he turned off his transceiver, automatically deactivating the bug in Kayin's room. The lieutenant was definitely free with his words when he was alone. Insubordinate? More like mutinous. It had been almost amusing to listen to him, especially when he could also hear Habil's complaints at the same time through the other ear.
Habil had been muttering about Kayin and nepotism since Big Boss had finished talking to Arthur. Probably since before that, though asking the guards was not an option. He hadn't heard a single good word towards the Major's brother. In fact, he'd perhaps been worse in what he'd said about Kayin.
"Major, perhaps you're being too hard on him. It isn't really his fault he was promoted beyond his skill," said Big Boss as he examined his gun for sand in the mechanism. The SAA was a good gun, but it was as prone as any other to jamming from lack of care. "His superior officers should have paid more attention."
Habil stopped speaking for a moment, his eyes widening as he looked down quickly. "Yes, sir," he said softly. He wiped his hands on his dark brown trousers.
Big Boss threw him a smile. "Don't feel bad, Habil. I'm sure you were just acting out of... loyalty." The kind of loyalty that made men blind and deaf. In some ways, Arthur was right. Loyalty really was overrated in some cases.
"And what am I supposed to do about it now?" Habil pulled his hat off and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "If he stops me from going up in the ranks... I don't understand how he can be so incompetent."
"No one has ever challenged him on his practices before, have they?" Big Boss took the bullets out of the gun, then pointed it at the ceiling and pulled the trigger, just to be certain. Safety really was important around weapons. Safety and security.
"No, I suppose not." Habil stalked over to Big Boss, his feet making crunchy noises as they landed. Sand and stones, that was all there was out here. "Tell me something. Am I up for promotion, sir?"
Big Boss shrugged and looked down the long metal barrel. "Not for me to say at this point, Habil." It seemed good enough... field stripping the thing would take only seconds, but even in this relatively safe place, Big Boss hesitated to completely disarm himself for even a moment. There was always a possibility of something happening... "Not for me to say."
It was the sand, really. It got everywhere. Especially when one rolled about in it. It was the reason why the Major's boots were crunching, it had been in Big Boss's shirt this morning, and he'd seen it in his holster just a few minutes ago. It might be just a few whitish grains, but proper gun care was always important.
"We're a little bit behind now, sir. Kayin thought we could reach the objective by adding a few hours to the day, but with the sabotage, I'm not sure how we're going to make the deadline. There's only a few more days."
Big Boss raised an eyebrow. "Well, missing a strict deadline isn't going to get you noticed in a good way." He put the bullets back in the gun. "It can be offset, of course." It wasn't his favorite kind of handgun: Russian models were never as well made as their American counterparts. Even the simplicity of a single action just wasn't the same with a Russian. They did have some excellent work on submachine guns, though.
"I can't turn on my brother like that," said Habil quietly. He put his hat back on.
Big Boss shrugged. "It's not turning away from him. It's keeping your eyes on your country." He put the gun back in the holster, then lifted his head to make eye contact with the other man. "Look, it shouldn't be your problem that he makes terrible mistakes. I know he's family, but your first duty isn't to him."
Habil turned around and shook his head. He simply stood there, thinking. Big Boss frowned as the silence lengthened. It kept growing between them. Big Boss bit his tongue as the temptation to say something more grew larger.
After five minutes of silent waiting, Big Boss took off his medal and walked to Habil's side. "You see this, soldier?" The major nodded. "I didn't let anyone, fried or foe, stay me from my duty."
Habil looked at the golden medal for a moment more, then nodded. "I understand, sir."
Big Boss put it back, the pin pushing through the fabric of his uniform with a little effort. "You're a good officer, Habil," he murmured. And he meant it- he might be too easily manipulated, but he considered his underlings, he considered his country, he considered his superiors, and he tried to do the best thing for all of them. "Now then. Let's talk about the timeline."
Habil nodded. "Yessir. The operation takes place in three days."
"Let's be more precise, major," said Big Boss as he looked pointedly at one of the overhead clocks that lined the operations room.
"Two days and..." he paused and looked at a different clock, one that was labeled as 'Algeirs.' "13 hours."
Habil turned and pulled a map from the metal cabinet behind them, spreading it out over the table. "The men land here in a Hind-D." He jabbed his finger down on the map at a place marked with a cyrillic rho. "They'll head to the entrance of the underground sewers. They should make it there in approximately three hours. From there, they have the time to get in, and around three minutes to get out and to the safe houses here and here."
"And what about the training schedule?"
"The men haven't been able to get your speed yet, sir, but you really inspired them, and-" The sound of heavy footsteps caused a break in Habil's speech as Kayin entered the room.
"Do continue, brother."
Habil looked at Kayin for a long moment, his eyes lingering over his brother's wet hair and impeccable dress. Big Boss kept the frown from his face. With the water rationing as strict as it was for the men, the waste was unconscionable. When their eyes met, Kayin nodded and Habil lifted an eyebrow before continuing. "The men have been improving daily. I don't know that they'll be able to improve enough for the target speed, but we might have a way around that. You really inspired them; they've been trying twice as hard to make those times, but I think you're just in better shape than they are, sir.
"As for the science, this morning's sabotage will put us behind for this mission, but the minimum explosives required are already stockpiled upstairs in the armory. It will make things more difficult during the operation, but it shouldn't set us back."
"How about the equipment? We're not sending them in with only explosive material," said Big Boss. His eye drifted to Kayin, who had a sour expression on his face. Kayin had to be confined to quarters or he'd break radio silence, and the best way to do it was going to be by getting the man to blow up at his superior officers. "Science is well and good, but you can't trust everything to it."
Kayin's face took on the look of a greatly insulted man, but it was still Habil who spoke. "Sir, they'll be equipped with light firearms and radios. We can't have too much equipment since they'll be in the city for a few days after the mission. It would be too easy for the enemy to find huge stores of weapons. A group of men with only light weaponry and equipment might be mistaken for travellers."
Big Boss nodded. "So. With all the money that is spent on research and," Big Boss gave Kayin's dripping hair a dark look, "researchers, the equipment upstairs, with the exception of the explosives, is going to be useless?"
"Of course it's going to be used! All the work we've done is-"
"Kayin!" Habil silenced his brother with a hard look. "It will be used, sir, but not in this mission."
Big Boss nodded again. Habil was good at keeping his brother in line. There would have to be more pressure put to them both. "Good." Habil was still looking at his brother out of the corner of his eye. It seemed obvious enough that the Major wanted to talk to his Lieutenant brother without the watchful eyes of his commander. "I have some things to take care of. I'll see you later. Major." He gave Habil a salute, which the other man quickly reciprocated. Kayin gave a sketchy one back before turning to his brother, fury in his eyes.
Big Boss walked calmly out of the room, careful not to speed or slow his steps. As soon as he was out, he pulled himself into a shadow.
Eavesdropping was definitely one of the more interesting parts of this job. He could see Habil's face through the door as the man paced. His brother must have leaned against a wall next to the door. Big Boss couldn't see him.
The two were silent with each other for a long while before, finally, and with no preamble, Kayin said what was perhaps the last things Big Boss wanted to hear. "I want to talk to Colonel Ocelot."
Shit.
This was going to make for complications. Big Boss hated complications on a mission. It tended to mean more people died.
"What part of radio silence don't you understand, Kayin?"
"More than you do, apparently. Don't you think it's strange that this man comes in without any advance warning and orders radio silence?" Big Boss frowned.
"It would be hard for the colonel to give word to us early when the communications went down. And what caused that? I'll bet the same thing as all the other communications problems we've had at this base: you and your complete inability to control the researchers. How many times have they tried some new and innovative technique at disturbing the communications of the enemy?"
Big Boss grinned. Disturbing the communications of the enemy was a good thing, really. But if you didn't give your techies something to play with, they played with what they had. This of course was your own systems. If you had a researcher, you had to give him something to work on. The fact that the brothers didn't seem to have learned this lesson was, at the very least, amusing.
"They only did that once, you know I've cracked down on anything that could lead to-"
"One time is too often!" Habil roared. Big Boss agreed. For someone with a university degree, Kayin wasn't very smart. "You weren't paying attention to them then, and you're not paying attention to our orders now. That man is a decorated war hero. Maybe if you weren't so busy playing the mad scientist you would understand what that means."
"It means you won't question him, or his orders, or even his loyalties," spat Kayin. "How do we know he's who he says he is?"
"He ran through our training setups like a pro." Habil shook his head. "He is a professional. I don't need to question his loyalties. He inspires the men to work harder. Something that you haven't been able to do with either soldiers or scientists, I notice. Are you jealous of him?"
"Of a soldier? Soldiers are nothing but pawns." Habil raised an eyebrow and Kayin walked to him, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. "No offense to you, Habil." Kayin shook his head and his voice took on a more pleading tone. "Habil, we're brothers. We should be honest with one another. Family is so important: you only get one family. It has to be important to you."
Habil breathed out sharply. "That's really similar to what he said, you know. Except that your loyalties are the wrong way around. It's our country that's the most important thing."
"Our country? Or what you think is a promotion?" Big Boss leaned forward slightly to catch the glare. This was a sore point. "Don't think I'm stupid, Habil. I went to the finest university in Russia, I graduated-"
"You're very smart, Kayin. No one's saying you're not smart. But I don't think you know how to lead and at this point I don't think you're even cut out to be more than rank and file."
"This isn't about loyalty to your country, it's about placing blame and getting a promotion. You sicken me, Habil."
"You think I care more about a promotion? Kayin, you listen. You've been bordering on insubordination. You're ignoring him- a superior officer- and I'm the one who's going to be called to task on all this."
"Called to task? You've been ponying up to him since he got here. He's not taking you to task. If someone's going down, we both know he's going to go after me. He's an illiterate soldier, and he doesn't deserve your respect."
Illiterate? Big Boss pressed himself further into the shadow and raised an eyebrow. The man couldn't expect promotions when he talked about superior officers like that. Not that Big Boss was thinking about giving either of them a job.
"You want to talk about respect? You give no respect to your superiors; your inferiors give no respect to you. Look at that Emmerich." Ah, here was something worth listening to. Big Boss smiled. "He's tried to leave four times. Have you made him a villain amongst his peers? No, he's a hero," said Habil. "Who has more respect, you or an incompetent escape artist? And if it weren't bad enough that they look to him as their hero, they turn to him for scientific leadership too. You think me a fool, Kayin? My soldiers don't turn to anyone except me when they have problems."
"You? Or him," Kayin laughed. "You're deluding yourself."
These were major problems. These were weak points that had been growing for as long as these two had been at this base.
"And you're walking dangerously close to mutiny," Habil said quietly. "Do you want a court martial? That's where you're headed right now." They stared at each other for a moment, the anger flowing off them like waves. "Get your priorities in order, brother. Or I'll be forced to bring it down on you."
Big Boss pressed his back into the wall as Habil stalked out of the room, his eyes fiery, too focussed on controlling his anger to see anything on his way. "We'll see who gets it." Kayin's voice floated out of the room, apparently too faintly for Habil to hear. Kayin left the room soon after, a sour expression on his face.
Big Boss took a breath in and let it out slowly, then stepped out of the shadows with a smile.

Notes

Thanks, Diana. I love your reviews. I'm glad you like the story so far, and I'm going to update every monday for... well, this has 10 chapters written out, so for at least another 5 weeks.
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Brothers in Arms