"Hold it, Snake. Time to change the disc. I know, I know. It's a pain. But you need to swap Disc1 for Disc2. You see the disc labeled '2'?" Otacon stops them before they proceed any further.
What? Like old PlayStation games?
"No." Snake answers "Huh? Oh, wait! We're on a PS3 system! It's a Blue-ray disc, dual-layered too. No need to swap!" Otacon exclaims. "Damn it, Otacon! Get a grip!" Snake grunts. "Yeah, what an age we live in, huh, Snake? I wonder what they'll think of next!"
Storm's heart beats rapidly and her breathing gets heavier as her mind struggles to process this.
PS3.
The video game console.
'We're on a PS3 system'.
'If you need it, just bring up the START button menu.'
Snake looks over to see her eyes quickly flicking around the passage in silent panic. "Hey. You alright?" he asks. With a great amount of effort, she focuses back on him and eventually nods "Yeah." she answers quietly. He doubts it but there's not much they can do at the moment, so instead they continue forward.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They proceed into the blast furnace to find that it's frozen over. He leads the way to the large door between them and the elevator that goes up to REX. Trying the door, he finds that it won't open. "Otacon, how do I get this door open?" he asks "It's not opening? That's weird. I know I disengaged security back at the lab."
"We should have been able to get to REX's storage hangar from here." Snake grumbles "I've got it. If memory serves, there are casting and rolling facilities directly beneath the furnace. You should be able to pass through them to a drainage duct that leads to the hangar." Otacon informs them.
"How do we get there?" "There should be a special service elevator in the northwest corner of this floor." "Northwest corner. Got it."
They find the elevator and step inside; Otacon sends it down to the basement.
'Snake, I've got something to tell you about Naomi Hunter.'
'What is it?'
'She might be a spy!'
'To kill me? Is that all you cared about?'
'Frank Jeager, the man who you destroyed, was my brother and my only family.'
'Gray Fox?'
'You killed my benefactor and sent my brother home a cripple. I vowed revenge.'
'But I can't go yet. I still have a job to do.'
'I vowed revenge....'
The lift stops and they step out into the casting and rolling rooms to find that they're swarming with security cameras and scarabs. Snake lets out a gruff sigh and grabs a chaff grenade, tossing it up in the air and catching it again before pulling the pin and throwing it.
"I'm too old to deal with these." he comments as they run through the room. He continues doing this for each facility until the reach the next elevator "Finally. It's just up ahead. The hangar is just a little bit further. Stay en route." Otacon says as they reach the final hangar.
"REX is on the floor above you guys. Use the lift." Snake scans the area, recalling seeing the Metal Gear here all those years ago "Hop on. I'll send 'er up." Otacon tells them. Storm picks the MK III up and places it on the platform and then climbs on after Snake.
The MK III sticks its cable into an outlet in the floor and the lift starts moving up. Once they arrive at the hangar, they quickly scan the area before shifting their attention to the wreckage.
"REX!"
She's seen pictures of it but is still amazed by seeing it in person. She walks over to it and stands by one of the huge legs, gazing up at it in wonder. They watch her standing boldly in front of the beast and Snake gets flashbacks of his old friend. "Look! The rail gun's been removed! Liquid doesn't need the whole REX to launch his nuke....he only needs the rail gun."
"Damn it! Has it already been shipped?" "Hang on, I'll check." the MK III rolls up to where Storm is and opens a panel on one of the feet, connecting its cable to a circuit inside. "I'm afraid so." a horribly familiar voice announces from somewhere above them.
Storm closes her eyes, grits her teeth, and draws her sword "Just DIE already!" she hisses under her breath. "Unfortunately for you, the rail gun is no longer here." he continues. Naomi appears behind Vamp with her arms wrapped around him "Naomi!" Snake growls.
"This place will be your grave...as my Queen wishes. The suicide gekko are on their way. Soon there will be nothing left of this place." "We've been had. Otacon!" "I think I might be able to get it working. I just need some time!" "Hurry!" Naomi smiles at Vamp "I'll leave the rest to you." she says before leaving.
He jumps to the floor without taking any notice of Storm "Excellent. You can amuse me until they arrive." he says to Snake "Come on. Kill me!"
Suddenly, Storm tackles him from behind, taking him by surprise. "Why. Won't. You. DIE?!" she screams as she punches him repeatedly in the face, sitting on his chest. He tries to push her off but she quickly stabs his hand into the floor and does the same with his other hand. She keeps stabbing knives into his arms until the trail leads up to his shoulders.
"Syringe." she orders, holding her hand out to Snake who watches the whole thing with shock. He pulls one out and places it in her hand, catching on to what she's about to do. Vamp hisses angrily at her and struggles to free himself, but to no avail. She stabs the syringe into his neck and injects him.
"You...what have you done?" he asks weakly "Now you're a mere mortal. Like the rest of us." she says, throwing the used syringe onto the floor as she gets to her feet. "Clever, my little beauty. But can you kill this mere mortal?" he challenges. She turns around to see him pulling the knives out by hooking the handles between the claws on his boots.
She begins to pull her sword out, but suddenly gekko start flooding the area. "Gekko!" Snake shouts, readying his gun "Look out! those gekko are rigged to self-destruct!" Otacon shouts as they advance. Storm unsheathes her sword and starts slicing them apart, but when she looks over to the remaining gekko, she finds that they're already dealt with.
She lands back on the ground and sees Raiden next to her. "Snake.Storm. Sorry to have kept you all waiting." he says as they stand up at the same time. "You ready for this?" Snake asks "Sunny gave me the 'go-ahead'." he assures them.
Suddenly they hear a small gasp and turn to see a blade sticking out of her chest, right through the heart. The room falls silent except for the quiet, painful groan that escapes her as the blade is withdrawn. She looks down and slowly touches her hand to the rapidly spreading red spot on her shirt.
Raiden stares in horror as the ground tilts out from under her and she begins to fall, looking into his eyes, desperately trying to communicate something to him. He catches her before she hits the ground and gently lowers her to the floor. "Storm...." he trails off, still trying to accept that she's dying.
"I'm sorry."
Her last words to him before closing her eyes. He looks down at her, struggling to understand. "Why? Why would she suddenly appear after six years, only to be killed the next day?" he asks himself quietly. "Raiden..." Snake places a hand on his young friend's shoulder.
"It's not fair." the cyborg mumbles "Raiden. I'm sorry. I truly am. You only spoke to her twice, but I know she means a lot to you. She means a lot to me too." "After protecting me with her life. Before I even got to know her. She doesn't deserve to die this way....This story better have a damn-good ending!"
He springs to his feet and turns to Vamp with a fire raging in his eyes. "How about it, undying man. Care to die too?" Vamp asks from on top of REX "....I can't die just yet." Raiden growls, his voice dripping with venom.
"Then kill me." Vamp says as he takes out his knives and licks one of them, lustfully. "Snake. This one is mine. You keep those gekko at bay." Raiden tells his friend before jumping on top of REX to fight Vamp one last time.
