Part 40: Episode XXX: Black Arts Viper
"...and now is the time for you to die."
"Where's Chris?" "Patience is a virtue, Snake. You'll see her soon enough." "Viper, I know about Black Chamber being Fox-Hound's shadow. But why revenge? What happened two years ago?" "We can do this before or after you get a few more air holes. Your choice. The rest of your team preferred the latter..." "All right. I'll tell you about it, and having learned what your crimes are, you'll rot in hell..." "And you are aware that I have been retired since Outer Heaven and have literally met none of you until today." *shakes fist* "As if that matters!" *grumbles and lights a FOGGER* "...Didn't think so." "Two years ago, we the Black Chamber were given a top secret mission..."
Black Chamber Theme
"The recovery of Metal Gear." "!?" "Metal Gear's development had been underway for several years at that point, under CIA supervision. A South American terrorist group seized it two years ago, and Black Chamber was sent in. Just as you were this time." "....." "...So let me get this straight... The US Government had ANOTHER nuclear giant robot it lost over the years? How does that even happen...?" "The Clinton Administration was a turbulent time for security against giant robots on all fronts. As I was saying..." "We took heavy damage - but succeeded in destroying Metal Gear. But some in the government were afraid. That the fact of Metal Gear's development, the existence of Black Chamber, and above all else, the work we had been doing, would become public knowledge... When we came home, many of the unit missing, the rest wounded, we were met by government- sent assassins - Fox-Hound!" "What!?"
"...trap. Without a chance, without even knowing why, senseless and sudden death - crushed like insects..."
"I still don't know who ordered our deaths. The real name appears nowhere on classified records. He is only referred to as - 'Anonymous.'" " 'Anonymous'?"] *shakes fist* "Anonymous!" "Anonymous'...?" "Yes! Anonymous!! Stop repeating things in the form of a question!" "Those of us who survived vowed vengeance - and I settled here. Outer Heaven, Metal Gear, Project Babel... it all began here... I have waited two years for this moment!!"
"I'm sure it was worth the wait."
*finger snap*Chris literally appears out of nowhere in the corner...
"Snake... I'm sorry..." "She's really something. Even let her Delta Force pals die while she got busy destroying evidence of Project Babel." "That might have more impact if I knew what the hell that even meant." "Hahaha. What's it feel like to be ignorant of all but the basic details of everything happening around you?" *grumbles* "It gets very old, very fast. But after the twentieth time, you get used to it..." "As a reward from Parker, I will let her see the show - of the end of the 'Legend,' the execution of Solid Snake!" "No, Chris is coming with me - after I take you down." "I'm going to enjoy this! C'mon, show what you've got!"Viper snaps his fingers and Chris vanishes again...
Yeah. We could but... you know I've sort of got a formula where I hear from the team first... Don't want to break the chain toward the end here, ya know?
140.85! Go!
"You need to get Sergeant Jenner out with you! Watch out for the wire traps he's rigging!"At least Campbell keeps it consistent...
141.80! Ho!
"...a man they call one of the best professionals of war, along with you and me. When he's on the battlefield, the explosions start and the enemy begins dying one after the other... Other soldiers don't even understand what's happening around them. It's like he has some kind of black magic... That's where the moniker of Black Arts comes from. But he's no warlock. Behind all the tricks, his magic is a set of brilliantly intricate wire and mine traps. Keep a lookout for those traps, Snake!"I want Snake to fight a warlock. Or maybe Big Boss. Snake would fight one but it would turn out all his magical spells were actually nanoma-
"Snake, watch out for his left arm. The prosthetic is fitted with a whole bag of tricks Don't take your eyes of that left arm!"And this is false for the battle at hand. At least, I've never seen Viper use his arm to do jack. He's too busy... well, you'll see...
"Viper appeared out of nowhere two years ago. None of us could figure out how a mercenary of that caliber could be a complete unknown but... If he was with this Black Chamber, a kind of shadow commando who never see the light of day -- then everything makes sense..."I like to imagine that every superpowered mercenary and group of extremist nutjob with crazy powers has their own fanpages and Facebook groups in the Metal Gear universe.
"Viper, the poisonous snake. Viper, Snake... Guess he named himself after you -- more like against you. Must have wanted to surpass you even from the Black Chamber days..."
"You'd think people would give the 'Legend' thing a rest after half a decade..." "You're literally the only man to single-handedly take on a giant robot and win in the world. That's kind of a big deal. I mean you'd have to basically fist fight a dinosaur to top that." "....."One more story for the road...
"I remember and army medico who examined Viper talking about it. She said she couldn't believe her eyes. It must be the wounds from that battle two years ago, but apparently the man is falling apart from the inside, he isn't even supposed to be breathing on his own according to the doc. I guess it's only the thought of that revenge that's kept him alive..."So Viper is powered only by pure thoughts of Revengeance... Does that mean if Viper kills Snake, he'll immediately crumple into a pile of goop upon fist pumping in victory? Cuz I'd totally love to see that as a special death sequence.
141.52! Yo!
"...the leader of Black Chamber shouldn't be able to get to you."And the obligatory "you're the 'Legend' whatever dude finish the damn mission already" from McBride to balance things out. Alrighty then. Let's rumble...
Click to watch Black Arts Viper Boss Battle
Resurrection (Metal Gear Ac!d 2)
Alrighty. It's time to throw down with the leader of Black Chamber:
Viper is an extremely gimmicky boss battle. His main tactic is running the hell away to either the northeast or southwest corner of the room. While he does this, a series of wires rigged with explosives will randomly spawn between pillars in the area. Once they appear, the wires will quickly become invisible after a couple seconds. We could throw on the Thermal Goggles to see the position of the wires. But frankly it's a waste of time since they randomize again every 10-15 seconds.
Instead the best tactic is to just run as far along a clear path as we can initially see and then duck and crawl until between pillars until the wires reshuffle. It seems Viper only rigs his explosives at chest level instead of foot. Kind of the opposite of how most boobytraps go but I'm not the Black Arts expert.
Viper's secondary attack is spawning a pair of mines beneath Snake's feet if he lingers in one area too long (i.e. crawling everywhere instead of just between pillars. The mines will form under Snake's feet and there's a couple of second lag between when they appear and when they explode. It's best to vacate the spot before that happens.
As far as actually killing Viper goes, the trick is pretty much just getting to the corner of the room he's camped out and spraying the rifle at him. After taking a hit, Viper will run to the opposite corner.
Lather, rinse, and repeat a dozen times or so and we have a less than impressive conclusion to Black Chamber's #1...
And so ends Stage 11. You're right, Ghost Babel. I'd rank it as Terrible too.