Part 3: Phone Tag

Episode Three: Phone Tag

Hey again guys, and happy MLK Jr. day. This update's gonna be one big phone call/exposition update, so I hope you brought snacks.

Music: Comm Base



When we left off, Snake was headed off to the Communications base with the intent of calling in some support.




: This must be the communications base. The communicator I'm looking for is in that building...



Thanks for the note, Snake. There's a brief gameplay section here, but there's really no use exploring the area just yet. We'll be returning here shortly, and when we do, we'll be able to grab a few things.



There's literally one guard between us and our objective. Taking him out isn't a problem in the slightest, as he's perhaps the second-least-attentive guard on duty on this base.



Through this door and to the right is what we came for, the radio. This portion of the first mission is really friggen' short... if it wasn't for the radio call itself.




: This is Snake. If anybody can hear this, please respond.



Oh, hey Paramedic! What's on the menu today?

: Is it you? Is this the real Naked Snake?

: That voice... Para-Medic?

: It's me! It's been a while, huh, Snake?



: Same here. It'd be even better if I weren't in this god-forsaken place.



: Major Zero kept it just in case. He said if you were safe, you might try to use it to contact us. To be honest, I never really expected you to call. But I'm glad you did.

: Yeah, me too. But why are you on the line? Where's the Major?



: The military... the Pentagon arrested the Major? Why?

: He's being held under suspicion of treason. I don't know the details, but a month ago, a CIA unit stole a top-secret weapon guarded by the military and fled the country. They're charging the Major with instigating the revolt.



: Me?

: The military believes you spearheaded the rebellion.

: You've got to be kidding me, I'm retired from FOX!

: I know, Snake. Calm down and listen to me. The CIA unit... the one that stole the prototype weapon and executed the revolt. Its name was FOX. Meaning the FOX Unit is your next target!



: What are they after?

: I don't know. Any members of FOX who didn't join the rebellion were killed. The unit is in shambles.

: I don't believe this.

: I know how you feel. You know why the military suspects you, don't you, Snake?



: ...solo missions and killed all those who opposed.



: ...Done in by my own overblown reputation. Are you the only one there?

: For now, at least. But Sigint's helping us out over at ARPA.



: Right. His frequency is 148.41

We're halfway through this infodump!

At this point, we're kicked out of the dialog with Paramedic, woefully without the nutritional information about your typical Columbian wildlife.




: I hear you got yourself in a bad mess out there.

: Mr. Sigint... Looks like I need your help again.

: Aw, man, it's cool. We've been through a lot together. With your skills, it shouldn't be too hard to find your way out of there.

I don't see how Sigint's been through 'a lot' with Snake considering in MGS3 he was both technically unnecessary and the token Nastascha role in the grand scheme of things. Oh well. A man can have his delusions!



: Huh?

: We need evidence that proves your innocence. Otherwise, we're gonna end up court-martialed for helping you.

: I see what you're saying, but I can't do it. We're not just talking about rogue FOX members here. They've got the Russian soldiers based on the peninsula on their side.

: Yeah. That's what we heard, too. It looks like they took over the chain of command for a Red Army unit that was secretly stationed inside Colombian territory.



: I thought this seemed a little strange for an official military operation. They got the soldiers that were already stationed here to join them.

: Hearts and minds... the bread and butter of Special Forces. Anyway, because of that, neither the U.S. nor the Soviet Union can get involved publicly.

: If the world found out that the Russians built a nuclear sub base in Colombia, or that America had one of their most advanced weapons stolen, there'd be hell to pay.



: ...negotiations for independence with the U.S. and the Soviet Union.



: So, in other words, they've got the force strength necessary to back up these crazy demands. And I can't expect any backup from home.

: And you want me, on my own, to go in and capture the ringleader of this rebellion?



: If the rebels managed to get the local militia on their side, who's to say you can't do the same thing?

: You're saying I should convince the Russians and the rebels to join my side?

: It's not that complicated, man. Just think of it as procuring your allies on site.



I'm fairly certain that's not what they had in mind when they thought of that phrase, Sigint.

: You're kidding, right? This isn't the same as catching fish and snakes, you know.

: You gotta try, Snake. Otherwise, everybody's gonna be gunning for you -- the rebels, AND the Pentagon.



: Oh, I do have some good news, too. As luck would have it, we just sent a scout unit to the peninsua to gather intelligence. It's an SFG unit.

: The Green Berets? Here?

: We lost contact with them a little while ago, but there might still be some survivors. If you rescue them, they'll help you out.



And that's the second half of the plot dump! That doesn't, however, mean we're done yet. Now Snake's hoofing it back to Roy because HEY THE GREEN BERETS ARE PROBABLY DEAD. GO TALK TO THE ONLY SURVIVOR.



: Snake, what are you doing back here?

: Found a key. Thought you might be interested in it...

: Did you call for help?

: Nobody's coming.




: That's insane.

: And unless I clear my name, they're not putting me back into the country -- and we can forget about someone coming to rescue us.



: Track down the real roots of FOX's rebellion.

: ...



: What?

: I need your help to pull this off.

: Me?

: Yeah. I need your skills as a Green Beret.



: What's so crazy about----?

: Look at me. My leg's broken. I can barely walk. And I've had this nasty fever for days...

: All right. Why don't you drive instead of walk?



: On a base this big, there's bound to be a personnel transport vehicle or two lying around.

: Well, yeah, but...

: And you don't need your legs to fire a gun... right?

: ...

: So are you with me?

: ...

: Roy!



: Great. I owe you one.

: (Geez, who'd have thought the legendary Big Boss would be this pushy...)

: I'm leaving my spare radio with you. If anything happens, call me. We'll use frequency 140.85.

(There's actually a tutorial here for the radio and how you're supposed to use it, but for you guys, I'm cutting it out. It's pretty much the same as every other codec/radio in the series.)

: I'll give you a ring if I start to get lonely.

And now, we're finally done with the first mission. Huzzah!