Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriot by Project Itoh Page A

day. “We’ve got twenty hours until we land. I’ll have a look at the documents. And I’d like to have a smoke while I have the chance. Otacon, have you seen where mine went?”
    “Sorry Snake, I can’t tell you.”
    I shrugged. He eyed me with suspicion but didn’t press.
    Since I didn’t know where Sunny had hidden them, I wasn’t exactly telling a lie.
    2
    AFTER FLIGHT CLEARANCE was granted by the local air force, Nomad touched down at El Dorado. Sunny pressed the button to lower the hatch. The thinness of the outside air startled her.
    The air was thin. El Dorado International Airport was over eight thousand feet above sea level—an elevation high enough for air pressure to significantly affect the boiling point of water. I wondered if that would affect the taste of her eggs. Could it possibly be for the worse?
    You might have inferred this already, because air traffic control was being performed by the military, but the El Dorado Airport was jointly a civilian and a military airport. The air force was in full presence, with old C-130s scattered everywhere. America had probably sold them off decades ago.
    “I think those are PMC transport craft,” Campbell said from the screen.
    Emblazoned on the sides of the planes was Pieuvre Armement’s ominous logo—eight tentacles poking out the eyes, nose, and mouth of a skull. Pieuvre being French for octopus. I’ve heard that people in southern France sometimes eat octopus, but whoever designed that fearsome image couldn’t have been a fan of the dish.
    As Snake performed one last inspection of his gear, Campbell decided to use the time to introduce Snake to his psychological counselor for the mission. He called her over next to his desk to get her in the video feed. She was young and attractive, with straight black hair.
    “This is Rosemary,” he said.
    Snake and I looked at each other at the same time. But not just in reaction to her beauty. This young woman had been Jack’s lover, and during the Big Shell Incident had carried his child. Rose would later tell me about how Jack returned from the Big Shell unable to put away his memories as a child soldier. He’d get drunk, and some nights he returned covered in injuries. Eventually, she had a miscarriage, and he disappeared.
    When I first learned all of that, I had trouble accepting it. How could that have happened? For a brief moment, I even thought, Why couldn’t she have come to Snake or me? But I know that neither of us could really have done anything for her.
    But when her face appeared on the screen inside the cargo bay, I was suddenly reminded of something else I’d heard. I looked at Snake. He seemed to simultaneously come to the same realization, and it wasn’t a pleasant one.
    “Colonel,” Snake said, “the woman you married, the one that Meryl was talking about …”
    “Is Rosemary, yes. Didn’t I tell you before?”
    Snake and I sighed in unison.
    “What were you thinking?” Snake asked. “She’s young enough to be your daughter.”
    Campbell’s response was only more depressing. “Yeah. Lucky me, huh?”
    I nearly laughed at the absurdity. Snake, disgusted, said, “Now I see why Meryl won’t have anything to do with you.”
    “Meryl said something about me?” The flippant tone had left the colonel’s voice, replaced by deep pain. But neither Snake nor I were in the mood to feel sorry for him.
    Snake flatly replied, “Yeah, I believe her words were, ‘I’ll never forgive that womanizing piece of shit.’ ”
    “I see.”
    With none of us having any desire to linger on the aggravating and bizarre revelation, we instead sought refuge in our various battle preparations. I tested Snake’s OctoCamo and calibrated the power assist on his Sneaking Suit. Then I ran the Mk. II’s system tests and went through Nomad ’s inspection checklist to prepare for our eventual departure.
    When the time came for Snake to leave, Sunny stood at the edge of the cargo bay, waved goodbye, and