Doing It For Mei-Ling (Pt. 1)

"Solid Snake, we need you back."

It was Colonel Campbell, Snake's friend and mentor and commanding officer. They had been through so many missions together that they would have been on first name basis if it wasn't for the fact that most of the time they were in work mode.

"I told you Colonel I am retired" said Snake, sitting in cabin in Alaska. The room was dark and cold but Snake didn't mind, he was used to it. He didn't feel the cold, just like he didn't feel the crippling affects of loneliness. Snake lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair.

Campbell, who hadn't sat down, paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. "Don't make me do this the hard way Snake."

"The hard way? I thought the hard way was just Foxhound's normal way." He remembered the last time he was brought on a mission, his last mission to Shadow Moses. He had been arrested and forcefully taken to Foxhound Headquarters where Campbell somehow managed to talk him in to saving the world.

"That may be true, but there's a reason I need your help. It's Mei Ling. She's been kidnapped."

"What?!" Snake pounced to his feet, his brows dipping well below his bandana. "By who?!"

"Terrorists, Snake. Terrorists."

"What do they want? Why have they taken Mei Ling?" He rubbed his head and cursed inside his head at the thought of Mei being captured. He hoped she was okay, if anything bad had happened to her, he'd tear every man that lay hands on her apart.

"They want Metal Gear." Said Colonel Campbell.

"But Metal Gear is destroyed."

"No... there's another one."

"Another Metal gear? That's impossible!" Snake balled his hand in to a fist.

"No it's not. Our Government... had a backup Metal Gear Rex in case something happened to the first one." Campbell had stopped pacing around by now, his hands now in his pockets of his thick coat he wore because of how cold it was. "Mei Ling was taken, along with a big group of scientists and computer experts who worked on the original project. If we don't give in to their demands then they'll kill every one including Mei Ling and we don't want that."

Solid Snake didn't have to take long to make up his mind. He grabbed his sneaking suit and was on a helicopter to the terrorist's base in north Quebec.

He hopped off the helicopter and crouched behind some barrels. The heavy snow reminded him of Shadow Moses and he couldn't believe he was doing this again. He put his hand to his ear. "This is Solid SNAKE of FOXHOUND, do you read me team?"

"We read you Solid Snake, did you make it okay?" It was Campbell on the other end of the codec.

He popped his head over the barrels. "Yes I did. I'm at the entrance. I don't see any one."

"Watch out." Said the voice of Octacon. "They could be using stealth camoflaghe."

"You're right, I'll be careful." Replied Snake. "Wait, one last question."

"Go ahead Snake" said the Colonel.

"With Mei Ling captured, how do I save?"

"..."

"..."

There was a silence and Snake raised an eyebrow. Then came a hushed rambling of whispers and nonsensical sounds that sounded like his codec team arguing quietly with each other. "Well?"

"Well, uhh..." stuttered Otacon. "You know how Mei Lang invented the codec?"

"Right. She did."

Otaton fixed his glasses. "Well, she's the only one that knows how to save your progress."

"..."

There was a shuffle of papers. "Snake..." Said the Colonel.

"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?" Snake barked.

Otacon cleared his throat. "maybe for this mission, you should just try not to die."