In the Darkness of Shadow Moses : The Unofficial Truth, By Nastasha Romanenko
A biographical and complete review of the Shadow Moses, the events leading up to and the results of the mission
Snake raised Campbell on the radio. "Colonel, can you hear me?" "I'm here." "What's the Pentagon up to? You'd better tell me, Colonel." "The Defense Secretary's personally taken control of the mission. He's on an AWAC heading your way." "For what?" "An air strike." Campbell replied bitterly. "WHAT?" "That's not even the bad news. A bomber just took off from the Galena AFB. It's carrying the B61-13 surfacing-piercing missiles." "Christ, Metal Gear's already been destroyed." Snake raised his voice. "Doesn't the Defense Secretary know that?" "He knows. But because of Naomi's betrayal, he no longer has any faith in FOXDIE's effectiveness. Your taking out Metal Gear means that the threat of nuclear strike has been removed, and he's free to ensure a direct and complete cover-up of the whole affair." " -- By blowing up all the evidence and everyone who knows anything sky-high with a nuclear bomb." Snake finished angrily. But Campbell's next words were unexpected.
"Don't worry, Snake. I'll halt the air strike." "What?" "It may be a technicality, but I'm still the field controller for the mission. If I call in an order to halt the strike, it should wreak enough havoc with the chain of command to buy you some time. Use it to get out of there." Richard called one of his men over and muttered an order. There was little doubt that it was for Campbell's arrest. Snake and Campbell, ignorant of the roomful of ears who were listening in on their exchange, were still talking. "Colonel, you know what would happen to you...?" "It's all right, Snake. But you should know something. There was a top-secret internal investigation being conducted into FOXHOUND these past few months. Meryl was transferred out to Shadow Moses the day of the insurrection -- as a hostage to ensure my cooperation." "What a -- " Snake broke off in disgust. "Now go, Snake." "Are you sure about this? You'll lose everything you've worked for." "I'm sure. And this way, I get to keep the things that are really
important -- and that I would otherwise lose."
"Colonel -- " "All right, I'm putting in an order to halt the strike. This is the point of no return... What the hell!?" Campbell gasped. It seemed that Richard's men were trying to restrain him. The only thing we could hear over the radio were gun- shots and unintelligible noise. I was once again a helpless spectator of a life-or-death struggle. Mei Ling burst in abruptly, as though she had seized the microphone. "Snake!!" "Mei Ling, what happened to the Colonel!" "I don't believe this -- !" "Tell me what's going on!" "Snake! The Colonel!" Mei Ling's voice was lost in the shower of static before she could reveal more. Instead, an unfamiliar male voice started to speak. "This is Jim Houseman, Secretary of Defense. Roy Campbell was just relieved of duty. " "Let me talk to Colonel Campbell!" "He's been arrested for compromising national security. He'll be charged with treason." "That's insane!"
"No, it was Roy Campbell who was insane if he truly believed that he had any real say in this mission." "You -- !" Snake was seething, but Houseman went on nonchalantly. "The nuclear strike will go forward as planned. The sea will take care of what little there is left. It's what the President wants." "So this is an executive order?" "The Presidency of the United States is a very, very busy job. Let's just say that I take full responsibility for this strike." "How are you going to explain to the media why you dropped a nuke on American soil?" "Don't worry, there's a cover story ready. A band of terrorists took over the Shadow Moses facility, and were extremely careless with their nuclear missile." "You'll be killing your own genome commandos -- all the researchers too." "Donald is already dead..." Houseman suddenly said with genuine sorrow in his voice. "So you didn't plan on killing the DARPA chief after all." Snake asked. "He was my closest friend."
"And the rest of the poor bastards stranded here aren't, so to hell with them, is that it?" "That depends. If you transfer the contents of the optical disc over to me, there may be room for negotiation." "What disc?" Snake feigned ignorance, but Houseman was not so easily put off. "The disc that contained the full exercise data. Donald was supposed to personally bring it back." "I don't have it..." "Hm. That's unfortunate." Houseman said calmly. "The fact remains that the two of you are a liability. You belong to an age no one cares to go back to, and you have the potential to needlessly embarrass this great nation. No, you cannot be permitted to ever leave that island. Take the time until the air strike to catch up. Then rest in peace -- you are a ghost of the Cold War, after all." The transmission ended. "So there's no way out for either of us," I heard Liquid laugh as he approached Snake. "We'll settle the score before the cavalry arrives." Snake rose to his feet. "You've taken everything from me, " Liquid said.
"And I will reclaim it all -- including my rightful biological heritage -- right here." The two Snakes closed in on one another. The final battle was about to begin. Snake and Liquid had engaged each other in a fierce hand-to-hand combat, but Richard had other things to attend to. He had one of his men open a radio channel. "Yes, what is it?" I realized with surprise that the person he had called was none other than the Secretary of Defense Jim Houseman. "An air strike was an unwise decision." Richard sounded displeased. "With a nuclear- armed Stealth bomber airborne, a complete cover-up is no longer an option. 'They' are not happy with this." "It's the only way to destroy the evidence. The results will bear out the correctness of my decision." "There will be no results. I've already aborted the air strike." "How -- dare you...!" Houseman started to roar, then suddenly petered out. He no doubt had remembered the powers-that-be that stood behind Richard. "What do you intend to do then?"
He asked with barely suppressed rage. "There is another viable way to salvage the situation." " -- Make me take the fall? I don't think so!" Houseman's voice shook with fury. Richard sighed exaggeratedly. "You don't think so? It seems, Mr. Secretary, that Colonel Campbell is not the only one who 'truly believed that he had any real say in this mission.'" "What are you saying!" I heard the sound of scuffling on the other end. "Hey, what do you think you're doing! Get your hands off of me!" Houseman had apparently been restrained. It was exactly the same scenario that had played out during Campbell's arrest. "You have several choices." Richard explained with something resembling pity. "It's up to you which ending this particular story has. I myself would suggest a quiet retirement from public life..." "You'll pay for this, Ames. I swear to God..." Houseman spat out as he struggled vainly against his captors. "Personally, I don't condone rough measures. I hope you'll come to the same decision." Richard ended the call.
The transmission from Shadow Moses was still active. Liquid's dying scream tore through the speakers. "Looks like things are wrapping up nicely over there," Richard murmured. Richard cleared all of the personnel out of the study. We were now alone. I could hear Snake and Meryl over the wires. It seemed that he had succeeded in rescuing her in time. "Now the question is, what am I going to do with you?" Richard said as he turned away from the radio. The time had come for me to make my move; I walked up to my computer. "This machine has been recording every- thing that went on in this study and relaying it out to a remote location. Once there, the data was immediately backed up on an optical disc." It was no bluff. It was just a more covert version of a real-time remote conferencing system. Because of my work, I frequently must acquire information from such unsavory types as black-market arms dealers and Mafia members who specialize in plutonium smuggling.
The recordings were my standard insurance policy. "I've already sent a message to the collo- cation administrator. He'll give the disc to my media contact if he can't get in touch with me by a certain time." That had been the mail I'd secretly sent from my PDA earlier. "If anything happens to me, the contents of the disc will be all over the world." But Richard was unfazed. I started to feel apprehensive as he calmly lit another cigarette. "You mean this disc?" He took out a shining optical disc from his inside jacket pocket and slid it into my PC's drive. A few quick clicks of the mouse and the playback started. I stared at the slightly grainy footage, horrified. The audio seemed overly loud in the silent room. "You should be hearing from him soon. You're clear on how to use the radio?" Richard's voice was raspy in playback, but it was definitely the data I had secretly collected and sent out. "How...?" "You shouldn't underestimate me," Richard said as he ejected and pocketed the disc.
"Everything in this house has been vetted and monitored since the operation started. Nothing got in or out without my knowing about it -- including electronic signals. That e-mail you sent from the bathroom never got to its destination." He'd seen right through me. With that realization, I felt strength leaving my body. The game was up. "But even if you had managed to get this data out into the world, that wouldn't have guaranteed your safety. No one would have believed yet another conspiracy theory, least of all the press." "Your -- people would have made sure of that, I'm sure." Instead of answering, Richard stubbed out his cigarette and slid his right hand inside his jacket. There was an awkward bulge there, in the clean line of his tailored jacket. It was where he kept his gun holstered. Cold sweat trickled down my back. I was slowly backing away from Richard, and I did not even realize the fact until my back hit the wall. There was no way out.
"Are you really prepared to kill me?" I could not hide the tremor in my voice. "You should know the answer to that." He said quietly, looking me straight in the eye. Then he pulled his hand out from under his jacket, and I instinctively shut my eyes. But even after what felt like an eternity, the muffled shot and the pain I was expecting did not come. I warily opened my eyes, and saw what was in his hand. It was not a gun, but a disc. "Everything you ever wanted to know about FOXDIE." Richard walked up to me and placed the disc in my hand. "As I said, a recording of what took place in this room won't guarantee your safety. There's no solid proof, just talk. It can easily be denounced as a fabrication and covered up." "But the FOXDIE data is a different story," He continued. "This disc contains everything about that project, from its origins to the names of every individual involved. As long as you have this as an insurance, they won't be able to touch you." "Why, Richard?" He did not answer my question.
"You'd better get out of here quickly. Your car's just out back." "What about you?" "That's not something you need to worry about." "But -- " "You don't need me, Nastasha. And I have things to take care of." "Why are you doing this?" I asked again. "You'll figure it out someday. Do what you have to do, all right?" He suddenly held me close and put his lips on mine. As we broke apart after a long kiss, he whispered in my ear, "I wanted to do this again, just one last time." Then he gently eased me away. "Now go. Hurry." There was gravity in his voice that allowed only one response. I nodded, and sped out of the room. That was the last I ever saw of Richard Ames.
After I fled from California, I went into hiding. There has been no sign of pursuit, for now. The terrorist incident on Shadow Moses Island came to a conclusion with the destruction of Metal Gear and the death of Liquid Snake. The United States government, however, has not yet officially acknowledged the incident. The roster of the dead included Liquid Snake, Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, Decoy Octopus and Vulcan Raven. Revolver Ocelot's body was never recovered, but his personnel file was closed with the notation, "Missing in action." FOXHOUND had, in effect, been decimated. The survivors from the next- generation commando unit were all removed to the Pease AFB in New Hampshire, ostensibly for training. As far as I know, they remain prisoners there to this day. The government has repeatedly denied allegations of genetically engineering super-soldiers, but rumors that the research continues remain persistent.
The deaths of Donald Anderson, the DARPA chief, and Kenneth Baker of ArmsTech ended the development of a new Metal Gear. The Metal Gear REX unit itself had been all but completed under Hal Emmerich's leadership, but my source at Lawrence Livermore indicated that the rail gun warhead delivery system had not been fully operational. Apparently, there had been some serious issues with the rail gun's targeting accuracy. This was no doubt the reason Baker had entrusted Snake with the exercise data, and Jim Houseman, the Secretary of Defense, had so aggressively pursued its whereabouts. The data is now lost, and the development program has been closed down. I dare to dream that the new nuclear delivery system will never see the light of day. A few days after the incident, I heard on the news that Houseman had shot himself. The suicide was attributed to a temporary nervous breakdown related to job stress. Supporting statements from family and subordinates were widely aired. The air strike order for Shadow Moses was glossed over as an unfortunate evidence of
the late Defense Secretary's unraveling mental state.
I remembered Houseman's words from the final hours of the mission, and thought I knew what had really happened. He had refused to take the fall, and paid for the defiance with his life. The record of the Shadow Moses Incident and the FOXDIE data disc that Richard gave me are still under my vigilant guard. The FOX- DIE program data covers Naomi's careful analysis of the unauthorized reconfiguration she had made to the virus. The information showed that Snake was indeed one of the targets for the deadly retrovirus, but the incubation period had been changed to a wildcard value. Even Naomi herself did not know when the virus would awaken within Snake. It must have been the best revenge she could think of, condemning him to live in this fearful limbo. Colonel Roy Campbell was released after the Defense Secretary's own arrest, and is once again enjoying his retirement.
Mei Ling also made it safely out of the mission, and is back in academia. Dr. Hal Emmerich did not return to ArmsTech following his rescue from Shadow Moses. His whereabouts are unknown, but there is some indication that he made his way to England where he has family members. Snake and Meryl appear to have success- fully made it off Shadow Moses Island. I could however find no trace of them; I hope that the same is true for those who have an interest in seeing them silenced. Naomi Hunter was formally taken into custody after the incident's conclusion. Three weeks later, as she was undergoing debriefing in a certain facility, she escaped. She has not been heard of since. Officials were closed- mouthed about the circumstances of the escape, but inquiries into other quarters elicited the fact that someone had broken Naomi out of the base. I knew of only one person who could have breached the base's tight security and successfully led someone to freedom.
And then there was the matter of Richard Ames. I called in a favor and had an inquiry made to the DIA about one Major Richard Ames. The Agency's response was that there was "no DIA personnel fitting that name and des- cription." Buying my safety and freedom had been a costly act for Richard. It was then that I decided to go public with what I knew. By exposing the conspiracy, I may be putting myself in renewed danger. But I am through with being a spectator, an objective bystander. The powerlessness I felt watching Snake's solitary war on Shadow Moses has been a bitter wake-up call. This time, I am determined to make a stand. This is my war now -- to tell the truth about what happened on that island. That is my responsibility and privilege as a survivor, and a cause for which I am prepared to give my life.
Author: Nastasha Romanenko
