| abstract
| - Catherine was sitting on her "private deck" at FoxBase, baking in the sun, while two shells over recruits and trained soldiers beat each other to a pulp, training in CQC, she could imagine Sunny and Naomi ordering scientists around in the R & D lab, trying to perhaps put out a fire accidentally started by one of Sunny's failed experiments, or perhaps Naomi and Sunny arguing over how to handle their next project. In the next shell she imagined their Metal Gear ZEKE they recovered from Vergil being repaired after the bombing raid by the ON. In the next shell over, to her left, she imagined Pierre and Katnis running drills on the new recruits in the hot sun without water, trying to toughen them up, while older recruits laugh their asses off watching the newbies begging for mercy. Finally she imagined Molly walking around with Metal Gear following her around like a lovesick puppy while she tried to cure her boredom. Catherine was brought back, she was leaning against an empty container, legs outstretched, only wearing her swim suit, trying to catch some of the sun's rays. For the past two and a half years, her and her team operated as soldiers for hire, coming to aide of smaller countries who couldn't raise their own army, but since most of the world was preoccupied with World War III going on in Russia and China, business was slow. However, Catherine compensated this by building their base in the Atlantic, they had many passing ships visit them and trade resources, including sugar, spices and exotic foods. Catherine dug into her effects which were sitting at her side, trying to find her pack of cigarettes, but she couldn't find them. She swore and said to herself "I knew I forgot something." She hit the back of her head against the container, causing a loud clang. A few minutes later, she heard footsteps radiate off the metal grating. Catherine shouted "I told you, no disturbances!" A female voice replied "Nice to see you too, honey." Catherine opened her eyes and saw Katnis standing over her, blocking her sunlight. Catherine gave her an annoyed wave prompting Katnis to take a seat beside her. Catherine noticed Katnis was still wearing her military fatigues, fully decorated with "Paix Sans Renards" (Peace Without Foxes) logos. Katnis asked "How long have you been baking here?" Catherine mumbled "Three or four hours." Katnis asked "No water?" Catherine shook her head "Nope." Katnis said in a mocking tone "You should be complaining like those rookies over there who are vomiting on the roof." Catherine said "I really didn't need to know that." Katnis smiled "Oh yes you did." Catherine smirked "You're so weird." Katnis placed her hands behind her head and said "Shut up, you love me." Catherine asked "Where's Molly?" Katnis craned her neck and said "Watching the Ka-60 Kasatka's take off." Catherine nodded to herself, and she remembered; Molly had watched every helicopter take off and landing, every week for the past two years, Catherine guessed Molly just loved helicopters, maybe flying in general. Catherine said "Hey maybe she'll be a pilot." Katnis nodded in agreement "Maybe we can get Uncle Hal to teacher her." Catherine growled at the mention of Otacon's name. Katnis asked "You still mad at him?" Catherine nodded "Yeah.." Katnis dug into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, her favorite brand entitled The Saints and asked "You want some?" Catherine nodded "Sure, what the hell?" Catherine took a cigarette, and started smoking, she found it to be too bland for her taste, more spark less flavor. She shrugged it off and just enjoyed it. Catherine's codec started going off, and she pressed against her ear, causing a holographic image of Sunny to appear in front her eyes. The holographic images used for the codec were designed by Sunny herself, projected by the nanomachines around the user's brain, it came in handy in case the user needed to see the other person, but it was somewhat stressful on the eyes, as from tests it has been proven it causes eye strain. From the image of Sunny, Catherine could see oil smudges on her cheeks and what appeared to be soot on her nose, she guessed something blew up. Catherine asked "What do you need, Sunny? Did one of your experiments light on fire?" Sunny asked "Why don't you turn the holo off? You know it hurts your eyes." Catherine said "Yeah so do other things, what do you need?" Sunny said "Oh! There's someone who wants to talk to you in the comm room." Catherine grumbled "If it's some Russian diplomat begging us to help their border dispute with China, I swear to god I am torching your lab!" Sunny let out a laugh and said "It's not, I promise." Catherine sighed "Fine, thank you Sunny." Sunny chirped "With pleasure!" Sunny signed off, causing the hologram to vanish before her eyes. Even after using the hologram for about a year she still hadn't gotten used to it. Catherine stood up, stretched and went to put on her uniform when Katnis asked "Why don't you go in looking like that? Whoever it is might like what they see, I know I do." Catherine rolled her eyes "I'm in a two piece, unless they're a major pervert, I doubt they will care." Catherine, now dressed in an olive drab military fatigues, put on a pair of dark sunglasses. Before she started walking toward Shell 1, Katnis grabbed her leg and said "Give me back my sunglasses." Catherine rolled her eyes "You're wearing yours, dumbass." Katnis winked through her glasses and said "Don't be too rude to whoever wants to talk to you. Kay?" Catherine smiled "Always." Catherine made her way into the communications room, and although the lights were off, one could easily walk through the room due to the multiple lights constantly flashing on the equipment, which she could only hope to understand how any of it actually works. She took a seat in front of the large screen, flipped a switch and a larger man, possibly in his forties, gray haired with a chin-length beard. He had several large scars going across his face. He had a tired expression, but looked as if he could fight an entire army and come out on top. Catherine asked in an annoyed tone "What do you want?" The man said in a sympathetic tone "We wish for your group's assistance in our fight against the Chinese dogs." Catherine sighed and said in a practiced tone "And why should we?" The man scoffed "We are getting our asses handed to us! We are losing the Motherland to those commies!" Catherine said "Then just bomb them." The man said "They have anti-aircraft." Catherine rolled her eyes "Of course they do..tell me, what makes you think this "rag tag team of pirates all the way out in the middle of the ocean" can do against the Chinese military, that you; the largest military fighting force on the planet couldn't." The man said in a sad tone "We are begging you, we need all the help we could possibly get." Catherine asked "And what's in it for us?" The man said "I have sent you some information, you and your crew might be interested in." The printer to Catherine's left started dispensing seven large pieces of paper, all decorated with designs to what appeared to be Metal Gear's one particular one that caught her eye was one that resembled the Shagohod/Pupa. Catherine asked "What's the meaning of this?" The man said "Our scientists were working on designing our own Metal Gears to help us in the war, but the labs were all seized by those China army. We assume they have taken then back to Beijing." Catherine placed the papers on the table and asked "Mind if I get back to you on this?" The man nodded "With pleasure." Catherine flipped the switch, causing the image of the representative to disappear. She sighed to herself, and dialed Molly on her codec. Molly answered in a cheery, and made an almost chirping noise, "Hi mom! What cha need?" Catherine said "Get me the flamethrower." Molly asked "Did one of Sunny's experiments break out?" Catherine mumbled "Something like that."
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