Metal Gear Origins: Silent Cat

Chapter 1
The warm wind blew through the hair of a young girl walking around the center hub of a huge military base on the sea, with nothing in view except the huge metallic constructions that formed the said base. In truth, it was called the Motherbase by the soldiers that lived here, and it was a large complex housing several hundred personnel. The beautiful soldier passed by one of the struts that formed it, and she could see five other soldiers, smoking some hardly paid cigarettes and drinking some beer while complaining about the guard shift, as always. She smiled at that simple thought, as she didn't find guard duty to be that bad, since it was easy, calm, you could observe the beautiful blue sky with the birds flying, and combined with the sound of the waves crashing through the foundation of the base, creating that easy, calm and pacifist atmosphere. Which is kinda ironic, considering what they do here at FOX-HOUND. They are soldiers, going into war, or infiltration missions, killing people and creating waves and waves of endless, pointless conflict.

The creator of those thoughts is Catherine, codenamed Silent Cat, which pretty much fits her personality. A young beautiful girl, that should be having fun with friends, and discovering all the beautiful things there is to life. Instead, she was here, a soldier, a killing machine. Exactly just like a cat, beautiful, but if you don't watch you'll end up with a missing eye, and she would done it in silence. Even through she was a good soldier, she still didn't had the chance to prove her worth on a good mission, she was apparently too green in the eyes of the commander of the base, Seth Adams, codenamed Panther. Those thoughts of pointless guard duty running through her head, torturing her, since she wanted to prove who she was. Damn it, if she sees him, she would definitely talk to him about it... And there he was. In front of her, a few meters away, talking to a man in an expensive-looking silver suit. She guessed it was one of those guys from ArmsTech coming down from Langley, to berate Seth for his last mission in which four new recruits were killed when one of them accidentally tripped an alarm, causing a fairly large military force to come down upon them, overwhelm them, and... Making what happened. Only Seth and two other recruits got away, but no matter how Seth tried to explain the event, it was still considered a failure by ArmsTech. Those guys behind fucking desks don't know how it is to be on dangerous missions. Shit happens, no matter how skilled the soldiers sent are. Even the legendary Snake failed sometimes.

As she was dreaming in that ocean of thoughts, she was broke back into reality as Seth waved and called her to come to him. She nodded and began to make a light jog to her commander. Here, at Motherbase, like any normal army, hierarchy is important, but they add a spin on it by all having different codenames and not reveal theirs, even to fellow comrades, since sometimes... Your friend can transform into an enemy by the vicissitudes of ironic fate. She guessed that she was the only one who knew his real name as when she accidentally dropped his real name, he calmy turned his head to look at her angrily, and everyone around him look dumbfounded. In return, he was the only one who knew who knew who her father was.

Catherine had met him when she was fifteen, and he was the one who gave her lessons on rock climbing, gun control and the basics of sneaking when her father was away on mission. A year prior, he'd contacted her, stating that ArmsTech had made a deal with the military to revive The FOX-HOUND project, he was placed in charge of the Alpha Unit in charge of R & D and Special Forces Operations, while the Forward Operation Bases were lead by separate people, and managed single units such as the medical unit, another R & D, and more dangerous or experimental weapons division had their own location to minimize health risks. She inquired on why he would be telling her this, he replied, stating he wanted her to join his unit. She happily accepted, and three months later she started working on the Motherbase. Seth would often be the one going on missions, either by himself, or with other agents, at least once a week, always coming back with one bullet wound at the minimum, at max, he wounded his leg so badly he couldn't walk for three weeks. She often dreamed of going on her own missions, being the hero, saving the day, getting the girl, but she knew she was far too green to be going on missions on her own. Around Christmas, she requested that Seth bring her along on his next outing, he stated since it was an S rank, she couldn't come along due to the extreme dangers. She understood the reasoning, but it still left her distraught.

Catherine stopped in her tracks as she watched Seth talk with a man in an expensive-looking silver suit. She guessed it was one of the guys from ArmsTech coming down from Langley to berate Seth for his last mission in which four recruits were killed when one of them accidentally tripped an alarm, causing a fairly large military force to come down upon them and overwhelm them. Seth and two other recruits got out, but no matter how Seth tried to rationalize the event, it was still considered a failure by AT.

Seth waved to Catherine to come to him, she nodded and made a light jog to her Commander. She saluted, he nodded for her to be at ease. "Yes, sir?"

"Cat, this is Agent Jericho from ArmsTech, he's here to make sure the money they're spending isn't going to waste."

Catherine looked at the man, nodded and said "Nice to meet you."

He just grunted at her, turned back to Seth "You better turn this around. Keep in mind we can replace you easily."

"Yes, sir." Seth said as Jericho boarded his helicopter.

As the vehicle departed, Catherine grumbled "What an asshole."

"He may be, but he had a point. Listen, Cat. I need you to do something for me."

"Yes, sir?"

"I need you to go on a mission."

Catherine's jaw dropped "Really?"

"Yes, my leg is acting up again, and I believe it's time for you to go out on your own."

"Solo!? Are you serious?"

The old man smiled "Yes, now head down to R & D, get your gear together, set up your depart time, and Cat."

"Yes?"

"No Buddies, alright?"

"Yes sir! Thank you sir!"

"For?"

"This chance."

He bent in, his head coming within inches of hers, she noted he held his leg "Don't let me down, Catherine."

She walked over to the R & D lab, thumbing her Codec and dialing Katnis's number "You won't guess where I'm heading."

"The nerd cave."

Catherine sighed "You're on sniper duty today aren't you?"

"Yup, what's going on? Boss got you on a supply run?"

"Nope, heading on my first operation!" The joy emanating from her voice

"Oh my god! Congrats! Solo or group?"

"Solo. I'm going to choose my gear now, wish me luck!"

"Good luck sweetie." __________________________________________________________________________________________

She drove down the beaten road, littered with debris from crumbled buildings, she could see items of families that used to live there from her jeep, most broken from shell casings or raids from thieves. She looked down the street as many of the people who formerly lived there huddled together, sobbing over their past lives. They'd look up at her, scorn, hatred in their eyes. To them, she was just a tourist who got a cheap vacation to a third world country. She'd gotten in under the guise that she was a reporter trying to get the word of their civil war out to the public, to try and get help, but the black armored guerrilla vest gave her nasty looks, she'd guessed they saw through her deceit, or they just didn't trust anyone with a flag on their chest that wasn't their own.

She peered back to the road, trying to forget the hateful glares, she looked over to her right for a second to look at the weapon she brought to the field with her, a UN-ARC-M non-lethal assault rifle. Ruby, Seth's second in command chastised her for taking it on mission instead of an M4 or an AK-12. Catherine just brushed her off, as Catherine wanted to be her own soldier, she didn't want to be a killing machine, as she saw no reason to kill a guard to make her life easier. Seth's early training sessions rang through her head "Only kill if you have to." That one line rang through her head over and over like a broken record.

Catherine was snapped out of her thought bubble by a road block, she brought the old jeep to a stop and put it in park. She craned her neck to see two Militia guards dragging a person out of his car, and hit him over the head with the butt of his rifle. While she was distracted by the commotion at the checkpoint, she heard something to her right, a large pickup truck came barreling down the alleyway. She had no time to react as the truck collided with her jeep, sending her flying out, and landing against a pile of rubble, and she blacked out.