Sorry that it's been a long time since I updated. Had a lot of things going on mixed with writer's block. This is a short chapter. But more will follow as fast as I can write when it gets close to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Surrounded by snow.

He had never particularly liked snow. Jobs where it snowed were always too damn cold for his liking.

That was why he always operated in warm, relatively humid AOs.

He watched the chopper fly away in the distance, until it disappeared behind the mountain face.

He didn't particularly like climbing either, especially mountains. He looked around the area where he had set up camp for the time being. He took his iDroid out, trying to make sense of where his location was.

He had been contacted by a scientist, a very rich man. The scientist was willing to part with 3,000,000 rubles to pay Diamond Dogs for doing this job. Diamond Dogs (or rather, Snake) had been contracted to infiltrate a remote location in Siberia. The scientist either didn't have or wouldn't share any other information about the location. It was all too suspicious, he didn't give his reason for contacting them, but he agreed to do the mission.

It was minus 12 degrees Fahrenheit in the mountains and it was bound to get colder. The intel team had scouted the area, being sure to include that there was a violent blizzard en-route to that area within a few hours.

He began his descent towards the location, stopping to use his Int. Scope and set a marker so as not to get lost. It was good to finally get back into his Sneaking Suit. Over the years, he had gotten into the field less and less. Business was always booming, and more people had come in by the crowds every month.

Even Snake had to trade in micromanaging in for full-time micromanaging. Diamond Dogs was nothing short of a full-scale army that could probably take over a small country if they wanted to.

Yet here he was in the heart of Siberia, taking a job they knew next to nothing about. He could admit that he missed being here, actually doing something he was good at. Businessman wasn't his ideal occupation, anyway.

"Kaz, I'm on the ground, moving towards the site," Snake said through his radio. He unholstered his rifle, making sure that it was primed and ready to fire.

"We hear ya, Boss. It's good to be back on the battlefield, isn't it?" Kaz responded.

"It does. Be my eyes and ears on this one, OK?" "Can do, Boss. The site you're about to infiltrate is…that's odd. This site isn't on any maps that we have and the Intel team couldn't get close enough to determine anything. Boss, I don't know if this is a good idea, going in without intel. You still wanna go through with this mission, Boss?"

Something didn't feel right. But nothing ever felt right. He learned to always keep that feeling close, it kept him alert and on edge. He knew he might regret this decision.

"Affirmative. Let's just classify this as an OSP mission of sorts, huh?"

"Whatever you say, Boss. Just come back safe and sound."

Snake made sure his equipment was fastened and fastened tight in case of severe winds blowing his equipment and himself away.

"Boss, be advised. Once you infiltrate the compound, we won't be able to send in any backup," Kaz announced over Codec.

"Just like always, huh?" "We just pulled all of our people from the area. That blizzard has been upgraded. It's pattern is unlike anything I've seen. Boss…., if you're continuing on with the mission, you're gonna want to find some shelter fast."

"Copy that." Snake fastened his sling for his rifle, and began making his way slowly, but with haste.

"This is gonna be a long walk." He made his way up the first hill of the barren, frozen landscape.

(-)

He had walked. Walked and walked some more.

The snow was actually quite beautiful, as much as he hated it. The mountains were a nice touch for the view as well.

Pretty soon, though, the view disappeared. All that he could see was snow. It was a whiteout. He looked back about 20 yards. He could barely see his tracks in the snow from that distance.

He signaled on his end of the codec. "Boss? You need anything?" Kaz answered. "Yeah, I need you to tell me where I'm going, if there's anything close by. It's a whiteout here," Snake responded. "I'll look through some of the intel we've received on the region in your vicinity. Just keep moving and stay on task. Out," Kaz said.

Snake signed off on his end of the codec. He could feel himself shivering a little. How cold is it? (mental sigh) Should've checked on the way here.

A shadow caught his eye, forcing him to squint to make it out. It looked like a small shed. He trekked once more through the snow towards it.

How do I know I'm not going in circles? He tried to ignore that train of thought.

(-)(-)(-)

He remembered to turn the light on in the small, enclosed space. It was freezing outside. The door could barely close due to ice. He felt around for a light switch. The bulb, despite having some icicles around it, still flickered on.

The light fell on dozens of filing cabinets in his line of vision. Since this mission was going nowhere fast, he thought he might rummage through these files and see what he could find. It didn't take ten seconds for him to find something.

"Kaz, do you read?" Snake inquired. "We read, Boss, you find something?" Kaz responded.

"I found a bunch of file cabinets in a room. Dozens of them. All full of files."

"Files? What kind?" "Let me check."

He started scanning through all the files, having nothing more worthwhile to do. He considered giving up after the third cabinet, that there was nothing there to begin with.

He rummaged through what he intended to be the last of the documents. A file with a familiar location caught his eye, prompting him to read through it. He remembered approving a large supply drop to a few battalions in the region where they'd been sent. They had sustained heavy losses. Certain details jumped out at him, and the more he read, the more his brow furrowed.

"Kaz, I've found something. Something huge," Snake radioed. He began checking other cabinets. "Boss? What have you found?" Kaz asked worriedly.

A few more minutes of speed-reading confirmed his suspicion.

"Kaz. These files contain details of missions where we were involved," Snake finally said.

"What else?"

"These missions date from 1984 up to a month ago, but this shed looks like it hasn't been used in years."

"Boss. Listen, I don't want to take any chances. Let's abort the mission while we can and send more men in. There are plenty of good soldiers who'd love to follow you there," Kaz pleaded.

"No. I have to find out why these are here. Something weird is going on," Snake said with finality.

(-)(-)(-)

Snake trekked out into the snow once more, not really knowing where to go next.

(sharp breath) It's cold. It is…..really cold.

His ears caught something resonating even through the wind. The sound was getting closer and farther away at the same time. Choppers. Military-grade choppers.

Snake made haste to where the sounds came from, pausing every few minutes to listen for the choppers. He was in luck, he managed to pick some out whenever he did stop. That could also be a potential threat. Wherever those choppers were heading, there were a lot of them. That meant that there was an outpost of some kind. There had to be.

(-)(-)(-)

"Boss, how are you? Making any progress?" Kaz inquired.

"Not really. Just….hating the cold, so far. Kinda wish I had a Cuban with me," Snake responded. "Even my bionic arm is shaking."

"Well, you'll be happy to know that judging by the sounds of those choppers, you have about 30 meters before you hit a clear view of your target," Kaz assessed.

"Good to hear. Snake out," he signed off.

Snake walked through a few more feet of snow before he finally got a vantage point.

He should've expected something bigger than a simple outpost. This was a fucking forward operating base.

He couldn't help but marvel at the immensity of what looked like a base. There had to be at least a few dozen choppers lined up on their respective platforms. The place was built on a supposedly abandoned dam, but after the "shed" Snake wasn't underestimating anything.

There had to be enough weapons, provisions and men to inhabit half a small country. "Kaz, I've found it," Snake radioed. Snow was starting to fall more heavily now, he noticed.

"Alright Boss, how do you wanna do this? Play it safe? Or take your chances?" another voice rose over the radio. "Glad you finally decided to join us, Ocelot," Snake responded. "Any advice?"

"Well, I guess going through the front gate isn't really your style, is it?" said Ocelot. "No, it isn't," Snake chuckled.

Snake took out his Int. Scope. It seemed that there was some activity in a nearby village not too far from the dam itself. He surveyed the area for a few more minutes before he made up his mind.

"They seem to be moving really expensive equipment of some kind, experimental equipment," Snake observed. "What's an army want with experimental equipment?" Kaz questioned. "Could it be Cipher?" Ocelot inquired. "Possibly. Let's not rule anything out yet," Snake concluded. He began his way towards the village, where it would provide more cover than the plain snow.

"Boss, you know it could be a trap, right?" Kaz inquired.

Snake almost responded when a brilliant explosion protruded from the center of the dam, flooding the entire valley with light. "Kaz, the dam just exploded," Snake reported. "From what?" Kaz asked. "What caused it?"

He used his Int. Scope to see what was going on. Dozens of bodies lined the top of the dam. The explosion had extended to the top of it. Soldiers were running and panicked, with sergeants barking orders, flooding the dam and village with activity. This was too elaborate to be a trap.

"I don't know," Snake began. He put his Int. Scope away. "But I'm going to take a closer look. I'll go through the village and see what I can find."

And with that, Snake set off, climbing down towards the debris and destruction.

I'll try to get more chapters up. I know where to go with the story now, so I might be uploading more chapters. Don't quote me, but I will try to upload more over the holidays.