XOF

XOF was a covert support unit for its CIA counterpart FOX during the 1960s. From the 1970s to 1984, it became Cipher's covert strike force. During this time, they were led by a heavily scarred assassin known by the codename of "Skull Face." The group's logo utilized an inverted image of the fox that was used by the (then defunct) FOX Unit. During the 1980s, missions of higher priority were assigned to their new special forces team called the Parasite Unit.

History
XOF was first created by Major Zero as an unconventional support unit to its CIA-counterpart, FOX, where members would secretly provide tactical support and field Intel to FOX Operatives during missions. Its overall purpose was to ensure the survival of FOX operatives in order for the unit to become a success by any means necessary. Zero appointed his XO, Skull Face, to be the commander of the elite black ops group. The existence of the unit was highly classified to the point where even the CIA and The Boss herself were unaware of its existence. The unit was first deployed in secret during the Virtuous Mission in 1964, where members of the unit provided support to Naked Snake. After the Virtuous Mission, Major Zero had Skull Face himself deployed in secret during Operation Snake Eater, where he was to follow, assist, and clean up after Naked Snake during the operation. He was even ordered to complete the mission himself if Snake had died fighting the Boss, his ruthlessness giving him an edge in fighting the Boss.

After FOX was disbanded in 1972, Major Zero offered Skull Face and his unit to become a part of his new organization Cipher, turning the support unit into an elite covert strike force who took orders directly from Zero.

XOF Trojan Horse Operation
During 1975, a few months after the Peace Walker Incident, XOF were involved in the imprisonment of the former child soldier Chico at Camp Omega, prompting a rescue effort from Big Boss of the Militaires Sans Frontières. They had also detained the Cipher agent Paz Ortega Andrade, after a Belizean fisherman recovered her from sea, having held her for interrogation on behalf of her former employers. During their operations at the naval prison facility, the XOF were frequently stationed at the admin building. Later XOF's commander, Skull Face, visited Chico at Camp Omega, and told him "Give my regards to your Boss, when you get home." Anticipating the arrival of Big Boss at Camp Omega, the group commenced their "Trojan Horse" operation; an assault on MSF's Mother Base, under the guise of a UN nuclear inspection, though Big Boss, Kazuhira Miller, Huey Emmerich, and one MSF soldier were able to escape. Around the time they departed for their "Trojan Horse" operation, the soldiers proceeded to remove their XOF patches and disposed of them to the wind, although nine managed to remain on the base (one landing among Big Boss's gear around the time he was scaling the cliff). The Marines also witnessed this, although they believed them to be leaves. While undergoing their activities, XOF claimed to be a CIA-based unit. However, an undercover agent uncovered and likewise relayed to Big Boss that XOF was not actually aligned with the CIA at all. The Marines stationed at the base had no idea who XOF were but did have some suspicions about them.

Hospital Raid
In 1984, a detachment of the XOF was deployed into Cyprus for a search and destroy mission after learning the whereabouts of Big Boss. Their primary objective was to assassinate Big Boss by any means necessary, while their secondary objective was to eliminate all traces that they were there. Among the elite operatives involved in the operation was the elite XOF assassin Quiet. In addition, the psychic Tretij Rebenok and the demonic apparition of Colonel Volgin, now known as the "Man on Fire" arrived at the hospital shortly after XOF. Quiet was tasked with eliminating Big Boss upon locating him in the hospital, but was thwarted by interference from another patient in the ward. The rest of the XOF's forces were tasked with eliminating all the hospitals patients and work personnel. The appearance of Tretij Rebenok and the Man on Fire created complications for XOF, with the latter destroying a large amount of XOF's vehicles and troops in his wake, and ultimately resulting in helping facilitate Big Boss's escape from XOF during the chaos. While they failed their primary objective in eliminating Big Boss, the XOF suceeded in eliminating all traces of their involvement in the operation. After learning of the Man on Fire and Tretij Rebenok in this incident, Skull Face used his rage to direct Tretij Rebenok and in doing so gained control over the child himself and the Man on Fire.

Operations in Afghanistan
XOF continued to operate as Skull Face's personal strike force, furthering his grand scheme of "ethnic liberation" through various covert operations. It was during this time that Skull Face deployed the Parasite Unit for various missions of high priority. Eventually, XOF was tasked with taking over and guarding the secret Soviet research station OKB Zero, while Skull Face began his final preparations for unleashing the English strain of the vocal cord parasite. However, Venom Snake managed to evade the extensive XOF presence at the facility and make contact with Skull Face. XOF's mission was almost complete until Tretij Rebenok, acting under a new affinity, activated Metal Gear Sahelanthropus against Skull Face and his forces. In the ensuing chaos, with two XOF troops having to drag Skull Face to safety due to his being too shocked at the existence of someone with a higher lust for revenge against Snake than even himself or the Man on Fire to even attempt to evacuate the premises by himself, XOF received heavy causalties and lost their commander Skull Face. Despite this, XOF continued to exist, under new leadership, and their orders continued to arrive though the same channel as always. At some point later, XOF hired a PF to steal parasite research from the Diamond Dogs, with their eventually placing them in two storage containers for XOF to retrieve them. However, Diamond Dogs ultimately retrieved the research materials before XOF could successfully extract them by chopper.

Kingdom of the Flies
XOF were later redeployed into Central Africa after receiving Intel that Sahelanthropus was in the possession of a young Liquid Snake, then known as Eli, and his band of child soldiers. Their mission was to eliminate Eli and his forces and to retrieve Sahelthropus so that it could be under their control once more. Knowing the area was infested with the English strain parasite, the XOF wore hazmat suits to prevent themselfs from getting infected. During their search for Eli and his soldiers, many XOF soldiers fell victim to traps set by Eli and his child soldiers. After locating Eli and his soldiers, an XOF marksman attempted to snipe Eli while he was in Sahelanthropus' cockpit, only for Tretij Rebenok stop the marksman's bullet at the last minute, saving Eli. A full blown firefight ensued, with XOF pulling out after initially being overwhelmed by Sahelanthropus. While Venom Snake and the combined forces of Diamond Dogs fought against Eli's onslaught, the XOF began to hunt and gun down all of Eli's soldiers, making sure there were no witnesses. After Venom Snake defeated Eli, the remaining XOF forces moved back in to eliminate Eli and to take back the scattered remains of Sahelanthropus, only to be gunned down by Venom Snake.

Former Members

 * Major Zero (Founder)
 * Skull Face (Executive Officer/Unit Commander)
 * Tretij Rebenok (Psychic)
 * The Man on Fire
 * Quiet (Assassin)
 * The SKULLS Parasite Unit
 * American Vietnam Veterans
 * Various other soldiers
 * XOF Agent (Lamar Khaate Palace)

Unit Functions
Before 1972, the XOF's primary function was to covertly support all FOX operatives to ensure that they completed their missions. This included providing back up, field intel, and even cleaning up any substantial messes that FOX had caused in order to eliminate all traces that FOX was there. During missions, XOF operatives were not allowed to directly intervene with FOX missions, being ordered to observe from afar and keep track of an operative's mission status.

After FOX was disbanded following the San Hieranymo revolt, Skull Face was recruited by Major Zero to join Cipher as the organization's chief enforcer, converting XOF from a support unit into an elite strike force, specializing in a wide array of operations which involved the use complete discretion with maximum effectiveness. They specialized in assassinations and all out assaults on enemy bases while keeping their existence secret from the rest of the world.

Equipment
During the events of 1975 and 1984, regular XOF soldiers wore:
 * Grey drab flight suits.
 * Olive drab combat boots.
 * Chest harness.
 * SPIE harness.
 * Ammo pouches
 * Butt packs.
 * Balaclava.
 * Ballistic helmet with a designation number painted on.
 * Eye protection goggles.
 * Headsets for communication.
 * Black brassard on the left arm with patches of their group's insignia, which they disposed of when about to infiltrate an area. The patches and logo for XOF is a color inversion of the FOX logo.Xof unit.png

They also wore white helmets with a blue stripe on them during the former.

During the hospital raid in 1984, the XOF also wore yellow-tinted visors, predominantly black body armor, as well as oxygen tanks.

These soldiers were armed with the following weapons:


 * AM D114 Pistol
 * AM Rifle Type 69
 * Sz.-336 SMG
 * UN-ARC-PT
 * ALM 48 (Hospital Raid and Kingdom of the Flies only)
 * FB MR R-Launcher
 * GROM-II (Hospital Raid and Kingdom of the Flies only)
 * Hand grenade
 * Smoke grenade
 * Stun grenade

They also had access to aircraft and vehicles, such as modified Blackhawks with retractable gears and refueling booms, APCs, Walker Gears, and jeeps.

XOF was also seen to possess a Metal Gear called Sahelanthropus, which was located at OKB-Zero.

Behind the scenes
XOF first appeared in the PAX Prime 2012 demo for Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (at the time simply titled as Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes). In both the VGA 2012 trailer for The Phantom Pain, and the GDC 2013 trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, there were soldiers shown attacking a hospital that utilize similar uniforms and equipment to XOF, although it was unclear at that time if they are the same group. The game confirms they are indeed XOF soldiers.

In the demo shown at the Kojima Productions Los Angeles studio live opening, the XOF members, when disposing of their XOF badges, also released a FOX badge, with the player later finding it after interrogating a soldier about it. It was later confirmed that the XOF patches were indeed collectible in-game, and that collecting them all will unlock the extra op missions "Déjà Vu" and "Jamais Vu." In Jamais Vu, Raiden is offered payment in the form of XOF patches in exchange for having him wipe out the Body-Snatchers that took over the Cuban base, implying that XOF had been wiped out in this storyline.

Collecting the XOF badges was referenced on the 12 Days of Metal Gear promotional event on the official Metal Gear Solid Facebook page leading up to the release of Ground Zeroes on Steam, acting as the equivalent of the lyric of "9 Ladies Dancing" from the namesake song "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

If the player equips the MSF Sneaking Suit in The Phantom Pain, one may see an XOF badge near Snake's pack. It's in the same location of the one that the player has to roll around to get.