Outer Haven



Outer Haven was a Kerykeion-class submersible battleship. A modified version of an Arsenal Gear model, it was stolen from the Patriots by Liquid Ocelot, and later used as a base of operations for his private military company Outer Heaven.

Construction
Circa the early 2010s, the Patriots completed development of the Kerykeion-class vessel. The ship measured approximately 630 meters long, its massive deck containing a series of bridges aligned like skyscrapers. The battleship's submersible capabilities and OctoCamo-clad hull, allowed the entire ship to be camouflaged. Powered by a molten metal cold fusion nuclear reactor, its top speed was reportedly over 40 knots.

Sometime after its completion, the battleship was stolen by Liquid Ocelot, who named it Outer Haven; a reference to both a data haven and Big Boss's Outer Heaven. He then had the repaired AI GW housed in Haven 's server room, after being recovered from the original Arsenal Gear from the Big Shell Incident. The ship was patrolled by numerous Gekko, Dwarf Gekko, Haven Troopers, and was defended by unmanned Metal Gear RAY units. Haven was protected by armored plates thick enough to stop shots from a 16 inch naval gun. Finally, a number of hallways leading directly to GW's server room were protected by microwave emitters, capable of burning intruders to death.

Hiding Haven at the abandoned Shadow Moses Island, Liquid Ocelot arranged for a rail gun, recovered from the original Metal Gear REX, to be installed on the warship's bridge. After work had been completed, Liquid set Haven on a collision course with Shadow Moses' supply port, in order to crush Old Snake. However, Raiden used his cybernetic-enhanced strength to hold back Haven 's bulk, allowing Snake time to escape, though Raiden was nearly crushed himself in the process. Haven then proceeded to intercept the JD satellite at its perigee above the Bering Sea, 494 nautical miles south of the Bering Strait, while travelling at a speed of 33 knots, enough to outrun the USS Missouri by 2 nautical miles per hour.

A few hours later, Outer Haven was boarded by a strike team from the USS Missouri, consisting of Snake, Meryl Silverburgh, Johnny Sasaki, and Raiden. The infiltrators attempted to prevent Liquid from destroying JD, the Patriots' core AI, using a stealth nuclear warhead launched from the rail gun. While the Missouri directly engaged Haven, Snake headed deeper inside the warship, where he battled and defeated BB Corps leader Screaming Mantis within the central control room. After successfully bypassing the hallway of microwave emitters, Snake and Otacon (via the Metal Gear Mk. III) uploaded the FOXALIVE worm cluster into GW. Unbeknownst to them, the worm had been designed to spread to JD and the other AIs on the Patriots' network, effectively deactivating the SOP system.

After Outer Haven and its mechanized army were disabled, Snake was confonted by Liquid Ocelot, who had dragged his body to Haven 's tallest structure for one final battle. After a grueling fight, Ocelot (having his original psyche and personalilty restored) succumbed to the new strain of FOXDIE, which had been injected into Snake by Drebin 893, and died.

Ship bow
The ship bow is the forward part of Outer Haven 's hull. It possesses a movable canopy that retracts when surfacing to either launch a weapon or to offload troops. Beneath the canopy, there are various buildings, catwalks, pipes, ladders, and lifts. Because of its status as a submarine, it also has watertight doors with circular handles, one of which, the one farthest from the bow, leads to an interior area that contains a lift inside.

Command center
The command center is the location where briefings are held. It contains a holographic globe at the center of a large amphitheater-esque area, with rows of desks with computer monitors.

Missile hangar
The missile hangar is a long hallway that contains several rows of missiles. It has several catwalks between the areas.

Microwave tunnel
As a final safeguard against intruders trying to destroy GW, a tunnel was created that emits microwaves powerful enough to cook a human alive in seconds, although robots or cyborgs are immune to the radiation.

GW server room
This is the main server room for the reconstructed GW. It is filled with hundreds of computer monoliths surrounding GW, in a pattern reminiscent of tombstones at a graveyard.

Ship exterior
A square-shaped platform on top of Outer Haven that is comparable to the bridge of a regular submarine. It is presumably the main bridge of Outer Heaven, and presumably has ladders, given Ocelot's ease in climbing it with Snake on top.

Trivia

 * Outer Haven featured a Mount Rushmore-esque sculpture at its helm (dubbed "Mount Snakemore"), featuring (from left to right) Solidus Snake, Old Snake, Liquid Snake, and Big Boss. Outer Haven 's hull utilized OctoCamo meaning that the sculpture was not a permanent feature, but rather a disguise generated by the warship.
 * Outer Haven was used as the handle of Mei Ling's pointer stick during her mission briefing onboard the Missouri.
 * Old Snake referred to Haven as "Liquid's very own Death Star," a reference to the Imperial moon-sized battle station of Star Wars.

Behind the scenes
Outer Haven appears in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. During the cutscene in which Solid Snake enters GW's server room, the tombstone-like servers are briefly shown decorated with flowers.

The term kerykeion (the name of the ship class to which Haven belongs) means "herald's staff" in Greek. It can also refer to the caduceus, a winged staff entwined by two serpents, carried by Hermes in Greek mythology, or the Roman Mercury.

Outer Haven was foreshadowed in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, during a Codec conversation between Solid Snake and Mei Ling, while fighting against Meta Knight. Snake mentions having seen the Halberd, stating that placing his face on the bow of the ship seemed narcissistic, to which Mei Ling reminded him that he had some narcissistic qualities.

Outer Haven reappears as a game piece/territory in the recently released Risk board game Risk: Metal Gear Solid. Players who manage to gain the use of Haven would be able to travel around the map and even go to more remote landmasses (eg, Australia).

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots