Gurlukovich Mercenaries



The Gurlukovich Mercenaries were an army of over 1,000 Russian mercenaries, comprising former Spetsnaz GRU soldiers. The mercenaries were involved in the Tanker Incident and the Big Shell Incident. The army was commanded by Sergei Gurlukovich and later by his daughter Olga Gurlukovich.

Early formation
The Gurlukovich Mercenaries were formed by GRU Colonel Sergei Gurlukovich after the collapse of the Soviet Union, who had brought several former Soviet Soldiers together who, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the Red Army by consequence, were out of a job and left with nowhere else to go. Their main goal under Colonel Gurlukovich was to re-establish Russia to her former glory.

The Gurlukovich Mercenaries were originally going to be deployed during the Shadow Moses Incident, in order to assist FOXHOUND and the Genome Army in the usage of Metal Gear REX, especially after Psycho Mantis' death resulted in the Genome soldiers brainwashing to be relieved and also resulting in a severe morale drop. However, due to the actions of Solid Snake, this never occurred.

During the Tanker Incident, the Gurlukovich Mercenaries had discovered the existance of a new type of Metal Gear which was being transported so Sergei Gurlukovich, Olga Gurlukovich, and Revolver Ocelot led a large team of at least 18 operatives which took over the U.S.S. Discovery (the transport ship) in Manhattan. Many members patrolling the upper levels of the ship were neutralized by Solid Snake, during his infiltration there as he made his way down to the holds. Later, some of the mercenaries report to Sergei, informing him that the tanker was successfully under their control and that explosives had been put in place. Sergei then ordered them to keep Olga safe, though they were wiped out single-handedly by Snake during an intense shoot-out despite their efforts. However, one member did survive only to be shot by Ocelot who arrived moments later, with Ocelot vowing that Colonel Gurlukovich will join the soldier in death soon enough.

Members of the unit also descended into the holds where Metal Gear RAY was stored with Sergei and Ocelot personally leading them, and held the U.S. Marines there hostage along with their commander, General Scott Dolph. However, after Ocelot revealed his betrayal to Sergei and both mortally wounded him and killed General Dolph (as well as killing six members of the unit who attempted to avenge the former), the troops (along with the Marines) were killed when Ocelot hijacked RAY and sunk the tanker, including those still on the upper levels and the Marines. The only survivors were Olga, Snake, and Ocelot.

After the Tanker Incident, Olga inherited command of the Gurlukovich Mercenaries. During the Big Shell Incident, Olga loaned the army over to Solidus Snake's Sons of Liberty to help them take over the Big Shell offshore plant, where another Metal Gear was under development. With the exception of the Shell 1 troops, the majority of the Gurlukovich troops changed their overall uniform slightly, sporting teal green camouflage, wielding the AN-94 assault rifle instead of the AKS-74U, and foregoing the helmet. The attack teams also wore a different variation of body armor and head gear, namely due to the fact that they were a different unit from the Gurlukovich mercenaries.

Towards the end of the Big Shell Incident, a new version of the attack team appeared, utilizing M4 carbines with grenade launchers, thicker body armor, that also protected their shoulders and arms, and helmets covering their entire face. They were in fact former members of the Counter Assault Team within the United States Secret Service, who had originally been assigned to Solidus Snake during his presidency, now the terrorist leader. Eventually, the surviving mercenaries evacuated to Arsenal Gear as it became active, and faced a final showdown with Snake and Raiden, this time utilizing Tengu commando equipment, making them more dangerous. Despite the advantage in numbers and firepower, they were ultimately killed.

Olga had earlier informed Solidus that once the business with the Sons of Liberty was done, she and the remainder of the mercenaries would go back to Russia and live their own lives. However, she ended up betraying them, under the alias of the Cyborg Ninja/Mr. X, to ensure that Raiden survived, on the Patriots' orders due to their holding her child hostage. She was deeply affected and bitter for being forced to do this to her comrades, whom she valued as family. She even went so far as to declare that she would go to Hell for what she did, when sacrificing herself to save Raiden, even if she only did so to save her child, whom she would never meet.

Tengu Commando
The Gurlukovich Mercenaries were also trained as Tengu Commandos using Arsenal Gear equipment, in order to protect the inner sanctums of Arsenal Gear from infiltration and destruction. The Tengu soldiers had masks inside their helmets that could help them breathe in biochemical environments. They could also run faster and were stronger than the average soldier, due to the artificial tissue they had in their armor. Tengu Commandos also had a somewhat greater field of vision than normal Gurlukovich soldiers and could withstand heavier punishment from both melee attacks and firearms. Numerous Tengu Commandos fought against Snake and Raiden in their final battles aboard Arsenal Gear to prevent the latter from eliminating Solidus Snake.

Military hardware (2007-2009)
Weapons
 * AKS-74U
 * AN-94
 * SPAS-12
 * Makarov PMM
 * M4
 * P90
 * High frequency blade

Vehicles
 * Hind D (at least 1* --the Hind D used by Liquid Snake in 2005--)
 * KA-60 Kasatka (at least 2)

Equipment
 * Handheld radio
 * Rations
 * Rappel harness
 * Helmets

Trivia
The Gurlukovich Mercenaries, similar to the SEAL Team, possessed ID-tagged weapons, including those that were black market-issued.

Other appearances
The Tengu Commandos reappeared in Metal Gear Acid 2 as unique soldiers who only used sword-based attacks, despite clearly being armed with the XM2000 on screen.

The Commandos, along with the regular Gurlukovich Mercenaries, also appeared in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus as recruitable soldiers on higher difficulties. The Commandos came equipped with a unique N. Blade as their fixed weapon and used the P90 as their standard firearm, in fact the P90 can only be taken away from this soldiers. On all difficulties, the Arsenal Tengu more often than not were part of the final challenge of the Infinity mission. The Arsenal Tengu, as well as the regular Gurlukovich Mercenaries, have voices that are actually reused voice clips of the FOX and Soviet soldiers.

"A soldier from former GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate) colonel Sergei Gurlukovich's private army. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he and his men drifted from one war zone to another, eventually occupying the Big Shell alongside Special Forces unit Dead Cell."

- Character description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

"A soldier outfitted with special equipment from Arsenal Gear. Named after a mythical Japanese demon, Tengu possess superior combat effectiveness thanks to their full body armor and artificial muscle tissue."

- Character description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus.

The skateboarding video game Evolution Skateboarding has two secret characters called Gurlukovich 1 and 2. They can be unlocked by completing the game 100% with Rick McCrank (for Gurlukovich 1) and Chris Senn (for Gurlukovich 2).

A costume available to download for LittleBigPlanet allows the Sackboys to dress up as a Gurlukovich soldier.

The Gurlukovich Mercenaries (or at least soldiers with a similar uniform to them) also appeared in Metal Gear Solid: Mobile as enemies that Snake has to fight against.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid (mentioned only)
 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance