Ambush in Africa

In 2015, the Nevada-based private military company/private security provider Maverick Security Consulting, Inc. was stationed in a country in Africa, in order to help rebuild the country after it was devastated from a long, destructive civil war.

Ambush
Three years later, order had been restored in the country. The Prime Minister, N'mani, then meet with the Maverick member, Raiden, and discussed his amazement that they were able to restore the country to its original form and improve the lives of its citizens in only three short years. After giving thanks to his aid as well as the will of the people, N'mani then explained that Raiden and the Maverick PMC deserved credit as well. Raiden then simply informed him that they were just doing their job. N'mani then mentioned that he was initially untrusting of them due to their status as a PMC, and the PMCs stigmas regarding their stance as propegators of war, although he admitted that they trained his army well and restored order, and expressed that he may have been wrong in his views about PMCs. Raiden then explained that Maverick's closer to a private security provider, as their contracts focus mostly on security, and also cited a saying from the Samurai code, "one sword keeps another in the sheath."

However, their limo unexpectedly stopped. N'mani's advisor then proceeded to ask what was going on, before Courtney Collins explained that someone was blocking the road. The lead APC's gunner then proceeded to warn the person to clear the road, before he is forced to use lethal measures. He then fired at the approaching person, a Cyborg Ninja named Samuel Rodrigues, before the latter cut up the gunner. Two more APCs released several Maverick soldiers in an attempt to stop Sam, while the third APC escorted the limo away. Raiden and Courtney then explained to the cabinet and Maverick's commander, Boris respectively, that they were ambushed by a cyborg. When questioned whether the soldier belonged to any of their competitors, Courtney then explained that the XLFF identified the cyborg as being "unaffiliated." Boris then proceeded to notify all checkpoints and ordered them to evacuate the prime minister. Unfortunately, another cyborg managed to stop the escorting APC with a RPG round, with the soldiers also being slaughtered by several of the soldiers. The limo then was forced to escape while evading barricade vehicles. Eventually, they are cornered by more cyborgs. Raiden then, under Boris's orders, disembarked from the limo to confront the cyborgs, also ordering the bodyguards to guard N'mani. After shedding his business suit and then bringing out his HF Blade, he attacked the soldiers, and also collapsed a large part of the wall to ensure they don't pursue the fleeing limo.

Rules of Nature
Unfortunately, the limo ended up ambushed at the harbor. The bodyguards managed to take out the cyborgs that were attacking the vehicle effortlessly. However, they later bore witness to the arrival of the enemy group's cavalry: a modified Metal Gear RAY unit. The RAY unit then proceeded to fire its onboard plasma cannon at the limo, sending it flying as well as severely damaging the building behind it. N'mani survived and struggled to get out. The bodyguards then attempted to rush to the Prime Minister's aid, but they were stopped by the group's leader, Sundowner, cutting down the first bodyguard with two machetes, and entering a quick duel before disarming the other, and then decapitating him with the machetes combined giant shears. He then grabbed the Prime Minister by the leg and hoisted him onto his shoulder.

Boris then informed Raiden that the limo was in trouble. Tracking the location of the limo via the Soliton Radar, Raiden made his way back. Raiden then arrived to witness this, and attempted to stop Sundowner. Sundowner, recognizing Raiden as Jack, then told him that he wants N'mani dead, because Africa has gotten too peaceful. He then explained that he wanted to restore the war economy, which had waned due to the shutdown of SOP five years earlier, and viewed it as his livelihood. Sundowner then took out a machete, although he assured Raiden that he won't kill N'mani yet, as he still had his uses before escaping. Raiden attempted to pursue him, but Sundowner then had the RAY unit attack Raiden, forcing the latter into a battle with the machine. He then proceeded to damage the weapon, cumulating in him parrying its blade arm and destroying it. He then was ordered by Boris to pursue Sundowner. He then arrived at a rooftop, but he then discovered that RAY was still operational. Raiden then proceeded to destroy its remaining arm after jumping across its missiles. Even that, however, did not stop the RAY unit, which hoisted him into a clock tower. Raiden then ran down the clock tower building, evading its missiles, before vivisecting it by dragging his sword down its spine.

The Only Thing I Know for Real
Sundowner, carrying the Prime Minister's prone body, was then surrounded by several Maverick soldiers. However, Sundowner proceeded to jump towards a passing train. Raiden, witnessing this, rushed over to the train, eventually using his ninja run to run across the buildings to gain enough distance to board the train. Raiden also evaded a tiltrotor vehicle, upon being warned of its presence by Boris.

Raiden eventually found Sundowner, Sam, and N'mani at the front of the train, the last being chaned to several cargo boxes. Sundowner then informed Raiden that N'mani's usefulness had been expended. He then proceeded to slice N'mani's neck. Raiden attempted to save the prime minister, but Sam stopped him. Sundowner then proceeded to enter a rant regarding how war's benefits have been underreported, while proceeding to strangle N'mani. N'mani, realizing that he will die, then told Raiden to forget about saving him, and to stop Sundowner instead. Sundowner then proceeded to release the Prime Minister from his chains, and then proceeded to impale N'mani through the back, some of his blood spilling near Raiden's left eye, before dropping him off the train. Raiden attempted to attack Sundowner to avenge N'mani, but Sam stopped him again. Sundowner then made his escape via the tiltrotor, also informing Sam that Raiden was his to take care of.

The train the proceeded to fight in the tunnel, with Raiden and Sam commencing their duel. However, a combination of both Sam and Raiden's different sword techniques as well as Raiden holding back and Sam's superior body left Raiden completely outmatched. Raiden then had his left eye damaged by Sam's extendable shoto, with Sam also blowing up a propane tank before emerging from the flames, also dismembering Raiden's left arm. Boris then informed Raiden that he needs to last long enough to reach the end of the tunnel, as they are on their way. Raiden then continued to attempt to fight Sam, buying time. However, Sam overpowered him, causing Raiden to hang onto the ledge of the last car, and be at Sam's mercy. Sam then attempts to finish Raiden off, but then notices he's out of the tunnel. He's forced to break off from finishing off Raiden to deflect gunfire from Raiden's cavalry, three APCs, one of which Boris personally commanded. Sam then made his escape via the tiltrotor. Boris attempted to shoot down the tiltrotor with a missile, but the tiltrotor was revealed to possess flares, which it used to prevent the missile from making contact. Boris then attempted to aim at it again, but it disappeared through the ridge before he could get a good aim at it. Raiden witnessed this, before passing out from his injuries.

Aftermath
Sometime after the mission, Maverick recovered Raiden's dismembered left arm, and proceeded to retrieve all of the files from it, doing it under a weekly basis due to the files being corrupted due to damage. In addition, Raiden also underwent emergency surgery due to his injuries, which also resulted in the removal of his left eye because Sam's attack had completely destroyed its optical nerve. He eventually had his body reconverted into a new cyborg body, because of the attack and due to Raiden feeling that the Patriots' experiments didn't leave him with much of a body anyways, and thus decided they should just finish their work.

As such, because their old cybernetics person went into hiding, Maverick hired the German cyberneticist surgeon, Dr. Wilhelm Voigt, nicknamed Doktor, to do the conversion process. At the time, Doktor was unfamiliar with full-body conversions, although he managed to master it as a result. Raiden was originally supposed to receive a cybernetic implant, but it wasn't ready before the surgery, forcing him to wear a makeshift eyepatch for a while, although Raiden ultimately concluded regarding the eyepatch's functions that he didn't need the eye, at least not during his missions. Raiden will also harbor intense desires for revenge against the group, revealed to be Desperado Enforcement LLC.

Three weeks after the incident, Maverick discovered that Desperado was involved in a coup against the Abkhazian government led by the Abkhazian extremist Andrey Dolzaev. During this time, several job requests for Maverick, including conducting drills for the Brazilian Special Op Forces in Rio de Janeiro, playing a terrorist organization for an anti-terror training program for the South African police forces, and doing security detail for the Swiss Confederation, were temporarily frozen, in order to keep Raiden focused on his mission, as well as to save up their money and resources, which Boris felt was partially responsible for their failure in Africa.

Behind the scenes
The events of this mission had been heavily advertized since the VGA 2012 showing revealed the change from Metal Gear Solid: Rising to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. As such, several things shown in the VGA, E3, and TGS trailers were for the most part retained in the final versions, although there were some differences:

Differences between the final game and the VGA trailer

 * The opposing cyborgs in the VGA trailer were shown wearing green hoods resembling the KGB outfits from Snake Eater. In the final version, the opposing cyborgs (identified to have belonged to Desperado) were bald men with faceguards.


 * The shot of Sam after killing the APC gunner was framed to make it seem as though he was smirking at Raiden in the VGA trailer. In the final version, he was revealed to have been smirking at the limousine's attempt at escape. In addition, Raiden also seems to fight Sam at this area, when in the final version, he never actually met Sam until their encounter on the train. In addition, Boris and Raiden also have a brief exchange that was left out in the final version, where Boris ordered Raiden to take Sam out, with Raiden confirming the order and then saying, in a semi-fourth wall break, "let's have some fun!"


 * In the VGA trailer, Sam's appearance had him wearing a blue and white cyborg body that was somewhat human looking. In the final version, the armor was considerably more bulkier.


 * In the trailer, Raiden was shown wearing his black armor. The final version has him wearing his MGS4 armor instead.


 * The RAY mech in the VGA trailer had its plasma cannon placed on the outer surface of its head, resembling the head of Peace Walker from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, as well as possessing three-blades on its tail. The design was changed in the final version.


 * During the segments of the VGA trailer highlighting the cutting aspect of the game, Raiden fought through a street as well as had Raiden shouting "too easy" after kicking a cyborg into a car hard enough to nearly flip it over as well as activate a car alarm, and before cutting him to pieces. These sections and dialogue weren't present in the final version, with the main fighting action against cyborgs being placed in a relatively more wider area.


 * The scenes from the game in the VGA trailer were shot to make it seem as though the game took place late morning, early noon. In the final version, the game's setting was closer to late noon, early evening.

Differences between the final game and the E3 trailer

 * Sundowner's reaction to impaling N'mani through the back was given a slightly different appearance in the trailer than in the final game.


 * Like in the VGA trailer, the scenes shot during the trailer for the Africa mission made it seem as though it took place during the late morning, early afternoon instead of late noon, early evening.


 * In the ending of the E3 trailer, Raiden was seen wearing his armor and getting ready for battle with intense flames in the background. In the final game, it wasn't quite as dramatic.

Differences between the final game and the TGS trailer

 * In the TGS story trailer, the scenes depicting Raiden's meeting with N'mani depicted him with human-like hands. In the final version, he wore gloves over the hands.