Outer Heaven (South Africa)



The Outer Heaven Fortress is a large military compound, located in the mercenary nation-state of the same name, and is the headquarters of Big Boss's personal mercenary dispatch company. Its purpose was to give his soldiers a life outside the control of The Patriots, where they would always have a place, whether it be in battle or in society in general. In the aftermath of Operation Intrude N313, the fortress was destroyed under a self-destruct sequence after Metal Gear TX-55 was destroyed by Solid Snake.

The majority of the fortress comprises three main buildings separated by stretches of desert, though there are also a number of smaller buildings, which are possibly used as barracks or armories. The architectural plans for the military compound was designed by Kyle Schneider (albeit against his own will)

Building 1
The main building which houses the main hangar for Outer Heaven's military vehicles and the dock.

First Floor (1F)
The first floor of the building houses the main hanger to the West, where tanks and military trucks are stationed. German Shepherd Dogs are also kept in the inner courtyard, to guard against any intruders and to possibly prevent prisoners from escaping.

Second Floor (2F)
The second floor of the building. Machinegun Kid is a guard in this area. This may be the area where technologies relating to HALO/HAHO jumps and infrared vision are developed, as the infra-red goggles and parachute are located on this floor.

Third Floor (3F)
The third floor of the building houses several gassed rooms to deter intruders. This floor may possibly be Outer Heaven's weapons factory as there are many weapons stored here.

Rooftop (R)
The top of Building 1. This is presumably a landing area for Outer Heaven gunships, due to the fact that a Hind D is stationed here. Also, a Wind Barrier is installed on the roof, which prevents anyone from getting across the other side of the building without a bomb blast suit. Air Troopers are deployed here, so they can keep watch over the entire area to the south.

Basement (B)
This is the main prison block of the fortress. Shotmaker serves as the sole guard in this area, along with several attack dogs. There is also a secret passageway between the basements of Building 1 and 2, with Firetrooper guarding the West Elevator within the latter.

Desert 1
There are a few deserts around the Outer Heaven Fortress and it is possible they are interconnected. The first is located between Buildings 1 and 2. Due to the fact that mines are set up in the south of this area, as well as the deployment of military trucks and, sometimes, even a tank, this desert may be used to train Outer Heaven soldiers in desert warfare.

Building 2
This is possibly the main R&D building, since this is where Dr. Madnar is held. It is located 10 km north of Building 1

First Floor (1F)
The first floor seems to have waterways. Also, Dirty Duck is often stationed to the north of this area. An armored bulldozer is also utilized here.

Second Floor (2F)
The second floor of Building 2 is possibly where Outer Heaven's R&D center is located, since Dr. Madnar is held here. Two Bloody Brad units are deployed here, to guard many of the important areas on this floor.

Rooftop (R)
The top of Building 2, which is also guarded by Air Troopers.

Basement (B)
The basement of Building 2, like that of Building 1, is primarily used to detain prisoners. In fact, Building 1 and 2 share the same basement via a secret passageway. Most of the corridors are gassed. Also, Fire Trooper seems to be stationed in this area.

Desert 2
This desert is located between Buildings 2 and 3. There are a few trucks parked outside Building 3, which sometimes drive over to the courtyard of Building 1, implying that this desert is part of a military supply route. Also, scorpions seem to be prevalent in most of the area, with soldiers and/or personnel being advised to carry antidotes, when travelling between the two buildings on foot. Since there are no discernible landmarks in this 20 km stretch of desert, a compass is necessary to get between the two buildings.

Building 3
The building where Metal Gear TX-55 is stationed. It is located 20 km north of Building 2. Technically, this is more of an underground bunker as there is only one above-ground floor, with at least 100 basement floors below it. It is also possible that this is the place where the main power generator and explosives are housed, as the self-destruct sequence is initiated in this building by Big Boss.

Security Systems
The fortress encompasses many types of security systems to deter enemy intruders, some complex and unique.
 * Card Key system for opening doors (each door corresponds to a specific card, from 1-9)
 * Surveillance cameras
 * Gassed rooms and corridors
 * Rolling cylinders (giant automated machinery which roll from one side of a room to the other)
 * Electrified floors
 * Infra-red sensors (both fixed and random-patterned)
 * Pit traps (with built-in pressure sensors)
 * Armored bulldozer (stationed in Building 2)
 * Attack dogs (present in Building 1 Basement and Courtyard)
 * Venomous scorpions (provide a natural deterrence for traversing Desert 2)

Personnel

 * Big Boss (Commander-in-Chief)
 * Mercenaries
 * Shotmaker
 * Machinegun Kid
 * Fire Trooper
 * Dirty Duck

Military Hardware

 * Ground Military
 * Heavy Tanks (at least 20)
 * Armored Bulldozer (1)
 * Military Trucks (at least 18)
 * TX-11 "Bloody Brad" Cyberoids (2)
 * Air Force
 * Hind D (at least 1)

Military Hardware Under Development

 * Metal Gear TX-55

Trivia

 * The Outer Heaven Fortress is currently the only military hideout that has self-destructed (unless one considers the Big Shell a military hideout, and its collapse as being self-destruction).
 * The type of explosion resulting from the fortress's self-destruct sequence may indicate that it was of nuclear origin. This could possibly have been the detonation of the nuclear warheads that would have been used on Metal Gear. However, it should be noted that any sufficiently large blast can produce a mushroom cloud.
 * In the NES version of Metal Gear, the Outer Heaven Fortress was notably different in appearance, location, and even size. For a full list of differences between the MSX2 and NES versions, see here.