Zanzibar Land Disturbance

By 1999, the Cold War had thawed, and it seemed nuclear proliferation would soon be a thing of the past. Despite this, all was not well in the world. A military junta came to power in Zanzibar Land, a small nation bordering the USSR, China, and the Middle East. After gaining its independence from the Soviet Union in the Mercenary War, Zanzibar Land began attacking nuclear weapons disposal sites around the world, seizing those weapons that were still intact, and becoming the world's only nuclear power. It then began to invade its neighbors at will.

Meanwhile, a series of shocks to the oil market spurred the development of new high-tech energy sources, including fusion power. However, most vehicles still relied on oil for power. Oil reserves were at a critical low, and the world community was prepared to take drastic measures, either by drilling into sand and shale for more oil, despite the difficulty -- or moving on to renewable fuels. Such steps proved unnecessary when Czech scientist, Dr. Kio Marv, successfully bio-engineered a new species of algae, OILIX, that could produce petroleum-grade hydrocarbons with little expense and effort. Marv presented the algae to the World Energy Conference in Prague, and was on his way to a demonstration in the United States when he was kidnapped by agents of Zanzibar Land.

NATO discovered that Zanzibar Land's leaders planned to hold the world hostage by controlling the supply of oil, along with the threat of nuclear war, in an era known as the Zanzibar Land Disturbance.

Operation Intrude F014

Solid Snake was brought out of retirement by FOXHOUND's new commander, Roy Campbell, and sent into Zanzibar Land to rescue Dr. Marv.

Snake was able to penetrate the heavily fortified borders of Zanzibar Land via a nighttime HAHO (High Altitude-High Opening) jump, using a radar-stealth parachute. This was carried out at an altitude of 35,000 feet, on the Afghan border, from a C-130 Hercules aircraft. In order to aid Snake’s insertion, a simultaneous diversion operation was conducted along the Chinese border.

Making a successful jump, and avoiding frostbite on the way down, Snake then advanced on foot from the drop point to the base of the south-facing cliff wall. Free-climbing his way to the top, being careful to evade enemy sensors, he eventually reached the infiltration point at the front of the enemy fortress.

Zanzibar Breeze Infiltrating the first of Zanzibar Land's large building complexes, Snake was contacted by Holly White, a CIA operative posing as a journalist, who promised to help in any way she could. Making his way up to the third floor of the main building, he was confronted by Black Ninja, who Snake easily defeated in battle. Black Ninja revealed to Snake that he was Kyle Schneider, the leader of the resistance at Outer Heaven who helped Snake during his mission there four years earlier. He told Snake what happened after they had lost contact. Schneider told Snake that unbeknownst to him, NATO commenced a bombing raid on what was Outer Heaven after the success of Operation Intrude N313. This led to the deaths of many war orphans and refugees, along with many resistance members and Outer Heaven personnel alike. He also told Snake that he survived but was captured by a clean up crew of NATO and used as a guineapig for NASA's Black Ninja project. He also hints that Big Boss not only survived, but was also the leader of Zanzibar Land and saved the surviving members of the resistance. After the Black Ninja unit disbanded, he and many members fled to Zanzibar Land to assist in the Mercenary War. Schneider's last words to Snake was a clue on how to find Marv's whereabouts: "Follow the Green Beret…"

Finding the man in the Green Beret, Snake patiently followed him into the jungle behind the main building before coming into a clearing, with a small building sitting in the middle. Sneaking past the Green Beret, Snake entered the building to find a large cell, completely empty. Snake could hear a strange knocking, and was contacted by Campbell who told Snake that the knocking was tap code. After figuring out a radio frequency from the knocks, Snake called the person on his radio. Snake discovered that the person who was knocking was not Dr. Marv, but Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar, the Metal Gear developer from Outer Heaven. Madnar claimed he had been captured once again in order to build another Metal Gear tank: Metal Gear D. Snake, shocked by this latest development, was also told that the leader of Zanzibar Land was none other than Big Boss, the former leader of Outer Heaven, himself.

Reprieve of the Doctor After defeating Running Man, another of Zanzibar Land's mercenaries, and destroying a Hind D chopper, Snake proceeded to the second building of the fortress. As soon as he stepped inside, he was called by Holly who had been captured by the enemy. She asked Snake for help, but he didn't know her exact location. Working from her clues, Snake eventually found and rescued her. She told Snake that she had a clue to Marv's whereabouts: a carrier pigeon on the roof. Snake immediately headed to the roof, defeating Red Blaster on the way. Using his rations, Snake coerced the pigeon towards him. Finding a piece of paper attached to the pigeon's leg, it had the message "HELP! WIS. OhIO" printed on it. Looking at it, Snake realized it was Marv's radio frequency upside down. Calling Marv on 140.51, Snake successfully managed to make contact with Marv. Unfortunately for Snake, Marv couldn't speak English. Contacting Madnar, he was told that there should be an StB agent named Gustava Heffner who was acting as their bodyguard. Gustava had managed to steal an enemy uniform and should be somewhere in the main Zanzibar Land building.

Heading over there, and proceeding to the top floor, Snake waited for Gustava to enter the woman's bathroom, and snuck in, making contact with her. Snake immediately recognized her, realizing she was an ex-Olympic figure skater who won the gold at the Calgary Olympics. After making sure Marv was safe, and discovering that the prison was north of the tower building, they descended into the sewers. They eventually found an elevator which led them to Madnar's cell, and the three continued on to the bridge leading to the prison building. Along the way, Madnar asked for a quick bathroom break. Accepting his request, Snake and Gustava sat and awaited his return. As they waited, Gustava told Snake about her past, how she used to be engaged to a man named Frank Hunter, but when she attempted to defect to America she was refused asylum and sent away. Since then, she joined the StB and had even murdered a man. Snake attempted to comfort her, before Madnar returned. The trio carried on, eventually making their way out of the sewers.

Under the Cloud of Darkness

Upon reaching the suspension bridge leading to the detention camp, Madnar easily made his way across. As Gustava started to cross, a missile blew up the suspension bridge, launching Gustava back onto Snake's side of the crevice. As armed guards took Madnar away, Metal Gear D appeared piloted by none other than Gray Fox. He demanded that Snake leave Zanzibar Land, or he would kill him. Tending to Gustava (who was far beyond saving), she thanked Snake for all his help, and gave him her brooch, which could change into a key at different temperatures. Snake was now more determined than ever to defeat both Gray Fox and Big Boss.

After fighting his way through the Four Horsemen, Jungle Evil and Night Fright, Snake eventually made it into Marv's cell. Unfortunately, Snake arrived too late, as he found Dr. Marv's corpse. Marv was unable to survive the repeated torture sessions, and Madnar, also within the cell, was unable to save him. Just before Snake could retrieve the OILIX formula left by Dr. Marv, Holly revealed via a radio message that Dr. Madnar was not captured by Zanzibar Land's forces, but was in Zanzibar Land voluntarily overseeing the development of the new Metal Gear. After the truth came out, Madnar admitted that he accidentally killed Marv and caused Gustava's death, then proceeded to attack Snake. However, he was not successful in killing him, and was easily defeated. With the OILIX formula now safely in Snake's hands, Snake made his way out of the cell, However, Dr. Madnar stopped him, and managed to tell him how to defeat Metal Gear D: The legs had weaker armor compared to the rest of the body, and were especially weak to grenades. Just then a trap door was activated with Snake landing in Zanzibar Land's lower basement area, where he was confronted by Gray Fox piloting Metal Gear D once again. After a fierce battle, Snake was successful in destroying Metal Gear. Unfortunately, the resulting explosion had immolated Snake's equipment, and Gray Fox used the opportunity to recover the OILIX formula cartridge, telling Snake to "Burn in Hell!" Forced to remove most of his equipment, he then went after Gray Fox. Entering a door to his right, he then found himself in a minefield with Fox. Snake was contacted by military expert George Kasler who told Snake about Fox's real name, Frank Jaeger. Snake suddenly realized that the Frank Hunter whom Gustava had been engaged to was Gray Fox. The two suddenly engaged in hand-to-hand combat against each other, with Snake eventually emerging victorious. Fox told Snake about his past, about how Big Boss saved him several times, and how he needed war, and couldn't live without it. Fox "died", with Snake reassuring him that Gustava was waiting for him on the other side.

Farewell

After defeating Fox, Snake retrieved Marv's cartridge and made his way to Zanzibar Land's exit, before being confronted by the legendary mercenary Big Boss himself. Snake explained that he came here to get rid of the nightmares that he had since 1996, and Big Boss revealed that they never go away once someone has experienced the taste of battle. Big Boss then told Snake about his viewpoint on a logical system. Start a war, fan its flames, and create victims... then save them, train them... and feed them back onto the battlefield. Big Boss continued on, stating that soldiers like them could never lead normal lives, that it was impossible. They only felt truly alive during battle and nothing else would ever satisfy their cravings. Big Boss had one final speech to Snake before their battle.

"It doesn't matter who wins here. Our fight will continue. The loser will be liberated from the battlefield, and the survivor will live out the rest of his days as a soldier."

- Big Boss to Solid Snake

Having lost all of his equipment and with no weapons at his disposal, Snake was forced to improvise and made a makeshift flamethrower consisting of a cigarette lighter and aerosol can. Taking Big Boss by surprise, Snake defeated him for the second and last time. Snake and Holly then proceeded to leave, but they first had to fight their way out to the extraction point. However, their getaway pilot Charlie, was running late, so they were forced to hold off an entire platoon of guards until they eventually ran out of ammo. They were cornered by several guards and it appeared that Snake and Holly were done for. However, at the last second, Charlie, piloting a Sikorsky HH-64 Dragoon, eliminated all the guards using the gunship's .62 mm machineguns. Snake and Holly then escaped together with Charlie, and delivered the OILIX formula to Campbell.

After the situation was defused, Snake disappeared into the Alaskan wilderness, not to be heard from again for several years...

Trivia

 * The date of this mission (December 24th, 1999) and the details of Snake's intrusion were given in the original MSX2 game manual. A copy of the manual, translated and compiled, can be found here.
 * During a Codec conversation in Metal Gear Solid, Naomi asks Snake about his family. He reveals to Naomi (and the player) that Big Boss told him he was his father, which Campbell confirms. This revelation is a retcon, as this conversion did not take place in the original MSX2 version of Metal Gear 2. Interestingly, it was not included in the subsequent re-releases either.