Metal Gear RAY (unmanned)

The unmanned Metal Gear RAY was a mass-produced amphibious Metal Gear, redesigned by the Patriots and the United States Navy from the original United States Marine Corps model.

Information
The mass-production model of RAY combines tele-existence and autonomous control systems to achieve fully unmanned capability. It is equipped with missiles on its upper legs and back and dual machine guns on its arms. Its head is also outfitted with an internal high-pressure water cannon. However, in contrast to the manned model, the unmanned model lacks a tail. Other differences include a rust-like red color scheme, round knees, and its single sensory input, or "eye," as opposed to the prototype's two. When the unmanned RAYs are not active and put on sleep mode, they are surrounded by holographic text.

Although the unmanned RAY units were designed by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps had also intended that its final design be unmanned.

History
Following the Tanker Incident, the U.S. Marines' manned prototype of Metal Gear RAY was used as a model to create 25 unmanned units for the U.S. Navy. The unmanned RAYs were designed to protect a new type of battleship that was under construction, known as Arsenal Gear, which would also house the RAYs' AI control system, GW.

During the Big Shell Incident, the unmanned RAY units fell into terrorist hands, when Arsenal Gear was hijacked by the Sons of Liberty. Within Arsenal, FOXHOUND operative Raiden fought the mass-produced RAYs and was successful in destroying several of the units with Stinger missiles. However, after a lengthy battle that resulted in the destruction of all but three of the unmanned RAY units, an exhausted Raiden was eventually surrounded and about to be crushed by one of the RAYs. He was saved at the last moment by Olga Gurlukovich, only to be executed moments later by terrorist leader Solidus Snake for her betrayal. Shortly thereafter, Emma Emmerich's worm cluster (which had been uploaded into GW earlier) began to affect the RAYs' AI, causing them to begin acting erratically. After turning on him, Solidus destroyed the remaining three units, utilizing his exoskeleton-enhanced speed and P90 submachine gun to snipe out their AI cores.

The 25 unmanned RAY units employed in Arsenal Gear's defense were designated as follows: RAY-A01E, RAY-A02E, RAY-A03E, RAY-A04E, RAY-A05E, RAY-B01F, RAY-B02F, RAY-B03F, RAY-B04F, RAY-B05F, RAY-C01H, RAY-C02H, RAY-C03H, RAY-C04H, RAY-C05H, RAY-D01G, RAY-D02G, RAY-D03G, RAY-D04G, RAY-D05G, RAY-E01L, RAY-E02L, RAY-E03L, RAY-E04L, and RAY-E05L.

During Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection, a number of unmanned Metal Gear RAY units were controlled by the repaired GW AI on board Outer Haven, the base of operations for Liquid Ocelot's PMC mother company. The RAYs were used to attack the USS Missouri, which was attempting to prevent Haven from launching a nuclear warhead. During the battle, at least two RAYs were destroyed by the firepower of the Missouri. Just as another RAY was preparing to use its water jet cutter to destroy the bridge of the Missouri, the units were all shut down upon the final destruction of GW by the FOXALIVE worm cluster.

Revengeance
Despite the collapse of the SOP System, unmanned Metal Gear RAY units were still in operation as of 2018. A RAY unit with sword arm modifications was used by the PMC Desperado Enforcement LLC. to fight a cyborg Raiden, within an unidentified Africa city, where it fought Raiden within a city block. Boris was likewise surprised that a Metal Gear was being used by Desperado. It was temporarily defeated by Raiden via the latter parrying the RAY's attack, throwing it into the air, jumping onto its sword arm, and chopping it up. Despite this, however, it did not end up destroyed, announcing its survival via a bombardment of missiles some time later. Raiden then cut up portions of its face and at least one of its weapons systems, then springboarded its flurry of missiles and cut off its remaining pod, although it reactivated and attacked Raiden. It was eventually defeated for good by Raiden running up a clock tower, and then cutting it up to pieces. Despite its destruction, however, its presence nonetheless distracted Raiden and the PMC Maverick long enough to allow Desperado to successfully abduct Prime Minister N'Mani.

This Metal Gear RAY model was equiped with more advanced weaponry. For starters, it has a laser-based weapon in place of the water jet cutter. In addition to that it has 4 gun turrets, one on each of its shoulder/arm areas, and one on each of its upper leg sections, as well as missile launchers under its arms. In addition, its right pod also contained a gargantuan retractable blade used to cut enemies down. The extra amount of weapons systems were attributed by Doktor to the advancement of biomechanical parts since 2014, as the artificial muscle types were no longer of use, weapons developers took the opportunity to increase RAY's firepower. In addition, unlike other unmanned Metal Gear RAYs, it also possessed a tail, similar to the manned prototype for RAY.

Behind the scenes
The number of Metal Gear RAYs the player has to fight in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty depends on the difficulty setting. The exact number is:


 * Very Easy/Easy: 3
 * Normal: 6
 * Hard: 10
 * Extreme/European Extreme: 20

RAY will reappear in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, albeit in a modified form, with swordlike arms. During the initial stages of the Rising teaser site, inputting the word "RAY" into the command key on the page will unlock blueprints of Metal Gear RAY, where it is given a distinctly different design, namely that it is black, white, and red, with portions of it looking skeletal. A bit more than a week later, another, corrupted blueprint data of RAY's parts were also uploaded onto the site and accessible via keyword, this time by inputting into the command key "KA-120," based on someone's Codec ID on the Saga timeline portion of metalgearsolid.com. A corrupted blueprint depicting a cross-section of RAY's main body was later uploaded onto the site via a similar method to the previous one. Only this time, the passcode was "Big Shell," with the Codec ID in question (KA-119) only acting as a hint as to where to look for it. A leaked image also showcased a boss fight with a RAY model. This one in particular bore the logo for [http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Desperado_Enforcement_LLC. Desperado Enforcement LLC.] on its left "arm." Although a demo showcasing the fight was planned to be shown and played on June 7, it ended up being dropped for unknown reasons. The song that played during the RAY fight(s) is "Locked and Loaded" by Molly Hatchet, although the lyrics only play when Raiden is about to deliver the final blow to the boss in all its forms. In addition, completely cutting up the tail of RAY will result in the achievement/trophy "Steel Tail" being unlocked.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
 * Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
 * Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance