Attack on Zero

The Attack on Zero was an event in which the founder and leader of Cipher, Zero was attacked by is XO, Skull Face who was the commander of Cipher's strike force XOF, which was formerly the backup unit for Zero's disbanded unit, the FOX Unit.

Prelude
Following Paz Ortega Andrade's faliure to force Big Boss into rejoining Cipher during the Peace Walker Incident, she was captured and taken to the United States Naval Prison Facility (Cuba) where she was subjugated to interrogation and torture regarding Zero's location. When Paz reliased that Skull Face was going to kill Zero, albeit for himself, she gave up Zero's location as Hell Kitchen 10th Avenue in New York City and how Zero controls the information to divert suspicion of his hiding place.

In March 1975, Chico, having  heard of Paz's survival,  recklessly decided on his to rescue Paz by going to the falicity but was captured, tortured and interrogated about information of MSF's staff, Mother Base and Metal Gear ZEKE, which after being forced to torture and have sex with Paz, he gave to Skull Face.

Having got the information he needed from Paz and Chico to strike at both Big Boss and Zero, Skull Face advanced his plans, by striking Big Boss first. Having arranged a fake nuclear inspection with Huey Emmerich, Skull Face initiated XOF Trojan Horse operation which was a success, MSF was and Mother Base was destroyed, although Big Boss surivived, but ended up in a coma.

Attack on Zero
In 1976, Skull Face recovered the winged daggar lapel pin which belonged to a soldier who was in the SAS who both Zero and The Boss knew. Still carrying it at the time of her death in Tselinoyarsk during Operation Snake Eater, which Skull Face was also involved in. Having recovered the lapel pin from Tselinoyarsk, presumeably from The Boss's body, Skull Face kept the real lapel pin and made a convincing replica which he coated with a form of the vocal cord parasites and sent it to Zero.

Having sent the fake lapel pin, Zero called Skull Face from New York, having supposealy got what he wanted for a long time. Skull Face inquired about the back of the lapel pin to which Zero accidently pricked his finger, unknowingly infecting himself which slowly began to take effect.

Zero talked about the owner of the lapel pin, who died on the 30th December 1941, whose body was never recovered and how it effected both him and The Boss, who vowed to never let it happen again, calling the unknown soldier his and the Boss's brother in arms.

Skull Face, wanting to talk to Zero, brought up that Kazuhira Miller has been found in Rhodesia, with Zero believeing that Miller wil make a mistake soon, was uncorncrened. Skull Face then moved on to how he can be more useful to Zero, as Central Africa's Angola-Zaire border region was riched with biological resources, that an old plan got be brought back into action.

Zero dismissed the idea as his preddecessor's daydreams and that the vocal cord parasites were no more then an excellent test for reverse revolution. Favouring genetics technology Zero says that the vocal cord parasites are too clumsy as they have the potential of destroying the human race, soon they will be able to target specific individuals. Zero then talks about how once the Cold War is over, Cipher's enemies will blend into the electronic network which will soon spread around the world, Skull Face object saying that people need their enemies, with Zero understanding that the result is ethnic conflict, religous strife and terrorism and that detterence is irrelevant.

A solution to this, as Zero points out, is information control to create context to mantian balance, with Skull Face being skeptical that people would just accept Zero's plan and tries to suggest the use of parasites with Zero having said that his mid is made up; the world will become one, the world that The Boss envisioned will become a reality, race, tribal affiliations, national borders and even their faces will be irrelevant, the nature of communication will change and it will make mankind whole again.

Skull Face, getting slightly more aggressive, says how he has lost his face forever, with Zero saying that a soul that can communicate dismisses the need for a face. Droping his facade, Skull Face saays he doesnt intend to hide behind Zero's technological viel and that he reveals his skull in the open so that he would never forget what he has lost and eclaring  that the chain of retaliation is what will bind the world together as one.

Suddenly, Zero goraned in pain, the parasites having taken effect, curses Skull Face andreliases that the lapel pin was the cause. The alarm is raised, but Skull Face taunts that it is too late and that the doctors cannot extract the parasites. Zero asks how Skull Face found him, he then answers his own question that Skull Face got his location from Paz.

Skull Face further taunts the pained Zero by saying that it is time for the latter to step aside, not content with killing Zero, he has bought him little time before Zero enters a permenant vegative state. Skull Face states that Zero was wrong about what The Boss wanted. Zero states that Skull Face is no different from Big Boss and no one understood what she wanted, with Skull Face repling that includes Zero. Skull Face says that he is the only one who understood what The Boss wanted and he will take it from here.

As a final drop of poison in the  wound, Skull Facer eveals that the lapel pin he coated with the parasites andsent to Zero was a fake replica and that he will keep hold of the real lapel pin, and continue The Boss's work. Zero calls out for Big Boss before he collapses.

Aftermath
Following this, Skull Face was sent to Africa, who would eventually take over Cipher. Zero, having been bought some time due to both Skull Face's revenge and his doctors, visist the comatose Big Boss and Venom Snake at the hospital in 1977, before going into hiding for good and entering a permenant vegeative state.