Sons of Liberty (terrorist group)

The Sons of Liberty were a terrorist group led by Solidus Snake. Other members included Olga Gurlukovich, Revolver Ocelot, Vamp, Fortune, and Fatman. The Gurlukovich Mercenaries were also assisting the group as operational support. In reality, the Sons of Liberty were merely stand-ins for the Sons of Big Boss, the terrorist group that seized Shadow Moses Island.

The Big Shell, an offshore oil cleanup facility off the coast of Manhattan, was seized by the Sons of Liberty on April 29, 2009. They assumed control of the facility in order to get their hands on Arsenal Gear, which contained GW, an artificial intelligence program. Solidus planned to decode GW in order to discover the identities of the Patriots and launch a nuclear weapon in the skies above Manhattan, thus causing a gigantic electromagnetic pulse – effectively "unplugging" Manhattan and leading it to become a free republic. However, the entire plan was being manipulated by Ocelot's intervention.

Thirty hostages, including Richard Ames and President Johnson, were being held captive in the Big Shell. Solidus demanded a massive ransom to cover his real plans, or he would detonate the Shell and therefore horribly contaminate the ecosystem beyond immediate repair. Raiden, a lone "FOXHOUND" recruit, was sent in to thwart the plot. In reality, Raiden was sent in by the Patriots. The entire Big Shell incident was scripted and manipulated by the Patriots to mold Raiden into the perfect soldier (much like Solid Snake) as part of their plot to control humanity. Also, Solidus never demanded the ransom of thirty billion dollars to begin with, as revealed by Fatman and Ames. At one point in the mission, the Colonel contacted Raiden informing him that the Sons of Liberty had killed one of the hostages, but Ames later revealed that they had not killed any of the them by that point.

Once it was revealed that the entire Big Shell crisis was scripted, the Sons of Liberty group were considered disbanded. In actuality, every named member, save for Vamp, Ocelot, and Johnny Sasaki were killed during the incident.

Groups involved in the Sons of Liberty

 * Dead Cell
 * Solidus Snake
 * Vamp
 * Fortune
 * Fatman
 * Gurlukovich Mercenaries
 * Olga Gurlukovich
 * Johnny Sasaki
 * Arsenal Tengu
 * Solidus's Secret Service
 * Revolver Ocelot

Military resources

 * KA-60 Kasatkas (at least 2)
 * AV-8B Harrier II
 * Metal Gear RAY (U.S. Marine prototype)
 * Cypher
 * Rail Gun
 * C4 explosives
 * Semtex explosives
 * AKS-74u (standard weapon of Shell 1 Core guards)
 * AN94 (standard weapon for most Gurlukovich soldiers)
 * SPAS-12 (standard weapon for attack squads)
 * Arsenal Gear
 * Metal Gear RAY (U.S. Navy mass-poduction model) x 25
 * P90 (standard firearm of Arsenal Tengu squads)
 * High Frequency Blades (Arsenal Tengu standard weapons)

Trivia

 * The Sons of Liberty are named after the colonial Sons of Liberty, a group of American Patriots that attacked the apparatus and symbols of British Empire's authority and power through both words and deeds. Even today, the Sons of Liberty are used as a symbol of the American spirit and what is possible if one only believes.
 * The Sons of Liberty's flag was also inspired by flags used during the American Revolution (1776 - 1783). The 13 Strips on the flag represent the original 13 Colonies and resembles the colonial Sons of Liberty flag used by American merchant ships during the U.S. Revolutionary War. And the Rattlesnake on the flag is also a symbol of the U.S. Revolutionary War. It was inspired by the revolutionary "Rattlesnake Flags", created in 1775 and contained the slogans "Liberty or Death" and "Don't Tread on Me." The rattlesnake itself was created by Benjamin Franklin in 1754.
 * A large percentage of the Sons of Liberty members did not carry the nanomachines needed to use the Codec, as mentioned by Emma Emmerich when Raiden used his Codec to convince her that he was "one of the good guys."

Behind the scenes
In the Metal Gear Solid 2 Grand Game Plan, units within the Sons of Liberty were given the names of "legion" and "phalanx." The game was also to include Aquatic Troops and Heavily Armed Mechanized High-Tech Troops (which presumably became the Arsenal Tengu soldiers in the final game).