Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.

Adam had spent almost a week on the Medical Platform. The doctors, along with Rogue and Meryl, wanted to be absolutely sure that he was mentally and physically fit to return to the field after what he had been through at the mansion in Germany. Once they felt that he was fine to get out of his bed, he took a stroll outside the platform and took a look at Diamond Foxes new home. It didn't look as rusty as it did when he was here last and that surprised him.

He closed his eyes and felt the wind blow around him before he decided to walk back into the platform to pay Silent Phoenix a visit, but he stopped to see Hal leaning on the railing on the second level of the platform with a distraught look on his face. Curious, but mainly concerned, Adam walked to the second level and approached Hal.

"Hal? You alright?" Adam asked as he walked up to the scientist. Hal shook his head gently before looking at him with a forced smile. "Hey, Adam. Yeah, I'm alright, but what about you? Are you ok?" He asked, but Adam wasn't buying it. He crossed his arms before he answered. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just need a few more days of rest before I head back out into the field. Doctors orders. I'll ask you again though, Hal... are you alright? You had a look on your face before I came up here." He stated.

Hal frowned and looked away from Adam, but didn't answer.

"Did you talk to the AI pod?" He asked making Hal flinch. Adam sighed. "Yeah, I thought you did." He said as he waited patiently. Eventually, Hal sighed before looking at Adam with tears forming in his eyes. "My... my father... wasn't the man that I thought he was Adam. When I was little, very little, I thought my father always seemed to be like a happy go lucky guy and that nothing could bring him down. He always painted this picture of himself to me that he was a good man and that the things he created were for the good of mankind... but... I was mistaken." He explained before pausing to take a breath.

Then he continued.

"My father, Huey, used to work for Big Boss." He admitted before looking at Adam, who had a look of shock on his face before Hal continued. "I know. It surprised me too. And for a moment, for just a single moment, I thought that my father and Big Boss were like Snake and I. Two best buds who would take on the world together and nothing could get in their way, but... again, I was wrong about my father. I've never been so wrong in my life." He said with a sigh as he lowered his head.

Adam waited for a moment before he spoke. "Do you know what happened between them? Your dad and Big Boss?" He asked making Hal sigh deeply. "Yeah, I do and the AI pod told me everything." He answered before continuing. "Back when Big Boss had another private military group, MSF, he saved my father from a man named Hot Coldman, which is an odd name in my opinion, but he saved him and brought him to the MSF Motherbase. He brought in my mother too, which was... odd, considering she tried to kill him, but he still brought her to MSF because of her genius intellect. After that everything went fine during and after the Peace Walker Incident." Hal explained while Adam just stood beside him and listened.

"But... weeks or months after that, everything went to hell... because of my father. The U.S offered Big Boss to hold an inspection, but he turned it down. Since MSF was a private army that held no particular alliance with anyone, there was really no need for an inspection. However, my father saw this as an opportunity to show the U.S government that MSF could be the "posterboys of world peace". Or that's what he thought he was doing at the time." He continued before pausing to take a breath.

"What happened?" Adam asked him curiously. Hal sighed deeply while squeezing the railing tight before he looked at Adam to answer. "He made a deal with a shadow group called XOF to take him away from MSF and continue his research with them elsewhere, but he was to make something, a weapon, for a man called Skull Face. He agreed and that's when Big Boss' private army, MSF, fell at the hands of, not XOF or... Cipher, but my father. Due to an inspection that acted as a smokescreen in order for MSF to be taken down." He answered with each word in a shaky tone.

Hal looked away from Adam to try and keep himself from shaking before he suddenly balled a fist and slammed it against the wall.

Adam just looked at Hal and kept silent to wait for him to continue. "I'm, uh... I'm sorry, Adam. But this is still something that I'm processing. So... I think it would be better if you were to see it all for yourself." Hal said without turning around, but Adam wasn't sure if that was such a good idea.

"Are you sure, Hal? I mean, if it was something that was meant for you, then maybe I shouldn't be looking into your business." He said, not wanting to impose, but then he heard Hal chuckle before he turned around to look at him. "Nonsense. I could tell you about all of it, but it would take up too much time and I imagine that you have other things that you want to attend to. I'll take you to the AI pod and it, or she, will explain everything. So, are you ready to go?" He asked Adam.

Adam was taken aback for a moment. Hal was so quick to get Adam to the R and D Platform that it was sudden, but there was something he wanted to get done first. And that was to check up on the person he had saved in Germany. "Um... you go on ahead, Hal. I'll meet you there. There's something I have to do first." He answered.

Hal blinked before smiling. "You want to check on Liza, don't you?" He asked.

Adam blinked.

"Liza? That's her name?" He asked. Hal just nodded with a chuckle. "Yeah, she's been with us for a few years now and she's one of the best soldiers I've seen in Diamond Foxes. I'm sure you'll be right up there with her though. We still have yet to see what you're fully made of, but you're showing a lot of promise." He said before walking past Adam.

He stops at the stairs then turns to look at him. "I'll go on ahead to the R and D Platform. You go check up on Liza. Besides, she's been wanting to meet the soldier who pulled her out of that Hell. I'll see you there, Adam." He said before walking down the steps to one of the Diamond Foxes transport trucks that is headed to the R and D Platform.

Adam walks down the steps himself and heads back inside the Medical Platform to find where Liza is and meet her officially while also checking to see how she is.

He asks one of the nurses to find out what room she's in then heads straight there when she answers. He walks up to the door that Liza is supposed to be in and knocks then waits.

"Come in." He hears then opens the door and walks in.

There on the medical bed is a young, light skinned woman with jet black hair eating a bowl of green Jell-O. "You don't see many people eating Jello anymore. It's a rare thing really." He says as he walks in and the young woman turns her head for him to see that she has chocolate brown eyes. She also appeared to be of Indian descent, but she looked confused for a moment.

She frowned before she spoke. "I'm sorry, but... who are you?" She asked while putting down the bowl on the table next to the bed.

"Don't apologize, I wasn't expecting you to remember me. You were unconscious when I got you out of the mansion." He answered as he stood with his hands in his pockets. That's when her eyes lit up after he answered. "The mansion...? Wait... are you Phantom?" She asked, almost hopefully.

Adam smiled and nodded. "My name is Adam Eagles, but Phantom is my codename. It's nice to meet you officially, Silent Phoenix." He answered.

It was Liza's turn to smile and nod. "Call me Liza Bawa, but just Liza please. And it's nice to meet you too, Phantom. Should I add Snake after that, or are you not there yet?" She asked him making Adam laugh and shake his head. "I'm, uh... not there yet. There's been a lot of things going on since I joined Diamond Foxes." He answered while he scratched the back of his head, but Liza continued to smile. "Regardless, I owe you one, Adam. Thank you. I've been told you went through Hell to get me out of there. It couldn't have been easy." She replied as she shifted herself to sit up in the bed.

Adam shook his head and sighed. "No, it wasn't and it wasn't because of you. It was a set up and a brilliant one at that." He admitted. "This... woman who goes by the name of Emily Clark was using you as bait to lure me out. She looked like she had a particular interest in me, just like Ricardo Gomez." He explained to her.

Liza looked away. "Clark and Gomez? I never would've imagined those two working together." She said with an angry frown making Adam look at her. "You know them?" He asked. She looked back at him and nodded. "Yes and no. I don't know them personally, but I know OF them by reputation only. They're real pieces of work, I'll tell you that." She admitted with a shake of her head making Adam nod his head. "Yeah, tell me about it. I was unfortunate enough to meet both of them within a week. I don't who I am going to despise more, Gomez or Clark. Probably Clark, most likely." He said with a sigh.

Liza looked at him in confusion. "Why are you sure it's her you're going to despise most?" She asked making Adam look at her with a frown. "Because she's taken some of my old comrades captive and turned them into something terrible. They're called the Skulls, now my old friends have become those monsters that will be used against us and I don't know if there is any chance to save them." He admitted.

Liza's eyes widened for a moment before she frowned, then she lowered her head. "I'm sorry. I've lost friends and comrades before to Gomez and Clark no doubt, but I don't think I've ever had to fight my own friends that were turned into... monsters. This must be a difficult time for you." She said with sincerity as she looked back up at him. "But I promise you, Adam, I will stand by you when the time comes for you to fight them. Me and all of Diamond Foxes will stand with you. And if there is even a small chance to save them from their fate, then we'll take it." She said to him with determination burning in her eyes.

Her declaration surprised Adam, but he felt relieved that he would have the likes of Liza standing by his side when the real fight begins. He smiled and nodded his head. "Thank you, Liza. That means a lot. And I'll stand with you too. As long as you have my back, I'll have yours." He said with a bright smile.

She smiled and nodded. "You got it, Adam."

Adam nodded again before turning around to head for the door. "I better get going. I need to meet Hal at the R and D Platform. I'll see you around, Liza." He said as he reached the door, but stopped and turned around to look at her one more time. "By the way, has anyone told you that you have a lovely accent?" He asked making her laugh and shake her head. "Nope. No one's ever told me that. I am from India after all, but you'd be the first to say that." She admitted.

"Well, I think it's beautiful. See you around, Liza Bawa." He said before opening the door and left.

Liza smiled softly and looked down at the floor before she let out a quiet giggle before picking up the bowl of Jell-O to finish it.

Meanwhile...

"You fucking bruja!" Vulture yelled at Emily Clark, who was currently standing in front of him with a look of indifference on her face while the Skull transformed Lynn and the others were standing behind her. "You told me that you would bring back everyone, EVERYONE! And now I find out that the one experiment that we've been working on is now dead?! How the fuck is that possible?! Evan was supposed to be indestructible!" Vulture continued to shout.

"If you're quite done with your rant, Mr. Gomez then I will explain. It seems that our mutual friend Mr. Eagles, aka, Phantom, is a lot more resilient than I previously believed. He is a gifted one at that. And to survive that entire night while also saving Silent Phoenix was also impressive. I should've infected her with the parasite while had the chance, but I thought for sure that they would both die and be killed by that loud mouth, Evan, that night. I was mistaken." She explained while also admitting she underestimated Adam's ability to survive.

This caused Vulture to begin shouting again. "And now, because of your miscalculation or mistake, we've lost a potentially useful weapon to use against Thunder Rogue, Commander Silverburgh and their Diamond Foxes! But that's fine, because turning Adam to our side will be that much more sweeter when we have that PMC on their knees begging for their lives." He said with a hint of insanity in the tone of his voice.

Emily turned to look at him. "You intend to turn Adam to your side? Are you sure you're able to do that? He doesn't look the type to be easily swayed." She pointed out, but Vulture just looked at her with a smile on his face before looking at Lynn and the others.

"Maybe not, but I know that he will do whatever it takes to help them." He said pointing at Lynn and the others standing behind her. Emily looked at Lynn then back at Vulture. "You wanna use them to tug at his moral compass. That's... actually quite genius. But it may not work if we turn them all." She said.

Vulture just laughed. "I don't need all of them. Just one. And it's her." He said pointing to Lynn with a disturbing smile, but Emily wasn't so sure about his choice. "Lynn? Why her?" She asked making Vulture look at her with his crazed smile which unnerved her.

"Because before she "died" during her VR training session, she called out only to one person. One person she hoped would save her." He said, but Emily wasn't following. Then he explained as simple as possible.

"Adam and Lynn were once lovers." He said with a dark chuckle.