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"I was born as nothing but a replacement of a man.... a dead man. As if that's not enough, they took me from my mother, and then killed her. They thought they could control the monster they had created... they are wrong. No nation to stand for, no more patriotism. The world needs someone to keep the balance in-check, and I'm going to take that seat!"
- Forgotten Snake
Forgotten Snake (real name: Isaiah) is the leader of the underground PMC Rogue Knights (formerly named Ophiucus). He was a direct clone of the world's legendary solo operator, Big Boss.
As his gene was replicated from Big Boss, Forgotten Snake possessed natural combat talents and personal traits similar to the legendary soldier he was cloned after, even included the smoking habit as well. However, due to the realisation that he was 'created' as nothing but a pawn of a politic game, Forgotten Snake showed more bitter and cruel attitude than his predecessor, although he also showed certain degrees of compassion and mercy
In the 21st century, Forgotten Snake was considered as "The Most Dangerous Man" in the world of espionage, covert op, and crime. While considered as a terrorist and a traitor by many intelligence agencies, his existence was kept under strict secrecy in order to avoid international mass panic.
Isaiah once worked with - not for, as he strongly emphasized to anyone who ever asked - the Patriots for some time, until he discovered the main goal of the Patriots and their crimes across the world. At 2046, during the Fallen Prophet incident, Forgotten Snake discovered that Osama bin Laden was actually an agent of the Patriots, and the one who was killed by the SEAL Team Six was only his body double. He realized that after all the missions he finished, he was only enriching Patriots' resource and helping them to once more begin their attempt at dominating the world from behind the curtain, not to mention their plan to recreate the terrifying war machines known as 'Metal Gear'.
Enraged, Snake destroyed the Patriots' FOB at Andaman sea and made his own way to USA in order to find the Patriots' headquarter and destroy them. However, Major Paladin, his former commander, took his stepmother Amanda Fields as a hostage and demanded him to surrender. Assisted by his partner, Samuel Thompson, Snake infiltrated the Guantanamo bay where she was kept under strict surveillance of the Patriots' killer squad, the Phantoms. Snake nearly managed to escaped with Fields, but one of the Phantoms sniper killed her first before they could reach the extraction helicopter.
Using Link's capabilities and resources, Snake then began to plot his revenge against the Patriots. Link managed to find a scientist specified in spacecraft research named Sunny Emmerich, who was later discovered to be related to Hal Emmerich and Naked Snake, indirectly participated in the destruction of the Patriots years ago. Link claimed that having Emmerich in their side would be a great advantage due to her talents and her knowledge of the Patriots, which convinced Isaiah to abduct her. Although this method was heavily opposed by Link, Snake carried on his own mission to capture the scientist due to his distrust about Sunny's willingness to join him. Snake believed that the only way for both of them to obtain support was through force instead of negotiation.
During the Solis Alpha incident, aside of encountering Sunny Emmerich, Isaiah also had to fight Raiden who had sworn to protect her at all costs. Despite being heavily outgunned and overpowered, Snake managed to defeat Raiden and even inflicted critical injuries to him, although at the same time he also suffered massive lacerations on his body and even lost his right eye. Luckily, before Isaiah could execute them, Link managed to arrive on time and prevent it. He then explained why both of them needed Emmerich's help and their purpose. At first, Sunny couldn't believe about the resurrection of the Patriots, as Solid Snake had destroyed them with both her father's and her assistance years ago. Link then showed her every intelligence he could gather and give to her, convinced her than the Patriots had actually returned to the game and began their attempt to dominate the world. Reluctantly, Sunny Emmerich and Raiden then agreed to join Forgotten Snake.
Later, Thompson stated that, while he was willing to join Isaiah's revenge against the Patriots, it would be very difficult to destroy the secret organization with just the four of them, if not impossible. He then suggested Isaiah to form a force himself to rival the Patriots, and recruit volunteers as many as possible. Thompson and Sunny would look for individuals with skills in military research and development, while Snake and Raiden find those who are expert in combat and support. Additionally, Thompson would also search for suitable location to build their own Mother Base.
After certain numbers of personnel were recruited, Thompson then contacted a Comorian general named Azali Al Qamer to conduct a top-secret negotiation. Thompson requested that the general provide clearance and sufficient resources to build a secret base somewhere at the Comorian sea, and he promised to provide special force training for the Comorian soldiers. Al Qamer agreed, and soon the Ophiucus Armed Force was born.
Origin & Early Career[]
After the Big Boss' death in 2014, several agents of the Patriots recovered his body to once again create a clone of the world's greatest soldier by using a top-secret invention known as PANDORA, which is actually an advanced ex-womb technology. After he was born, Isaiah was put under care of a military doctor named Andrea Fields. As time went by, Fields saw him as her own son, while Isaiah considered her as his real mother. This caused quite a concern between the Patriots' brass. When he was 12 years old, the Patriots worked together with CryNet System to conduct an experiment toward Isaiah; his muscle tissue was replaced with CryFibril, his eyes were implanted with nanomachines and his bones were either replaced or integrated with artificial organic titanium substance, both of which are capable to adapt with Isaiah's body and even grow along. At 16 years old, Isaiah was taken away from Fields and put into a military academy by the US Government, beginning the long process of his journey as a soldier.
After finally finishing his education, he was inducted to the USMC and made his way to the Force Recon. After showing great performance and potentials, Isaiah was transferred from the Force Recon by Pentagon to Ghost Recon, where he teamed up with three Ghost Operators - Ryder, Sight, and Hawk. During his career in Ghost Recon, he managed to single-handedly assassinated a rogue CIA officer named Thomas Burke (not the one from Mafia III), who at the time was hiding within a heavily guarded underground base without any help after his teammates were killed in a black-op mission in Congo, despite being a rookie. This impressive success earned him the reputation as the 'Son of the Big Boss'.
Isaiah's deed didn't go unnoticed, as his name passed through the desks of many military officers in the US as a 'one-man army soldier'. However, it wasn't known to him that Thomas Burke was actually a member of the Patriots, and he was actually sent to Congo in order to obtain a hidden sample of metallic archea. Both Thomas Burke's allegiance and mission were unknown to both CIA and Ghost Recon, as the Patriots was an organization which secrecy and authority surpassed every department in the state. Burke's death alarmed the Patriots, and turned into a warning that Isaiah may become a weapon more powerful than they could predict and control. Some of the officials of the Patriots even suggested that Isaiah to be eliminated due to the fear of blow back, but Burke's death was finally considered as the result of his own incompetence (since he was killed by a man who was new to the world of black-op missions), and the mission to retrieve the hidden sample of metallic archaea would be postponed.
Finally, the Patriots decided that it was time for Isaiah to fulfil the purpose of his existence; to become their sword. At the age of 30, Forgotten Snake was officially inducted to the Patriots and started his path as 'The Most Dangerous Man'.
Working with the Patriots[]
"Shadow Knight? Who the hell named this taskforce, some college nerd?"
- Forgotten Snake to Paladin
Soon after accepted to the Patriots, Isaiah was reunited with his stepmother, doctor Andrea Fields, who was assigned as his medical staff. Isaiah was later placed inside a taskforce called "Shadow Knight", which was commanded by Major Paladin (real name unknown). Like Big Boss, his basic procedure of operation was going solo while his teammates provide support from the rear line. Aside of Fields (codename: Artemis) and Paladin, Snake also had support from an Electronic Warfare officer named Samuel Thompson (codename: Link). Thompson was actually a former DARPA employee that once worked under Donald Anderson's supervisor.
Operation Broadsword (2044)[]
Snake's first covert operation was the Operation Broadsword in 2044, which was organized to investigate the rumour of secret nuclear arms race in both Southeast Asia and Africa regions and anticipate it. He started the operation by inspecting the 'Golden Triangle', based on suspicion and possible leads that the drug cartels of Indochina may be involved. During the mission, he managed to infiltrate a drug cartel compound belonged to a Burmese cartel named Red Knife, and discovered that aside of transporting drugs and weapons, they were also circulating yellowcake shipments - a processed uranium substance which is a key component of nuclear weapons. The yellowcake shipments were smuggled from Indonesia through Malaysia, and mined by several underground mafia organizations in Indonesia. At the time, however, it was unknown to them to whom the yellowcake shipments were delivered to.
Isaiah managed to capture the leader of Red Knife, Naing Yaza, and brought him back to the Patriots' offshore FOB located at the East of Andaman and Nicobar islands. Through extensive interrogation, it was discovered that the yellowcake smuggling activities in Indochina were all organized and supervised by a Chinese intelligence officer named Zheng Chen. Paladin then ordered Isaiah to track down Chen and bring him in for interrogation.
Tracking down Zheng Chen proved to be harder than what Isaiah expected. Using several aliases, Zheng Chen managed to keep himself hidden in the Southeast Asia. Aside of the names, he was also constantly moving from one country to another, making it difficult even for the Patriots to determine his location. However, thanks to Link's abilities, he discovered that Chen was about to visit Jurong Island, Singapore, in order to supervise the yellowcake shipment being transported through there. This discovery led to an incident known as Jurong Island incident.
Jurong Island incident[]
"Damn, that's a lot of nuke."
- Forgotten Snake when he discovered the yellowcake shipment
Taskforce Shadow Knight was immediately sent to Singapore in order to subdue Zheng Chen after the interrogation. In order to avoid detection by the tight security in the surrounding airspace and water territories, Snake was inserted by using a Stealth Atmospheric Transport Aircraft (SATAC) invented by the Patriots' scientists. Artemis warned him that even though he had experience in HALO jump, atmospheric jump is much different and could be more fatal in case he failed to follow the procedure correctly. The SATAC was launched into the stratosphere at night, beginning the chain of events that would cause the Jurong Island incident. After reaching approximately 50 kilometres altitude, Isaiah was automatically ejected from the aircraft, which according to him felt like 'being kicked in the gut after got dragged by a truck'. Fortunately, he managed to compose himself and landed on the water near Jurong Island. After reaching the coastline of Jurong Island, Snake found that the island was patrolled by Chinese classified black-op soldiers known as the Beijing Black Guards, disguised as dock workers and ship crews. Link warned him that the Black Guards are unlike any other black-op soldiers he encountered before, stating that China had them trained secretly in various Asian countries by many spec-op forces.
- Link: Hold up, Snake. There's something you have to know about Chen's bodyguards.
- Snake: Can't it wait?
- Link: No, you have to hear it now. I've done some analysis and cross-checks about his security details, and guess what I came up with? They're the Beijing Black Guards. Basically the Chinese XOF. They've been trained by various spec-op forces from different countries in Asia through classified military agreement. Not sure about how Chen managed to convince a bunch of them to go rogue, though, but they're highly trained and lethal. They may not be as good as you are, but they still have a chance to kill you, so be careful.
Despite his confidence, Isaiah had to admit that infiltrating the cargo ship on which Chen was on did not go as easy as he planned. The Black Guards protected the ship tightly, and there was no blind spot to exploit. Finally, Link gave him an idea that sounded very strange at the first, but later turned out to be an efficient solution.
- Paladin: Snake, have you managed to get on board?
- Snake: No. The Black Guards aren't leaving any blind spot. They got every corner watched.
- Paladin: Figure something out quickly. At this rate, Chen will make his way to God knows where next.
- Link: I may have an idea..
- Paladin: Link?
- Link: You see, Big Boss once used this technique to infiltrate many facilities and bypassing security details. It's rather uncanny, but
- Isaiah: Uncanny or not, if it can help me through, I'll need it. What is it?
- Link: ...Cardboard box.
- Isaiah: ...Uh, what now?
- Link: Cardboard box.
- Paladin: Carboard box? What are you....
- Link: Listen, when you were forming this taskforce, I went through Isaiah's database and also read some of his predecessor's histories, and I found out that one of the sneaking technique he implemented was using cardboard box to get through security surveillance and guards. It may sound rather foolish, but the record said that it worked, so...
- Isaiah: You can't be serious....
- Paladin: I heard about that too, but I never paid too much attention on it. Still...considering our circumstance...
- Isaiah: Don't tell me....
- Paladin: Just do it, Snake. If Big Boss could pull it off, so can you.
- Artemis: Wait, you're not seriously telling him to put on a cardboard box and sneak his way up to the ship, right?
- Paladin: I'm afraid there's not much choice.
- Isaiah: Am I the only one here whose brain's intact?!
- Paladin: Enough. Find a cardboard box and improvise your way to get through, that's your order.
- Isaiah: Son of a...
Reluctantly, Snake found himself a cardboard box and hid himself inside after placing the cardboard box near the shipments which were loaded to the ship. To his surprise, the cardboard box was taken onto the ship as well and stocked into the cargo room, filling him with disbelief and amazement.
- Paladin: Snake, have you got an access into the ship?
- Isaiah: ...You won't believe it.
- Paladin: What?
- Isaiah: It worked.
- Paladin: ...It worked?
- Isaiah: The cardboard box, it worked, it...I don't know, they just lifted me up and took me onboard.
- Link: No way...really?
- Isaiah: What the hell's happening here?
- Paladin: I...I don't know. But what matters now, you're onboard. Find Chen and then extract him. We'll sink the ship along with the yellowcake shipment.
- Isaiah: ...Has the whole world gone mad?
After he made sure that the area was secure, Isaiah came out from the box and roamed the storage deck, only to find crates of yellowcake contained with metallic canisters, much to his amazement. Snake then proceeded to find Chen, who was communicating with an unknown figure through his laptop inside the bridge. By eavesdropping, Snake gathered that despite the complex shipment route, all the yellowcakes eventually reached China. Once the communication was shut down, Isaiah quickly tried to subdue Chen, only to find out that Chen wasn't a regular military officer. At first, both of them fought equally fast and strong, but Snake gained the upper hand by stabbing Chen's left shoulder joint, confronting his balance. Unfortunately, Chen then drew his pistol and attempted to shoot Snake, who luckily able to dodge at the last seconds. However, the gunshot immediately alarmed the entire ship. After knocking out Chen and locked him inside a locker, Snake prepared himself to fight the Black Guards.
- Paladin: Snake, what the hell happened?!
- Isaiah: Chen tried to shoot me but he missed. The Black Guards heard the gunshot and now I'm cornered!
- Paladin: Damn it! What about Chen?!
- Isaiah: Unconscious. I put him inside a locker.
- Paladin: Can you fulton him?
- Isaiah: I'll bring him to the roof and have it ready.
- Paladin: Good, we'll extract you along as well. I'm moving in the gunship now, just hold on!
After the transmission ended, Snake ambushed three Black Guards coming to the bridge with nearly impossible headshots, thanks to the special firearms training he learned. The gunfight went on with the Black Guards slowly losing their men. Realizing that they might die before their enemy is killed, the black ops decided to blockade the access way to the bridge and blow up the ship. Luckily, before the ship sank, the Patriot's gunship arrived and extracted both Snake and Chen.
Shadow Palace Incident: Prelude[]
"Shadow Palace...that's where they do all the researches. They...commanded us to brought the yellowcakes to that place. Don't know why.....they've been asking for a lot of those things, but I....never see any nuclear weapon being developed or assembled there. It's located in a....classified location in Tibet. Heard it was a monastery once, before our soldiers burned it down and killed all the occupants....That's all I know....I swear."
- Zheng Chen's confession after being brutally tortured and interrogated by Paladin for 36 hours.
After 36 hours of torture, Zheng Chen was finally cracked by Major Paladin, using methods only known to the Patriot's top officers. During the interrogation, the Chinese officer admitted that the uranium was secretly stolen from Indonesia and transported across various Asian countries in order to make it difficult to be detected. He then also revealed that the whole operation was orchestrated by a group of men who are the successors of the Chinese philosophers back in the World War II era. They've created a secret organization similar to the Patriots, called as Ying Zi Yi Hui (English: Shadow Council), with equal power and purpose as well.
Paladin then asked what the Chinese did with the yellowcake shipments, and Chen answered that the yellowcakes were delivered by the Black Guards to a secret research facility known as Yin Zi Gong Dian (English: Shadow Palace), located somewhere at Tibet. Chen explained that the palace was once a large Buddhist monastery complex, but one day the military conducted a secret raid operation in order to gain control upon the site. The palace was looted, and the occupants were either driven off or murdered onsite. Since then, the complex served as the Chinese secret military laboratory. However, Chen also claimed that he never saw any nuclear weapon being developed in the facility, let alone being assembled. Aside of bringing in more yellowcakes, the military also transferred many scientists from various branch, particularly from medical and engineering branch. After he spilled everything he knew, Chen was executed by Paladin using a garrote wire. This decision didn't sit right with Isaiah, even though he himself was quite a ruthless soldier. He questioned the major right away after Chen's demise, but his objection was immediately dismissed and instead was told to dispose of the body. When Isaiah was about to cremate Chen's body, he told Amanda about his slight uneasy feeling regarding Chen's death.
- Isaiah: Chen is my enemy...well, was my enemy, now that he's dead. Still, something tells me that what just happened was....wrong. I'm a soldier, I know that. I kill my enemies and do as I'm told, but....what Paladin did, it's just....not right.
- Fields: And he's not supposed to do that. Chen was a prisoner of war, regardless the nature of our operation and our modus operandi. But....well, it's something that often happens here.
- Isaiah: Why?
- Fields: I don't know....most of the brass around here just don't like the idea of wasting resources on prisoners. In fact, they'd be willing to cut out anybody after their usefulness is spent. After the last answer he gave away, Chen right away became useless, and so he became a burden instead of an asset. That's why Paladin killed him.
- Isaiah: But.....he's still a human.
- Fields: I know.....strange, isn't it? Turns out someone's humanity isn't the matter of his origin, but the surrounding nature. If he's at where civility exists, he's a human. But when he's trapped in someplace like this, well....humanity is nothing but a vague idea.
The next day, Paladin took his team to the Tibetan airspace, where Isaiah would be dropped on the mountain lines to find the Shadow Palace. Using the Chinese intelligence communication network as a route to determine the facility, Link found out that the laboratory was placed in a small valley between the mountains, where snow were so dense that not many people dare to venture due to the cold temperature. This time, Snake was inserted using a Low Altitude Transport Drone (LATD) in order to avoid detection, due to the size of the drone which was relatively small. The insertion phase proved to be nearly fatal, as the LTAD was incapable of anticipating the high turbulance between the mountains. Snake managed to detach himself from the drone and landed safely, but the drone crashed down and created smoke. He quickly covered the debris in snow before it attracts the enemy, and proceeded with the mission. This time, however, Link managed to set up a waypoint to guide him. Little did he knew, that in this mission, he would encounter his first nemesis.
Shadow Palace Incident: The White Fox[]
"There are talks among the Chinese elite soldiers - of a sniper stationed somewhere in Tibet. This sniper, he or she, was a PLA veteran who had been sent to many war. God knows how many have died on his or her hands, but word is all those years of killing had stripped all the emotions and bodily thirsts off of this sniper. The psycho now walks among the mountains, preying on those deemed as 'the enemy of China'. If you're on the list, better keep away from the high ridges. It ain't frostbite or storm that will be your enemy up there, it's the sniper's bullet."
As Isaiah climbed down the mountain, his instinct persisted that great danger was waiting for him. When he reached a rocky path that led down the slope, a bullet came from nowhere and striked his right shoulder, throwing him to the ground. Thanks to his CryFibril and enforced skeleton structures, Snake managed to survive the attack. The subdermal armor prevented the bullet from penetrating the skin, although the shot gave him a great deal of pain. He quickly hid behind a rock before a second bullet almost made it to his forehead. Isaiah contacted Link to find the sniper using the satellite imaging, but not even a fade heat signature was found. Paladin reminded him of his training; how to detect a sniper without being seen and how to counter one. Isaiah decided to measure the sound delay and tracing the bullet heat signature. To do so, he had to trick the sniper into firing at him by running behind the rocks. This plan almost became his death, as the last shot fired at him before he ducked were only inches away from his head. Judging from the sound delay and the faint bullet heat signature in the air (which was detected by the nanomachines implanted in his eyes), Isaiah managed to sense the bullet trajectory and concluded that the general location of the sniper was northeast of his.
It took nearly 45 minutes before Isaiah managed to pinpoint the sniper. The assailant's mistake, which remained in the first spot after the first shot instead of relocating, became an advantage for Snake. He immediately drew out his VAR-11 and fired few short bursts toward the sniper. The attack was a success, and the sniper was wounded on the right shoulder.
Spotted and hunted, the shooter tried to make escape with a bleeding wound. Isaiah wasted no time and immediately pursued his target, who showed relentlessness by firing several rounds toward him.