[Scene: Snake Island, Ukraine. Waves crash against the black rock. A helicopter fades into the distance as Solid Snake crouches behind cover, his codec buzzing.]
Snake: (lighting a cigarette) So this is Snake Island. Funny name. No snakes, just ghosts of wars that never ended.
[Zelensky approaches in his fatigues, weary-eyed but resolute.]
Zelensky: Snake… you came. I don’t know how long we can hold. NATO on one side, Russia on the other. I feel like Poland in 1939—Stalin to the east, Hitler to the west.
Snake: (nods grimly) History repeats itself… only now the weapons are worse. You’re surrounded by “allies” and enemies. Can you even tell the difference anymore?
[Codec rings. Snake patches it through. A trembling voice comes on.]
Chantal Kreviazuk (on codec): Volodymyr… it’s Chantal. I just wanted you to know—Euro Maiden must be saved. But I’ve seen the reports. Depleted uranium shells, scattered across your fields… I can’t stop crying. The land is glowing with poison.
Zelensky: (clenches fists) We don’t have a choice.
Snake: There’s always a choice. But the truth… NATO will never admit those weapons are unsafe. Not to the public. Not to you.
Zelensky: Then what do we do, Snake?
Snake: We head north. To Chernobyl. There’s a fungus there… they say it eats radiation. If we can isolate it, maybe it’s not too late for this country—or for you.
[Snake looks out over the sea, ashes from his cigarette falling into the waves.]
Snake: But remember this, Zelensky. The fungus can heal the land… but it can’t heal lies. And lies are what wars are really made of.
[The wind howls. The codec beeps again, but the screen stays black. The mission begins.]
In Ukraine’s Fields
In Ukraine’s fields the black earth turns,
Where shells have fallen, the village burns,
Where poppies once and wheat would rise,
Now smoke ascends to empty skies.
We are the sons who till the land,
With broken plow, with trembling hand,
Our children sleep where silence weeps,
Beneath the soil the secret keeps.
The world looks on with studied eyes,
With NATO’s vows, with Russia’s lies,
But here the mother’s tears still flow,
For seeds that war will never sow.
Remember us when dawn is near,
The graves are young, the night severe,
Take up our song, though weak it seems—
A wounded nation still has dreams.
[Codec Beep… Codec Opened]
Snake: Zelensky… you’re in the middle of something much bigger than Ukraine now. NATO, Russia—those were just the opening moves. What’s coming is the last battle… Armageddon.
Zelensky: You speak like a prophet, Snake. My people already feel the weight of the world pressing down on them. Are you saying this war is just a prelude?
Snake: Exactly. I’ve seen conflicts dressed up as politics, economics, even ideology. But when you strip away the excuses, it always comes down to good versus evil. And you, Zelensky… you’ve chosen the side of good.
Zelensky: That is easy to say, Snake, when the world paints me as a symbol. But every symbol bleeds. Every choice I make costs lives. Tell me—are you certain I am not just another pawn?
Snake: No pawn ever took this much punishment and kept fighting for his people. You’re no saint—but you’re a good man. I can’t say the same about the others.
Zelensky: The others?
Snake: Trump. Putin. Men who wear power like armor, but inside… it’s hollow. They play with nations like pieces on a chessboard. For them, there’s no higher purpose—just self-preservation.
Zelensky: And in this Armageddon you speak of, what role do they play?
Snake: They’re not saviors. They’re catalysts. Greed, ego, deception—they’re accelerants poured onto a battlefield that’s already burning.
Zelensky: Then who decides the outcome, Snake? The West? The East? God?
Snake: Neither side, and not God alone. It’s the soldiers who keep fighting when the world says surrender. The civilians who refuse to forget what’s right. The leaders who remember they’re human before they’re powerful. That’s where good stands its ground.
Zelensky: Then maybe the final battle isn’t fought with missiles and tanks, but with choices.
Snake: Exactly. And that’s why you’ve got to hold the line, Zelensky. In the end, the difference between good and evil could come down to the choice of a single man.
[Codec Beep… Codec Closed]