| This article is about a non-canonical topic in the Metal Gear series. |
Lt. Leone (real name Jeff Jones) was the leader of the mercenary Leone Unit, which attacked the Lobito Physics and Chemistry Laboratory in 2016.
Biography
Jeff Jones was a member of a unit during the Vietnam war who was caught up in a devastating battle caused by a "mistake." A tip at that time was that a mole was among them—an enemy spy. Jeff's unit commander, Roger McCoy falsely deduced that one particular man in his unit was that mole. The other soldiers in the unit were highly suspicious of each other and under a great deal of stress. But McCoy's accusing words were a "breath of a fresh air" to them. Everyone chased after the man accused: Jeff Jones. Jeff shot down dozens of his unitmates in retaliation, and managed to get away.
From then on Jeff held a great deal of animosity towards the United States and thus became a mercenary; he also formed a massive unit fashioned of soldiers who had lost their countries to U.S. control. During his time as a mercenary Leone developed a grudge against BEAGLE. One day a mysterious voice told him that if he was aiming to retaliate against BEAGLE, he should find and take "Pythagoras", which was hidden in a laboratory on Lobito Island. The voice also told him that Pythagoras would ultimately sound the death knell for BEAGLE. Wasting no time Leone and his unit began a hasty takeover of Lobito Island and later wiped out an FBI HRT unit sent to stop them, although not before the unit recognized Leone. Upon encontering the sole survivor Teliko Friedman, he ordered for her to be taken captive. While taking her hostage, he also ordered his men to make sure "Clown" doesn't get to her.
When Solid Snake arrived on the island to finish the HRT's mission, Leone recognized the potential threat that he posed and set up one of his men as Dr. William Flemming, a researcher for Pythagoras. When Snake attempted to rescue "Flemming," Leone "killed" his hostage and was about to kill Snake until a stun grenade thrown by Teliko distracted him, allowing the two to escape. Leone intercepted Snake and Teliko at the storage warehouse, but they escaped once more. Leone's unit was later crippled by ACUA Troops, disguised in the unit's own uniforms, and he saw little choice but to form an alliance with Snake. Leone informed him that Pythagoras was in fact a Metal Gear and that the "Neotony" had been developed to control the ACUA soldiers, via the will-sapping drug for which they were named. Leone offered to help Snake gain entry into Flemming's Assembly Room in exchange for a copy of the Pythagoras data and he accepted.
While Snake disabled FAR's power supply, Leone attempted to enter, but found that the real Dr. Flemming had changed the passcode, and he was subsequently captured by ACUA Troops. Snake and Teliko later found Leone drugged on ACUA and that he was under the delusion that they were trespassing on his flower garden and attempted to kill them. Having no choice but to defend themselves, Snake and Teliko mortally wounded Leone which awakened him from ACUA's effects. Knowing that he was about to die Leone asked Snake to deliver a message to Roger McCoy: "it wasn't me." Leone died with tranquil expression on his face, at peace with his old unit commander from Vietnam finally learning that he was innocent.
The Leone Unit
Leone had over 100 soldiers at his disposal. His unit was made up of men who lost their homeland. Men from small countries in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, put under United States aegis after their civil wars. Leone's men did not share a common ideology. But they did share a common cause: to overthrow U.S. puppet regimes and restore independence to each country. They despised America and sought revenge. Leone was a seasoned veteran, able to control even such a motley and divisive group as this.
The unit was hired by an anti-government organization in the Moloni Republic to fight in a domestic war. They fought many battles there. Eventually, when Leone thought he was close to a final victory, the enemy's military power suddenly increased dramatically. Almost all units were instantly eradicated by ACUA Troops being tested at the site. Leone's unit and his employer's organization were the only ones left. The domestic warfare was brought to an end. Leone later found out that Moloni's anti-government militia just wasn't strong enough. Combat wouldn't drag on long enough. A short war wasn't very profitable. BEAGLE invited his unit into the mess as an attempt to balance the power to make the war last longer. Once they found out BEAGLE was led by high-ranking U.S. officials, he and his men were furious. This created Leone's grudge against BEAGLE and he was easily persuaded to try and bring down BEAGLE by stealing the Pythagoras data and exposing it to the public by a mysterious voice. Leone's unit took over a large portion of Lobito Island until they are decimated by several disguised ACUA Troops.
Behind the scenes
In Leone's artwork for Metal Gear Acid, a deceased Gurlukovich Soldier, dressed in fatigues from the Tanker chapter of Metal Gear Solid 2, can be seen under his leg.
Gallery
