Metal Gear Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Metal Gear Wiki

The Outer Heaven Uprising, also known as the Outer Heaven Incident or Outer Heaven Revolt, was an attempt to subvert the global military balance of power by the mercenary nation of Outer Heaven, through the development of the "ultimate weapon" Metal Gear. Outer Heaven's power grab was a matter of grave concern for the major powers, which resulted in the execution of Operation Intrude N313 by Solid Snake of FOXHOUND.

"Sneaking Mission"[]

In 1995, the Western powers received intelligence that a weapon of mass destruction was supposedly being constructed deep within Outer Heaven, a heavily fortified state founded by a legendary mercenary in the late 1980s, 200 kilometers north of Galzburg, South Africa.[1] The U.S. Government called upon High-Tech Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND, commanded by the legendary soldier Big Boss, to infiltrate the enemy fortress, assess the situation and neutralize whatever threat the weapon posed to the West.

The mission was carried out by Gray Fox, one of FOXHOUND's top agents. After successfully infiltrating Outer Heaven, Gray Fox scouted the first building of the fortress, noting the locations of the inner courtyard, cameras and elevators, along with various weapons and equipment, such as card keys and Beretta handguns. Sometime afterwards, he stumbled upon information relating to the new weapon being developed.[1] However, the mission ended in failure when Gray Fox was captured, though not before relaying some of the details of his reconnaissance back to FOXHOUND. His final words before his transmission was cut were simply: "Metal Gear..."

"Operation Intrude N313"[]

A few days later, rookie operative Solid Snake was called in for his first assignment for FOXHOUND. His commanding officer, Big Boss, briefed him on the situation, and after handing him a classified document detailing Gray Fox's infiltration route, ordered Solid Snake to perform a follow up mission entitled Operation Intrude N313. His mission objectives were to rescue Fox, and to find out the truth behind Metal Gear. After dispatching him to the rough area of Outer Heaven's location, Big Boss contacted Snake via his wireless radio and reminded him that what he was about to experience is nothing like what he has experienced in battle before.[1]

MG infiltrate

Solid Snake infiltrates the Outer Heaven fortress.

Snake infiltrated Outer Heaven via an underwater insertion, and proceeded into the base, eventually managing to locate Fox with intel provided by Outer Heaven's prisoners and the Resistance leader Kyle Schneider. To get there, Snake allowed himself to be captured, and then after being thrown into a prison with all his weapons and equipment confiscated, he managed to break through a weakened wall under Big Boss's advice to get to Fox's cell next door. Gray Fox then revealed to Snake the true meaning behind Metal Gear: a walking battle tank capable of launching a nuclear missile from any kind of terrain. Luckily it was still in a hangar within the fortress and had not yet been activated. Fox told Snake to find Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar, the creator of Metal Gear and the only person who knew how to destroy it, explaining that he should be in a prison cell at the courtyard. After breaking out of the cell, he ended up encountering the prison's warden, Shotmaker, who attacked Snake while declaring that no one had ever escaped from the prison. Snake was forced to retreat into an unlocked room due to not being able to attack Shotmaker without his equipment. After retrieving his confiscated belongings, as well as getting rid of a transmitter that was planted among his belongings, he then managed to fight Shotmaker.

"Mercenary"[]

After fighting his way through Outer Heaven mercenaries Shotmaker and Machinegun Kid, Snake traversed the rooftop of Building 1 in order to reach the inner courtyard via parachute, also donning a bomb blast suit to bypass the wind barrier. Before he could reach the veranda, however, he had to fight off a Hind D gunship stationed in his path. After destroying it with a grenade launcher, Snake parachuted down into the courtyard, arriving at Dr. Madnar's cell, only to find it empty. However, he saved another hostage who revealed to him that Dr. Madnar was still alive, but that he had been relocated to the basement of the Building 2. While crossing the interconnecting desert between the two buildings, Snake was forced to battle a tank that had been recently deployed, using land mines to destroy it.

Outerheavenmercs

The elite mercenaries of Outer Heaven.

Afterwards, Snake arrived at the entrance to Building 2. However, he discovered a few guards stationed near the entrance making it virtually impossible to sneak past. It turned out that the Outer Heaven personnel had become aware of FOXHOUND's attempts at infiltrating the base, so they set up a checkpoint in case anyone tried to infiltrate Building 2. Big Boss then contacted Snake and suggested that he use a disguise to get past, and also mentioned that his radio frequency has been changed to 120.13 from that point on. Snake managed to procure an enemy officer uniform and used it to sneak into the building. Afterwards, he snuck through a waterway towards a nearly submerged door and encountered an armored bulldozer, which he managed to defeat using a grenade launcher. Proceeding to the basement, he eventually found "Dr. Madnar", who immediately revealed himself to be a decoy and activated a suicide trap. Snake quickly avoided the trap and, confused, continued his search for the real Dr. Madnar, encountering and defeating the mercenary Fire Trooper on the way.

Snake came into contact with Jennifer, another Resistance member, who helped him locate the real Dr. Madnar and provided him with a rocket launcher, which he could use to defeat the seemingly invincible Bloody Brad cyberoids, who were guarding the area near to where Dr. Madnar was being held. After destroying Bloody Brad, Snake entered Dr. Madnar's cell. However, Dr. Madnar would only tell Snake how to destroy Metal Gear if he rescued his daughter, Ellen, who had also been imprisoned. Snake made his way back to the basement of Building 2 where he was contacted by resistance member Diane, who advised him on how to locate Ellen. She was in the basement of Building 1, but luckily the two basements were connected by an underground passageway, though it was filled with pit traps, which Snake had to avoid. Eventually rescuing Ellen, she told Snake that her father had been forced to develop Metal Gear against his will.

"Metal Gear TX-55"[]

After Snake retraced his steps, Dr. Madnar informed him that Metal Gear TX-55 was located on the 100th floor basement of Building 3, located 20 km to the north. In order to destroy it, Snake needed to place plastic explosives on its feet in a specific order. Determined to destroy Metal Gear, Snake headed to Building 3. Once there, he was ambushed by enemy forces, but managed to slip by and made his way to the elevator. However, as he drew closer to the underground base, Big Boss started to act strangely, providing faulty information that would have delayed Snake's progress, and eventually ordering him to abort the mission.

Reaching the 100th floor basement, Snake found he didn't have the right card key to continue further. Contacted again by Jennifer, she informed Snake of a wall he could destroy in order to locate an oxygen tank that he could use to swim through the drainage duct in Building 2 in order to find the required card key. Jennifer also told Snake to save her brother, and threatened not to help him anymore if her brother was harmed.

After making his way through the drainage duct, Snake was challenged by Dirty Duck who was holding the card key Snake needed. Duck hid himself behind POWs and used boomerangs to attack Snake. Snake awaited his chance to attack and took it, defeating Duck at close range. Rescuing the POWs, one of them revealed himself to be Jennifer's brother, who thanked Snake and gave him information to aid in his escape from the fortress.

Heading back to the 100th floor basement of Building 3, Snake was contacted by Schneider regarding the truth behind Outer Heaven's leader, but his transmission ended prematurely after he fell into the hands of the enemy.[2]

Tx-55metalgear

TX-55 Metal Gear.

Although injured after the deadly battles with Outer Heaven's best mercenaries,[2] Snake pressed on and found himself in Metal Gear's hangar. Placing explosives on its feet as per Dr. Madnar's instructions, while avoiding gun cameras, Metal Gear was ultimately destroyed. Immediately afterwards, the fortress's self-destruct sequence was activated.

"Escape - Beyond Big Boss"[]

While making his escape, Snake came face-to-face with the leader of Outer Heaven, who revealed himself as Big Boss. Snake was informed that he had only been sent in to gather false information. However, because Snake had achieved too much, he had crushed Big Boss's ambitions and the legendary mercenary vowed he would not die alone. After a ruthless battle, Snake defeated Big Boss and quickly made his way for the escape route, with the timer for the self-destruct sequence ticking away.

After successfully escaping, and with Outer Heaven exploding behind him, Solid Snake called back to HQ, informing them that Metal Gear had been destroyed, and that Operation Intrude N313 had been a success. Shortly thereafter, the South African radio station, KNK, reported breaking news of an earthquake occurring in the Galzburg region before sunrise.

"Just Another Dead Soldier"[]

It was later revealed that Big Boss had survived, while the "phantom" who was killed in Outer Heaven was actually his body double. The conclusion of Operation Intrude N313 saw NATO launch a massive aerial bombardment, wherein a pinpoint strike was executed on Outer Heaven's nuclear weapons facility using bunker-busting bombs. There were even reports of nuclear blasts in the aftermath, but the truth was hidden from the media, and few people ever learned of what really happened.[3]

Outer Heaven was wiped from the face of the earth, killing many within the area, regardless of their ties to the regime or not. The multinational forces deemed this as an acceptable loss since the war orphans and refugees were considered a liability in their eyes. However, those who survived the bombings were rescued by Big Boss, including Resistance members who had initially been opposed to him, such as Schneider.

Big Boss later vowed that he and Solid Snake would meet again...

Behind the scenes[]

The codename of Snake's mission, Operation Intrude N313, is actually an inside joke regarding the development of the game. After Hideo Kojima's earlier game, Lost Warld, was cancelled, he was assigned to work on a nearly cancelled military-themed game bearing the working title of "Project N312." Kojima departed from the game's original premise and gradually turned the game into what eventually became Metal Gear.

The manual for Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake names Gray Fox's mission in Outer Heaven as Operation Intrude N312, within the character descriptions of both Fox and Dr. Petrovich.[4] However, it is occasionally conflated with Operation Intrude N313, such as in the story recap of Metal Gear, and the unit description of FOXHOUND, with the former account being repeated in the "Previous Operations" feature of Metal Gear Solid.[5]

Mg codec screen

Big Boss orders Snake to commence Operation Intrude N313, via transceiver.

Snake will learn the identity of Outer Heaven's leader, prior to the battle with Big Boss, should the player enter the eastern room in the 100th floor basement of Building 3. The prisoner held within will pass the information on to Snake upon being rescued.[6]

The year in which the Outer Heaven Uprising takes place was originally kept ambiguous, given as "19XX" in the user manual for Metal Gear. It wasn't until the release of Metal Gear 2 that it was revealed to have taken place in 1995, as detailed in the sequel's own user manual.[7] However, the same manual also gives a timeline stating that the first Metal Gear was developed in 1996.[7] Adding to the confusion, despite being set in late 1999, characters in Metal Gear 2 refer to the events of Operation Intrude N313 as taking place three years earlier. Nevertheless, all subsequent games and associated sources use the 1995 date for both events. However, the re-released versions of Metal Gear 2 still refers to the events of Operation Intrude N313 as taking place in 1996 due to fact that the script wasn't updated. Similarly, the relation chart included in the Metal Gear Solid 4: Database add-on indicated that the event started in 1994, despite its own timeline still using the 1995 date.[8] Likewise, the book Metal Gear Solid: Naked as well as the Metal Gear 20th Anniversary website utilized "the 1990s" or "199X" instead of 1995.[9] On a related note, the Snatcher manual when showing how the TX-55 Metal Gear was related to the Metal Gear in that game had the former being called "Metal Gear 1988", implying that the events of the Outer Heaven Uprising were intended to be set in 1988.[10]

The uprising is referred to as the "Outer Heaven Crisis" in the Metal Gear 2 manual and the "Outer Heaven Revolt" in the Metal Gear Solid manual.

In the "Previous Operations" feature of Metal Gear Solid, Galzburg is referred to as "Garzburg."[11]

The Metal Gear Solid 4 Database states that the earthquake, which occurs at the end of Operation Intrude N313, was actually the result of the NATO bombings rather than Outer Heaven's self-destruction. The self-destruction itself was omitted entirely from the entry.

Because of both production issues in creating the Nintendo Entertainment System version as well as localization issues for supplementary materials, there were several differences between the (English) NES and the MSX2 versions of the mission and the events leading up to it. Firstly, the storyline given in the packaging and manual indicated that a Mongolian terrorist named Colonel Vermon CaTaffy managed to conquer Outer Heaven after committing years of pillaging, and transformed it into a terrorist dictatorship before FOXHOUND became involved. In addition, the character of Big Boss was omitted in the localized storyline. Although most of the storyline was kept intact in the NES version itself, it also altered some of the buildings, added two more to replace the basement areas, changed the insertion method to being a HALO jump, and the Metal Gear was replaced with a Supercomputer. The MSX2 version is the canonical version.

In Metal Gear Saga Vol. 1, it is erroneously stated that Operation Intrude N313 took place in 1999.

In Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, it is revealed that the Big Boss that Snake defeated in this game was actually the former's body double, Venom Snake.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Non-canonical appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ^ a b c Metal Gear - User's Manual, Konami Corporation (1987).
  2. ^ a b Metal Gear Solid, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (1998).
    Special > Previous Operations > Metal Gear
    In the midst of the escalating battle, the leader of the resistence, Schneider, fell into the hands of the enemy, and Snake himself was injured through the deadly battles with Outer Heaven's best mercenaries.
  3. ^ Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, "Bombing of Outer Heaven" (2008). [1]
  4. ^ http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/mg2/chara.html
  5. ^ Metal Gear Solid, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (1998).
    Special > Previous Operations > Metal Gear
    Big Boss, commander-in-chief of FOX-HOUND, sent Gray Fox, the man with the code name "FOX" which is given to the best member of the unit. "Operation Intrude N313"...
  6. ^ Metal Gear (re-release), Kojima Productions (2006).
    POW: Thank you for helping me! The Outer Heaven boss is FOXHOUND's commanding officer, Big Boss! He's behind all of this!! Don't let him trick you!!
  7. ^ a b [2]
  8. ^ https://twitter.com/Arc_Hound/status/990783821342748672
  9. ^ https://twitter.com/Arc_Hound/status/990783817731407873
  10. ^ https://twitter.com/Arc_Hound/status/990783812895469569
  11. ^ Metal Gear Solid, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (1998).
    Special > Previous Operations > Metal Gear
    The year 1995. Deep in South Africa, 200 km north of Garzburg.


Timeline of events in Metal Gear
Date Event Game
1962 Sokolov Defection
Cuban Missile Crisis
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater
1964 Virtuous Mission
Operation Snake Eater
1970 San Hieronymo Incident* Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops*
1972 Les Enfants Terribles Project
1974 Peace Walker Incident Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Eliminate the Renegade Threat*
Intel Operative Rescue*
Classified Intel Acquisition*
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
19XX Déjà Vu**
XXXX Jamais Vu**
1975 Destroy the Anti-Air Emplacements*
Ground Zeroes Incident
Wormhole Incident** Metal Gear Survive**
1976 Attack on Zero Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
1977 Zero visits Snake
1984 Hospital Escape
Phantom Pain Incident
1995 Outer Heaven Uprising
(AKA "Operation Intrude N313")
Metal Gear
19XX Metal Gear (NES)**
19XX+3 Operation 747** Snake's Revenge**
1997 Mercenary War Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
1999 Zanzibar Land Disturbance
(AKA "Operation Intrude F014")
2002 Galuade Incident** Metal Gear: Ghost Babel**
2003 Assassination of Dr. Clark
2005 Shadow Moses Incident Metal Gear Solid (The Twin Snakes*)
2005-2007 Snake's VR Simulation* Metal Gear Solid Mobile*
2007 Tanker Incident Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
2008 Liquidation of Dead Cell
2009 Big Shell Incident
2011 Raid At Area 51
2012-2013 Raiden's Capture
2014 Guns of the Patriots Incident
(Liquid Sun · Solid Sun · Third Sun · Twin Suns · Old Sun · Naked Sin)
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
2016 Lobito Island Incident** Metal Gear Acid**
2018 World Marshal Incident*
(AKA "Raiden's Revengeance")
Raid at World Marshal · Ambush in Africa · Abkhazian Coup · Investigation in Guadalajara · Raid in Denver · Operation Tecumseh
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance*
2019 SaintLogic Incident** Metal Gear Acid 2**
* Dubious Canonicity
** Non-Canon
Advertisement