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The Viscount was the assumed identity of a British high-level[1] member and co-founder[2] of the Contract Forces of Africa who was detained by his Afrikaner compatriots in the same group, due to an attempt at embezzlement on oilfields. He was originally a member of the British Army's Scots Guards and the British SAS.[3]

Biography[]

Viscount prisoner

Before being recruited into Diamond Dogs.

Prior to co-founding the CFA, he had gotten his start in the British Army's Scots Guards, and eventually moved on to the SAS before becoming a mercenary. Despite his moniker, however, he was not a member of the aristocratic class, with it being unclear how he got the moniker.[3] Eventually, he helped found the CFA alongside three other British personnel, due to the private force's connection to South Africa, and by extension, to the British.[2]

The Viscount desired the oilfields the MPLA had, and intended to manipulate the Contract Forces of Africa into siding with the MPLA over the rebel group of UNITA so he could secure the rights to the oilfield for himself. He initially tried to hide this plan from his Afrikaner allies,[4] even making sure his British comrades were kept quiet for the time being.[5] However, the Afrikaner members of the CFA uncovered this plot, so the Viscount attempted to make it seem as though his fellow British allies were the ones who plotted the entire thing in an attempt to exploit the feud the Afrikaners and British had with each other stemming from the latter's actions to the former during the Second Boer War[6] and use the confusion to take off.[4] However, this plan resulted in his capture and detainment at Kiziba Camp as well,[1] with them undergoing various brutal interrogations due to the extreme circumstances.[7][6][5][8] Knowing full well that his British comrades will expose him if they were rescued alongside him, he requested that he be the only prisoner rescued.[4][9]

As he couldn't give the request himself due to his predicament, he had a representative relay the message for his rescue instead, with Diamond Dogs getting the request.[10] They then proceeded to rescue him, although they gradually grew suspicious of the mission request.[9][11][10] He also suspected his captors were going to kill him anyways, although the Afrikaners implied they may spare him under the condition he reveals who sold them out. However, after the Viscount attempted to deny any knowledge of who sold them out, only to not be believed by the interrogator. The Viscount also inferred that Apartheid's going to collapse soon, and attempted to make a deal. However, the Afrikaner interrogator would hear none of it.[8]

Venom Snake interfered and rescued him. After he was rescued, the Viscount relayed information about the Walker Gears being sold to the CFA as well as various other PFs in the region, causing the deputy commander of the Diamond Dogs, Kazuhira Miller, to suspect Cipher, or more specifically, XOF's involvement in the sale due to the Walker Gears being Soviet technology that was only in the prototype stage. He planned to claim that the CFA as a whole wanted to swap allegiances from UNITA to the MPLA in exchange for oilfield rights.[12] However, because Venom Snake decided to rescue the other POWs in addition to him, Diamond Dogs also learned the full story of what happened from one of them, and decided to lock the Viscount in the brig of Mother Base, also intending to become "extra persuasive" with him as a result of his actions to his compatriots. He also supplies Diamond Dogs with a key hint regarding Cipher's stake in the region by revealing that, in addition to the CFA, the other PFs in the region have purchased Soviet-created Walker Gears, despite their still being in the prototype stage.[4]

Behind the scenes[]

The Viscount is a key character in the main mission Lingua Franca in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Depending on whether the player decides to rescue the other prisoners besides the Viscount, the debriefing's beginning will be different. If the player heeds that they rescue only the Viscount, the Viscount will request to join Diamond Dogs, with it largely being granted due to his giving them their contract, although Miller will admit he found him to be slightly suspicious, with the Viscount also claiming the CFA as a whole intended to switch sides from UNITA to the MPLA.[12] If the player disobeys the mission request[9] and rescues the other POWs in addition to the Viscount, the post-mission debriefing will have Miller, prior to informing Snake about the Walker Gear sales, also revealing the Viscount's duplicitous nature and imply that for that, he'll undergo more severe interrogation at their hands.[4] The Viscount is eventually released from the brig and joins Diamond Dogs.

Aside from the obvious main objective of rescuing him, he is also the subject of two other mission tasks, one involving identifying him, and the other involving listening to all four interrogations. For obvious reasons, he's the last interrogation of the four.

If the player moves the Viscount away without fultoning him, he'll sometimes threaten his captor that the latter will burn.[13]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
    Benedict "Kazuhira" Miller: Several high-level British CFA [Contract Forces of Africa] officials are being held captive by their Afrikaner colleagues. One of these prisoners is the rescue target, a guy known as the "viscount." The target's location is unknown, but they're bound to have an interpreter present when they interrogate him. We've used info from the Intel Unit to predict the interpreter's location. It's on your [Venom Snake's] iDroid. Follow the interpreter and extract the target when you find him.
  2. ^ a b Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
    Kazuhira Miller: There's a violent power struggle going on within the Contract Forces of Africa - the PF that ran security for the Mfindda Oilfield. Most of their key people are Afrikaners, but naturally for a South African organization, some of its founders are British. Details are sketchy, but apparently the Afrikaners are holding these British personnel for interrogation near Kiziba Camp. We've been asked to rescue one of them, a man known as the "viscount." We don't have the viscount's exact location, but he doesn't speak the Afrikaners' language, Afrikaans. They'll need an interpreter who speaks English in order to interrogate him. Meaning if we tail the interpreter, he'll lead us right to the target. By the way, the contract specifies that it's alright to ignore the other British prisoners... But the final decision is yours, Boss.
  3. ^ a b Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
    Kazuhira Miller: That's the rescue target, known as the "Viscount..." But don't let that fool you - he's no aristocrat. He started out in the British Army's Scots Guards, moved on to the SAS, then became a mercenary and helped create the CFA. How he earned the moniker is unclear.
  4. ^ a b c d e Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
    Benedict "Kazuhira" Miller: Boss [Venom Snake], one of the other British prisoners filled us in about the viscount. It turns out he's a real two-faced son of a bitch. He was planning on securing the MPLA's oilfield rights for himself in exchange for swapping the CFA's alliance from the anti-government UNITA rebels to the state-backed MPLA. He hid this from the Afrikaners, but once he thought the jig was up, he tried to pin it on the other British personnel and take off. The Afrikaners captured him, and that was when he asked us [Diamond Dogs] to rescue him and only him. I'll throw him in the Brig for now, but... we may have to be extra "persuasive" with this one. By the way, Boss, we got some interesting news out of our friend the "viscount." He mentioned that more than a few PFs in the region have purchased Walker Gears. The CFA's the same. That's Soviet Army technology... and it's still a prototype. Only Cipher could be leaking it to the PFs. But the question is... why?
  5. ^ a b Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
    Afrikaner interrogator: All right, now you can both talk to me. Where did you get the information on the MPLA's oilfield rights? // Afrikaner interpreter: Now you will both talk. Where did you get the information on the MPLA's oilfield rights? // Male POW: We don't know anything, I swear! // Afrikaner interpreter: He says he swears they don't know anything. // Female POW: Believe us... // Afrikaner interrogator: You expect me to believe you attempted to contact the MPLA based on information from an unknown source? // Afrikaner interpreter: You mean you attempted to contact the MPLA based on information from an unknown source? // Male POW: We thought it was suspicious, sure. But we stood to make a lot of money out of it. // Afrikaner interpreter: It was suspicious, but they wanted to make a profit. // Male POW: We're businessmen... // Afrikaner interpreter: We're businessmen. // Afrikaner interrogator: Businessmen - what a joke! Failed mercenaries trying to skin this country. // Afrikaner interpreter: You're a joke, not businessmen. Failed mercenaries trying to skin this country. // Female POW: We didn't... we didn't try to hide anything... The viscount said to keep quiet for now, that's all... // Afrikaner interpreter: She says they didn't mean to hide anything, but the viscount made them keep quiet. // Afrikaner interrogatorr: Hah! So it's all the "viscount's" fault. Fine, the viscount can tell us the rest. // Afrikaner interpreter: Then the viscount can tell us the rest. // Male POW: W-wait! She had nothing to do with this! // Afrikaner interrogator: (swats the POW with the butt of his rifle) Don't worry. Hell has room for both of you.
  6. ^ a b Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
    Afrikaner interrogator: Get up. // (British POW gets up) // Afrikaner interrogator: I'll give you one last chance. // Afrikaner interpreter: This is your last chance. // Afrikaner interrogator: The MPLA's oilfield rights - where did this information come from? // Afrikaner interpreter: The MPLA's oilfield rights - where did you get this information? // British POW: I told you, I only know it was an anonymous source... // Afrikaner interpreter: It was from an anonymous source. // Afrikaner interrogator: Who do you think you are fooling?! // Afrikaner interpreter: You're not fooling anybody. // British POW: Ask any of the others. Nobody knows anything. // Afrikaner interpreter: He says try asking the others. // Afrikaner interrogator: So they made up a story together. This is why you can't trust the British. You know how much the Afrikaners suffered because of you in the Boer War? // Afrikaner interpreter: You made up a story with the others. You British are all liars. You know how much the Afrikaners suffered because of you in the Boer War? // British POW: That wasn't me. // Afrikaner interpreter: He said "that wasn't me." // Afrikaner commander: But it was you that betrayed us. // Afrikaner interpreter: But it was you that betrayed us. // British POW: It wasn't me, it was the viscount...! // Afrikaner interrogator: Enough. (swats the soldier with his rifle) If you do not know anything, we're done here.
  7. ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
    Ocelot: The CFA are all business. Hard to believe they're interrogating their own. Situation must be worse than we thought.
  8. ^ a b Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain: Kojima Productions (2015).
    Afrikaner interrogator: We've kept you waiting. // Afrikaner interpreter: Sorry we kept you waiting. // The Viscount: You're gonna kill me anyway... // Afrikaner interpreter: He says you're going to kill him anyway. // Afrikaner interrogator: Perhaps not - depending on what you tell me. // Afrikaner interpreter: Perhaps not - depending on what you tell me. // The Viscount: We don't know the informant's identity. // Afrikaner interpreter: He says they don't know who the informant is. // Afrikaner interrogator: I find that hard to believe. // Afrikaner interpreter: He does not believe you. // Afrikaner interrogator: But if you want to die so much, we will oblige. // Afrikaner interpreter: If you want to die, we will make it happen. // Afrikaner interrogator: We never should have worked with the Brits. // Afrikaner interpreter: We never should have worked with the Brits. // The Viscount: You're a nationalist? // Afrikaner interpreter: You're a nationalist? // The Viscount: Apartheid's on its last legs already - get with the times. // Afrikaner interpreter: Apartheid is coming to an end... // Afrikaner interrogate: That's some attitude coming from a traitor. // Afrikaner interpreter: That's some attitude from a traitor. // The Viscount: What am I supposed to say? Trust me? // Afrikaner interpreter: He doesn't expect you to trust him. // The Viscount: But how about we make a deal? // Afrikaner interpreter: He wants to make a deal. // Afrikaner interrogator: That door is already closed. // Afrikaner interpreter: That door is closed already. // The Viscount: W-wait! // Afrikaner interrogator: Shut up!
  9. ^ a b c Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
    Ocelot: That's [British POW] not the target [the Viscount]. Orders are, only the viscount gets rescued. Can't understand why he'd receive special treatment... But I don't imagine it'd be too much of a problem to save the other prisoners too.
  10. ^ a b Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015)
    Benedict "Kazuhira" Miller: Boss [Venom Snake], I did some digging, and it seems the target himself [the Viscount] gave us this mission through a representative. Obviously he couldn't contact us directly due to his predicament, but still, something about this "viscount" doesn't add up...
  11. ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
    Ocelot: So, our rescue target [the Viscount] was behind some kind of plot.
  12. ^ a b Benedict "Kazuhira" Miller: Boss [Venom Snake], now that the Viscount is no longer working with the CFA, he says he wants to work for us [Diamond Dogs]. Something about him bugs me, but he did pay us for the contract, and he'll probably come in useful for something. See if you can find a place for him. According to the Viscount, the CFA planned to switch sides from the UNITA rebels to support the MPLA government forces in exchange for oilfield rights.
  13. ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015)
    Prisoner (Viscount): I hope you burn for this. Burn!
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