Malak ("Angel" in English) was the nickname of a Mujahideen fighter who was captured by the Soviets and later rescued by Venom Snake and Diamond Dogs, whom he later joined.
Biography[]
While undertaking a mission for the Mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan war, Malak's home village was wiped out by a plague, with it being burned down to the ground by a "Man on Fire" shortly thereafter, thus leaving him the sole survivor of his village. He then witnessed some suspicious troops snooping around in the aftermath of his village's destruction.
Some time later, in 1984, Malak was captured by the Soviet forces, and initially held prisoner at Lamar Khaate Palace. Diamond Dogs, via Venom Snake, was dispatched after being hired by an unknown client claiming to be a survivor of Malak's village (who claimed that Malak's father perished as a result of the Soviets' Scorched Earth Operation and that Malak was captured around the same time) who requested that they rescue Malak as his father's dying wish.[1][2]
However, by the time Venom Snake got to Lamar Khaate Palace, he learned that Malak had actually been transferred before Snake got there, although Diamond Dogs managed to narrow down his location from both various rescued POWs from the site and some intel files left behind to Yakho Oboo Supply Outpost. On the way there, the Soviet escort driving him to Yakho Oboo Supply Outpost attempted to comfort him and even claim his family was alive (though Malak neither knew the language the escort was speaking, not to mention already knew beforehand his family was dead and thus would not have believed him anyway). Snake eventually found Malak, although Malak was severely injured enough that Snake had to extract him directly via helicopter, as the Fulton had the high risk of killing him from the shock. While leaving for the extraction site, Malak then asked who tasked Snake to rescue him. However, upon hearing his father mentioned, he reveals that he already knew that his father was dead and that his whole village had been wiped out before the Soviet's scorched earth operation, and also begs Snake to not give him over to someone he doesn't know. He then decided to join Outer Heaven, and mused he may have to give up his name of "Malak." He also admitted that he didn't know what his captors were saying to him, but assumed they were just denigrating his people.[3] Upon returning to Mother Base, the deputy commander Kazuhira Miller reported that Malak revealed that not only had he never heard of their client, but also the real reason why his village was destroyed. His description of the troops caused Miller to realize that the troops were most likely XOF, the strike force for Cipher.
Miller also suspected that their "client" was most likely Cipher itself in an attempt to clean up loose ends, and that Cipher most likely intended to either interrogate or otherwise silence Malak for his discovery before the Soviets could get to him, but were forced to hire Diamond Dogs when they couldn't get to him in time. As such, Miller, to protect Malak, faked his death by claiming via a cut out that he was killed (although he noted that their client suspiciously gave them the payment they were owed despite this setback), and also let Malak join their organization since he didn't have a home or family to go back to due to his village's destruction and because they shared a common goal of revenge against Cipher for the organization's role in personal losses (as Diamond Dogs was created to exact revenge against Cipher for their role in the destruction of their predecessor organization, the Militaires Sans Frontières, nine years prior).[4]
Behind the scenes[]
Malak is a key character from the main mission "Angel with Broken Wings" in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
References[]
- ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
Kazuhira Miller: The objective is to rescue and extract a mujahid captured by the Soviets. He's being held in the ruins of Lamar Khaate Palace. As are a lot of POWS. Civilians, guerrillas, suspected guerrillas... The Soviets have turned the place into their own black site. However, we've only been asked to rescue one of the prisoners. He's known as Malak - "angel" - to his fellow Mujahideen. The client is none other than his father. Or rather, this was his father's dying wish. - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
Kazuhira Miller: That's the target. He was the youngest in his squad. The others called him Malak, or "Angel." The Soviets captured Malak and took him to the ruins of Lamar Khaate Palace. His family was subsequently killed in an airstrike on his village. The Soviets' scorched earth operation wiped it off the map. The client this time is Malak's father... Well, a survivor from the village acting on his behalf. The father's dying words were, "Before you take revenge for our people... Save my son." - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
Malak: Are you... here to rescue me? Who sent you? My father...? My father is dead. My whole family is dead. Hey, who hired you? Who told you to bring me to them? Why are you doing this?! Stop. Don't hand me over to someone I don't know. Please, take me with you. Outer Heaven? I see... My name is Malak. Hah, guess I'll have to give up that name now... Those bastards... I couldn't understand them, but... Just insulting my people like usual, I suppose... It hurts so bad... Thank you... - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015)
Mission 9: Angel with Broken Wings debriefing
Kazuhira Miller: Boss. That target you extracted, Malak, is saying that he's never heard of our client. What's more, he says his village was destroyed long before he was ever taken prisoner. Apparently, it fell victim to some sort of disease, then was completely burned to the ground. Malak was out on a mission at the time, and that's the reason why he alone survived. But the question is, who hired us to find him? According to Malak, he saw strange soldiers snooping around the village when he got back. Turns out they were members of Cipher's strike force, XOF. My theory is they wanted to get their hands on Malak to question or silence him before the Soviets could get to him. Cipher was just using us to cover things up. All that crap about Malak's relative was a front to convince use to retrieve him. But an entire colony just wiped off the map... it sounds a lot like the Hamid during the Honey Bee incident. All I know, Boss, is there is no way in hell I'm handing Malak over to Cipher. I decided to bring him back to Mother Base instead. He's one of us now. We told the client, through a cut-out, that the target was killed. For some reason, though, they still paid us everything we were owed. Cipher's obviously up to something, and this is probably just another preemptive cleanup operation to them. But to Malak, he lost his village, his family... Everything. And he wants his revenge. In other words, he's one of us.