The topic says it all. What if ZOE3 doesn't continue the story from ZOE2 (which it doesn't need to, honestly, ZOE2 had a great ending that didn't hint anything about a sequel), and instead becomes a prequel to the series (otherwise known as "MGS3 Syndrome", where the third game in the series becomes some kind of prequel, observed in games before MGS3, but didn't reach much height until then) or an interquel, taking place between ZOE1 and 2?

I wouldn't mind playing Viola's story in a prequel or Leo between ZOE 1 and 2.

They're both pretty damned cool, and the transition Viola made from LEV to OF, and Leo from OF to LEV is never explained thoroughly.

Wouldn't mind at all. I mean, when it comes to cliffhangers, they might just as well add one on ZoE HD (I'm talking about those new 3 or 4 minutes of cutscenes), but making a prequel with Viola's story or an interquel with Leo's story would be pretty damn good. Any of those two could include brand new characters/organizations which could serve as a sort of bridge to any following instalment (I am assuming they'll try to make more games from ZoE).

Well, I assume everybody in BAHRAM switched from LEV to OF after the problem of Metatron's Will was at least partially fixed by the AI integration. And Leo most likely switched from OF to LEV because OFs aren't common in the UNSF (aside from the Ryan Corporation building them for Zephyrs and all that jazz from FoM), and most officers of the UNSF use LEVs anyway. Besides, if Taper's reaction to Dingo when they meet in ZOE2 is any indication, UNSF pilots are probably ordered to assume OFs are BAHRAM operated, and as such, having to explain yourself to every UNSF pilot, no matter how long your OF's wang is (also assuming the Vic Viper's wang size was carried on to any OFs Leo would use in the future), would get pretty tiresome after the first ten UNSF pilots.

Wasn't it to keep Jehuty hidden from BAHRAM?

Well, yes, I forgot to mention that. What I meant was after Leo left Jehuty on Callisto, he switched to a LEV because OFs aren't common in the UNSF (and I say common because of Taper's line "There are hardly any Orbital Frames left in the Space Force", or something like that).

BULLSHIT!

Elena clearly stated that they were the survivors.

Out of the entire freaking spaceforce, Leo is the only one with the frame; which I'm totally sure he didn't qualify for.

Secondly, I'm convinced that Leo has either gone Rogue, or abandoned the Space Force for a reason.
Notice how Elena says:
"Leo! You- What have you been doing?"

"Elena, I've made up my mind to reject your orders. Nothing good will come of them."

Hmm, this hints me that Leo Stenbuck either ran away or sneaked away from the space force, and even finds her to be an unwise leader
(Well yeah, she's guiding the survivors into suicide. Dumb blonde...)

Soooo I'm sure of one thing:
IN the interequel, Leo will have trained with the space force and possibly is stuck with a weak LEV due to his qualificatons: and is only allowed to do so for saving Jehuty from getting into Bahram's hands.

Of course, Leo is worried Jehuty may be in trouble, and is aware that his shitty LEV won't do him much good.

He might end up hi-jacking ThunderHeart's Vic Viper.

Why would the Vic Viper previously belong to Thunderheart from ZOE 1?

Because the Vic Viper and Jehuty were the only two orbital frames on the Space Force's side, apparently.

Orbital Frames were still quite a new thing for the Space Force, so a hybrid transition between LEV and OF would result in the existence of the experimental Vic Viper.
Obviously as we know from ZOE 1, Thunderheart was the original pilot destined to fly Jehuty, but Leo took it instead.

Seeing as the Vic Viper was seemingly the only OF frame there, only the best pilot there could use it. Hence, why Thunderheart qualified for both the Vic Viper ANNNND Jehuty.

Obviously, when Leo got Jehuty at first, it was out of desperation and it was convenient that he was within the vicinity of where all of their missions were going on(hence why they gave you bullshit chores in ZOE 1).

Now that you're with the space force, stealing a high-class combat fighter is a pretty big deal since :

*Orbital frames are rare/almost nonexistent in the SF
*they must cost a lot
*Leo does not qualify and is an inefficient killer due to his poor containment of emotions and self control. Hence why he got his ass kicked by Nohman both in ZOE 1 and ZOE 2.
TWICE.


So Leo aware of his poor piloting, he would assume the Vic Viper would be his escape, and the only way to save ADA.

And thus, I just explained the interequel/plot ending.
Also, how Leo ended up with a freaking frame that no one else in the entire space force has.

Sorry, contradiction time.

The official story between ZOE1 and ZOE2 (from the ZOE2 website) has Leo sticking with the UNSF up to and including ZOE2. When Leo says that he's decided not to follow Elena's orders, he's probably talking about the one she just gave for the LEVs to fire on Jehuty.

Also, that Vic Viper is Leo's. He and Thunderheart were each training in their own Vic Viper, and I believe the website implies that Thunderheart died at some point between games, and I think it was the result of a training exercise (like every official explanation).

Jehuty's original Frame Runner was Elena's boyfriend Alan (who died before Leo took the thing). Thunderheart was just supposed to take it off of Leo's hands, and I think there's some implied OF training in that statement (and since the UNSF had OFs in 2168, this is not impossible).

Also, Vic Viper is a LEV. It's a high performance LEV with the speed capabilities of an OF, but it is a LEV.

Leo got his ass kicked by Nohman in ZOE1 because he was inexperienced, and working with a severely underperforming OF, whereas Anubis didn't go through the overhaul that Jehuty did/or Nohman had the backup discs necessary to rearm Anubis. When Leo gets his ass kicked in ZOE2, he attacks a fake Anubis and is quickly surprised by the real one Zero Shifting in, and thus he gets attacked. I'm sure, even with his respect for human life, Leo would kill Nohman if he had the chance.

If Radium(Idolo's pilot) had run Jehuty, he would've kicked the entire planet's ass!

The only reason he died was because he got his wings shot off when he wasn't paying attention.

If he had just turned around and dodged, he would've been the king of ownage with Idolo.

BTW:

Wouldn't it be awesome if Jehuty could throw two power ball burst attacks at once?
Like... Spinning and throwing both one after another? EEEEPIC!

I think we all know who Radium (or Radam, according to his in-game name, used in both ZOE1 and FoM, which actually calls him Radam Lavans) is. And, if he had piloted Jehuty, the Earth would be a pile of rock floating around in space right now with no one left alive on it.

And a big part of the reason he died was because he was going fuck-nutty at the time. Way to fuck-up royal, Radium.

It would definitely be cool if Jehuty (or any OF for that matter) could use two Burst Attack Balls at the same time. Maybe if we shout loud enough, Kojima'll put it in ZOE3. Say, do you guys want KojiPro to work on ZOE3, or Platinumgames, who are working on Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance?