Location [Unknown] – Time [Unknown]

"Quint, I have some very important news." A man said as he paced about. Blackout shades hung over the windows while living room lamps provided basic illumination. Slowly they dimed as a small projector hummed to life. Another person slowly lifted her head up the display, before dragging a cigar to her mouth.

"The head of the Investigative Intelligence Agency has finally given us the green light for the Virtuous Mission." He gave a casual glace back to the person and frowned. Smoking in a room like this would just make everything blurry for the screen. From the single light source, he could see his best shot agent's light purple hair. Cut to a simple bob for military purposes, the man remembered back when she did have a longer hair wrapped into a simple bun.

"A 'virtual' mission?" She asked.

"No. The Virtuous Mission. The future of the RF6 unit depends on it." The man turned around and walked over to the projection. Several images on sparked to light as the woman gazed up. Images and films of scouting reports to the other side of Dinsmark Wall and the surrounding areas hazed over. The recording was grainy with colors of tan and brown mixed together. Quint squint her eyes to get a better resolution.

"This sounds like a kind of initiation ritual." She commented.

"Don't get cocky. This isn't a training op."

"So what is this wonderful mission?"

"Well… Two years ago, a certain Soviet scientist requested asylum through one of our moles. His name is Granz Flor. He's head of the OKB-67 and the East's foremost expert on artificial construct development." A grainy picture of the man slowly appeared with general noted appearance. Grey-ish hair parted in front. Naturally wavy. His face was angular, but not in such a way that he was fierce looking. In fact, he looked quite the opposite.

"Flor?... Isn't he that famous rocket scientist?"

"Correct. On April 12th, 1961, the Soviet achieved manned space flight for 108 minutes."

"Terra was blue… But there was no God."

A low chuckle came from the man as he brushed some of his hair to the side. The projection slowly shifted to a far away recording of the Soviet rocket boosting into space. "Well spoken. The rocket that carried Yuri Volga Tereshkova was called the A1, the Vostok Rocket. Flor is said to be the man most responsible for the multi-mana engine used for that rocket."

"After Tereshkova's flight, Flor was reassigned to the new formed Design Bureau."

Quint frowned. "That's quite the success story. So why would he want to defect?"

"I say that it was a 'crisis of conscious'. Perhaps he became afraid of his own creations."

"So he just left his family and went over the Iron Curtain?"

"Not exactly." he refuted. "A condition for his defection was to have his family safely taken to the West. We used a mole to get the family out first, and successfully sneaked Flor's over the Dinsmark Wall shortly afterwards." The purple-haired woman spotted a small smile appear on his face. "I was the one that conducted the operation."

But just as the smile appeared, it quickly turned to melancholy.

"Unfortunately, the entire operation had left him exhausted, traveling over seven hundred miles in two weeks. While he was recovering in the hospital, we had something much bigger on our hands."

"The Juventud Missile Crisis."

"October 16th, 1962. President Edsel received word that the Soviets were in the progress of planting medium-ranged ballistic missiles in Juventud. The President demanded that the Soviets were to cease and dispose of these missiles. In the meanwhile, a naval blockade was established to prevent further missile shipments."

"Instead, the Soviets placed their military forces on secondary alert, as their transport ships continued. US and Soviets forces went on alert for an all out nuclear war. Negotiations were conducted through the UN's Emergency Security Council and unofficial channels to end the standoff. Nearly two weeks later, the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles from Juventud. But in order to get the Soviets to remove the missiles, we had to make a deal."

"You mean when the US removed the IRBMs from Anadolu right?"

The man shook his head to Quint's disbelief. "The Tinia IRBMs in Anadolu were obsolete and were going to be disposed of anyways. It was a ruse, a cover story to hide the real deal."

"So what did the Shutrans really want?"

"They wanted Flor's back."

The purple haired woman frowned as she tilted her head cockeyed. "You mean that Soviets pulled out of Juventud just to get Flor? What the hell was he working on?"

"At the time we had no idea. It was that or face annihilation. President Edsel gave into Premier Zaporozhets' demand. The next day, I got Flor out of the hospital and handed him over to agents on the other side. He kept yelling 'Save me' until he disappeared from my sight."

Quint started to scratch her head. Getting her head wrapped around everything was not exactly one of her strongest points. "Roughly a month ago, we received some new information from one of our moles. He was taken back to the research facility and forced to continue the work on the weapon. From what we can gather, it's nearing completion."

"Guessing from everything… Maybe it has something to deal with rockets?"

"Missiles, but same technology. For the past half year, the Soviets have been testing nuclear weapons in Kazakh. We are talking about a weapon that Zaporozhet's was willing to pull out of Anadolu just to get Flor back."

"Is Flor still in the facility?"

"No, according to our intelligence he's in Tsenlinoyarsk, a place in the mountains three miles to the west to a place known as the 'Virgin Cliffs'." The screen shifted over to a large map of the world and zoomed into the deep jungles in the lower large sections of the Soviet Union.

"Huh. 'Virgin Cliffs'… A perfect place for this Virtuous Mission. But why exactly?"

"Field testing of the weapon; however this is our best chance to get him back. Flor's had a few of our moles contacted when he heard of his move to the area."

The projection screen slowly died as the fans noisy sounds came to a slow halt. "Shield your eyes." The man said as he walked over and flipped the switch. Quint grunted as her eyes adjusted to the now bright room.

"This mission is of top secrecy and you remember our policy in Riot Force 6"

"On site procurement. The only thing we are allowed to carry with us is our devices, and radio equipment."

"Good woman."

Location: Over Ayubian Territory – 0530 Hours – August 24, 1964

The low rumbles of the airplanes propellers echoed in the cargo area as Quint played with a cigar in her fingers. Small embers of fire sprinkled out as a man with a flight mask nodded in a radio conversation. "Twenty minutes to drop off. Internal depressurization… Equipment check; parachute…"

A few more moments passed as she listened into the conversation. Nothing was interesting to her ears. All the routine and higher up commands were someone else's problem.

He turned his head over to the woman and motioned at her. "Put out that cigar. Connecting oxygen hose to… Oi, are you even paying attention?"

Again, she continued to smoke, before a man's voice crackled to life in her ear piece. "Hey are you deaf? He said to put out that cigar and put on your mask."

Quint sighed as she lazily flicked the cigar to the end of the cargo hold as the attendant just blinked. Who did this person think she was anyways?

Donning the mask, the light in the room dimmed to yellow as she turned to the hatch.

"Depressurization complete. Oxygen supply is green. Six minutes to drop off; opening rear hatch."

As the metal doors cracked open, a searing white and yellow light pierced through. Wisps of clouds leaked into the cargo bay followed by the rush of cold wind. Her uniform kept the coldness at bay at a minimum as she felt her muscles constrict. The plane had reached above the clouds as the blue skies above were all between the ground and space. Already, the sounds from the propellers grew louder now exposed to the air outside.

"External temperature, minus forty five degrees Celsius. Two minutes to drop off. Stand up."

The purple-haired agent did as she was told, flexing her fingers and toes. The man's voice crackled to life again as she turned to face the exit. "You'll be falling at 130 miles per hour. Try not to get frostbite on the way down."

"One minute to drop off. Move to the rear. Activate bailout bottle."

"This is one for the records. The world's first HALO jump." Slowly with calculated steps, she made her way to the edges of the hatch doors.

"Status Ok. All green. Countdown in five, four, three, two, one…"

"Spread your wings and fly! God be with you!"

Tilting her body slightly forward she felt gravity already taking her away. A slightly lift from her feet and she was diving down. Front flip after front flip, a grin sparked behind her oxygen mask before she tucked herself in before going for a direct dive.

The razor sharpness of the cold and wind blowing past her as she felt her body instantly hit as fast as it could possibly go. Cutting through the clouds, her goggles started to fog from the shift from colder to cold. Droplets of water formed on her uniform only to freeze and chip off. Only two minutes passed when she saw the lush green jungle below. Spreading her body, her descent slowed down ever so slightly as the man's voice returned.

"Listen up Quint, your mission is to infiltrate Tselinoyarsk in the Soviet mountains, ensure the safety of Flor and bring him back to the West. If we don't get Flor back before that weapon is complete, we'll be facing a major crisis. The clock is ticking."

Quint curved her body to the left as she continued her rapid descend. ... Three one thousand, two one thousand, one one thousand… She pulled at her ripcord bracing herself for the next part; The immediate pull at her center body stung from her chest to her lower body as the winds died down to a slow descend.

"Once we've confirmed the rescue of Flor, stand ready at the recovery point. A recovery balloon will be dropped at that point. Helium will be pumped into the balloon to inflate it. Once it's complete, the gunship's arm will latch onto the balloon to pull it back up."

"The Galaxie Surface-to-Air Recovery System. I'm familiar with the theory…" Quint trailed off as she shifted her body to the side. The movement tilted her descend towards the river bend's side and thicker part of the trees.

"Don't worry. It's been combat proven."

"Do you think that Flor is up to it?"

"The shock will be less than a parachute jump and the arm can handle up to 230 kilograms."

"A single combat talon… Is it really going to work in this region?"

"She's equipped with two six-barrel twenty millimeter Vulcan cannons, as well as two forty millimeters machine guns."

Quint 'hmm-ed' in thought. "Sounds like she can handle her own against a battalion of tanks or heavy combat mages."

"We are facing a four hour time limit here. If all goes well, it shouldn't take more than a few hours."

"Heh. Home in time for dinner."

"But if anything goes wrong, you'll be having your dinner, breakfast and all the rest of your meals in the jungle."

At this point, her feet lightly brushed against the treeline as her body seeped in. Kicking and sweeping the branches out of the way, more started to appear as they brushed and smacked themselves against her face and gear. A snapping tug pulled at her shoulder as Quint turned to see her backpack caught on a branch.

Another branch whacked her around as she saw a cliff just infront. Unclipping the parachute, her body kept flying forward as she branched herself on the ground. Carefully looking around the area, Quint removed her mask and breathed in the fresh air. No more that pure oxygen smell and taste. Looking around again, the infiltrator slid over to a nearby tree and opened a radio channel from the little device on her uniform's chest left side.

"Do you copy? You're already in enemy territory, and somebody might be listening in. From here on out, we'll be referring to each other by codenames. You're codename for this mission will be 'Naked Snake'. I'll be referring to you as 'Snake' from now on."

Quint grunted in as the man noticed it. "What? You don't like snakes?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've eaten one before, haven't you?"

"In survival training, yeah…" she replied begrudgingly. It wasn't the tastiest of things, but it did get the job done.

"Good to know."

"And what about you Major? What should I call you?"

"Hmm… Let's see now. Ah, how about Toyota. I'll be Major Toyota."

"Hmph… Gotcha."

"Just as I said before, this is a sneaking mission. Everything is to be obtained onsight. If you ever do get hungry or injured for whatever reason, everything you need is in your backpack."

"Yeeeaahhhhh… About that, I kinda got in stuck in a tree on the way down."

"Well then, better have yourself some exercise before the mission."

Rolling her eyes Quint replied, "Got it. I'll radio back once I have it."

"Good woman. My frequency is 140.75."

With a click off, Quint got herself back up as she stretched her body out. First her legs as she felt a resistance from muscle knots of sitting down for hours. The plane ride itself was the most boring out of the mission. Having to get up late at night to travel on the other side of the globe, the Major had stated for her to rest or catch some sleep.

But now back on the ground, she couldn't feel anymore happier. A grin appeared on her face as she swept over a rotting log and jogged over to the tree with her backpack. Some vines climbed up as she gripped and tugged at them. Firm.

Taking the first step up, she latched on the higher part of the vine until she reached the branch. She swung her legs side to side to get some momentum before grabbing a hold on the branch as she crawled her way over to her backpack. Quint grabbed the backpack off the branch and fell back to the jungle ground. Seeing that there was nobody around to eavesdrop, she crouched down and opened the channel again.

"Major, I've obtained my gear."

"Excellent Snake, now then onwards to business."

"So my only weapon is a SW Model 39 equipped with a knuckle device?"

"Indeed. It's been modified to accept your mana input. Just remember that you're draining your magical abilities every time that you use it. I expect you to also pick up after yourself in case you do use those mana cartridges when you start to feel winded. Also, there is a suppression attachment to it, but I wouldn't go trigger happy on it. Use it sparingly."

"Alright…"

"Ah, and now to met the other members of this mission. The first member of your support team will be monitoring your physical condition. A medic in a sense. She's on the gunship with me."

"She?"

A little bit of movement was heard as another voice was heard. Definitely a woman. But like the Major himself, carried an air of class. No accent like the Major's Mid-Childan voice. Probably Haimirian like herself.

"Hello there Snake. I'm Para-Medic. Nice to meet you."

"Para… Medic?"

"As in a medic that comes in by a parachute."

"Aren't you going to tell me your real name?"

"Are you going to tell me yours Ms. Snake?"

"Mine is… Ballade."

"And yet they call you Quint?"

A light chuckle escaped her lips as she shook her head. It was not like they would notice her doing so. "A name means nothing on the battlefield. After a week, no ones as a name. So what's your name?"

"Primera."

"Funny."

"If you manage to make it back alive, then I'll tell you my name. My frequency is 145.65" A few more shifts and the Major's voice came back. "Alright then and now there is one more person that I want you to meet Snake?"

"Huh?"

"Speaking of Snakes, you remember The Boss, don't you?"

Her uniform was plain, much like her own. If there was one thing that she could remember seeing, it was her hair, swaying in the wind as her twin pigtails brushed along. A certain bit of sadness was in her eyes, but carried the flame of her will. She turned back to her and gave a small smile. "Quint… Are you ready?"

Quint felt a lump in her throat as she tried to swallow. "Th-the Boss?"

"Quint, is that you?" A voice said, just as she remembered it. Almost lyrical sounding, and yet carried an air of firmness. "How many years has it been?"

"Boss?"

"That's right, it's me."

She gasped for breathe before shaking off the feeling. "It's been five years, seventy two days, eighteen hours, and twenty seven minutes."

A near trademarked chuckle echoed on the radio channel. "… You've lost weight."

"You can tell just from the sound of my voice?"

"Of course. I know all about you."

"Really?" She said in a firm tone, but not disrespectful. "'Cause I barely know anything about you."

"I was on a top-secret mission."

"But there were so many things that I wanted you to teach me."

"No, I taught you everything that you needed to know. I taught you all I could. The rest you needed to learn on your own."

"Techniques can only go so far. But about thinking like a soldier?"

The line was silent for a moment before her voice returned. "How to think like a soldier? I can't teach you that."

"What?"

"Soldiers need to be strong in spirit, body and technique; I could only teach you technique. But even then, technique can only go so far. The things that matters the most are 'Spirit' and 'Body'."

"I can't teach you how to think. You just have figure it out for yourself." The purple-haired infiltrator grunted in acknowledging what she was saying. Sometimes she was cryptic with what she was saying.

"Just because we are soldiers on the same side right now, doesn't mean that it'll be the same the next. What's today's good might be tomorrow's evil. It's politics that determine who we fight."

"And that's why you abandoned me?" She said defensively.

"It had nothing to do you with. I already told you I was on a top-secret mission. A solider has to follow whatever order's he's given. It's not his place to question why. You are quite the natural born fighter, but not quite a soldier."

"A soldier is a political tool, nothing more. Right and wrong have no place in his mission."

"If there is no right and wrong, then what are we to believe?"

"The only thing we can believe in with absolute certainly is the mission, Quint."

"… Alright. But do me a favor."

"What is it?"

"Call me Snake."

"Snake… Oh, right. Your codename is Snake. It suits you."

"That's right. The unit that The Boss created was named after a snake." Quint shifted uncomfortably as the Major's voice came back on. She knew that he was listening in but it was always nice to feel that she was having a 'private' talk with her mentor.

"The Cobra Unit. A multinational group of heroes that brought the war to an end. As long as you got a legendary hero like The Boss backing you up, I think you'll be fine, right Snake?"

A small grin appeared on her face as Quint relaxed. "Yeah… I wouldn't think of anybody else that I'd rather have. And one more thing Boss…"

"Yes?"

"It's good to hear your voice again."

A trademark chuckle came from the other side of the line. It always brought a sense of home back to her. "Same here. After all, who knows if either of us will make it out alive. You were always better in urban warfare and infiltrating buildings. But this is the jungle. Survival is the key. Remember the basics to the Strike Arts I taught you. They are sure to come in handy."

"Ehh, I've been in the Special Forces for a few years… I'm kinda rusty."

"Not to worry. I'm here to help you remember. After all, this is your first survival mission. I'll be supporting you over the radio."

"Where are you anyways Boss? I didn't see you on the plane."

"The Boss is communicating with us on the radio from aboard a Thresher-class submarine in the Arctic Ocean."

"My frequency is 141.56. Call me if you need my advice on battle techniques."

Standing back up, Quint listened in to the Major's mini briefing. "Doctor Flor is being held in an abandoned factory ruins just north of your position."

Her hands gripped around her pistol as played with the slide, making sure that it wouldn't jam. Releasing the clip from the pistol, there were already cartridges. Everything was good.

"Snake, try to remember the basics of the Strike Arts."

Stance widening and her upper body leaning slightly forward a small glow radiated from her body. A way to regulate her internal mana reserves without over-extending herself. Feeling armed and ready, Quint had herself a grin.

"Commencing Virtuous Mission… Now."