As MGS3 was a rated "M" game, this piece of fanfiction will eventually reach that point of being rated M. However, that wouldn't or maybe shouldn't happen until later. A few fans might know what I am talking about.
Also, as a friendly reminder that while rainbows are certainly straighter than Subaru, Quint might come as a close runner up. Because everybody's gay for Big Boss.
Time (Local): 0936 Hours – August 24, 1964
Down the river at a cutbank, laid Quint face-first into the hard rocks as the familiar ringing of her radio played. Luck would have been the best way to describe what had happened in the past few minutes. During her fall, she remembered an old technique of the Strike Arts that The Boss taught her. A way to cushion any direct damage to the body in an instant. While it had no name, Quint called it the 'Barrier Purge' as it completely strip away at her Barrier Jacket, increasing its defensive capabilities far beyond than it can normally do.
The cost, however was that she was naked save some light clothing at her lower body and bra. The rapids and water damage from the fall hung her dark purple bra to the side. It was now just a flimsy piece of wet coloring as she tried crawling up the cutbank, her entire body aching. It hurt like hell… But she was alive.
Shifting her body to the side, she laid on her bruised right arm before turning to her back. A sharp pain spiked through her spine as Quint arched backwards. The skies were bright, only a few hours since touchdown. Painfully, she switched her radio on and collapsed back into the ground.
"Snake! Are you alright!?" The Major hastily asked. Quint coughed up more water before grunting out, "… Major, The Boss defected…"
"Wha-? What happened back there Snake? The radio caught a bunch of water sounds for several minutes."
"The Boss… She threw over the bridge..!" She cried out as her body continued to spike pain, making it difficult to speak. A brief shuffling was heard in the background as Paramedic's voice came on.
"Snake?! I heard what happened! Are you alright?"
"My left elbow… And my ribs…"
Her voice dropped low as the sounds of hair brushing against the microphone was heard. "Alright… I understand. Ok Snake. I need you to calm down and this'll be over before you know it."
Raspy breathing, Quint crawled herself closer to dry land. From the corner of her eyes, she saw her backpack with her, just further in. Bracing herself for more pain, she managed to struggle herself over.
"Snake… Please. Easy now…" Paramedic's voice tried to soothe and block out the pain.
Already, she felt numbness around her wounds but weren't realigned and snitched up; her healing with the medical mages might go astray. It was lucky enough that the backpack was only a few feet away.
"While I'm sure that you know how to clean and seal cut wounds Snake, but what about broken bones?"
"A little…" She admitted.
"Alright, we'll start from there. First I'll need you to straighten up yourself. This will hurt. A lot."
A fallen log was just besides the backpack as she rested her body against it. "Alright… Here we go…" the doctor's voice wavered a little. "Do you have something to bite down on?" Managing to chip off some parts of the log, Quint knew what would happen next. Putting them in her teeth she whimpered a yes for her to continue.
"You need to quickly pull down on your arm and then pull back right. I have trust in you Snake…"
Looking at the almost dangling limb, the purple haired mage grabbed a hold of it. Her breathing increased before snapping it down, and pulled it back into place. Eyes widening from the nauseating feeling and sound, Quint nearly swallowed the wood chips as she felt the feeling of her right arm again. Even with The Boss magically charged attack, her Barrier Jacket served her well from completely breaking the joint.
Spitting out the chips she managed to say, "Alright… Now the ribs right?"
"Unfortunately Snake, there really isn't much we can do about that." Her tone dropped to a whisper. "We'll have to fix you when we get back to the States."
Another grunting pain shot up from her ribs. "Isn't there anything we can do in field?"
"Just try to reduce any movement around that part of your body."
"… Alright… All I have now are cuts and I can get them easily."
"G-goodluck Snake."
Keeping the channel on her end might be compromising the mission, but the Major didn't seem to care at this point. Rummaging through the backpack, she found all that she needed: Sutures, bandages, disinfectant, ointment and finally a pack of her favorite cigars.
Throwing back the cigars she quickly poured a bottle of disinfectant on the cuts as the boiling feeling at the cuts seemed to make them bigger. At every touch, Quint grinded her teeth together as the quiet grunts from over the radio played into her ear. Only a few minutes later did she finish cleaning herself up, complete with a makeshift sling for her arm.
Defeated and laying over the log, she spotted something else that managed to flow down stream. The black ribbon that had tied one of The Boss's pigtails up. Fighting her way over to it, she gripped the hair decal and brought it close. It was large enough to make a headband for her.
Boss… Why did you… She silently wept as the Major started to speak again.
"We are coming to get you Snake. We'll drop a recovery balloon."
It was only a few minutes later when Quint heard the sounds of propellers. But it was too low and rapid for it to be the combat talon. Scanning the tree line, she spotted five Shutran helicopters with cables moving just above. Their formation was too calculated and close for them to be just flying casually. Tracing down, she saw the Fanzabastovka hanging by the cords.
For a moment, a flicker came from one of the helicopters. It was someone reaching their hand out. Her hand trembled for a moment as she reached out as well. She felt that it was The Boss. No, it must have been her!
And yet… As such as she tried to cry out to her, nothing came out. Her voice failed her as Quint collapsed down, tears falling from her face. Boss…
-.-.-
Cats are very predatory creatures. Always on the hunt and sneaking about, a feline was to never back down from hunting prey. And when a cat is hurt, she is to steel herself and get better. By becoming better than the thing that bested her earlier.
That's why Ocelot continued to play with a bullet in her hands, silently venting her anger as if she had something else to do. Stuck in a helicopter back to base, there was already minimal sitting room. An ice bag had been given to her by a member of the Ocelot soldiers as she rested her chin into it. The touch was soothing from the quick uppercut that she received from that purple-haired agent only a few hours ago. Finally fed up with the ice bag, she tossed it to the side, and looked at her pistol. A few scuffs were on it, no doubt from the hand-to-hand combat.
The silence in the helicopter was only broken when Harlaown decided to pop open the crates. He cackled with manically glee staring into the warhead and launcher. Holstering the launcher, the Colonel nodded.
"Excellent… Thanks to The Boss and her Cobras, I have both Flor and the Fanzabastovka."
Ocelot frowned as an odor filled the copter. Perfume. Looking at the newest addition of goodies that they had obtained, she stood up and swung herself around.
The person in question had semi-long brown hair with two yellow hairclips parallel to each other. Her clothing was dark brown, much like most officers in the Shutran government. Glasses reflected her fragile eyes as she veered away from Ocelot's gaze.
"What are we going to do with the girl?" the blonde asked.
"Flor's woman?" Harlaown replied. He had nearly forgotten about the woman. A fine master piece of feminine touch. Approaching her, she tried to scoot herself away. A smirk appeared on the blue haired Colonel as he cupped her face and turned it towards him.
"Huh. Quite the looker…" He commented. "I'll take h-." Just before he could finish the sentence, the woman tried to pull out something from her bottom pocket. Scoffing, he grabbed her hand and pulled out whatever she was grabbing.
A small chromo colored tube with a fake applier.
"A Kiss of Death?" He grunted.
"Are you KGB?" Ocelot questioned. Her eyes scanned over the woman. She was wearing regular clothing, but still there was no telling what this woman could do. He handed back the one-shot pistol and stared into her eyes. A certain fire was in them.
Harlaown chuckled before manhandling her to the side. "She's got spunk. Now where was… Ah."
Shuffling back to the launcher, he slowly attached the miniature nuke and laughed. "We have no further use for Flor's research facility. I think it's time to give this new toy of mine a test."
Ocelot's eyes widened as she looked astonished by Harlaown's words. Seeing him bracing and taking aim, she tried to talk reason with him.
"Colonel! We can't just fire that into our countrymen!"
"Oh? But it wouldn't be me that pulled the trigger. It will be our friend, the Haimirian defector…"
Shaking her head, she latched on to his shoulders. "You're going to nuke our fellow Shutrans?"
Growing bored of her morality; he shoved her aside with the launcher and took one final aim. "Remember the Alamo…"
-.-.-
Having near fallen asleep, Quint snapped her head back up. A small white parachute was heading her way as something in the air felt dead. Everything had gotten quiet in the jungle. Alarmed, she slowly rose up before a gale-storm of wind roared up the stream. The light that pasted through the treetops reached blinding intensity as Quint shielded her eyes. Grabbing a hold of herself, and the nearby rock wall, she pulled herself to her feet and looked at the skies with squinted eyes.
Rising and rising like a fiery spirit was a billowing balling of smoke, undulating.
Wasting no time to care about the mushroom cloud, she limp-walked over to the parachute and opened the packet. Groaning as she unrolled the contents, a balloon started to rise up. With the last bit of her strength, Quint latched the harness around her body and fell unconscious.
-.-.-
Hey Boss!
Visions of a dry long field before her she pranced over to a much taller woman. She turned and nodded at her.
Hey Boss, I'm getting deployed soon! To that place in the Asian continent! I think it was called Chosun! It's going to be my first real combat experience!
While she couldn't see the many features of the woman, she knew that she was smiling at her. Slowly, the shadow started to shrink away.
I'll be back soon!
Gasping for breathe; Quint leaned forward as she felt every part of her body rebelling against her. Things still hurt. It meant that she was still alive.
She took a second to regain focus as the rest of her sense came back. Her clothing was gone, leaving her naked safe for some basic wrappings around her chest and groin and rough cotton gown. Twitching her fingers, she checked to see if they were still there. And they were.
The room was single area all to her. A few chairs circled around the bed. To the side of the hospital bed as a small vase of flowers. Orange impatiens with green carnations hung over the sides, and gave her a soothing feeling.
A sigh of relief flowed through her body as Quint leaned back into the bed. Checking to the side, she noticed a black ribbon. It was the Boss's ribbon. Somehow, it managed to stay in her hands after she passed out. Reaching over with her unbroken arm, she yanked the ribbon away. She cradled with band as her eyes darkened over. The woman that she had seen as her mother, the one that was at her side, teaching everything that she knew of… was gone.
Something was swelling in her stomach as she overheard sounds coming from outside. Through the partially screened glass, she saw two figures arguing with another person. Hastily hiding the ribbon in her legs, the two figures marched into the room. IIA agents in black suits.
"Are you Quint?"
"… Yes."
"We have some questions for you…"
-.-.-
Minutes dragged on as they became hours and Quint's mood continued to sour. She figured out that two days or so passed since she passed out from exhaustion during the Virtuous Mission. The mage agent was hungry and she continued to have her stomach growl, while the IIA agents continued to pound her with questions.
Most of them were a variation of the same ones before: 'Where is The Boss?', 'How did she obtain the Davy Crocket bombs?', 'Are you associated with The Boss?'. Irritation rose to anger as she tried to save herself from punching one of these men from a magic infused fist.
"What is the whereabouts of The Boss?"
"I don't know…"
"How can we trust someone, a person as close as you were, to believe that you aren't lying?"
"How can I answer that?!"
One of the agents, named Anglia stepped forward to his partner Blazer. "Why are so resistant about The Boss's defection? She. Is. A. Traitor."
"She was my mentor…"
"She could have been a spy right from the beginning! A sleeper agent to continuously siphon off information of the top most secrecy! She is a manipulative bitch that-." Quint snapped as she pulled the man with her broken hand and caved his face in with her unbound arm. The man slid on the floor from the hit as Quint threatened to get out the bed, only held back by the wires from the machines. Her eyes swelled with raging tears as she bit down, swallowing her pain.
Blazer briskly walked over to his partner as he pulled him up. "That's enough questions for today… Good night Miss Quint." With the two exiting the room, she looked over to the clock on the wall. It was past two am in the morning. They were talking for over five hours.
Her stomach growled as she knew that the cafeteria was closed for the night. Her eyes gazed over to the bed as she spotted the black ribbons again. Managing to walk herself back to the bed, she curled herself in a little ball before falling into a deep slumber.
-.-.-
The next day was met with similar results. More IIA agents came by to ask question, this time more on the situation with this 'Colonel Harlaown'. A high ranking official in the government, it was hard pressed to find any evidence to support her story. Luckily they came early in the morning.
When it hit lunch time, Quint received some of the hospital food. Just as she thought, it was mediocre at best. After her third order of Reuben sandwiches, Chicken Caesar salads and Pasta Primaveras, the nurses filed out an order regarding to hold all food from her until dinner time. Fuming to herself with a glass of orange juice, Quint was sitting up in the bed, the Boss's ribbon now firmly over her forehead in a headband.
Seeing two figures outside the door, she quickly removed it and hid it underneath her bed. As the door opened, she was greeted by a familiar face and one not so familiar. The first person was a man, middle-aged with streaks of white along his brown hair. A bulky mustache rested in the space between his upper lips and nose. His chin and sides coated with an equally similar coated beard. It was Major Gil Graham.
The other person, on the other hand, was roughly her age. Long violet hair traced down her face as a fair amount of it covered her left eye. Some of her long hair trickled down in front of her shoulders. Her features were motherly, but carried a bit of firmness. She kindly smiled over at Quint.
"Hello there Quint."
She blinked in response. It was Paramedic's voice. "So you're Paramedic?"
"Yes, but like I said before, if you made it back from the mission, I'd tell you my name. I'm Precia. Precia Testarossa."
Graham nodded at the both of them. "Yes. As you see, when you passed out it was Doctor Testarossa here that managed to stabilize you before we reached back home. And even then, as you slept for the past two days, she made the occasion to check up on you. She is an excellent field medic."
The purple haired agent nodded and smiled. "Thank you Doc."
She laughed, bowing her head a little. "Please, just Precia."
Feeling a bit relieved, Quint slowly pulled out The Boss's black ribbons and wrapped it around her head in a headband. Clearing his throat, Graham stepped forward again. "Right, now then, Quint I have some other news to tell you." He turned to Precia. "If you would allow us."
"No problem."
-.-.-
In an open area on the rooftops of the hospital, Quint rested against a conveniently placed bench with her IV stand besides her. Graham paced back and forth in front of her, compiling his thoughts. Turning to her, he went straight to business.
"So how does it feel to be treated in the most advance ICUs in the world?"
Growling she leaned back. "Can you tell the suits about the visiting hours? I'll never get better with them bombing me with questions." The older man frowned and withdrew a small packaged stick from his pocket. It was a brown wrapping with white letterings on it as he handed it over to her.
"Here. Eat this."
"Why?"
"You're always upset when you're hungry." Grumbling she took the package, unraveled it, and took a bite. Milk chocolate surrounding peanuts glazed over with caramel and nougat-ly goodness.
"Better?"
Quint smiled widely as she continued to take bites. "Better."
The aging Major sat down next to Quint as he looked at the skies and exhaled. She's seen him like this before. More news.
"I bet your wondering why I came in today."
"Just to say 'get better'?" She said sheepish.
"Funny and yes, but that's not all why I came here." He paused for a moment to calm the both of them. "Quint, I think its time to clear Riot Force 6's name."
"What are you talking about?"
"We have just one shot to come out of this on top."
Quint shifted in her seat. She figured that with the political situation of The Boss defecting, the IIA might go to drastic measures to ensure their silence. "And this chance is..?"
"Yesterday, the White House received an unexpected call… It was a hotline call from Zaporozhet to President Aurora." Reaching over to his pocket, he pulled out his own device, the Cerberus. A glove-based device made similar to Quint's own, but instead of a dark purple hue, it was replaced with metallic orange. A small attachment hooked ear pieces to them as he handed one to Quint. Taking it, she listened on to what was going on. It was midway through a conversation, but she could guess what they were talking about.
"… know that our of soldiers defected to your country a few days ago?"
"… No."
"So you haven't heard then. The man that arranged the defection was a GRU Colonel by the name of Chrono Clydeovitch Harlaown."
"Harlaown? Hmph, why am I not surprised? Of the Zavod faction. Go on… Who is this soldier?"
"Her name is The Boss. She's a living legend. During World War II, she was the one who lead us to victory, even marching to the Sankt Kaiser's doorstep. In Shutra, you know her as 'Belyy D'yavol'."
There was some shuffling in the background.
"You mean… THE Boss? The White Devil herself? The mother of your Special Forces?"
"The very one. And she took two miniature nuclear warheads with her. The 'Davey Crocket' portable delivery system was completed two years ago. Even though they were mass-produced, they had never seen actual battlefield experience thanks to their complications with weight and launching capabilities with the lack of strong enough mages."
"But that weapon, it completely obliterated Flor's research facility and yet you claim that it has not seen success?"
"…I can only offer you my deepest condolences for the lives lost."
"So… The Boss, with Colonel Harlaown's help, stole two 'defective' nuclear shells and took them with her as a gift when she defected. Then shortly after, Flor's design laboratory was destroyed by one of these weapons?"
"Yes. That is correct."
"And the Haimirian government denies any involvement in the affair, is that right as well?"
"That's correct. We were not involved in any sort of way."
"Then what was a US military aircraft doing on our radar screen? It was clearly a violation of our airspace! And yet you say, it was not acting under your orders?"
A trickle of sweet dropped down from Quint's sides. It was lucky enough that the GRU faction that they were dealing with was not in league with the current regime or this would have been a complete storm.
"That's correct."
"You expect me to believe that this all came from a single soldier? Even if it was 'Belyy D'yavol', even she needed help killing the Sankt Kaiser."
"I don't know what else to tell you."
The Shutran Premier deeply sighed. "The army factions all believe this to be a ploy on your part."
"I've said it once, and I'll say it again. We are not involved in any sort of way."
"And I would like to dearly believe you. However, my power over the military has waned over the years. I will need some kind of proof that this was not the action of the Haimirian Government."
He paused before continuing, dotting his words carefully and clearly. "You have one week. You must catch The Boss yourselves and recover the remaining nuclear device. Then you must prove in some way of your innocence."
"Our innocence?"
"Prove to me that this is not one of your tricks."
"The Boss should be close to Colonel Harlaown. How about a little coaction?"
"I would not expect much if I were you. With the political situation and Harlaown's membership with the Zavod faction, it will be difficult to do anything as of now." He paused to catch his breathe.
"One week. You have one week and, if its not too much to ask, do something about Harlaown as well."
"And what if we can't 'prove our innocence'?"
"Then I will be unable to restrain the military. I leave the disposal of the situation entirely under your discretion."
The audio died as Graham pulled away their earbuds and bowed his head. "To put it simply" he explained, "in order to avoid a full-scale nuclear war, we have to prove that Haimiria was not involved in that explosion."
Lowering her head, Quint pulled at the ends of her new headband. "And eliminating The Boss will prove that?"
Nodding he continued. "The higher ups have decided that only you are the only capable of pulling this off. You are her last apprentice. There's no backing away from this now Quint. It's this or face execution."
He stood back up and bowed his head again. "I leave you to console your feelings."
As Quint watched him exit the open area from the corners of her eyes, she scared at the concrete-like ground. It had come to this. A fight against her mentor. Strange irony. Remembering what The Boss had told her, the only thing that she could have trust in was the mission. It was a soldier's duty to follow the mission.
But if it meant killing, the thing that she had treasured in life… Was it really something that she could do?
Several Days Later – 2330 Hours – August 30, 1964 – Arctic Ocean Airspace
Cramped into a small pod, the purple-haired mage tapped at the maneuverable joysticks. At the moment, they were mainly just for show as it calmed her nerves. Unlike the HALO jump she nearly a week ago, there was no room to smoke. At least there's a pack of gummy bears, or at least there was a pack of gummy bears. Even if the Belkans had nearly conquered the European continent, God bless them for making such a delicious treat.
The interior was lit just enough so that she could seen around. Her face only a few inches away from a green screen, she rested her head against the pod's head rest. A small bump from the side meant that her new headband was still firmly on.
A few seconds later, and Graham's voice echoed inside. "Snake, we can't risk a HALO jump this time around. The Soviet's have stepped up airspace security. So instead, we'll be using our latest technology. You've been given honor on par with Alan Maxwell Shepard. Show your patriotism. If you fail, you'll be back in a hospital bed again, waiting for a firing squad."
"Are the Shutrans going to be helping us?"
"The KGB has promised to lend us one of their communications satellites and a few insiders."
"Insiders?"
"There was a defection in September 1960, the NSA code breakers. Do you remember it?"
"Yeah, I remember it."
"Apparently they have been training with the KGB for this type of operation. Their codenames are 'Adam' and 'Eva'. Adam has infiltrated Harlaown's ranks. He has also been stated to provide a type of escape route. You'll need to rendezvous with him. I'll explain more when you get on the ground."
Noticing a sudden rotation of her pod, Quint's body was now leaning towards the other side of the pod. Bracing herself, she felt weightless as the pod detached from the aircraft. A moment later and Quint felt her body rushing towards the end of the pod. Trying to keep her eyes open for the infiltration drop, she looked at the screen. So far no enemy aircraft.
Faster and faster she accelerated as her hands gripped at the joysticks. The automated systems flashed red as retrorockets fired, slowing down the pod to slower speeds. Crossing her arms over her chest, Quint braced for the next part. The bottom of the pod gave out as she felt straight through, the pod continuing forward and brushing against the treetops.
A parachute popped just as she flew through, to help decrease her speed. Bashing through tree branches, she spotted the earth and unclipped her parachute pack. She hit the ground, tumbling and rolling to protect her body from greater harm. Even though she received special magical and clinical medicine, the wounds hadn't completely healed as dulled pain came from her right elbow and lower chest.
Finally, she stopped and looked up. The moon lit up the surrounding area, leaving dark shadows around the trees. It wasn't as dark as she hoped, but it would do the job. Her Barrier Jacket quickly changed to a full black color as she got up to one knee. Flicking her radio back on, she called in.
"This is Naked Snake. I've made it to the ground without trouble."
"Excellent work. We can hear you loud and clear."
"I got blown pretty far off-target. No clue how that happened."
"There isn't much we can do with that." He reassured her. "Now, let us go over our objectives. Rescue Flor. Find out what's happened to the Fanzabastovka and destroy it. And finally, eliminate The Boss."
The words still hung in her head when Graham brought it up.
"This mission will be code-named 'Operation Snake Eater'."
"Because I'll be up against The Boss and her Cobra Unit, correct?"
"And let's not forget about Colonel Harlaown."
"I'm no hired killer…" She said dryly.
"I know. But it was the Krelim's demand."
"Wait, that's demand? I thought it was just a request. So what if the Zaporozhet regime is threatened?"
"If supporting the current regime will aid us in avoiding nuclear Armageddon, then we'll do that."
"And the IIA's demands?"
"The rescue of Flor and the destruction of the Fanzabastovka."
"Roger that Major Toyota."
"Hold on Snake."
"Hm?"
"I'm changing my codename. Something more suitable for our current situation. We are starting right from the beginning again, to clear our names. A fresh slate. Clean. Hmmm, let's just use Zero, like we had always done."
She couldn't hold back a little smile. "Alright then, Major Zero. Looks like it's square one."
"Well… Square Zero." He chuckled. "My frequency is the same as before. 140.75. Oh. Almost forgot. Paramedic is also with us on this mission."
"She is too? It is her redemption shot as well?"
"If we fail, then we medical license will be revoked. It's less or more the same fate as us. Same frequency as before. 144.65. And one more person. Remember the mask we discussed almost a week ago?"
"Yeah, and?"
"We also have him on staff as well. His name is Mister Sigint. He's an expert in the latest weapon design and equipment technology. His frequency is 148.75."
"Hmm, got it."
"Adam, your KGB contact is waiting for you in the abandoned research facility, the same one that Flor was in during the Virtuous Mission."
"And how will I know if it's him?"
"The place is completely irradiated. I doubt that anybody else would come to this area. But just in case, we created a password. It is 'Who are the Patriots?' and its answer is 'La-li-lu-le-lo'."
"'Ra-ri-ru-re-ro'?" She asked. "What does it mean?"
"Absolutely nothing. To anybody else, it would be complete gibberish. A perfect way to make sure if he's the spy or not." He paused. "Quint can you say that again? 'La-li-lu-le-lo'."
"Ra-ri-ru-re-ro."
"… Close enough. You've been equipped with a .45 this mission as you are aware."
Quint unclipped the pistol from her side. Fitted with a suppressor, the pistol was a mass-weapon. It was as non-lethal as the shooter made it.
"I thought RF6 protocol was to leave no traces of our…. Oh wait, we need to prove that we were here in some fashion, right?"
"To a small extent, yes. But remember, this is a Sneaking Mission."
Standing back to her full height, she breathed in the air. "Understood. Commencing Operation Snake Eater… Now."
Turning off the radio she made her way into the jungle again, the nighttime sounds echoing all around. With a black uniform, she was nearly visible unless she stepped into the open moonlit areas. That's when she needed to manually switch to another color. Hopping down a ledge, she heard the neighing of a horse. Frowning, she flicked the radio back on.
"This is Snake. I have a question to ask."
"Yes, go on Snake."
"Are there any horses in the Tselinoyarsk region?"
"That isn't exactly my field. Paramedic?"
"Yes, I am here… I checked a few times. Horses aren't native to that region. In fact, there really shouldn't be any of them there at all."
"Maybe you're just hearing things?"
Scratching her head, she sighed. "… I'll figure out eventually."
Skirting past some of the brush, she entered an open area as the moonlight displayed the area. It was the crash sight of the pod that she was in and next to it was a… White horse? Approaching it, the animal looked over at her. Taking slow breathes; it seemed unfazed by her appearance.
"Looks like death wasn't ready for you after all."
Quint turned around, pistol up and freehand charged with magic as she saw The Boss, her uniform cloaked over with some black cape-like dress. Her appearance was almost the same, but instead of her usual twin pigtails, she wore her hair into one side ponytail to the right side of her head.
"Boss?" She asked, lowering her weapons as the mana dissipated. "What are you doing here?"
Blue eyes gleamed for a moment. Aww, crap! Just as Quint raised her weapon, The Boss was already on top of her, forcibly grabbing the weapon and throwing her down to the dirt. Looking back up, she saw The Boss break the pistol and toss the pieces behind her. Her Barrier Jacket was its usual white color, but somehow reinforced without limiting mobility.
"Go home." She grunted.
But she would not back down. Charging her hands with magic, she threw a left straight, only to see it dodged. The Boss took the opening and whacked at her still injured rib before using her forward momentum to throw her down again.
"Go home." She said again. "GRU and my Cobras are waiting just ahead. And what do you have? You're virtually unarmed." Marching away from her, Quint stood back up and shrunk her hands into fists. "Boss!"
She stumbled for a second before swinging a right hook. As lazy as it was done, the white clothed mage deflected the hit and elbowed her in the injured ribs again before shoving her into the ground.
"I'm not your boss anymore. There's nothing for you here." Glaring down at her, she pulled out a device. An extremely small stocked and barreled mage stave. A drum magazine sat at the feeding mechanism almost like it was meant for the device. Dull almost blacked colors of gold made up the most of the device, with its handle primarily white with salmon pink highlights. And in the near center of it, was a cracked and dulled red ball.
It was The Boss's signature weapon, The Raising Heart.
Taking aim at the pod before her, streaks of orchid pink swirled and zipped through the air, from the barrel of the device and in the general area around her hand. She was firing the weapon one-handed. Shortly after, the pod exploded with a loud crash as Quint sat there, in shock and awe. Fire and smoke rose from the pod as The Boss turned back to her.
"That should stir things up a bit. You'd better hurry and get back home." Her voice was threatening to almost sneering at her. A flash of lightning cracked the sounds of the fire as she looked to the skies. It slowly started to rain as Quint covered her eyes. Just like that one moment back over the bridge, a taller hooded figure appeared behind The Boss, her red eyes looking up as well.
The brunette continued to walk away from Quint, who managed to get to on all fours. "The border is sixty three miles from here. You should be able to make it if you start running."
The Haimirian agent tried to crawl after her before looking down. "Why'd you defect?"
"I didn't… I'm loyal to 'the end'. To my purpose. And what about you Quint?" She turned and faced her former apprentice, her eyes daring. "Loyalty to me, or loyalty to your country? Your beliefs or your mission? Your personal feelings or to your unit?"
Only on her fours, she watched the White Devil walk over and grabbed the black overcoat and threw it over her Barrier Jacket. "You aren't ready." Getting on the white horse, she looked down as the rain poured harder. "Just look at the bandana. If you can't put the past behind you, you won't survive here."
The horse bucked backwards as its hooves threatened to crush her hand. Pulling back, Quint was able to avoid it. "We meet again… And I'll kill you." The Boss declared before trotting off.
Defeated once more, she looked around at the remains of her pistol. Completely unsalvageable. Groaning for already screwing up, she turned her radio on once more.
"This is Snake. Come in Major Zero."
"This is Major Zero. Go ahead."
"I was just ambushed by The Boss."
"You what?"
"The pod's been shot to hell and she broke my pistol."
"That means all you have left is magic… Damnit."
"There has to be leak somewhere. There's no way that she should have known that I was being deployed here."
"That's not possible. Zaporozhet isn't exactly on speaking terms with Harlaown." He paused for a second. "Just how did she double-cross us like this and… How a hero like herself turns to the Shutrans is a matter beyond me. But if you don't accept that, then you'll be able to beat her."
"That's not the problem. There's no way for me to beat her in technique. That I'm certain of."
"You HAVE to do it Snake, it is your mission and objective. She is the enemy."
"We've been together for ten years and know you're calling her my 'enemy'?"
"Enough of this. Rendezvous with Adam at the abandoned research facility."
"… Roger." She said begrudgingly. Closing the channel, she started to head towards the facility as she heard the ruffling of footsteps just ahead. Diving into the brush, she waited for the investigating guards to pass by. They gasped at the wreckage as they started to call back to their base. Taking the opportunity, she snuck by and continued deeper.
-.-.-
It was only a few minutes when Quint arrived at the factory, her hands in the Strike Arts ready position. A bright white light blinded her as Quint heard the sounds of a motorcycle in idle. Shielding her eyes, she tried to see who was doing this. A woman with a helmet.
"Sorry I'm late." She said.
"Cut the engine, or they'll hear us." She warned.
"Are you the agent they sent?"
"You're not Adam… Adam's supposed to be a man."
"Adam couldn't make it."
"… Alright then, say the password. Who are the Patriots?"
The woman was silent as Quint repeated herself. "Who are the Patriots?"
Again, silence. "Damnit, answer me!" The clinking of rifles and staves alerted her as she looked behind her. GRU soldiers had heard the sounds and quietly popped out and surrounded her. Shifting right to left, she didn't have much opinions. A single move and she was dead.
"Get down!" The woman yelled as Quint immediately dove. In a single fluid motion, the biker woman withdrew a pistol from her side. Firing at semi-automatic, she tilted the weapon parallel to the ground as its recoil shifted the muzzle in a long arch around. Just a few short seconds passed when Quint's body hit the ground. And in that span of time, all the GRU soldiers were dead, a shot to the weak neck killing them quickly.
The light from the motorbike died and the woman quickly reloaded the pistol. Kicking down the stand and killing the engine, Quint was able to get a better look at the person. It was definitely a woman but her uniform was better seen under the moonlight. A white overcoat with a bit puffed out shoulders, she also had a black miniskirt-estic style for her legs as it was trimmed with yellowish-gold. Taking off her helmet, semi-long brown hair poofed out. On her left side were two red intersecting hairclips that really seemed to serve no purpose.
Making her way over to Quint, she slowly unzipped the middle of her Barrier Jacket, revealing well-endowed chest, held back by black leather-like bra. Blushing heavily, Quint couldn't help but stare.
"I'm Eva…" The brunette smiled with a playful grin.