Snake and his team returned with no resistance along the way. Wolf, Luigi and soldiers of the Nomad squad were standing at the entrance, serving as guards as well as the welcoming committee. The soldiers saluted as their commander returned. Snake chuckled, humbled by their show of respect.

"At ease soldiers." He said allowing them to relax. During their training, he never told them they were required to salute when he was present. Yet they chose to regardless.

"Welcome back sir!" The soldiers said.

"Yes, welcome home." Wolf chuckled. "Looks like you're all in one piece. No broken bones? No missing limbs?" He joked.

"We're good." Ike said.

"But that's sweet of you to ask Wolf. I didn't know you cared!" Bayonetta teased.

"It's good to see you're all okay." Luigi said.

"Likewise." Peach replied.

"Is everyone inside?" Snake asked Luigi.

"Yes. Follow me."

Entering the headquarters, Snake let his friends take a breather while he went to see Link. They made their greetings before moving to business.

"I'd like to meet our new recruit." Snake requested.

"Of course. His room is over there." Link pointed to a door across the room. "He should be in there."

Snake lightly knocked on the door.

"Come in." He heard Alex say from inside. Snake opened the door and walked in to see Alex finish is stretches. Alex turned to face him and was taken back with surprise.

"Woah! You're…you're Snake right? The Nomad?"

"Yeah that's me. I'd prefer you just call me Snake. You must be Alex; The Bomber."

"Yeah! It's an honor to meet you sir." Alex extended his arm out for a handshake.

"You don't need to call me sir. I'm not your CO. The UR doesn't have a chain of command. We're all equals here." Snake reminded.

"Right! Sorry about that."

"It's no problem. It's good to meet you Alex." Snake shook his hand. "I heard about what you've been doing for people out there, and about what you did for Link and Zelda the other day. I want to thank you for that."

"It's what I do. Somebody's gotta stop the bad guys y'know."

"Of course. That's part of what we do." Snake agreed. "So we're going to be having a meeting in a couple of hours. I understand that you know about this group…the "Harbingers"; right?"

"Well I don't have much, but I know a few things."

"That's better than knowing nothing. Be ready to present what you've got during the meeting."

"Gotcha."

In an unknown location, a man walked into his boss' office nervously. Having to inform him of some rather bad news.

"Excuse me sir?"

"What is it?" the boss said, his voice deep and intimidating.

"I came to report that Blood Falcon was killed and failed his mission. Both targets survived."

"Really? Hmm…what a shame." He replied, no trace of emotion in his voice.

"You don't seem too upset about it."

"Of course I'm not. Why would I be? Blood Falcon was not a valuable asset, he was expendable. He was a brash fool, another one of Black Shadow's failed experiments. He was so obsessed with trying to make a name for himself and outshine his progenitor, that he couldn't take the time to become his own person." The boss explained. "A man uncertain of his own identity is a man waiting to be killed."

"I see. So I take it this doesn't hinder your plans?"

"It's just a small bumb in the road. If anything it tells me that now is not the time to be worrying about eliminating Snake and his group. Their forces are too strong right now for that."

"Alright. Then what's the plan sir?"

"We are in this for the long run, remember? We'll bolster our forces while weakening theirs. Only then will we get the opportune moment to strike. Thanks to a friend of mine, the Reaper assault was a success. We fight one small attack at a time, and make sure to cover our tracks. When we're ready, we'll finally step out of the shadows and make our move." The boss chuckled.

"Understood."

"By the way…how is the search for those emeralds going?"

"We only have one, the others are not so easy to find."

"I see. Well keep looking."

The members of the UR had begun their meeting. Link and Zelda explained what happened, and Alex further clarified what he knew about this mysterious group, the Harbingers.

"So they've killed other people before? Strange that we haven't heard a thing about this." Krystal thought.

"This group seems to be very clandestine when it comes to how they operate. They've been working in the shadows. This is the first time they've really stuck their neck out." Snake guessed.

"Even still, they've done a good job at covering their tracks. They certainly didn't divulge any information to Blood Falcon. All we have to go off of is a name." Link said in disappointment.

"So that begs the question. How do we go after this group if we have no idea where to start?" Zelda asked.

The group were silent for a good while, trying to think of something they could do. Finally Snake spoke up.

"We don't."

The others were confused by the statement.

"What?!" Bayonetta asked in shock.

"Snake we can't just give up…" Peach began.

"I never said that! You didn't let me finish." Snake stopped her. The others withdrew their protests and allowed Snake to elaborate. "We can't go looking for them as of right now, we'd be wasting our time. But they won't stay in the shadows forever. They're going to have to step out to strike at some point. We just need to be ready for when they do."

"So we wait for them to attack us? That's crazy?" Ike replied.

"Actually it's not as crazy as you'd might think." Robin stepped in. If there was anyone in the group who knew about tactics, it was her. "It may be a risky plan, but it's not crazy."

"Please explain." Lucina requested.

"What Snake is proposing is that we feign vulnerability in anticipation of an enemy attack. If they aren't aware that we're prepared for an attack, we can stop them once they attack and hopefully capture the attackers for information. If successful, we can get a lead on where to find them."

"That's the plan." Snake confirmed. "Now it's not the perfect plan. It has flaws and there are a lot of unexpected events can occur. I understand this, but with the little information we have, our options are limited."

The others went silent, thinking about the plan for a bit. They came to an agreement.

"Alright. I'll tell security in all the settlements to be on high alert." Zelda said.

"At least one or two of us should be stationed at each settlement to help the security forces. We never know how powerful the attacker could be." Luigi suggested.

"That's good thinking." Fox agreed.

"Hey wait a second! I just thought of something else we can do!" Alex blurted out.

"Really? What's that?" Snake asked.

"We can ask Deacon."

"Deacon?"

"Yeah! He's a Darknut that lives on a mountain in the North."

"A Darknut?!" Link exclaimed.

"No! Don't worry! He's not like the others. He's a good guy." Alex explained to assure Link.

"Well what exactly can this guy do for us?" Snake questioned.

"He's a smart guy, and I think he knows a lot more than he lets on. He knows quite a lot about you guys and he never seems to leave the mountain. He's the one that suggested that I join you guys."

"You think he might have some information on the Harbingers?"

"I strongly believe he does. But there's a bit of a catch. If you want him to answer your questions, you have to beat him in a fight." Alex said.

"I take it nobody's ever done that." Snake guessed.

"He's really damn strong, I can tell you that."

"You fought him?"

"I did. But it wasn't for the challenge to earn answers. I heard a lot about him from some locals and wanted to spar with him to see for myself. He didn't disappoint." Alex admitted. "But I think if anyone can beat him, it's you Snake."

"Well what do you think Snake? You willing to test your might?" Wolf chuckled.

"If he's right about this and Deacon knows something, it's worth a shot." Bayonetta advised.

"Okay. I'll do it. Alex, Peach, Bayo; I want you three coming with me."

"You sure you don't want me to come along?" Ike asked.

"I need you to stay behind. If Palutena doesn't get us answers in time, I want you leading the charge into Skyworld."

"You got it." Ike said and gave him a thumbs up.

"Well before we leave there's one more question. What about the Crazy Hand situation?" Bayonetta asked.

"We're going to have to put that mission on hold. As much as I'd like to know more about what happened with him, protecting people is our first priority, no exceptions." Snake answered.

"Okay, that's everything. Good luck everyone." Zelda said.

Alex was shown to his living quarters in the U.R. base. He exercised on the floor, doing push-ups and pull ups. Someone stepped in to his door way and said;

"I see you've been keeping up with your training as well."

Alex got up to look at who spoke, and was shocked by who he saw.

"Ryu!"

"It's good to see you again Alex." The martial artist smiled.

"Same to you! Damn, I thought I'd never see you again! Where have you been?"

"You know me. Just traveling and honing my skills."

"I'll bet." Alex chuckled.

"It's been a while since we've seen each other. Why don't we catch up with some sparring" Ryu offered.

"I've always wanted a rematch. Let's do it." Alex agreed and the two headed outside. They went to an empty field, a perfect spot for a 1-on-1 match. Alex had been waiting for a rematch with Ryu. The first time they fought was after the tournament where Alex defeated Gill. He heard a lot of talk about Ryu and how he was regarded as one of the greatest fighters in the world. Alex sought to face him to see for himself.

Ryu lived up to his reputation and then some. It was a one-sided fight. Alex could barely land a hit on Ryu and was unable to counter any of his blows. Ryu beat him decisively, but did not boast about his victory. He saw potential in the young wrestler, and told him to continue training and fight him again when he was ready. It was time to see if Alex's training paid off.

At the very start of the fight, Ryu noticed Alex's improvement. He threw a jab that Alex side-stepped to avoid, then countering with a jab of his own. Alex went for a Flash Chop, Ryu back stepped to dodge it. But Alex chased him down and hit him with a Slash Elbow.

"Very good!" Ryu complimented.

Ryu launched a Hadoken at Alex. Alex leaped over it only to learn that it was a bait and was struck by a fierce kick. Ryu struck him with a hard punch to the solar plexus and followed it with a Shoryuken.

Alex was knocked down but not out, and quickly got back to his feet. It was far from over, he had a lot more fight in him. The two combatants charged at each other to continue the battle.

The battle lasted 30 minutes, ending in a draw. The two warriors were evenly matched now, and fought to a standstill. They got some water and sat down for some relief.

"Good fight." Alex said.

"Absolutely. I'm amazed by how far you've come since the last time we fought. You're like a completely different fighter."

"I kept training, that's all. Hell, surviving the wasteland is training in of itself."

The two went silent for a bit until Ryu spoke up.

"The others have told me you've come across information about a nefarious organization."

"That's right."

"So it is true…"

"What are you talking about Ryu?"

"As part of my training I meditate daily. During my meditations I could sense a very wicked energy."

"You can sense energy?"

"To an extent. While my aura reading ability is nothing compared to Lucario's, I could tell that this is a very evil and powerful force." Ryu said. "Be very careful Alex. The road ahead of you is dangerous. As I understand it, you're going to travel with a group. Stick with them and you should be fine. You can trust them…you can trust all of us."

"Don't worry, I will. Thanks Ryu."

"No problem. You should probably go get some rest. You're going to need it for what's ahead of you."

Snake, Peach and Bayonetta relaxed in the lounge area of the Headquarters. Snake sat in chair eating some food, Bayonetta relaxed on a chair, and Peach was making some tea. She had just finished and took the tea pot out.

"Anybody want some?" She asked.

"Tea? Yes, I'd love some!" Bayonetta said in delight.

"No thanks." Snake replied.

"What? You don't like tea?" Bayonetta asked.

"It's not that I don't like it, I just never really drink it is all."

"Oh come now! Don't knock it till you try it!" She teasingly scolded him.

"You sure you don't want any?" Peach asked.

"Give it a chance Snake. There's no time like the present!" Bayo goaded him further. He finally gave in.

"Alright, if you insist that much, I'll have a cup."

"Here you go." Peach smiled and served the two a cup and sat down with a cup for herself. She and Bayo watched Snake as he held the cup.

"Well go on! Take a sip!" Bayo insisted.

Snake took a drink from the cup. His eyes suddenly widened after tasting it. Peach was nervous, unsure if that was a good or bad thing.

"So…what did you think?" She asked.

"This is actually pretty damn good!" Snake admitted.

"I knew you'd like it!" Bayo laughed.

"Now I can see how you were able to stop Zelda and Fox from trying to kill each other with just this tea." Snake added.

"I'm sorry…what?!" Bayo asked.

"It's a long story." Peach assured her. Bayo decided to take her word for it.

"By the way, I talked with Fox earlier and he told me that sometime during your fight against the Committee they found a vehicle with a self-sustaining power source." Bayo said.

"Yeah. What about it?" Snake asked.

"Why don't you people ever use it? Seems like it would be incredibly useful."

"We don't use it because we have yet to understand how it works. A car that never runs out of fuel. We didn't have that before the Catastrophe. People would go nuts if they found out we had something like that. So we're keeping it under wraps until Rosalina and the rest of the R&D team can find out how it works."

"It'd be so much easier if we had the creator with us." Peach sighed.

"Who was the creator?" Bayo asked.

"We don't know, and we don't even know if they're still alive. Fox and Krystal found the vehicle in some deserted workshop; but just the vehicle. No creator, no schematics, nothing." Snake recalled.

"Sounds spooky."

"I wouldn't be surprised if the creator was killed. They made a discovery of the ages, something that would put an end to the search for reliable fuel. This would have put the oil and gas industry out of business, and I'm sure they didn't take too kindly to this." Snake ranted. "Sorry. Didn't mean to go on a tinfoil tangent there." He said and the two ladies laughed.

"So what do you two think of the new kid?" Snake asked.

"You mean Alex?" Peach asked to confirm.

"I like him. He's a strapping young man, quite a looker indeed." Bayonetta giggled. "But in all seriousness I think he's a good man with good intentions. It's good to have him on our side."

"I feel the same. He looks like he just wants to help people." Peach added.

"Well, he's done good by us for what he did for Zelda and Link. And he doesn't seem to have any sinister vibes. I think it's safe to assume that he's on our side." Snake answered. "Still, don't let your guard down."

"Cautious as always." Peach laughed.

"You know me." Snake smirked. "Thanks for the tea. I'm going to go get some sleep."

"Me too. I'm getting tired, and we've got a lot of work ahead of us." Bayonetta agreed.

"I'm going to bed too. Good night." Peach said and hugged Bayonetta. Bayonetta looked over to Snake.

"Oh come on Snake! Get in here!" Bayo teased.

"Yeah come on! Group hug!" Peach laughed.

Snake chuckled. He couldn't help but enjoy their optimism. "Alright." He conceded and joined the two for a group hug.

"There we go!" Bayo cheered.

The three had a sense of comfort during the embrace. They felt like true companions, which were hard to find after the Catastrophe. It felt good; very good. They finally released each other and went to their sleeping quarters.

They needed their rest, for there's a lot ahead of them.