Zayna stirred when she heard the sounds of the medical monitor beeping, as she squinted her eyes some, before slowly opening them as she groaned.
"...I can breathe again… so I must have been picked up…" Zayna remarked, before looking down to see the scar remnants from the cut, as immediately Sam's words hit her again.
"Justice? Is that what you're calling your magnum opus? Or are you just too oblivious to figure out… that you're making the same mistakes as daddy did?"
"...I… Am… Not my father…." Zayna growled as that alone made her sit up completely, grasping her chest a bit as it still stung in pain, as she suddenly realized what happened. "...I…. ….I failed the mission…." Zayna remarked, as an overwhelming sense of defeat washed over her as she slumped back into bed. "...Damnit…" Zayna cursed. None of this would have happened if she had just been back in her office working on VECTRA and not this stupid fieldwork!
Her thought train was suddenly interrupted by a visitor.
"Finally awake, are we?" Tech asked, coming into the room.
"...Tech…. I…" Zayna tried to find the words.
"We all saw it. We know. You failed." Tech remarked. "But with everything you went through? You put in one heck of an effort. That should mean more to you than the end result we wanted for the mission."
"But N'mani.. Without him, Africa might-!" Zayna exclaimed.
"It'll be fine. Zadavia said that even though those two cyborgs did him in, the nation is still the way it is. It was you we were more worried about." Tech said. "Ace grabbed you off the train and rushed you right back to us here."
"Ace.. saved me?" Zayna asked.
"Not a good look for Vandelay if their prestigious daughter who's doing good work bites the dust." Tech quipped.
"...Tch… I knew it. There's always an underlying reason for things." Zayna sighed.
"That… wasn't the reason Ace saved you," Tech said.
"Huh?" Zayna asked.
"We made a promise to someone," Tech remarked.
"...Chase." Zayna deduced.
"Sharp one eh? Yep. Chase wanted us to watch you. And make sure you didn't kick the bucket too soon. He believes in you, you know. Believes you can be more than Kale's daughter. Heck, most of us do, save for Duck, and maybe Lexi slightly." Tech explained.
"But… how did you fix me? Sam split me right across the chest, broke all my ribs, and sliced both my lungs wide open, and nearly my heart!" Zayna exclaimed.
"Lemme tell you. The operation was. Not. Easy. But. We managed to sew you all up lovely like." Tech smiled. "We reinforced your ribcage with some high-end nanobots so they'd mend back together. Trust me, your cores a lot stronger now."
Tech was right, as Zayna flexed her muscles a bit, showing she had gained a small bulk, and even looked down to see a small four-pack.
"...Nanomachines do this…? …I never considered them for medical," Zayna remarked in fascination.
"How ya feelin' by the way? Strong enough to get up and walk?" Tech asked.
"I think." Zayna nodded, as she got up, slightly gingerly.
"Daniel brought us a change of your clothes so go ahead and get dressed when you're ready. I got somethin' to show ya." Tech grinned as he left, and Zayna looked to see…
A simple tank top and shorts.
"Oh, Daniel… you fool." Zayna sighed and chuckled, putting them on before walking out of the medbay. Of course, Daniel didn't provide any shoes, so she had to go barefoot for now.
As she walked, Zayna also noticed that her blood capacity was back at full. Her heart was beating normally as can be, pumping blood through her well and just as strong as before. Her lungs were sutured back with special nanomachine stitches, which will allow her to have more stamina, as well as attune her to wind spells better, breathe underwater longer, and hold her breath for an INCREDIBLY long time.
"I have a feeling my organs aren't the only thing that's getting upgraded." Zayna hummed as she walked into the main room of the HQ. there, the Loonatics were waiting and noticed the young woman who walked in.
"Well look who's finally awake," Duck said.
"Y'look great, and back on yer feet, Zayna. Guess Tech did a great job." Ace smiled.
"Tech did all the patching work? What can he not do…?" Zayna remarked in slight awe.
"Well, you did lose a lot of blood, and unfortunately synthesizing blood is something I can't do, so we needed to get some blood packs." Tech piped in. "And it wasn't easy. You didn't tell us you were Type-O. And not just Type-O, it had to be Type-O negative too."
"My files have my blood type on them." Zayna deadpanned.
"...Duck, fact-check that." Ace would say as Duck opened up the files.
"...Sssssufferin' succotash…." Duck face palmed as on the file, clear as day, on the Blood Type was O-. While he was looking through Zayna's file, he couldn't help but wonder something. "Alright, i can't keep this in anymore. How is it possible for you to be 18 years younger than your old man when he died at 38?"
"...That's the neat thing. I'm not. Try about 26-30 years behind." Zayna hummed.
"Huh?! You mean kale wasn't actually 38 before he went out in his blaze of glory?!" Duck asked.
"Nope. He just looked the part and Vandelay sold that like a TV Commercial that's so good, it's gotta be true." Zayna chuckled. "Nope, my dad was about to push into his 50s, if not his late 40s before he kicked the bucket," Zayna smirked.
"So that means you really are 20 years old. Whew… gotta admit, that was buggin' me too." Ace admitted.
"Yep. A young woman in every sense." Zayna smiled. "Glad to put your minds at ease. So… I know you all probably have been but… how's progress on my suit?" Zayna asked with a knowing smile and folded arms.
"I knew you'd ask. I started working on it right after I completed your operation." Tech said.
"We did hafta pull it off ya so Tech could get to work fixin' you," Ace said.
"No wonder I feel so exposed…" Zayna remarked half-jokingly. "Props to you all for getting it off me without it compromising me any further."
"I have to say, looking it all over, the design and technology of your cyborg body was impressive," Tech said.
"That begs the question of how you managed to make me… well more human." Zayna remarked.
"That's gonna take some time to explain and, considerin' last mission, we ain't got that much time." Ace remarked.
"Huh?" Zayna asked.
"We did some diggin'. And found out those borgs are part of a PMC titled Desperado Enforcement, LLC." Duck remarked.
"Okay…" Zayna listened with a nod.
"Zadavia's contacting some security folks over in that world by the name of Maverick to see if they can lend us a hand in getting you deployed, as well as a bit more intel gathering in case we can't fit the bill." Tech added.
"We've run down a recent consumer of Desperado Enforcement, by the name of Andrey Dolzaev," Lexi remarked. "Last sighting of him was somewhere in Abkhazia, where the government needs help getting back on their feet anyways."
"And this is where I come in?" Zayna asked.
"That's right. But you're not going back to the Metal Gear world without some proper enhancements." Tech smiled.
"Well? How about you stop yapping and show me?" Zayna smiled.
"I thought you'd never ask." Tech grinned widely.
Tech brought Zayna to his lab as she directed her inside.
"As soon as I got my hands on your cyborg suit, I immediately started giving it a complete overhaul. You won't even know it's the same one you've always worn." Tech remarked as he had a pep in his step, indicating he loved working on it.
"What did you change?" Zayna asked, in a mix of intrigue and concern.
"Well, to make room for all the upgrades I made, I had to take out a few things," Tech said. "For one, the explosive plated shielding."
"Yeah that was experimental," Zayna remarked. "Purely to see if I could make a perfect offense-defense type suit…. didn't work out as I hoped."
"Is that why you didn't use them to fight Sam?" Tech asked.
"I would have been too slowed down." Zayna pointed out.
"Well, you'll love what I've done to your suit. I streamlined power consumption, added all the necessary parts to prevent overheating, and gave you some extra armor to protect your power cores." Tech said. "In addition, I did a little bit of work with the Magitech system to make selecting spells a little easier."
"So I won't have to scroll through menus to find what I want?" Zayna asked.
"Nope. All you gotta do is think of whatever spell comes to your mind from your video game memory and blammo, insta shot through the Repulsors. I even fixed those. You can use your Power Cores now with them." Tech remarked with a smirk.
"Nifty." Zayna smirked. "Anything else I need to know?"
"Overdrive is still there too. But… while I was working on it, I gave the system one big overhaul." Tech admitted. "I had to juice it up a LOT to get it working again after Sam put you out of commission."
"What do you mean by… a LOT, exactly?" Zayna asked.
"Well… let's just say I amped it up so much that it's locked behind some precautionary measures now," Tech said.
"Ah. Fun." Zayna hummed. "So, does that wrap up the new stuff?"
"Indeed. Ready to gear up and take your new suit for a test drive?" Tech asked.
"Let's go." Zayna smirked.
"Then get ready. We'll do some integrated VR training while you get snug. Re-attaching your suit will take a while." Tech said.
"Alright then." Zayna hummed as she started getting the suit put on….
Zayna found herself in a digitally constructed landscape as the assembly process began. She was already in her new suit inside the VR training ground. Tech had changed the suit's color scheme, it no longer being purely black with blue highlights on the legs. Instead, it was primarily black, but also a slick red color as it was a combination of latex and armored cyborg armor.
"Hm. Color is interesting." Zayna remarked.
"How does it feel, Zayna? Even if it's only just a simulation for now." Tech asked.
"Working swell. It's very responsive, Tech. Not a single bit of lagged movement." Zayna remarked. She tested her suit's flexibility by doing some stretches, light acrobatics, and some test kicks. "Fits like a glove, and the movements are more fluid… Tech how did you manage all this, like, how did I miss this stuff in the original design!?" Zayna exclaimed.
"I redesigned your suit based on some data I recorded during our little faceoff," Tech said. "While we were fighting, I noticed that your movements in your old suit were clunky and rigid. They were hard for us to dodge at the time, but some of your attacks took some time to wind up."
"And you went through the trouble of making it more streamlined… …Why are you guys going through all this trouble for me? Like, I've done nothing to earn this from any of you." Zayna remarked.
"You're right. We may have gotten off on the wrong foot, but there's something about you we want to see come to the surface." Tech said.
"And what's that?" Zayna asked.
"Something only you can figure out." Tech replied.
"Typical. Alright. Let's give this some combat testing. Got any targets?" Zayna asked.
"We'll get to that. First, let's's test your new suit mobility." Tech said. "You were able to keep pace in Africa, but it took all your effort to catch up to where N'mani was. So, Rev suggested that in your new suit, you should be able to move faster."
A virtual path lined with obstacles and different routes for free running occurred.
"(So Rev suggested improvements to my suit mobility…. I'll admit, I can agree with that suggestion. I could've saved N'Mani if I was just a bit faster, so this should come in handy… …Still, the fact they're doing all of this for me…. What do they really want from me?)" Zayna thought to herself.
Testing her suit out, Zayna would quickly speed through the obstacle course, completing the parkour obstacles as well at incredible paces, at least thrice as fast as her suit was before.
"Wooooow. Impressive. I'm still shocked how you all managed to implement these kinds of upgrades… …I guess VECTRA took me away from the real important stuff I needed to do to this suit." Zayna admitted.
"It's always good to improve oneself as well as your own projects," Tech advised. "So, feel any faster?"
"Definitely. In my old suit, I could only reach speeds of 30 MPH… but I was running just now at about… wow, 90!? That's nuts!" Zayna remarked.
"Not as fast as the speeds Rev can clock, but that'll help you keep pace with any fast-moving vehicle." Tech said.
"Okay, up next?" Zayna asked.
"Now the fun stuff. Combat training." Tech remarked with a smirk. "First, I wanna give a little test, an experiment I couldn't try."
"What's that?" Zayna asked.
"I experimented with the Magitech a little bit, seeing if I could channel that directly into your blades for some wicked stuff. Wanna give it a try?" Tech asked.
"Sure." Zayna remarked, unsheathing her wrist blades, noticing they were a little more sharp. "Oooh, did you upgrade the blades again, Tech?"
"Sure did. Your Katana and Longsword got a little damaged against Sam, so i reforged them stronger than ever." Tech said.
"Neat. Alright… let's see. ELFIRE, DIRE THUNDER!" Zayna exclaimed.
In that instant, her Katana became blazing, and her longsword sparked with blue lightning!
"Nice. Nice nice nice." Zayna smiled.
"And the best part is, when you combine both your swords into the HF Vandelay-Naginata, both the elements on each blade will fuse," Tech added.
"So for example, if my Katana is imbued with fire, and my longsword with lightning… it becomes thunder and fire?" Zayna asked.
"Something like that," Tech said. "By the way, Sam said you were self-taught in swordplay. Where did you pick up your twin sword technique?"
"Sword Art Online." Zayna shamelessly spoke.
"...You logged on to play that death trap?" Tech asked in disbelief, having heard the stories.
"I logged on after the first update." Zayna clarified. "By the time I started playing, Akihiko Kayaba had already fallen victim to his own devices and arrogance. But why don't I show you how good I am with my twin sword style? I'm no Kirito, but I can make it my own."
"Here's a terrorist dummy. Knock yourself out." Tech smirked.
"Gladly." Zayna smiled, as she proceeded to rapidly stab and slash into the target with great precision, before she then did a flipping kick, revealing a toe blade that looked like a short sword, before one came from her other boot as she rapidly slashed the target with kicks, ending with a spinning downwards wheel of death with her slashes.
"Where'd you hide THOSE!? I didn't even see them in the darn suit!" Tech exclaimed.
"They're not hidden blades for no reason." Zayna winked.
"Alright, so you slash them apart good. How about your precision. Take this guy with a hostage." Tech remarked, as a dummy holding an innocent came out.
"Easy." Zayna smirked as she stabbed the dummy in the chest and slashed with her left hand, saving the civilian.
"Mkay, not bad. Calibration is aaaaalmost done… last but not least. Your favorite." Tech smiled.
"Magitech. Awesome." Zayna smiled.
"I added some personal favorites to your long list. Those are the only ones you gotta scroll for. Everyone you know, just think it or declare it and you fire it. But while we're at it. How about you cast up… say Fire Storm, would ya?" Tech asked.
"You actually play DnD?" Zayna asked in shock.
"Not really, I just looked at all the spells your loaded into your memory, and added a few I had heard of." Tech admitted.
"Well fair… okay… FIRE STORM!" Zayna exclaimed, as a fiery thunderstorm and tornado whipped up. "Niiiiiiice. I like it."
"That works for just about every spell you got. And I categorized them by element so if you got a chance, take a gander at your whole list and see what you got. …Alright, calibration looks complete. You ready to get out there for your Revenge?" Tech asked.
"Call it Revengeance. Sounds cooler… I'm ready." Zayna smiled. "When do I leave for Abkhazia?"
"About that… you're already on the way." Tech smirked.
"You crafty devil you." Zayna chuckled.
Over the stormy waves of an ocean…
The visor on Zayna's suit peeled back, as she could see the storm and raging oceans. She flinched on seeing it, thinking water would get in her eyes, but then reopened them upon not getting splashed, as she hummed, realizing what was happening.
"Maverick Incorporated, contacting our new hire." A Russian voice would ring over comms as Zayna saw a face pop up on the display. "How is it, Zayna?"
"And a hello to you, Boris," Zayna remarked, seeing his name on the display. "It's quite comfortable, all things are going well and I can clearly see despite the storm."
"A direct feed to your optic nerve. Yes, I should hope so, eh?" Boris asked from Maverick HQ. "I mean– how does it feel? To fly like a bird?"
"Like a bird strapped to a remote-controlled rocket," Zayna remarked, which caused Boris to laugh.
"We will get you in safely, tovarich," Boris assured.
"Yo, Zayna, enjoying the flight?" Ace asked as his face popped up on display.
"So I'm guessing the Russian is head of Maverick then? The people we're working with?" Zayna asked.
"Yup. Say hello to Boris Vyacheslavovich Popov… Gosh, what a mouthful. Anyways, he's in charge'a Maverick Security Consultin' Inc. The people who wanted you on this case. They would call in Raiden… but, well…" Ace remarked.
"Yeah, he was gonna take the Africa job awhile ago… but then you swooped in and stole the show a bit." said a dark-skinned man that came up.
"So consider it a little payback from us. Ya know, in a special kind of way." A gritty voice popped up as the silver-haired samurai walked in, and he chuckled.
"Zayna, can you hear me?" A German man called in.
"I can. Who are you?" Zayna asked.
"That's Docktor, our resident mad scientist." Raiden quipped.
"Ah, mein fruend, you make it sound like a bad zing." Doktor remarked with a small groan.
"What can I do for you today, Dok?" Zayna would ask.
"I would like to remind you of the two basic procedures to maintaining your new suit, though I did not improve upon it myself. One, seizing nano-repair units from your foes, and two-" Doktor began.
"Absorbing their electrolytes. Something I already programmed in the previous model. Cyborg terrorists are nothing new to me, Doktor." Zayna remarked as the scene swapped to Doktor and his computer.
"Of course, you are a Vandelay after all. But, if you could do me a favor as you slice and dice, collect a few left hands for me if you please?" Doktor requested.
"Excuse me?" Zayna and Tech simultaneously chimed in on hearing that.
"Every cyborg's combat data, stored on holographic memory, is typically located in ze left hand." Docktor said, plucking one from a shelf. "That data is very valuable. Ahem…I could be persuaded to provide you a few additional upgrades and services in exchange for it."
"How generous of you." Zayna hummed.
"Ich liebe Kapitalismus! Had ze wall come down a few years earlier, I'd have a Nobel Prize sitting on my shelf!" Doktor remarked jovially.
"Hey, I got land in sight!" Zayna exclaimed.
"Three mikes out and closing." A blonde-haired woman spoke as she scanned the LZ.
"Anti-air looks like it's offline. What are they, lazy?" Raiden asked with a chuckle.
"Just means we don't gotta worry about interceptors, AND! We got time for a quick briefing!" The tan-skinned man smiled as he repositioned the blonde's coffee.
"I went over this with the Loonatics, I think I got the gist," Zayna stated.
"Doesn't hurt for a refresher," the man said. "Objectives of course are to enter Abkhazia, neutralize the terrorists, and restore the rightful government… or what's left of it anyway. The president and most of the cabinet have been killed, and a military juntas been established. The terrorists brain-jacked all the high-ranking officers, and their cyborgs scattered the rank-and-file. The few leaders who survived have no way of suppressing the new regime. That's why they called us. And subsequently, you guys." He finished, as flashes of all involved party members crossed in view.
"Andrey Dolzaev, leader of the occupation forces. An extremist, linked to both the St. Petersburg massacre of 2015, and last year's terror spree in Georgia." Boris remarked.
"Yeesh, that sounds like a mess," Duck remarked.
"Their arms supplier? Desperado Enforcement, LLC." Raiden remarked. "Same company those dirtbag cyborgs that killed N'Mani work for."
"If we don't stop them there, they could destabilize the entire region." The tan-skinned man remarked. "But our more immediate problem is Jetstream Sam. I believe you've met."
"Damn straight, Kevin…" Zayna remarked with a growl. "Also, who the hell came up with that as a nickname? I'm upgraded this time, I'll be fine."
"He may not even be in-country, but just to be safe, keep the airwaves open for-" Kevin was about to carelessly remark when he noticed the flinching from literally everyone around including the Loonatics. "...Right. Sorry."
"...Ready for insertion," Zayna remarked with a sigh.
"Oh, by the way, Zayna. We got you some new threads to go along with your new suit," Lexi said. "My idea. You'll see your new outfit as soon as you drop on land."
As she said this, Zayna redeployed her visor as she was lowered from the rocket, before locking in as she got closer and closer, before the launching mechanism released, sending Zayna out like a black and red bullet, before she peeled upwards, doing an acrobatic corkscrew before landing down like a superhero, as the water around her repelled before she began walking on land, as the only difference from the suit's battle-ready mode and casual mode was a cool looking red and white jacket, as Zayna walked onto the shore fully, before her visor peeled aside, her blue eyes flaring, ready for the mission.
"Zayna, you landed safely, da?" Boris asked over codec.
"Copy." Zayna nodded.
"First head inland. The waypoint is marked on your soliton radar." Boris remarked.
"Soliton Radar-!? Tech, you didn't explain that feature." Zayna remarked.
"Kinda forgot to in VR Training. Yeah, you got a soliton radar to help keep track of your objectives. Another freebie." Tech smiled.
"Well, thanks." Zayna hummed as she began to run forward.
"And don't forget to contact us on codec if you have questions." Boris chimed in.
"Got it, thanks," Zayna said as she walked forward. "This is it." She thought. "Here and now, my revenge… Begins."