Chapter 9
Fictions Mentioned:
Episode 9
OP Song:
MGS3 Snake Eater - Cynthia Harrell [With Lyrics] MGS3 Snake Eater OST
Insert Song: Start
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - MGS Peace Walker Medley - Love Deterrance
Flashback
Years ago, sometime in the mid-60s, right before the eventually known Virtuous Mission, also called Operation Snake Eater, a young Eugene was being given a black bandana by someone. A young adult woman, with blonde hair that reaches to the middle of her back, bluish-grey sharp eyes, and a beautiful face, wearing a dark violet-red battle uniform, whose shoulders carried the symbol of the organization Genetics, through her true allegiance belonged to Blackwatch, for it was all a part of her cover to investigate and report anything she could find about the organizations' Chevalier and Genetics, and whether or not HYDRA had already been working on infiltrating their ranks.
For Eugene, he was close to this woman. She was less of a lover, and more of a family member and mentor. She was someone who taught him everything he needed to know. The basics of close-quarters combat. Ones that he, along with his adoptive father, Director Ironwood, and this woman had helped develop. All that he needed for his mission.
"There, all done," she muttered softly, tying the bandana to Eugene's forehead. She was crouched down to his level. A young man who looked more than his eleven or twelve-year-old appearance could ever hope to convey. Now, he wore a dark green camouflage suit that was designed to blend in with the type of environment that he was supposed to go to. It was called the OctoCamo, something that was invented by Howard Stark, who would be assigned as his CO for the mission that lay ahead of him, with the codename: Zero.
"My gift to you, Eugene," she spoke with a proud smile. "So that you can know that everywhere you go, I will always be there with you in spirit."
Eugene's face looks a little crestfallen yet resigned. As much as they both want to be with each other during this mission, the woman's duties lay elsewhere. She was after all a Pandora, a super soldier tasked with protecting the world against the dreaded Nova, or at least that was what those propaganda and advertisements stated. While that is true, that was not the whole picture of the Pandora in the context of the world's larger affairs.
The two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, opted for an official truce in light of the previous Nova Clashes that came before. After all, it wouldn't do for them both to be at war with each other while their common enemy is out to get them. On the surface, they were united against a common enemy and there was some grain of truth to it. But of course, the interests between the two could not be any further different from each other. Capitalism and communism. One's ideas for patriotism and loyalty to one's country. Countries that are ruled by an interchanging series of men and women whose consistory of beliefs tend to clash for each vision of how their country should be run, which resulted in plenty of arms races that were now being done. Space travel, warfare, esper or psychic experiments, and everything else under the umbrella of science and technology was being more attentively given more development.
A memory flash occurred to Eugene as he looked at the woman, remembering the latter's words.
Eugene, like dust in the wind, countries and their beliefs change with the times.
Compare the times we are living in now to the former Golden Age of Heroes, which experts of history had trace its roots to the Second World War. It was a far more simpler time for everyone. Everybody knew what they were up against. They knew of the evils that we needed to fight. The world was united against a common threat that, if it succeeded, would have us live in a world where only one uniformity, one ideal, and one will was followed and nothing else. No faith, no creed, no freedom of thought, no flag, just the one autonomous will of HYDRA. That was what I myself, along with whom I considered as my family, the Howling Commandos, had fought with every inch of our being, led by the greatest man that I would truthfully respect as my superior, my mentor, my ideal, and now... yours too.
The Golden Age was an ideal time to be a soldier. To fight for a truly just cause. For the sake of the innocent who suffer at the hands of evil men whose desires for power and control knew no bounds. We knew our enemy. We knew what they were capable of. And so we fight, so that the world can face tomorrow with hope.
Though now... things are no longer so simple, for thus comes our present age, the newly christened Silver Age of Heroes, a world that has since been without our greatest patriot.
Nowadays, a soldier lives in an age of uncertainty and trepidation. Our allies had become our enemies. Our enemies had become our allies. This was an age where, not just soldiers, but mankind as a whole, was tested like never before. Our generations have gone above and beyond the previous ones, not just in terms of technology, but of how we are willing to decide things that past generations would look upon with astonishment.
Child soldiers, once frowned upon, are now becoming more common on the battlefield. It was because it was eventually discovered that young teenagers at a certain age, women by gender, were particularly more compatible to carry the Stigmata, remains of our enemy from afar, and become soldiers. A Pandora. And that is what I became, for I was one of the many soldiers who volunteered for the experimental phase that Dr. Gengo Aoi had devised. I, despite my adulthood, found myself compatible and was one of the more fortunate ones who gained newfound powers and abilities.
A super soldier. That is what I had become. Something that, on the surface, may reflect a semblance of the celebrated event of the birth of our Star-Sprangled Patriot, but upon looking more closely, could not be any more than a pale shadow and imitation. A Pandora has great power, but it was never about power for the Captain, but through his mind, heart, and soul, he used his newfound strength to fight against the evils of his time, raising his mighty shield upon those who would not yield from the darkness.
It would slowly dawn on me to further question my own humanity, on how much I had given it up if it meant to save mankind against the Nova. Then I could not help but shudder for you and for the other children of Project Asgard, children who were forced to take the road that led to godhood as HYDRA envisioned. You and everyone else who was connected with that project were also an unfortunate eye-opener for me to fully consider what I had become and what may become of humanity in the future.
Soon, there will be other Pandora like me. We will be, as the Word says, "As numerous as the stars in the sky.", every country will eventually have its own Pandora in response to the threat of an alien extradimensional force that can strike at any inopportune time. Some may call it a shining beacon of hope. Others may call it a foreboding woe to the future that lay ahead.
Depending on what may happen, the superpowers that were once enemies may not possibly even be enemies anymore by the time the 21st Century happens. Ordinary soldiers like those who fought in the Second World War may end up becoming replaced by something else, the Pandora. It is thus do I fear for that century, and for the numerous children who had to become Pandora for whatever reasons, most of which are of understandable and just causes. The price of giving up one's humanity to become a perfect soldier.
I say perfect, not good, for a good soldier follows orders and focuses more on the mission, yet a perfect soldier may even possibly strip us of what may make us human.
A Pandora, if taken to another extent, used by evil hands, would become the perfect killing machine controlled by those whose hands carry dirty money and laundry in their pockets. Most soldiers and technology would become useless in the face of what may as well be a goddess walking the earth. As much as many would like to boast of a Pandora's achievements, they are forgetting two things. They are not Captain America. They are not Wonder Woman. So their hearts can be swayed to temptation. And with that come the consequences, and what those consequences would entail for future generations.
That is one of the main reasons why you and the rest of the children of Project Asgard are being trained, Beetle.
If something were to happen to a Pandora, and I myself am not spared from such possible corruption, it would be up to all of you to, if the Pandora cannot be saved, do what must needed to be done, for the good of humanity. It is a great burden to carry, but it must be carried out, for we now live in a new age where mankind tries to build a new type of Babel, reaching heights that may come with borderline arrogance and ambition, and there is one that would take advantage of it all.
HYDRA.
We must never let their tentacles grasp more than they should. We must fight the evils that, once before had come out into the light, were now receding back and staying in the shadows. That is where we must fight them, for the sake of those souls who do not need to experience the horrors of the Second World War, and the horrors that we had faced in our lifetime.
From there came one of Eugene's motivations to fight. To prevent innocent people from suffering the same fate as he and the rest of the children of Project Asgard have experienced. To be a sort of guardian angel for all Pandora, one that would forever define his life in the years to come. As much as possible, he didn't want to kill any Pandora, but he would do what he must if there was truly no other way.
"Now, I must go, Eugene," the woman spoke softly as she stood up from her position. Then she touches his hair and gently rubs it. "And remember. Always look forward to hope, even if everything were to go against you, and if the people around you grow weary and trepid, one must take a step and follow the lead wherever it takes you."
"...I will... Boss..."
The woman's name was Radost "Rad" Hale. Her codename within Blackwatch was Lady Boss. Among Pandora, she is known as the Mercury Lady.
Her father was American while her mother was Russian. A child of two countries. A child of two worlds. She served during World War II, enlisting in the Women's Army Corps when she was somewhere around her late teens. At some point, due to her skills in battle and her remarkable intelligence, she was selected to be a part of the Howling Commandos, a team led by Captain America himself. Being the youngest woman in the Howling Commandos, she was often affectionately referred to as the Wolf Pack's Girl or Daughter of the Special Forces. By extension, she became one of the first members of Blackwatch and had helped with Ironwood in managing the organization.
A few years after the War, following the disappearance of Maria Lancelot, it was decided that she and a few others would be assigned to undergo the A-Pandora Project, a series of projects in the United States that were Chevalier sponsored, one that was under Gengo Aoi's direct supervision. Through that, she became a Pandora, acknowledged to be one of the most powerful yet deadly of her kind.
She would eventually be recognized for her efforts in the 5th and 6th Nova Clashes and go on to become an inspiration among all Pandora.
She was Eugene's big sister. His mentor. And the one who gave him his iconic bandana.
Present Time
Eugene wore his black bandana with pride and silence. Already, through the use of his left grey wristwatch, his clothes would be replaced as light particles materialized around him like concentric rings, eventually replacing his clothing with a Blackwatch OctoCamo grey suit that was designed to blend in with his surroundings. Revolver Hex, Magister TyLo, and the rest of the spec-ops soldiers were simply stocking for weapons and equipment in preparation for the mission.
"Hmm," Chiffon would look at Eugene's latest appearance. Ticy and Abel looked curious as well. Chiffon responded. "That bandana..."
"Hmm?" Eugene looks at Chiffon. "Oh, this? It's something that I was given to wear whenever I went into battle."
"Really? Then who was the one who gave this to you?" Chiffon asks.
"What? Your father didn't tell you?" Eugene asks, with a double meaning. He was careful not to let Ticy and Abel know that Chiffon is the daughter of Gengo Aoi, one of the two individuals that he saved during Virtuous Mission.
"No," Chiffon shakes her head. "He may have given me a general idea of who you were from all of those bedtime stories, but he probably did not mention everything because he either doesn't know it or considers it something that he has no right to tell."
"Well, if you must know, the one who gave me this bandana is something that I think you, Ticy, and every Pandora would probably know by now. The person who gave me this bandana... was Radost Hale."
"Radost Hale...Eh?" Chiffon slowly muttered the name before sporting a surprised look.
"Eh!" Ticy, and Abel sported surprised looks.
"Ra-Ra-Radost Hale?! As in the Mercury Lady?! As in the one who fought in the 5th and 6th Nova Clashes?!" Ticy spoke with light exclamations.
"The same one," Eugene nodded.
"Okay, okay, now you need to tell me stories about that, man," Abel spoke, a little excited.
"Maybe another time, Abel. However, I will say this. Radost Hale is someone that I considered to be something... close to an older sister," Eugene said.
Chiffon became curious about that statement, being a little quiet. The rest of the ride was spent in silence before the driver eventually announced that they were now in West Genetics. After the driver opened the hatch on the van, Ticy and Abel would come out with their umbrellas open.
"Take care, Ticy," Chiffon waved her hand a bit.
"Umm. Good luck, Madam President," Ticy said.
"Hey, Eugene," Abel spoke with a smile. "You still owe me those stories when you get back, you hear?"
"Yeah, when this is over, I'll try to explain as much as possible," Eugene nodded.
Then the van would close its door and drive towards the rendezvous point, leaving Ticy and Abel behind as they headed back to West Genetics.
"I'm quite surprised," Chiffon muttered, looking interested. "I never thought that you and the Legendary Heroic Pandora of the 5th and 6th Nova Clashes were that close."
"Yes, well, most people don't know this, but Radost Hale was actually a member of Blackwatch, and before that, she was a Howling Commando, serving alongside Captain America. She was one of the few Howling Commandos who found me in that HYDRA concentration camp more than a century ago. Since then, she was in charge of taking care of Project Asgard's children, and that includes me," Eugene explained.
"Yeah, she's a real beauty, that one," Revolver Hex, walking near to Eugene, sported a reminiscent smile. "I remembered her welcoming me with open arms when I first joined Blackwatch myself sometime after. Us Blackwatchers usually call her Lady Boss."
"Lady Boss," Chiffon muttered, curious. "Hold on, is that where you got your name from Eugene?"
"...I suppose so, in part," Eugene nodded. "I named myself after my mentor and big sister. Lead Boss. That was the name I chose after Operation Snake Eater, all in her honor."
"I see," Chiffon smiled a little. For one, she felt happy that she was learning a little about this Legendary Soldier's past, her childhood hero's past. For two, she thought it was quite sweet that Eugene would name and pattern himself after his mentor and big sister.
Now she wondered what other things from his mysterious past would she learn about.
Insert Song: End
ED Song:
Sins of The Father · Donna Burke · Ludvig Forssell · Akihiro Honda