Chapter 10

Having spent almost as much time on Pequod's helicopter as he did on Mother Base, Big Boss had adjusted to spending long stretches of time seated in the helicopter cabin. The UTH-66 Blackfoot was an already advanced piece of military hardware before Diamond Dogs acquired a small fleet of them, making them their standard mode of aerial transportation, but in the years since Big Boss' awakening, they had only become more advanced.

The helicopter's standard engines, for example, were eventually fitted with afterburners originally intended for jets. A day's worth of travel was cut down to hours and missions and jobs started to be completed in record time. Suddenly, parts of the world that seemed out of reach to Mother Base's original position off the coast of Madagascar were so much more accessible. That did not mean the entire world was within reach, of course, but it was smaller now.

However, that did not mean that spending hours in a helicopter cabin, no matter how sensibly comfortable it was made, was an ideal way to spend an afternoon. There was, after all, only so many times one could check their loadout, review mission details, or count the bolts in the hull before one got bored.

That was where the music came in.

A trait he had unknowingly inherited from the original Big Boss, and which was enhanced when he met Quiet, was his unconscious reliance on music. It grounded him, helped him focus, and helped eased his burdened and fractured mind. For a long time after he woke up, Venom Snake felt a void within himself he could not explain. A void in his heart that said something was missing, or wrong.

Music helped distract him from that void and, after he had learned the truth, it helped him heal.

Which was why, after seeing to Amethyne, Big Boss took his usual seat at the back of the cabin and pulled out a cassette tape to play as he let his mind drift off while his body remained alert.

Big Boss wasn't entirely sure how the mysteriously named tape, "Afghanistan is a Big Place", appeared in his backpack all those years ago, but he had long stopped questioning little inconsequential things like that. Chalking it up to something he simply forgot picking up. Once he had it checked by the R&D team to be safe, he added it to the small pile of tapes he had stashed in a strongbox in Pequod.

Regardless, it did its job. After what felt like five minutes after he hit "Play", he heard Pequod over voice over the music in his earpiece.

"Approaching AO, Boss. T-minus five minutes to arrival."

Groaning, Boss tensed his muscles, stretching his body as best he could in the confined space. When he relaxed, his eyes fell on the still napping Amethyne.

As if reading his mind, Pequod said, "Don't worry about her, Boss. I'll keep her safe here."

From experience, Big Boss knew Pequod was as good as his word. What he said, he would do. Such was the case of everyone trained in Diamond Dogs. So he nodded his thanks at him and finished his prep. By the time they had reached the landing zone, Big Boss was ready to take on an army.

Figuratively speaking.

Ten minutes later, he was walking along the well-worn road to "his" inn situated at Lake Calenhad Docks. The designated "safe" landing zone was not as close as Big Boss would've liked, but he understood the reason for the isolation. Helicopters were still not even a concept in this world. Minimizing the exposure of their technological advances was the goal for the immediate future.

Regardless, Big Boss did not mind a little walk.

As he walked, Big Boss mentally made a note to congratulate the intel team on taking the initiative of appropriating the inn for their own use to monitor the Circle Tower. In the future, he could see their ownership of the inn as the start of an outpost, or even a new Forward Operating Base.

That thought was especially attractive now that he had arrived at Lake Calenhad and saw the potential. Its relative isolation, its proximity to the Circle, both for monitoring and potential future recruitment reasons, and the lake, not only as a source of fresh water, but also its position in Ferelden and its placement on one of the major highways. That meant information and intel.

But those were thoughts for the future. Right now, he directed his attention at his target.

The Spoiled Princess.

A family-run inn cleverly named after the favorite child in the family, it was now what would be the first of many outposts established in Diamond Dogs' name. Built right on the edge of the lake, in a little nook between the nearby forest and the docks, it was every bit the wooden masterpiece of this world's architecture that Big Boss had come to expect.

His attention was drawn from the inn itself, however, to the Diamond Dogs intel agent masterfully disguised as a middle-class peasant. The only way he recognized the man was because he was not putting in any effort to act like a lowly Ferelden. Unlike the average stranger meeting him for the first time, this man was standing at attention, like a soldier would in front of a superior officer.

Not to mention Big Boss made it a point to know the names and faces of every one of his people who were in the field; a habit he developed after their arrival to this world.

"Boss," the man greeted when he reached the front of the inn.

Knowing he wouldn't have broken character if there was a chance they were being watched, he nodded back and said, "Panther. Where's the rest of your team?"

"Two are inside, Boss. Watching our…'guest'. The rest I have on the Circle Tower island, planting minor surveillance equipment."

Big Boss nodded. "Alright. Take me to our guest."

There wasn't much to see inside the inn. A few tables with chairs for the patrons, a bar set up against one wall, a door in the back, likely leading to the kitchen, and a stairwell on the wall opposite the bar leading upstairs. There were a few sparse decorations, but nothing out of the ordinary.

In the center of the room, however, that was a different story.

The two members of Panther's team he left to watch their guest were standing at attention towards the back of the room. Their Ferelden disguises were completely discarded, leaving them dressed in their Diamond Dogs uniforms, and they had their AM MRS-4 rifles out and ready to fire. Both obviously pointed at the "guest" in the middle of the room.

Seated at a table in the middle of the room was the old woman from the picture Big Boss received. Right down to the dirty details of her raggedy clothes.

His entrance caused the two guards to straighten at attention, though they were still on guard, but the woman herself was far less composed. The moment her eyes caught his form, her gaze travelled up and down his body, noting every detail she could about him. What she was looking for he had no idea, but he did have to reassure himself that he left the safety off on his assault rifle.

After a few seconds, her search stopped and her eyes snapped up to his, glee evident in her gaze.

Big Boss was instantly wary.

She started laughing out of nowhere, and her laugh made Big Boss' skin crawl like the Devil's House had so long ago.

There were only a couple of times Venom Snake would admit he was truly afraid of something, both in this life and his previous one. The way this old lady looked at him like DD after he ripped an enemy's throat out very nearly made that list.

"Well now" She said, standing up from her chair and approaching him. "You're taller than I remember."

When did I ever meet this woman?

"I don't remember you at all." He bluntly stated. "Who are you?"

She laughed again. "Straight to the point. I like that. My name is Flemeth." She paused, as if expecting him to say something, or recognize her. Though there was no change on her face, he could swear he noticed a hint of annoyance in her eyes.

"Call me Ahab." He decided to go with the name he gave the Couslands when they first met. Leave Big Boss between Diamond Dogs for now. "Now, who are you? Why did you want to meet me?"

The annoyance in her eyes disappeared, replaced with smugness; as if they were back to playing whatever game that only she was aware of.

"As to who I am, for now, I am simply an old woman who would like to see the world remain as it is." That got an eyebrow raise from Big Boss. "As to why, well, I simply wanted to meet the one responsible for the massive disruption the world received not so long ago."

"Disruption?" he asked.

"Oh yes. You didn't really think that your arrival would go unnoticed, did you?"

A small, subconscious part of Big Boss was focused on maintaining his awareness of Flemeth's movements.

The rest was careening out of control like a truck with bald tires on a frozen road.

So, our presence hasn't been as incognito as we were hoping. Though, more than that…

"You knew we were here? How?"

Flemeth chuckled at his question, and then scratched at a wart on her chin before she answered. "You seem like a clever boy. I'm sure you're smart enough to come up with an idea of where you are. And when I say 'where', I'm not talking about what country you're from."

He did have an idea, a pretty solid one actually, but he saw no reason to fill her in on that. She continued.

"I say your arrival did not go unnoticed because it most assuredly didn't. Without giving too much away, whatever force brought you here made a…ripple in the world. Anyone and everyone who is aware of such things felt it, though they likely do not know the source. For how long that lasts, however, I cannot say."

Okay…

"So why warn us?" he asked. "What do you stand to gain from warning us?"

She smirked at his words, but, for some reason, Big Boss read no maliciousness in them. Amusement, sure, at his question, but also something else.

"What do I gain?" she asked. "A few things I sorely need; nothing that concerns you now, but I assure you, they align with your own goals."

In the short time that Big Boss was in this world, he had learned a lot, to put it mildly. If he was a man of words, he could write a series solely consisting of what he knew now. The existence of magic, nonhuman races, a medieval world. And Ferelden seemed to only be the tip of the iceberg.

However, whether it was because of when they arrived or whether they really were a consistent threat to this world, the one thing that seemed to be consistent in everything Big Boss learned was the darkspawn.

He could honestly not think of an appropriate counterpart from his own earth to compare to them. The closest that he could think of were the Skulls, and the other horrors Skull Face had employed in XOF. The only thing keeping him from outright thinking the two were on the same level was the fact the Skulls thankfully never got beyond the Middle East. He made sure of that. The darkspawn, on the other hand, seemed to be everywhere.

"Does what you 'need' happen to have anything to do with the darkspawn?" he asked.

It seems he got it right. As soon as he asked, she seemed to stiffen. Whether it was out of fear or surprise he didn't know.

Unlike before when Flemeth full-on laughed, this time she merely chuckled. It wasn't only in amusement; there was also a hint of…satisfaction. As if he just confirmed something for her.

"You're a sharp boy," she said, patronizingly. "I'm going to have to be careful around you, aren't I?"

That rubbed him the wrong way. "If you weren't before, now you know better."

"Perhaps," she said, chuckling. "Without giving too much away, yes, it does have something to do with the darkspawn. The darkspawn are a disease, infecting everywhere they go. I may not care much for the world of man, but I do still live in it."

"That's a very practical attitude." Big Boss commented.

"Isn't it? I'm a very practical woman."

On some signal known only to her, she glanced upwards, towards the ceiling and through it, and said, "I'm afraid I must go now. Places to visit, people to see, you know how it is, Ahab." She made to step past him and leave, but the sound of her former guards readying their unfamiliar weapons made her pause. She looked back and saw them pointing them at her, and looked back at Ahab and said, "I have shown you no hostility, Ahab. Would you let an old lady leave in peace?"

She brought her right hand up and made to stroke his face, but in the blink of an eye, she found it being squeezed by his left hand; his metal hand.

"I don't know who you are," Ahab said, "but you are no lady." He brought their hands down and released hers, a dull aching feeling in it after being squeezed so hard. Impressive, she thought. What ingenuity can create a nonmagical arm of metal? Nonmagical, for she felt no touch of the Fade flowing through his appendage.

"Whatever your true reason for approaching us," he continued, "we know who you are now. I may know as much about you as you know about us, but I know you exist now. Don't make me regret letting you walk out of here."

He stepped to the side then, letting the others know it was okay to let her leave.

Flemeth, for her part, was surprised. Few had spoken to her like that in her long life; and even fewer had the power to back it up. This man; this older, scarred, mortal man talked to her like he had the means to back up his threats.

She didn't know why, but she believed him.

Fortunately, she had little intention of becoming his enemy today.

She laughed to cover up her thoughts and said, "My, my, the soldier has teeth. That's a new one. Be calm, Ahab," she said as she passed him on her way to the door, "we are not enemies today."

As Flemeth walked into the forest, putting some distance between herself and this shard of civilization so she could shapeshift, her thoughts lingered on the man who called himself Ahab. It was true she knew little about him, and he even less about her, but that did not mean she should disregard him.

In all the years she's lived, she's learned many things. One of which was to never let her guard down, at least without a contingency in place. Immortal she may be, there were loopholes to it.

Back at the Inn, the members of Diamond Dogs were still staring at the door Flemeth left through.

"What the hell was that about, Boss?" Panther asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Big Boss mumbled to himself just as much to answer Panther. "Was there anything else?"

"No, Boss."

"Alright. I'll be returning to Mother Base. Continue operations until otherwise ordered." He paused, thinking. "Also, I'll be sending a few more Combat and Intel members out here to join up with you. For my own piece of mind."

"Thank you, Boss." Everyone said with a salute.

It took less than half an hour for Big Boss to return to the LZ Pequod had dropped him off at, giving him time to think about Flemeth and what she said. But what she said made him think more about what she didn't say.

How she was able to sense their arrival, for starters.

Just as importantly, perhaps even more so, how and where she met him.

To the best of his recollection, he had never met anyone in his life named Flemeth; never even met anyone who looked like her.

But, and he's reluctant to admit this to himself, that didn't mean it was impossible that she had never seen him. "Met" him, no, but seen him even from a distance, probably. Much as he was loath to admit it, Big Boss hasn't exactly been keeping his presence in Ferelden a secret. Anywhere the Boss had been; Highever, Denerim, she could've been one of the many civilians who caught a passing glance of him; best case scenario.

Whoever this Flemeth was, there wasn't much he could do about her right now. What he said was true, he knew of her now, but he didn't know her. He knew what she looked like, he knew how she sounded, and he was confident she was from Ferelden. That was it.

If they were back on Earth, that would be plenty.

A sentiment Big Boss was becoming depressingly familiar with lately.

The sound of Pequod's arrival snapped Big Boss out of his thoughts. Sighing, He decided to put it at the back of his mind. When he got back to Mother Base, he planned to make it a priority with the Intel Team, to keep an eye out for this Flemeth woman. But, for now, he just wanted to sleep for a while.

Fortunately, he was used to take naps on the helicopter.

Miles away, on the yet-undiscovered Mother Base, one of its "guests" was out and about, walking on the large open platform, breathing in the familiar salty smell of the sea air. Memories of her childhood and family came unbidden but brought a smile to her face which already had forgotten what it felt like.

Memories of a ship rocking on the ocean. Memories of a middle-aged man sailing the ship through a storm, looking up at the clouds and rain pelting his face with a defiant smile. Memories of a woman smiling at her family's antics, yet proud of them.

As the wife of one of the only two Teyrn's in Ferelden, Eleanor Cousland hadn't had much opportunity to make it out to sea all these years after her marriage. Not that she regretted it; she would never regret that. But it was undeniable that the sea was in her blood.

Her musings were interrupted when a loud honking startled her from behind; nearly causing her to jump out of her skin. Spinning around, her mind momentarily told her that she was staring directly into the maw of a massive monstrosity straight from the pits of the darkspawn horde. For a moment.

She blinked, and the sight before her shifted. What she was looking at wasn't a monster, it was another one of this place's, this "Mother Base's", creations. A…truck, if she recalled correctly; something told to her the first night she was here. Ahab's second-in-command, Miller, had pointed it out after their conversation about going forward. The way he described it, it was like a massive cart meant for transportation, but without horses. Just one more thing she never imagined was possible.

Before she met Big Boss, after what felt like a year ago when it was less than two weeks, Eleanor Cousland thought she had a pretty firm grasp on the world. She wasn't naïve, or arrogant, enough to think that she knew everything in the world, but after her full life – war, nobility, marriage, children – she thought she was well learned.

She hadn't known it at the time, but that was all thrown out the window when she met Ahab; or Big Boss, as just about everyone here on Mother Base referred to him as. A small part of her though the title was fairly outlandish, which was crushed whenever she looked around. She could not imagine anyone in Thedas capable of the things she had seen in her time here; and she had a feeling there was much more she hadn't seen.

All the remarkable and terrifying things she could never have imagined nearly overwhelmed her.

There was only one thing keeping her grounded: the fact that her children and her husband was alive. Though she knew she would carry the deaths of everyone murdered by Howe's hand for the rest of her life, she refused to allow it to drag her down while she still had her family.

She apologized to the ones controlling the truck and moved out of their way, allowing them to drive onto the incredibly long bridge that connected the platform she was on to the heart of Mother Base; the Command Platform 1 Miller had said.

Sighing, she continued her walk.

Two women dressed in the peculiar uniforms of Diamond Dogs passed her; their clothes were almost identical to the male soldiers she had seen and they both were carrying those metal weapons Big Boss carried into her home the day they met, as well as everyone else on this base. Guns, she was told what they were called. Another creation of Diamond Dogs.

She had seen them in use the day before, and the shock had not truly gone away. Miller had been giving her a quick tour of the platform they were on and a few soldiers were having target practice. They were aiming and firing at a row of bottles placed on the guardrail at the very edge of the platform. Every single shot each one of them took hit its mark, shattering the bottle without even an indication of where the bullet went. When she asked, Miller described guns as "crossbows, but shoots a hell of a lot faster and with much smaller ammo."

Seeing how deadly they were on the "helpless" targets, and their efficiency in their owners' hands, made her think of all the times Big Boss and Ocelot refused anyone to look at their weapons while they were staying at Highever.

The two of them wielding these frighteningly deadly weapons right in front of her and her family with no idea how much potential danger they were in. Just one more thing she was thanking the Maker for lately.

"Lady Cousland. Is everything all right?"

She was able to keep her composure this time, if only barely, though of the many accents she's heard in her time on Mother Base, she recognized that particular one. "Ocelot." She greeted as she turned.

"Sorry, ma'am," he said, not entirely sounding like he meant it if that smirk was anything to go by, "didn't mean to startle you."

"Is that so?" she replied. "Because from the way I didn't even hear you approach, that was your intention."

He didn't confirm nor deny that, but he didn't bother putting much effort to conceal a chuckle that made its way past his lips. "A force of habit developed from my training, ma'am. Regardless, I didn't startle you for my own amusement. I contacted the guard outside you and your husband's room. Your husband was asleep and he said you had gone out for a walk."

Eleanor raised an eyebrow and asked, "I was told I had that right, Ocelot, within reason. I was told where exactly I could roam, I was told not to enter any door with a red light above it, I was told to keep myself to this platform and I was to inform my guard whenever I wished to go out. I hope you don't intend to revoke that, Ocelot, lest I come to feel my husband and I are you prisoners."

"Please, Eleanor," Ocelot said soothingly, "that is not my intention. You and your husband are not our prisoners and the restrictions we've given to where you can go are just as much for your protection as they are for the security of Mother Base. 'Guests' might not fit your status here; our wards, perhaps, would be better. But not our prisoners, not at all."

His words and reassurances were nothing she hadn't heard or suspected before, but they did make her feel better a bit, as well as ashamed at how little faith in Diamond Dogs she just displayed. Yes, they had been strict in where she could go, but other than that they had been nothing but accommodating. Mother Base was far too…foreign for her to ever feel completely comfortable, but that was simply a difference in culture. She was certain she would feel the same if she found herself living in Orzammar.

"My apologies, Ocelot. I did not mean to offend you. I suppose I am still…adjusting, to everything."

"Don't worry about it, Eleanor," Ocelot reassured her. "I understand, in a way. I won't pretend to know exactly what you're feeling, but I know what it feels like to be upended and sent away to a strange land. I'm sure everyone on Mother Base feels that way, actually."

The moment of vulnerability in his voice took her aback as, like Big Boss himself, she had gotten used to him as a solid pillar. To see a crack in his armor was a surprise.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah. Anyways," he attempted to shut down that line of conversation before she could pry, "I came to let you know that Big Boss is on his way back from Ferelden. We'll be having a meeting with a few others to discuss our plans moving forward and we thought you, and Bryce if he's feeling up to it, might want to join us as part of it concerns Highever."

"You would be right, in that case." She became serious when her home was mentioned. She feared that, for the present and immediate future, her home would be forced to live under the reign of that traitorous Howe. Hearing that they intended to meet to at least discuss what to do about it reaffirmed her and her husband's decision to ally with Diamond Dogs.

"But I am not sure my husband would have the strength to join us."

"Why don't we check with the doctor? You never know."

Just like the last time he brought an outsider of this world back to Mother Base, Big Boss watched with hidden amusement as Amethyne pressed her face against the window as they flew over Mother Base. He did not judge her or find her immature for such wonder; he still had not tired of the view of what he, Miller, and Ocelot had built, and he hoped he never would.

He gently pushed her back from the helicopter door so he could slide it open and sit on the edge, after attaching the safety rope to his belt, as he always did.

"What is this place?" Amethyne asked, her voice raising to be heard over the helicopter's propellers, completely awestruck.

Big Boss was relieved. He was afraid that he had made a grave error bringing her here. As it was, she was taking to this a lot better than Eli and his "army" did when they were brought here.

"This is my home," he answered her question. "Welcome to Mother Base."

When Pequod picked him up after his "meeting" at the Spoiled Princess Inn, he told Pequod to take them back to Mother Base, Medical Platform 1, and to have a medical team ready for Amethyne. And as they approached the platform's landing pad, he saw the team ready and waiting. Along with Miller, Ocelot, a small group of male and female soldiers, the Couslands, and a young man wearing robes that were definitely not Diamond Dogs' issue.

After the helicopter landed and he hopped out, he reached back and helped Amethyne out. "Boss!" Miller called out over the roar of the slowing helicopter blades. "Another guest? You're really starting a habit of collecting strays, aren't you?"

Instead of acknowledging Miller's words, he gestured for the medical team to come forward. He knelt before Amethyne, bringing him to eye level with her, and said, "These people are doctors, Amethyne. They're going to check on you to make sure you're okay. You can trust them, alright?"

Amethyne looked at the nearby strange humans, and then back at the man she chose to follow. So far, this human hadn't given her any reason not to trust him, so she decided to trust these humans who worked for him. "Okay," she said.

Standing up, Big Boss said to the medical team, "Be gentle with her. Don't scare her."

"We won't, Boss." One of them said. "She'll be fine with us."

As he watched Amethyne being escorted away to be checked on, Miller came up behind him and asked, "Who is she? Why bring another child here, Boss?"

His question drew the attention of the others present, even Ocelot, all curious as to why indeed he brought a child to a military base.

"She has no father." He replied. "She never met him."

None of them had anything to say to that, but, sad as it was, it wasn't unusual in the world; any world, even in Diamond Dogs' home world.

"And her mother?" Ocelot asked, moving to stand next to him.

Big Boss sighed as he answered. "Her mother was at Highever on the night Howe launched his coup. She was Lady Landra's lady-in-waiting."

He heard Eleanor gasp in shock, but everyone else was stunned into silence. Obviously, there would be after-effects of Howe's treachery that would resonate beyond Highever, but they never imagined they would come across a victim in a completely different city. What were the chances?

"We'll take care of her," Ocelot said. "Mother Base isn't a paradise for children, but we'll make take care of her."

"That's very noble of you," Bryce Cousland said from behind them. Dressed in simple Diamond Dogs fatigues and seated in a wheelchair, none of the three could help thinking that Bryce certainly had fallen from grace. It was a big change to see someone go from a noble position to be an exile in what was essentially a foreign country.

Not that they let their thoughts appear on their faces. They all knew, Miller especially, how hard it was to be restrained to a wheelchair for any length of time. Especially for someone who was only recently introduced to the invention.

"Bryce," Big Boss said, "it's good to see you out and about. How are you doing?"

"Better, I'm relieved to say," Bryce replied. "Your doctors tell me I'm making a swift recovery. Your medicine, your doctors, everything I've seen here on Mother Base is nothing short of fascinating, Big Boss."

As he listened, Big Boss quickly looked over Bryce and was relieved to see he was right. Compared to how he looked the last time he saw him, Bryce looked much better. Though he was confined to a wheelchair, the fact he was alive was a miracle in Bryce's eyes; and a testament to the resources of Diamond Dogs that he will recover with only a nasty scar for a reminder of his close call.

Miller spoke up. "We do our best, Bryce. Anyway, let's reconvene to one of this platform's meeting rooms. We have some things to discuss."

The meeting room they were gathered in, like almost all the meeting rooms on Mother Base, was sparse. This room was not decorated, nor were there any windows allowing light or any onlookers from the outside. The intent of the design behind these rooms were for planning, and not allowing any outsiders to hear what was said or done within. Perhaps a tad overprepared in this world. But in Diamond Dogs' home world, it was necessary.

Once everyone was inside and the door slid shut and locked behind them, an aura of isolation descended on the room. Everyone inside felt like the world could pass them by while they were in this room and they wouldn't have felt it.

In the center of the room was a large table with a few chairs around it. The function of this room was not comfort; it was work. The Diamond Dogs soldier that pushed Bryce into the room set him at one end of the table before he saluted Big Boss and left the room, taking up position outside; Eleanor stood next to him, protective. Big Boss took his place at the head of the table with Miller and Ocelot on either side of him. Next to Ocelot was the young mage he "conscripted" from the Mages' Circle. Surrounding the rest of the room were several officers from the various teams ready to deliver a report.

"Before we get started," Ocelot said, "I believe it important that this young man gets a proper introduction. Big Boss, Bryce Cousland, Eleanor Cousland, this is Daniel Amell, prospective young mage straight from the Mages' Circle of Ferelden."

"A mage?" Bryce said, surprised. "When you requested that letter from me, Miller, never did I imagine the Templars would part with one of their precious Mages. I hope you did not do anything illegal in my name?" The question was implied, but not unwarranted. Of course, it wouldn't do for them to restore the Couslands only for them to be faced with charges of harboring rogue mages.

"Nothing like that, I assure you, Bryce." Ocelot said. "The Templars were not happy, obviously, but I can be very persuasive. The Templars believe young Daniel here is helping us cure a 'close acquaintance of the Teyrn's'. Daniel, why don't you stand up and introduce yourself to the Boss and our new friends."

Daniel Amell stood up, straightened his robes, took a deep breath, and spoke for the first time. "Hello, everyone," he said. He looked at the head of the table and said, "Big Boss," with a light bow before turning to Teyrn Cousland and bowing. "Teyrn Cousland. Lady Eleanor. It's an honor to meet you two. Ocelot and Miller explained to me that I have you two to thank for getting me out of the Circle and, quite frankly, saving my life."

"What do you mean?" Eleanor asked.

"Oh, well," he looked at Ocelot, who gave him a nod in return, "it's kind of a long story, but when Miller came to the Circle and, I'm not sure how to describe it, conscripted me, I suppose, I was imprisoned by the Templars."

"And why is that?" Eleanor asked. "Last I heard the Templars don't imprison one of their mages with no cause."

"Well," Amell replied, some heat creeping into his voice, "Lady Cousland, aside from the fact the Circle itself is actually a glorified prison, I can assure you the Templars have never needed a good reason to imprison anybody. Though, I grant, sometimes they even had evidence."

Seeing his words and tone irritated Eleanor, and even made Bryce defensive, Big Boss spoke. "Amell, focus."

Seemingly undercutting any of Amell's rising frustration with nobles who automatically assume Templars are the good guys, Amell took a breath and said, "I apologize, Lady Cousland. Speaking of the Templars is…a sensitive subject for me, for any mage, really."

Eleanor nodded and said, "I apologize as well. I meant no insult."

"Anyways," Amell continued, "I had just been through my Harrowing, the process which Templars use to test a mage's strength to resist the Fade, when an…acquaintance of mine in the Circle approached me."

"What do you mean, 'acquaintance'?" Big Boss asked. "You two aren't close?"

"Umm…" Amell replied, searching for words. "It's not that we aren't close, I've known him for years after all, but it's like when you're forced to get to know someone when you're stuck in a small space with them. We're the same age, so we were in the same classes for most of our time in the Circle, but I've never really confided in him."

Hmm. "Got it. Continue."

"Well, like I was saying, after my Harrowing, he approached me with a Chantry initiate, Lily. He said they were together and were planning to escape the Circle. They apparently have been planning it for a while, but it became urgent when he heard that he was going to be made Tranquil. To make a long story short, we broke into the Circle vault to find his phylactery."

"Phylactery?" Bryce asked. "I've heard of them but didn't think the Chantry would actually use them."

"What are phylacteries, Bryce?" Eleanor asked.

"Daniel, would you answer? You would be able to explain it better than I." Bryce asked.

"Certainly, my lord." Amell said. "When a mage passes their Harrowing, a small amount of blood is taken from them and stored. The Templars use this blood to track down a mage when they flee the Circle, or turn apostate."

"That sounds like blood magic!" Eleanor said with a bit of outrage. "Surely the Templars wouldn't-"

"Lady Cousland," Amell said, "I think you'll find that much of what the world knows of the Templars is simply what the Templars and the Chantry allowed you to know."

Before anyone could say anything else, Miller said, "Amell, finish your story."

"Yes, sir," he replied. "Well, to make a long story short, we were caught. My…acquaintance revealed that he had been dabbling in blood magic, which turned out to be the reason they were going to make him Tranquil. He casted some sort of blood spell which knocked everyone unconscious and allowing him to escape, leaving me and his girlfriend behind."

"How noble." Ocelot muttered to Big Boss who nodded.

"When everyone recovered, the Knight-Commander ordered me and Lily arrested. The First Enchanter argued in my defense, but the bottom line was I helped a mage escape. That's bad enough. Him being a blood mage only made it worst, for me and Lily. The Templars arrested me and put me into a magic-resistant cell."

"And what of Lily?" Eleanor asked. "Your friend's lover?"

"I don't know, my lady. I haven't seen her since."

Done with his story, Amell looked at Big Boss.

"What was the name of your acquaintance?" Big Boss asked.

"Jowan, sir." Amell answered.

Turning to the Intel officer in the room, Big Boss said, "After this meeting, send a message to all our teams in the field to keep an eye out for a mage called Jowan. Amell will provide a detailed description of him after this meeting."

"Why?" Bryce asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Why do you want to find this Jowan? He's an admitted blood mage. Surely you aren't thinking of recruiting him." The question was implied.

"Of course, I thought about it, Bryce," Big Boss replied. "But thoughts aren't actions. All I'm saying is we need to find this Jowan and bring him into custody. Do you think it's a good idea to let a blood mage run around freely in Ferelden? Especially now?" Silence was his reply. "We'll decide what to do with him after we've found him. For now, we just trying to find him and apprehend him."

There were several times since he awoke, alive, in the alien hospital room on what he now knew as Mother Base that the former Teyrn Cousland wondered if he had made the right decision in allying himself and his wife with this mercenary company. It wasn't that he doubted their capabilities; if anything, based on what he'd seen, what Big Boss and his lieutenants Ocelot and Miller allowed him to see, they were more than capable of doing quite a bit of damage to the unsuspecting Thedas. And he was sure there was more that they were not telling him. Not that he could begrudge them that, everyone had their secrets after all and they were entitled to them, but he was worried about the cost.

Nor did he question perhaps the more important aspect of Diamond Dogs' resources: the capabilities of its people. When Bryce first laid eyes on Mother Base in its entirety, thanks to the view afforded to them by the "helicopter" they rode on when they were given the tour by Miller in Big Boss' absence, he wasn't sure what he was looking at. The massive size of Mother Base, as well as the many people on it and the multitude of other remarkable – and strange – mechanical creations, like the helicopter, made him think this was a country onto itself.

A massive city-state with the destructive and military potential to pose a threat to Orlais and perhaps even Tevinter itself.

With all this in mind, there was one fact needling Bryce's mind that he simply couldn't banish. In spite of everything he had seen, everything told to him by Miller and Ocelot and Big Boss, on the rare occasion he was available, the one thing all of them had described themselves as, offhandedly, was mercenaries.

Soldiers-for-hire. A self-declared nation of soldiers with no connection to any nation or power and seemingly bound by no other oath other than their loyalty to their leader, Big Boss.

He supposed he should be relieved he was the lucky noble that cut a deal with them and was on amicable, even friendly, terms with their leader, but just the thought of the force they could and were about to bring to bear on their enemies sent shivers down his spine.

For now, it was the darkspawn, an enemy anyone, even Ferelden's most die-hard enemies could oppose. But what if it was someone else? A bann that was making noise? A captain in the Ferelden navy that misinterpreted an order. The King, whoever that might be in the future, that disagreed with them on their methods.

All these thoughts were running through his mind as he sat in his wheelchair at the table across from Big Boss.

"Thank you, Daniel," Miller said as he stood up and Amell sat down. "Now, onto the next matter, we've received some new information that forces us to change our plans regarding the liberation of Highever."

"What information, Miller?" Eleanor asked, a hint of outrage leaking into her voice.

Miller continued, ignoring her tone. "As I'm sure everyone here knows, or if you don't then for your information, since we began our collaboration with the Couslands," he gestured toward the only two non-Diamond Dog natives, "we've been deploying more and more agents into Ferelden to build up an information network and make contacts with the locals. No offence Eleanor and Bryce."

When the two shook their head is dismissal and said nothing, Ocelot picked it up. "In addition to the five-man strike team we initially sent into Denerim, we deployed another two dozen Intel agents into the major cities of Ferelden, specifically another five to Denerim, seven to Amaranthine, three to Lothering, five to Redcliffe, and four to Highever."

That certainly captivated the attention of the two Ferelden natives. "You have people in Highever? Already?" Bryce asked, seemingly disbelieving.

"We like to work fast," Ocelot said. "In all honesty, the fact we haven't had anyone in Highever yet is a blow to our pride. Regardless, all our people have already begun integrating themselves with the local population and sending reports back on the information they've collected. In the interest of time, if any of you want a report on any of the teams' findings you can ask for it after this meeting is over. We're here to talk about Highever. Miller?"

Miller stood up and moved to the wall behind him. He nodded to one of the Intel agents nearby who pressed a button on a remote, lowering a projector screen from a slot in the ceiling and turning on the projector above the table. The projector turned on, displaying several pictures of Highever proper, as well as a couple of the outside of Castle Cousland. What they depicted was discouraging.

In all the pictures, Howe soldiers could be seeing oppressing or corralling the population of Highever.

Throwing people out of their own homes, shops, establishments, almost everywhere. One picture had a small group of Howe soldiers beating a sole Cousland soldier, one of the few who was part of the skeleton crew left behind. Perhaps the most heartbreaking and devastating picture, as well as the most indisputable proof of Howe's fall, was the picture of a group of elven children and dwarves which were chained and sitting dirty in an alley. It wasn't hard to deduce the reason was because of their status as non-humans.

"Oh, Howe," Bryce whispered, horror evident in his voice, "what have you become?"

"Rhetorical question or not," Ocelot joked, "you can clearly see why we've decided it was time to move up our timetable. The more damage that ambitious idiots, like Howe, do in a national crisis like this will severely hamper the country's ability to recover. What will happen when we win against the Blight and then suddenly have a divided country on our hands?"

"Bryce", Big Boss said, "when Diamond Dogs accept a job, we make sure it's finished to our satisfaction as well as our employers'. When we're hired, our employer gives us a general outline of what they want accomplished for a job. So, Bryce, what is the end goal for you? What's an ideal ending?"

Bryce said nothing for a few minutes, staring at the metal table in front of him as he thought about it. Eleanor looked as pensive as he did, but most of her focus seemed to be on her husband. Finally, Bryce took a deep breath as he looked up and said, "I want my home back. I want Highever back. I want my people to receive justice for the atrocities that Howe is inflicting on them while they wonder where the man who was supposed to lead and protect them is. And…I want Howe punished for breaking my family; for tricking me into sending my son into a war, for killing his family, and for my other son being drafted into the Grey Wardens."

When he was finished, the room was quiet again for a few minutes.

"Alright then," Big Boss said.

"Alright?" Eleanor repeated.

"Alright then," Ocelot said, "we're going to tear down Howe, chop him up into little pieces, and then use them as fertilizer for the new garden in the Highever Castle." After a moment, he added, "Figuratively speaking."

Big Boss took the lead again. "Ocelot will oversee the efforts to undermine Howe's grip on Highever. While that's happening, our people throughout Ferelden will be gathering everything from resources to weapons to Fereldens willing to wield them. Once Ocelot's done enough damage, we'll hit the gate storming. No concessions, no deals. We'll take only Howe's unconditional surrender. And if he's not there, we'll take the surrender of the idiot he left in charge. We'll come up with a more solid plan later."

"And then?" Eleanor asked.

"Once Highever is under your control again, we'll direct our full attention to the Blight and securing Ferelden. There's a lot of people who are going to be completely unprepared for the darkspawn threat and plenty of them are going to be affected in a bad way before we can do something about it."

Several moments of silence passed for the news to settle in before Big Boss said, "What's next?"

Miller answered. "Our man in Denerim told us where the darkspawn horde is concentrated. Not only that, but it's also apparently where the bulk of the Ferelden army is located. I think it's time to speak to the King, don't you Boss?"

"Where is he?"

"Some ruin in the South called Ostagar."