Chapter 11

There were hundreds of rooms in Mother Base designed for every use; from recreation to planning ops that changed the lines on the map. Big Boss was in one of these; specifically, one of Mother Base's training rooms. Unlike some of the other rooms, which were filled with workout equipment, this one was largely empty, with only a padded floor to differentiate it from a regular empty room.

Venom Snake had many memories of rooms like this one. Plenty of them his own, most his namesake's that were "passed onto" him. Memories of them honing skills and setting base records that were rarely broken by aspiring Diamond Dogs soldiers. Venom was not egotistical enough to insist his name be at the top of every scoreboard, but that did not mean he made it easy on those who dared to challenge his place. He did have his pride, after all.

However, his pride did not prevent from overseeing the occasional training session, even participating on occasion. He found the best way to whip the boys into top shape was to literally beat the lessons into them personally.

Well, "boys" was a subjective term. Though most of Mother Base's population was male, there were plenty of able-bodied and hard-working women on base as well.

And every single one of them were drilled just as hard as the men were. Everyone on Mother Base had the scars and bruises to show they had earned their place, from missions to training sessions with Big Boss. And it was a point of pride for them, where their wounds had come from.

That was a mentality that Bryce and Eleanor Cousland were having some difficulty accepting.

Women in a soldier's role were not exactly forbidden in Thedas, and Ferelden was far more progressive in that area than other nations, but it was an undeniable fact that the majority of that field were men.

The two, having asked Miller where they could find Big Boss and were pointed to this training room, arrived shortly before Big Boss' training session started. According to the doctors, Bryce had recovered enough that he could stand and walk for short periods of time over short distances, but still needed the humiliating "wheelchair" they had provided for him to get anywhere farther. Eleanor had been shown how to operate it so she could escort her husband whenever he wished to go somewhere, much to his relief. It was bad enough he was largely restricted to the damned chair. He did not need a stranger to push him around.

The two were watching Big Boss' CQC training session with rapt attention, having arrived shortly after it started to see Big Boss single-handedly taking on six opponents.

In addition to Big Boss, four of the trainees were men and the remaining two were women. All were dressed in "combat pants" and boots, but the men had decided to forgo wearing shirts of any kind while the two women were at least wearing sleeveless shirts. Big Boss himself was also shirtless, revealing the straps and harness they learned kept his "bionic" arm, as he called it, attached to his body.

Despite that revelation erasing a bit of the mysticism surrounding Big Boss, it was actually a relief to the two Couslands to see something so…advanced and unthinkable have an explanation of how it works.

While the two Fereldens were momentarily scandalized by the lack of dress, that was overshadowed by the unintentional performance Big Boss was performing. While they had heard of Big Boss' prowess as a fighter, seeing it for themselves was more informative.

The two Couslands were old soldiers, having fought and bled in battles before. Both had fought, to varying degrees, in the war of Ferelden's independence from Orlais, so both thought there was little for them to learn of combat. However, they were seeing now how little they truly knew.

Big Boss was a picture of efficiency. Every move he made had a purpose. There was no flashiness nor taunting nor any overdramatic moves utilized by those eager to show off. In the near hour-long training session, Big Boss had barely moved outside a five-feet circumference from where he started. He planted his feet and allowed his opponents to come to him.

That was not to say the four men and two women facing their Boss were slouches: far from it. Bryce Cousland knew that if these six were members of his personal forces, they would be officers, at least. Rare did Bryce, or even Eleanor, see such combat prowess in common soldiers, to understate the six.

The two Couslands were also witnesses to Big Boss' equal treatment of the men and women he was training, much to their respect. The two female trainees, while not exactly qualified to be members of Orlesian high society, were far from ugly. The two had an attractiveness in their well-kept appearance, even while sweaty and clearly exhausted. Bryce and Eleanor knew those who would enjoy sparring with women in such states of undress, yet Big Boss never once, to their eyes, took liberties.

His hands never lingered in inappropriate places, despite the effect that sweat and deep breaths had on the trainees…appearance.

His eyes were focused on evaluating them as "threats" in the training session, never drinking them in and seeing them as objects to admire.

In fact, Bryce and Eleanor had independently come to the conclusion that Big Bos did not even see them as women in this setting. Rather as soldiers – his soldiers – to be trained to the best of his ability and opponents to be beaten.

Another half hour passed before the six trainees were all lying on the padded floor; sweaty, exhausted, but all having a sense of…triumph?

"Excellent work, all of you." Big Boss said, his voice unnaturally coming through the metallic box with holes in it embedded into the ceiling above the Couslands; the "speaker" Miller had called it once. Big Boss then went around to each of his trainees and held his right hand – his flesh and bone hand - out to them, pulling them to their feet when they took it, and then placing his left hand on their shoulder before saying something to them that the speaker didn't pick up.

"I'm proud of all of you," he said out loud. "Now, go shower, change, and take the rest of the night off."

"Thank you, Boss!" the six said while doing their strange salute before leaving through one of the metal doors.

"I'll be right up Bryce, Eleanor," Big Boss said, turning his attention to the couple. "Let me just take a quick shower and change."

The Ferelden couple did not know how to answer him in a way he could hear from the room they were in, but it appeared he did not need one as he immediately headed for a different door than the one the other six went through.

Twenty minutes later, Big Boss entered the observation room now clean. His long, still mostly brown, was still wet from his shower and he was dressed in a clean pair of pants, boots, and a long-sleeve olive green shirt.

Though the Couslands weren't aware of this, Big Boss had also changed his eyepatch to a clean one; the previous one having gotten sweaty over the last hour and a half.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"We're fine," Bryce said. "We were just hoping to ask you a few questions."

"Alright." Big Boss leaned against a wall and crossed his arms. The couple took that as a signal to start.

"I am aware we have already discussed our plans for the immediate future, Ahab, but I can't help but think of what's going to come after. Retaking Highever and re-establishing us in power is enough to worry about, but you said after we will turn our attention to the Blight. What exactly does that mean?"

Big Boss didn't answer for a few moments, thinking about his response before voicing it.

"You're right, Bryce, when you say that taking Highever back, by itself is enough for us to worry about, but that doesn't mean we aren't looking at other options. It's a big country in an even bigger world, after all."

"Can you tell us what other options you are looking at, exactly?"

"Well," Big Boss cleared his throat, "as I'm sure you two know by now, Diamond Dogs is a mercenary company, and a very good one. Our services are very diverse and, as such, expensive. Of course, we cannot expect you two to pay at the moment, but that doesn't mean we don't need funds to operate. So, to make up for that, we are looking at other smaller avenues of work to make up for the loss."

"Ah, we…apologize for that, Ahab." Eleanor said, partly sarcastic, partly genuine. 'What sort of 'work' do you mean, exactly? If you can tell us."

Big Boss simply smirked, allowing Eleanor's jab to roll off him. "A few days ago, in Denerim, one of my people, Dark Wolf, was approached by a man named Slim Couldry about a job. He wanted to hire him to steal some valuables from a noble's estate in Denerim."

A few days ago, in Denerim…

Dark Wolf and Glacier Mongoose were returning to the Attic from a prospective side job offer. They were informed by a contact that a prominent merchant was looking to hire extra security to escort him and his cart full of goods to Amaranthine and that the pay was generous. The Denerim team had already settled on their negative answer beforehand but chose to take the meeting to keep up appearances.

Good pay or not, they were not in a position to send off team members across the country without permission from Big Boss or Commander Miller.

That left them with looking for jobs within the city, or at least nearby.

They had turned the corner, just about to exit the Denerim market when a large, relatively overweight redheaded human named Slim Couldry stopped them and offered a job opportunity to "get back at those arrogant noble bastards." Dark Wolf and Glacier Mongoose took a moment to discuss it, but ultimately it was Dark wolf's decision as team leader.

He accepted on the condition that he retain the option to refuse any jobs for any reason. Slim Couldry agreed and a partnership was born. Dark Wolf did update Commander Miller on the development when the two returned to the Attic, who commended Dark Wolf's resourcefulness. Dark Wolf thanked him and assured Miller that he would personally write a debrief for each individual job he undertook with this Slim Couldry.

Since then, Dark Wolf - as Slim Couldry refused to work with any of the other team members, claiming he had an agreement with him and him only – had done several jobs for Slim Couldry, earning them money, some influence in Denerim's underbelly, and a reputation.

The "Dark Wolf" of Denerim, as some had begun to whisper about in the dark corners of taverns and alleys, was an unknown who punished the nobility for their sins. A "Robin Hood" figure the poor and downtrodden of the city liked to believe was on their side.

It actually made Dark Wolf feel slightly self-conscious about it, enough that he quietly donated a portion of his own earnings to the city's charity. Of course, when the rest of the team heard about it, they knew it was open season on their team leader for some light teasing.

Back at Outer Heaven, it was good for a laugh among the staff. Despite the risk of exposure if someone investigated the real Dark Wolf, the leadership was happy to have more influence, even among the poor and the criminal element of Denerim.

"I'm not sure how I feel about you taking advantage of such…underhanded opportunities, Ahab." Bryce was concerned, understandably so. His alliance with Big Boss and Diamond Dogs reflected on him. And teyrn or not at the moment, when he was finally – hopefully – reinstated in his home, their alliance will come to light, and everyone will judge him for it, good or bad.

It was what they did between then and now that would determine how things would settle afterwards.

"I understand, Bryce, but it won't be often, and, if things go according to plan, it won't be for long. Still, we're not exactly in a position to turn away opportunities. Let's be grateful the situation isn't too desperate."

"And what exactly would we be resorting to if things were that desperate, Ahab?" Eleanor asked.

Big Boss didn't answer for a moment, pondering his answer.

Fortunately, he was saved from having to provide one when one of his men entered.

"Boss!" he saluted. "Lord and Lady Cousland!" he addressed the two protected nobles. "I apologize for interrupting, but Commander Miller sent me. He's called a meeting."

"Let's go, then. Must be important."

As he entered the meeting room that had unofficially become their primary one for meetings of Mother Base leadership, Bryce took a quick look around the room. Most of the men and women he recognized as members of the various departments of Mother Base's teams. Miller was seated at one end of the table with the…projector screen behind him. The only face the stood out to Bryce as missing was the strange man known as Ocelot.

To Bryce's infinite gratitude, the man had left a few days ago to put in motion several operations to undermine Howe's grip on his home of Highever. Big Boss and Diamond Dogs' sense of urgency and moves to accomplish this goal greatly reassured Bryce, though he was reluctant to reveal that. He and his family were already greatly in debt to these foreigners, even if they hadn't yet shown him a bill for all they had done for him – chief among them being saving his and Eleanor's life – no need to make himself feel as if he was truly helpless on top of that.

"Alright, Miller," Big Boss said as he, Eleanor, and himself took their seats, "what do you have for us?"

"A couple of reports, Boss." Miller replied from his seat, holding up a manilla folder in his hand from the pile of the table in front of him. "Let's get the redundant stuff out of the way first." He slid the folder he was holding across the table to the Boss. "Report from the Base Development Team's work on reinforcing Mother Base's struts. We should be good for another two years. Damage from rust and oceans currents have been negligible, thank god."

"That is good news," Big Boss said as he quickly skimmed the folder's contents before sliding it back over to Miller. "What's next?"

Half an hour later, the "redundant" reports were finished, much to Bryce's relief. Interesting as meetings like this were the first time, to give him a sense of how an incredible place like Mother Base worked, it lost its appeal once the mystery wore off.

"What's the word from Ocelot?" Boss asked, his words immediately perking up Bryce and Eleanor.

"Infiltration successful. Last night, Ocelot managed to get in contact with the Highever resistance. Though reluctant to trust an outsider, some of the guards that survived recognized him long enough to hear him out. Unfortunately, moving around the city itself has proven more difficult."

"Patrols?"

"Patrols, curfews, you name it. It's like Howe took a page out of Stalin's handbook in how to oppress a city."

"Stalin?" Eleanor asked.

"Dictator from back home. Long story." Boss answered.

"Anyway," Miller interrupted, "Ocelot's doing his best to ingratiate himself to the resistance members that he can reach. He's relayed that it would go better if we can help supply them. So far they need what you'd expect a fledgling resistance to need; weapons, armor, food and medical supplies. The last two we can spare, but unless you want to arm them with guns and our armor, we're going to need an alternative."

Big Boss rubbed his chin for a moment and said, "Food and medicine will have to do for now. Load up two choppers with whatever we can spare and send them to a safe LZ outside Highever for Ocelot. Have him spread it out among the resistance. That should get him into their good graces for now."

"Good idea, Boss," Miller agreed. "In the meantime, I'll reach out to the Denerim team and see if we can find an armory that will sell us weapons and armor wholesale."

"What of your plans to speak with the King?" Eleanor asked.

"Preliminary work has been completed, Eleanor. Per our usual strategy, we sent an intel team to scout the region to, among other things, identify secure LZ's, or landing zones. Essentially safe areas that our helicopters can land without drawing too much attention to ourselves from the locals."

Big Boss interjected. "Two more days, and I'll meet the king in person."

As Big Boss said this, an intel team member quietly slipped into the room.

"Yes, soldier?" Miller asked/demanded.

The soldier did not let Miller's tone deter him. He stepped forward, saluted, and said, "Sorry for the disruption Boss, Commander Miller, but we just received a communique from the Intel team sent to survey the area around Ostagar. They report that a, well…a contingent of darkspawn has broken from the main horde in the Korcari Wilds and is circumventing the army at Ostagar."

"What!?" Bryce shouted, nearly leaping from his seat were it not for Eleanor practically holding him back. "But the King's army is all that is holding the horde back! Where are they going?"

The soldier hesitated for a second, his eyes darting to Big Boss who barely nodded his head, giving him permission to answer.

"Well, Teyrn Cousland, we're not sure yet. As far as we can tell, they are simply heading north. At their current pace, and based on the team's best guess, they'll infiltrate the Bannorn in less than a week. Perhaps less if they travel nonstop."

"It's not just the Bannorn we have to worry about," Eleanor said. "There's also a small town on the edge of the Bannorn, Lothering, I believe it's called."

Big Boss asked, "Soldier, did the team happen to estimate how many darkspawn were in this group?"

"The team didn't have long to observe the darkspawn splinter without deserting their post, but they estimated, around 100 of the…creatures?" The soldier did not seem to know what to call the darkspawn individual forces.

Big Boss stood up. "Miller, order the Combat Unit to prepare a team for an extended field op. I'll be leading them."

Three hours later…

As Pequod's helicopter sped over the ocean toward his destination, Big Boss, while manually loading a magazine for his favorite M2000-NL sniper rifle with tranquilizer rounds, in addition to the loadout he had brought to Highever, not for the first time wondered how he got to this place.

Only a few short weeks ago, he was on his Earth, worrying about ensuring the world's eyes were on him, as per the true Big Boss' plan. The world he knew, the problems he was acquainted with, and there was the unappreciated comfort in knowing that the world as he knew it would always be there, regardless if he was welcome in the majority of it anymore.

Now, he was in a helicopter, racing toward a medieval fantasy country to deal with a small army of supernatural zombies.

Needless to say, he was positive this wasn't what he had in mind when he first enlisted with Big Boss' MSF in South America all those years ago.

Though, he thought as he slid the full clip into the rifle and loaded it, and I can't believe I'm admitting this – even to myself –I'm not really…complaining.

Back home, much as he was loyal to Big Boss, he knew he would never be the "real" one. He would always be second to him, never to be his own man.

Here, he could be.

"Everything alright, Boss?"

Big Boss blink as he was brought out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," he replied. "I'm fine."

Unlike Big Boss' usual excursions and missions, he wasn't alone in the helicopter this time. In addition to Pequod, there were five others in the helicopter with him, all some of the best of the Combat Unit. The other helicopter flying alongside them carried the other six members of the team.

The one who had brought him out of his thoughts was the team's usual leader; a woman, codenamed Flaming Tiger. Of Asian descent, Big Boss thought the codename was a bit…on the nose, but she had never complained about it, and it wasn't his job to assign codenames anyways.

"Pequod!" he called to the pilot.

"Yes, Boss?"

"Connect the helicopters' speakers. I need to talk to the team."

"You got it Boss. One sec. Alright. You're on."

Taking a breath, Big Boss mentally prepared what he was about to say before he spoke. It had been a while since he had personally led a team into the field and, while he knew what he was hoping was near impossible, he had no intention of losing anyone today.

"Attention team. This is Big Boss. You're all here because you're some of the best combat soldiers that Diamond Dogs has to offer. You have been trained, prepared, and armed for days like today. That's because today Diamond Dogs is launching its first strike against the darkspawn. You've all been briefed on what our enemy is and why they don't deserve your mercy. So don't offer it because they won't do the same."

Big Boss pulled out his iDroid and connected it to the helicopter's systems. Accessing the sparse aerial map they managed to cobble together of Ferelden over the last few days, he projected an image of southern Ferelden, clarifying their mission area with a small red circle a few miles north-west of Ostagar in the Hinterlands.

"Our primary objective is to locate, intercept, and eradicate the darkspawn contingent that snuck past the Ferelden army at Ostagar. Intel managed to clarify their numbers between fifty and seventy foot soldiers, though we still do not have much information on the darkspawn ranks or what makes up their forces. What we do know for a fact is that they're just as susceptible to modern weapons fire as you would expect one to be when wearing shoddy medieval armor."

"Secondary objectives, Boss?" Flaming Tiger asked.

"There is currently only one secondary objective: nonlethally subdue some darkspawn soldiers to be airlifted back to Mother Base's Quarantine Platform for study. That is why some of you were ordered to pack Wu Silent Pistols; to tranquilize some of the darkspawn to be lifted back to Mother Base for study. Ideally three or four unique types of darkspawn, but not at the cost of anyone's lives."

Big Boss didn't need to be as observant as he was to see some of those on the helicopter with him were a little…unsettled. He could imagine what the mood was like on the other helicopter.

"I know how you all feel about this, but the darkspawn and the Blight are a new threat in this world, one we've never encountered before. The best way to protect ourselves form it, and to fight it on a larger scale, is to understand it."

Taking a breath, he let his feelings show a little. "I know you all have bad memories of the last time an outbreak occurred on our home. I will not lie to you by promising that something like that can never happen again, especially since we are dealing with something we never even imagined. But I can assure you all that I do not make this decision lightly, and I do promise that I will do everything in my power to ensure that every precaution is taken to protect everyone."

His words fortunately had the intended effect as everyone on the helicopter, even Pequod, was visibly reassured by his promise.

"We trust you, Boss." Flaming Tiger said.

"Yeah. I know you'll do the right thing, Boss," another said.

The sentiment was shared by everyone on both helicopters and appreciated by their Boss.

Nodding, and giving a light smile, Big Boss said, "Thank you. Now, continue with your gear prep. The second we arrive, the mission begins."

Two hours later…

Shortly after Big Boss and his men were dropped off and the helicopters retreated to minimum safe distance, the twelve-man team started hiking into the forest after their quarry.

Though not professional hunters, every member of the team – especially Big Boss – was trained well enough to track and hunt; a skill that had proven invaluable in the past when Big Boss moonlighted as an animal conservationist.

Damn bears.

These skills and experience were being put well into practice now as they were tracking a very different kind of prey.

The darkspawn.

And two hours into their hunt, they had found their first sign that they were getting close; a tragic sign.

It seemed that a small group of travelers either did not know about the imminent darkspawn threat in the south or they did not care as they decided to take a shortcut through this part of the Hinterlands to get wherever it was they were going. By the time the Diamond Dogs group had arrived, the fires had burned down to cinders and the bodies were far from fresh.

"Dammit." One of the soldiers muttered under his breath. "What do we do, Boss?"

Big Boss did not answer immediately. His mind and eyes were focused on the corpse of a young man that was split open from the neck to stomach and his entrails had poured out onto the ground. But he was not distracted for long.

"Someone make a note of this location. There's nothing we can do for them now, but we can send someone to retrieve the remains later. For now, we keep going."

He felt a sense of disapproval at his order, but no one hesitated or spoke up. It may not have been a moral decision, but it was a practical one to be made by their leader, and they were running behind with every second they weren't moving.

As the next hour passed, the signs of a stampeding crowd ahead of them grew. Stomped grass, broken tree limbs; the only logical conclusion was the darkspawn they were hunting. But the logic was turned into fact when they saw a smokestack in the distance.

Big Boss did not need to signal the others to stop their advance – though he still did out of ingrained training – as they had all seen it and were now looking to him for their next move.

"Everyone split up into teams of two." Pulling his iDroid out, he called up a map of the area. "We're going to approach them in a semi-circle. I'll lead with Flaming Tiger. The rest of you pair yourselves off. One of each pair will lead with their lethal firearms, the other with their tranquilizers. Try to put at least one down each before switching to lethals. Suppressors on. Try not to draw the attention of the whole horde. And for god's sake, don't let them get close! We still don't know how easy it is for the Blight to spread."

"Yes, Boss!"

With that, the team divided into pairs and advanced per Big Boss' plan.

Sliding his tranquilizer rifle over his shoulder, Big Boss loaded a shot into the chamber before holding it ready. Flaming Tiger, armed with a G44 Bullpup Assault Rifle, was close by his side, ready to defend her Boss.

As they got closer to their target and the source of the smokestack became visible through the trees, the pair lowered to a crouch to lessen the noise they made and decrease their chances of detection. Big Boss subtly took note of Flaming Tiger's actions and was satisfied her above-competent performance was genuine and she was not just putting in extra effort for his sake.

Coming to a stop at the edge of a clearing, Big Boss' trained eye scanned the scene before him.

A small settlement consisting of a few medieval buildings, most small enough for a family, with the largest fulfilling the role of some sort of town hall. Every building was destroyed, most were burning, yet there were dozens of individuals still wandering around.

But these individuals weren't the inhabitants of the settlement.

Their peeled, blistering, scabbed, gray skin and general horror monster features were a dead giveaway.

"Dear god," Flaming Tiger whispered, her hands tightening around her gun's handles. "Are these the creatures you saw outside Highever, Boss?"

"Yes," he replied, "that one, or that type, specifically." He pointed his sniper barrel at a particularly large darkspawn that was likely once human. It seemed to be the leader of the darkspawn in the area. It was directing some of the lesser darkspawn, some of them were actually smaller - barely waist-high - around the village.

"So they do infect other…races and turn them into them. They are monsters."

"Agreed. That's why we're here: to stop them. Try to get a headcount of every darkspawn you can see." As she did that, he activated his radio, tuning into the team's frequency. "Everyone, pick your targets, but do not fire yet. Coordinate, make sure you all have separate targets."

"I see forty darkspawn, Boss, but we don't exactly have a great view of the whole settlement."

"Good enough." He said to her. "Does everyone have their targets?" he asked over the radio.

After getting an affirmative from the entire team, he said, "Alright," brought his rifle up, and said, "Good luck everyone. Fire."

To the untrained, or uninitiated, ear, there was suddenly a dozen muted noises in the air. And across the outskirts of the settlement, a dozen darkspawn fell; either from taking a tranquilizer dart to some part of their body and then collapsing after a few seconds, or from their head suddenly exploding after it failed to stop a bullet.

However, just as quickly, the rest of the darkspawn in the settlement came on alert: some drew swords and axes and started searching the treeline for their attackers, and some drew bows and arrows and took aim.

"Open fire everyone," Big Boss said into his radio. "Remember don't let them get close."

Big Boss didn't wait for any replies as he had to bring his rifle back up and shoot a tranquilizer dart into the head of an ambitious knee-high darkspawn that tried to charge his position. After putting down three more darkspawn that looked different enough in appearance, Big Boss slid his rifle into its place on his back and then brought up his AM MRS-4 assault rifle in time to shoot a darkspawn in the head that was lucky enough to get close.

Flaming Tiger's G44 was firing almost nonstop, every shot either quickly killing its target or sending it to the ground in screeching pain.

The situation was the same for the rest of the team. The soldiers with lethal weapons took care not to hit the few darkspawn their comrades had tranquilized, and the soldiers firing their tranquilizer pistols - after putting down one or two darkspawn nonlethally - would switch to their lethal weapons and join their teammates in the one-sided battle.

For that was what it was.

A one-sided slaughter of one of the most feared creatures in Thedas.

A threat that was the nightmare of most soldiers of this world was old news to the men and women of Diamond Dogs, for two reasons.

They had the fortune of not having to engage in close combat with these monsters thanks to their modern guns.

And they had experience with a different kind off supernatural monsters; namely, the Skulls; the borderline-supernaturally enhanced super soldiers of XOF under the command of Skull Face.

Literal nightmare fuel when they were first encountered by Diamond Dogs, the Skulls were the cause of many of Big Boss' soldiers' deaths. The day that they were wiped out by Diamond Dogs was an unofficial holiday celebrating their victory.

Compared to those monsters, these beasts were more zombies; slower, but no less dangerous.

That was why, in accordance with the training and professionalism drilled into them, every soldier on this mission was taking this as seriously as possible. More even, since their Boss was personally leading this mission.

By the time Big Boss ejected his second clip and was loading a third into his rifle, the majority of the darkspawn that dared openly oppose them were killed or tranquilized.

"Cease fire, Diamond Dogs!" Big Boss shouted. He waited for a few seconds for any more enemy movement before he added, "Move into the settlement! Watch each other's back!"

Almost as one, the six pairs of soldiers stepped out of their tree cover and started marching toward the ruined settlement. Guns up, eyes peeled, and ready to blow away anything that looked dead and unmoving, they cleared the settlement while looking for any darkspawn they missed or any survivors.

Unlikely, but one could hope.

They found another five darkspawn that seemed to hunker down in the various burned down buildings, waiting for an opportunity to ambush them. None succeeded, though one was close on one of the teams, and no survivors were found, much to Big Boss' melancholy.

"There was nothing we could've done, Boss," Flaming Tiger said, seeming to sense his feelings.

"I know," Big Boss simply said. Then, turning on his radio, he said to the team, "Men, start attaching fulton devices to the tranquilized darkspawn. We're done here." Changing his radio frequency to their helicopters, he said, "Pickup requested. LZ clear. Be advised, fultons are deployed."

"Understood, Boss," Pequod replied. "Orders for handling?"

"Suspend them from the outside of the helicopters. Their comfort is not a concern."

"Understood, Boss." Although he couldn't see him, Big Boss knew Pequod was momentarily uncomfortable with the order, before remembering that it wasn't people they were bringing back to Mother Base.

"Mission accomplished, Boss?" Flaming Tiger asked.

"Mission accomplished."

Six hours later, Mother Base

There was a fear that after Outer Heaven was "moved" from Earth to Thedas that it's platforms that weren't directly connected to Mother Base were left behind. This fear was fortunately proven unwarranted when contact was finally re-established with the Quarantine and Animal Conservation platforms.

A few weeks before Outer Heaven's relocation, the various animal conservation organizations that had hired Diamond Dogs in the first place to collect and guard certain animal species from combat hot zones had finally taken them off Diamond Dogs' hands, leaving the Animal Conservation platform empty of animals and only a skeleton crew of personnel to maintain it. They were understandably shocked by everything but were beyond relieved when they found out they weren't alone. The staff on the platform at the time were moved back to Mother Base and a fresh team was sent to replace them.

The staff of the Quarantine Platform were largely in the same situation, with one major exception. While the Animal Conservation platform was empty of its intended inhabitants, the Quarantine platform was not. Specifically, the few Skulls soldiers they still had imprisoned there that they had not yet disposed of. As the staff tell it, the moment the green "tear" in the sky appeared and pulled them into it, the Skulls had gone into a frenzy; nearly escaping their cages in their clear attempt to kill anything in sight. However, after the blackout period, the staff were surprised and relieved to see that the cages were still intact, if damaged, and the Skulls that were imprisoned within reduced to ashes. They were never able to find out the cause, but, in the grand scheme of things, it was inconsequential.

Upon Big Boss' return to Mother Base after his successful mission, he, as well as Miller and the Couslands, met on the largely restored Quarantine platform where the captured darkspawn would be kept while they were studied.

The two helicopters carrying the darkspawn bodies from the outside tethers had practically dropped them into their new home cages on the Quarantine platform, where they were then covered with the cage top and then had a full cargo container placed on top for good measure. A full contingent of security staff, armed with lethal weapons, surrounded the whole platform, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

"Ugly fuckers, aren't they?" Miller asked from the observation platform above the cages.

"Indeed, they are, Miller," Eleanor replied next to him.

"I ask again only for my peace of mind, Ahab," Bryce said, still in his wheelchair and still pushed by his wife, "are you sure these cages are secure? There is no chance these darkspawn would be able to escape?"

"We are taking every precaution, Bryce," Big Boss answered. "I don't like this any more than you do, but anything we can learn from these things could be helpful in our fight against them."

"I still don't know what exactly you expect to learn, Ahab," Eleanor said.

"I don't know either," he answered honestly. "But we won't know anything if we do nothing."

Miller said, "I'll dedicate an R&D team to studying these ones, Boss."

"Make sure they follow strict quarantine and sanitation guidelines, Miller."

"To the letter, Boss," Miller said, nodding in agreement.

The quartet spent another few minutes staring at the new "guests" of Mother Base before Big Boss turned away. "I'm going to get some sleep. Miller?"

"I got it from here, Boss. Go on. I'll call you if there's anything."

Big Boss nodded his thanks before walking toward the landing pad Pequod was still parked on.

Eleanor and Bryce looked on at the departing form of their…friend? Ally? – and pondered this latest achievement of his and his organization.

Neither of the Couslands were personally aware of any case where a darkspawn, even a singular one, was captured alive without significant losses. Big Boss had done it without so much as a scratch on any of his soldiers, and they had even managed to wipe out an entire contingent of darkspawn while they were at it.

"Love?" Bryce said.

"Yes, Bryce?" Eleanor replied.

"Would you mind bringing us back to our room? I would like to rest for a bit."