The helicopter soared over the water, keeping low and close to the sea to avoid a nonexistent radar. Inside the cabin, Snake was pulling on his sneaking suit, his uniform thrown onto the seats at the back of the chopper. Quiet was idly watching him change as he finally got the damn thing on. He sat down at his usual seat, adjusting his prosthetic as his radio crackled to life.

"Boss, what's your plan?" Miller asked over the radio.

Snake replied, "Find something that can tell us where we are."

"Or someone."

"You think we'll need to kidnap someone for intel?"

Ocelot entered the conversation with a reply, "Desperate times Boss."

Snake sighed, "Fine, is our Fulton system functional?"

"Should be." Miller replied, "If it's not, we'll let you know."

Snake nodded as the pilot yelled back into the cabin, "Boss, we got land!"

Snake stepped up towards the cockpit, looking out the window where a sliver of land could be seen on the horizon. Quiet got up from her seat, standing next to Snake and also looking at the land on the horizon. Snake whipped out his binoculars and was scanning the slowly growing land mass in front of him. "There's a castle on an island at 11 o'clock. About… 3 klicks out."

The pilot nodded and adjusted his course. "Set you down on top of it?"

Snake shook his head. "No, set me down near the bottom of the island. I'll scale the cliff up." He kept scanning. "There's an island to the west of the castle. Set Quiet down on that." He put away his scope and put a hand on Quiet's shoulder. "Quiet, cover me while I head up the walls and mark an exfil route if I get caught. Got it?" Quiet nodded and Snake walked back to his seat and started to check his weapons. Quiet soon took a seat as the chopper got closer and closer to the castle.

"Boss, did you say 'castle'?" Miller asked over the radio.

"Yeah," Snake replied, "Make sure to record everything during the mission. We need everything we can get."

The pilot turned back into the cabin and yelled, "Bout 2 minutes out, Boss."

Snake nodded and opened the chopper door, strapping himself in as he sat on the edge of the floor. Ahead of the chopper was the castle he'd spotted through his scope. Snake had thought he'd seen gargoyles on the edges of the towers. But now he could see his eye had failed him. The whole damn castle was like a bunch of dragons sitting on a massive rock surrounded by high, thick walls. "What the hell…" Quiet walked out and hung off the side of the door next to Snake as the two looked at the strange castle before them. The chopper turned and got close to the cliff, hovering over a rocky outcropping near the bottom of the cliff. The castle, with it's strange décor, was above them. Snake leapt off the chopper onto the outcropping, landing in a crouch as the chopper began to rise, Quiet still hanging out the door watching him as the chopper flew off.

Snake sighed, looked up at the cliff before him. May as well get started, he thought as he started the slow climb up the rock face. As he kept up the climb his comm sprung to life. "Boss, should we sent out a dispatch mission somewhere else?" Miller asked.

Snake paused his climb to respond, "Yeah, send the best team we have on that. We can't afford to lose anyone here."

"Got it Boss." The radio went quiet as Snake kept climbing. He was half way up the cliff when he heard the familiar crackle of his radio again. It was a brief burst of static, meaningless to anyone else but to Snake it meant that Quiet was in position and on overwatch for him. He let himself quickly sigh with relief then keep going.

By the time Snake had reached the top of the cliff, the sun had fallen and night had arrived. Luckily for the soldier, there was no moon that night. Perfect sneaking conditions. Snake got up over the edge and looked at the wall before him, stretching up into the night. Then, he saw it. Jutting out of the wall was a balcony and, lucky for him, there was a crack leading right up to it. He took a moment to smirk at his luck then began to scale the wall, digging his fingers into the crack as he pushed himself up the wall. He grabbed the side of the balcony and went to pull himself up only to hear the door open and footsteps out onto the balcony. Snake immediately hung himself down from the edge of the bannister, hoping to whatever god there is that he wouldn't be noticed. Luckily, the two men were in their own discussion.

"Hey, did you see that woman that arrived a few days ago?" Came one of the voices, speaking a what Snake thought might be some kind of British accent, something he'd hear in some fantasy film.

"Aye, she's from some Essos city I heard. Don't really care, she's something to look at."

"Do you always think with yer damned cock? She's apparently got some kinda power."

"Bah, all she does is stare at fire all day. The 'ell could she do with that?"

"Yeah, yeah…" The footsteps faded and the door closed. Snake immediately pulled himself back onto the balcony and shook his hands, trying to get feeling back into them. He looked at the door then pulled out his tranq pistol, slowly opening the door with his gun at the ready. He crept into the hallway, looking left and right as he sank into a crouch. He listened and, hearing the footsteps to his left, went right, gun at the ready.

The castle was dark, deary, and tight. The murk was only broken up by a torch on the walls. Snake of course had no complaints about this, a lack of light was where he did his best work. He kept his gun up as he kept walking through the passageways when his radio flared to life with Miller's voice. "Boss, got some bad news, apparently the castle doesn't have a safe LZ on it."

Snake slipped into a small alcove before responding in a whisper. "So, my only way out if how I got in?"

"That or a fulton. Good luck, Boss."

Snake nodded, "Keep me informed." The radio shut off as he got back out into the hallway. As he kept walking, he felt the air grow hotter and hotter. Most of the castle had been wet and cold but the air was slowly growing drier and hotter as he walked. He finally reached a wooden door at the side of the hallway. He could see flickering light coming from below the door and could feel the heat without even touching the door. His best guess was someone had a bonfire in the room. He reached out to open the door when he heard the hinges squeak. He immediately ducked into an alcove and kept his gun at the ready, aimed at the door. Said door swung open and out stepped a gorgeous woman dressed in a red dress. The dress clung to her curves, leaving her shoulders and the tops of her breasts exposed before flowing down into a skirt that lightly brushed the floor as she moved. The fire within the room made her hair shimmer. Yet, despite her beauty, Snake felt unsettled. It felt like he was looking at the boy with the gas mask, that psychic that worked with Eli. The woman closed the door and turned to leave before stopping and looking around. Then, she looked right into Snake's eyes. He knew that chances are she couldn't see him through the dark but he felt she knew he was there. Her eyes, almost a brownish yellow color met his single blue one for a moment before she smiled like she knew some big secret no one else did then turned to leave. She walked down the hall a short distance to the door at the end then went through the door, but left it open.

Snake walked down to the door and peered through it. Before him was a huge dining hall with tables stretching the length of the room. At one end of the room sat another table with chairs all facing the rest of the hall. The room was filled with men and women, drinking and carrying on like his men did during their parties. At the head table, Snake saw the red haired woman sit down at the left, or right from her perspective, of a severe man dressed in full plate armor sitting on an ornate wooden chair, a crown adorning his balding head. He pulled out his binoculars and looked at the head table through them, using the directional microphone to attempt to hear their conversation. Sadly for him, the noise of the feast blocks all attempts to use the microphone so he put away his scope and slipped into the room, staying crouched as he slowly walked into the room. He stopped when he got a clear view of the head table, slipping into the shadows and watching.

An old man dressed in a simple robe with a chain around his neck came up to the table and began to speak with the man in plate armor. The robed man spoke with the knight, Snake assumed, before eventually sitting at an empty chair next to the man sitting to the right, Snake's right, of the knight. The feast went on and Snake swore that once or twice the red woman met his gaze again, making him tense up each time. Things began to pick up when Snake saw the robed man who'd arrived earlier slip some form of crystal into someone's drink. Snake watched, knowing that the red woman had to know the drink had been poisoned, she'd noticed him after all and that was much tougher. He watched as the red woman and robed man talked about something, he still couldn't hear them then the woman in red downed most of the glass, leaving only one sip left before handing it to the robed man. Said man sighed, apparently steeling himself before taking the drink. The ruby necklace around the woman in red's neck began to glow as the robed man clutched at his throat, choking before keeling over.

Having seen enough, Snake withdrew from the feast, slowly creeping back into the hallway before beginning the journey back to the balcony for extraction. As he passed the flame room, the door behind him opened and Snake dove back into the alcove he'd hidden in earlier, keeping his gun handy as people filed out of the hall. Most were too drunk to walk straight, much less notice him lurking in his corner. Finally the knight in plate armor passed by with an unattractive woman at his side and the flow stopped. Snake stepped out of his alcove when the door to the flame room opened in front of him, blocking his path. He looked into said room to see the woman in Red standing before a large bonfire. She turned and looked at Snake before intoning, "Come."

Snake looked around the hallway then slowly stepped inside, both hands still on his tranq gun as the door closed behind him. Over the radio he heard Ocelot call, saying, "Boss, what are you doing?" Snake ignored him, watching the woman who began to walk towards him, swaying her hips as she came to a stop right in front of him, lightly laying a hand on his chest. Her hand burned even through his sneaking suit as she looked at him. "I have seen you in the fire, an army lost with no home." She began to circle him, running a hand across his back. "I am Melisandre, priestess of R'hllor the Lord of Light." Her hand left his back as she took a step away from him, bowing low and putting a hand to her chest. "Welcome."

Snake was unfazed by her movements, all that time with Quiet in the chopper helped deal with such issues, and responded. "You saw me earlier."

She nodded, smiling another secretive smile. "Both in the flesh and in the flames. A horned man with an arm of metal ruling a metal island." She turned and walked to her fire. "R'hllor has use of you, horned man."

Snake stepped forward holstering his gun. "Who's R'hllor? Is he that man in the armor?"

She looked at him, smiling as an adult does to a child before answering. "R'hllor is the one true God, the Lord of Light, the source of all that is good in this world."

Over the radio, Snake heard Ocelot snort. "Great, a religious radical. Be careful Boss."

Melisandre went on. "I have come to ensure the rise of Azor Ahai, who must destroy the Great Other." She turned to the fire and clasped her hands as in prayer before continuing. "For the night is dark and full of terrors."

Snake was unimpressed with her theatrics. "Why tell me all of this? I don't believe in your god."

She turned and looked at him, lowering her hands. "You will serve him regardless." She began to walk sensuously towards Snake. "There are many threats to Azor Ahai, threats you will end for me." She went to cup the side of his face only for Snake to grab her arm with his prosthetic left hand. She smiled again, amused by Snake. "You shall kill Joffery Lannister for me."

Snake scowled. "Why?"

She kept smiling. "Because you must."

Snake forced her hand down and took a step back, "I'm not interested in following your god's orders."

Melisandre let her hand drop. "And if I promise information and wealth? Azor Ahai will reward his followers as will R'hllor."

Snake paused, "What kind of reward."

She smiled like a cat with a rat in its grip and walked over to a table, picking up a hefty tome and handing it to Snake, who took it and looked it over. "This is a basic guide to Westeros. Use what it contains to end Joffery Lannister and you will have my Lord's gratitude."

Snake's radio activated as Miller gave his thoughts. "Boss, take the book and come back to Mother Base. We should talk this out first."

Snake nodded and put held the book in his left hand. Melisandre took his nod to be agreement and nodded. "Good, return to me when this task is done and you shall be rewarded." She turned back to her fire and the door opened. Snake took the chance and left the room as fast as he could, breathing a sigh of relief when he entered the hallway. His radio crackled as Ocelot spoke. "Boss, looks like you got what you came for."

Snake nodded. "Yeah, tell the chopper to prep for a fulton extraction." He changed frequencies, contacting Quiet. "Quiet, we're pulling out. Trigger your fulton." The radio hissed once as Quiet acknowledged and Snake drew his tranq pistol, his other hand carrying the book as he slowly began to head down the hall. He eventually reached the door back onto the balcony. He went to open it only for it to open as two men with swords went to walk into the hallway only to see Snake. "The hell?!" One of them cried as they drew their swords. Snake however, was faster, raising his pistol and firing a tranquilizer dart into the head of one of the guards before dropping the pistol, ducking under the other guard's frantic swing, grabbing the guard's tunic and throwing him into the wall behind him. The guard slumped against the wall, the wind knocked out of him as Snake picked up his pistol and bashed him in the head with the grip, knocking the guard unconscious. Down the hall cries of "Hey, what was that?" could be heard and Snake pulled the tranqed guard into the hall before stepping out onto the balcony and closing the door.

Now out on the balcony, Snake pulled out a fulton system and strapped down the book before pulling the activation cord, watching the book float into the air before it shot off into the night sky. Behind him, the door was flung open to see three guards with swords drawn. Snake pulled a stun grenade off his belt, yanked out the pin and dropped it at his feet before throwing himself off the edge of the balcony towards the waters below. As he fell, he heard the stun grenade go off and cries of disorientation above him as he pulled his fulton activation cord. The balloon wasn't enough to stop his descent but did slow it down enough to give him time to think. After chambering the next round of his pistol, he turned and began to swing back and forth, his left hand extending towards the rock face as his right hand still held the pistol. As his drop kept slowing he heard the strain of the tethers holding the balloon strain. As he stopped, and just before said tethers failed, Snake grabbed the cliff with his left hand, raised his right hand and shot the balloon. It of course popped the moment the dart hit it and Snake dropped, his left hand only barely holding on as he dug his feet into the rock, finding purchase and stopping as the tethers fell slack on him.

Snake sighed with relief and holstered his pistol before slowly climbing back down to where he'd been dropped off. Upon finally landing, and taking a few deep breaths to calm down, he put a hand to his ear piece and called the chopper.

"Pequod, Pequod this is the Boss, requesting pick up over."

The radio crackled as a response was heard. "This is Pequod, specify pick up point, over."

"Roger, pick up point is where I was dropped, over."

"Copy that, Boss. En route to LZ. Over."

The radio went dead as Snake visibly relaxed. Infiltrations were always stressful, especially with unfamiliar territory such as this. He looked up as the sounds of the helicopter could be heard over the sea. And soon enough, the comforting sight of the chopper appeared through the night sky, hovering over the outcropping as Snake's radio blasted the message. "This is Pequod, on station at LZ."

Snake hopped up and climbed into the chopper, strapping himself in as he sat on the edge of the floor. Inside, Quiet was in her usual seat and smiled at him as the chopper took off. Snake watched as the strange keep faded into the night from his spot before getting up, closing the door and sitting at his usual seat. After a quick smile towards Quiet he got comfortable in his seat for the ride home.

A couple hours later, the helicopter sat down on the command platform's lower helipad. Snake opened the door to see Ocelot and Miller standing at the pad's edge along with the usual 4 or 5 soldiers also there to greet him. The troops saluted as Snake walked up to his two lieutenants. Ocelot had the book he'd fultoned under his arm as Miller nodded in greeting, "Welcome back, Boss."

Ocelot turned. "We have a lot to talk about, come on." He started walking towards the main building with Miller following along. Snake took one look back at the chopper, or rather at its other passenger, before following Miller and Ocelot into the building.

Up near the top of the main building, under the floor where Snake, Ocelot and Miller slept was the War Room, where operations where planned and oversaw. Usually the room was filled with men and maps but tonight the men were asleep and the maps were useless. Ocelot walked into the room and took a seat at the main table with Miller and Snake doing the same. Once all were seated, Ocelot opened the book and spoke, "Alright that book that… Melisandre right?" Snake nodded and Ocelot went on. "Right, her. That book she gave you has been a gold mine so far."

Miller nodded his agreement, "We've had copies made of it and had the Intel team studying it until about an hour ago."

Snake raised an eyebrow, "Why'd they stop?"

Ocelot cleared his throat, "We thought it best that the men get plenty of rest, what with whats happened. Some still don't believe they're alive."

Miller put his one elbow on the table. "The Medical team recommended they be allowed to rest and not be put under any stress just yet. Said you should do the same."

Ocelot but in. "It's also why we didn't send people out on recon other than you."

Snake nodded, "We don't have the luxury of not being able to send anyone out. I'll respect the Medical Team's judgement but I'm going to keep operating."

Miller nodded. "Your call, Boss. Now, about this job offer…"

"We think it's best to see what kind of leader this Joffery guy is before moving in on him." Ocelot said, "We don't need to get dragged into a fight without knowing the situation."

Miller shook his head. "I say we ignore the fire lady and use that book to decide our next move."

Ocelot sighed. "We do need supplies you know. Food, fuel, that sort of thing."

Snake leaned forward. "That's a good point, what about resources. How do we look?"

Miller answered. "Our policy of stockpiling supplies has left us with enough to last a while but we will need fuel and food eventually. We relied on contacts in the Seychelles to give us those but now we're on our own. Our solar panels will handle energy needs but otherwise, we'll run out eventually."

"How long?" Snake asked."

"Few weeks, longer if we ration it."

Snake nodded. "Alright, ration our non-renewable supplies for now. Any ideas how to solve this?"

Ocelot opened up the book. "This world is similar to medieval Europe. Constant warfare in one form or another." He flipped through the book until he reached a map. He pointed at a spot marked on the map. "There, King's Landing they call it. Apparently it's the current capital of Westeros."

"Westeros?"

Ocelot nodded. "That's what they call this continent. Made up of seven territories called kingdoms with each ruled by a family. Each family pays homage to the King of the Seven Kingdoms in King's Landing."

Miller added, "Regular feudal system. Nothing special really."

"We're lucky we speaking the language," Ocelot said. "Regardless, we'll need work and the king is the best place to get it. Just ask him what he needs killed or attacked and do it."

"Or her." Snake amended.

Miller smirked, "Not in a medieval world, Boss. It'll be a man. Count on it."

Snake nodded, "So, tomorrow we make for King's Landing for work? Overt entry then?"

Ocelot nodded. "Yup. Walk in, say hi and ask for work to do. If the King won't help, look for the Hand of the King. Apparently he's the king's XO according to this." He held up the book.

"Does it say who's king?" Snake asked.

"Says a guy named Robert Baratheon is king. Might've changed though. Information moves slow here."

Miller scoffed. "Good, gives us an edge. The best they have is a bow, we have a sniper rifle."

Ocelot sighed. "Regardless, set down outside the city and get to the King. Shouldn't be too hard, Boss. Oh, and another thing. We found something you may like." He got up and walked to the door.

Snake turned to watch Ocelot. "What is i-" He was cut off when Ocelot opened the door and a large wolf dog bounded in, barking and running up to Snake. He smiled and got out of the chair kneeling in front of the dog who started licking Snake's face. Miller watched, surprised. "Is that D-Dog?"

Ocelot smirked. "Yup, found him in Snake's room after he left. Looks like he came back too."

Snake stood up after petting D-Dog, wiping the saliva off his face. "Guess it's just like old times then."

Miller stood up, grabbing his crutch and walking to the door as he spoke in a tone dripping with sarcasm. "Only we're in some other world with Knights and Lords everywhere."

Ocelot shrugged. "At least we have work." He looked at Snake. "I figure we'll start the new trip tomorrow. Night, Boss." Miller nodded before quietly leaving the room. Snake soon followed with D-Dog at his heels, heading for his own room. It had been a long, strange day for Mother Base. But they were in a violent world. To some, it would be a nightmare but to the Diamond Dogs, it was business as usual.

AN: Hello ladies and gentlemen! Yes, I've already updated this fic. No, this will not be normal. I, sadly, have college to deal with. But hopefully, this will tide you guys over. First off, I decided to start the fic at the beginning of A Clash of Kings. Diamond Dogs is a merc group and war gives them plenty to do. Plus, I'm just more familiar with this time period in GoT. Now, on to the review responses (Which I'll try to do after each chapter.)

TheGOTAddict: As I said above, I decided to start the fic in A Clash of Kings. While the challenge did say to have them arrive in robert's Rebellion, I find this time period more... grey morally. Sure, Robert wasn't a shining hero but Aerys II was fucking nuts. A Clash of Kings has more iffy morality and that fits Diamond Dogs more, I think. As for romance, not gonna do a harem. Those are RARELY pulled off well and not only do I not feel confident enough to do that but both sides are monogamous (mostly). So yeah, thanks for the review though! Any feedback is much appreciated!

U.N.S. : To start, thank you for the review. Now then, as to romance as I said above, I plan to keep monogamous because harems are hard to do. I do like your point on Venom Snake and the women of GoT. Chances are I will be using Quiet, been trying to lay the groundwork for that so far. But, I may have to use your idea with GoT women falling for Big Boss's (his phantom's at least) charisma. It'd make things interesting. Not gonna say who (haven't decided yet) but we'll see. Thanks for the thoughts, gave me some good ideas!