"So, this the place?" Nagant asked, stepping out of a black SUV. Even from three blocks away, the building was still noticeable. It loomed over everything nearby, its presence acting as some great symbol of despair. It was ironic, as the logo situated on the building suggested a more pleasant purpose.

"It is," Snake replied, carefully looking around the city streets. They had been dropped off on the outskirts of Poland, where a small group of heroes provided them a car. It had been a long drive over, but the mission had only just begun. It was late at night luckily, so the majority of the streets were clear. But that meant they stuck out like a sore thumb. Finding the area clear, he walked over to the rear of the SUV.

Opening the door, he pulled out two large guitar cases. With them in hand, he walked back over to Nagant and handed her one. Then with one last check of his surroundings, he pulled out his Idroid.

"We know what's in there?" Nagant asked, briefly inspecting the guitar case. Finding it satisfactory she slung it around her shoulder, as Snake pulled up a map.

"No," Snake replied, watching as the Idroid's hologram built up the floor plan of the building. Fifteen floors with hundreds of rooms and no information as to just how many people were inside. This was going to take a while. So, after a brief few seconds going over the building's blueprints, Snake turned over to Nagant.

"There's a small apartment complex in front of the building. I want you to take a position on it." Snake ordered, pointing off to the complex's location.

"Got it Boss," was Nagant's only reply, before walking off toward her location. Snake soon did the same, walking towards the large skyscraper. The closer he got, the more of an enigma the building seemed. It was both clean and orderly but also dirty and chaotic. Large parts of its walls had paint peeling and cracking, yet the layer underneath held a pristine condition.

It seemed both abandoned and occupied. Coming up to the main building's entrance, he eyed the main lobby through the windows. It was empty for the most part, with most of the lights turned off, but a lone security guard sat at the receptionist's desk. Behind him rested a pair of elevators, with the doors closed. After a quick look, Snake kept walking, moving towards a nearby alleyway.

Turning into the alley he opened the guitar case and pulled out the parts of his M4. Putting it together he then grabbed the rest of his equipment. He had his knife, pistol, flashbangs, zip ties, and of course, a collapsible cardboard box. With everything ready, he peeked out of the alleyway just as Nagant called over the codec.

"I'm in position," she began, "by the looks of it the second and third floors are pretty empty. But I can't be sure, so expect one maybe two guards, tops."

"Got it," Snake replied before turning back into the alley. From what he saw of the floor plans, the building has a backdoor in the alleyway. Sure enough, he found it, resting far off in the back. Its only defense was a broken security camera, hanging desperately on its wires. Sneaking up to the door, Snake inspected it carefully. Finding nothing to suggest it was connected to an alarm, he opened the door slowly.

Inside led to a large stairway with another door connecting to the lobby he saw. He then approached the second door and opened it as well, finding the large lobby. He thought the floor plans had been wrong at first, as they showed the entire first floor as one massive lobby. And he thought so when he peeked through the window. But looking out now he saw just how big the lobby was. The walls had been painted in a way that made the entire place look smaller than it actually was.

Not to mention a series of fake doors that went nowhere and only posed as a distraction. The entire floor was nothing but a massive lobby. But that didn't make sense. It was purposefully wasting space to hide nothing unless something was missing. Moving slowly Snake left the stairwell, drawing his pistol carefully. He approached the security guard undetected, the man lounging back in the receptionist's chair.

With one shot the guard fell unconscious, the tranquilizer acting almost immediately. With the only threat dealt with Snake continued to look around the room. Starting with the desk he found documents laid about sloppily. It was all unorganized and reeked of coffee. None of the documents held anything valuable though, all were just leftover mail from several sources. Although, one did get Snake's attention.

It was a letter from a Russian railway company, dated back a week ago. Its main contents were discussing a package that had been shipped off to Siberia, listed only as a Polish Artifact. That was telling enough, but Snake still held it with a grain of salt. It was convenient, far too convenient. Still, he had his Idroid scan the document over before hearing the elevator behind him ding. Swiftly he leapt over the receptionist's desk, before ducking behind it. The elevator door then opened with people talking inside.

"So, you're sure you have everything secured?" a guard asked as the two stepped out of the elevator. They both only gave the unconscious guard a single glance, and simply assumed he'd fallen asleep.

"For the last time, yes." the second guard answered tiredly. Both had been walking towards the exit now, preparing to leave the building. Snake decided that wasn't going to happen, as he pressed a button on his Idroid. It silently alerted Nagant who was now taking aim at the lobby.

"Just checking. You know how the Boss is." the first guard replied.

"I'll say, I swear something has to be wrong with the man." the second one stated.

"We traffic women and children on the daily, I don't think we have the right to speak."

"I'm saying he's more deranged dumbass. I mean what does he even do with them? With how much we're getting paid it's got to be something big." the second guard began, "Besides, something just feels… off about him. Like he isn't there when you're talking to him."

"That's just crazy talk." the first counter as he grabbed the door handle. The second guard only sighed and shook his head in response.

"I don't know what to tell you, but something just isn't right."

They then opened the door, before the first one fell unconscious. The second guard looked on confused as his buddy collapsed.

"What the…" was all he could mutter before checking over his ally, "Hey, you good?"

He didn't notice Snake rapidly approaching him. In a quick few seconds, Snake held up his pistol, before speaking.

"Hands in the air," he ordered the guard slowly doing so. But as he moved Snake spotted the guard's arm slowly change shape. Realizing what was happening, Snake grabbed the guard's arm, before covering the guard's mouth. In a split few seconds, he shoved the guard's arm down and stuck out his knee. The guard's arm made contact and the bone snapped. The guard let out a small muffled cry, as Snake removed his hand from the guard's mouth.

"Y-you bastard!" was all the guard could manage. Wasting no time Snake returned the guard's attention to his pistol, before putting his boot on the guard's chest. Quickly the guard went pale.

"Where are the prisoners?" Snake demanded, slowly pushing his foot down.

"I don't know what you're talking about." the guard stammered out, attempting to ignore the pain in his arm. It was a weak-willed defiance, Snake noted, before bringing his gun over the guard's head.

"Answer the question, where are they?" Snake demanded again.

"Look, I really don't know what you're talking about. We're a production company we don't have prisoners." the guard replied to which Snake unholstered the guard's sidearm.

"We're going to try this one last time before I pull this trigger. Where are the prisoners?" Snake demands, now firmly planted on the guard's forehead. Panicked the guard stammers out "I don't know! They're not here! A couple of trucks arrived three hours ago and took them some place! That's all I know!"

Angry at the lack of information, Snake pulled the trigger, the tranquilizer round acting quickly. Though not too quickly, the guard was still conscious for a brief few seconds as he heard Snake pull the trigger. Dissatisfied Snake examined the room for hiding spots. Yet the floor was empty, not a piece of furniture in sight. So, Snake did the hard thing and carried the guards out to the alleyway and shoved them into a dumpster. He left the one at the receptionist's desk though, it would be suspicious if he had disappeared.

With the first floor cleared Snake went back inside and entered the stairwell. Looking up he sadly found the stairs only went to the fourteenth floor. So, he might have to risk using the elevator. That was for later though as Snake made his ascent up the stairs. All the while he kept his eyes on his surroundings. Reaching the second floor, he found it to be nothing but office space. It held dozens of small cubicles and as Nagant had reported, was essentially empty.

After a quick check of the floor, he found nothing to be out of the ordinary. It was just a basic workspace. So, he quickly went back and checked over the third floor. This one was also an office space; however, it wasn't as empty as the last one. Two guards sat in two cubicles lounging about. Both were mutants by the looks of it, as one was a sentient lamp and the other a brick-built Lego head.

From what Snake could hear the Lego head guard was playing something on a cubicle's computer while the lamp-headed guard fiddled with their pistol, an MP-443. Quietly Snake approached the two, pulling out his knife. With his knife in one hand and pistol in the other, he prepared to strike as the guards talked.

"Can't you take this seriously for one second?" the lamp-headed guard said, a slight glare somehow present on his face. The Lego-headed guard simply scoffed, both unaware of how close Snake had gotten.

"They don't pay me enough for that." the Lego-headed guard argued to which the Lamp-headed guard groaned in annoyance.

"They don't pay you enough 'cause you don't do shit! I've been here three weeks and all I've seen you do is fuck around with that computer." the Lamp guard countered before turning away from his ally. With the opportunity arriving Snake snuck up behind the Lego-headed guard and aimed his pistol at the back of his head.

"They want me off the computer then they can pay me more." the Lego head countered, with Snake shooting him as soon as he finished. His body leaned forward almost slamming into the desk, but Snake kept him in place.

"This is why I can't get a raise." the Lamp guard muttered, unaware of his ally's now unconsciousness. It wasn't for long though, as Snake holstered his pistol and yanked the guard out of his chair. Putting the guard into a chokehold Snake brandished his knife in front of the guard's throat, immediately stopping the guard's resistance. Hoping to get some new info Snake demanded "Where are the prisoners?"

The guard simply pondered his options for a moment, before noticing Snake's knife get closer to his neck.

"They were shipped out of here three hours ago. A couple of semis drove them off somewhere." the guard answered to which Snake became more annoyed. It was the same answer as the first guard, but at least he had a truck type.

"Where were they going?" Snake demanded.

"I don't know. Higher-ups don't tell us, only the drivers." the guard replied to which Snake grumbled annoyed.

"The trucks, what did they look like?"

"I didn't get a good enough look. I think one was a dark grey, with tinted windows. That's all I know." the guard replied, to which Snake brought the knife closer.

"Wait I'm serious! That's all I know!"

Finding the guard no longer useful, Snake choked him unconscious, before pondering his next move. He still had thirteen floors to check, but none of Showstopper's victims were there. Annoyed, Snake decided to press forward hoping to find any new information.

Miller was in a predicament. Going over the MSF's next move in Africa had been difficult too. Every choice had a dozen different factors and smaller choices they needed to consider. For example, they needed land for the refugees, both for food and resources but also for homes and strategic objectives. For example, there were large oilfields that the MSF didn't want in Militant hands. However, that meant giving up sections of vital farmland.

It was a complex ordeal that took every detail and number into account. This led to the ultimate question where do they go? They could try to capture a city to house everyone, but that meant abandoning even more land. Even worse that wasn't accounting for how long it would take, how many people already lived in the city, and how much abandoned ordinance they would have to clean up.

I mean World War I was centuries ago, and yet they were still digging up live artillery shells in France. They didn't need small children stumbling across abandoned landmines and getting curious. So, with a quick breath, Miller rubbed his eyes and looked at the officers assembled in front of him.

"Alright let's start simple gentlemen. Has anyone found a suitable location?" Miller asked. He had a few in mind, but second opinions never hurt. One officer nodded, bringing up a map on his Idroid.

"I believe I have sir; this is Mgbaba. A relatively small town with twenty-five thousand people. It's situated close to the coastline, so our naval forces should reach it quickly." the officer began, "And if reports are correct, it has a mix of resources we could use. Some small oil fields, a few rivers, farmland, and its infrastructure should hopefully be intact."

Miller didn't share the officer's hope. Africa had been at war for two hundred years after all, so its quality may be in the realm of "well it works" or "it needs some work". Still, they could work with that.

"What about enemy presence?" Miller asked, as a different officer stepped forward.

"From what we've gathered in the field the area should be relatively scarce, as the enemy has devolved into infighting between factions. Both sides have effectively whittled each other down drastically, however, I would still suggest caution."

Miller simply nodded at the officer's words. For now, Mgbaba seemed like their best option. Mentally Miller began counting up how much this was going to cost them, and the number didn't stop going up. This was going to be more expensive than the aircraft carrier and that thing had the MSF in the red for a long while.

"I want battle plans drawn up within the hour," Miller ordered, "And notify me the exact minute our naval forces make landfall."

"Yes sir."

It had been a while since Grizzly set foot on the FOB, and much had changed it seemed. Like with the first FOB and Mother Base, the entire place had been quickly built up. New residential platforms sat across the waves along with recreational platforms. It was a stark difference from when Grizzly had first arrived, back when it was only the military installations. Although he did have to wonder why everything was so spread out.

Every platform had massive walkways separating the platforms with several railcars for faster transportation. Now it made some sense, as some older soldiers told him of an incident involving another PMC. That the platforms were kept far apart to ensure if one fell it wouldn't take a second one with it. Still, it made walking around a bit annoying, especially after coming back from the field.

Everything felt sore, even after the medical team healed his arm. All in all, he just felt tired, both physically and mentally. So that left him with one question.

"Should I get Nigerian food, or should I try Sudanese?" he mused out loud, eyeing the two stands on the platform. He hadn't had it before, but it was either this or another stale MRE. That and the smell from both stands had drawn him there.

"Just pick something Rookie, the rest of us are hungry you know." Eagle commented, with the rest of the group nodding. Grizzly could only smile sheepishly before settling on something called Suya. Now for a reason Grizzly didn't understand, Ape had ordered the platoon to stick together for at least a week. Some had protested but the Lieutenant's word was final. At least it was only a week, Grizzly surmised before taking a bite out of his suya.

The moment he did so, he plunged himself into a coughing fit, his face red as he tasted the spices. The platoon simply chuckled as one man passed him something to drink.

"Can't handle the heat?" Eagle joked.

"I should have reread the menu," Grizzly gasped out, his taste buds no longer on fire. As if to spite him Eagle got suya as well and devoured it unfazed. His face didn't even change tints.

"How?" was Grizzly's only word as Eagle gave him a sly grin.

"I can handle spices Rookie, it's the weather that can fuck off." Eagle replied, before turning to look at a flatscreen TV. It caught Grizzly by surprise when he saw it, especially with the large crowd gathered around it. A soccer game played on its screen, but he didn't recognize the teams.

"This international?" Grizzly asked.

"Not sure," Eagle replied, "The away team seems to be Colombia, but I can't tell who the home team is."

"We're the home team," a different soldier commented, dragging their attention over to him.

"Us?" Eagle asked surprised, to which the soldier nodded.

"Yeah, it's a more recent thing. Apparently, it's a friendly game happening in the Venezuela FOB right now." the soldier answered to which Eagle let out a small chuckle.

"Well, it's a shame we're losing then."

"Ain't that a bit pessimistic," Grizzly countered, "Game still has an hour left Staff Sergeant."

"Really? Want to bet on it then?" Eagle asked, before pulling out a wad of cash. Grizzly didn't hesitate to oblige him, doing the same. He would come to regret this, as an hour later the Colombian team had won.

"Damn it," he muttered, forking over a pair of fifty-dollar bills. Shaking his head, he turned back over to the small park in the center of the platform. A bunch of kids were all running amuck all over the place, bringing a small smile across his face. Yet, something drew his eyes away, a young voice.

"Excuse me?"

He turned around, finding a little girl standing beside him. In her hands was a small doll, with button eyes and a stitched mouth. But nothing was defining about the kid. That's all they were, a kid. He couldn't make out what their face looked like, or what their race was. It just seemed foggy.

"What's up kid?" he asked, almost subconsciously, yet he barely heard his own voice. It echoed around him, yet he couldn't hear it. The kid looked up at him, he thought before she turned her head to the side. It unnerved Grizzly, but he couldn't tell why.

"Why didn't you help me?" the girl asked, small coughs lining the last word.

"What?"

"Why didn't you help me?" the girl asked again, now coughing in between every word. Pieces of her skin began flaking away as a smokey scent hit Grizzly's senses. The doll in her hands became fleshy and charred, the girl's hands disappearing into the doll. Shocked Grizzly stepped back, but he didn't seem to move. He looked down and found his feet moving but every step did nothing.

"Why didn't you help me?" the girl asked again, her skin now charred and gone. Barebone and muscle took its place, blackened and scorched. The smell of smoke got strong making it hard to breathe as Grizzly fought through it. His lungs seemed to fail him as he tried to breathe in. His eyes came back up from the ground before Grizzly stopped breathing. He couldn't, his brain wouldn't let him.

The face of the girl was recognizable now. How could he ever forget the charred corpse he found back in the radioactive zone. She was standing right in front of him, her head unable to support itself as it drooped forward. The thin lines of burnt muscle were the only thing holding it to the neck. He… he couldn't do anything. He never could do anything. He tried to step away from the corpse.

He tried to look away, but he couldn't. His eyes were fixated on the girl, examining her burns and exposed muscle. Grizzly just couldn't look away. He didn't realize it, but his hands started shaking. His entire body soon followed as he tried to wrench his eyes away. He wanted to run out of this burnt-out house. Run out of this charred village and forget about becoming a hero.

He couldn't deal with this. He never thought this was what he would deal with as a hero. He couldn't do this. He couldn't do this. He couldn't do this. He couldn't do this.

And just like that, it was over. He blinked, once, twice, a third time. Regaining his senses, he smelt the cool sea air around him. Slowly he remembered where he was, kind of. He wasn't at the park anymore, instead, he stood on one of the walkways overlooking the ocean. Did he walk out here? He couldn't remember. He gasped for air then, realizing he hadn't been breathing. Grizzly went over everything, confused, only to find a tired Eagle running up to him.

"Holy fuck," the staff sergeant wheezed out, clearly out of breath, "you are fast when you want to be Rookie. What the hell were you doing?"

Grizzly tried to respond but his voice came out as a hoarse cough, so he decided on a small shrug. It left Eagle shocked for a moment before the staff sergeant had Grizzly sit down. With a somber look on his face, Eagle sat down next to him. They didn't speak, not yet. Eagle simply waited for Grizzly to go. Reluctantly, Grizzly spoke up.

"What uh, what happened?" he asked nervously, not sure what he had done in the last… however long it had been. Eagle seemed like he had been running for a while after all. Somberly though Eagle answered him.

"Well, you turned away to look around, before staring at the park for a few minutes. Then you stood up and started running. I chased after you for a few moments, before I found you here." Eagle explained. A small silence hung between the two, as Grizzly brought his hands to his face.

"You want to talk about it?" Eagle asked. He was the only one who understood Ape's reasoning. The two had been in similar circumstances after Venezuela. And it helped. Grizzly didn't know though, he wanted to say he was fine. It was a hallucination nothing more, he tried to reason. But his eyes disagreed with him, as he felt something wet stream down his face.

"Damn it," was all he could mutter. He tried to keep a strong face, to remain unfazed, to remain calm. But he couldn't. So, he wept, as quietly as he could. Eagle said nothing. No judgment, no condescending or disappointing tone. He just sat there, staying with him. Slowly he stopped, wiping his face with his hands.

"I thought I could do this." he muttered, his hands now shaking.

"We all did Rookie," Eagle replied, "we all did."