By the time Quiet had caught up with them, Venom stepping into the open to wave her down when he heard the cracks of her movement, he had been able to consider something.
"Did they assign you an iDroid?"
It might not be overly useful for her under normal circumstances, the silent sniper only needing one way communications, but right now it could see them safely back to Mother Base.
A possibility that wasn't to be.
Venom nodded, sighing.
"Of course that would be too easy. Mines busted, can't contact the others. We need to rest up, before we can work on getting back to base. If you'll take watch, I'll gather food and water."
Quiet gave a quick look around the ruins and wasteland surrounding them before looking back at him.
Venom chuckled quietly.
"Yeah, I know how it looks, but you can find food anywhere if you know where to look. Ever eaten snake? Tastes like chicken or fish… what was that look for?"
Her response was to stare him in the eye for a few seconds, before vanishing to take up watch position.
Venom gave a mental shrug, before starting the search.
His luck seemed to be changing, finding an empty canteen (one he confirmed was uncontaminated, to the best of his ability) abandoned in one of the first ruins he checked, before starting the search for supplies proper.
Water was straightforward, a trickle through the rocks he used to clean out the canteen before drinking his fill, the filled canteen for Quiet and Code Talker to share.
Food was harder.
There was plenty of wildlife around, but most on the list from the conservation group and decidedly not for eaten.
Or venomous, and not for eating.
By the time he had to give up, the air growing cold as day turned to night, he had enough food for one person rather than three.
Hopefully they wouldn't be stuck out here long enough for the consequences of too little to eat to set in…
Quiet had taken shelter in the same ruined building as he'd left Code Talker, Venom discovered when he returned, the elderly man having regained consciousness in his absence.
"What's going on? I thought you were taking me to your base," he joked weakly.
"Pequod was forced down, my radio broke in the crash," Venom reported. "I… should be able to get in contact in the morning, but if not we'll have to 'borrow' some radio equipment, call for extraction that way. What was that, the cloud that targeted us?"
Code Talker grimaced.
"Metallic Archaea. I developed it, to purify radioactive materials. I had no idea Skullface could alter it to target regular metal. Did any supplies make it?"
"No, but I found some water and food," Venom held up the canteen and snakes he'd found. "Had my share of water where I filled it up, the rest is for you two."
"You mean to eat those? Wouldn't that be cannibalism?"
Venom simply rolled his eye at the joke.
It wasn't the first time he… Naked Snake had heard it before.
"Don't suppose you have a burger? No, just the water for us."
"You both need to keep your strength up," Venom warned.
"The parasites we have, we don't need food. Just water, air and some sun. I'll leave the snakes to you."
Venom shrugged in acceptance, handing the canteen over. "Your choice. Guess that makes supplies easier though…"
]
Ocelot stood in the command center, his presence likely setting the comms officers on edge, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
The possible loss of Snake here was a concern, but not a disaster.
His utility as a phantom for Big Boss was pretty much at an end.
Code Talker on the other hand?
Without him, they could lose the entirety of the Diamond Dogs, rendering everything he'd done since the hospital was attacked pointless, and setting back the Patriot agenda, or at least Big Boss's side of it, immeasurably.
Finally the radio sounded.
"Queequeg speaking. We've found Pequod. Or what's left of them at any rate."
"Report."
"Helicopter down, pilot didn't make it. Bodies of Skulls in the area, seems to be an abandoned airfield."
"And Snake? Code Talker?"
"No sign of them. Looks like they got away, but we can't find any tracks."
"Nothing?"
"It's like a sandstorm came through, any tracks have been wiped clean until we had to accept we wouldn't be able to tell if it was them. Orders sir?"
Ocelot tried to keep himself calm, to consider his options.
"If Snake is still alive, he's going to find a way to contact us, we want to be able to rescue him as soon as possible," he decided. "Set down somewhere safe nearby until we can get a fix on his location."
/Are you sure? I mean, if he hasn't been able to contact us yet, his iDroid must be damaged, and we don't know how much of his other gear is damaged."
"Do you know where the name 'Naked Snake' came from?"
Ocelot didn't wait for an answer.
"It's from his superiors sending him into the field without gear, expecting him to complete the mission with what he could salvage. As long as he is alive, you can count on him making his way back."
There was a pause.
"Understood, sir."
]
Venom and Quiet took watch in turns, keeping Code Talker out of the rotation, Venom taking the final shift.
It didn't leave him as well rested as if he'd got the full nights sleep, but it was enough to replenish his energy.
Before Code Talker was moving, he used his power to access his storage.
As hoped, one of his older iDroids was still in there, and he hastened to try contacting Mother Base.
"Do you read me?"
The response was gibberish, scrambled.
"Mother Base, are you there?"
More incoherent noise.
"Sounds like you're using different ciphers."
Venom glanced over to see Code Talker had woken.
"Sorry?"
"I used to be involved in encoding and deciphering messages, before they figured out how to make computers that could do it automatically. That is the sound of the signal not being translated properly."
"They must have changed the codes since I stopped using this model. We'll need another way to get in contact…"
"You can't update the codes with your current model? I won't ask why you have an out of date model on you."
"That is a long story, best told when we're safe on Mother Base. And the codes… from what I recall, the iDroid was designed so that you can't get at the cipher, even if you disassemble it. Not really my area of expertise, so…"
"Some kind of program card that becomes unusable when exposed to air, perhaps? Regardless, if we don't have the cipher you need, how do you intend to contact this, 'Mother Base'?"
"The iDroid network may be secured, but we still have radios. If we can get to one of the communications consoles, I can get onto our frequency and call for help."
"How do you intend to find somewhere with this communication equipment? We're out in the middle of nowhere, trapped between hostile forces."
Venom switched his iDroid to map view, displaying the local area.
It didn't have the level of detail he was used to, giving the names of the bases and villages, but he could still make an educated guess about where he was likely to find the equipment.
"Impressive. It seems technology is taking over all areas of war, except the actual fighting."
"There have been people working on that leap," Venom noted, trying to work out the best target to hit, taking a moment to acknowledge Quiet as she woke.
It needed to be large enough to have communication equipment, but small enough for him and Quiet to secure, with Code Talker kept close enough to be evacuated should the response from Mother Base be swift.
Actually, with his energy reserve replenished, he could invoke his Titans again, add extra numbers to the assault or protect Code Talker.
It looked like there was a good option relatively nearby, which he and Quiet could take over without needing further assistance, and Venom marked that as their target.
He closed the map, before hesitating about how to bring up the subject of the Titan he planned on using to protect Code Talker, before electing to put it off for now.
"I have a good place to start. With luck we'll be able to secure a line to Mother Base and call for pickup."
"Then let's get started," Code Talker declared, struggling to his feet, glaring Venom back when he tried to help. "I'm old, not invalid. Not fully at least, not yet."
"In that case, time to move out."