Night Owl was almost disappointed. Everything was going according to plan, and that was boring. Something anything could go wrong, but it wasn't. He was practically begging for something to go wrong just so he could do something. For one unforeseen variable to actually make him stop and plan out his next move carefully. But alas, it went perfectly. Which meant another boring meeting with the President and her cronies.

"Do we have any new leads on who the saboteur is?" the President demanded, pacing around the room quickly.

"None I'm afraid," Gecko replied, fixing his worn-out suit. At this point, he should have bought a new one, Night Owl thought, it's been what four years? How much of a cheapskate was he?

"Whoever they are, they've covered their tracks well mam," Techno added, "and neither the Final Truth nor captured GCM personnel are willing to talk."

"Great, four years of searching and you haven't found anything." the President commented, drawing worried looks around the room.

"W-well that's not to say we're empty-handed, we at least know the saboteur has been sending resources to Africa now," Gecko replied back, immediately seeing his mistake.

"I thought you said you didn't have anything." the President stated dryly.

"Y-you asked if we had leads on who they were, not where."

Night Owl let out a chuckle as he watched the man squirm. He honestly couldn't tell how he feared this woman. Besides, he only found that information because Night Owl wanted him to.

"Then what are you doing here? Get your ass to Africa immediately!" the President ordered, "I don't care if you take half the country's heroes with you! Find anything on our mole!"

Gecko scrambled out of the room then, taking a slew of other HPSC personnel with him. It was only a shame the saboteur was no longer in Africa, instead being seated in the middle of this conference room. Slowly the President's attention turned over to him, the woman looking on with malice.

"The report on your experiments?" she demanded, with Night Owl's smile widening.

"Well, aside from the accident with Dr. Akira everything has gone in order. I managed to not open a portal into hell this time."

"So nowhere," the President surmised, rubbing her eyes. She couldn't be further from the truth. He had found out how to traverse dimensions quite recently actually, thanks to an… acquisition. But he couldn't tell her that, not now.

"I guess if you only view success through the lens of profit." Night Owl countered, his smug grin as wide as ever.

"You make it seem like theirs any other kind," the President rebuked. It angered Night Owl as she said it, but he never dropped the facade. Oh, there was much more to success than profit, especially with what he had in mind. Perhaps a change in plans was needed, something to mess with the President. Then he looked over to the Vice President, the fat bastard had fallen asleep.

Night Owl always hated him, not as much as the other people in the room, but enough. Soon enough an idea was beginning to form, one that would benefit him greatly.

Snake gazed through the binoculars, examining the mine in front of him. It was a massive pit, boring into the ground with hundreds of people digging away. Guards continually patrolled the area, both in the tunnels and around the top of the mine. But there was no sign of Night Owl or the Tyrant. This was confirmed by Nagant, who had taken a position on the other side of the mine.

"So, what now?" Nagant asked him as she looked through the scope of her rifle.

"You keep providing overwatch, I'll investigate the foreman's office. Afterwards were destroying this mine." Snake replied as he double-checked his equipment. Everything was ready, his FNC, Burkov, C4, grenades, and everything else. So slowly he made his approach, crawling up to the ledge of the mine. Looking down, he found the ground stable enough to climb down. He put one hand into a crack in the rock and went down carefully. As he climbed he would check over his shoulder to make sure he hadn't been spotted.

Once on the ground, he grabbed his codec and gave Nagant a new order. With a silenced Renov with tranq rounds, she began taking out guards unseen. She focused on the ones farther away from their comrades, ensuring they were unnoticed. Thanks to this, Snake approached an unsuspecting guard, finding the man sitting leisurely in a beach chair. He moved fast, grabbing the man into a chokehold and dragging him away.

"The foreman's office, where is it?" Snake demanded, brandishing his knife in front of the militant. He struggled for a while before caving in, as Snake neared the knife to his throat.

"Large tunnel, you can't miss it." the guard replied.

"Anything more specific?" Snake demanded again, as he looked around the area.

"The one with industrial equipment moving through it," he answered. Snake found what he meant. A massive tunnel was dug through the ground, with large trucks and drills going in and out of it. It was wide enough to fit two dump trucks through, and had lights and wires dug into the ceilings. He choked out the guard then and hid his body in a nearby dumpster.

He stuck to the shadows as he went forward, finding the area mostly clear of guards. Just as he noted that Nagant called over the codec.

"I got the majority of them, but I couldn't get a clear shot on eight of them. Be on the lookout."

Silently, Snake found the eight guards she was talking about. Two were in the wide tunnel, four were off to the side lounging next to a cooler, and the final two were patrolling far away. Deciding to finish the job, Snake focused on the group of four.

"Seriously, who in their right mind sends a hero to Africa?" one guard asked, taking a chug from his can of beer.

"I'll say, did you see the corpses we had to pick up that day. There was more spandex than there was flesh." another piped up, using a knife to open his can, "not to mention the heroes that just up and left!"

"How are you guys talking so casually about this? These are heroes for fucks sake! I thought we were done for!" a third exclaimed, having barely touched his own drink.

"Oh, that's right, you're new here," the first guard replied as realization struck his face, "trust me, heroes ain't got shit on a one o five shell."

"That's giving them too much credit, a five-five six round works good enough." the second guard commented.

Snake was right next to them now, and he slowly reached for a new grenade type. It was recently created by the R&D team and dubbed the sleeping gas grenade. Pulling the pin, he ducked off to the side before tossing it at the group of four. It rolled up to them when the first militant noticed. Before he could alert the others he passed out, his head landing in the cooler. The others soon followed as they slumped onto the ground.

The first group was done and Snake moved to the second group's position. They stood smoking at the entrance of the tunnel. It was too out in the open for a sleeping gas grenade, so he went with a different option. Grabbing a rock, Snake tossed it into the tunnel, distracting the guards. With both turning to investigate, Snake ran up to them.

With his Burkov in hand, he ran up to the first guard and grabbed him into a chokehold. The second guard, hearing movement behind him turned with his rifle raised. He stopped once he found his ally being restrained. The small pause was enough to allow Snake to shoot him in the end, with the anesthetic rounds acting quickly.

Then just like with his buddy, Snake turned the gun towards the militant he held in a chokehold, and fired. That left the last two guards. He could see them now, they were a bit far from him. They didn't seem to be of high importance yet, but just in case he made the trek anyway. Just like the last two he snuck up behind them, and tossed a rock.

This time however he approached slower, making his movements unnoticed. Once he was close enough, he silently choked out the first guard, before doing the same to the second. With everything cleared, he reentered the tunnel. He passed a large number of workers as he went. Most weren't even that old, with some seeming as old as six. That worried him as he moved forward. None spotted him luckily, so he made it to the office unseen. Surprisingly it was empty, allowing Snake to rummage through it unseen.

Finding the main desk, he began searching through its drawers. Nothing of value was found in any, mostly basic production reports. That did inform him of the purpose of the mine, however. This was one of the uranium pockets the Tyrant had claimed. It was small compared to others, but its size kept it hidden. He also found shipping data, showing the routes the uranium was being transported on.

Taking note of the information, he continued to look around. The desk was empty so he moved onto the filing cabinet, and found nothing in there either. All that was left was a closet in the back. He opened it expecting it to be empty, instead facing the barrel of a gun. The closet had a man in the back holding a Helwan pistol, with several children cowering behind him.

A dead body was also in the room, explaining the lack of security in the office.

"Don't move!" the man commanded, a hint of a British accent being heard. He kept his voice calm, but Snake could hear the anxiousness in it. He didn't appear to be a militant, his outfit resembling that of a civilian, compared to the fatigues of the Tyrants troops.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Snake replied to him, remaining as still as possible.

"Your attire says otherwise, who are you?!" the man demanded.

"You can call me Snake," he told him. It made the man seemingly pause for a second, as the kids with him looked at him differently then. With five words they had gone from fear to curiosity and starry eyes.

"Snake? …Your Big Boss?" the man asked, his worry seeming to waiver.

"I am." Snake confirmed, and the children ran up to him, ignoring the man's words

"Wait! He could be lying!" he exclaimed. But it sounded like even he didn't believe what he said. The kids crowded around Snake watching him closely as they began to talk.

"Big Boss!?"

"He is Big Boss!"

"Big Boss is real!?"

The man had lowered the gun then, as the kids were too close to Snake. To fire now would mean hitting a child, something he didn't want. It was here Snake could start to ask questions.

"What are you doing in here?" Snake asked him, as the man put the Helwan into a holster.

"I was hiding them, we were going to sneak out of the mines, but a guard nearly spotted us. So I decided we would hide here until nightfall." the man replied, as he slowly approached Snake.

"You their father?" Snake asked, motioning to the children around him.

"I'm not, their orphans I'm afraid. They were the lucky ones, of course, it was either the mines or the front." the man replied, as Snake walked out the closet's door, the children following him.

"A shame," Snake stated, now walking down the mineshaft, with other workers beginning to follow them.

"It is," the man agreed before he held out his hand, "oh, I almost forgot Benjamin Musa."

Reaching over Snake shook it, a now large crowd following behind them. They exited the tunnel, having to briefly cover their eyes.

"You British?" Snake asked Benjamin.

"Nigerian actually, I graduated from Oxford and I haven't been able to lose the accent since," Benjamin replied as he looked up into the sky. Snake looked up as well, curious as to what he saw. He found dozens of helicopters coming his way. He was about to tell everyone to hide when Nagant came in on the codec.

"Just letting you know, I called in some helicopters to get the workers out,"

"Good work," Snake told her, as he watched the first Super Stallions begin to land.

The pilots sat around the briefing room, watching as their CO stepped up to the screen. Several photographs of enemy aircraft were visible on it, flying above the Indian Ocean. It had been a hard dogfight to get away from, but they'd won, that was all that mattered to Butcher.

"Alright listen up! As many of you may know at roughly 1500 yesterday, an enemy wing of forty fighters launched an attack targeted at our carrier. After thorough investigation and some witness testimony, we have confirmed the enemy to be that of our good friends, the Gold Coast Mercenaries." the CO stated the last part with sarcasm.

"Further investigations have found the GCM was hired by the local pirate force operating in the Indian Ocean. Seems we've left our mark on them. We have also found the origin of the enemy's attack. One, Shandong class aircraft carrier."

The screen switched to new photos then, detailing the blueprints of the Shandong class. It also showed a live feed of the ship's movements, which seemed to have it operating from a port in Pakistan. It was all well and good, but one question still seemed to linger on the pilot's mind.

"That brings me to our final piece of information. We've managed to find the cause of our plane's radar jamming. Gentlemen, meet Cheng Meng Tiān, callsign Dogfight." the screen switched yet again, this time detailing a photo ID for Gold Coast merc. There wasn't anything remarkable about him, everything seemed average. However, Butcher noticed the corner of his ID, where it listed his quirk.

"Born and raised somewhere in China, but that's not important. What is, is his power, Jamming Aura. Every radar within a fifty-mile radius becomes almost completely inoperable, forcing pilots to get in close for a kill." their CO stated.

"So we're flying blind against him." a pilot commented, sharing the thoughts of the room.

"Not necessarily, he can only manually activate his quirk. And from what reports suggest he can only keep it active for two hours." the CO countered then, "meaning the last engagement boiled down to luck. You find and knock him out of the sky, and radar comes back online. That brings me to the mission,"

The screen changed a final time then, displaying both Dogfight and the GCM's carrier. It was currently heading back to dock in Pakistan, most likely for resupply. There was also a jet with them, a customized J-20 if Butcher was correct. It had flames on the wings, with the GCM's logo emblazoned with the flames surrounding it. It seemed like a waste of paint.

"In four hours, the GCM's carrier will reach Pakistan's international waters, where we will be unable to attack legally. Our priority is the complete destruction, or crippling of that carrier, along with the elimination of Dogfight. To do this we will have six F-35s loaded up with anti-ship missiles. A dozen other F-35s will escort these jets to the mission area, where they with break off to distract enemy pilots." the CO explained, using a laser pointer to motion to the screens documents.

"Sir, what about Dogfight's quirk? Won't it jam the missiles?" a pilot asked, as the CO began looking around for questions to answer.

"We've thought of that, it's why these missiles are to be laser guided. That brings me to another point. With Dogfight presumably in the area, jamming both friend and foe, it leaves the carrier vulnerable. Which is why distracting the enemy is key. We've got one shot at this gentleman, make it count."

"Midoriya! Get back here!" Rody called out as he ran after his friend. Midoriya being farther ahead of him kept running forward, taking sharp turns across Mother Base's halls. He had the advantage, he had spent years exploring every nook and cranny of the place, so he knew the perfect spot to hide. Which is why his target was the Engineering platform. It was nothing but a massive block of walkways and railings, making it impossible to navigate well.

This is why he took a hard right onto the command platform, nearing his final destination.

"You can't stop me! Victory is as good as mine!" Midoriya shouted back as he looked behind him. It was a mistake, however, as he wasn't looking in front of him. He ran into someone fast, quickly falling over as he looked back. In front of him stood a cowboy, Miller on the ground, and… He stopped as he stared at Nezu, a look of confusion coming across his face.

"Ha! Tag!" Rody cheered, as he caught Midoriya. He stopped when he saw Midoriya hadn't reacted yet. Only to step back as Midoriya finally spoke.

"You're Mr. Principal." he couldn't believe his own eyes, he was meeting the hero in person. But why was he here?

"I am! A pleasure to meet you?" Nezu began as Miller slowly stood back up behind them muttering a quiet, "Ow, my ass".

"Midoriya Izuku," he replied a little weary in his response. He didn't know what to do at this moment. After the Elementals, and what he had seen them do, he wasn't as keen on heroes as he once was. He wanted to be one sure, but he wanted to be better. He still admired All Might sure, but All Might wasn't like the Elementals. So with Nezu in front of him, he couldn't help but be slightly wary.

"Midoriya, a pleasure." he stuck out his hand then, his other hand holding a small teacup. Midoriya grabbed it slowly, shaking the hero's hand carefully.

"It's been nice," Nezu started, letting go of Midoriya's hand, "but I'm afraid I need to go."

"I'll have a helicopter come pick you up," Miller told him then, the man pulling out his Idroid.

"We'll send you what we find on the Tyrant," Ocelot said, as the helicopter arrived quickly.

"Good!" Nezu shouted, attempting to be heard by the helicopter's blades, "you still owe me that meeting with Big Boss!"

And like that, Nezu entered the helicopter, and it quickly took off. Just as quickly as Midoriya had met him, he had left. It still left Midoriya confused and with questions unanswered. He looked over to Miller, the confusion on his face quite visible.

"Hmm," Miller started, looking over at Midoriya until realization struck him, "Oh, he's working with the MSF."

"The Principal of UA, is working with you?" Midoriya wasn't exactly sure he believed it.

"That he is," Ocelot told him, as he took out his revolvers. Midoriya didn't fully believe it, the last heroes he'd met on Mother Base had either defected or killed someone. So, for an active hero to work with them, it seemed off. He didn't really want to think too much about it, so with a sneaky hand, he tagged Rody again.

"Tag!"

"Wha-hey!"