Epilogue: A New Day

A/N: A bonus end written for Saitama2309 and Thisguyhere. Brought to light some facts about Quiet related to Moby-Dick and added my own ideas from some nautical literature. Enjoy!

It was just another in the huge library set up in Mother Base. A new section was built adjacent to the killhouse and gym to d a lot of rest and recreation options for Diamond Dog staff. The library, one of the earliest facilities, was transferred to the new section to accommodate the large influx of books being purchased to satisfy the large influx of staff. Befitting the multinational composition of Diamond Dog staff, the library has a huge and diverse collection of literature from around the world from newspapers to hardcover, covering all sorts of topics. And as such, this has brought interest in some of the stuff to create a book club where they can discuss the literary merits of a work or the tradition of literature.

Inside the windows were made open due to a failure with the library's air-condition system, technicians struggling to repair it, much to the concern of one of assigned staff who feared the effects of Seychelles salty sea air on its huge archives. There were a few members on R&R reading quietly and a few of them were gathered on a table.

"What'cha reading, Crimson Kite?" one man asked as the one addressed as Crimson Kite was reading Moby Dick.

"Come on," chided Crimson Kite good-naturedly, "I'm not in mission. You can call me Ellis or I can call you Clever Muskrat." Diamond Dogs staff were given codenames when on mission to mark their identities from radio interception of transmissions but over time, these names took on a life of their own.

"Well, Ellis, I see you've been reading a whale of a novel," joked Clever Muskrat.

"A classic." He smiled without letting his eyes of a page. "I never though I'd be reading it."

"Really?" He looked amused. "You never read Moby Dick before?"

He looked up from his book. "Did you?"

"Uh, no," he admitted.

Kite added, "Do you read any sea books by the way?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I like Hemingway's The Old Man and The Sea."

"Splendid, maybe we should have sea books the topic of discussion for next week's book meeting."

"Great idea. I'll be sure to inform our club president about it on the way." He took a chair to sit on. "You've been reading Moby Dick like two weeks ago."

"Yup."

"Any reason for the sudden interest?"

"Yeah..." He put down the book. "Quiet." That had just made the library more silent than the grave.

It took Muskrat some time speak. "Quiet..." Quiet, the superhuman sniper who Big Boss took in. Her presence on Mother Base had caused quite an uneasy stir, especially as her abilities have put her beyond the pale of human for most people, made even worse when Miller pointed out she might be a spy.

"Quiet like the library," they turned heads to Sunset Crane. The woman took her seat with them.

"No, it's like 'quiet' Quiet," Kite admitted. Again the silence returned. Quiet had left Mother Base less than a month before and everyone breathed easier although a few people had found it a bit odd.

Someone had to break the silence. "So what exactly are talking about?"

It was Kite who answered. "Well, ever since she left, I decided to read Moby Dick and a few other nautical novels. Maybe out of boredom between missions but I noticed something in the book that made me think of 'er."

"And what's that, Kite?" Muskrat asked.

"Queequeg. One of the characters."

"Who's that?" Crane asked. Then Kite gave brief summary of the character. Queequeg was a South Seas islander who hitched a ride with the crew of the Pequod after they made a stopover for supplies. He swam to the ship and begged to be taken by them. The crew accepts him as he showed bravery for his act. Yet, it wasn't without problems. Queeqeg came from a different culture compared to everyone else. His culture practices cannibalism, which he admits matter-of-factly and his not taken aback walking around almost naked in his heavily-tattoed body although they prevailed on him to wear clothes. Even one of the characters, Ishmael, was initially frightened with him when he enters the inn room he was staying but he decided to make up his mind, noting that a sober cannibal is the least of his problems. Queequeg, for his part, had been overly-friendly the next morning, throwing his arms around Ishmael in what would have been intimate. However, he was able to get by cheerfully in white society and he was an expert harpooner, which prompted the owners of the Pequod to give 1/90 percent of the ship's profits if he signed up. He never parted with his harpoon except when it's not needed like going to port. Another quirk of the islander were his religious practices as he worships an idol named Yojo and keeps to prolonged fasting and silence, at one point locking himself inside his room in Nantucket and another when not speaking to the rest of the crew. Although fading to the backdrop as the story progressed, Queequeg was ultimately Ishmael savior when the whaling ship went down.

"You know, that sounds a lot like Quiet," Muskrat noted.

"So much like someone has written everything we faced today out of that story," said Crane.

"Yeah but let's not forget that she worked for Cypher," Kite pointed out. "She tried to kill the Boss."

"Yeah, but apparently, her stay with us had dampened her enthusiasm for her mission." Muskrat suddenly had a thought. "My favorite book is Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim. It's also a sea book as well."

"Really, now?" Kite smiled. "I never took you for a Conrad man. What sort of story is Lord Jim?"

Muskrat then gave brief description of Lord Jim. The titular Jim was a sailor aboard the Patna, a ship carrying pilgrims to Mecca. When the ship was taking water and disaster was drawing near, he and the rest of the crew abandoned ship, leaving the passengers to their fate. The crew were later picked up by a French ship but the passengers where rescued as well. This has forced most of the crew to scatter, leaving Jim to face the music all by himself-

"Wait are you implying the Quiet deserted Cypher?" Crane asked.

"No, no," replied Muskrat. "And I wasn't even getting to the good parts." He continued. "Jim meets up with Marlowe, the main character of Heart of Darkness and in spite of skeptical start due to Jim's track record, were fast friends. Jim became a clerk to Marlowe's chandler business but his past has caught up with him, thus forcing him to leave once again..."

"I thought that sounded like you, Muskrat, " they turned to Gray Panther as the Ghanaian's booming voice caught their attention. "And I here that you're discussing Conrad in this little book club meeting."

"Hello, Gray, didn't expect you here." Kite shook the man's hand.

"So you're talking about Conrad, eh?" Gray was not a big fan of Conrad's work for the simple reason that Heart of Darkness slighted African people everywhere as untamed savages.

"Just Lord Jim, me friend. And also about Quiet."

"Quiet, the freak sniper," he noted. "That woman was rather unholy. I'm glad she left and hope it stays that way."

"Come to think of it, we were discussing about Moby Dick. Quiet's similar to one of the characters."

"Really?" They brought him up to speed on about Moby Dick and Queequeeg, then to of Lord Jim. Jim eventually found sanctuary in the island of Patusan, where through hard work, wins the locals' trust and was bestowed the title of Tuan or Lord. He helped the people defend against bandits and the corrupt local chieftain. He found love in a mixed race woman named Jewel. It seemed that he found a place to call home. However, years later, a powerful European bandit named "Gentleman" Brown attacked the village. Jim lead a spirited defense against him but one of the defenders, the son of one of the one of the village leaders, died in battle. Jim faced the distraught leader and willingly took a bullet to the chest.

This got everyone silent. It was Crane who broke the silence. "You know? Without her help, that Skull guy would have won."

"I don't know...," Panther said skeptically. "She was part of Cypher."

"Think about it," Crane expounded. "Without her Big Boss would have had an early grave. Since she doesn't speak, she lead us to Cipher every step of the way. From Afghanistan to the Congo and back, we defeated Cipher and stopped Skull Face from destroying the world."

"Still, it was chancy," Gray observed. "I mean, what if she lead us into a trap or away from the real problem?"

"What she did was on the mark," Kite noted. "I don't mind her."

"And just like Jim, Quiet had sorta earned our trust despite an uneasy start." Craned looked up at the open windows at the ceiling. "In spite of her previous allegiance, I believe she's one of us, a soldier."

"Yes, the Boss is like that, getting people to forget about themselves for a moment and realize that there's something bigger than ourselves." Panther took a deep breath of the sea air permeating from the windows. "Still, we didn't trust her one hundred percent. We couldn't take that chance. Remember how she escaped and dragged the Boss to Afghanistan?"

"Yeah, I know but she saved his life in the end. Like Lord Jim, she took a bullet for the Boss. Last I heard from the intel department's scuttlebutt, she disappeared in a sandstorm." Then she added with mischievous whisper. "You never heard that from me."

Gray stroked his chin and contemplated the statement. He mentally reexamined Quiet's stay in Mother Base and her service in Diamond Dogs from what he knew. Crane had a point. He admitted, "Yes, indeed. And on the subject of Quiet, I think of Hemingway's The Old Man and The Sea." He looked at the books of the shelves in front of him as he thought of the story. "Like the boy and old man, Quiet and Big Boss struggled together whenever they're in the field. Time and again they've pulled off feats of arms that have become legendary and saving his life for one last time - that's the shining jewel in her achievements."

"So, any of us feel like putting a pedestal for her?" Muskrat asked.

"Not needed." It was Panther who answered. "We all wanted to do something about our lives, whether it is to do what we liked or do what we think is right. I think we are all Quiet. Some of us wanting a fresh start and a chance to make it big, regardless of what we were previously. I joined Diamond Dogs as a fresh start. I'm tired of my home country bickering itself. Now, after parasites and the Metal Gear, I realize that there's more work to be done."

"Yeah, damn shame," agreed Kite. "Out there in the world, there's bloody trouble brewing in the horizon. A every little conflict out there will lead to another and as long as there's war, people will need us to keep the peace, keep everything from going all to hell." Up above the windows, unseen by them by the virtues and vagaries of sunlight, Venom was smoking an E-cigar, with taste that left no scent, which was why the four below didn't notice him. As he smoked, he was thinking about Quiet and Paz. How many Quiets have to go to war, how many Pazs needed to die until this senseless conflict ends? How many Skull Faces out there burn with revenge before they can make their next move? How many of their own people have to be lost handling and dismantling nukes? How much must this demon inside have to quench its hunger? These orphans he raised, Diamond Dogs, will never go home for they will never know true peace. And the threat of Cipher remained, metamorphosing into a Leviathan that would consume the world. He hoped to put a stop to Cipher one day, set it end.

And bring lasting peace to the world.

"Another mission, right, Boss?" he said to the sky.

A/N: Fin