RWBY: Wolf Pack Chapter 4: Desert Wolves, a rwby fanfic

Wolf Pack Ch. 4: The Desert Wolf

I do not own RWBY, RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum (R.I.P.) nor do I own any media that may appear in the story. I only own the OCs, Enjoy! Remember to Favorite, Follow, and leave a Review.

The room was dead silent as everyone stared at Carmine like he had a second head growing out his neck "What the fuck?! Are you serious?" Nightshade asked confused, Carmine nodded "Afraid so, we got conscripted by our good friend, General Ironwood, because apparently there's too much red tape for his military to act, they lost contact with a key military outpost east of Vacuo. Also, we'll rally up with the 184th Mistral Militia and assault the base, preapproved Atlas personal from other bases will assist us in the assault." Carmine explained nonchalantly. The sound of a scroll hitting the floor echoed throughout the silent room.

Carmine turned his attention toward the sound and saw Sapphire standing there with tears starting to well up in her eyes "Unbelievable." Sapphire said before walking into Carmine's room and shutting the door behind her, Carmine ran over to the door and tried to open it "Sapphire, Sapphire what's wrong?" Carmine asked while he knocked on the door, Sapphire swung the door open and poked him in the chest with her finger "You know damn well what's wrong! You guys always do this, so quick to jump at the first sign of danger without a second thought about those that it may affect." Sapphire said before she dropped her head as she cried, Carmine pulled her into his embrace "Hey, we do this so that innocent people don't die and that we can make good money to live a better life." Carmine said as he rubbed her back, she looked up and buried her face into his chest "I'm afraid to lose you, I'm afraid that one day you'll go off on a job and won't come home." Sapphire said before she looked up at Carmine "Please promise me you'll come back home to me." Sapphire asked, Carmine chuckled "Of course I'll come back to you, I love you, Sapphire." Carmine said as he squeezed her tighter.

She wrapped her arms around his waist "Funny, you're kind of like a Titan, you're like Perses and Pallas who were Titan gods of Destruction and Warcraft." Sapphire said as she rested her head on his chest, Carmine looked up in thought "Huh, I like that." Carmine said before Sapphire pipped up again "That could be your name, Carmine "Titan" Sable. It sounds cool." Sapphire said excitedly, Carmine chuckled "I was thinking the same thing." He said as he rubbed her head.

Onyx walked in and rubbed his head "Alright, Keppel is on his way here now. I guess we should get some sleep before we head out in the morning." Onyx said, everyone nodded in agreement before heading to their rooms, Carmine shut the door behind him as Sapphire crawled into the bed "I wonder what we'll be facing tomorrow? Probably just some White Fang grunts." Carmine said to himself as he was getting undressed, he placed his jewelry into a black box and closed the lid to the container. Carmine unfastened his black jeans and let them hit the floor, the buckle hit the floor with a thud as he stepped out of the pants legs and climbed into bed next to Sapphire, she rested her head onto his chest and let out a sigh of contentment. As they laid in bed, the wave of fatigue washed over them as they slipped into slumber in each other's embrace.

*Five Hours Later*

"Carmine! Run!" An unknown voice echoed from within the darkness that enveloped Carmine, he looked around as a light began to illuminate the area around him. Carmine turned in circles as he tried to figure out where he was "Keppel! Take my hand!" Another voice echoed through the darkness as Carmine stood there confused, he looked down at his feet and watched as a black cloud of gas began to envelop his legs. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he heard the snarl of a beast behind him "Isn't she pretty…" A dark voice whispered into Carmine's ear, he jerked around but saw nobody. A figure appeared from the darkness, she had long black hair and pale skin, a large creature appeared behind her and towered over her "You'll go and leave her all alone." The creature said as it placed a large claw up to her throat and pushed down lightly, drawing blood from her skin, the woman looked up at Carmine which caused him to go pale "Sapphire?!" Carmine said before the creature snapped her neck like a twig.

Carmine shot up in bed panting and drenched in sweat, his heart was racing as he looked around the dark room. "Babe, what's wrong?" Sapphire asked as she sat up, Carmine lowered his head as he released a sigh of anxiety from his shaking body "It was a terrible nightmare… I… I want you to stay with a friend of mine, he'll keep you safe." Carmine said as he stared at his leg, Sapphire nodded slowly while still being worried about Carmine. Carmine picked up his scroll and opened it, he tapped open the messenger and sent a message to a contact labeled 'Q.B.'. He received a reply in an instant 'Sure, I'll be at the air docks with an airship ready.' Carmine read the message to himself before closing the scroll again.

As he was about to go back to sleep, there was a knock at his door "Carmine wake up, it's almost 8 am." Keppel said through the door, Carmine stood up and flipped the light on in the room. Sapphire groaned as she pulled herself out of bed and walked into the bathroom while Carmine got dressed, he pulled out a black long sleeve hoodie made of breathable fabric and lined with ballistic weaving and pulled it on over his body. Carmine pulled on his Crye Precision Combat Pants and secured the belt that also attached to his holsters, the rifleman sat back on the bed and pulled on his black combat boots; he fastened the sides and tied the laces before pulling the pants leg over them. Carmine stood up and fixed his clothes before he pulled on his Heavy IBA, he fastened the straps and secured the sides of the vest.

Carmine opened the door and walked out into the main room, Sapphire followed him out and sat down on the sofa as Carmine prepped his gear with the rest of his team. Crimson finished loading his mags and placed them in the pouch of his molle vest, Carmine reached into the weapons locker and pulled out his SCAR-H; he laid it down onto the weapon's table as he grabbed another gun from the wall of weapons, this one being PP-19 Bizon along with multiple cylindrical magazines that were preloaded, thanks to Nightshade. Carmine put one of the mags in a pouch on his side and rest into his bag, Crimson helped him attach the submachine gun to the side of his backpack with two powerful magnets that were woven into the side of his bag, the weapon snapped to the bag and refused to budge when it was lightly tugged on.

"Looks good, you should be good," Crimson said as he slapped his back, Carmine picked up his SCAR and adjusted the sights on the top rail before he placed it on the other side of the backpack. Onyx pulled out the drawer of sidearms and looked at the weapons before he pulled out a P226 "Carmine, what sidearm do you want?" Onyx asked his brother, Carmine looked over at his brother "Five Seven with extended mags." Carmine said as he loaded a few grenades into his pouch, Onyx slid the pistol over along with five spare large mags. Grullo sat an H&K MG4 on the table and attached the box mag to the side of the large gun before loading the chain of bullets into the receiver, he closed the top and pulled back the bolt on the side which loaded the first bullet into the gun. Nightshade opened the weapons cabinet and stared at the wall of weapons "Hey Crimson, G3 or FAL?" Nightshade asked the infantryman who was loading his Beretta 92fs clip with 9mm rounds "Hmm, I'll say go with the FAL since it has a better grouping than the G3." Crimson explained as he slapped the magazine into the receiver of the pistol.

Nightshade grabbed a large black and brown rifle from the cabinet, he picked up a Prisma 3.4x sight and attached it to the top rail on the FAL, tightening the screws to hold the scope onto the rifle. He lifted the rifle up and aimed at the wall while looking down the sight while twisting the knob on top of the scope, Carmine picked up an ERGO grip off of a shelf and tossed it to Nightshade who slid it onto the under barrel of the FAL. Onyx pulled out a black box and placed it on the table "Here Carmine, try this on." Onyx said as Carmine grabbed the box and unlatched the lid, he removed the lid and set it down on the table, Carmine was met with the glare of two red eyes of an Invader King TM Gas Mask "This is so cool!" Carmine said as he lifted the mask out of the box, Onyx leaned against the table "It's completely armored and the eyes are reflective, you can see out but nobody can see in. The filters have about a ten-month life before they need to be changed, I'll introduce you to our supplier when we get back, his name is Mindaro; he supplies us with specialty weapons and ammo." Onyx said as he slid a business card across the table, Carmine picked it up and examined the card that read 'Mindaro's Munitions: Four out of five voices in your head agree.'

Carmine slipped the card into his pocket before he pulled the gas mask on and tightened the back straps onto his head, he grabbed his hood and lifted it up over his head. Crimson and Onyx stared at Carmine while he stood there in his full gear "Damn, that is some scary shit right there. I would hate to see that coming after me at night." Crimson said as he slid his knife into the sheath on his chest. Sapphire bounded around the corner and came to look at the sight in front of her "Wow. You look so awesome!" Sapphire said as she examined all of Carmine, from his head to his feet. Carmine walked towards Sapphire and looked down at her, his boots made a loud thud on the hardwood floor as he approached her; he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her close to him "I'm gonna miss you while I'm gone." Carmine said, his voice sounded distorted through the filters on the gas mask. Sapphire buried her head into his chest "Please come back to me, please." Sapphire said as she started to tear up, Carmine placed his hands on her back as he held her; Crimson cleared his throat "We won't let anything happen to him so don't worry." Crimson said as he leaned against the wall, the others agreed with a resounding 'Yep'. Onyx stepped forward and looked at Sapphire "As long as he is with us, we won't let anything happen to him, you have my word." Onyx said, Sapphire turned around and looked at Carmine's brother, she wiped away her tears and sniffled slightly "Thank you, I hope you all stay safe." Sapphire said as Carmine held her tightly.

Keppel walked around the corner while holding Charon on his shoulder "Wheels up in ten minutes." Keppel said as he adjusted his molle carrier vest. He picked up a Glock 35 out of the drawer and slapped a fresh magazine into it before placing it into the holster on his hip, Crimson handed him five spare clips for him to put into his vest and bag. Crimson pulled a balaclava on over his head and covered up everything except for his eyes, Grullo handed him a tan ballistic combat helmet along with a throat mic and a pair of ESS goggles "We'll be in the desert so make sure to wear face covering and eye protection, don't want any of you to go blind from a stray sandstorm." Onyx said as he put on a Viper A3 Tactical Ballistic Helmet, the mouth guard secured under his chin and locked in place.

Nightshade grabbed an Avon M50 gas mask that was hanging on the wall along with MICH Viper Black Combat Helmet, Grullo pulled a black K6-3 helmet out of a box and sat it on the table, the helmet made a loud thud as it hit the table "Wow, that is a hunk of metal right there." Carmine said as he stared at the helmet, Grullo grinned "I may or may not have taken this off one of the Devil's Disciples." Grullo said vaguely, everyone stared at Grullo in disbelief. "What? He wasn't using it." Grullo said shrugging as he put it onto his head and secured the strap under his chin. One by one, the members of Wolf Pack left the armory and regrouped by the front door, Sapphire clutched a bag of spare clothes and accessories. Onyx opened the door and guided everyone out onto the street, he closed and locked the door behind him as the others made their way to the airdock.

Onyx jogged lightly as he caught up with the others, Crimson handed the leader of Wolf Pack his AK-103 as they walked through the marketplace. As they neared the air dock, two bullheads sat on the dock facing two different directions "Why are there two VTOLs here?" Crimson asked as they stepped onto air dock, Carmine stopped as a man with jet black hair stepped out of the VTOL on the right "I called in a favor, Sapphire, you'll be staying at Beacon Academy as a VIP. Since we have made a lot of enemies, it would be best for her to be as far from danger as possible." Carmine said as the man with jet black hair walked up to the group "Sapphire, this is Qrow Branwen, he'll take you to Beacon." Carmine said as Qrow took Sapphire's bag for her, Carmine pulled his face mask off and clipped it to his side "Look, I just want you to stay safe. I love you, Sapphire." Carmine said as he hugged her tightly, she rested her head against his chest "I know, I love you too, Carmine." Sapphire said as she looked up and kissed him on the lips before making her way to the VTOL.

The doors shut as the engines engaged and spat jets of hot fire from the thrusters and pushed the bullhead off of the ground and into the air, Carmine watched as the VTOL disappeared into the clouds. He rejoined Wolf Pack as they boarded the other VTOL, they sat down with three on either side of the transport and the back ramp closed as it took off into the sky. "Alright boys, check your weapons and gear." Onyx said as he pulled back the bolt on the side of his AK-103, Carmine looked over at Keppel who was tweaking his the scope on his heavy rifle "Keppel, would you do us the honor of blessing us?" Carmine asked the sniper who nodded and knelt down with his head bowed along with the others who bowed their heads.

"Brave warriors, should fate find us in battle, May our cause be just. May our leaders have clear vision. May our courage not falter. May we be triumphant and earn victory as we show no mercy to our enemies. May our efforts bring lasting peace. May our sacrifice be always appreciated by those we serve. May we return to our loved ones unharmed. Should we be harmed, may our wounds heal. Should we perish in the struggle, may the Gods embrace us and find for us a place in their Kingdom. Amen" Keppel chanted as he delivered the warrior's prayer, he stood up and sat back down on the bench next to Grullo who gripped the barrel of his MG4 tightly "I wonder what the 184th is bringing to the fight." Crimson asked as he played with his Ka-Bar, accidentally knicking his thumb. "I'm gonna guess a lot of tanks and maybe some artillery, they'll be the brunt of the attacking force." Onyx said as he examined his scroll and swiped over on a few pictures.

"ETA: FOUR MINUTES!" The pilot shouted over the intercom, Carmine and Onyx looked at each other confused "Why'd he yell that information?" Crimson asked as he looked toward the cockpit, the intercom cut back on "SHIT! LZ IS HOT! SOMEONE HOP ON THAT DOOR GUN!" The pilot yelled as the flight started to get bumpy, Nightshade shot up and ran over to the mounted M134 Minigun as the side door slid open. Red and green flares marked their LZ near a collection of tan tents by the water line, Beowolves and Ursa walked around the area looking for a target, Nightshade pressed the two buttons with his thumbs and caused the barrel to spin up before it spat a barrage of bullets toward the ground.

Bullets ripped through the Grimm and shredded them like lettuce in a blender, one by one they were ripped to pieces and slowly began to dissipate into a cloud of black smoke. A Beowolf charged at a man who was firing at an Ursa but it was cut in half by the stream of bullets coming from the minigun up above, the intercom clicked on one more time "Cease fire, LZ is clear. Touching down." The pilot said as the wheels extended as the bullhead started to land.

The wheels pushed into the warm sand as the back opened up and the Wolf Pack exited with their weapons raised, they moved slowly into the makeshift camp with two guns pointed forward, one left, one right, and two behind. The bullhead's engines engaged again as it took off into the sky, they tracked the VTOL as it flew away but could only watch in horror as a Griffon flew out of the clouds and ripped the VTOL's wing off, sending it spiraling into the ground where it exploded on impact. "Yep, that's what happened when we tried to call in an evac." A man clad in tan BDUs said as he pointed at a burning wreck of another VTOL.

Twenty-five other men emerged from within the tents and came to greet the Wolves "So you're the 'pre-authorized personnel' that Ironwood was talking about?" Carmine asked the man, he nodded "Yes sir, we're all that is left of F.O.B. Triton. We were overrun by White Fang and Grimm, they had Goliaths ram through the gates and Nevermores to take out our air support. It was a fucking slaughter, we grabbed five Humvees and hauled ass out of there." The man said, pointing to a few smoking Humvees.

Onyx lowered his head as he thought momentarily "Was it just the White Fang?" Onyx asked as he looked back up at the shaken soldiers, they looked amongst themselves for a moment "There were these people dressed in all black, they looked like they were wearing cloaks or hoods that hid their faces. The only thing we could see was red eyes coming from the hood, like it was the devil himself under the hood." The man said, Onyx looked at Carmine and Nightshade "You think it is who I think it is?" Onyx asked the two men, Carmine nodded "There is no fucking doubt." Carmine growled as he clenched his fist, Nightshade rested his hand on the rifleman's shoulder "Yeah, it's the fucking Grimm Reapers." Nightshade shuddered.

Crimson scanned the horizon as his team conversed with the Atlas remnants, his gaze stopped on a black figure that stood on top of a sand dune. Black smoke billowed out from underneath the figure before it consumed it and in an instant, the smoke was gone and so was the figure. "Guys! We're being watched." Crimson warned as he continued to scan the horizon, this time with his rifle raised and pointed toward the dunes.

"The 184th should be here in the hour so get comfy I guess." Onyx said as he turned to his team, Keppel tapped Carmine on the shoulder "Let's do some semblance training until they get here." Keppel said as he led the rifleman toward a burnt out Humvee, Carmine placed his SCAR on his back as they approached the smoking husk.

"Right, so start by clenching your fist." Keppel said, Carmine followed the sniper's order and balled his hand into a fist; instinctively he moved his right foot behind him and readied his stance "Good, now feel the power swelling inside of you. Feel it course throughout your body; now, direct it into your right fist." Keppel said, Carmine tilted his head as he focused the swelling power into one part of his body. "Now, step forward and strike the Humvee. When you connect, feel the power leave your fist and enter the husk." Keppel directed the man, Carmine took three steps forward and threw a right jab into the burnt metal door.

His fist connected with the door and caused an explosion from his fist, the blast dented the door and broke the hinges. The door dropped from the Humvee and collapsed into the sand below, Carmine unclenched his fist and shook his hand lightly "Yeah, it's going to take some getting used to." Keppel said as he walked up to Carmine who hunched over with his hands on his knees, Keppel placed his hand on his back "Hey, you ok man?" Keppel asked worried, the rifleman dropped to his knees and ripped his mask from his face, he tossed it into the sand next to him as he gripped his throat "Ahhh, it burns!" Carmine exclaimed as he opened his mouth and released a large plume of steam from his throat, Keppel felt the sand under Carmine "Good gods! That is insanely hot." The sniper said as he rubbed his hand, Carmine looked up at him "How hot?" He asked as he winced in pain. Keppel thought for a moment "Hmm… If I had to guess, I would say maybe 100 – 160° Fahrenheit." Keppel said as he helped Carmine off the ground.

"Over time, the pain will go away as your body gets used to it." Keppel said as he brushed the sand off of the rifleman. The two men walked through the sand and rejoined their team who were standing in a semi-circle, Onyx looked out at the horizon on the sea and noticed multiple objects on the horizon "Heads up, I think our allies are here." Onyx said as he walked toward the beach, Carmine moved in front of Keppel and let the man rest the barrel of 'Charon' on his shoulder "Confirm, I see approximately sixteen transports, six chinooks which are carrying unidentifiable equipment, and three Ospreys which are being escorted by two Hueys." Keppel said as the flotilla got closer.

The Osprey's flew over low and circled around before landing near the burnt out Humvees, the six Chinooks flew past the Wolf Pack and lowered their cargo onto the sand which consisted of three M109a6 Paladin's and three M270 MLRS's. One by one, the sixteen LCAC drove up onto the beach and dropped the front ramp, five M1A2 Abrams, five T-90's, two T-14's, one Type 99a2, and one Challenger 2 ATDU. The heavy tanks roared to life and drove out onto the sand, the large tracks crushed the sand beneath them as they got into formation, there were two tanks left on two of the LCAC's: two K2 Black Panthers. The large tanks roared to life as they slowly crawled off of the vehicle carrier, the tanks stopped in front of the Wolf Pack as the hatch on top opened up and a man with dirty blonde hair climbed out of the tank, he leaped off the tank and landed in front of Onyx "Hello boys! Are you ready to take this fight to those fucking terrorists?" The man asked the small mercenary group who looked at each other confused, Onyx nodded "Yes sir, we're ready when you are." Onyx said with moderate enthusiasm, the man extended his hand to the group "The name is Titus Quinn, panzer division commander of the Mistral 184th Militia." Titus said shaking their hands.

"These two tanks are for you boys: the K2 Black Panther, they only fit three each so you'll have to split up." Titus said as the other K2 drove up next to the first one, Onyx looked at his team and mentally divided them: Onyx, Nightshade, and Grullo in one while Carmine, Keppel, and Crimson took the other. "Alright, Nightshade and Grullo are with me, Carmine, you take Keppel and Crimson in the other one." Onyx directed the team, they nodded and made their way to their tanks. Crimson climbed up on the tank and opened the front hatch to climb into the driver's seat while Carmine got into the commander seat and Keppel eased himself into the gunner seat, he pulled the bolt back on the M2 .50 Cal HMG. Carmine took off his backpack and lowered it into the tank along with 'Charon'. Carmine looked over to his left and saw both Onyx and Grullo looking at him "Ready when you are, brother." Onyx yelled over the roar of the engines, Carmine slapped the roof of the tank which caused it to crawl forward slowly.

Titus moved his arms back and forth as he guided the two tanks into position, the K2's lined up next to the other fourteen Main Battle Tanks, the Paladins and MLRS's were in front of them along with two hundred Atlesian Knight-200's that were lined up. Titus climbed onto the Challenger and got everyone's attention "Alright boys! We're retaking that base, we'll be in these tanks while the robots will take the brunt of the assault. We need to take out all hostiles, Grimm, and free any prisoners. Remember this, we were never here. The artillery will set up and start a barrage as we continue our assault on the base." Titus said as he lowered himself into the commander seat of the Challenger 2. Titus pressed the mic on his throat and ordered all units to move out, the echelon of heavy armor slowly began to move through the desert sand and left multiple large track marks in the hot Sanus sand, Carmine adjusted his gas mask as he felt the hot desert air hit his exposed skin on his neck "Thank the gods I wore a thin hoodie." Carmine said as he lowered himself down inside the tank, Crimson adjusted the levers to his right as he pushed the pedal on the floor with his foot. Carmine pulled back a lever and opened a chamber in the main gun, he pulled a 120mm HE shell out of the rack and punched it into the receiver before closing the breech. "Up!" Carmine yelled as he moved into the seat to his right and looked down the sight.

The reticle maintained a steady focus in its resting position despite the K2 bouncing up and down as it hit multiple sand dunes, he used the joystick to his right to move the barrel from its resting position. The Paladins pushed forward ahead of the tank battalion along with the MLRSs, the three Paladins broke off and made their way to an area behind a large sand dune while the MLRSs broke off to the right and set up adjacent to the Paladins, also behind a large sand dune. The mic in the cracked as Titus came through "All stop, I repeat, all stop!" Titus said as he ordered the tanks to stop, Crimson took his foot off of the pedal on the right and pushed the one on the left. The K2 slowly came to a stop alongside the rest of the battalion, Carmine poked his head up out of the tank and looked around the area, his eyes focused as he saw a large complex off in the distance by the shoreline. It had large outlets that let out into the ocean, all were empty except for one at the end, it had a large black tubular object that was mostly submerged underwater except for the top of it and a large column that resembled a plateau but metal. "What's up, Titus?" Carmine asked through the mic on his neck, the earpiece clicked as Titus's voice came through the comms "We're gonna let the artillery bombard them first before we move in." Titus explained as the barrels of the Paladin's raised into the sky and the batteries raised up off the truck beds of the MLRSs.

A man in tan BDUs climbed out of a T-90 about four tanks down and placed a small box on the desert ground, he flipped it open and pulled out a small glider with a single propeller on the back of it. He drew his right arm back and spiked the small plane into the air, the propeller started up and shot the glider through the air toward the base in the distance, Titus pulled out his scroll and opened it up wide "Alright, show me what you see." Titus said as the base popped onto his screen, he moved two bubbles on the screen which caused the glider to move through the air as it flew closer to the base.

The glider banked right as it circled around for a better view of the area "Alright, be advised; this place is crawling with White Fang and Grimm, looks like they rounded up the stragglers and executed them against the eastern wall. There are multiple MG emplacements, I count eight sniper towers, six APCs, four Goliaths, three large trucks with large tubes on the back, there seems to be something in the harbor that looks alarming. Ironwood told us that when we break through the line and secure the base, we are to extract a large item from inside the base." Titus said as he closed his scroll, the glider continued to fly in circles over the base.

Titus pressed his throat comms and addressed the artillery units "All units, zero in on glider coordinates and prepare to fire." Titus said as he turned toward the other tanks "Danny, move the Atlesian Knights into position." Titus ordered as he addressed the tank commander two tanks down, the man nodded and opened his scroll. After pressing a few buttons and moving some sliders, the massive robotic army moved in between the tanks and formed two formations that consisted of ten rows of ten Atlesian Knights "So most of your combatants aren't even alive?" Carmine asked Titus as he leaned on his right elbow, Titus chuckled lightly "Yeah, we buy them from Atlas and use them instead of getting our Mercenaries killed." Titus explained as two artillery captains gave them a thumbs up, Titus shot one back.

With their barrels raised into the air, the crew loaded a 155mm HE shell into each of the Paladins and slammed the breech shut before attaching the pull chord "Fire." Titus said calmly into his throat mic, one by one thunderous explosions erupted from the barrels of the Paladins as 155mm of pain was hurled toward the enemy and as quickly as a shell was discharged, another was already in the chamber. On the other side of the dunes, MGM-140 ATACMS leaped from the batteries and screamed through the air as they flew from the MLRSs one by one, Carmine watched as balls of fire peppered the horizon as the artillery hit its mark.

With only a press of a button, all two hundred Atlesian Knights charged into battle as the tank engines roared to life once again. The metal boots crashed through the sand as they charged headfirst into oncoming fire, plasma rounds spewed from their Atlas Rifles as they continued to charge across the hot desert sand. One after another, the tanks slowly made their own charge toward the hostile base; bullets ricocheted off the heavy duty tank armor as they neared the base, tank tracks drove over and crushed destroyed Knights that laid sprawled out on the ground. Two Goliaths stampeded out of the base and toward the oncoming onslaught, tank barrels raised up and fired at the incoming beasts, the loud explosion of the 120mm HE shell screaming from the tanks and impacting the giant Grimm in the face, the fire engulfed one and only made the other flinch.

"All fire!" Titus commanded through all the tank's internal comms unit, boom after boom filled the usually silent desert with ear-deafening explosions that destroyed everything in its path. One by one, the tanks flooded the concrete base and took up choke points to secure the area, coaxial HMG fire erupted from the turrets on top of the tanks and from the HMG next to the main gun. Hot shells dropped and clanged off the metal of the K2 that was engaging another Goliath, the .50 caliber bullets ripped through both Grimm and White Fang alike, splattering both black and red blood on the sun-bleached concrete that was worn away due to heavy traffic, sand-filled wind, and the blistering sun beating down on it.

A BMP-2 and a BMP-3 round the corner of the base while firing at the tanks, a T-90 and an Abrams turned their main gun toward the oncoming threat and fired, a HEAT round flew from the barrel of the Abrams and hit the BMP-3 hard, destroying the left track and leaving it stuck in place while the BMP-2 sped toward the Panzer Division. Carmine raised the barrel up seven degrees and squeezed the trigger, the 120mm HE round leaped from the barrel and flew through the air before impacting the front of the BMP-2, the explosion enveloped the APC as the other K2 followed suit and fired another 120mm HE round which reduced the APC to a heap of twisted, burning metal. Crimson pushed the accelerator down as a Nevermore landed on one of the T-90s and dug its razor sharp claws into the hull, three Abrams focused their fire on the extremely large bird and fired shell after shell at the behemoth. Carmine adjusted the elevation of the barrel and pulled out a shell labeled 'C.C.R' from the ammo compartment, he unlatched the breech and ejected the spent shell before he punched in the C.C.R.

He slammed the breech closed and looked down the sight as the sound of shell casing clanged off the metal hull, Carmine adjusted a dial to his right that raised the barrel slowly "Contact!" Carmine yelled as he squeezed the trigger and shot the C.C.R out of the barrel, the shell screamed through the air before turning upright and rocketing into the air where it seemed to explode in midair. "Well, that was a letdown." Carmine said as he unlatched the breech again and ejected the metal shell, he looked back through the sight just in time to see multiple medium sized balls exploding as they hit the Nevermore around its head. As the smoke cleared, the Nevermore collapsed backwards onto the concrete and started to dissipate into black ash and smoke, Carmine looked dumbfounded as he watched the large Grimm start to smoke "Titus, what does C.C.R. stand for?" Carmine asked through his throat comm, the radio crackled lightly as Titus's voice came through the speaker "Cluster Charge Round, it's basically a cluster bomb in a tank shell." Titus said as the sound of machine gun fire echoed behind him.

After what felt like hours of fighting, much of the Grimm had been dispatched except for a few stragglers around the base but the tanks drove through and snuffed them out like a lit match, Crimson shut the engine off before he pushed his hatch open and climbed out of the Main Battle Tank, Carmine climbed out of the top and grabbed his gear from inside the tank, he pulled out 'Charon' from inside the hull and handed it Keppel who had already leapt from the tank. Crimson gripped his Sig 550 close and kept the barrel pointed toward the ground as he waited for the others, Onyx stood next to him with his AK-103 and Grullo with his MG3; Titus drove up in his Challenger 2 "Good work boys, now it's your turn to operate; go clear out that base and look for a large container labeled 'Pseudo Emotionality Neuro-Network Intelligence', once you find that, radio us and we'll have it extracted." Titus said as the Challenger's barrel raised up, Onyx nodded as he pulled back the bolt on his AK, Titus banged his fist on the top of the tank which caused it to fire at a concrete wall.

The round exploded and ripped a large hole into the side of the base, concrete and steel rebar crashed to the ground as light fixtures flickered as they struggled to stay active, one by one the Wolves jogged into the breached opening and hooked a left down a long corridor. Crimson and Onyx clicked their tactical lights attached to the side of their rifles on and illuminated the dark hallway, Keppel stopped and sniffed the air "Guys, I smell Iron." Keppel said as he looked down the hall, his wolf ears twitched slightly as he stared into the darkness.

Crimson raised his rifle and aimed into the wall of black, the light cut into the darkness and illuminated the concrete wall, a bloody handprint was smeared on the wall as it trailed around the corner. Carmine pulled back the bolt on the side of his rifle and chambered a round into his rifle before he raised it up and walked down the hall, he leaned against the wall and peeked around the corner. The hall was dimly lit but illuminated the outline of a person sitting against the wall, from what he could tell it was a female with long hair and what looked like an apple in her hand. Crimson rounded the corner and pointed his rifle at the woman on the ground "Ma'am, are you okay? We need to get you out of here." Crimson said as he slowly moved closer, he crouched down and shook her shoulder "Hey, are you listening?" He asked as he shook the woman which caused her head to slouch down as her body slid over slightly, Crimson was stunned but stood up slowly.

He picked his rifle up and pointed it at the woman to see what she was holding but came to the horrifying conclusion that she was holding her own heart in her left hand, Crimson backed up slowly while shaking his head "What the actual fuck?!" Crimson asked confused, a female laugh could be heard echoing from the room across from the dead woman in the hall.

Carmine pushed off the wall and sprinted into the room with his rifle raised "Alright mother fucker! You come out or we burn this whole place down!" Carmine said in a fit of rage, that he didn't notice his squadmates staring at something on the wall, Carmine turned to his right and saw three people skewered to the wall with pieces of broken pipe and rebar protruding from their chests, one had her mouth sewn shut while another guy had his eyes scooped from his head and the last man's ears were gone. Nightshade shook his head as Onyx pointed his light at the sickening display "What kind of monster would do this?" He asked as he had to keep himself from vomiting, the same female laugh came from within the darkness again.

"Do you like my art? It was so hard to do it, they kept fighting; especially her, she just would stop screaming, I mean she was worse than the girl whose heart I cut out and showed to her." The unidentified female said as she lurked in the darkness, Carmine clenched his fist "Come out you son of a bitch!" Carmine yelled in anger, Onyx and Crimson raised their rifles and illuminated the room until they came upon a slender woman with silver hair standing in the corner, black smoke pooled around her feet and slowly began to expand outward along the floor.

"Who are you? Why would the White Fang do this?" Carmine asked confused, the silver-haired woman giggled at his question "You're so naïve, you really think the White Fang did this? The White Fang is nothing but our puppets, we say jump and they ask how high." The woman said as an evil smile grew on her face, Nightshade stepped forward and raised his FAL "That doesn't answer our question: Who the hell are you?!" Nightshade yelled as he pointed his rifle at the woman, she looked taken aback "What? You mean Carmine didn't tell you about me, Nightshade? I'm surprised." The woman said as she folded her arms in a condescending way, she cleared her throat and fixed her posture "My name is Opal but most call me Loki." Opal said as she curtsied to the mercenary group.

Grullo pushed everyone out of his way "Alright move guys, I'm wasting this bitch!" Grullo said as he lifted his LMG up and fired at Opal, the bullets ripped through the air and dug into the concrete wall, Opal moved to her right quickly but Grullo chased her as the bullets cut into the wall.

Grullo stopped firing and lowered his LMG, white smoke permeated from the barrel as he hovered above the floor. "My my, so much anger inside of you, Grullo. Is it cause your dad used to beat you and your mom committed suicide when you were only eight?" Opal asked, now sitting on a table in the corner. Grullo yelled in anger as he withdrew Minebea PM-9 and emptied the mag into the area where she was sitting, the bullets sprayed from the machine pistol as he held the trigger down until it clicked, signaling that it had no ammo left. He reached for another stick mag but Nightshade grabbed his arm "Don't do it, she's not worth it man!" Nightshade said as he calmed the gunner down, Grullo clenched his fist but relaxed as he sighed in a mixture of repressed anger and defeat.

"Aww, Nightshade, are you trying to prevent another person from doing something in anger? You know how well that worked last time, I mean, if it did work then Desmond would still be alive, right Nightshade?" Opal said as her voiced echoed throughout the room, Nightshade sighed "Yeah, you're right. Had my negotiations worked then my little brother would still be alive but I failed and I carry that failure with me every day." Nightshade said as he cracked his knuckles, the black smoke continued to pool around their feet and slowly crept up their legs.

"So if you're done wasting our time, we have to be going." Carmine said as he lifted his rifle back up and started to make his way back into the hall, Opal clicked her tongue and sighed "Boy, you are so eager to get back to Sapphire, aren't you?" Opal asked which caused Carmine to stop in his tracks, he reached up and pulled his Ka-Bar from his sheath on his shoulder "You leave her out of this, bitch." Carmine said as he started walking toward Opal who seemed to disappear into a cloud of smoke before reappearing in the corner, all the smoke quickly left their bodies and made seven columns which slowly began to take form.

Opal started to laugh as the columns turned into seven cloaked figures with red eyes, Carmine lifted his blade up and thrust it into the chest of one of the figures but he passed right through it. The Wolf Pack's earpieces all started to go off with the sound of gunfire and screaming mixed with distant yelling and someone barking orders "Boys! Please tell me you found it, there is god knows how many Grimm and Reaper insurgents here now. Hurry!" Titus yelled as his audio was cut, Carmine stared at Opal "So, stalling us huh? Let me guess, these aren't even real people." Carmine said as he attempted to push one but it clocked him in face first.

"Oh no, they're real. They're our shadow unit." Opal said with a smirk, Onyx cleared his throat "Whose unit?" He asked calmly, Opal turned to him with an evil grin "Why, who else? The Grimm Reapers." Opal said as she slowly started to disappear into the darkness as did the shadow unit, the room was once again silent as the lights flickered back to life and illuminated the room that was smeared with blood, bloody surgical tools littered the table along with a bloody needle and thread. Onyx shook his head as he took in the horror "Lets… let's find that box and get the hell out of here." Onyx said as he made his way back to the hall, the others followed one by one into the hall.

Grullo walked slowly behind Keppel as they moved down the hall, Keppel got next to him and wrapped his arm around the gunner "Don't worry, we'll get that bitch." Keppel said as he reassured the large man, a sadistic giggle came from behind them "Are you sure about that?" Opal asked as she held the severed head of a woman who had a scream plastered on her face, the Wolves raised their weapons and opened fire into Opal, the bullets ripped through her but only caused her to dissipate along with the severed head.

As they continued down the hall, their earpieces clicked again "Hey boys, we pushed off the Grimm but we inspected those trucks and you won't believe this: they're filled to the brim with different types of dust. If one of these detonated over Vale, it would annihilate the city, I mean there's fire, gravity, electricity, and wind crystals in it. If all these were to go off, it would be devastating." Titus explained to them as they round a corner and came up to a large door that had claw marks on it.

"Hey Titus, I think we found your crate but we'll let you know when we get in." Onyx said as Nightshade walked over to the digital pad on the wall and connected his scroll to the wall, a black flower flashed across the screen of his scroll and onto the keypad. After typing for a few seconds, the large metal doors slowly slid open as the pistons pumped away, the large room slowly lit up as the lights kicked on. The room contained multiple crates but a large white one sat in the middle that read 'Pseudo Emotionality Neuro-Network Intelligence' on the side along with the symbol for the Atlas military "Yep, there it is and it just screams Ironwood." Carmine said as he looked at the other crates, Nightshade typed away at one of the computers and managed to open one of the main docking bay doors that revealed the outside world.

Two men guided a flatbed truck back to the bay as another two used forklifts to move the crate, they loaded the crate onto the flatbed and secured it to the ground as the Wolves walked out into the world where Titus stood and watched the crew at work "Ahh boys, good work!" Titus said as he turned to face them but stopped when he saw them "Holy shit boys, it looks like you all saw a ghost." Titus said, Onyx shook his head "You need to send in a team to clean up the bodies that the Grimm Reapers mutilated." Onyx said as he slowly walked, Titus's normal happy look quickly left his face.

Titus signaled two men over to where they were standing "Sir?" One of the men asked, his name tag read 'Nava'. Titus cleared his throat as he addressed the two men "Nava, contact a Bio team to clean up this place. They'll give you the rundown on the situation." Titus said before walking away while covering his mouth, Crimson explained the scenario to Nava while Grullo reloaded his LMG and Nightshade contemplated life while he leaned against the wall.

Carmine looked down as he thought about all the things that had happened, Opal's evil laugh echoed through his mind as he looked off into the distance 'they kept fighting; especially her, she just would stop screaming, I mean she was worse then the girl whose heart I cut out and showed to her' Opal's words echoed in his head, he snapped out of it when Onyx rallied up the team "Alright boys, let's mount back up and continue securing the area." Onyx said as he made his way back to the K2s while the others followed behind him.

Crimson climbed up onto the front and slid into the driver's seat while Carmine and Keppel got into the main turret with Keppel manning the gunner seat. The main battle tank roared to life as Crimson pressed the ignition button on the console, the tank rumbled as it idled in place. Carmine lowered himself back into the tank and popped the breech back open, the spent metal shell ejected from the receiver as Carmine punched a new 120mm HE round into the receiver and slammed the breech shut as the tank started to pull away.

Onyx's K2 moved down a side road toward the harbor as Carmine's K2 followed behind them, the tracks of crushed the sand on the road along with more fallen Atlesian Knights that lay destroyed in the hot sand. Metal joints squeaked as the tanks continued their expedition toward the harbor, the sound of gunfire soon filled the air around the harbor as they got closer to their destination. The first K2 broke through the chainlink fence followed by the second one behind it, bullets immediately began to ricochet off of the tank's armor like they were pebbles on a brick wall, a man in a white cloak with a grey facemask stood up on top of a building and held a RPG-7 on his shoulder. "RPG!" Carmine called out loud which caused Crimson to flip a switch, a green light turned on as a plate and screen turned toward the direction of the RPG.

Within an instant, the rocket was screaming toward them but suddenly exploded in midair; Nightshade used the smoke from the detonated rocket to fire back and kill the White Fang grenadier, the .50 caliber bullets ripped through his body and sprayed a pink mist into the air. "Target neutralized." Nightshade said through the throat comms before the two tanks continued into the harbor where other tanks and APCs were firing at entrenched White Fang insurgents. Three Beowolves ran out of a shed and attacked three of the Atlesian Knights that were moving toward one of the buildings, the claws ripped through their metal bodies and split them in half.

Nightshade and Keppel focused their fire at the Beowolves, the large bullets shredded the beasts of darkness and quickly dispatched them as more ran out to reinforce them but they were quickly cut down, the Beowolves hit the ground and started to smoke as they slid across the ground. "Push up!" One of the tank commanders yelled as his tank began to advance toward the main building, A King Taijitu slithered out of the darkness and wrapped around one the tanks, the metal scraped and bent as the Grimm squeezed and crushed it, the occupants were able to escape before it was destroyed.

Titus's Challenger 2 sped past the Wolf Pack and rammed into the large Grimm, the barrel pointed upward and fired, the shell ripped the Taijitu's head off and into the water of the harbor, the body began to smoke as the water turned black where the head landed. "Let's go, boys! Woohoo!" Titus yelled as his tank took off at full speed and busted through the concrete wall of a building. Chunks of concrete and rebar crashed as the Challenger 2 pushed deeper into the large building, the sound of gunfire and bullets ricocheting off of the metal hull. The deep sound of metal bending echoed through the harbor as the sound of gunfire stopped, the Challenger backed out of the hole in the wall at full speed as an Atlas Assault Mech chased it "SCATTER!" Danny yelled as all the tanks made a hasty retreat, the mech bitch slapped one of the tanks across the desert and into a sand dune as it stormed across the harbor.

Crimson pulled back on the lever to his right and slammed the left pedal to the floor, the tracks quickly pulled the tank backward as Carmine aimed the main cannon and Keppel peppered the hull of the mech with .50 caliber rounds. Carmine moved the barrel upward and squeezed the trigger, the 120mm round leaped from the barrel and impacted the side of the mech but bounced off and struck dust silo by the harbor, the silo exploded with a large shockwave shaking the area as a fireball climbed into the sky. Carmine ejected the spent shell and punched in a new one, he slammed the breech shut and looked back down the sight "Crimson, I need you to get behind it for a clear shot." Carmine said as he adjusted the sights.

"Alright, but can I play the song as I do it?" Crimson asked as he shifted a few levers, Carmine looked at him confused "Wha… What son… NO! Not that song, not now." Carmine said in protest as an alarm started to beep "We got missile lock!" Keppel yelled as HMG shells rained down onto the armor "Please, it'll help me do this." Crimson said as he pushed the right pedal down, Keppel sighed "Gid damn it, let him play it! I am dangerously low on ammo here." Keppel yelled as he loaded a new box of .50 caliber ammo onto the HMG.

"Fine, just get me behind that big ass mother fucker!" Carmine yelled as he pulled the trigger, another shell flew from the barrel but exploded mid-air, Carmine reloaded the main gun as Crimson plugged his scroll into the tank's speakers and pressed play "This is gonna be good." Crimson said as he gripped the lever and pushed it forward. A fast-paced electric tempo played through the speakers accompanied by guitar.

See your body into the moonlight, Even if I try to cancel All the pictures into the mind There's a flashing in my eyes. Don't you see my commission, the nation Has gone running again. Can't you see now, illusions Right into your mind.

Crimson slammed the pedal down and sped toward the large mech, as he passed it he pulled back on the left lever which caused the left track to stop moving.

Déjà vu! I've just been in this place before, Higher on the street and I know it's my time to go. calling you, and the search is a mystery Standing on my feet It's so hard when I try to be me, woah. Déjà vu, I've just been in this time before Higher on the beat And I know it's a place to go, Calling you and the search is a mystery Standing on my feet It's so hard when I try to be me, yeah!

Crimson sang out loud to himself as the K2 drifted around the mech and presented an opening for Carmine, he lined up the crosshairs on the vents and squeezed the trigger. Another shell exploded from the barrel and flew through the air before hitting the vent and detonating, the explosion ripped through the engine and rendered the mech lifeless.

See the future into the present, see my past leaves in the distance. Try to guess now what's going on And the band begins to play. Don't you see my commission, the nation has gone running again, can't you see now, illusions, right into your mind.

Crimson proceeded to leave one track locked as he drove the tank in circles, doing doughnuts in the hot sand as he celebrated their small victory.

The radio feed crackled as Onyx's voice came through the speaker "Alright Crimson, back to business." Onyx said as he shouted through the tank comms, Crimson quickly shut the music off and placed both hands on the steering wheel, the mech shifted slowly as it struggled to push itself back up but Onyx's K2 sped toward it and broadsided the fallen mech, delivering the final blow. Carmine pushed the top hatch open and poked his head out, Onyx was sitting on the roof of his tank while he tried to light a cigarette "You know you shouldn't smoke, right?" Carmine said as he leaned against Keppel who was adjusting the M2 he was manning.

"You're right but counterpoint and hear me out: Fuck you." Onyx said with a chuckle as he lit the cigarette and took a deep drag, he exhaled a cloud of smoke as he looked off toward the harbor. Carmine lowered his head and used the downtime to rest but it was short-lived, Keppel nudged Carmine back up "Hey Carmine, is someone standing on top of that sub?" Keppel asked as he squinted and stared at the blob in the distance.

Carmine lowered himself back into the tank and looked down the optic sight, he flicked it from 2x to 6x, the shape of a woman came into view as Carmine's eye focused "It's Opal, that sadistic bitch." Carmine said as he nudged Crimson who threw the tank back into gear and drove the tank back toward the harbor, Carmine grabbed his Scar and climbed out of the tank where he crouched of the roof as it got closer. Opal lifted open a hatch and climbed down into the sub "Guys! They were after the submarine!" Carmine yelled into the comms, the feed crackled as Titus came back through "Well butter my ass and call me a biscuit! Grizz, you were right!" Titus yelled as the other tanks began their charge back toward the harbor.

The rear propeller slowly began to spin up, kicking up water onto the hot concrete as the tank tracks sped across through the port. As they got closer, three Osprey flew overhead and landed in the desert flats while another flew away while carrying the crate marked 'P.E.N.N.I.'. The tanks lined up at the edge of the harbor and aimed their barrels at the sub that pulling away from the harbor. "Take aim!" Danny yelled as the barrels lined up, Carmine noticed that a large hatch opened on top of the sub.

"Fire!" Danny yelled as a large missile launched from within the sub and the tanks fired, the barrage of tank rounds ripped through the hull of the sub and caused it to explode underwater. The missile screamed into the sky before it arced back toward the harbor "FUCK! RETREAT! EVERYONE IN, HATCHES CLOSED!" Titus yelled as all tank operators and gunners lowered down into the tanks, the hatches closed behind them as they tore through the desert sand.

The missile flew back toward the center of the desert where the Ospreys hand landed, they attempted to take back off but couldn't spin up before the missile struck the ground. A huge flash of light flooded across the desert as the missile exploded, the detonation swallowed everything in its path and blew vehicles across the desert like they were cows in a tornado, tanks were thrown in multiple different directions. Carmine's K2 flew through the air and skipped across the desert ground, the barrel was ripped off and jammed into a sand dune as the K2 continued to roll. Carmine, Crimson, and Keppel were tossed around like ragdolls, Carmine was slammed into the roof and knocked out cold as the K2 landed upside down.

The blast was devastating, tanks were thrown in multiple directions and some even being ripped to shreds by the blast itself, Onyx's K2 was wedged between two boulders. Danny wasn't so lucky, his tank was reduced to a heap of twisted, burning metal with the corpses of the occupants burning inside the destroyed husk. Titus's tank was flipped over and pinned by part of one of the VTOLs.

Carmine slowly came to and was jolted alert by two things: a sharp pain in his side and the sound of metal being ripped open, Carmine looked over at his squadmates and saw they were out cold. Carmine attempted to move but was stopped in his tracks when he heard a familiar giggle "No, you can't still be alive." Carmine said through pained grunts as he tried to climb out of the tank via the bottom hatch, he slid down the bottom of the tank and hit the sand where he collapsed but pushed himself back up. "Onyx!" Carmine yelled as he limped across the scorched sand, Onyx and Nightshade pulled themselves out of their tanks and fell to the ground.

Carmine turned around and raised his rifle, firing at the black columns that were forming in front of him. "Carmine!" Onyx yelled through pained grunts as he struggled to push himself up, Onyx couldn't help but watch Carmine be swallowed by clouds of black smoke. "No!" Onyx yelled as the black smoke dissipated, leaving nothing but a pair of boot prints and blood on the sand.

(A/N: Cliffhanger? This chapter was really fun to write. I took some notes from my criminal justice classes when writing Opal's dialogue, I got it from Richard Ramirez "I love to kill people. I love watching them die. I would shoot them in the head and they would wiggle and squirm all over the place, and then just stop. Or I would cut them with a knife and watch their faces turn real white. I love all that blood. I told one lady to give me all her money. She said no. So I cut her and pulled her eyes out." I have been busy lately trying to juggle Nine things at once: Write, college, complete my degree, and other stuff so I might be AWOL for a bit, I'm not leaving but just taking a mini hiatus. So remember to Favorite, Follow, and Review, and as always, this is Nightmare 6-4, signing off.)