Chapter 21

Less than three seconds after they'd left the house, (SAS name) mumbled, " It's too quiet..where the hell did they go?"

Gaz took a quick look into a one story building in front of them, whispering back, "They're probably regrouping. Trying to cut us off somewhere up ahead.

[Yang: Please, after the beating they've been taking so far? They're probably all running away and want nothing to do with us.

Weiss: You saw one squad of soldiers break after they saw their cover do nothing for them and most of them got killed trying to hold their ground. Every other group has charged relentless, and some of those troops kept fighting even as the bled to death. Is there a reason you think that one exception is going to be the rule from now on?

Yang: Partly wishful thinking, partly amazed how much ass the SAS boys can kick despite no aura.

Blake: At least you admit it's wishful thinking.]

Price did a quick check of his ammo supply as he said, "Stay sharp."

Soap took a moment to look at the area they were in right now. Lot of one story buildings clustered together, most of them shut tight. Like most of the other buildings they'd seen, there wasn't any sign of life, and barely any sign that people ever lived there. No chairs, maybe some makeshift tables where they put some wood on top of some barrels, and a few signs of outright neglect if you paid enough attention to the walls. The only thing that was in good shape was a vending machine. Somehow its glowing surface and the fact that it hadn't sold out on any of its drinks made it one of the creepiest sights Soap had seen outside of a horror movie.

Then there was of course the ruined car Gaz decided to stand near as he scanned the nearby area. Based on the crater in front of it and the way the front looked crumpled, it'd been way too close to an artillery strike. Not a direct hit but an unarmored two seater wouldn't have stood a chance. Odd that there were no other craters in the area, and while he could believe the windows were shattered by the blast, the fact that one of the doors was missing was disconcerting. And if there'd been any bloodstains, a nearby puddle implied the rains cleaned up the mess.

[Ruby: Anyone else get the feeling something very, very wrong happened here?

Blake: Yeah, and based on what we saw during the opening credits..I'm not sure I want to know.]

After the short break to get their bearings, the squad started to push forward. Sure, it might have been a better idea to get moving right off the bat since they were still deep in enemy territory, but when you know an area is swarming with enemies in probably every direction, you'll take any respite you can.

Eventually they reached a boarded up building. Technically it seemed like a two story structure based on the windows, but each floor apparently had windows large enough for a man to stand in. Sure, a short man who didn't break the five and a half foot mark, but still larger two and a half times larger than the windows on every other building they'd seen. Probably a small warehouse in an earlier life, though why was it the only building that was boarded up?

Soap's musings were cut off when the constant din of bugs doing whatever it is they do at night was broken by barks. Several barks, a few of them overlapping eachother.

[Blake barely managed to keep herself from falling off the couch's arm and scrambling out the room on all fours. Where everyone else was a little surprised by the noise but didn't really know how to react to it yet, about a decade of bad memories let her know exactly what to expect, right down to the breed. She didn't whimper, thankfully..she didn't make any noise, she even stopped breathing for a few seconds.

Ruby: Wait..no people, but they left the dogs behind?]

And that's when Soap saw them, a pair of german shepherds dashing right at him.

[Weiss: What are they..

Yang: Why are they..

As the other two started asking similar questions, that's when Blake managed to remember how to talk. Thankfully it didn't come out as a squeak or whimper. When the words left her lips they sounded like a whispered plea. "Shoot them!"

Ruby took a full second to look at Blake. Stiff spine, legs pushing against the couch, eyes showing a combination of fear and embarrassment..definitely a far cry from the usually withdrawn center of calm of the team. She then turned her attention to the screen, noting the red targeting reticule when she got one of the dogs in her sights. Well, that made her feel a little less guilty..at least they didn't look like Zwei.]

Getting his MP5 to his hip, Soap started moving back as quick as he could, firing the whole time. The first dog was cut down five feet from him.

[Weiss felt her brain hiccup seeing a dog get gunned down. Sure, it was a fictional dog, but..

Yang: Whoa! What's with the dog killing, Ruby?!]

The second took a hit three feet away, rolled, and started trying to rush some more before taking several bullets to the head.

Unfortunately, Soap noticed a third coming from his left just as the second died, and before he could aim his gun at it, it leapt.

[The quarter second between when the third dog jumped and when the screen went red was brutal for Blake. Sure, intellectually she knew this wasn't the same as the dogs some racist bastards would unleash on smaller protest groups, or any of the other occasions she'd been bitten or saw someone else get mauled. The fact that a computer generated dog on screen acting aggressively turned her into a..a frightened little kid again was a personal humiliation she'd never let herself live down. Damnit, she'd faced plenty of Beowolves, which were 'far' more dangerous than your average dog, so why did seeing a digitized hound make her bite the inside of her lip hard enough to taste blood? And why was it either biting herself or diving behind the couch felt like the only options?! Still, as rough as it was, at least none of the others seemed to have noticed anything wrong.]

The dog tackled him, sending him flat on his back, and as he crossed his arms between himself and the dog's neck, he could already tell he'd screwed up 'badly'. His last thought as the dog tore out his throat was "Why aren't the others helping me?!" The last sight he saw was the dog spitting out his flesh as it got off him and started running again.

{"In war, you win or lose, live or die - and the difference is just an eyelash." General Douglas MacArthur}

[Weiss: Well..that's certainly an interesting message. And I've got to admit, I didn't expect those thugs to use dogs against us.

Yang: Yeah, you kind of need to be a caring person to raise a dog, and these guys are about as uncaring as they get.

Ruby gave Blake a look, hoping the raven haired girl would know it was a subtle question if she was alright. Unfortunately, Blake didn't see it like that. All she saw was a multitude of questions, all of them leading to directions she really didn't want to deal with. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she shrugged, and Ruby shifted her attention back to the screen. If Blake continued to act uncomfortable, then regardless Ruby was stopping this thing.]

Soap's musings were cut off when the constant din of bugs doing whatever it is they do at night was broken by barks. Several barks, a few of them overlapping eachother. Great, dogs. He hated dogs.

Two quickly came into sight, and they died before they even got within ten feet of him. A third started rushing at him from the left, and it lasted a grand total two extra seconds before it was just another corpse on the ground. Before he could start patting himself on the back, though, Soap started taking fire from Russian soldiers who were less than pleased their dogs were killed. The rest of Bravo Six chose that point to start shooting while Soap pulled back to the one story building, taking cover.

[The quick, efficient kills of the no-longer-a-surprise digital beasts gave Blake enough calm to say without any waver, "And of course, the rest of the squad didn't do a thing when the dogs showed up. No hesitation against unarmed ship workers, hesitation against dogs."

Yang: Well who'd even think a dog was a threat, anyway?

Blake: Fast, teeth, throat..were you not paying attention earlier?]

One of the Russians managed to get by the hailstorm of bullets, getting behind a wagon to try hitting Soap. He wasn't as quick to the trigger as the SAS trooper, and the wagon only covered his waistline. The first burst hit him in the leg, the second got him in the chest. The third was just a bit of paranoia since the man wasn't falling fast enough for Soap's liking.

Gaz wounded another who tried taking cover behind some barrels, and as Soap started moving forward again, he finished the bastard off. The others just sprayed bullets down the alley to discourage plenty of other enemies from rushing right at the squad.

[Ruby: Think I'll go left instead of straight here.

Weiss: But they're pinned, there's no one stopping you from -

Ruby: From walking right into their guns. But I don't think they're just sitting around the left side.]

Just as Soap tried to get to the alley on the left, assuming you could really call a wall and a lone two story building in a poor farming area something as dignified as an alley, three enemies worked up the courage to start dashing through the hailstorm of bullets. One was taken down by the rest of the squad, one was clipped by Price and finished off before he could recover, and the third suddenly decided to turn left to try finding some cover as he saw his two friends get killed before they could do anything. Unfortunately, he ran into a crouched Soap, who responded with a very efficient stab to the crotch.

[Ruby: Why does the knife always go there?!

Yang: Well either you've got some issues you've never told me..or the knife loves the taste of -

Ruby: Finish that sentence and fill your bra with itching powder.

Weiss almost said something about Yang possibly enjoying that when Ruby continued. "Before Professor Goodwitch's class."

That left both Blake and Weiss imagining themselves in that kind of situation, not sure if they should be surprised Ruby went that far with a threat, or worried Yang wouldn't be cowed by it.

Yang just smirked like a jackass and slowly drawled out, "..cock."

Weiss: Great, Monday's class is going to be..interesting.]

The poor bastard's fell to his knees, bleeding out with a silent scream as Soap turned back around and got moving while the rest of the squad rushed the same direction. Two enemies tried hiding behind a dumpster and weren't give a chance to do a thing, and as the squad pushed forward into a hailstorm of bullets, Soap and Gaz were the only ones who heard more barking behind them.

Both of them turned around at the same time, and as Gaz gunned one dog down, the other managed to jump on top of Soap. Before the dog could even 'think' about going for the kill, Soap let go of his gun, gripped both sides of the dog's head, and twisted.

[Ruby just had to pause the game that that, mumbling, "Okay. Either the SAS or whatever group Soap was with before them drilled on how to kill dogs that jump on top of you, or.."

Weiss: Or what?

Ruby: Or he just thought of that quick way to kill dogs attacking him off the top of his head. I'm not sure what's scarier.

Blake didn't want to say anything, but she definitely felt that wasn't scary. If anything, it was the single most heroic thing she'd seen in the game so far. Considering everyone else's opinion on dogs, however, she should probably keep it to herself. Yang seemed especially disturbed seeing a hound get its neck broken, and the last thing she needed was her partner/bunkmate learning that Blake felt dogs were just barely better than Grimm.]

Closing note: I know, very awkward place to end this chapter, and it's shorter than usual, but there is no good spot to break these missions up. Since the main focus this time was the dogs, I figured dealing with the last dogs was as good a place to break up this chapter as any other. It's made a little more difficult since I liked the bit in RWBY Chibi with Blake and Zwei in episode 14, but I suppose Blake will have time to put the little guy in a different category from most other dogs she's familiar with.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter even with its probably more abrupt than usual ending. Here's hoping I feel inspired for the next chapter in a hurry, and that when I do, I give it more meat and a better stopping point.