RWBY: The Dark Hunter

Chapter 24

"Task Force Excelsior"

[June 13th, 2558]

[Outskirts of abandoned village, Argonne Forests, Kingdom of Vale]

[5:02 PM]

"Blue-Three, target seventy five meters out at one o'clock" the green figure commanded, his voice remained unmoved or even unchanged in the heat of battle.

The male light blue figure responded diligently "On target, engaging!" before proceeding to aim down his rifle's sights and open fire sending three rounds down range where they made their mark "Kill confirmed!"

The other blue soldier, taking a feminine shape, took a direct hit to her shields from a dust projectile and reports "Taking fire, shields down to eighty-three percent!"

With no words, the team leader moves his right hand signaling the targeted subordinate to move for a blown house to their right, currently serving as a firing position for several Atlesian troopers, Colonel Makdai, and the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR. As if they were reading each other's minds, the entirety of the six man team began moving its way to the designated house together as a whole unit, several members took the moment to move before assuming a firing position while the others ceased firing and moved as well in leap frog style. In no time the team reaches the house and takes cover behind the battered walls, most of the soldiers remained on high alert looking out through the windows and blown out holes, while the green figure stepped over to join the other fighters.

Sandra quickly stood up from her spot and greeted the newcomer "Sir" she begins "I didn't think Blue Team would be here . . ."

But disregarding that comment, the man asks "What's the situation Lieutenant?"

With that, she figured it was best to get to the point "HVT made a run across the fields and took cover in the trees with the rest of the hostiles. Field's layered with landmines and under constant machinegun fire from those pillboxes, Raptor-3 and I can make it if we go across but no one else will."

The hunters and huntresses of RWBY and JNPR continued to gaze at the new arrivals; Jaune whispered "Who're those guys?"

But no one answered him; instead they continued to listen in on the conversation between the two regarding the state of the battle and possible plans that could be done to see the end of the engagement. Then to their surprise the green figure turned his helmeted head towards them, examining each huntress and hunter until his body language shifted from calm and collected to something towards uncertainty.

"What're you children doing in a combat zone?" the man asked.

"Children!?" Ruby snaps then retorts with confidence "For your information, I'm fifteen!" only to receive an elbow to her side from a scornful Weiss.

Jaune gains the courage to stand up from his spot and take a step towards the man "With all due respect, we can take care of ourselves."

The man began to thoroughly examine Arc, already displeased with the current weapons the hunter was armed with but noted the exceptional physical build he possessed.

Sandra states firmly "Sir, they've proven themselves to be capable fighters. They can help us."

Then Colonel Makdai adds in agreement "These are the best fighters you'll ever find here, I'd trust them with my life and that of my men."

With several people favoring the hunters' usefulness, the team leader takes it under advisement and then orders "All teams, fall in."

The other members of Blue Team withdrew from their positions and gathered around their team leader, Sandra and now Farley included. Sandra and the green man then turned their eyes to RWBY and JNPR who stood by feeling excluded from the SPARTAN gathering.

He then adds "You too."

"Us?" Blake questions.

The male blue figure answers, his voice was low and firm with authority and strength "You said you're capable fighters so that includes you too."

The response prompted the others to finally step forward and join the super soldiers, then came the introductions as the green figure points out each member "This is Kelly, Blue-Two, Fred and Linda, Three and Four."

Then he turns to the two jet black figures, one seemed feminine while the other donned an unusual set of armor "That's Rose and Raphael, Blue-Five and Six."

Ruby then inquired "And who're you?"

"Master Chief Petty Officer 117, Master Chief or Chief will do for now."

"Wait! You're the Master Chief!?" the young huntress gasped "You're the one who saved Sandra then! They said you're the very best!"

Now ignoring young Rose's rant, 117 turned to Colonel Makdai "Do you have a plan of action Colonel?"

The Colonel cleared his throat and answered "I've ordered two of our crawlers to make their way here and prepare to lead an assault on the enemy positions; they can clear the mines and provide our men with cover."

"What's their ETA?"

"Five minutes, given they don't run into any complications."

The Chief stood silently for the moment, taking a careful glance at the entrenched White Fang and taking into account the land mines. The other members of Blue Team waited patiently for their leader's command, they all knew what he was about to say.

"We don't have five minutes" he then spoke.

"What?" Makdai asks, struck odd by the SPARTAN's response "But without the tanks our men won't make it across!"

"We will" the super soldier retorts just as he turns to the tanned soldier armed with an anti-materiel rifle "Linda, map those mines" then to the others of Blue Team "Check your gear, we leave in sixty."

The Chief received only nods of compliance from his fellow squadmates, however he was quickly confronted by those of RWBY and JNPR with Nora exclaiming "We're coming too!" as she brandishes her hammer.

117 glared down at all of them, his towering height and incredible bulk imposed a sense of unmatched power and authority over the young ones, he began in his usual stoic tone "Fine, Blue Team will draw their fire and provide cover for you as we make it across" but then his voice became strict "Stay close and don't fall behind."

However despite the Master Chief's sudden ruggedness, Ruby answered "Don't worry about us. If something happens we can take care of ourselves."

"Let's hope so."

After surveying the terrain via her enhanced geographic and ground penetrating radar sensors, Linda returns to the group stating "Mines mapped, sending the data to your HUDs."

As she said, the data regarding the location of the individual mines ahead of them has been sent to the other SPARTANs, Farley at one moment glanced out through a window to find the explosives tagged and highlighted red across his screen, he could've counted little over a dozen set in the path in front of them.

However a thought occurs to Nikos and prompts her to step up to the Chief "Sir, if you'll allow me, I can remove the mines. I just need to know where they're at so I can focus on them."

The now silent Master Chief Petty Officer looks down at Pyrrha, at first he would've said no and leave the matter at that but upon a second look he found something that nearly rivals himself- her vivid green eyes so full of sheer will and determination that almost matches his own. She wanted the job done with no more casualties than there already is as much as he does.

"Please" she asks one last time.

There was one final moment of pause before Chief turns to Linda "Linda, give her a hand with those explosives."

058 nodded in response and waves Nikos to follow her to one of the windows that looks out to the field outside of town, upon first glance from Pyrrha she couldn't find anything of note lying in the grass. But to her surprise she turns to Linda to see the SPARTAN actually removing her ARGUS-Class Mjolnir helmet, revealing her pale skin, blood-red hair, and emerald green eyes and hold the helmet out to the huntress.

"You'll need this" Linda states, prompting the huntress to take it from her hands.

At first Pyrrha hesitated but then carefully picked the weighted helmet into her hands before she reaches out and removes her bronze headpiece and undo her pony tail letting her hair to fall down.

Jaune, along with the other of RWBY and JNPR, were quickly astonished by the eerily close resemblance the two carried with them, the red hair and green eyes being a first. But while Pyrrha was also surprised by this at first she quickly sets the thought aside and slides the helmet over her head. The helmet fitted snuggly around her head and right off the spot she found all of these various displays surrounding the edges of her visor such as a shield meter, local movement tracker, weapon readouts, and more. Setting those aside as well, she focuses her attention to the mines scattered about ahead with each highlighted red and found lightly buried only under a few inches of dirt. She reaches out with her right open hand and begins to focus her energy on the mines, with her semblance of polarity she starts to lift the explosives from out of the ground until they were suspended in mid-air. Linda watched with unusual interest as Pyrrha then clenches her hand into a fist thus crushing the mines and renders them inert before casually dropping the crumpled remains onto the ground.

Afterwards she removes the helmet and kindly hands it back to the SPARTAN who then puts it back on, "What was that?" 058 questioned.

"It's something I'll have to tell you later. I believe we still have a man to catch" Nikos answered as she puts her hair back up and places her headpiece around her head again.

During final preparations, Ruby notices the man known as Fred make a quick run back for his pod that still laid out in the open intersection, taking glancing blows from gunfire, but he was able to make it and begin taking something from the inside. All the while the two black figures, Rose and Raphael, lay down cover fire sending ballistic rounds into the White Fang entrenchments. In moments Fred produces a single-tube shoulder-fire launcher sporting an olive drab finish over the body and slaps the weapon onto his back before turning on his heels and sprint back into the ruined house that offered them shelter.

Chief glances back at Fred and the other SPARTANs before he asks "Everyone ready?"

He receives simultaneous "Ready!" from his team before they began to take up positions next to him, all eight SPARTANs lined up next to one another, readying their assortments of rifles, shotguns, and explosives.

Chief then looks to the members of RWBY and JNPR "Remember what I said."

The hunters and huntresses acknowledged and moved in behind their armored allies taking up their places with each individual super soldier to use as a shield.

Makdai then approached the Master Chief and states "If you can put those pillboxes out of commission, my men can clear the rest of the mines and mop up the trenches."

The SPARTAN leader nods respectively "Consider it done."

"Thank you" the colonel answered with gratitude before he barks to his men "Alright! Clear the way for the soldiers!"

The men done as ordered and cleared out of the way of the SPARTANs who faced the standing wall between them and the field of fire, Ruby noticed this and started to wonder what they were planning to do, but this was now no longer the time to think . . .

"Blue Team, fall out . . ."

As those words left the Master Chief's mouth, all eight SPARTAN super soldiers revved up their suits' built-in thrusters and suddenly charged forth towards the wall without a second thought giving RWBY and JNPR little to no time to react as they quickly gave chase. In moments the human walking tanks smashes right through the stone wall in an display of utter power and in seconds they were engulfed in heavy machine gun and rifle fire from the trenches only approximately eighty yards ahead. Jaune and Pyrrha were quick to throw up their shields to provide additional cover for the rest of their teams as they tried to keep pace with the augmented soldiers only feet in front of them.

Ruby couldn't help but watch the soldiers charge headfirst into the barrage of gunfire as she ran alongside them; heavy caliber rounds continuously ricochet off their energy shielding and titanium armor. The entrenched soldiers began to use explosives, makeshift Molotov cocktails and stolen military-grade grenades, by hurling them through the air towards the incoming enemy that did not dare to slow down. Despite evading the mixture of bullets and shrapnel, the young children continued to watch in awe as the SPARTANs gladly greeted the thrown devices, the explosive force of hand grenades did little to rock the towering giants as they charged through the burning flames of shattered beer bottles.

By this point they came within seventeen meters before they started to hear the voices of the White Fang, some bewildered and in panic while others remained calm and readied their next orders.

"Alright Blue Team" Chief spoke, his voice seemed unshaken by neither enemy fire nor the exhausting sprint he just endured "Break!"

At once the eight SPARTANs broke formation and stormed the trenches immediately killing off the occupants in moments through quick precise ballistic fire or brutal hand-to-hand combat. The members of RWBY and JNPR broke off as well and followed their own SPARTAN into the trenches to aid them.

Ruby quickly found herself following the Chief as he leaps into a trench, in between two surprised soldiers, before he quickly slams the stock of his assault rifle into the faceplate of the first soldier, the sheer force was enough to fracture the white mask and render the man unconscious, then turn on his heels and squeeze off two well placed rounds into the lungs and heart of the second. Ruby jumps in behind him just in time to see him take a bolt to his back where it refracted off of his shields prompting to turn towards the shooter, finding several other hostiles rushing to reinforce the gap in their defenses, and quickly lay down short controlled bursts of automatic fire. Rose watched the soldiers crumple to the ground as they are torn down but armor piercing rounds fired from the legendary super soldier, however she turns to face the other direction and find one man taking aim with his rifle. Instinctively she drew her Crescent Rose into her rifle configuration and sends a dust projectile streaming from the barrel directly into the chest plate of the attacking soldier; as a result the man was knocked onto his back and was incapacitated afterwards.

The Chief glanced back at Rose who had just covered him from another attack and spoke appreciatively "Thanks" before he looks back to scan for more targets, but none were present. Their small portion of the trench was cleared.

In another part of the line, Ren and Nora found themselves with Sandra and Farley as well as the armor-clad figure known as Raphael. Like the previous duo, they stormed the trenches by force and began to systematically neutralize the threat through lethal and nonlethal measures. With a ferocious slam of her hammer, Valkyrie was able to knock out a trio of soldiers in a single concussive blow; Ren utilized his quick agility and precise bursts of dual automatic fire to close in and take down another pair who were preparing to fire on them. The two members of Fireteam Raptor kept close to one another and used their augmented abilities and weaponry to remove the threats as they deem fit whether it would be a debilitating melee blow or a devastating gun fire. However amongst this Raphael made his own personal target, a small makeshift machinegun nest currently laying down heavy fire on the Atlesian forces still trapped in the village, he charges through the trench on his own with his M90 CAWS shotgun laying waste to whoever stood in front of him. At first glance there was nobody to oppose him until a pair of soldiers came out of hiding just feet from the bunker entrance and open fire sending bolts and dust-based bullets raining on him, however his shields withstood several direct hits before failing, prompting the attacker to cease his assault and dive for cover behind a small stack of metal crates. But rather than wait for his shields to recharge he activates his suit's active camouflage and fades from view.

"Drop a grenade on that freak!" one of the soldiers cried out.

The other produced a grenade from his belt "Don't tell me twice . . ." and pulled the pin before lobbing it over to Raphael's cover.

The resulting blast blew that particular part of the trench apart but to their surprise there was no corpse, and before they could speak they were immediately flanked from outside the trench. Raphael materializes into view with his weapon braced against his shoulder as he fires off the first shell sending a flurry of eight gauge buckshot into the closest target, killing him instantly, before quickly drawing his M6D magnum and deliver two subsequent shots into the second target before the soldier could react, killing him as well. Now approaching the entrance into the pillbox, he pulls a M9 Fragmentation Grenade from one of his pouches and primes the explosive with a press of the red button before tossing it into the open doorway. A sudden uproar of voices could be heard from inside but the imminent blast immediately silenced them as well as utterly obliterating the structure from within throwing wooden splinters and other items into the air.

Then finally a single word left Raphael's mouth "Clear."

Not too far from the smoldering pillbox, Weiss and Blake had followed Fred and Kelly into another portion of the trench lines where they began to engage the White Fang there. In a swift and powerful display of tactical and well-coordinated prowess, Fred immediately takes out two hostiles with two precise rounds fired from his DMR as he jumps into the trench while Kelly, through her unmatched speed, had already charged into a crowded portion of the entrenchment and began ravaging the enemy in close quarters combat.

Belladonna had chosen to follow Frederic into the trench and aid him, as he prepares to engage an oncoming squad of armed soldiers the two were quickly jumped by another squad of men who had hid themselves away outside of the trench. Three men had tackled the SPARTAN to the ground while the other three focused their efforts on the huntress. In swift response Blake drew her Gambol's Shroud before squeezing off two rounds into her attackers' chests, taking down two, but the third managed to get within arm's length and grab a hold of her pinning her against the wooden boards that formed the walls of the trench. The man tried to keep the huntress under control through a series of power struggles with her, but ultimately he loses the fight as she was able to bring up her right leg and slam her boot against his stomach sending him reeling back before she finishes it up with a knuckled up left hook that connected with his lower jaw thus knocking him unconscious. She turns to see Fred now taking control of his predicament, having broken the first soldier's neck and proceed to shoot the other two square in the chest, and in moments he was back on his feet in fighting condition.

SPARTAN-087 deals a lighting quick blow to her closest target, slamming her armored right leg into the side of the white fang soldier who stood no chance of even reacting, and then proceed to lunge towards the second, catching his face within her own gloved left hand and smashes his head into the ground with extreme force. Before Weiss could even understand what was happening, Kelly had already moved to the third and fourth soldier wiping them out with blinding strikes of sheer unyielding speed. During her assault on a fifth, Schnee catches sight of a soldier rushing from outside the trench towards Kelly armed with a dagger ready to kill. She quickly uses her aura to conjure a glyph in front of her just as the man leaped into the air but swiftly a white lance of pure energy shoots out from the glyph and strikes the man in his side, sending him flying into a tree with a pained cry. 087 had looked up in time to see the soldier take the hit then turned her sights to Weiss and gave an appreciative nod for the cover.

Frederic's voice then could be heard shouting "Hostile vehicle coming in!"

They turn their attention to outside of the trench within the forests; there they spot an old pick-up truck racing through a forest path armed with a heavy quad-AA weapon. It was heading right for them.

"M57 up!" the male SPARTAN roared as he sets down his rifle and calls upon the launcher he had stored on his back.

The truck came to a screeching halt and the weapon sighted in on their position before opening up with high-caliber automatic fire that forced Kelly and the others to find cover, but Fred remained standing as he lines up the shot.

"Rocket away!" he barks just as the 50mm HEMP rocket launches from the tube and screams its way towards the target.

The next thing he could see was the vehicle crew scrambling to get away before they were suddenly engulfed in a ball of fire that flashed seconds later followed by the deafening blast of the explosion reducing the truck to smoldering twisted metal.

"Second vehicle incoming! Not ours!" a voice called from above.

Weiss and Blake looked up to see Linda-051 up in the trees; she remained close to the trunk due to the branches being at their strongest. She, looking through her rifle's scope, could see what appeared to be a captured and modified M12 Warthog with the White Fang emblem crudely painted over the more elegant ONI insignia. Curtesy of its captors, the Warthog had received a pintle-mounted machine gun just above the passenger seat and a heavy mortar launcher in the truck bed as well. The soldier mounting the HMG spots Linda in the trees and began laying down fire, forcing Linda to quickly jump off but then suspend herself upside down from the branch she stood on with the help of two tow cables stretching from her waist. She sights in and fires off a round that darted towards the man's chest as the vehicle was racing by, it was a clean hit. She sends a second round flying towards the vehicle itself and managed to pierce through the hog's back left wheel suspension arm thus breaking off the wheel entirely. Without the fourth wheel to keep the vehicle stable, the hog came to a screeching halt as the back left corner of the vehicle was dragged through the ground. The machine gunner continued to lay down fire while two more passengers began loading a shell into the mortar tube, Linda manages to kill the gunner with one shot through the chest but the mortar crew had already lined up their weapon and dropped the primed the shell into the tube. Seconds later the shell came flying out with a loud 'THUMP' soaring into the air, prompting others to look up and predict where the shell will land.

Moments later after deciphering the projected zone of impact, Fred shoots a quick look at Blake and yells "Get down!" just as he tackles her onto the ground and cover her body with his own.

The shell came down and crashed just outside of the trench right next to Belladonna and S-104, sending a powerful shockwave all around and throws dirt, mud, and wood into the air. Weiss and Kelly were able to duck down to shelter themselves but due to the close proximity Linda was in she was knocked clean off of her post and was sent falling onto her back hard.

Fred gets up onto a knee over Blake who then looks up to him and gratifies him "Thanks…"

He nods acceptingly before he takes hold of his intact launcher and takes aim; seconds later he pulls the trigger and launches the second rocket towards its target. Like the previous vehicle, the warthog's crew attempted to flee the vehicle but they were obliterated the moment the 50mm projectile slammed against the chassis and detonated, ravaging everything within its blast radius.

"Vehicle knocked out!" 104 called out "Head count!"

087 responded "Kelly, here…"

Then 051 "Linda, green."

Back to Chief and Ruby, together the two cleared out two more machine gun bunkers and another two platoons of soldiers through non-lethal means on the request of the latter. The huntress and the super soldier were already beginning to become more in sync with one another, understanding each other's strengths and flaws therefore building up on those. In one instance, Ruby breaks into a sudden burst of speed using her rose petal semblance with Chief close behind firing off single precise rounds to wound his targets, once Rose came within range she would take out the first soldier with a single sweep shortly before the second soldier would come up and prepare to strike. However the Master Chief was there in the nick of time to send his gauntleted fist crashing into the attacker's chest leaving him incapacitated, a third soldier lined up a shot with his high-powered rifle and fires a bolt of energized dust, the SPARTAN ducks below it in time for it to pass and Ruby to vault over his back and take out the target with a round from her rifle.

It wasn't long for the two to quickly find SPARTAN Rose in the company of Yang and Pyrrha, the trio of female warriors inflicted a devastating amount of damage upon the enemy troops through a series of quick, one-sided brawls and shootouts that left the soldiers in various states of health.

Pyrrha bashes her shield into the back of a stunned enemy before she looks to see another soldier about to take a swing at Yang with a trenching shovel; she calls out to her "Yang behind you!"

But before Xiao Long could react, Rose storms in and swings her DMR by its barrel letting the rifle stock fly right into the man's face thus shattering his mask and breaking his nose in the process.

Yang finally turned around to see the man lying on the ground unconscious and then look up to Rose "Thanks . . ."

The SPARTAN nodded in acknowledgment and braces the rifle against her shoulder to fire again but before she could acquire her next target she was suddenly struck by an orange beam of hardlight erupting from the trees beyond the trench. The blast had knocked her onto her back but fortunately it was only a grazing blow to her shields that were now depleted. Pyrrha and Yang quickly traced the shot back to its point of origin, and there standing in the shadows of the forest was the rogue SPARTAN himself already taking aim to fire again. A orange beam of light shined from the rifle and found its mark on Xiao Long's chest, but through quick thinking Nikos reached for her semblance before grabbing hold of Deimos' rifle through polarity and throw his aim upwards just as he fired shooting out a lance of light into the trees above him. With his aim now thrown off and his weapon's charge has been depleted, he turns on his heels and bolts into the forest.

"He's retreating!" Pyrrha yells to her two allies.

Yang quickly helps Rose to her feet with the latter stating "Don't let him get away!"

The three hence forth charged out of the trench and deeper into the forests, but before they got too far Rose-077 contacts the other members of her team "Got positive visual on the target, he's breaking east further into the forest. Xiao Long and Nikos are with me."

Immediately a response comes back, it was the Master Chief "Acknowledged, we'll back you up once we handle the rest of the hostiles in the area. Stay on your feet."

"Copy."

[Thirty seven minutes later]

In the thick wooded areas of the Argonne Forests, SPARTAN Rose and huntresses Yang and Pyrrha continued their search for rogue Deimos along with the other members of Blue Team, RWBY, and JNPR who had broken off into smaller joint-teams in an effort to expand their search. Leading the trio was Rose herself who walked with a steady posture, her M395B DMR braced against her shoulder as her eyes scanned the trees for signs of movement, Pyrrha was close behind with Milo' set into its javelin configuration as she too treaded carefully, however hanging back was Yang Xiao Long who walked casually and took brief glances around the trees for anything resembling their target.

"How far did we go?" Nikos wondered as she looks behind her seeing nothing but endless trees and the blonde huntress, there was no sight of the battle they had left.

"Half a klick at most" Rose responded "Deimos couldn't have gone too far ahead on foot."

"Deimos isn't one to run from a fight" Pyrrha adds.

Then Yang remarked "You sure? It seems like the only thing he does is run."

"What I mean is he only runs just to lure us into an ambush."

"Which is what we're walking into right now" the super soldier notes.

"You sound sure of that."

"I am sure."

The three then began to approach what appears to be another open meadow aside from the war torn village they had left, this grassy opening was home to a large pond but there was nothing else of note. However upon closer inspection, they found two bodies lying out in the middle of the plains, both had Atlesian uniforms covering them.

"So this is the ambush?" Yang asked, standing behind Rose who crouched behind a bush along with Pyrrha.

The SPARTAN stood up and walked through the bush out into the opening "Not yet . . ."

Feeling compelled, the two followed their armored ally out onto the meadow. Rose silently walked towards the two bodies with rifle in hand with no interruption from anything. She closes in on the two bodies, noting both had died from gunshot wounds and were dragged out all the way here given the trail of blood they had left behind. She finally comes next to the closest one and kneels down to take a closer look, the man had his body armor pieced by two ballistic rounds and then suffered a knife wound to his neck, dog tags were still present, but there was no rifle magazines or even grenades that came standard issue. Then a thought came from the back of her head.

"Yang, Pyrrha, step back" she calmly orders.

"What?" Yang protested.

"I said step back" she orders, now more strict.

As told, the two stepped away silently before Rose carefully rolled the corpse onto its side and quickly find two grenades resting in a small dug out hole and a string attached from the explosive's safety pin to the man's back, the string she had just pulled. The combined force of the two grenades erupted into a violent blast that sent a powerful shockwave in all directions, throwing dust and smoke up into the air, and knock the two huntresses back a step while Rose herself was engulfed in the fireball.

Yang was fortunate enough to have been standing behind Pyrrha when she threw up her shield to deflect the debris and shrapnel that was thrown from the explosion, but after the blast Yang comes out and calls to their SPARTAN "Rose!"

The dust slowly settled into a haze and at the epicenter of the explosion, Rose remained crouched and virtually unharmed from the blast after having been able to shield herself with her arms and activate her armor-lock system in her suit which ultimately saved her life. The soldier releases the lock and stands on her own two feet, her head quickly begins to scout the surrounding area but before she could turn to see either Yang or Pyrrha, the two were suddenly attacked by an unseen assailant. Yang was forcibly smashed aside by a heavy force and then Nikos was seized by the back of her neck, she struggles to free herself but whatever had gripped her wouldn't budge an inch as its hand clamped down around her throat.

Rose quickly saw Pyrrha being lifted off the ground gasping for air and drew her rifle to take aim. She trains her DMR and fires two quick shots, one aimed at the assailant's shoulder that held up Pyrrha, and another at the center of their chest. The first shot made its target, smacking against what she assumed was an arm or wrist, causing the assailant to let out a sharp grunt of pain and drop the young huntress who then ducked to her right to dodge the second bullet as it came in before impacting squarely against the chest...

"Pyrrha! Go to Yang!" Rose shouted. "I'll cover you!" As Pyrrha caught her breath, she picked herself up and rushed towards her fallen teammate. Rose kept her sights on their assailant as they regained their composure, and Rose's muscles tensed up, readying herself for whatever might come next.

After suffering two direct hits, the figure phases into view revealing itself to be Deimos to no one's surprise. His shields flickered briefly as it re-energized to full strength before he finally moves, loosening up his shoulders in preparation for his first actual fight with a second generation SPARTAN. Neither soldier said a word, only kept their silent glares on one another.

Pyrrha and Yang watched them attentively waiting for one to make the first move, the latter asks in a whisper "What're we waiting for? We can take him."

But as Xiao Long was preparing to get up Nikos stops her "Yang, I don't think you want to be in the middle of this one . . ."

"Why?" she asks incredulously.

She only answered "Trust me . . ."

The two super soldiers stared for another moment until it was Deimos who spoke up "No surprise ONI would send a second generation. I know your kind doesn't work alone, so where's the rest of your team?"

"On their way" Rose responded before she begins to make her demand "SPARTAN Adam, stand down. "

"That's not my name anymore . . . don't think I'll answer you if you call me such."

S-077 resumes "I'm not ordering you again, Deimos. Stand down immediately."

At that moment she notices an increase in temperature around his two hands, the air around them began to shimmer like in a hot summer day, then he spoke "I'm not taking orders from you anymore . . ."

Really sorry for the VERY long wait, I've sorta fallen out of the story mood in addition with work and other things that is life. But I'm back in action and the next chapter for RWBY: TDH will be out very soon. As always leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.