Ch. 19 – Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum. (If you want peace, prepare for war)

I do not own RWBY, RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum (R.I.P. you beautiful bastard) 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. Sorry this chapter took so long to come out, life has been hella fucky but now Imma try to write more for y'all. Anyway, later taters, catch y'all in the author's notes.

"Wait, wait, wait! You mean to tell me that Fuckwad Ironwood is your father?!" Laurel asked confused, Carmine looked down at the ground as he rubbed his hands together. "Alright, so you all know that I was and still am, a mercenary with the mercenary group called 'Wolf Pack', correct?" Carmine asked the large group of people; they all nodded their heads yes before they returned their gaze to Carmine.

"Right, well there are three other mercenary groups who fought alongside us and assisted us during some missions or contracts: The 184th Mistral Militia, The Devil's Disciples, and The Viper Legion. We formed a Joint Special Operations unit or a JSO to combat the terrorist group that called themselves a "mercenary group", The Grimm Reapers." Carmine stated as he pulled his scroll out and opened it up to project the five emblems of the five mercenary groups.

The first emblem belonged to the Wolf Pack which had a solid black Beowolf head with a sword through it, the second belonged to The 184th Mistral Militia which had the silhouette of an artillery battery with single sword in the background pointed upwards, the third one belonged to The Devil's Disciples which was a horned skull that had a bullet hole in the side of the head and a pentagram in the background. The fourth emblem belonged to The Viper Legion which had two King Taijitu's that were coiled around a B-52 Stratofortress, the fifth emblem belonged to The Grimm Reapers which depicted the Grim Reaper ripping out a person's throat with its teeth while the world burned behind it.

"These are the four main groups that made up the JSO, and about three years ago, the Grimm Reapers attacked the city of Vega in Vale. They attacked a convention center and took multiple prisoners; it was a brutal slaughter, but the Disciples were in the area and responded in a matter of minutes." Carmine explained as he projected pictures of the incident that caused some to cover their mouths in horror while others watched on in a combination of anger and disgust.

"Operation Reaper Killer was our counter-attack against the Reapers, and when we found one of their bunkers outside of Vale, near a small town called 'Eastview', we put together the JSO and attacked. While the attack resulted in a horrendous attack on Eastview, the bunker was effectively wiped out and after it was cleared out, it was imploded." Carmine explained as he projected photos of the bunker before and after.

"So how does all this relate to Ironwood being your dad?" Yang asked confused, Carmine chuckled "Right, so while we were readying our gear for Operation Vega Dawn, I had asked how this could have gotten so bad and why Atlas was refusing to do anything. Onyx shrugged and said, 'I don't know, I guess we'll have to have a long talk with pops about this.' And I never got to ask him about it again because we almost never had any down time and well, it wouldn't be long until he'd die by Torchwick's hand." Carmine stated before he looked off into the distance.

"Wow… how come we've never heard about any of this? I would think this would be a widely known incident, but it's not…" Yang said as she stared at the images that were projected from Carmine's scroll, images of bullet riddled corpses, burned out buildings, mass executions, and burned out APCs, Tanks, and multiple types of technical. "As for why, do you think Atlas would want it to be known that they let this happen? Hell no, they covered it up and buried the truth. But I can guarantee that when we get to Atlas, I'm kicking down Ironwood's door. If they don't answer for their crimes, I'll blast it over the loudspeakers of Atlas and believe me when I say, these aren't the only copies that exist." Carmine said as he closed his scroll, which caused the images to disappear.

"So to sum it up, I don't know who my parents are, Onyx said something about Ironwood being our father but I never got that as a confirmation, so I've just ran with it for now until I'm in a position to confront the man. Think of it like strategic planning; if you wanna take over a ship, you don't blow up the dust reactor, you wait until you're next to the captain." Carmine said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"Well, I guess we should get some sleep if we want Jaune's plan to work without a problem. Blake, Yang. Come with me for a moment." Carmine said before he, Blake, Yang, and Phantom walked outside into the cold street. "Wassup War Beast?" Yang asked as she tossed her long blonde hair back over her shoulder. "Phantom. Armory, red trunk, black bag labeled 'EOD'." Carmine said to the man in black, Phantom nodded as a column of smoke formed around him. When the smoke disappeared, Phantom was gone, but the same black smoke formed on the other side of Carmine, the column rose swiftly before Phantom walked out with a bag.

Carmine unzipped the bag and pulled out a box with a latch on it, he sat the box on brick column and opened the lid to reveal a Semtex time detonation charge, fire dust crystals were built into the Semtex charges and a single lightning crystal acted as the power supply. "This is an extremely powerful explosive charge. If you can't shut down the tower, flip this switch, turn this dial, and press this button before you run the fuck away." Carmine said before he closed the lid and latched it shut before he placed it back in the bag and handed it to her.

"You should come with us; we need someone with your expertise." Yang said but Carmine shook his head "You can't depend on me for everything because there will come a day when I'm not here." Carmine said which caused Blake to get concerned and upset "Don't say that! I'm not going to lose you!" Blake exclaimed before she threw herself into Carmine's arms. Carmine chuckled "I'm not going anywhere, I'm not gonna die easily. I'm just saying that I've been down this road before and it's not all rainbows and kittens. Well, at least it's just not rainbows." Carmine said as he caressed the side of Blake's face, she pressed her face into his hand as she looked into his crimson eyes.

"Just please… please promise me you'll stay with me and Weiss forever." Blake pleaded to the rifleman. Carmine smiled and chuckled lightly "I promise sweetheart." Carmine said before he kissed her on the lips, she closed her eyes as her arms snaked around his back under his backpack. Carmine's arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her in tighter as she kissed him deeper, their tongues fought each other for dominance until Carmine let Blake gain control. They pulled away from each other as Blake slowly opened her eyes, her amber eyes met his crimson red eyes in the intense moment of heat and passion.

Phantom cleared his throat "I hate to interrupt you two lovebirds but there's another matter I need to talk to Carmine about." Phantom said, Yang put the bag strap over her shoulder before she took Blake's hand "Come on, Blake. The boys need to have a conversation." Yang said as she took Blake back inside the Arch house. Carmine and Phantom watched as the door shut before they moved closer to each other "What do you plan to do about Diablo?" Phantom asked the rifleman, Carmine looked down at the ground in thought "If he's rebuilding his forces, we need to crush them before they rise up." Carmine said as he paced back and forth.

"But we have no idea where he's hold himself up at." Phantom said as he tried to think back to his days under Loki's command. "If I remember correctly, I think I remember him telling Opal about a bunker in the icy tundra of Atlas." Phantom said, Carmine sighed "Of course it's a bunker, it's always fucking bunkers with them." Carmine said as he looked up at the sky as snowflakes fell toward the ground.

"Well, lucky for you, the Onyx Coalition has your back one hundred percent." A voice said as a figure walked into the light that came from a lamp post. Carmine lowered his head to look at where the voice came from to see Duke standing under the light "I guess it's true that the devil stalks the night." Carmine said with a chuckle as he shook Duke's hand. "We'll wait for him to rear his ugly head, and then we'll chop it off." Duke said with a grin.

"Alright, it sounds like a plan. We plan to steal one of their Manta airships to take them to Atlas while we follow in the Valor. Plan B is to use Valor and the Harbinger to get there but that'll be a long shot." Carmine explained as he displayed holograms of a Manta, the Harbinger, and the Valor from his scroll before he closed it again. "Sounds good, good luck tomorrow. I'll see you on the frontlines, Titan." Duke said before he shook the rifleman's hand.

"Phantom, you got a place to sleep?" Carmine asked the man in black, Phantom nodded "Yeah, Duke and I got some stuff to take care of. See you out there, Titan." Phantom said as he bumped fists with Carmine. Duke placed his hand on Phantom's shoulder as smoke started to billow up around them, the wind started to blow and caused the smoke to dissipate which revealed that Duke and Phantom were gone.

"I'll never get used to that." Carmine said with a shudder as he walked back inside. Carmine closed the door behind him and turned around to see everyone eating and conversing peacefully; as he watched the group of people he considered his family, he started to see flash images of the original Wolf Pack, the Devil's Disciples, the Viper Legion, and the 184th Mistral Militia as they sat and ate together after a large battle. Carmine shook his head as the image disappeared and he was back in Saphron's doorway, Carmine took a few steps into the house before he dropped to his knees and collapsed to the floor with a massive thud.

"CARMINE!" Team RWBY, JNR, and CRCL exclaimed as they rushed to his side. "What's happening!? Is he alright?" Weiss asked nervously, Laurel pulled Carmine's bag off and rolled him over before he put two fingers on his neck. "He's alive. Its gotta be fatigue, he's been on a warpath since we left for the train to Argus." Regalia said as she projected her semblance into his body. Verde, Laurel, Jaune, and Celadon grabbed onto part of Carmine and picked him up before they carried him up the stairs to a spare bedroom. They carried him into the room and laid him down in the bed, Blake and Weiss followed them into the room as they carried his gear. "Alright boys, we'll take it from here." Blake said as the four men left the room, Weiss shut the door behind them and locked it.

Blake and Weiss carefully removed his gear from his body piece by piece until he was left in nothing but a pair of gym shorts and an undershirt. "I'll see about getting these washed, to get the blood out of it." Weiss said before she walked out of the room with his clothes. Blake sat on the bed and couldn't help but to stare at him as he slept "How'd I get so lucky, I'm glad we didn't kill each other years ago on that train." Blake said as she ran her hands through his shaggy hair. As she watched him, he started talking in his sleep; he spoke incoherent phrases that made no sense to the young Faunus. "Flank right… On your six… I'm sorry, kid." Carmine said in his sleep.

*Inside Carmine's dream*

Carmine stood in a barren hellscape as fire rained down from the heavens above, artillery shells hit the ground with thunderous explosions as he stood there with a thousand-yard stare. A sharp ringing echoed through his head as he looked down at his hands that were covered in blood, he looked up as a monstrous contraption crawled over the horizon and toward where he stood. He looked around again and saw he was surrounded by members of the Joint Special Operations team. "Wake up, son! This ain't a place to zone out." Titus yelled as he shook the rifleman and brought him back to his senses. "Right! Wolf Pack! let's move! You too, new kid! Let's see what you got!" Carmine yelled to a young man dressed in the standard black mercenary tactical gear.

"Yes sir!" The kid exclaimed as he moved with the other members of the Wolf Pack. "We need to take that building; they fortified a gunner's nest and we can't set up any defenses." Onyx yelled as they ran toward large concrete building that had sandbags built up in one of the windows, bullets started to fly from a barrel that stuck out from within the sandbags. The Wolves ran toward the building as bullets ripped into the ground in front of them, Grullo used his semblance to get a lead and threw himself into a metal door, the impact ripped the door off the hinges and slid inward.

Grullo drew his pistol and put two rounds in the chest of a Reaper before he put one in his head, the others caught up and rejoined the Wolf Pack gunner. "Nice hustle, kid. Keep it up." Carmine said as he patted the recruit on the back. "Aura check; how we doing?" Onyx asked, everyone checked their vitals via their scrolls. Everyone nodded in affirmation before they pushed on, Carmine looked at the recruit "Hey kid, lemme see your scroll. I wanna see where your aura's at." Carmine said but the recruit refused "Nah, it's fine. Let's push on." The recruit said as he tried to walk on but Onyx and Grullo moved in front of him. Nightshade moved behind him and swiftly pulled the scroll from his molle vest pocket and opened it to see the recruit's vitals at a staggering 50%.

"His aura is at fifty percent." Nightshade said as he gave the scroll to Onyx who scanned it. "Why'd you say you were fine when asked about an aura check?" Onyx asked the recruit; the recruit lowered his head "I… I wanted to keep fighting with you guys, you guys are awesome and I wanted to prove myself as Wolf material." The recruit said, Crimson patted him on the shoulder and sighed "You can't be a Wolf if you die on your trial mission." Crimson said to the recruit.

Onyx stared at the scroll as he watched the aura slowly rose to 60% "There, that should be enough until we finish here." Onyx said before he handed the scroll back to the recruit. The Wolves stacked up near a staircase before they charged up the steps, the 2nd floor had a long hallway that had multiple doorways that were blown in already; their occupants had been brutally executed and the women had been raped then killed. "These people are savages." The recruit said as they walked through the hall of carnage.

They came to a door at the end of the hall that hadn't been blown off, Onyx gestured Nightshade forward who raised his shotgun up and shot the hinges off the door before he kicked it inward. Onyx tossed in a flashbang that exploded in a matter of seconds, the Wolves charged in and started to eliminate the Reapers, one by one. Carmine rushed forward and transformed his rifle into its Falchion blade form before he loped the head off an insurgent and plunged the blade into another's chest.

"Flank right!" Carmine yelled to the recruit who jerked to his right, the recruit unloaded into an insurgent and caused the Reaper's body to slump against the wall. Carmine pulled the blade from the corpse and swung the blood off the blade before he transformed it back to its rifle form. "Not bad, kid." Carmine said as he patted the recruit on the shoulder. "Alright, the machine gun nest is in the next room." Onyx said as he lined himself up with the door and kicked it off the hinges.

The Wolves ran in but found the nest empty "Fan out and search for them." Onyx said before everyone fanned out and looked for the gunner. Carmine opened a closet door and peaked in but found nothing, as he closed the door; he turned to his left and looked at a wardrobe the recruit stood in front of, he stared at the wardrobe until something clicked in his head "Shit! Kid, on your six!" Carmine yelled before gunshots rang out from within the wardrobe, the rounds impacted the recruit's aura and shattered it before it ripped through his molle vest. The Wolves returned fire and shredded the wardrobe into splinters of wood and blood.

The recruit collapsed to the ground and gasped for air as one of the rounds penetrated his lung, Carmine dashed to his side and cut the molle vest from his body before he attempted to stop the blood loss. "Hang in there, kid. I got you." Carmine said as he started to pack the wounds with gauze that changed from white to deep red in a matter of seconds. "I-It's…. been an… honor…, sir." The recruit said as he weakly gave them a salute. His arm fell to the ground lifelessly as the life left his eyes, Carmine stopped working and dropped his head.

"I'm sorry, kid." Carmine said softly as he closed the recruit's eyes. The room was silent as Carmine placed his rifle onto his back and slowly picked up the recruit's body "Let's go home, guys." Carmine said softly as Grullo finished setting demo charges on the emplaced weapon. The Wolves left the building and walked back toward Vale as the charges detonated and ripped part of the building to pieces, Carmine carried the recruit's body to a medic tent that the JSO had set up and laid the body down onto a cot before he covered him with a sheet.

"I'm sorry, kid. You had a lot to learn but you would've made a great secondary sniper." Carmine said as he placed the kid's DMR next to him on the cot. "Find peace, kid." Carmine said before he walked away from the tent.

*Present day*

Carmine slowly woke up with tears in his eyes as he looked around the room, he looked to his right and saw Blake looking at him "Bad dream?" She asked concerned, he shook his head "Yeah, a bad memory from the Siege of Vale. We lost a recruit on his first day due to my own shortsightedness. I didn't check a wardrobe and left it up to the recruit but we didn't give him a run down on proper search and eliminate procedures. It ended up with him getting killed, he was a young Faunus who wanted to be a sniper like Keppel and he wanted to be a Wolf like we were." Carmine said as he lowered his head, Blake wrapped her arms around his body and held him tightly as he started to cry into her shoulder. "You did everything you could do; it was an unfortunate accident." Blake said as she tried to console him.

Carmine pulled away slowly and wiped the tears from his eyes "Thanks Blake, it means a lot." Carmine said before he kissed her lightly on the lips. "Now, go get a shower before you get in bed with us." Blake said flirtatiously, Carmine grabbed a pair of boxers and an undershirt from his bag before he entered the shower. He pulled out his scroll and swiped through the songs on his playlist before he pressed play on one.

Hero – Skillet

Heavy metal guitars riffs flooded the marble bathroom as Carmine turned the shower on and got undressed, he stepped inside as the cold water hit his chest and slowly got warmer. He let the water flood through his hair as he watched the white tile of the shower turn splotches of black as the water turned black from soot in his hair.

I'm just a step away, I'm just a breath away, Losin' my faith today, we're fallin' off the edge today. I am just a man, not superhuman. I'm not superhuman, someone save me from the hate. It's just another war, just another family torn. We're falling from my faith today. Just a step from the edge, just another day in the world we live

As Carmine showered, the music flooded through his head and brought back the memories of the Reaper incident. The flash images of the victims rushed through his head as he showered, he reached up and felt the scars that covered his chest from the years of combat.

I need a hero to save me now! I need a hero! Save me now! I need a hero to save my life! A hero will save me just in time!

Carmine opened his eyes as the song yelled to him 'you are a hero' and as he listened to it, he felt the memories fade from his mind.

I've gotta fight today to live another day, speakin' my mind today, my voice will be heard today. I've gotta make a stand, but I am just a man, I'm not superhuman, my voice will be heard today. It's just another war, just another family torn, my voice will be heard today. It's just another kill, the countdown begins to destroy ourselves.

I need a hero to save me now! I need a hero! Save me now! I need a hero to save my life! A hero will save me just in time!

As Carmine washed his body, he felt the scars across his body and felt them as he remembered the source of each one. The slash mark down his abdominals from Blake on top of the train, the two on his side from the Reaper's twisted take on bacon, the multiple scars on his chest from gunshot wounds and shrapnel.

I need a hero to save my life! I need a hero just in time! Save me just in time! Save me just in time!

Who's gonna fight for what's right? Who's gonna help us survive? We're in the fight of our lives and we're not ready to die. Who's gonna fight for the weak? Who's gonna make 'em believe? I've got a hero (I've got a hero) livin' in me! I've gotta fight for what's right today, I'm speakin' my mind and if it kills me tonight, I will be ready to die. A hero's not afraid to give his life, a hero's gonna save me just in time!

As the music blared through the scroll speakers, the memories of the fallen came back like a freight train and how they stood behind him in spirit. 'My brothers and sisters are still with me, even in death.' Carmine thought to himself as he washed his hair.

I need a hero to save me now! I need a hero! Save me now! I need a hero to save my life! A hero will save me just in time!

I need a hero! Who's gonna fight for what's right? Who's gonna help us survive? I need a hero! Who's gonna fight for the weak? Who's gonna make 'em believe? I've got a hero; I need a hero! A hero's gonna save me just in time.

Carmine shut the water off and stepped out of the shower, he pulled his clothes on and stepped out of the bathroom. When he stepped into the bedroom, he found Blake and Weiss wearing nothing but a sheet and a smile; Carmine pulled his shirt off before he climbed into bed with the lovely ladies.

*Medium NSFW (After a Christian song cause that's how I roll lol)*

As Carmine laid down on the bed, Weiss straddled his waist as Blake pressed her lips against his as Weiss placed kisses on his chest and worked her way downward. Blake straddled his chest and placed her hands onto his pectoral muscles as Weiss moved below the sheet, Blake leaned down and started to kiss his neck as Weiss kissed his rifle. Carmine reached up and cupped Blake's breasts in his hands and squeezed lightly, eliciting a seductive moan from the Faunus girl. Weiss emerged from beneath the sheet and traded places with Blake who moved beneath the sheet to finish what Weiss started.

Weiss straddled his chest and his hand immediately groped her petite breasts, the other journeyed south of her border and rang her lady doorbell which caused her to collapse onto his chest "Heh… y-you just can't d-do t-that." Weiss said with a shudder. Carmine developed a smirk across his face as he wrapped his arms around her thighs and pulled her forward "Bon appetite." Carmine said to himself.

*End NSFW (That was pushing it, for my standard of "nsfw" writing)*

Weiss and Blake panted heavily as Carmine stood up and pulled his pants back on, Weiss and Blake sat up and swallowed something with an audible gulp. "See, you got your protein shake too." Carmine said with a wink as he caressed Weiss's cheek. Carmine walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth before he went to sleep, as he reached for his toothbrush; he noticed a strange bump in his wrist. He poked it and found that it could move freely, he walked out of the bathroom and pulled his Ka-Bar from his vest before he sliced into his flesh.

"Oh my god! Carmine, what are you doing?!" Blake and Weiss exclaimed as blood flowed from his wrist, he placed the blade between his teeth and used a pair tweezers from the bathroom to dig underneath the flesh, the two girls watched as he pulled a small microchip from under his skin. The laceration healed in a matter of seconds as Carmine examined the microchip, it had a small light on it that flashed faintly "What… is that?" Blake asked confused, Carmine placed the chip on the nightstand and smashed it with the hilt of his Ka-Bar. "Tracking device, most likely from the Reapers when they captured me and they made bacon out of my side." Carmine explained before he put the smashed chip in his hand and detonated it with a small explosion.

He dropped the charred bits into a trash can and used a towel to clean up the blood that was on the floor, he cleaned the blood off his Ka-Bar before he placed it back into the sheath. "You don't have to worry about it, we slaughtered the Reapers. We made sure that we executed every one of them, and Loki, well she's in no shape to be the force of evil she used to be." Carmine explained as he stood up and wrapped his arms around the girls' waists before he led them back to the bed.

"So how come you just noticed it now?" Blake asked confused, Carmine chuckled as he laid back on the bed with his head on the pillow. "They planted it in my side and over the years, it slowly worked its way up my body. Bullets do that too; your body will work foreign objects out of it but over the course of months or years." Carmine stated as Blake and Weiss rested their head onto his chest.

"Night girls, I love you." Carmine said as he pulled them in closer and rested his hands on their lower backside. "Love you too, babe." Blake and Weiss said in unison, they leaned across Carmine's chest and kissed each other goodnight before they kissed the mercenary.

*The next day*

Carmine opened his eyes slowly as the morning light came through the window, he rolled over to and felt for Blake but noticed she was gone as was Weiss. Carmine pulled himself out of bed and got dressed before he went down stairs to the smell of eggs and bacon cooking, he looked around the room and took in the sight: Ren and Nora sitting together on the couch, Regalia and Yang talking together over coffee, Jaune and Celadon sparred in the backyard, Laurel and Verde loaded their weapons while Ruby fawned over them, and Cobalt worked on Saphron and Terracotta's electrical work. He entered the kitchen where Blake and Weiss were cooking breakfast.

"Well, if it isn't the human jackhammer." Laurel said with a smirk before he took an empty mug to the side of the head from Regalia, Blake and Weiss blushed lightly while Carmine beamed with pride. He grabbed the girls by the waist and pulled them into his embrace "And how are my beautiful ladies this morning?" Carmine asked before he kissed both girls on the cheek. "We're great, how are you?" Weiss asked, Carmine chuckled "Fan-fucking-tastic. I guess I just needed some rest and personal time with these two vixens." Carmine said as he gestured to Blake and Weiss.

"We made you breakfast and your hoodie and pants are in the dryer." Weiss said as she sat a plate of bacon and eggs down in front of him, he looked up into her light blue eyes as she looked into his crimson red eyes "I love you two so much." Carmine said before he kissed Weiss on the lips, Carmine started to dig into his breakfast. "So, Maria, how did you feel about a terrorist group using your name? The Grimm Reapers." Carmine asked the small lady; Maria adjusted her metal peepers and cleared her throat. "Honestly, I've never heard of them until you brought all this information to light." Maria said as she sat on a chair in the living room. Carmine sighed "You know, I'm not surprised." Carmine said as he cleaned the plate and took to the kitchen where he washed it quickly.

Carmine retrieved his gear from the room upstairs and went downstairs where he went to work dismantling and cleaning his weapons, he emptied magazines and cleaned them thoroughly before he reloaded them and placed them in their pouches and in the backpack. Carmine quickly disassembled his weapons and cleaned each component, thoroughly oiling the weapons before he reassembled them. He used a cloth and wiped down the outsides of the weapons before he holstered each of them, Carmine stood up off the floor as Weiss brought out his uniform and sat them on the coffee table.

"Alright folks, we need to be on high alert when we make our move. Atlas will retaliate with everything they have within appropriate means. When we get there, I will hug Weiss "goodbye" and she'll get on the Manta with Maria in a suitcase; meanwhile I'll make my way to my ship to prep everything. But it'll also be up to Blake and Yang to disable the comms tower, my team and I will get the Valor out of port as fast as possible before I take the Harbinger to the sky with Cobalt. I'll leave the Valor with Verde and Cobalt while I fly inland." Carmine explained as he pulled on his pants and hoodie.

"Maria and Weiss will fly out of the range of the tower, and when they're out of range; that's when Blake and Yang will take out the tower." Carmine said, Terra Cotta stepped into the living room and cleared her throat "There's actually another way that doesn't involve destroying the tower, the radar box is separate from the rest of the communication array. So, if you disconnect it properly, it won't take out comms for the rest of the city." Terra Cotta explained, Carmine nodded his head in approval "Alrighty, let's amend plan A. Now, if anything goes wrong; radio me and I'll be there ASAP." Carmine continued as he pulled on his vest.

"Uh Verde? Laurel? Do you mind getting my straps?" Carmine asked, the two mercenaries nodded before they tightened the straps on the side of his vest and locked them in place. Carmine pulled down on the side of his vest and adjusted the plate positions under the vest, Carmine picked up his sub load belt and put it around his waist before he fastened the straps around his legs.

Verde tightened the KSG strapped to the back of his Heavy IBA while he pulled on his boots "Thank you, Verde." Carmine said as he zipped the side of his boots up and adjusted the pants legs over the boots. The rifleman attached the grenade pouch to the side of his tactical belt and placed a few Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Gravity M67 Frag Grenades into the pouch before he secured the flap on the pouch.

Carmine secured his weapons in their holsters and placed his Five-Seven in the back of his waistline "Alright, I'm ready when you all are." Carmine said as he held his Executioner pointed down toward the ground. Carmine watched as everyone pulled on their gear and readied their weapons, the sound of bolts being pulled back and slides being racked. Everyone left the house one by one before they separated into three groups "Alright, Regalia and Celadon; you go with Ruby and the others. Laurel, I want you to go with Blake and Yang while Cobalt and Verde are with me." Carmine said as everyone moved into their designated groups.

"Alright, if ANYTHING goes wrong, radio in immediately." Carmine said before the groups took off in separate directions. Carmine led Weiss down the road toward the Argus base while Verde carried Maria in Weiss's suitcase and Cobalt flew overhead behind them, as they approached the gates; a buzzer sounded before they slowly opened where Cordovin was waiting.

"Ah, I was relieved to hear that you came to your senses, Miss Schnee. Many of us were devastated when we heard you would be attending… Beacon Academy. Knowing that you'll be returning to Atlas just warms my old heart." Cordovin said as they walked onto the tarmac. Weiss shook her head subtly in annoyance as she sighed slightly "It was... time to get my act together and go back to my roots." Weiss said as she lied through her teeth.

"Oh, I can't wait to see you follow in your sister's footsteps." Cordovin said with glee, Carmine and Weiss looked at each other with suppressed laughter but they pushed it down and maintained composure. Weiss cleared her throat before she spoke again "Absolutely…" Weiss said as she seemed to trail on, Cordovin turned and faced the ex-heiress "I'm sending two of my best guards to personally escort you. Make sure General Ironwood hears that part." Cordovin said with a wink as two guards closed in on her "Allow me to assist you with your bag." The guard said as he jogged in an exaggerated manner over to Weiss's bag.

'God, what a spaz.' Carmine thought to himself as the guard picked up the bag "My, what a heavy bag!" The guard said as he lifted the bag slowly. 'Shit, this is bad.' Carmine thought to himself as he felt his hand drift toward the pistol in his waistline. "I can take care of it by myself!" Weiss said as she fought for control of her bag. Carmine moved forward and grabbed one of the guards by the shoulder "She said she's got it." Carmine said before an ear-piercing cry ripped through Argus. Carmine looked back to see Saphron holding her son, Adrian, who was wailing and making exaggerated motions. "Oh no! Look at that, he's just going to miss you so much! You should hurry on out of here!" Saphron said with a wink.

"A crying child? We must console it!" The guards said before they ran over to console Adrian. Carmine nodded as he guided Weiss onto the Manta "Remember, just radio me and I'll bring the hammer down on them. If need be, I'll kick start Armageddon." Carmine whispered to Weiss before he hugged her tightly and she kissed the exposed skin on his neck. Carmine stepped back as the side of the Manta closed and took off slowly, the rifleman turned around to head to his ship but found himself surrounded by Atlas guards and Cordovin with a shit-eating grin "I did some digging after I heard a rumor about General Ironwood being your father, but the thing is… There's no record of Ironwood ever having a son, at least, not a disappointment like you." Cordovin said with a smug grin as the guards moved in slowly.

"How DARE you address your superior officer in such a manner, I should have you stripped of your position and demoted!" Carmine yelled as he tried to sound convincing, Cordovin chuckled "Yeah, you're not fooling anyone. I looked into your rank and found that it was… conditional, as in… you're not Atlas military, you're just one of those mercenary mutts." Cordovin said as she stuck her nose up at him… quite literally. Carmine's iris's darkened as he was overcome with seething rage "Take it back…" Carmine said in a low tone as he looked at the black tarmac below.

"Excuse me? I couldn't hear you." Cordovin said as she stepped closer to the rifleman. Carmine looked up at her as she gazed into his black visor "I said take it back!" Carmine yelled before he drove his elbow into the nose of the guard on his right and delivered a roundhouse to the one on his left. "Verde! Nonlethal!" Carmine yelled to the heavy, Verde grinned as he cracked his knuckles and drove a nasty uppercut that sent a guard flying into the air where Cobalt grabbed them and immediately slammed them into the ground, rendering them unconscious. "Sleep tight, princess." Verde said before he leaped into the fray and used the buttstock as a blunt object.

Cordovin was ushered away from the mayhem as more guards arrived to quell the chaos, Carmine lowered his body to the ground before he took away in a full sprint and drove his shoulder into a guard's chest before he slammed said guard into a concrete pillar. "Come on! The ship's this way!" Cobalt yelled before he took off into the sky, Carmine and Verde sprinted across the base as they chased the Eagle Faunus to their destination. The duo dashed up a metal staircase before they vaulted over the railing and continued across the rooftop, gunshots rang out as bullets impacted the concrete around them. Carmine withdrew Jury and sprayed the magazine at the shooters, the return-fire caused the shooters to seek cover as Carmine and Verde rounded the corner.

Carmine reloaded Jury and placed it back into his holster, he slid the empty mag into his pocket before the two Wolves leaped off the roof and landed onto the roof of a transport truck. They jumped down and continued to the harbor where the Valor was docked, multiple Atlas guards stood with their weapons pointed at the mercenaries "Stop! Or we will shoot!" The guards yelled. "Yeah, so will we!" Carmine yelled as the two slid to a stop and pulled out their weapons, Carmine lifted Executioner to his shoulder and leveled the sights on the guards as Verde held his LMG with the stock pushed into his shoulder.

Slowly black smoke started to form behind the guards, Carmine and Verde lowered their weapons as the smoke grew larger "Ladies! I think we have you surrounded." Phantom said as the smoke dissipated, revealing Duke and a few Devil's with their weapons raised. The Atlas guards dropped their rifles to the ground and dropped to their knees as Carmine and Verde continued down the dock. "I guess we're not the only ones who upgraded." Duke said as he knocked on the hull with two fingers. "Eh, it's more like it found me and I liberated it." Carmine said as he looked up at the massive battleship.

"Well… what are you waiting for? A medal? You got a job to do." Duke said as he motioned for Carmine to go, the rifleman nodded before the three Wolves boarded the Valor and ran up to the bridge. Carmine walked in and turned a switch that brought the system to life, he ran the Valor through a diagnostic test that reported all green lights before he fired the engines up. The battleship rumbled to life as the jet turbines spun up underwater, a few fish were sucked into the turbine and shredded into a cloud of red and fish bits. The hulking behemoth slowly pulled away from the docks as the anchor rose from the water slowly, as it pulled away from the base, Carmine activated the foghorn that let out a deep bellow across the sea to signal the others. Carmine looked out the window as he watched the Manta fly across the sky as two Atlas guards were thrown out of the side of the transport. They were tethered together by a black glyph and a single parachute as they descended toward the water before the glyph disappeared and the guards plunged toward the water.

"Alright, we'll all watch our scrolls. The second Weiss is out of range of the comm tower, that'll mean she's out of range of the radar too." Ruby's voice said through the earpiece before Yang's voice came through "And that's when Blake steps in. We're almost at the drop off." Yang said, as he maneuvered the battleship through the water, he heard Terra speak through his earpiece "Okay, remember: one, the radar box is separate from the rest of the communications equipment. So, if you disconnect it properly, it won't take out comms for the rest of the city. Two, this conversation never happened." Terra said in a deadly serious tone.

"Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've disabled Atlas security." Blake said with an amused chuckle, but Terra was quiet "Never. Happened." Terra said before her comms went silent. Carmine pressed his throat comms as the battleship turned port into the vast opening of the ocean "Valor moving into position, eta four minutes." Carmine said as changed the pitch of the rudder of the battleship. Carmine projected everyone's scroll signals on the digital display in the bridge as the Valor chugged along, he glanced up and watched as Weiss's signal slowly dropped until it was out of range. "Alright, Weiss is out of range. Blake, you're up." Ruby said over the comms but there was no response from Blake. "Blake, how copy?" Carmine said as he pressed his throat comms, but there was no response. "Laurel, how copy?" Carmine said over the comms, the static buzzed for a few seconds before the comms came back. "Yeah, we got contact. Taurus is here, taking fire from several unknown tangos." Laurel said over the comms. "Roger, sending up the drone." Carmine said into the comms before he signaled to Cobalt.

Cobalt nodded before he activated the MQ-8 Fire Scout, the UAV took off into the air and raced across the sky toward Laurel's position. The camera feed came up on the digital screen, the Fire Scout highlighted Laurel, Yang, and Blake with three thin white squares. "Cobalt, tag 'em." Carmine said to the technician, he tapped a few keys before multiple red dots popped on the screen. The dots moved from cover to cover as they fired sporadically "Roger Laurel, I've got eyes on multiple tangos. TLAM out." Carmine said as he tapped on the digital display, seconds later a pod lid opened before a cruise missile erupted from the middle of the ship.

The missile screamed across the sky as Carmine watched it on the live feed from the camera on the tip of the missile, the missile reached its flight distance before it turned ninety degrees and screamed down toward the ground before it impacted its target. The missile hit the ground in a fiery explosion that swallowed up its targets, Laurel ducked behind a fallen tree as the fire blew over the fallen tree.

"Laurel, how copy?" Carmine asked as he watched a plume of smoke rise into the sky, the feed buzzed for a moment before he came on the line coughing "cough cough Yeah, I'm here. Multiple EKIA. No eyes on Blake or Yang." Laurel said through the comms. Carmine activated the Valor's automatic defense system before he left the bridge with Cobalt and Verde, they made their way onto the Harbinger. The trio entered the main deck of the Harbinger before Carmine fired it up, the rifleman pushed the throttle forward as the airship took off into the sky.

The Harbinger rocketed across the sky, Carmine's earpiece went off as they flew through the sky "Don't worry Carmine, I'll take control of the Valor and steer her into place." Phantom said as camera feed from the bridge of the Valor showed Phantom's smoke form in the middle of the bridge before he stepped out and stood behind the control console.

"Thank you, Phantom. We're going to find Blake and Yang." Carmine said over the radio as the Harbinger flew past the radio tower and circled around it as he scanned the ground with the FLIR camera. The camera blanketed the ground in black and illuminated the heat sources in white, one white figure stood by a tree as scattered white bits peppered the black ground. The Harbinger touched down in a clearing near the TLAM impact area "Cobalt, take the Harbinger to the sky and wait for my order." Carmine said as he and Verde stepped off the airship. The technician nodded as the sides closed and the airship shot back into the sky where it circled the surrounding area.

Carmine pulled out Executioner before he walked forward to meet up with Laurel who was looking around the destruction "White Fang?" Laurel asked as Carmine stepped into the crater, he knelt to the ground and picked up a piece of metal "No, AK-200s. These are ones I haven't seen in a while; these are Reaper androids. See, look here." Carmine said as he gestured to the 'R' that was engraved on the metal chest plate. The rifleman tossed the metal shrapnel onto the ground before he stood up and walked back over to where Laurel and Verde were standing.

Carmine looked toward the tower that poked out over the treetops, the sound of gunshots echoed in the distance "That's a pistol and a shotgun. Blake and Yang." Carmine said before the trio took off toward the origin of the sound. "Verde! Take the high ground. Laurel! You're with me." Carmine yelled as he sprinted toward the gunshots. As they ran, the comms feed was going haywire "Why is the radar still up?!" Weiss yelled through the radio. "We don't know, Blake isn't responding." Ruby replied. "Keep it together, I'll blow the tower if I need to." Carmine said as he pressed his throat comms. The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed ahead of them as they charged into the forest. "Regalia! Status report?" Carmine asked as he pressed his comms and slowed to a stop. "Uh, Cordovin is really pissed off, like giant mech pissed." Regalia's voice said through his earpiece.

Carmine gritted his teeth as he looked toward the sounds of combat and back toward the directions of the others, he tightened his grip around the handle of his rifle. "Hold strong, I'll be there as soon as I can. I just have to find Blake first." Carmine said to the medic as he pushed further into the forest. Carmine and Laurel broke through the tree line as Yang flew off a cliff on her motorcycle, she let go of the bike and pushed it off herself to give it more velocity.

Carmine's eyes locked onto Taurus as Yang's bike slammed into him and then fell into the water, Carmine signaled 'channel 2' to Laurel with multiple hand gestures; the breacher nodded and changed the comms channel via his scroll. "Alright, I need you to null any attack that he sends out." Carmine said, the breacher nodded before they switched back to channel 1 and charged into the fray.

"She's right, Blake. It's okay, we have... unfinished business." Adam said with a smug grin, Carmine raised his rifle and fired off a round that hit Taurus in the shoulder. "Hey Taurus! My foot has got a date with your ass!" Carmine yelled as he approached the red swordsman. "Are you really approaching me? After that shitshow at Mistral." Taurus asked with a smug grin, Carmine transformed Executioner into its Falchion blade before he spun it around. "Well, I can't kick your ass without getting closer." Carmine said before he transformed Executioner back to its rifle form.

Adam made the first move; he delivered a series of quick slashes and Semblance arcs that knocked Yang back a short distance. Carmine opened fire at Taurus who deflected the shots, he sheathed his sword before he unleashed another slash of red energy, Laurel leaped into the fray before he redirected the blast back at Taurus. Carmine pulled a black grenade from his pouch and tossed it into the air over Taurus before he raised his rifle and shot it; the grenade exploded in a large burst of energy that knocked Taurus to the ground.

"Yang, his Semblance is like yours! He absorbs energy through his sword, stores it up and then sends it back when he's ready." Blake said as she held her side. "What the fuck?!" Carmine exclaimed; Yang sighed "He gets to dish out damage without having to feel it? That's just cheap." Yang said as she shook her head.

"Eh, I'm better with a rifle." The rifleman said before he raised Executioner. Yang and Adam charged at each other and exchanged blows; Yang unleashed a flurry of punches at Adam who blocked most of them with his sword. Carmine unloaded at Taurus who dodged and deflected the shots, Yang sprinted forward and attempted to deliver a right hook but Adam blocked the blow with his blade and knocked her back. Carmine placed his rifle on his back before he engaged Taurus again with his Ka-Bar, he tossed the knife into the air before he clocked Taurus in the nose with a back fist before he caught the knife with his left hand.

Adam sheathed his blade and readied his sword with his semblance charging into his weapon, Carmine withdrew Executioner and transformed it into its blade form before he readied himself as he stood in front of Blake. Adam unleashed a devastating attack as he unleashed his semblance, a massive wave of red rushed toward Carmine before Yang shoved him out of the way and absorbed the blow. "YANG!" Blake and Carmine yelled in unison, Laurel withdrew his machetes and slashed at Adam who blocked the slashes.

The smoke cleared and revealed that Yang was still standing strong, "Leave. Us. Alone. This is your last chance." Yang demanded, Adam struck Laurel across the side of the head with his sheath and knocked him off the naturally formed bridge. Carmine sprinted to the side as fast as he could and grabbed Laurel's hand "I got you, hang on." Carmine said as he gritted his teeth and pulled him up slowly. "Heh, do you really believe that? Or are you just trying to scare me away so you won't have to die trying to protect her?" Adam said as Yang's hand trembled with fear.

Blake took hold of Yang's hand as she stood up slowly "I'm not protecting her, and she's not protecting me." Blake said, Laurel stood up and gripped his machetes again. Adam extended his sword out and spun around slowly "You knew you couldn't win two-on-one at Haven. What makes you so sure you can win now?" Adam asked with a forced sense of confidence. "Because now it's four-on-one, bitch ass." Carmine said as he raised his rifle and Laurel raised his machetes as they circled the man.

"I don't have a choice. I have people who actually care about me, and I promised I'd never leave them again. So, I'm not dying now." Blake said with boisterous anger in her voice. Adam scoffed "You know, she made a promise to me once. That she'd always be at my side. Heh, and look how well she's kept it." Adam said before he blocked an attack from Laurel. The four huntsmen rush forward and bombard Adam with a flurry up stabs, slashes, and gunshots; Yang held the bottom half of Blake's katana and threw it at him while she held onto the ribbon, Adam deflected it back at her and she managed to catch the handle.

Yang used the ribbon to swing Blake around while the Faunus used her sheath to slice at Adam, Taurus blocks the strike with his sword and the clash sent Blake flying into the cliff face. Her aura shattered as she struggled to hang on to the rock wall, Yang spun around to face Adam with burning fury in her eyes. Adam grows a smirk across his face "Moment of truth, Yang. Do you think you're faster than you were at Beacon?" He asked with a chuckle, Carmine laughed "I know I definitely am." Carmine said before Laurel wrapped his arms around Yang's waist and he drug her backward as fast as possible.

"What are you doing?" Yang asked angrily before a hail of 30mm rounds rained down from the sky above, the gunfire stopped with a resounding 'brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt'. When the dust cleared, Adam was still standing as was Carmine; Taurus coughed "What? You think this makes up for your failures three years ago? For the death of your team? Well it doesn't, face it; you have no team left." Adam yelled. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to call bullshit on that one. Now city boy, make like a tree and fuck off." A southern Mistralian voice called out from behind them.

Carmine turned around to see Titus standing by a tree, Aero and Bubba joined him as Grizz came out of the other side carrying his chainsaw, Archimedes stood at the top of the waterfall with his hands outstretched "Machen Sie meinen Tag, Arschloch." Archimedes said in his old Mistralian dialect. Before Adam could react, two T-90s broke through the tree line on either side of the natural bridge.

Adam was visibly shaken and terrified "W-What… i-is that it?" Adam asked nervously, Carmine gestured out to the sea which Adam turned his focus to, only to see the Valor with its guns trained on the cliffside. "But wait, there's more." Carmine said before he hit Adam with a supernova fueled uppercut, the explosion sent him flying across the rock bridge. Adam pushed himself up to one knee and attempted to slice at the rifleman, but he blocked the strike and drove his knee into Taurus's nose. "Blake! Yang! You're up. You need to finish this." Carmine said as he turned around.

"Why don't you do it?" Yang asked, Carmine chuckled "Because I don't need closure." Carmine said with a smirk under his gas mask. Carmine looked over to where Blake stood Aero helped off the cliff wall, she nodded to him slowly as Aero led her over to Bubba who was patching up Yang.

"Finish this, Titan." Yang said with a smirk, Carmine nodded as he withdrew Judge and opened the cylinder to check the rounds as we walked over to where Taurus was knelt. "Some people live for the moment…" Carmine said before he paused in front of Taurus and closed the cylinder, he cocked the hammer back "Moments over." Carmine said before he unloaded a six shots into Adam's chest. The swordsman's body collapsed onto the rock bridge with a thud, everyone watched on in silence as Carmine reloaded Judge.

"Is he dead?" Laurel asked, Carmine raised his revolver and shot him six more times. "Yep, won't get any deader now." Carmine said before he holstered his revolver and snapped the strap closed. "Grizz, take care of the trash." Carmine said as he picked up Adam's sword and sheathed it. 'New trophy for the case.' Carmine thought to himself as he placed the blade into his tactical belt. "Please tell me you're not gonna keep that?" Blake asked weakly as Bubba did his best to heal her.

Carmine looked at the blade and then back at the others who looked on with mixed concern, the rifleman held the blade by the handle and base of the sheath before he slammed it down over his knee while he detonated two supernovas simultaneously, the explosions ripped the blade into pieces that he tossed into the water below. Grizz dragged Adam's body away and tossed it into the water below "Archimedes! You're up!" Grizz yelled, the man on the cliff nodded "Asche zu Asche, Staub zu Staub." Archimedes said before a massive bolt of lightning struck the water below, an explosion erupted from the water below.

"Uhh… so that's a no on motorcycle recovery." Carmine said as pieces of Yang's motorcycle floated to the top. Yang glared at him from the sideline next to Titus and Aero "So, who summoned the cavalry?" Carmine asked as he walked toward the leader of the 184th, Titus chuckled "You think we come all this way with just some tanks and APCs? After all we've been through, I'm hurt, Carmine." Titus said as he feigned sadness.

"What numb nuts here is trying to say, is that the Onyx Accords responds in force." Duke said as he walked out of the shadows. "Ahhh, fuck! I hate when you do that!" Titus exclaimed after Duke had scared the battalion leader almost to death. "Who made the call though?" Carmine restated his previous question, Duke chuckled "The last person you'd expect. Phantom did, he said it was his atonement." Duke stated as they all looked toward the battleship that sailed back toward the Argus port.

Suddenly, a massive explosion grabbed their attentions as the sound sirens blared from Argus. "Alright ladies! Let's resume this reunion later. We gotta do what we do best." Duke said Titus climbed onto one of the T-90s "Meet you there, boys." Titus said before the tanks backed out and climbed up the side of the hill. Carmine ran over to Blake and picked her up while Laurel grabbed Yang and tossed her over his shoulder "Sorry Yang, but we gotta go, now." Laurel said before he dug his feet into the ground and took off in a dead sprint. "This never happened!" Yang yelled as Laurel leaped over a crevice and kept going.

Blake looked up at Carmine whose visor reflected her face "Sorry sweetie, I'm too old to do that. I may be 24, but my joints have gotta be at least in their 40s." Carmine said as he carried her in his arms, Aero and Bubba followed behind them as Archimedes leaped from limb to limb. "How's he so nimble? Is he?" Blake asked but Aero cut her off "He's a spider Faunus, he has increased dexterity and he can grab things better than a human." Aero said as Archimedes repelled from a tree via webbing.

"Heard you talking about me." Archimedes said as he played with some silk that came from his hand. "Arch! If you keep doing that, you'll go blind." Aero said with a chuckle, Archimedes laughed "That explains why my dad never came back when he left for milk." Archimedes said with a chuckle.

As they passed the base of the radio tower, Verde leaped down and rolled to a stop safely "Gentlemen, this is Verde. Verde, this is Aero, Bubba, and Archimedes of the 184th Mistral Militia." Carmine said as he introduced everyone, the four men shook hands with each other. "Oh shit! Aero! Remember how I lost my Scar and got that massive laceration on my side?" Carmine asked, Aero chuckled "Yeah, we just tossed him into the water." Aero said as he watched the treetops.

"Nope, it's this little kitten here." Carmine said as he held Blake tighter which caused her to blush. Bubba laughed "What a strange twist of fate." Bubba said as they broke through the foliage to where the rest of the group were. The T-90s pulled up along the coast and aimed their barrels at the mech that struggled to free its arm from the trapped stone.

"Look alive! We got Grimm!" Grizz exclaimed as he pointed to the sky above Argus as dozens of species of Grimm flew over the city. "Oh fuck! We're so fucked!" Celadon said as he paced back and forth until Titus back handed him "Get a hold of yourself! You call yourself a Wolf?! Wolves laugh in the face of fear, Wolves stare the devil in the eyes and tell him to eat a dick!" Titus exclaimed as his words seemed to reignite a fire inside Celadon.

They watched the skies as it slowly darkened with Grimm, but small holes formed and let light through as four F-22 Raptors flew through, followed by eight F/A-18 Advanced Super Hornets and three AC-130s.

"What is that?" Ruby asked confused, Duke, Carmine, and Titus laughed "That would be Harlequin and the Viper Legion." Duke said as a massive Airship descended from the clouds above and decloaked itself. Multiple guns on the bottom opened fire and ripped through the Grimm. "Well, we can't let her have all the fun." Duke said before he pulled back the charging bolt on his DMR. Carmine sat Blake down and pulled out his Scar that he reloaded "Alright boys, you remember the motto?" Carmine asked as he pressed his throat comms that broadcasted to all open channels.

"Si Vis Pacem!" Multiple voices chanted through the radio before Duke, Titus, and Carmine pressed their comms "Para Bellum!" Duke, Titus, and Carmine chanted in unison as two F-22 Raptors flew overhead and ripped through three Manticores.

A/N: Oh, sweet Jesus. I kept putting it off but here it is, Chapter 19 of Titan Rising. Hard to believe I've been writing this for about two years. Crazy. Anyway, I gotta focus on getting my field studies done so it's gonna be quiet on the western front. Remember to Favorite, Follow, and leave a Review, and as always, this is Nightmare 6-4, signing off!