Ch. 20 – Truth and Reconciliation
Hey folks, how y'all doing? Good, so after such a long time being away, I'm back baby! 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.
Ruby looked around at the new faces confused as to who they were "Carmine, who are these people!? Where did they come from?" Ruby asked confused, Carmine was snapped back to reality as he turned to see the teams staring at the mystery people. "Oh fuck, where are my manners. Y'all remember how I told you about the four mercenary groups, well; this is Titus, leader of the 184th Mistral Militia, accompanying him is Aero, Grizz, Bubba, and Archimedes. Next is Duke and the Devil's Disciples… where's Nightwalker?" Carmine asked confused.
"He's down in the city protecting it." Duke said as gunfire erupted from barrels on APCs near the docks. "Mhmm. Right, so from left to right you got: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Celadon, Laurel, Regalia, Oscar, Verde, Qrow, and Maria." Carmine said as he introduced everyone one by one.
"Oh, and that is Harlequin and the Viper Legion, she's the one who supplied the bombers that saved us at Haven." Carmine explained, Ruby tilted her head confused "I thought that was Atlas?" She said confused, Carmine laughed a little "I wanted whoever was listening in to think I radioed Atlas but I actually radioed the Vipers." Carmine explained before his radio feed buzzed "Hey there, Titan. Long time no see! Mind if I join the party?" A sweet southern female voice asked, Carmine pressed his throat comms "Harlequin, we'd be delighted if you kept them off us." Carmine said before the sides of the large airship opened and small fighter drones flew out to engage the faster Grimm.
Carmine looked up into the sky full of chaos and watched Manta gunships engage Grimm but they were getting swarmed. "This is Manta two-two, we're getting slammed by hostiles out here! Where is Cordovin?!" The pilot yelled over the comms as two Griffons and two Manticores chased it through the air. Suddenly, an F-22 Raptor ripped through the clouds and followed up behind the Grimm, the Raptor opened fire with its 30mm cannon and ripped through the Grimm.
"Manta two-two, break off and regroup." The Raptor pilot announced. The pilot nodded before the Manta banked to the right and flew back toward Argus. The Raptor performed a barrel roll and cut its engines, the jet coasted before it started to plummet toward the water, the pilot quickly reengaged the thrusters and turned the afterburner on before it rocketed into the sky above.
"Everyone load up in that Manta and get into the air. Titus, get your tanks lined up and take out any ground movers. Duke, continue securing the city and the people." Carmine said as the Harbinger flew down to the cliff's edge "Cobalt, take the Harbinger back to the Valor and go the Valor's bridge, when you get there, activate the ship's air defense system." Carmine commanded, the technician nodded as the airship rose back into the sky and took off toward the Battleship.
"Heads up, boys! Multiple fast movers headed your way." Harlequin said over the comms. "Get that Manta into the air! We're out of time! Wolf Pack, rally up!" Carmine yelled, Laurel, Celadon, Regalia, and Verde disembarked from the Manta and made their way to Carmine's location. "What will you do!?" Ruby yelled over the roar of the engine. "We'll find a way, don't worry about us!" Carmine yelled back before four Manticores flew overhead and strafed the cliffside. The T-90s turrets turned and opened fire with the coaxial machine guns, the 7.62mm rounds ripped through the Grimm and reduced them to black smoke.
"All units, switch to airburst explosive rounds." Titus ordered as he pressed his earpiece, Blake and Weiss had depressed looks on their faces as the Manta took off into the sky. Carmine closed his eyes momentarily as he suppressed his emotions, he exhaled slowly and readied his weapon "Alright Wolves, move out." Carmine commanded as he ran along the cliffside toward Argus, the five other Wolves followed behind him.
184th Mistral Militia BTRs drove through the streets and ripped through the Grimm that flooded the streets while the Disciples helped to evacuate people to safety, Carmine stood on the edge of a cliff and observed the chaos as Titus walked up next to him "Bring back memories?" The militant commander asked as he crossed his arms, Carmine just stared in silence "Way too many." Carmine said as he clenched his fists in anger.
"What are you gonna do when you get to Atlas?" Duke asked as he joined the two on the cliff's edge, Carmine stretched his arms and limbered up his joints before he spoke again. "Give Ironwood a piece of my mind." Carmine said before he backed up and got a running start before he leaped off the cliff. The rifleman plummeted through the air before he slammed into the back of a Manticore, Carmine withdrew Executioner and transformed it into its blade form before he plunged it into the Grimm's head. The Grimm died with a roar and exploded into black smoke; the rifleman fell back toward the ground but bounced off the rocks that jutted out of the side of the cliff.
Carmine slammed his fist into the concrete and detonated a supernova to cushion his landing, the rifleman transformed his weapon back to its ranged form before he moved into the city. "Yeah, we'll catch up with you." Laurel said through the comms. "Well, let's not keep him waiting." Laurel said as he slowly made his way down the side of the cliff as Celadon, Regalia, and Verde followed him down.
Carmine moved through an alleyway as the sound of an air raid siren filled the desolate streets, as Carmine stared at the destruction; flash images of burnt civilian corpses flooded through his mind before they disappeared just as quickly as they came. He held the side of his head as he shook it back and forth "Go. Away!" Carmine said through gritted teeth as he pushed the memories down. Carmine closed his eyes and shook his head, he opened his eyes and found himself back in a war torn village, buildings burned and explosions eviscerated everything in their path, people were reduced to charred corpses as fire bombs exploded over the village and saturated everything in napalm. A large white cloud exploded over the area and flooded the streets with a white smoke that melted the flesh from people's bones.
The memories flooded back in as they were accompanied by disembodied screams and gunfire, the sound of artillery shells impacting the ground echoed around him as his breathing started to become more rapid "No damn it! Go away!" Carmine yelled before he threw his fist into a concrete wall. He pushed his side against the wall as he tried to remain calm, he closed his eyes and focused on the now, slowly the screams and artillery explosions faded from his mind and was replaced by the booms of the mercenaries fighting the Grimm. 'Damn it, of all the times my PTSD can rear its fucking head.' Carmine thought to himself as he dropped to his knee.
Carmine picked himself back up and continued to push into the city, he was ambushed by an Alpha Beowolf the moment he rounded a corner. Carmine quickly dodged the Grimm and unloaded on it; the rounds bounced off its armor plating as it closed the distance between the two of them. Carmine switched Executioner to its melee form and dropped to his knees before he plunged the blade into the gut of the Grimm and split it down the middle. The Grimm exploded into a massive cloud of black as more Beowolves and Creeps came out of the debris around the city, Carmine reloaded his rifle and released the bolt as he waited for their next move.
The two-legged Creeps charged in first, one leaped but was sliced in half while another bit down on his left upper arm, Carmine dropped to one knee as he unholstered Judge and blew the Creep away. Carmine pushed himself up as the Beowolves charged in and swiped at him, he quickly lined Judge up with one's head and squeezed the trigger, the blast ripped through the Grimm as a Boarbatusk rammed into his left side. The rifleman tumbled to the ground and slowly pushed himself up as the Boar Grimm charged again, Carmine charged a Supernova in his right fist and slammed it down into the Grimm. The explosion caused the concrete to crack as the Boarbatusk was reduced to ashes, Carmine panted heavily as he readied himself as more Grimm surrounded him.
"COME ON! COME GET ME!" Carmine yelled as he charged into the crowd of blackness, he opened fire and gunned down three Beowolves before a barrage of rockets rained down and ripped through the Grimm mob. Carmine turned around to see a Hind fly overhead as the other Wolves approached him, he reloaded his rifle as Regalia approached him "Hold still, you reckless bastard." Regalia said as she projected her aura into his, she watched her scroll as his aura levels rose steadily to 95%.
"Thanks, Regalia. Thank you for always being there for us." Carmine said as he rolled his shoulder, Regalia chuckled "Hey, at this point, we're basically a family." Regalia said as she playfully punched him in the arm. Their light-hearted moment was interrupted by the screams of people followed by the roars of Grimm, the Wolves took off in the direction of the noise. As they rounded the corner, a battered BTR was tossed through the air before it hit the ground and rolled repeatedly, it finally stopped when it slammed into a storefront.
The Wolves turned their attention toward a Goliath that used its tusks to slam the armed vehicles aside like they were nothing. "Guys! We gotta deal with this son of a bitch!" Carmine exclaimed.
"Heads up! Coming in hot!" The comms feed buzzed before a hail of gunfire rained down from above and shredded the Goliath, the collective looked up as two A-10 Warthogs flew overhead which let out a signature 'brrrt' from the Vulcan. "Uh… Never mind." Carmine said as the smoke cleared.
"Wolves! Make your way to the Argus base, things are about to go down!" Harlequin exclaimed over the comms, Carmine looked down the road that had a straight shot to the base and saw the Leviathan was on almost on top of the base. "Wolves! Double time!" Carmine yelled as he took off and sprinted toward the base. The sound of his steel-toed boots slamming on the concrete road echoed on the desolate streets, as they ran the comms buzzed as the feed intercepted Atlas radio chatter.
"Argus Base, this is Manta 3-4! Leviathan has hit the shallows and resurfaced! We need those shields up now, over!" The Manta gunship pilot exclaimed through the comms. The Wolves come to a stop near the gate of Argus Base as the Leviathan came to a stop "Target stopped! Engaging, over!" Manta gunship two-one said. Carmine pressed his throat comms before he spoke up "No! Get out of there!" Carmine yelled but was met with silence.
The Leviathan seemed to inhale before it unleashed a devastating energy blast that slammed into the hard-light shield, it shifted its aim to the generator and eviscerated it like it was nothing. The hard-light wall lost power and dematerialized pole by pole. "Open fire!" A southern Mistralian voice yelled over the comms before the barrels on multiple tanks erupted with fire as 155mm shells screamed through the sky and met their target. The shells exploded as they impacted the Grimm, the sides of the Viper airship opened as large barrels slowly extended from the ship itself before they fired massive salvos of munitions that peppered the area.
The Grimm flinched as it took fire from all sides as the comms went off again "All squadrons, fall back to evacuation procedures. Disengage Leviathan! I repeat, disengage! Over!" Argus air control ordered. Carmine pressed his throat comms as the sun gleamed off his gas mask "Ruby, if you're gonna do something, do it now." Carmine said as the Wolves slowly moved into the Argus base. "We can stop it!" Ruby exclaimed over the comms. "Who is this? Identify yourself!" Argus air control yelled over the comms.
"Don't worry about who it is, just draw the fire of the smaller Grimm and give her some space." Carmine said as he ran up a flight of stairs and stood next to the railing as he glared at the Leviathan. There was a momentary silence before the comms buzzed again "All units, engage smaller Grimm only and keep them out of the city. Manta 5-1, your ship is currently flagged as hostile. You will receive no support." Argus air control said.
"If you won't help her, we will." Multiple voices said over the comms as dozens of fighter jets regrouped in the air and flew in formation around Manta 5-1. "This is Diamondback Squadron of Viper Legion; you have our support." Diamondback 3-1 said as she banked off and engaged a Nevermore. "This is The Phantom Fury; we'll control the skies." Harlequin said over the comms as the guns on the bottom of the airship continued to fire.
"Bravo actual, 184th Mistral Militia. We'll blow these shitbags out of the sky." Grizz said over the comms. "This is Titan of the Wolf Pack; you got our support." Carmine said over the comms as the Harbinger flew through the sky and landed on the tarmac of Argus base. "Let's have some fun, shall we." Carmine said as they boarded the airship, Laurel and Verde took up the guns mounted on the side as Carmine stepped behind the controls.
The Harbinger rose into the sky slowly before it rocketed into the sky and engaged in the combat, the metallic Mistral airship turned gunship took evasive maneuvers as a Nevermore strafed the side of the airship only to be ripped apart by Laurel's mounted M2. "Cobalt, man the AGM controls and let 'em have it." Carmine said as he steered the airship a hard right, Cobalt's fingers glided across the touchscreen in a flash of movement before a Hellfire erupted from the bottom of the airship and screamed through the sky as it chased a Manticore shortly before it exploded and swallowed the Grimm in a brilliant explosion.
Carmine steered the airship to the left as he chased a Nevermore "Someone take that Nevermore out!" Carmine yelled before said Nevermore disappeared in a bright flash of light that dissolved the nearby Grimm. "What was that?" Carmine asked confused. "It's frozen! We got it!" Celadon yelled, Carmine brought the airship to a stop as it hovered in the sky. Carmine sighed in relief as he chuckled lightly at the thought of relaxing, but the relief was cut short when the sound of stone breaking echoed through the port.
"Oh fuck!" Carmine, Laurel, and Verde said simultaneously. "I'll take it from here!" A voice yelled as the sound of thunderous stomps shook the ground, Carmine turned his attention to the right and saw a one-armed mech that ran toward the Leviathan and slammed a large drill into the semi-petrified Grimm before the drill powered up and bore into the Leviathan until it exploded into black smoke.
"Diamondbacks! Pack it up!" Diamondback 3-1 said as the fighter jets disembarked from their pursuit duty and returned to the Phantom Fury. "This is Titan, returning to Valor." Carmine said as he held the Harbingers handset, he pushed the throttle forward and flew back toward the battleship. He circled twice to slow his descent before he touched down on the rear platform, Carmine stepped out onto the battleship before he looked up at the battered Manta that slowly flew off toward Atlas. "Wait, Carmine!" Weiss yelled over the comms, Carmine chuckled "I'll be right behind you, snow angel." Carmine said playfully as he watched her signal disappear along with Blake, Ruby, and Yang's.
Carmine walked along the side of the ship and up a flight of stairs to the main deck where Phantom stood "Regalia, set a course for Atlas." Carmine said as he took a seat in the Captain's chair and slowly pushed the throttle forward. "Excuse me, Mr. Sable. May I have a word." An older female voice said over the comms, Carmine pressed a few buttons on the touch interface console which brought a live feed up on the main screen and was face to face with Cordovin. "Ah yes, well, I just want to apologize for how we treated you and all the other members of the Onyx Accords. We will formally recognize the Onyx Accords as a Task Force and a certified mercenary coalition, even if the Council won't." Cordovin said before she saluted the leader of the Wolf Pack who saluted her back.
"Also, a little upgrade to help you get to Atlas." Cordovin said as a Manta flew overhead and slowly mounted a large ball on the top of the array, as the Manta flew away; the ball started to spin and covered the Valor in a hard-light shield. "Awesome… but why?" Carmine asked confused. Cordovin sighed "Because the seas of Mantle are filled with Sea Mines, this will let you get through them. You can shoot out, but nothing can get in. Good luck, Wolves." Cordovin said before the feed was lost.
"The waters are filled with Sea Mines." Carmine said as he repeated her words. "I imagine it's to take out any Grimm that fill the waters, that if they get close to the docks, the mines will kill them." Laurel said as he configured the ship's weapons system and brought up the hard-light energy reading on the screen. "Shields holding at 100%." Celadon stated as he shut down the weapons array. "10-4, let's go." Carmine said as he pushed the throttle forward, the ship's jet turbines slowly spun up as they pushed the behemoth through the blue ocean.
Carmine sat back in the chair and slowly pulled off his gas mask that was lined with sweat and splotches of blood, he looked down at his pants and noted the missing fabric from the Grimm that attacked him. "Well, these pants have seen better days." Carmine said as he pulled his bag off and sat it on the floor. "I think it is about time you upgrade your gear, I mean, you've been rocking the same gear since the Vega bunker raid." Phantom said as he sat in a rotating chair.
The bridge was quiet momentarily until the proximity radar set off a warning "Alert, something big is overhead, and I mean BIG." Celadon said as he activated the ships defense array. Carmine grabbed his rifle and ran out onto the deck of the ship and looked up in the sky, Carmine's eyes adjusted as he could make out the faint outline of an airship. Carmine stood still until the Valor started to hit choppy waters, the sudden contact made him lose his balance and slam into the metal deck. "Careful there, Titan. Don't need you dying from your own ship." Harlequin said over their comms.
"How are you talking to us, we are away from the nearest tower." Carmine asked as he pushed himself off the floor. "The Phantom Fury has a built-in signal amplifier, that's how we got Phantom's call for aid." Harlequin explained as the massive airship changed its course so the side was visible to the Valor. "Why are y'all following us to Atlas?" Laurel asked as he spoke through the Valor's comm system.
"Ironwood's got a lot of questions to answer and we're gonna get them." A southern Mistralian voice said in a booming tone. "You're here too, Titus. Let me guess, Duke also?" Carmine asked with a chuckle. "Hey, fuck you, man!" Duke yelled out in the background. "Aren't y'all worried about leaving Mistral and Vale undefended?" Carmine asked as he crossed his arms, Titus chuckled heartily "It's been about six years since we engaged the Reapers. And in that time, we bolstered our forces and implemented ranks of leadership. Nightwalker is the second in command for the Disciples, Diamond is the second in command for the 184th, and Jay is the Viper Legion's second in command. Along with the new ranks, there's also new battalions or squadrons and each one has a squad captain. We've taken precautions to ensure that another group like the Reapers never exists, ever." Titus said as he explained what has changed since their fight against the Grimm Reapers.
"So, how've you upgraded, Harley?" Carmine asked as he unlaced his boots and kicked them off, the steel-toe boots hit the metal floor with a thud as the Viper leader came over the comms. "Well, we got a massive drone fighter fleet. Like F-22 Raptors but no pilots in the cockpit, but the same precision as if it had one." Harlequin stated over the ship's comms.
"That's awesome as shit. Who've you been doing contracts for?" Carmine asked, the question caused the comms to fall silent. Harlequin spoke up after a few minutes of silence "Well, we do big time Grimm extermination, but we also have been doing contracts for Atlas." Harlequin said, her words caused Carmine's words to suddenly disappear. Carmine was silent for what seemed like an eternity before Harlequin spoke up again "Look, I know you have your reasons to despise Atlas, but we needed the work." Harley said as she justified herself.
"Look, I understand. It's just… something I wouldn't do." Carmine said as he exhaled slowly. The comms were silent, nobody spoke a word as the white noise filled the silent room until Carmine grabbed the handset "Look, let's not worry about what the other did. We'll get the answers when we get to Atlas." Carmine said before he released the button on the handset.
"Titan's right. Let's focus our anger on Atlas and the Council. We'll get the truth from them, one way or another." Duke stated over the comms before the feed cutoff. Carmine looked out over the vast ocean and watched the sun sink below the horizon, darkness swept over the ocean like a stalking Nevermore. Carmine tapped a few buttons on the touch console and brought the ship's fog lights to life, the lights on the bow illuminated the waves in front of them while the search lights on top of the bridge searched the dark waters for any hazards.
"So, we got time to kill. I never really got a chance to know WHO you are while we were at Beacon." Carmine said as he paced around the bridge. Regalia seemed caught off guard by the remark "I'm sorry, sir, but could you elaborate." Regalia asked. Carmine nodded as he continued to walk around the bridge.
"Well, you all know my life story pretty well… mainly since it haunts me daily. Anyway, I wanted to get to know you better, not just as comrades, but as a family." Carmine explained. "So, like our story and our motives for wanting to be huntsmen?" Celadon asked, Carmine nodded "Exactly, like if you're doing this to help your family or to exact revenge on someone or something." Carmine said as he took his seat in the captain's chair.
"I get what you're saying. I'll go first. So, I grew up in Mistral and I studied at Sanctum. I had a few classes with Pyrrha, but I was the shy girl in class so I just kept to myself. When it came time to choose academies to study, I applied to Beacon and got accepted. As for my motives, I'm a healer and I just don't want to see anybody else go home in a cardboard box, I had three older brothers and each of them became Huntsmen… and each of them died, either from Grimm or thugs, or a combination of the two." Regalia said, Carmine sat up when he heard the last part.
"You mean that Cin…" Carmine started to say as Regalia nodded, tears slowly formed in her eyes as Carmine moved over to where she was and wrapped her in a bear hug to console her. Regalia buried her face in his shoulder as she let her emotions flow out like water "I want to make her suffer… like she made him suffer." Regalia said as she clenched her fists but unclenched them as she let go of Carmine and backed up.
"Sorry sir." Regalia said as she stood at attention. "Regalia, why do you insist on being militaristic with your mannerisms around me?" Carmine asked, Regalia chuckled as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh, because my Dad was in the Atlas Military and was a high ranked Lieutenant before he met my mom and had a family, so the mannerisms just come natural when interacting with a superior officer." Regalia said as she clicked her heels together and saluted the Wolf Pack leader.
"At ease, Aureolin." Carmine said before Regalia put her hand down by her side. "So, I went to Pharos Academy in Vale, graduated, applied at Beacon and got in. My motive, however, is to track down the son of a bitch who abused my mother, my bastard of a father, Infernum Vermilion. I… I just need to get stronger." Laurel said as he cracked his knuckles in anger.
"Power comes in response to a need, not a desire. You have to create that need. Comrade isn't simply a word. Comrades are about heart. It's the unconditional trust in your partners. Please, feel free to lean on me... and I too, will lean on you as well." Carmine said as he approached the breacher, Laurel chuckled as they grabbed each other's forearm "You're just full of inspiration today, aren't you?" Laurel asked before he sat down again.
"Verde, I know you've been holding onto something internally. Remember the lesson, not the disappointment. Got it, you can't change the past but you can strive for the future. You are not the man you used to be. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you ever used to be. And now you have come at the crossroads of the destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good!" Carmine yelled as he approached the heavy. Verde chuckled as he looked down at the floor "You know what to say to move an army, don't you, sir." Verde said as he saluted the Alpha Wolf.
"Celadon? You need some inspiration?" Carmine asked the sniper. Celadon looked at his hands as he thought. "I guess I'm fighting to be as strong as I can live up to the legacy the original Wolves left behind, I need to become stronger to fight the forces of darkness and protect my friends and family, even if I die in the process." Celadon said, Carmine back handed the sniper.
"You don't die for your friends; you live for them. You must live life as long as you are still strong. Never look at your life as something insignificant. When you can't beat fate on your own, that's when you rely on your friends and team. Everyone has to die someday. But what they believed in will never fade away as long as someone protects it. Once you've resolved to take on those principles, no matter how much blood and tears you shed, you follow through with it! That's what it means to be a warrior." Carmine said as he gestured to the sniper.
"Listen up, Wolves, this is for all of you. You can do anything you put your mind to. You shouldn't second guess yourself just because of one little mistake. You have the same abilities you've always had. Giving up is what kills people. As we move onto our next fight and you face your next enemy, say these words, and let them ring true: 'I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to you!' I didn't bring you into the ranks of the Wolves for nothing, I saw potential and so far, I'm not wrong. I know you will bring honor to the mercenaries before you and bring hope to the hopeless. You see, for as long as we draw breath into our lungs, we shall keep hope alive inside our hearts." Carmine said as he gave a battle speech and was met with a round of applause. "So, where did all that come from?" Regalia asked, Carmine chuckled "Well, I heard some of them from the battlefield." Carmine said as he took his seat behind the main console.
"What, no wise words for me?" Phantom asked, Carmine chuckled "You redeemed yourself when you gunned down the Reapers and you stood next to us in defense of the innocent. Mistakes are not shackles that halt one from stepping forward. Rather, they are that which sustain and grow one's heart." Carmine said as he turned around in his chair.
As Carmine turned back around, the proximity alarms blared inside the bridge; Carmine stood up as two mines exploded as they hit the hard-light shield. "Alright everyone, look alive. We've reached the mine field." Carmine said as the hard-light energy levels dropped to 96%. Carmine grabbed the throttle and pulled it back, the jet turbines slowed down as the Valor's speed reduced dramatically while the Phantom Fury pulled ahead as their own spotlight shone down and illuminated the dark ocean.
The Phantom Fury's guns roared back to life and ripped into the ocean, the bullets impacted the surface of the ocean and detonated the sea mines that hid underneath the surface of the sea. As the crew of the Valor watched the explosions illuminate the ocean, the radio buzzed to life as a female voice came through "We got it, just take out the stragglers." Harlequin said as the Phantom Fury continued to fire. "Laurel, activate the 40mm Bofors and target those mines." Carmine yelled as he pushed the throttle forward slowly, Laurel nodded as he got to work activating the weapons.
The Bofors autocannon roared to life as they fired downward into the sea and hit their target, as the combined fire continued; a Sea Feilong rose up from the sea before it roared loudly. The side guns rose to life as the targeting system recognized Grimm and immediately unleashed a barrage of hellfire as the Phalanx cannons peppered shredded the Grimm. The Bofors changed targets and fired repeatedly, the 40mm shells impacted the Grimm's head as the Phalanx slowly cut it off with a stream of bullets. The Sea Feilong exploded into a cloud of black and disappeared with the wind, the gunfire died down as the they had cut a path through the minefield that the Valor easily passed through.
The occasional underwater mine detected the Valor's presence and detonated, but the hard-light shield absorbed the blast, each hit lowered the power levels by 2%. As the Valor pushed further toward their destination, the ship's radio buzzed before a voice came through and barked orders "Attention unknown vessel, you are in restricted waters, turn around or prepare to be sunk." The voice on the line barked, Carmine grabbed the handset and clicked the button on the side. "Attention dipshit, this is Carmine Sable of the Wolf Pack. We carved our way through your minefield, we're not stopping." Carmine yelled. "Alright Wolves, all hands to battle stations, this is not a drill." Carmine ordered while he continued to hold down the handset's button.
He let go of the button and within thirty seconds, Atlas came back through the comms "Titan, right? That's not necessary, you have permission to dock. Welcome to Atlas." The Atlas comms control said before the feed fell silent. "And that's how you do it." Carmine said with a smug grin, everyone just stared at him in silence before Verde busted out laughing. "Aye Verde, where are you from originally?" Carmine asked the heavy as he took a seat in the captain's chair.
"Omaha, it's a city in Mistral. Like that song 'Turn the Page' by Bob Cedar 'long and lonesome highway, east of Omaha.' That city." Verde said, Carmine chuckled "Oh, I love that song." Carmine said before he started to hum the melody. He turned and faced the window that looked out over the bow of the ship as bright lights pierced the blackness, Carmine shut the ship's lights off as Atlas's port came into view. As the Valor slowly pulled closer to the docks, he pulled back on the throttle and cut off the jet turbine's propulsion system and spun the wheel so the ship drifted into port.
The port's gravity dust repulse system kept the ship from colliding with the concrete, Carmine shut down the ship's engines and activated its defense system; the Phalanx cannons rose to life and adjusted their aim to the sky, the four 40mm flak cannon barrels rose to the sky along with the four in the rear, the IR laser targeting systems on the 20mm cannons on the side of the ship flicked on as the cannons chambered fresh rounds.
"Pitter-patter, let's get at 'er." Carmine said as he grabbed his bag, as he slipped the second strap over his shoulder but as the weight rested down; the second strap snapped and hung off his shoulder by one strap. "Well, that was inevitable. Should probably get these bricks out." Carmine said as he lowered the bag to the floor, it landed on the metal with a thud.
Cobalt disappeared down the hall that was connected to the bridge and reappeared two minutes later with a large crate in tow, Carmine unzipped his bag and pulled out the case they found in Lionheart's office, he sat the heavy case into the crate and closed the lid before he locked the latch. Verde and Laurel lifted the crate before they slowly carried it off the bridge and back to the armory, the two men reappeared five minutes later "Crate is secure and locked up." Laurel said before he tossed the Wolf Pack leader a stainless-steel key, the man placed it on the key ring he kept in the pouch of his vest.
Carmine walked over to the main console and started to tap away on the touch keyboard until a page of information popped on the holo-screen. "What the fuck is that?" Celadon asked, Cobalt walked up and analyzed the information as his wings moved slightly as he adjusted them unconsciously. "That's the ship's ID information and that's the Harbinger's information. You're getting them registered." Cobalt said as Carmine copied the information over to his scroll. "Alright, let's make like a tree and get the fuck out of here. I have an impromptu meeting with Ironwood." Carmine said as he pulled his one strapped bag on which was now significantly lighter.
"I was wondering when that bag was gonna give way, I mean with that much weight combined with god knows what else you got in there, it was indeed inevitable." Regalia said as she picked up her bat and rested it on her shoulder. The Wolves disembarked from the Valor and walked down a moveable staircase that had been pushed up to the side of the ship. The Wolf Pack walked across the port toward the outer walls of Mantle as multiple Ospreys flew overhead, the VTOLs had the emblem of the Viper Legion on the side of them.
Carmine looked up into the night sky and watched as Atlas airships hovered around Atlas while The Phantom Fury hovered significantly lower to the ground despite it being slightly bigger than Atlas's airships. As Carmine walked past a few guards who were gawking at the size of The Phantom Fury, he overheard their chatter "It's so massive, I wonder if they're compensating for something." One of the guards said before the two guards laughed.
Carmine stopped in his tracks and spun around so he was facing the guards "It's so big because it was fighting in a war that your leaders won't even acknowledge happened. That marvel of military engineering prevented a genocide and an outright slaughter, if it weren't for that beauty, nobody from Vale would be alive." Carmine said as he stepped toe-to-toe with the guards and was staring daggers into them.
"Pfft, and who are you supposed to be?" One of the guards asked, Carmine was about to draw his fist back when Verde grabbed one of the guards by the chest plate and head butted the fuck out of him. The guard hit the ground like a sack of bricks as the other started to tremble in fear, Carmine pointed at the side of the ship that had the Wolf Pack emblem painted on it, "Does that fucking ring a bell?" Carmine asked, the guard shook his head "Uhh, no sir." The guard said, Carmine dropped his head "God damn it, Ironwood. I swear to god, I'm gonna rearrange his internal organs." Carmine said as he continued his approach to the outer wall entrance.
As he approached the guard station, they were met with plasma rifles pointed at them "Hands where we can see them." A guard yelled; Carmine sighed as he raised his hands "I'm not in the mood for this bullshit." Carmine muttered as the guards tried to take his gear from him. As the guard grabbed his wrist, Carmine threw his elbow and struck the guard in the head, the blow dazed him. The rifleman lifted his right leg and threw a roundhouse to the side of the head of another guard, he ran forward and delivered hit after hit to the third guard's gut like a speedbag before he followed it with an uppercut.
The first guard started to regain his senses but Verde grabbed him by the chest plate and threw him through the window of the guard building, Carmine reached through the broken glass and turned a switch that opened the large gate. The mercenaries stepped over the incapacitated guards that groaned in agony as they entered Mantle, Celadon turned the switch again to close the gate before he ran through the now closing slabs of concrete.
"Smart, now we assaulted Atlas guards, I bet that's gonna go smoothly with the council." Celadon said as ran his fingers through his shaggy green hair. "Ahh, fuck the council." Carmine said as the group moved onto the sidewalk in the streets of Mantle. A small drone flew through the city streets and came to a stop in front of Carmine, the rifleman pulled out Judge and put a bullet through the drone. The small drone dropped to the snowy ground as it struggled to maintain power, Carmine lifted his leg and drove his boot down through the drone, the drone's life drained out as its lights darkened.
As they continued, the booming sound of a familiar voice filled the streets "…cannot express our appreciation enough. Many describe these as uncertain times, and while that may be the case for the rest of the world, I can tell you what is certain. The Kingdom of Atlas will remain strong, and it will remain safe. That is my promise." The voice said as Carmine looked up and saw Ironwood's face on a massive holo-screen.
The rifleman gritted his teeth before they pushed on through the cold streets, as they continued down the street; they came upon a screen with a familiar face "Well, if it isn't your future sister-in-law." Laurel said with a chuckle before Regalia slugged him in the arm. "A reminder. Failure to cooperate with Atlas military personnel is a punishable offense. If your sector is under lockdown…" Winter's holo-recording said, Carmine shook his head as they pushed on deeper into the city.
They looked around the city and saw AK-200s walking around while a few trucks of soldiers drove through the city "You ever hear the phrase 'too much safety seems to yield only danger in the long run'? This seems to be a good example of it." Cobalt said as he stared at the military forces.
As they stared in silence, the sound of shouting echoed from across the street "You don't like it here? There's plenty of space out in the tundra!" A slurred voice shouted, Carmine and Phantom looked at each other with confused expressions "It's worth an investigation." Phantom said with a smirk.
The Wolves ran across the street and followed the voice until it led to more, familiar voices. The Wolves came upon RWBY, JNR, Qrow, Maria, and Oscar as they had been confronted by a drunk person, "Sorry, I didn't mean to—" Blake said as she tried to apologize. "Atlas is the greatest Kingdom in the world, alright?!" The drunk man yelled, Carmine pulled his bag off and handed it to Cobalt. "You want me to hold your earrings for you?" Laurel asked sarcastically, Phantom and Carmine looked at Laurel and then at each other surprised.
"Fuck, that sounded just like what Crimson would say. Hell, minus the attitude, Verde seems a lot like Grullo. This is spooky." Phantom said as he looked at everyone. Carmine was about to go deal with the drunk, but Celadon stopped him "You gotta let them handle it themselves, let them fight their own battles." Celadon said as they another man stand up.
"The embargo... The embargo's got us in a rough patch. But it'll blow over, you'll see." The drunk's friend said before the drunk interjected again "We try and help the other Kingdoms, and this is what happens? I say let 'em rot!" The drunk yelled, Blake rolled her eyes as she disingenuously apologized to the drunk "I apologize. I didn't mean to insult you." Blake said as she apologized to the drunk, the man spat on the ground as he glared up at her.
"Stupid Faunus like you wouldn't unders—" The man started to say before a black glyph formed around his feet and launched him into a dumpster, Weiss held her rapier as a small black glyph disappeared from the tip. "That's my girl!" Carmine yelled which caused her to jolt in surprise.
"Carmine? When did you get here? How long were you there?" Weiss asked as the Wolves approached them but stopped when a pair of AK-200s started to approach the sudden noise. "Not now, we gotta get the fuck out of here." Carmine said before the collective group fled the area.
The group ran down the street until they came upon a building with a glowing green plus symbol above the door, a young Faunus woman walked out of the side door with a prosthetic arm as she waved to a person within the building. "And no more heavy-lifting, yah hear?" The voice called out as Maria led the group into the building.
"Ah, it's good to see you again, old friend." Maria said as they walked into what looked like a doctor's office. "Ah, yes, yes. Have we met?" The man asked as he adjusted his glasses. "Well, this is off to a fantastic start." Ren said as he closed the door behind him, Cobalt chuckled "You read my mind." Cobalt said as he handed Carmine back his bag.
"Cybernetic optical implants. You adjust them. Every ten years or so?" Maria said as she pointed to her peepers. The man stared at her for a moment before he threw his hands into the air "Maria!" The man exclaimed as the chair he was sitting in started to walk toward them. "Spider chair! Spider chair! Does whatever a spider can." Laurel said as he sang the words softly, Regalia elbowed him in the ribs "Shut the fuck up." She whispered softly to the breacher as the man and Maria continued their conversation.
"Oh wow, has it been that long already?" The man asked as he helped the small lady onto an examine table. "Ah, I know. I age like a fine wine. Would've been here sooner if I hadn't run into these jokers. At the time, I thought they might need my guidance while fighting a little old Sphinx." Maria said as she looked at the ragtag group.
Qrow cleared his throat and got their attention "And this is?" Qrow asked, Maria shook her head "So impatient. I didn't think I'd need to introduce one of Atlas' finest minds." Maria said as she gestured to the spider-chair-man. "Working in place like this?" Yang asked as a tile fell from the ceiling and broke in half as it hit Celadon in the head, the sniper dropped to the ground from the sudden impact "I'm okay." The man said weakly as he pushed himself off the ground.
"I swear, if you got one tapped by a building… I'd have no words." Laurel said with a chuckle as he brushed some of the tile off Celadon's shoulders. "He likes to keep a low profile. Something I've come to realize none of you know anything about." Maria said as she glared at the group, Carmine whistled innocently as he looked at the roof. "You can call me Pietro." The man said as he introduced himself. "Finest heart, too. This pharmacy is just where he volunteers when he's not building the future of Atlas alongside Ironwood, up in the clouds." Maria said as she continued to inform the group about the man.
"Oh, it's stuffy up there. Down here, I get to help the locals and have a little fun. I'm currently working on shoes that make you dance. Wanna try 'em on?" Pietro asked. "YES!" Nora, Laurel, and Cobalt exclaimed simultaneously. "Before we get to that, we were wondering if you could help us. We came to Atlas hoping to talk to General Ironwood, but um…" Yang said as she cut in, Blake cut her off and finished her sentence "What exactly has been happening here?" Blake asked.
"Well, the Fall of Beacon took a toll on all of us. James was no different. I couldn't tell you exactly what it was he saw there, but it changed him. He's…" Pietro started to say before Qrow cut him off. "He's scared." Qrow said as he shook his head.
"Paranoid would be the more appropriate term. You have to understand, it wasn't just the Grimm. Someone completely dismantled Atlas security code, made it their play-thing, and made us look like traitors to some and buffoons to everyone else. Whoever managed to do that is either a genius or one of our own. I fear the answer may be both, and so does the general." Pietro explained, Carmine sighed as he sat his bag down against Pietro's desk. Pietro looked at the man and his weapons "Son, who designed those two?" Pietro asked as he gestured toward Jury and Executioner.
"A man from Vale, Mindaro. You heard of him?" Carmine asked as he crossed his arms. "Heard of him? He was my protégé, I taught him everything I knew about weapons crafting. What's he up to these days, still running 'Mindaro's Munitions'?" Pietro asked, Carmine chuckled "Yeah, I haven't seen him since the Fall of Beacon." Carmine explained, Pietro stared at the rifleman and studied the details of the patch on his vest.
"That patch… that's a Beowolf with a sword through its head… You're Carmine Sable, Mindaro told me all about the Wolf Pack. My condolences on the entire situation, it's the worst thing to ever go through." Pietro said as he approached the rifleman and shook his hand. Weiss stepped forward and cleared her throat "How does the council feel about all of this? Or Winter Schnee? Do you know anything about her?" Weiss asked, Pietro adjusted his glasses.
"Well, the council's so scared, they'll agree to whatever he wants. Though, some representatives from Mantle… Wait, you're… You're Weiss Schnee!" Pietro exclaimed as he recognized the white-haired girl. Carmine moved over and stood in front of Weiss as Yang stepped forward "Wait, what was it that you were trying to say about Mantle?" Yang asked.
Pietro looked at her arm and gasped lightly "You painted it." Pietro said which caused Yang to step back "What?" Yang asked confused. Pietro looked at the four women and gasped louder "You're Team RWBY!" Pietro exclaimed. "You know us?" Ruby asked confused. Pietro chuckled "Oh, my girl, I do. I most certainly do. And I feel like such a dunce for not recognizing you sooner. My daughter has told me so much about you." Pietro said, Ruby tilted her head confused "Your… daughter." Ruby asked confused.
Suddenly, an alarm blared outside accompanied by the screams of civilians as the lamps turned red "Hold that thought, spiderman, we got work to do." Carmine said as he pulled on the single strapped backpack and withdrew his rifle. Laurel threw the door open before the group ran out into the street.
AK-200s backed up as Sabretooth Grimm tackled them to the ground and ripped them to shreds, the Grimm turned their attention toward the ragtag group and began to step closer to them. Blake pulled out her Katana but remembered the blade was broken in half, so she transformed it back to its pistol form. Carmine groaned in anger as he pulled on his gas mask and pulled the hood over his head before he sprinted headlong in the fray. "Carmine! Wait!" Weiss and Blake yelled as the rifleman transformed his rifle to its blade form and decapitated on the Grimm before he plunged it into the neck of another.
"Welp, what are you waiting for, they won't kill themselves." Laurel said as he withdrew his two machetes and leaped into the combat, the others readied their weapons and joined in the fighting. A Sabyr charged at Carmine but he reached out and grabbed it by its large fangs before he charged a Supernova and blew the Grimm apart. As the Grimm numbers dwindled, they changed up their tactics and encircled the collective group; Carmine panted heavily as he struggled to stand, he turned around in time to see a Sabyr charge at Blake while she had her back to it.
"Blake!" Carmine yelled out as he started to run toward her but his feet buckled underneath him and dropped him to the ground, the Sabyr leaped through the air and was about to strike but it was ripped in half by a green laser. Carmine looked up and tried to find the source as more lasers struck the remaining Grimm and reduced them to ashes.
The alarm stopped blaring as the streetlights returned to normal, Laurel extended his hand and helped the rifleman off the ground "You okay?" Laurel asked the rifleman; Carmine shook his head "Yeah… I don't know why my legs just buckled like that." Carmine said as Laurel helped him rejoin the group. The group looked up as a figure flew through the air and twirled around before it landed, the figure had long orange hair and a familiar attire.
"Penny!" Ruby exclaimed, everyone stared in stunned silence "Darling, why don't you say hello to your friends?" Pietro said as his spider chair walked outside. Penny turned around and gasped as she saw everyone standing before her. Penny leaned forward slightly as she started to speak "Sal" Penny said as she bent her knee and engaged her rear thrusters. "Huh?" Ruby asked confused.
"U" Penny continued as the thrusters started to engage with more power. "Ruby! Run!" Carmine yelled before Penny took off like a flash of lightning "Tations!" Penny exclaimed as she tackled Ruby and engaged her thrusters. "Regalia, I think she'll need your healing touch." Carmine said as he let go of Laurel and stood up on his own. Penny popped back up to her feet as Ruby stood up slowly while she cradled her head "It is such a pleasure to see you all again!" Penny said gleefully. Every stared in awe at what they were seeing, Ruby stammered as she tried to put her thoughts into words "Penny, I… I-I thought you…" Ruby stammered.
"Died? I guess, in a manner of speaking, she did. But we were able to recover her core from Amity Arena once it had made its way back to Atlas. It took me some time, but…" Pietro explained, but Penny cut him off. "I'm as good as new! Better, even! And now I'm the official protector of the city!" Penny said as she struck a heroes pose. Pietro laughed heartily "That's my girl. We're not going to let a little ripping to shreds stop us, are we?" He asked before he laughed again but started to cough lightly.
"No sir." Penny said before she knocked on her head which emitted an audible 'clank'. "This is…" Weiss started to say before Blake finished her sentence "Strangely wholesome." Blake said as the collective group stared at the miracle that Penny was alive. "Sounds like Penny to me." Yang said as she crossed her arms with a smirk. Penny grabbed Ruby by the shoulders excitedly "We have so many things to catch up about. I cannot wait!" Penny said with excitement, Carmine looked up at Atlas above them as he crossed his arms "Me neither." Carmine said softly to himself.
Suddenly, the alarms blared again as the lights turned red; Penny bounced back and gave everyone a salute "Let's talk more later! I can't wait to hear about all of your adventures and tell you how I have been and I am just very excited about the whole experience!" Penny exclaimed as she soared through the sky, Carmine chuckled "That girl's something else." Carmine said as he started to move toward Blake and Weiss.
Suddenly, multiple bolases flew from the darkness and wrapped around the students and dropped them to the ground unable to move. Carmine held his arm out and caught one of the bolases around his forearm before he pulled his knife from its sheath, flipped it so he was holding the tip, and threw it toward the source of the attack. Another set of bolases screamed through the air and around his waist, he began to reach for his gun when the second bolas emitted a powerful electric shock that incapacitated the mercenary.
Carmine faded in and out of consciousness as five uniformed individuals walked out the shadows "Good work, team." An unidentified male said as he spun a horseshoe around his finger. "Get these binds off me so I can kick your fucking ass." Verde said as he struggled to break the restraints. "Hey, pal! I'm a licensed Huntsman! Just helped save everyone?" Qrow said as he tried to get free from the restraints.
"I swear to god, I'm gonna staple your tongue to your taint so you can watch me kick your fucking ass." Carmine growled as he tried to get free but another electric shock knocked him out cold. "Violent one, isn't he." The horseshoe man said as he knelt next to Carmine's body and pulled his weapons from his person. He looked over and picked up the relic "Hm. Let's get them loaded into the next transport." The man said as he put the relic on his belt loop next to Carmine's knife.
"Please! We were just trying to help!" Ruby pleaded, Pietro's spider chair walked out into the street "What is the meaning of this? What are the Ace-Ops even doing down here in Mantle?" Pietro asked before he started to cough again. "Ace-Ops?" Ruby asked questioningly as the lead man stepped closer to Pietro. "Doctor, good to see you. Well, we heard a report of an unauthorized ship making an unauthorized landing, followed by an unauthorized use of weapons by unlicensed Huntsmen, as well as reports of armed individuals who assaulted the guards at the docks." The man said as he looked down at Carmine's unconscious body.
"If we could just talk this out—" Pietro started to say, but the man cut him off "They'll be able to talk this out once they get to Atlas. Let's move out!" The man said as a tall woman with hoop earrings picked Carmine up and tossed him over her shoulder, Laurel looked on in amazement "Guys, I think I might be in love." Laurel said, the woman developed a smirk before she winked at the breacher and carried the Wolf Pack leader off to a hover van that waited for them. She tossed the rifleman onto the floor of the van as the others were placed on the benches, the doors closed before the van took off toward Atlas. "My god, I'd let her throw me over her shoulder anytime." Laurel said as he fawned over the mystery woman.
"I think you just got a thing for powerful women, like Coco." Regalia said before she nudged Carmine with her foot, Carmine groaned as he slowly stirred "Oh god, what happened?" He asked as he tried to move but found himself restrained. "Well, we're going to Atlas… just not how we wanted to go." Celadon said as he tried to free himself from his restraints. Cobalt was silent as he stared as his cuffs, he flicked his wrists and the cuffs fell from his arms and hit the metal floor.
"Wha… How?" Laurel asked, Cobalt grinned as he held up a charred bobby pin "Shorted out the capacitors. I only have the one so, come here Carmine." Cobalt said as he used the other end of the bobby pin to short out the cuffs on Carmine's wrists, the cuffs deactivated and fell to the floor. Carmine placed his hands on the bolas around his waist and detonated a small Supernova that broke the bolase in half, the rifleman hopped up and immediately slammed his head into the roof of the van "Silence!" A male voice yelled from the cab of the van. "Where do you think they're taking us?" Ruby asked, Carmine knelt on the floor as he seemed to put himself in a fixed stance.
"Wherever it is, it better have Ironwood." Carmine said as he focused his energy into a Supernova in his right hand. "I'm gonna go with jail." Qrow said in a defeated tone. "Been there before, that's how we met." Carmine said without breaking his concentration. "I still can't believe that fishing pole guy took us out like it was nothing." Jaune said in disbelief, Laurel chuckled "That's called an ambush." Laurel said as he adjusted his confined hands. "Welcome to Atlas. Those were Ironwood's Ace Operatives." Weiss said as she looked at her boyfriend. "Carmine, please relax. Please don't make this worse than it already it is." Weiss pleaded, Carmine sighed and exhaled slowly as he released the energy back into his body. The rifleman sat down on the floor and crossed his legs as he started to meditate silently.
After minutes of silence, the rifleman exhaled slowly as his body seemed to have relaxed its muscles and repaired itself internally. "Did you just use a Nova?" Regalia asked, Carmine nodded as he stood up and squeezed into a spot on the bench.
"Hmm? You guys had a run-in with the Ace-Ops? Ironwood must really have a bone to pick with you." A scrawny looking man said, Carmine shook his head "Other way around, I gotta bone to pick with him." Carmine said as he clenched his fist in anger. "How much longer, ya twat waffles?!" Carmine yelled through the grate of the van. "Shut up back there." One of the guards said.
"They're not that big of a deal." Weiss said as she rolled her eyes. "Not that big of a deal!? The Ace-Ops are the elite-of-elite military Huntsmen and Ironwood's personal attack dogs." The man said, Carmine scoffed "If that's the case, why did Ironwood hire the Wolves for so many contracts." Carmine said as he shook his head. "Wolves? Wait, you're Carmine Sable. I heard the Wolves were killed by the White Fang." The man said confused.
"They were, I'm what's left of the original six. It was Ironwood's contract that got us killed." Carmine said as he gritted his teeth under his gas mask. "Oh my god, I've heard so much about you guys. How you took about the Grimm Reapers." The man said, the words stunned Carmine.
"Wait, so you know about the Reapers?" Carmine asked in a new tone of determination, the man nodded "Yeah, most people will say they were just a myth but I saw the truth… they were real, weren't they?" The man asked, Carmine nodded "Yes they were, and they were scarier than you could ever imagine." Carmine said in a somber tone as he thought back to the combat years ago.
"So, is it true that they had massive weaponry that was built from Atlas blueprints deemed too dangerous to exist?" The man asked, Carmine sighed "That's… classified." Carmine said hesitantly, he looked up at Phantom who nodded to him. "So, that means the Princes and the Dukes existed. Oh god, that's horrifying." The man said as he shook his head.
"Anyway, so they got you too, huh?" Nora asked the man, the man chuckled "Pfft! I wouldn't let myself get caught by them. I'm here because I've been speaking out against Atlas' exploitation of Mantle, and General Ironwood is trying to silence me." The man said pridefully, the guard groaned "You threw a brick at our ship!" The pilot yelled. "It's worth it if it gets people talking about our cause!" The man exclaimed proudly; the pilots sighed in annoyance.
"'Our cause'?" Blake asked confused as Carmine rested his head on her shoulder. "Yes, the fight for better conditions in Mantle! Led by the charismatic, talented, lovely Robyn Hill and her Happy Huntresses!" The man exclaimed; the pilots sighed before they raised the window that separated the cab from the cargo hold.
"They were all top Atlas Academy graduates, who could've signed up for the military, but Robyn and the Huntresses chose to stay in Mantle. She's gunning for a seat on the kingdom's council, and when she gets it, she's gonna put an end to Ironwood's tyranny!" The man continued, Carmine chuckled "Happy… Huntresses?" Oscar asked confused.
"Is that their real name?" Yang asked, somewhat humored by the thought. "Don't you think "tyranny's" a little dramatic?" Weiss asked, the man turned around and narrowed his eyes at her "Easy to say for a Schnee heiress, living comfortably up in Atlas." The man said, Carmine lifted his head and glared at the man, but Blake patted him on the leg "Easy boy, don't kill the poor man." Blake said with a giggle as he rested his head on her shoulder again.
The transport finally made it to the City of Atlas, Ruby looked out the window in awe of the view "Whoa, it's gorgeous up here!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly. Weiss sighed "Don't let that fool you." The snow maiden said with a somber tone, the unknown 'freedom fighter' stood up and looked out the window "This isn't the Police Station." The man said confused. Qrow's eyes grew wide at the sight "It's Atlas Academy."
The transport came to a stop before the back doors opened "Alright, let's go." The guards said as they ushered them out of the transport, Carmine and Cobalt leaped out without their restraints "Hey, where are your cuffs?" The guard asked as he placed his hand on his gun. "Relax, if I wanted you dead, they'd be cleaning you up off the floor." Carmine said in a sinister tone. The guard slowly moved his hand away from his sidearm before he closed the doors to the transport "Fine, but don't try any shit." The guard barked.
"I guess we will be seeing the General. For better or worse." Ruby said as the group made their way toward Atlas Academy. The collective group entered the marble halls and boarded a large elevator that made its way up the tower. "So, what do we do?" Ren asked Ruby unsure of how to proceed. "I don't know yet. But we should be careful with what we say." Ruby said as one of the guards looked over their shoulder at her, Carmine moved to Ruby's side and glared at the guard "Sup, sugar lips, you looking at comrade for some reason?" Carmine asked as he stepped closer to the guard.
"Titan! Down boy." Phantom said from the back of the elevator, Blake leaned over and whispered into Ruby's ear "We'll follow your lead, Ruby." Blake whispered, Ruby smiled briefly but the smile was soon replaced by a look of worry, Carmine nudged her arm which caused her to look up at the man "You'll do fine." The rifleman said as the elevator came to a stop.
The guards escorted the group down the hall and down a set of stairs to an atrium, as the entered the room; they watched as Ironwood, Winter, and Penny walked out of a room. "I swear if I have to sit through one more council meeting like that…" Ironwood said in a defeated tone, as the trio turned to head toward an office, Penny noticed Ruby and got excited "Yay! You're here!" Penny exclaimed excitedly. Ironwood turned to see what the commotion was but gasped when he saw the group from Beacon along with a few new faces.
Weiss stepped out from behind Ruby and stepped forward "Winter." Weiss said somewhat formally, Winter gasped at the sight of her sister but the moment was interrupted by Nora who jiggled her restraints "Anyone wanna give us a hand with these?" Nora asked, Carmine rolled his eyes as Winter collected herself. "You have ten seconds to take those off before I start hurting you." Winter said sternly.
"Ten seconds? I'll do it now." Carmine said as he cracked his knuckles, the guards looked at Winter and back at Carmine before they got to work undoing the shackles while they apologized profusely. The bolases dropped to the floor and retracted into themselves, Ironwood gestured to them "Please, come in." Ironwood said, Carmine shook his arms as he loosened himself up "Oh, I've been waiting for this." Carmine said as he followed them into the office.
"It is so good to see all of you." Ironwood said as the door closed behind them. Yang rubbed her wrist as she looked around the office "Our reception didn't really convey that." Yang said as Regalia walked up beside her and put her arm around the blonde woman. Carmine was about to turn is anger meter to a thousand but Blake grabbed his hand, he looked back and saw her sincere concern which caused him to exhale slowly.
"I sincerely regret how you were treated by my team." Ironwood said with regret in his voice. "When a rogue airship entered our airspace, it raised some… red flags. We assumed the ship was stolen. Not to mention a ghost ship cutting through our minefield accompanied by another unknown airship that is currently looming over Mantle." Ironwood said as he stared at Carmine. Carmine exhaled heavily as fought the urge to unload on Ironwood.
"You're welcome." Laurel said without an ounce of emotion in his voice. "Excuse me?" Ironwood asked confused but Laurel stepped closer and stood his ground "You're fucking welcome for getting that behemoth back in allied hands, it had its sights on Menagerie and was about to shell the fuck out of it, but Carmine and the Wolf Pack to the initiative to take it back." Laurel said as anger filled his words.
Carmine pulled his gas mask off and let it hit the floor with a loud thud, the sudden impact cracked the visor in two spots. He kissed Blake on the lips before he let go of her hand "Yes, we took it back and guess what? It's property of the Wolf Pack now, you said it yourself, it's a ghost ship so it has no owner, well, now it does. Why does it seem that the Wolves are always cleaning up your messes, I mean, Vacuo, the Reapers, the Iron Hammer, the Reaper's Hammer, and the Mammoth? The Iron Hammer, Reaper's Hammer, and the Mammoth were deadly vehicles used by The Grimm Reapers and guess what? They were originally designed by Atlas but deemed too dangerous, but the blueprints were never destroyed." Carmine said as he started to unload on Ironwood.
"I…" Ironwood started to say, but Carmine cut him off "And what's worse is 'The Council' denies the entire crisis ever even happened. The Reapers attacked an Atlas base in Vacuo and what do you do? You call us and the 184th to take it back. I got captured and tortured because of you!" Carmine yelled as he removed his heavy IBA and tattered hoodie, the IBA hit the wooden floor with a thud as Carmine's bare flesh was exposed for everyone to see. The scars and lacerations that crisscrossed his torso along with the two scars on his side seemed to stun everyone and elicited audible gasps.
"Titan, I'm…" Ironwood started to say but Carmine cut him off again "Don't you fucking dare call me Titan, you haven't earned the FUCKING RIGHT!" Carmine yelled in anger that bordered on rage. He exhaled slowly and spoke in a calmer tone "The ones who earned the right to call me Titan are the ones who fought beside me on the frontlines, the ones who stood by me while you turned and ran, to keep your hands clean. The ones you led to slaughter with bad information, my brothers are dead because of you. You have the audacity to sit up here and act like nothing happened, but you know DAMN well what happened. Do you even remember their names? Do you remember who they were?" Carmine asked as he stepped closer to the desk.
Ironwood didn't move, he lowered his head and sighed slowly "The Grimm Reaper incident was one that haunted me since it occurred and the day the Wolves died… I still hear Nightshade's panicked mayday calls; I still see you cradling Onyx's body when I close my eyes at night. There is nothing I can do to make amends for what happened, I can't even find words to form an apology." Ironwood said in a solemn tone.
"Oh yes there is." A southern Mistralian voice said from behind the Office's doors, the doors flew open before Titus, Aero, Grizz, Duke, Nightwalker, Harlequin, and Luna walked in. "You can start by uncovering the truth, Atlas takes responsibility for the entire thing. You honor the true heroes of the incident and make their names known to the world, make their names legends and not myths. And you help us track down Diablo." Titus said as he walked up to Ironwood's desk.
"I… I don't know…" Ironwood started to say but Duke cut him off "Nonnegotiable." Duke said with venom. Ironwood sighed "Alright, I'll see to it that it gets done." Ironwood said as he looked up at the mercenary leaders. "Nightwalker, the casualty list." Duke said as he maintained eye contact with Ironwood. Nightwalker fished a flash drive from his pocket and handed it to the leader of the Disciples.
Duke plugged the drive into Ironwood's holo-computer before a list of names, ranks, and affiliations popped up on the screen and seemed to continue to grow. "There's more than a thousand names here." Winter said in disbelief. "Mercenaries and civilians. Innocent people that the Reapers murdered for fun, wanna see the footage too, because we have that too." Duke said as he opened another file and multiple videos popped up.
Duke clicked on one and it expanded as it started to play, the name Sable, Carmine was in the corner of the video as it played. The video shook violently as blue sky shown through a small window, the video bucked as a loud thud echoed through the video. Carmine's hand reached up and pulled a chord that blew the door off a pod, the rifleman climbed out of the pod as Crimson leaped out with a rocket launcher in hand "Come get some, chuckle fucks!" Crimson yelled.
Duke scrubbed the video to later in the raid, Carmine leaped from a Humvee and gripped the side of a tanker trailer, the sides opened and multiple barrels pointed outward before they started to spin up. Carmine pulled himself out of the way as another man was ripped to shreds by the bullets. Duke scrubbed the footage again to the beginning of the onslaught, the footage showed Carmine trying to stop the Mammoth. The sound of screams and explosions filled the room as Carmine gripped the wheel and jerked it with all his might, it snapped the spot-welded bracket and caused the Mammoth to flip.
Everyone watched the video in horror as they watched Carmine pull himself from the wreckage, the sound of screaming combined with crying and sirens filled the air as an angry mob swarmed Carmine, the video ended after a man slammed his boot down into Carmine's clavicle. "Wanna watch another one?" Duke asked, Ironwood shook his head "I've seen enough. You… deserved so much better, I can never make amends for this." Ironwood said in disbelief.
"Yeah you can, reinstate the existence of The Reapers. We know that you tried to cover your ass by deleting the birth records of the Princes of the Reapers, reinstate them and label the records correctly: Terrorists, The Grimm Reapers." Aero said as he projected a sample template of Astaroth's bio profile. Status: Deceased. Affiliation: Grimm Reapers (Defunct). Role: Terrorist. Ironwood nodded "I'll do it, all of it. I'll give these brave warriors the honor and respect they deserve. Anything else?" Ironwood asked.
"Yeah, formally recognize The Onyx Accords as its own military entity. We belong to no kingdom, instead we fight on all fronts, wherever we're needed." Harlequin said. Ironwood was about to object, but the mercs stared him down.
"Fine, but I don't know what the Council will say." Ironwood said, Grizz laughed "Let us worry about the Council." Grizz said before he laughed ominously. Winter cleared her throat "Right, well, back to the matter at hand. "We have some important information for you that's… confidential." Qrow said in an ominous tone. "Oh, is it about the Relics?" Penny asked innocently, Winter moved next to Ironwood and fixed her posture "Or perhaps the Winter Maiden?" She asked.
"You told them?" Qrow asked confused, Ironwood reached into his desk and pulled out the Relic of Knowledge "Did you really think you were the only one who got to work on a new plan after Beacon? With Ozpin gone, I needed my own team of people I could trust. So yes, I told them. The Ace-Ops too. Which is why I'm so glad you're here… with this. Until now, I believed it was impossible to truly turn the tide against Salem. Oz has pushed her back, has kept victory out of her claws, but she will keep returning stronger and stronger… unless we destroy her." Ironwood stated.
"But… what about the Atlas Relic?" Ruby asked, Ironwood tilted his head "You mean the Staff of Creation?" He asked. "It's safe inside the Vault." Penny stated happily. "And the Winter Maiden?" Qrow asked, Winter stepped forward and placed her hand behind her back "She is secure and in stable condition." Winter stated formally.
"Hold up! What do you mean 'stable'?" Carmine asked as he looked at the older Schnee. "Well she's, uh, not exactly a spring chicken." Qrow said to the rifleman. Carmine reached down and picked his hoodie off the floor and slowly pulled it back on, Laurel picked up the heavy IBA and helped him pull it back on. The rifleman fastened the sides of the vest and adjusted it so it wasn't uncomfortable.
Carmine pulled something from one of his pouches and held it securely in his hand, "I know how this all looks. Recalling my military? The embargo? I probably don't seem the most trustworthy right now." Ironwood said as he gazed out the office window. Carmine chuckled as Blake stepped forward "Then why continue it?" Blake asked confused, Nora shook her head "The people of Mantle are hurting!" She exclaimed in an upset tone.
"I needed to ensure Salem couldn't infiltrate Atlas. And I wanted my military here, protecting my people." Ironwood said as he faced the room full of people. "But it's not protecting them! It's making everyone hate you." Yang said as she tried to reason with the general, but Ironwood didn't budge. "It's a price I'm willing to pay." Ironwood said as he pressed a few buttons on his holo-keyboard.
"Just as you all have been entrusted with the knowledge of Salem's existence, I need you all to trust me. I have a plan." Ironwood said as shutters closed over the windows behind him, reducing the room to a dim darkness before a round table-like object started to rise from the floor. "Ozpin believed the best way to fight Salem was to do so in secret. Whether that was the right choice or not isn't for me to say. But we find ourselves in a position of needing, well, a new approach." Ironwood said as the table took full form.
"Oh boy, can't wait to hear this brilliant idea." Carmine said as he crossed his arms, Blake and Weiss moved to either side of him before they clung to his body. Winter was about to speak, but Ironwood pressed a button and caused a hologram of Amity Colosseum to materialize above the table. "The Colosseum? Really? We gonna challenge them to a match?" Duke asked sarcastically. "Wait, Colosseum? Like where the Vytal Festival is held?" Oscar asked confused.
"Indeed. When Beacon fell and everyone on Remnant lost contact with one another, I knew our current system was outdated. Amity was built to bring the nations together, and it will serve that purpose once again." Ironwood said as he pressed a button, everyone watched as the hologram of the Colosseum developed a large antenna on top of it.
"Turn the Colosseum into a massive satellite array? Now you're just asking for trouble, if that thing went into the sky; Salem would send everything she has to knock it out and send it crashing into whatever poor kingdom happened to be nearby." Carmine said as he shook his head.
"By launching the tower high into the atmosphere, our scientists believe we can create a sort of… satellite out of reach of the Grimm and capable of maintaining global communications even if we were to lose another tower." Winter said as she explained the situation.
Carmine paused for a moment as he ran the 'numbers' in his head. "That… might just work, if it stays within the atmosphere, then the dust will still function and if it's high enough, any Grimm that try to get to it will freeze." Carmine said as he explained his thoughts. "That is great." Ruby said as she started to feel hopeful.
"James... you don't need the entire military for this." Qrow stated as he tried to understand the general's thought process. Ironwood sighed slowly "I will for the next part, where I finally tell the people about Salem." Ironwood said, the mercenaries stared at the man as if he had grown a second head. "Oh yeah, that's just fucking great." Duke said as he threw his hands up and started to walk out of the office while talking. "Yeah, just fuck up everything we did, I mean, it's not like a lot of us died or anything. I mean, what the fuck, why don't we just tell them 'hey, there's a super crazy bitch and she's gonna kill us all." Duke continued; his voice became less audible as he continued down the hall.
"Don't mind him, he can be overdramatic sometimes." Nightwalker said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "So that's why you withdrew your troops, to handle the panic that would break out in Atlas." Qrow said as he put two and two together. "Yes, panic is inevitable, and panic brings Grimm. But I believe we are ready. Once Atlas has come to grips with the fight ahead, I'll use Amity Tower to spread the message to all of Remnant." Ironwood said, his statement shocked everyone aside from Winter and Penny.
"But everything will fall apart. Grimm will be everywhere!" Weiss exclaimed, Winter nodded in agreement "You're right, but Atlas is willing and prepared to assist." Winter said, her statement caused Carmine to laugh "Oh yeah, cause your past actions totally reflect that." Carmine said sarcastically. "So, let me see if I get this straight, you plan on telling the world about Salem, and then when mass hysteria sets in, your forces will be able to stop the Grimm? How? How will you even be fast enough to react? Even the fastest airship takes a day and a half to get from Atlas to the tip of Vacuo. And where is that one at, Harley?" Carmine asked the Viper leader.
"At the bottom of the ocean." Harlequin said as she crossed her arms. "Why is it there?" Jaune asked confused, Harlequin laughed a little "Because we blew it out of the sky, it was a Reaper troop transport and now it's on the bottom of the ocean. We made sure to drop depth charges to assure a one hundred percent mortality rate." Carmine said as he and Titus bumped fists.
"Trying to hide the truth from the world will eventually kill us all." Ironwood said as he steered the conversation back on track. "I see we're learning, that's good. Next we'll work on your times tables." Carmine said in a condescending tone. Titus placed his hand on Carmine's shoulder "Alright, let's bring it in a bit, I got shit to do." Titus said to the rifleman, Carmine nodded as he turned down his sarcasm meter.
"Oz spent his whole life, many lives, keeping this secret." Qrow said as Ironwood pressed a button on his remote that deactivated the shutters and turned off the hologram projector. Ironwood moved back to his desk before he spoke "I know. But since Beacon, things have changed." Ironwood said as he placed his hand behind his back.
"Without him here to guide us, all I can do is use my best judgment." Ironwood said as he turned around and looked out the window. Oscar started to shift uneasily at the sudden mental pressure, Ironwood turned around and looked at the boy "Actually, Oz isn't completely gone." Oscar said meekly, Qrow sighed and gestured to Oscar "Uh, Oscar here is… is the next Ozpin." Qrow said, Ironwood perked up slightly "Oz? I'm so glad you're here. I didn't think you—" Ironwood started to say as he approached Oscar, but Oscar cut him off.
"Not quite. He's kind of, um, gone... at the moment." Oscar said nervously, Ironwood's defeated look quickly returned "That's not normal. How did he—" Ironwood started to ask, but Ruby cut him off "We don't know. We were in a train crash, and ever since, well… suddenly, Oz wasn't there anymore." Ruby explained. Ironwood sighed lightly "That's the worst news yet. Did you learn anything from him about the Relics before…?" Ironwood said as he stood up and made his way back to his desk.
"He told us the lamp can answer three questions. But all the questions were used up already." Ruby continued, Blake lifted her head from Carmine's chest and looked at Yang. Ironwood stared out the window at Atlas below, "Right, right. Ozpin told us that too, once upon a time. (At least we have you, Oscar. You're safe here in Atlas. Maybe together we can figure out how to bring Ozpin back." Ironwood said as he turned around and faced the collective group.
"Thank you, sir." Oscar said before he corrected his posture "I mean, uh, general. Uh, Ironwood?" He said awkwardly. Ironwood chuckled as he picked up the Relic and handed it back to Ruby which confused the silver-eyed girl "You're giving it back to me?" She asked confused, Ironwood nodded as he placed his hands behind his back "After what happened with the Ace-Ops, I don't want you to think I'm keeping anything from you, especially something as important as this. For the time being, I think it's safest with the people who brought it here." Ironwood said, Carmine clenched his fists as anger swelled in his soul.
He patted Blake and Weiss on their arms to free himself from their loving embrace, he stepped forward and stared at Ironwood who looked back at the man in black. "Is there something else you want me to take responsibility for?" Ironwood asked with a smirk, Titus and Duke stepped up next to Carmine who was breathing like a raging bull. "Was that a fucking joke? You're in no position to make jokes, James." Titus said before he nudged Carmine.
"If you're not keeping anything from us, then answer my question here with one-hundred percent honesty. Where are my parents? Phantom combed all records of births from twenty plus years ago, he found Onyx's birth record and mine, but the parents' information was blacked out. So, I'll ask again, where are my parents?" Carmine asked, the sudden question caused Ironwood's eyes to go wide.
Ironwood started to stutter and stammer as he tried to form his words "Uh… I… You see, they… We… I…" Ironwood started to say, but Winter stepped in "That information is classified." She said as she stood with her head tilted upward. Carmine looked back at each leader of the mercenary groups and each of them nodded at him "Man, it's unfortunate that Onyx died… Oh right, that's your fault. I mean, when it came to extracting information, he was the easier one to deal with, now you just got the Titan and well… I usually get my information one way or another. Phantom, you're up!" Carmine said before he let Phantom loose.
Black smoke enveloped Phantom's body before it dissipated along with any trace of the man, suddenly alarms on Ironwood's computer went off "What the hell? A security breach?" Winter asked as she started to type away on the holo-keyboard, but the screen flashed red with a black laughing skull. Carmine smirked as all the scrolls turned red with the same skull "Sable! What is this?!" Ironwood asked as he grabbed Carmine's vest.
Ironwood heard the sound of multiple hammers being cocked behind him, he turned his head to the left to see Titus, Duke, Harlequin, and Aero pointing their sidearms at the General "I told you Ironwood, I get my information one way or another." Carmine said before a 60 second timer popped up on the screen and started counting down.
"Sixty seconds Ironwood, tick tock." Carmine said with a smug grin. Ironwood gritted his teeth before he let Carmine go "Fine! I'll tell you, just… stop this." Ironwood said as he regained his composure, Carmine pulled out his and tapped a single button which caused the black skull to change into a 'Game Over' sign that ended like a retro arcade game.
"Man, y'all really fall for a proximity breach. That's hilarious, your tower may be secure, but your personal units are weak. Winter, that's called a Remote Access Trojan, that's the bad part about running your systems off one central processer, it just takes one R.A.T. to cripple the network. Phantom just delivered a flash image to your devices and y'all took the bait, I never had control over the system." Carmine explained.
Ironwood sighed "Your father's wishes were for you and Onyx to live out your lives and not worry about being hunted down to be used against him, so we faked their deaths." Ironwood explained. "So, the car crash and explosion… Onyx carrying me away from the fire?" Carmine asked, Ironwood sighed "We had to make it look authentic so… we staged an attack. Nobody was supposed to get hurt but, one of the rounds hit the dust tank and sent up like a powder keg. Your parents bailed out and the car crashed into a guard rail, your parents watched in horror as they thought you both were dead, but Onyx pulled you from your car seat and took off into the night." Ironwood explained.
"We didn't expe…" Ironwood started to say but was cut off when Carmine landed a right-cross to the left side of Ironwood's face and followed it up a left hook. "You son of bitch! How could you!? We were fucking children! What's next, did my mom kill herself from grief? God, you are despicable." Carmine said before he stormed out of the office.
"Carmine, wait!" Blake and Weiss called out as they chased after him. Duke and Titus glared at Ironwood in anger and disgust "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Titus asked before the mercenaries left the office, leaving Ruby, Yang, Jaune, Ren, Nora, Regalia, Celadon, Laurel, and the others in a stunned silence. "Ironwood… how could you do that to them?" Qrow asked, Ironwood lowered his head "I did what I had to!" Ironwood exclaimed defensively.
"You deprived him and his brother of a loving family to further your own goal. My god, no wonder he's so protective of his friends; they're the only family he has left, after you got his other brothers killed." Qrow responded with venom on his tongue.
"Carmine! Wait!" Blake called out as they caught up with him, Carmine stopped but didn't turn around "I'm sorry girls, I… I don't want you to see me like this." Carmine said before he took a few steps forward before he felt something slam into his back. "We're not leaving you, especially now." Weiss said as she wrapped her arms around his torso and held onto him tightly.
Carmine dropped to his knees before he broke down into a crying mess, tears streamed down his face as Blake and Weiss held onto him tightly. "Just let it out, bottling it up isn't healthy." Blake said in a soft voice that soothed the rifleman's emotions.
"What he did is reprehensible and disgusting, we'll hold off security if you wanna go beat his ass." Harlequin said as the mercenaries strolled up behind them. Carmine wiped his tears onto the sleeve of his hoodie and tried to stand up, but Blake and Weiss kept him down "They're right, you can't just brush this off, it isn't emotionally healthy. Right now, we got Duke and Nightwalker in there chewing him up one wall and down another." Harlequin said as she walked around and knelt in front of the rifleman.
Carmine sniffled lightly as he looked up at the red-haired woman "Thanks Harley, thanks girls. It means a lot to me." Carmine said as he felt Weiss squeeze him tighter. "Carmine, you can't go through life as an emotionless killing machine… that's not what you are, at least, not anymore." Weiss said as she slowly let go of him.
Blake and Weiss let go of Carmine before he slowly stood up off the ground, he exhaled slowly as he pulled the girls into his embrace "I love you girls so much." Carmine said as he held them closely, the girls smiled happily as they melted in his embrace. As he let go of them, his scroll went off with a message; he opened the scroll and got a message that read 'Get back in here, he's got something to say.'
Carmine growled in anger as he closed his scroll "Let's go see what else was a lie." Carmine said sarcastically as they made their way back to Ironwood's office. Carmine walked in to see Ironwood was sat at his desk with a pathetic look on his face, Carmine approached his desk and looked down at the man "Well, I'm here." Carmine said with hostility in his voice.
Ironwood slid a piece of paper across the desk toward the rifleman, Carmine opened the paper and found an address along with the name 'Clair Grey' "What the fuck is this?" Carmine asked, Ironwood sighed "I should have told you the truth, Clair Grey is the name of your mother, but she's in hiding for confidential reasons and that's not a lie. Her real name is Cherry Sable and that's where you can find her." Ironwood said, Carmine exhaled slowly as he stared at the paper.
Carmine was speechless for what felt like an eternity, Ironwood spoke up first "Anyway, we must work together if we're to fight Salem and win. Now, if you're all on board…" Ironwood asked unsurely, Carmine folded the paper and placed it in his pocket "Despite all the bullshit you did, you can't face the music if there is no music to face so… how can we help?" Carmine asked bitterly.
"Good, because getting the Amity Tower ready to launch won't be easy. But first, I think we need to get those weapons of yours up to our standards." Ironwood said as he projected an image of Blake and her broken sword. "Remember, this is Atlas. While assisting the military, we will provide you with the best equipment our scientists can devise." Winter said, Carmine shook his head.
"Oh, I got that covered… I gave discreet orders to Phantom and he should be arriving here soon." Carmine said as black smoke started to form on the ground, a column of smoke rose to the roof and dissipated which revealed two people.
"Holy fuck sticks, where am I?" The man asked confused, Carmine cleared his throat and got his attention. The man turned around and almost lost his balance "Titan, is that you?" The man asked, Carmine chuckled "Mindaro, how the hell are ya?" Carmine asked the weapons specialist, Mindaro chuckled "Oh you know, fighting tooth and nail to survive in Vale. Grimm fill the streets but the mercs arrived early this morning and helped put them down, we hear a lot of gunfire from Beacon and so it sounds like whatever you did is still hard at work." Mindaro explained, Carmine chuckled "Well, sounds like a shit show. So, you mind working with Atlas for just a bit, we need our weapons upgraded and you're the best specialist I know." Carmine explained.
Mindaro chuckled "Ah shucks, you're making me blush." Mindaro said before his face changed from playful to serious as he looked at Ironwood. "I will never forgive you for turning your back on the people of Vale and Vacuo, but I will work with y'all because I love him like family." Mindaro said as he gestured to Carmine. Winter stepped forward and extended her hand "We look forward to working with you." Winter said politely, Mindaro nodded "Likewise-ish." Mindaro said with a chuckle.
"Now Winter, if you'll excuse us while I make sweet love with your sister." Carmine said with a smirk as he walked out the office with Blake and Weiss. The others follow behind him and exit the office, as they entered the main hall, they encountered their capturers. The leader of the group approached the collective group "I'd like to sincerely apologize for the miscommunication down in Mantle. We didn't intend to—" The man started to say before the large woman pushed him aside and lifted Ruby off the ground.
"I feel so bad, honestly! If we had known who you were, we'd be laughing over a hot meal right now and—" She started to say before Ruby tapped out, she let her go and watched as the girl tried to regain her balance "I understand. You were just following orders." Ruby said as she stumbled in place. "I mean, you could have asked us some questions first." Carmine said as he looked the man up and down.
"Also, I believe that belongs to me." Carmine said as he gestured to the knife on the man's belt, he laughed lightly as he pulled it out and handed it back to the rifleman "I'll tell you this, you were about three inches from hitting me with that. I guess the stories are true, about the Titan of Remnant." The man said as he extended his hand "The name's Clover Ebi." The man said, Carmine grabbed his hand tightly and shook it firmly "Carmine Sable." Carmine said as he introduced himself.
"Questions are for the weak. But we're all on the same team now. Not that I'm happy about it." A man with a wolf's tail said, his tail wagged and proved otherwise. "We just wanted to say we're sorry. And that we're looking forward to working with you on our next mission. You might be students, but you've been fighting just as hard as we have, if not harder." Clover said as he looked at the students before him.
"Exactly why I'm looking forward to seeing what you kids can do." A girl with short hair styled to look like rabbit ears said, the taller man behind her sighed "Not everything's a competition, Hare." The man said, suddenly Penny rushed in between the two groups. "C'mon! Let me show you around campus." Penny said before she marched off with a pep in her step. Carmine shrugged as he followed the tour guide, he looked back over his shoulder at Clover who simply waved at him.
'There's something about him, that throw was perfect.' Carmine said before he shook his head. The tour kept going for what felt like hours upon hours "So that way's the cafeteria, and that way is the training rooms. Oh, and over there are the classrooms!" Penny said as she toured her nonexistent heart out.
"Penny, I'm gonna need you to do me a favor and tell us. WHERE. ARE. WE. SLEEPING." Carmine said as he enunciated the last four words. Penny turned around cheerfully "Remember, you're in Atlas now. As the most well-funded school on Remnant, every teen at Atlas Academy gets their own room! And if that wasn't enough—" Penny started to say, but Ren cut her off "So we're staying in the dorms?" He asked.
Penny danced and hopped excitedly "It'll be just like Beacon again!" Penny exclaimed, Carmine sighed "I'm going back to the ship." Carmine said as he started to turn around, but Weiss grabbed him by the vest "Oh no you're not." Weiss said as she dragged him back to the group.
Penny led the group down a corridor to a hall lined with doors, Penny directed them to their rooms before she left to down the hall with a pep in a her step, Carmine stared at the rooming arrangements and couldn't help shake his head "Hey Blake, our rooms are right next to each other's right?" Carmine asked, Blake nodded before Carmine walked into his dorm room.
Moments later, the floor shook as a large explosion vibrated the walls and filled the air with drywall dust, Team RWBY walked into their room and found a large hole in the wall "There, now it's one big room." Carmine said as he flicked a piece of drywall. "Welp, let's get some sleep. I'm fucking exhausted." Carmine said as he pulled his IBA off and laid it over a chair. He walked over to a bed and collapsed on it, the moment he contacted the fabric, he was unconscious.
*The Next Day*
Carmine was the first up at around 4:35 am, he slowly pulled himself out of bed and stretched his joints before he put his IBA back on, he reached for his Five-Seven, but remembered it got taken from him. Carmine quietly left the dorm room and walked down the hall, the only weapons he had on him were his Ka-Bar, the blade in his boot, and his fists. Carmine walked out into the cold Atlas air and looked around as the sun rose slowly, he took a deep breath in before he leaped into the grass next to him as a blade struck the concrete.
Carmine quickly recovered and withdrew his knife, Carmine lowered his body and placed one hand on the ground as he stared at the masked person before him "Diablo sends his regards." The man said as he readied his sword, Carmine pushed himself off the ground and juked right as the swordsman sliced downward, Carmine hooked his left arm around the masked man's neck and attempted to drag him down to the ground.
The swordsman drove his elbow into Carmine's gut and slammed the back of his head into Carmine's face, the rifleman let go of the man as he held his own face. Carmine stomped his boot on the ground and caused the knife to protrude from the tip of his right boot. "Oh ho, I see somethings never change." The man said as he spun the blade around. Carmine took off toward the man and grabbed his arm as he tried to stab him.
The swordsman held Carmine's arms back as they struggled for control, Carmine let go of the knife and pulled his hand back before he grabbed the knife in midair and thrusted the knife upward into the man's sternum. He pulled the blade from the man's body, the serrated edge ripped into the flesh as it left his body only to be thrusted back in. The swordsman kicked Carmine in the chest as he put some space between the two fighters, the masked man stumbled backwards with the blade still in his chest until he bumped into a large man that picked him up and slammed him down over his knee, the audible crack of the man's spine breaking echoed through the early morning air, the man's body twitched as he gargled in pain while the life slowly left his eyes.
Carmine panted as he adjusted his gear and walked over to the man's body, he pulled the blade from the corpse and wiped the blood on the assassin's shirt. "Thanks, Grizz. What you doing out here?" Carmine asked, Grizz chuckled "Oh you know, enjoying the morning and helping Aero snuff out Reapers." Grizz said as one of Diablo's assassins fell from a roof and was impaled on a pointy statue, blood flowed from the corpse and coated the stone blade of the statue as the body twitched slightly.
"We need to take these assholes out." Aero said as he walked up with one squirming in his arms, the archer snapped the man's neck swiftly and silenced his twitching permanently. "In that case, I need my weapons. We're going on the offensive." Carmine said as he cracked his knuckles. "Do you think Diablo has been the one pulling the strings behind the entire Grimm Reaper crisis?... Or do you think that maybe someone else is pulling the strings? Someone with more influence than Diablo or any of the Reapers?" Titus asked, Aero perked up "Actually, I think I might have a lead, remember the assault on Paimon's Island and you found the scroll of one of those scumbags that gave us a lead on Cerberus? Well, there was a lot of information on that scroll including a conversation with whomever has been funding the Grimm Reapers." Aero explained.
"Yeah, Carrion Industries, what about them?" Carmine asked as he stood up and gazed out over Mantle. "Well, I did some digging and found that the person in the conversations is here... in Atlas, and they're the main source of funds that weren't obtained illegally. Maybe we make a little house call and shake the tree to see what falls out." Aero said as he pointed at a tall building with reflective glass windows that reflected the rays of sunlight that shone over Atlas.
Carmine held his hand up and blocked out some of the light as his eyes focused on the tall building that read 'Amanita Enterprises', "I guess they changed their name when we started to apply pressure toward them to get them to give up the Reapers... but we all remember how that ended." Carmine said as he crossed his arms. "I wanna know how they managed to override the O2 system to get it to go critical." Titus questioned as the other members of the 184th joined them. "Kann ich sie bitte alle töten?" Archimedes asked in old Mistralian, his native tongue. "No! As much as I would love to let you off your leash, we can't do anything until we have a definitive target." Titus barked, Archimedes chuckled "I figured you would say that. Deine Zeit wird kommen, Diablo, da bin ich mir sicher." Archimedes said before he spat onto the ground.
"Hab keine Angst, Bruder, wir werden sie zerstören." Carmine said in old Mistralian, everyone looked at the rifleman surprised "And when the fuck did you learn a second fucking language?!" Titus asked in a confused tone, Carmine chuckled "I learned enough to get by should the need arise, but I don't speak it fluent." Carmine explained as he yawned and stretched his arms. "Anyway, I gotta get back to my team and go do something for Ironwood. Anyway, I'll talk to you guys later, don't do anything I wouldn't." Carmine said as he turned around and started to walk back to the dorms but stopped "Oh, Bubba, can I borrow your .45? They took my guns and I feel naked with them." Carmine inquired as he turned to face the medic, Bubba laughed a he pulled out a Kimber 1911 Rapide and racked the slide.
"Kimber 1911 Rapide custom with a 10 round mag of .45 ACP Hollow Points and a DB Tac 1911 Muzzle Brake. Please don't lose my baby." Bubba said as he handed the pistol to the rifleman along with a spare magazine, Carmine placed the pistol into his holster and snapped it closed. "Believe me, I won't let it leave my side." Carmine said as he shook the medic's hand, the rifleman turned and left for the dorms as the 184th cleaned up the area and disposed of the bodies.
A/N: The Reapers face extinction at the hand of the mercenaries and Carmine has his hands full fighting a war on two fronts. I hope you liked this chapter and look forward to the next chapter, remember to Favorite, Follow, and Leave a Review, and as always, this is Nightmare 6-4, signing off.
Edit (5/10/2020): Fixed some things and added some information that I realized I left out when I checked my notebook, oops.
