This is long overdue, but a special thanks to Pinkpower 3612 for helping me out during the earlier chapters.

Additional thanks to Vostok2142 and Psihopatul for their reviews and suggestions.

Disclaimer: Same as previous chapters

Chapter 12: Atlas vs Spetsnaz, Part II

Checkpoint Alpha

"Looks like that did the trick, the whole town is active and I see multiple vehicles loading up to head over here." Greg radioed to the gang. Alex and the others just finished up taking out any survivors and were already heading back to Greg's position. The Atlesians took the bait, meaning that the town would have a less significant enemy presence to deal with. So far, so good.

"Nice job guys, but no time to celebrate. Come on, we need to haul ass over to Combat Town before this area is crawling with Atlesians." And with that, the four Russians took off running to reach Combat Town. Fortunately, it wasn't that far of a run.

The amphitheater

Jaws were dropped at the sight of the carnage that just took place. In a matter of minutes, four guys took down over 40 Atlesian soldiers, who now lay sprawled out all over the ground, even with a few bodies slumped over the sides of the trucks. Though they weren't dead, it was still an eerie sight for the students to behold.

"Wow." Ruby managed to say. Just the sound of Ivan's machine gun tearing holes in the side of the trucks and cutting down those men was enough to make her jump in surprise when he started firing. She wasn't expecting it to be that loud, even though the speakers.

"That was brutal." Sun said, eyes glued to the screen. This ambush style fighting wasn't unheard of, but it was normally associated with bandits who prowled the roads for unsuspecting travelers with the intention of taking their valuables, or the occasional White Fang attack on a Dust convoy. Both of those situations, the victims usually survive the attack as they weren't the main target. It was only recently that attacks like these with the sole intention of killing everyone, started occurring more frequently. Watching a simulated one on screen showed them just how devastating a surprise attack on unsuspecting people can be.

"No survivors." Pyrrha said in a neutral tone. The memory of watching the Russians move through the sea of "dead" soldiers to quickly and mercilessly take care of any Atlesians that were still "alive", was something that everyone in the audience won't soon forget. Again, it may be simulated, but it's the idea that they're treating this like a real mission is what concerns everyone.

"The worse thing is that they're just getting started." Blake commented. No one disagreed with that.

"Oh man, this is getting good." Unlike the others, Yang couldn't contain her excitement. Despite the questionable tactics and moral dilemmas, it was still pretty cool to watch. Kind of like watching a movie or a video game.

"I wish they'd speak more clearly, it's hard to tell what they're saying. Although I'm pretty sure one of them said something about my sister." Weiss commented with an annoyed tone.

"It's their accents that makes them hard to understand. What kind is it anyway?" Neptune asked.

"Nobody knows. It doesn't help that they won't tell anyone where they're from either." Coco answered.

"Really?" Sun asked.

"Yeah, we've tried to ask but they only answer with that its classified information." Velvet replied.

"Well, do you guys have any ideas?" Neptune asked.

"It's not a Mistralian accent." Pyrrha said.

"Or an Atlesian one." Weiss added.

"What about Vacuo?" Ruby asked.

"None that I'm aware of." Sun answered. He did grow up in Vacuo after all.

"Shush! I'm trying to watch!" Nora exclaimed, bringing focus back to the screens.

With the Russians

After the short sprint to Combat Town, the Russians easily entered the town limits and were getting set up for the attack. Just like they predicted, the majority of the Atlesians were out of the town, leaving behind a small force to guard the police station and their command center.

"Ivan, Greg, get in position but do not engage or trigger the explosives until I give the word. Nick, you're with me in finding the VIP." Another ingenious feature about Combat Town was that there was a maze of underground tunnels that ran all throughout the town and interconnected all the buildings together with a few that allowed street access. In other words, you can navigate the whole town via the underground network. They got the idea to include this feature from personal experience, and stories they heard from the Americans when they were in Afghanistan. The best part was that they never told the Atlesians that there were tunnels that ran through the whole town. It might be considered cheating, but you know the old saying: if you're not cheating, you're not trying.

Opening the hatch, Greg emerged from the manmade hole in the floor, and began to make his way to the top of the clock tower. With the exception of a sniper already in the tower, who was taken out with a quick whack upside the head, the tower was clear for Greg to set up shop. Crouching down and making sure to stay out of sight, he did a quick scan of the area to see if anything changed. There were two machine gun positions surrounded by sandbags on the police stations roof, with support from four snipers who kept a lookout for anything unusual. Additionally, several troops remained in and around the apartment complex, but with fewer numbers than earlier. From what Greg could see, there were about a dozen men patrolling the perimeter and immediate area, with about another two or so dozen inside the apartment building. Overall, the police station was still secured, but lacked any significant relief forces from the nearby area. It appears that the Atlesians believed the best defense was a strong offence with hopes of overwhelming the Russians. Greg chuckled inwardly at how easily the Atlesians took the bait and continued to scan the area. He panned over to a restaurant building across from the apartment building and saw the form of Ivan setting up his machine gun on the second floor of the building. The window where he situated himself had its curtains drew, keeping Ivan hidden until it was time to strike.

Meanwhile, Alex and Nick were carefully navigating their way through the tunnels in hopes of finding the access routes between both the police station and the apartment complex. Using natural light from air holes and wall markers to keep track of where they're at, they found four access doors between the two buildings that opened up from inconspicuous locations along the streets, which was perfect for them to pop in and plant an explosive here and there. In the streets, there were explosive charges planted in trash cans, under debris and any other strategic location alongside the main roads where the Atlesians were patrolling. Lucky for them, the timing of the foot patrols and the slight inattentiveness of the snipers worked out in their favor. The same thing can be said about the apartment complex. Inattentive guards, troops spread out too thinly and even a few guys sleeping off to the sides was what Alex and Nick witnessed while planting charges inside the ground floor. Seriously, they could've walked in through the front door. It was hard to believe that this was the mighty Atlesian army in action.

"Maybe we should help Ironwood train up his soldiers. You would think with a confirmed attack nearby, it would put everyone on high alert." Nick commented as he climbed back into the hole.

"I think they've just gotten complacent due to not having another nations military to compete with. After today, hopefully they'll wake up. As for the second part, they're probably that arrogant in their abilities." Alex replied. He was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but still needed to prove a point. With a few charges left over, they quickly made their way over to the police station access point. As quietly as he could, Alex pushed open the hatch just enough for him to scan the room, only to find it empty.

"Which way to the jail cells?" Nick asked while climbing out and closing the hatch.

"Down this hallway." Alex replied, rifle up at the ready.

The jail cells

As one would imagine, the jail cells in Combat Town's police station were your standard run of the mill cells. Out of the four in the room, only one had an occupant, the VIP the Russians were rescuing. To play the part, the VIP was gagged and blindfolded while tied to a chair, under the watch of two Atlesians soldiers. Currently the two soldiers were just standing around, talking to each other.

"Hey." The one with a maroon trim on his armor said.

"Yeah?" Replied the one with an orange trim.

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

"What, you mean like spiritually or why we're here in Vale?"

"The second one. Like, why are we here doing a training exercise in the middle of a fake town in the forests of Vale, guarding a hostage while hundreds of soldiers try to hunt down four guys?"

"Beats me, but I hear those four guys are something different."

"Different how?"

"They're some kind of special purpose unit."

"Like Specialist Schnee?"

"Not really. I heard they're specifically trained to tackle threats like the White Fang or ANTIFA."

"Don't Huntsmen already do that?"

"From what I heard, not to the extent of these guys. Huntsmen primarily fight Grimm, and when they do clash with those groups, they usually knock them out and let the authorities deal with them. But these guys…they take no prisoners.

"You mean they cut out the middle man?"

"Yeah. If you're on the shit list, its game over man."

"Damn, that's hardcore. But why are we fighting them?"

"I think General Ironwood wants to test their effectiveness against us. Maybe he's trying to create a unit like that for us."

"You're on right track with that answer." A new voice said behind them. The two soldiers turned around to the sight of Alex and Nick with their rifles aimed right at their faces. Instead of firing inside of a building where the shots will echo and draw attention, they opted for hitting them upside their heads with the butts of their rifles, forcing them to the ground and finishing them off with a boot to the face, knocking them out cold.

"Keep a look out while I get our VIP out of there." Alex said to Nick while he grabbed the jail keys from the knocked-out soldier. While Nick watched the doorway, Alex unlocked the cell door to a familiar person tied to a chair with a burlap sack over their head. He reached to remove the sack, revealing an annoyed looking Glynda with tape over her mouth. Drawing his knife, he proceeded to cut her bindings, freeing up her hands and legs to allow to stand up and remove the tape from her mouth.

"I can't believe I agreed to this." She groaned while massaging her wrists.

"I see you drew the short straw. Or maybe they wanted a hostage that people are willing to rescue. I can't see a lot of effort going into saving Port." Alex joked to her, gaining a small grin from her.

"He's not that bad." She replied.

"You're right, who needs a weapon when you can just talk the Grimm to death." This time, he earned a small chuckle from her. Good thing the audio back at the amphitheater wasn't that great for the teachers that were also watching.

"So, I guess I'm supposed to follow you out and stay down right?" She paused for a moment. "I'm not being condescending, I've never been a hostage so I don't how this works." Glynda asked. She was instructed not to interfere too much during the exercise, seeing as how the focus was on Alex's squad. Besides, she didn't have her weapon on hand, so it's not like she could help them.

"Something like that. Just stick close to us and we'll get through this." He replied. Knowing this was Alex's area of expertise, she simply nodded to him. "Is the coast clear?" He asked Nick.

"All clear, though we better get moving." Nick replied while peering around the corner.

"Ivan, Greg; VIP is secure. We're going to make our way to the vehicle depot, standby to engage." Alex radioed to them.

"Copy. Detonator is primed and ready." Ivan replied.

"Careful at the vehicle depot, there's an occupied IFV hanging out in that area.. It appears to be armed with a 30mm cannon and a mounted machine gun. Might cause problems for us." Greg replied.

"Don't worry Greg, Nick can take care of it. Focus on clearing out those snipers, then make your way to Ivan's position once the rooftops are cleared" Alex reassured.

"Copy. Just say the word." Greg replied.

"Nick, take Glynda and make your way to the vehicle depot. There's an IFV hanging out there that's armed with a machine gun and a 30mm cannon that needs to be taken out. Once that's taken care of, grab a vehicle and swing back around to get us out of here."

""What the fuck do they need a 30mm cannon out here for? Nevermind, I'll take care of it. What about you?" Nick asked while loading another rocket into the fake RPG, knowing what needs to be done.

"I'm going to take the rest of these charges and plant them further in the station. No need to let them go to waste." Alex replied.

"Alright, be careful man." Nick said, giving Alex a friendly slap to his shoulder.

"Don't worry. Just let me know when you're in position, and wait for my go." Alex replied, returning the gesture while Glynda watched with much admiration in regard to their mutual trust and respect they have for each other.

"Miss Goodwitch, if you would kindly follow me, we'll be taking a short detour into the tunnels." Nick said to her in a very gentlemen-like tone.

"If I knew I was going to end up running around underground tunnels, I would've worn something that I don't mind getting dirty." She deadpanned. As Nick and Glynda made their way to the tunnel access, Alex went the other way in search of a good place to plant the rest of the explosives, which would give Nick time to make his way to the depot.

With the lack of guards in the building, Alex was about to head outside and plant the explosives outside by the communication tower, until he walked by the staircase that leads to the basement. The familiar sounds of radio chatter and paperwork being shuffled around, on top of orders being relayed back into the radios was all Alex needed to confirm that he found their command element. Now that he thought about it, the position of the communication made more sense when you know that they're using the basement as their command center. No doubt the Atlesians are using that basement window to route the cables from the tower, to their radio equipment inside, which now gave him a brilliant idea. But first he needed to take out the soldier that left the room and is now walking upstairs. Alex quickly hugged the wall and waited for the poor sap to reach the top of the stairs.

The soldier was only trying to use the restroom and maybe take a quick smoke break, as Specialist Schnee wouldn't let them smoke inside the buildings, but instead he got knocked the fuck out by the buttstock of Alex's rifle. Alex gently lowered the body to the ground before picking up the Atlesian rifle and quietly making his way to the door. When he got there, he was surprised at the apparent design flaw of the door.

"The door opens inward, so why is there a pull handle on the push side of the door? Who's the dumbass who installed that? Oh well, makes things easier for me." He was ready to do some crazy jury-rigging with the Atlesian rifle to jam the door shut but with the poor design flaw, all he had to do was slip the rifle through the handle to bar the door shut and trap the Atlesian command element inside. He then grabbed the remaining charges to place them by the top of the stairs. The explosive charges they were using were small and box shaped with an adhesive surface if you wanted to stick them to a wall, and three different settings for detonation. The default setting was with a remote detonator, which is what the charges placed all over town were set to. The other options were time-delay, where it can be set to automatically detonate after a max of 5 minutes, or to proximity detonation, essentially turning them into a claymore mine. It's a cheap, compact and versatile explosive charge designed by the Atlesians, which the Russians found to be very impressive. Too bad they're going to be used against their creators. With the last four charges set to proximity, the Atlesians will be in for a nasty surprise if they un-jam the door. Nodding in satisfaction, Alex carefully stepped away from the doorway and made his way outside where he can set up for his part of the attack.

"Me and Goodwitch are in position to hit that IFV from the rear. It kind of looks like a cross between a BTR and an American LAV." Nick radioed to Alex.

"Perfect timing. Ivan, Greg, you still there?" Alex asked.

"Still here." Greg replied.

"Standing by." Ivan replied.

"Alright…let's do this shit."

Greg's position

"Alright…let's do this shit."

The loud crack of a sniper round going off echoed through the town before it hit its mark. The second guy in the machine gun nest jumped in surprise at the sight of his buddy going down, but soon ended up just like him when he felt the impact of a follow up shot against his head. In rapid succession, the snipers and other soldiers on the rooftops were going down, one after the other. Some of them managed to get a few shots out, but they had no clue where the shots were coming from, so they were easy pickings. At the same time, the sound of machine gun fire and charges going off quickly overtook the sounds of Greg's rifle. From his position, you can see various red, blue, yellow and other brightly colored clouds spread all over the area. The cool thing was that they sounded like real explosives when they went off. The Atlesian soldiers may not be up to par, but at least their equipment is decent.

Ivan's position

"Alright…let's do this shit."

Ivan didn't hesitate when he quickly drew the curtains and started lighting up the apartment complex. Unaware of what was happening, the Atlesians inside the building tried to rush out the front door only to walk right into a wall of machine gun fire. The few that were either smart enough to use another exit or lucky enough to survive the initial hail of bullets, quickly found cover and were shooting back at Ivan. Using one hand to keep control of the weapon, he used his other to reach for the detonator to trigger the charges. There was a slight pause that followed when he squeezed the trigger right before a symphony of explosives went off. You can hear the yells of surprise from the soldiers all over the area, whether they got blown away by the blast or just narrowly got out of the way. Any of the lucky ones were either taken down by Ivan, or picked off by Greg.

"Heads up Ivan, I'm heading towards your position." Greg said. The rooftops were cleared and most of the stragglers were being mopped up by Ivan, so now seemed like a good time to link up with him.

"Copy that. I think Alex and Nick should be circling around soon." Ivan replied.

Nick and Glynda

"Alright…let's do this shit."

The parking lot behind the apartment complex was sparsely occupied, save for a passenger truck, a couple of jeeps, the IFV and a few soldiers who were either sitting on top of it or standing nearby, talking to each other. From where Nick and Glynda were at, it was the perfect position as Nick had a clear shot at the rear of the IFV. No one really specified how taking down vehicles worked in this exercise, so he's just going on the assumption that a direct hit on the rear of the IFV would take it down. The reusable RPG he was using bore a strong resemblance to an RPG-7, with the exception that it was for training purposes only and fired fake rockets filled with that sticky, brightly colored, paint-like powder. When the sounds of sniper and machine gun fire started, alongside the explosives going off, Nick took a knee and fired a rocket straight into the rear of the vehicle, covering its gray and white exterior with a nice neon pink coating. The men on top of the IFV were blown off from the impact, while the guys standing by it were hit with the "fragmentation" and knocked to the ground.

"Here, hold this for a second." Nick said to Glynda, tossing his RPG to her before she could even respond. She caught it with ease and watched as Nick took off towards the IFV with his rifle, ready to clear out the depot. The two guys that got knocked off the IFV were taken out before they could even get up. Another three came running out of the building with the intent to circle around and flank Ivan's position, but didn't expect for the depot to get hit and were quickly disposed of. The sound of a hatch opening up brought Nicks attention back to the IFV, as a soldier started to climb out of it. He didn't get too far and was immediately shot "dead", leaving his body slumped over halfway out of the hatch. Hearing other people inside the vehicle, Nick grabbed the "dead" soldier and threw him unceremoniously to the ground before prepping a grenade and tossing it into the open hatch. The yells of the other soldiers inside were silenced when the grenade went off. After one last sweep, the area was cleared of Atlesians and Nick signaled for Glynda to come over, who quickly ran to him with his RPG in hand.

"Thanks for warning me that you were going to throw this at me." She said with a sarcastic tone while handing the RPG back to him.

"Sorry about that, but I needed to rush them before they got up." Nick replied.

"So, what now?" She asked.

"Now, we 'tactically acquire' one these jeeps for us to use." The jeep Nick was eyeing looked like a generic GAZ vehicle with an open top but still had raised sides for protection. He opened up the driver side door, only to be met with a minor inconvenience. "Is that a fucking key ignition? What kind of military vehicle needs a key to start?" As far as he's aware, no military force on Earth had vehicles that needed keys to start.

"Maybe one of those guys has a key on them?" Glynda suggested.

"Forget it, I know what to do." Glynda watched as he knocked away the cover on the steering column and began messing with the wiring underneath. Before she knew it, he connected some wires together and the jeep started up.

"And where did you learn to do that?" She asked with a critical tone.

"I worked for my uncle who was an auto mechanic that also knew how to fix all sorts of appliances and things around the house. He taught me a lot of stuff." He replied as he hopped in the driver's seat. She was not expecting that answer.

"Impressive. I would never have guessed you would possess certain skills in intellect and with that, I apologize for assuming you weren't very bright." Glynda said with sincerity. Out of the four Russians, Nick took the longest for her to warm up to, but now she holds him to the same regard as Alex and the other's.

"Oh, trust me, I'm terrible at things like math or science, but it doesn't matter because I'm better at working with my hands. I leave that 'book smart' stuff to Greg or Alex." Nick explained while motioning for her to get in the passenger's seat, which she obliged.

"Well I'm glad you're aware of your limitations, unlike some people." She said while buckling up in preparation for what's to come. Nick just gave her a reassuring smile in response. At least she thought it was. It's hard for her to tell facial expressions when they wear those balaclavas.

"Alright guys, I got the jeep. Ivan, Greg, get ready because I'm picking you guys up first." He said into his radio.

"Copy, we're in the restaurant right across the street from the apartment complex." Greg radioed back.

"Hang on Miss Goodwitch, this ride's going to get interesting." Nick said with his trademark grin.

"Oh joy." Glynda replied unenthusiastically.

Alex's position

Alex was crouched outside the police station, right by the basement window, getting ready for his part of the attack. As soon as he gave the order, all hell broke loose within the town. Alex aimed his rifle into the basement window and emptied a full magazine into the room to start things off. He wasn't sure if he actually hit anyone because of the awkward angle, but it should be enough for the command element to take cover, if the yelling was any indication. While the Atlesians were getting over the initial shock, Alex readied the two CS gas cannisters he carried and tossed them into the basement. Now the yelling he heard was more prevalent and mixed with coughing and gaging fits, on top of the sound of them banging on the door, desperate to escape. And just to make them more miserable, he tossed a flashbang into the room just for good measure. It might have been over kill, but Ironwood did tell them to not hold back. Go big or go home. However, Alex wasn't completely merciless as he at least left the window open to allow some of the gas to vent out.

"Alright guys, I got the jeep. Ivan, Greg, get ready because I'm picking you guys up first." Nick radioed to everyone.

"Copy, we're in the restaurant right across the street from the apartment complex." Greg replied.

"I'll meet you guys there." Alex replied while he reloaded his rifle.

"We'll keep an eye out for you." Greg said.

"Get ready to move, the rest of their forces are already on their way back." Nick said in reference to the chatter he heard from the jeeps radio. As Alex was about to take off towards Greg and Ivan's position, an Atlesian soldier jumped him from behind and tried to get Alex into a choke hold. Alex was surprised by the initial attack, but he's gotten out of this hold dozens of times and this was no different. Letting go of his rifle to let it hang by the sling, he hit the Atlesian with a couple of rear elbow strikes before grabbing him, and tossing him over his shoulder onto the hard ground. He then grabbed his rifle and finished off the soldier while he was still down.

At the same time, explosions could be heard from inside the police station, indicating that the command element must've gotten the door open. Knowing it was time to leave, he started to move out onto the street, but the sound of a vehicle approaching made him stop and look, only to see a jeep occupied by Atlesians with a mounted machine gun in the back. Without a doubt that it was heading for Greg and Ivan's position, Alex decided he should take it out before they get there. Staying off to the side, he waited for it to get a little closer before aiming for the driver. Alex took out the driver with ease, but instead of stopping, the jeep kept going. The drivers foot was still on the accelerator and the way his body fell onto the steering wheel caused it to head right for Alex. He had to jump out of the way to avoid being run over by the runaway jeep, who's passengers already jumped out over the sides. Luckily, the mobile communication tower was there to stop the jeep. Structurally, the tower was fine except for the jeep shaped dent on the side. The internals are another story, if the electrical sparks, smoke and weird noises coming from the tower's control panel had anything to say. Safe to say that the tower most likely doesn't work anymore.

"That's probably coming out of our paychecks." Alex commented to himself. They weren't trying to destroy Atlas property, it just kind of happened. He hoped Ironwood was an understanding man. After taking out the soldiers that jumped out of the jeep, Alex was finally able to make a dash to Greg and Ivan for pickup. Aside from a few stragglers, most of the Atlesians were lying "dead" on the ground. In all honesty, Alex couldn't believe the luck they've been having since they arrived on Remnant. He thought that maybe the four them had some sort of luck semblance that they shared, but tossed that thought aside when he realized how stupid it sounded.

Speaking of luck, Nick's jeep came around the corner, honking for Greg and Ivan, who immediately jumped in the back, followed by Alex a few seconds later. With everyone accounted for, it was now time to get the fuck out of here.

"Blackjack one, Fireteam AGNI; VIP secured, en route to extraction point for evac." Greg radioed to the bullhead that was supposed to pick them up.

"Copy that AGNI, I'm on my way, ETA 10 minutes." The pilot responded.

"I think Gary likes the callsign we gave him." Greg commented. Gary Blauman was the name of the pilot who flew team CFVY to Oxford on the day it fell and the day the Russians arrived at Beacon. Despite almost never being seen without his pilot helmet on, he's a nice, middle aged guy who was immediately befriended by the Russians. In exchange for doing favors or payment, Gary would happily give them a lift into the city and occasionally, give them a lift back after a night of heavy drinking. It could be three in morning, and Gary will still be there to pick them up, no questions asked. So, it was no surprise that the Russians wanted him to be their evac pilot, even giving him a callsign to make it official, which he gladly accepted.

"Trucks coming up behind us!" Ivan yelled. It appears some their forces circled back to town.

"Alright guys, hang tight, because this is going to get rough and this jeep is weirdest thing I've ever drove. Seriously, why is there a clutch pedal if it's an automatic transmission?" Nick yelled to everyone, who immediately grabbed on to something for the bumpy ride. As they drove past the police station, Alex saw the form of Winter on her knees, having a bad coughing fit. She looked up just long enough for Alex to catch a glimpse of her face. It was only for a split second, but he didn't need any longer to know that she was pissed.

Atlas command center, a few moments earlier

"We've searched the immediate area, but there is no sign of the enemy ma'am." A captain radioed to Winter.

"What about the lieutenant and his men?" She asked.

"They're all 'dead' ma'am." He replied.

"All of them?" She asked in disbelief.

"We checked and there's no survivors. Based on what we see, it looks like they were ambushed." Winter furrowed her brow. This was not at all what she was expecting.

"Then they must be making their way to the town. Captain, have your forces set up a wider perimeter in the surrounding areas of the town to entrap them. I'll consolidate our outer forces to assist. In the meantime, I need you and some of your men back in town to bolster our defenses. They may already be here."

"Right away ma'am!" The captain replied. While the soldiers recalled the outer forces, Winter began anxiously pacing around the room. The current casualty count of her troops was now almost a third of her men.

"How can four men cause this kind of mayhem? What are they? More importantly, what in the world are our men doing?!" These were just a few of the questions that ran through Winter's head. Ironwood entrusted her to take command, and so far, she felt she wasn't doing a very good job. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sounds of sniper and machine gun fire coming from outside. Time seemed to stop for the rooms occupants, and then the explosives went off, followed by yelling coming from outside.

"We're under attack! They're here in the town! They're…gah!" Machine gun fire and explosions drowned out the radio call. Winter grabbed her sword and made her way to the door, but was stopped when one of the soldiers shouted, drawing her attention.

"Look out!" The soldier was pointing towards the window, or more specifically, the form of Alex aiming his rifle at them. Winter and her soldiers took cover behind some of the desks while Alex emptied a magazine on full auto onto them. Two soldiers weren't quick enough and fell to Alex's rifle. As soon as the shooting stopped, they heard the sound of two objects being thrown into the room. Assuming they were fragmentation grenades, the Atlesians stayed down behind the desks until they exploded. Only the explosion was more of a loud "pop", followed by a loud hissing noise. Winter thought it was a smoke grenade at first, but one whiff of the air determined it to be something worse.

"Gas! Everyone out!" She shouted. The three remaining soldiers made a run for the door in hopes to escape the gas, but were unable to get it open. They kept trying to pull it open, but it just wouldn't budge.

"The door's jammed!" One of them shouted back. They desperately tried to pull the door open and were banging on it for anyone on the outside. The gas was quickly filling the room up and the Atlesians were already feeling the effects taking place.

"*Cough*, Move it!" Winter shouted between coughs. She moved a soldier aside and was preparing to force the door open, but stopped when the sound of another object being thrown into the room was heard. Only instead of another gas canister, it was a flashbang this time.

All five of Winter's senses were in utter disarray. She was temporarily blinded by the flash and the ringing in her ears was unbearable. Then there was that tingling sensation of CS gas on her skin, on top of that distinctive odor it produced. Tears were already running down her face, which only reacted with the gas and she was coughing up a storm. The worst part was that the room was so thick with the gas, that you could taste it. Finally, the gas was too overpowering for Winter, and she was unable to prevent herself from emptying her stomach contents onto the floor. She's going to have to brush her teeth for an hour and use extra strength mouthwash if she wants to get that vile taste of vomit, mucus, tears and CS gas out of her mouth.

Eventually the ringing in her ears stopped and her vision came back, though the air was still thick with gas. When it came to Aura and gas, so long as you got away from the gas, you would be fine. However, lingering too long would drastically drain your Aura, as it works twice as hard to protect the user from internal damage such as those caused by nerve or blood agents. Being locked in a small room with poor ventilation is a perfect example of gas being dangerous to an Aura user. CS gas isn't lethal per se, but it's still not a good idea to be in it for too long. Winter had to get herself and her men out of that room.

Pushing through the burning and irritation, she found her way to the door and placed her hand on it to summon a glyph that enclosed the door with the iconic Schnee family crest. With intense focus and concentration on her part, the steel door was slowly being covered in ice. She kept this up until the whole door was encased in ice where Winter then reeled her fist back and struck with an Aura enhanced punch, shattering the door into little pieces.

"Go!" She shouted to remaining three soldiers. While they made their way towards the exit, Winter went to grab the bodies of the two soldiers who got shot. They were paralyzed, but still conscious and she wasn't going to let them lay there in a CS gas filled room. Hoisting both of them over her shoulders, she started making her way towards the exit, but the sounds of explosives going off and the other three men yelling made her step back. It was a good thing she did, because one of the men came flying down from the top of the staircase, covered in neon green powder. She looked towards the top of the stairs and saw the other two men down for the count, also covered in bright colored powder. With the other two guys on her shoulders, she quickly ran them up to the top of the stairs before grabbing the guy that got blown away, and setting him down in the hallway with the others. Knowing she couldn't do anything else for them other than getting out of the gas filled room, Winter made her way outside to get some fresh air and help her men fight off the enemy.

Most people would agree that aside from being a skilled Huntress and Atlesian specialist, Winter Schnee is the epitome of beauty, grace and elegance. Men wish to be with her, while women wish to be her. However, if you were to look at her now…you might get the wrong idea. Her hair was disheveled and unkempt, tears ran down her face alongside mucus from her nose, and there were bits of vomit mixed in with drool on her chin. On top of that she reeked of CS gas and was still having a bad coughing fit. After wiping her face clean while taking deep breathes, she took in her surroundings and witnessed the aftermath of the Russian attack on her forces, falling to her knees from dizziness caused by the gas. Bodies were sprawled out all over the place, most of the area was covered in the bright colored powder from explosives and of course, the jeep that was crashed into the communication tower. And that was just what she could see.

"How is this possible?" She asked herself. All they had to do was guard a prisoner from four men. They had the numbers, the logistics, the equipment and everything else that was in their favor. This was only a training exercise and yet it all went so wrong for them. As she continued to mull over her thoughts, the sound of a jeep driving by got her attention. Time slowed down for Winter as she saw the occupants of the jeep. She ignored Glynda sitting in the passenger seat, and focused her attention on them. The one's who did this. The one's who dared make a fool of herself, of Ironwood, of Atlas! As they passed, she made brief eye contact with Alex, and suddenly she felt a new surge of energy run through her body.

"Specialist Schnee! Are you all right?" Winter was so focused on the Russian, that she didn't even notice the captain's arrival. He jumped out of his jeep to help her up, but she swatted his arm away to get up on her own.

"Captain, have your men pursue the enemy vehicle and radio our remaining forces to push eastward to cut them off from escape." She said in a cold, commanding tone.

"Our main communications are down, so we'll have to use our emergency frequency." The captain replied.

"Get to it captain." She said while having another coughing fit and getting a concerned look from him.

"Are you sure you're all right ma'am?"

"I'm fine captain. Radio our forces and then join the pursuit of the enemy." She said while climbing into his jeep.

"Yes ma'am!" As the captain radioed for the remaining Atlas forces to converge east, Winter checked her Aura levels and was surprised to see that it almost in the red. She wasn't in the gas very long, but the high concentration of it in a small room really took a toll on her. But she didn't care. She had a bone to pick with the Russians. Her mission was to stop them and while she intends to do that, it just became personal. They made herself and Atlas look like fools, and they're going to pay for it.

Failure is not an option.

A/N: Goddammit, now I have to write a third part. Oh well, you guys are worth it. You motivate me to get off my lazy ass and keep writing, so thanks for that.

Same deal: message, review, critique etc.

Again, thank you for the 100 follows

Hawk out.