Fair warning, these first few chapters are little rough in terms of grammar and overall written quality. At least give it a few chapters before you move on.

Nobody, but us!

Prologue

May 30, 2020

0127 hours

Somewhere near the Syria-Iraq border…

It was supposed to be a simple mission. Drop in, do some reconnaissance, gather any intel that seems important, maybe a little collateral damage for the hell of it and bug out. Of course everyone knows that nothing ever goes as planned. Supposedly this town has seen an increase in ISIS activity, too much for a relatively isolated location. It was the last major town before you entered Iraq, so it didn't take a genius to figure something was going on there. Somebody had to check the place out and who better than four special operations soldiers. Right now, they were running through the town, trying to avoid getting shot by the insurgents.

"This is fucking bullshit!" one of the soldiers said while blind firing back at the enemy. A stray bullet managed to find its way in front of another soldier, narrowly missing his head.

"Holy shit that was close!" the lucky man said through the dust from the impact. They kept running until they turned the corner only to find a BMP and more troops waiting for them.

"Oh fuck, to the left, to the left!" the guy in front shouted back to his comrades pointing to an alleyway before a hail bullets tore them up.

"This isn't good guys, they're trying to box us in." the last one commented to the squad. It seemed the whole town was after them, but who were these guys that the whole town was trying to kill? Honestly, they couldn't tell. While the U.S. seemed like an obvious answer it was still hard to tell. The four men were dressed like your typical American or European special forces wearing gear including, but not limited to: a tactical assault vest able to withstand 7.62 rounds, elbow and knee pads for protection against rough surfaces, fingerless gloves to protect the hands from impact and abrasion while maintaining dexterity and probably the most impressive piece of gear was the tactical ballistic assault helmet they were wearing. The helmet came complete with a built in retractable visor, a mount for NVG's as well as side rails for a tac light and helmet cam. The camouflage pattern they had on was a little different, as it looked like it can be used in multiple environments besides the desert. Of course, they were well armed. Two of them were armed with assault rifles, and it looks like one of them was carrying an RPG on his back. The third was armed with a belt fed machine gun and looks like he carried an assortment of explosives in addition to an RPG. The last guy had some type of high powered rifle with him, most likely a DMR. The last distinctive feature on the men was that they all wore balaclavas so you couldn't get a good description of them. Wherever they're from, you could tell they were well armed and highly trained… even if the mission was compromised and they were hauling ass trying to not get shot.

In another part of the town

"I've spotted them! They're near the market square heading towards the hospital!" an ISIS insurgent said into a radio from his elevated position on top of the police station. He had pretty good view seeing them turn down an alley way. "All units converge towards the market place. I want mortar fire on that infidel scum!"

"All forces have been mobilized and mortars are ready to fire" the radio responded

"Sir I just received word that the advance forces are five minutes out." Another voice said.

"Perfect timing. Have them surround the town and push towards the center. There'll be no escape for our unwelcome guests!"

Back with the soldiers

"I'm telling you, we passed that house already!" The machine gunner said to the group. The RPG soldier quickly looked back at him.

"To be fair, all these fucking houses look alike." He said while chuckling

"Both of you shut up or I swear ill…" the squad leaders shouting was interrupted by a familiar high pitch whistling heading towards them.

"Incoming!" BOOM! The mortar shell impacted a good 60 meters in front of them leaving a decent sized crater in front of them. Light fragmentation hit the soldiers but luckily they were far enough away and their armor protected them. A rapid succession of follow up shots were be heard before a barrage of shells impacted around them.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" The RPG soldier shouted while having his arms in a "seriously dude" pose.

"We got to get out of the kill zone, down that alley way move!" The squad leader took point while the rest followed close behind. The last soldier armed with the DMR ran a little faster to catch up to the leader.

"Alex, you know this leads straight to the center of town where they will most likely be waiting for us right? I think they're trying to draw us towards it." The squad leader identified as Alex looked back at the marksman while they kept running.

"I know Greg, but seeing as how we got cut off between the mortars and the foot mobiles behind us, we weren't left with much of a choice."

"Well I hope you have a plan, I can't get anyone on the radio to send backup or an evac." Greg responded. To be honest, Alex did not have a plan. Normally he's pretty good at thinking on his feet and making quick decisions but being trapped in a town surrounded by dozens of hostiles with no way to call for help left him stumped. Hopefully he could think of something soon, it would be a major buzz kill if he and his squad got killed. They stopped when they reached the end of the alley way that led to the center of town. It was a large square with lots of open space. Random food stands and cars were spread throughout the area. The most notable feature of the square was the hospital that towered above every building in the town located in the center. However, their attention was more focused on the sudden arrival of more enemy reinforcements. There were at least 20 trucks spread out carrying roughly 30 men per truck who were quickly sweeping the area looking for Alex's squad. Armed with assault rifles and frag grenades the insurgents spread throughout the square setting up defensive positions and choke points. Some of them went down the other streets and alley ways to meet up with the local forces. Either way the whole area was a damn hornets nest. It was a miracle they didn't find the soldiers yet.

"Damn, you think they got enough guys?" The RPG soldier sarcastically asked. His question was answered by the loud rumbling of treads making their way to the town square. The squad watched as a dozen enemy tanks rolled up to surround the square. T-72's by the look of them. All of them carrying more troops and waving the black ISIS flag high and proud.

"Well does that answer your question Nick?" the machine gunner asked the RPG soldier. You couldn't tell but under Nicks balaclava he had a light smirk.

"It actually does Ivan, thanks big guy!" Ivan sighed while rolling his eyes at the fool. Nick was his friend, but man he can get on your nerves. Ivan looked over at Alex and already knew his squad leader was coming up with a plan.

"Alright guys here's the plan." Alex said with authority.

"Did I call it or what?" Ivan thought to himself. Alex furrowed his brow took a quick look at the situation at hand. It was obvious that they couldn't shoot their way out. They couldn't stay in this alley forever and had to move. The hospital was right in front of them about 400 meters away. The extra reinforcements must have been the advance force the intel they stole talked about.

"At least command has what they needed. That intel we sent them had all sorts maps and troop movement plans. And this is defiantly that advance force heading towards Mosul. I just hope we make it out alive. Alex shouldn't think like that even if it did linger in the back of his head, but he had to remain calm and collected. He couldn't show uncertainty to his squad mates. They may have been running for their lives but at least the mission was successful...sort of. He continued his train of thought observing that there was no sign of activity in the hospital. The tanks were mostly to the left side of the hospital, while the foot mobiles were concentrated on the right side.

"Greg, any luck with the radio?" Alex asked.

"Yeah they said they're working on it but didn't give me an ETA."

"That doesn't sound very encouraging." Ivan commented.

"Well we're going to have to hold out until then and the only decent place to hold out is the hospital. We're going to haul ass over there and make our way to the top where the helicopter can reach us easier." Alex already knew the plan had a few flaws. First off there was no cover between them and the hospital so they'll be immediately spotted. Next was the fact that they were completely out-manned, outgunned and outmaneuvered by the enemy. Finally, the one flaw that made Alex afraid was that he didn't know if command was going to pull through and get them out. The radio transmissions were vague and unconvincing but he couldn't show his fear. The squad depended on him and he was going to get them home. He just had to cling on to hope that they were going to make it out alive and return to Russia.

That's right these men were Russians. They were part of the 45th Spetsnaz brigade, a special forces unit within the VDV or the Russian airborne troopers. It seems that the United States, NATO and the Russian Federation all agreed on something for once. I know, right? Well with terror attacks occurring more frequently and on such large scales, the solution was obvious: ISIS had to go. All countries would contribute to the operation weather its air support, ground forces, intel gathering or even logistic support. And this is where our Russians friends come into play, obviously on an intel gathering operation.

"Ok guys got it?" Alex asked his squad. He did a quick look-over at his squad mates to make sure they knew the plan. It was simple, they were going to throw smoke grenades and suppress fire on the enemy while they made a B-line to the hospital. Defiantly not the best plan, but it's the best with what he could work with.

"Alex, I know you're the squad leader and I respect your position and decision-making skills but this seems risky and pretty half-assed." Ivan said. Normally Ivan was aggregable and didn't talk back much but even he had to voice his criticism of the plan.

"That stung Ivan, I hope you know that." Alex responded in a mock sadden tone while clutching his heart.

"I have to agree with Ivan. I mean even if we do get inside, what's going to stop them from just blowing up the hospital with those tanks?" It was Greg's turn to respond.

"Give him a break, it's the best he could come up with. Besides I don't hear any good ideas coming from you two." Nick may be a joker but he knows when it's time for work and he always has your back. Alex was about to thank Nick when he heard a familiar whistling sound coming towards them. All four soldiers looked up and saw 60mm of instant death bearing down on them.

"Oh, fuck m…BOOM! Alex and his squad were no more. All that remained was a crater where they were. Who would've guess that the enemy would use mortars that close to their forces. Then again if they were killed, everything else was just collateral damage. So instead of going out in a heroic, badass way in the hospital fighting off waves of enemies, they get disposed of quickly by a mortar strike. How anti-climactic. You would think they would've remembered the mortars but I guess not. But in the back of all their minds, they had a feeling they weren't going to make it. At least the Russian government has new intel that can be used to outmaneuver ISIS. And it's all thanks to Sgt. Alexander Volkov, Cpl. Nicholas Steppanov, Cpl. Ivan Sokolov and Sgt. Gregory Fedorov. Hopefully their souls can find peace in the next life.

*Scoff* yeah right.

Authors notes:

RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth

This was just something that popped in my head one night. Yeah I could've done U.S. troops but I wanted to be different and go with Russians. Plus I didn't want people thinking I ripped off "Displaced" by CaptainPrice, which I recommend reading. Besides if you've ever hung out with anyone in the military, you'll find they all act the same to an extent. All of them have a dark sense of humor, they develop an addiction to caffeine, tobacco and alcohol, they constantly shit talk each other and the ones that are great at their jobs are usually labeled as turds by their superiors. And its no different when it comes to another country's military.

You may notice that there's some elements of Call of Duty, Battlefield, Counter Strike and Rainbow Six in the story. They also belong to their respective companies.

Constructive criticism and reviews are greatly appreciated. Don't worry I have tough skin, you can be dick to me if you want.