The Silent Sniper Chapter 6: Skirmish on the East Edge

The once peaceful silence of the Emerald Forest was disturbed by the sounds of gunfire and yelling. Multiple creatures ran or flew away from the source of combat, hiding in their nests and burrows. There were some curious enough to peak out for a moment, looking at the direction of gunfire. It was only for a moment though as a loud screech caused them to quickly hide back into their burrows and nests. Whatever was going on was intense, both parties giving it their all with full blown killer instinct.

"DIIE!"

Engineer yelled at the top of his lungs as he emptied an entire mag at the winged Grimm, a fierce glare underneath his shades while he gritted his teeth.

The entire squad continuously fired at the winged beast, the bullets that struck causing little drops of its feathers flutter down. They could even see small spurts of black blood with each impact as well. Despite the amount of bullets fired they barely weakened it, rather they only angered it more. Having enough the Grimm screeched and dove down towards the four, bullets ricocheting off of its armored head plate.

Support widened his eyes and lowered his weapon, quickly turning to his squad who seemed to do the same as they quickly backed away.

"Scramble!" Support yelled out, making a break for it while Recon followed close behind. Assault and Engineer ran in the opposite direction, both clutching their weapons tightly.

Assault looked back at the diving Grimm, it's wings flared and talons extended. It was going for a full on attack, planning to flatten them and the land below.

"THIS AINT NOTHIN' LIKE SHANGHAI!" he screamed out, still making a break for it while Engineer had a frantic look on his face.

The Nevermore made contact with the ground, its wings dragging along the soil as trees were toppled. The impact caused the four to dive on the ground, shielding themselves from falling branches as the trees collapsed around them. Recon gritted his teeth as he held onto his cap, Support on his back with his weapon held close to his chest, Assault on his side with arms shielding his helmet, and Engineer flat on his stomach with his arms over his barely protected head.

Once the attack was over the Nevermore pulled up and flew in the air again, looking back down at the ground. The edge of the forest was leveled with trees and branches, especially on the clearing that the four once stood on. Down below Recon panted with his eyes firmly shut, branches burying him underneath. He opened his eyes and looked around for a moment, grabbing and shoving branches away.

There was a groan behind him, Support sitting up and coughing as branches fell to his side. He looked ahead and saw Recon removing the final layer of branches that littered his body, slowly struggling to stand up as he was dazed.

Support quickly stood up and quickly walked over towards Recon, careful not to trip over any branches. He offered him a hand in which the sniper gladly took, grunting as he heaved him up on his feet.

"You alright?" He asked, Recon giving a nod in reply as he looked over to where Assault and Engineer were.

Engineer gave Assault a hand as he heaved him up, the both of them groaning as they still tried to get their bearings. Engineer dusted himself off and grabbed his MPX, quickly reloading another mag in.

"You guys good?" Assault called as he also reloaded his weapon, quickly removing the mag from his M416 and replacing it.

Both Support and Recon gave him a thumbs up, making their way through the collapsed foliage. Everything around them was in shambles. Tress were on the ground with some being uprooted, branches littering their path with the soil around them kicked up. It didn't surprise the four though since they were used to this kind of destruction, but still it affected them that a ruthless beast did this by using its own size without thinking twice.

"Look at this. That son of a bitch just flattened everything like it was nothing." Engineer said, placing a foot on an uprooted tree and examining it.

"This kinda reminds me of Zavod..." Assault muttered, picking up a branch and examining it for a moment before tossing it away.

Engineer nodded in agreement, remembering the time when a Russian transport crashed close to their F objective, destroying the tress that laid in its path.

"Uh huh, only difference is that theres no wreck here." Engineer nodded, removing his foot from the tree.

As Support approached the two Recon stopped and examined the destruction for himself. He slowly made his way around, examining the branches and fallen tress. He very well knew how dangerous the Grimm were in this world, but he would never have thought that they could be this destructive. Almost as destructive he and the others were when they fought back on their world.

Recons thought came to a halt as he noticed a small little rustle coming from a branch next to him. Carefully reaching down he gently removed the branch out of the way, the sight causing him to frown. There was a nest that was completely destroyed, feathers littering around the small sticks that were spread out. Right in the center was a poor baby bird calling out to its mamma, its feathers ruffled.

'Looks like you took quite the fall...' Recon thought, gently sliding his hand underneath the baby bird and lifting it up. He then gently placed a finger on the birds small head, gently rubbing it.

"Yo, Recon!" Assault called, approaching behind him as he jumped over some trees. "Boss wants ya back, that big bastard is still up circlin' around and it ain't happy." he informed, peaking over his shoulder and seeing the little baby resting on his palm.

"Aww man...mamma wasn't around?" Assault asked with a frown underneath, slowly kneeling down next to Recon.

Recon shook his head, still petting the bird as it finally calmed down now resting on his palm.

Assault shook his head and sucked his teeth looking at the destroyed nest, "Well thats nature for ya bud, and little Jimmy right here only got a good taste of it."

Assault may believe that it was caused by nature, but it was actually caused by war. Recon didn't tell them yet, but he had to let them know that the locals here were fighting the forces of Grimm for a long time. War wasn't a stranger to them, but for the little bird...it was.

The medic grunted as he stood up, patting Recons back lightly. "Get little Jimmy a safe distance away and regroup. We don't got much time left."

Recon nodded and stood up, carefully jogging over to apart of the forest that wasn't touched by the Grimms attack. Finding a sizable tree he approached it, reaching up and gently placing the bird on one of the branches. The sniper gave its small head one more rub, backing away from the tree when he stopped. He knew well that the baby wasn't going to last long.

It was a consequence of war after all.

"Recon! Stop fucking around with the bird and get over here!" Support yelled, shots from his AWS heard.

This grabbed his attention, his head quickly snapping in the direction of the shots. He could see his squad mates firing on the Grimm again, a screech heard as it prepared for another attack.

The Nevermore flew up some to gain its height, stopping and flaring its wing open. It then quickly lurched them forward, multiple black projectiles careening towards the three.

"Take cover!" Support yelled, running over to a fallen tree as giant black feathers landed on the spot he once stood. Assault followed not to far behind, jumping behind the same tree as the feathers flew above the two barely missing them.

Engineer sprinted towards a different tree, stumbling over some branches. The giant feathers fell short directly behind him, screaming as he could hear each one landing closer and closer. He dolphin dived out of pure instinct, the feathers barely missing him as he managed to land behind the log.

Growling in aggravation, he slammed a fist on the ground and quickly got on his feet. Engineer reached behind him and grabbed his SMAW rocket launcher, soon aiming it at the Nevermore with a glare beneath his shades.

"Engineer, don't fire yet!" Support ordered as he quickly reloaded his double drummed mag, Assault burst firing his weapon.

This time the medic aimed for the base of its wings, the bullets slowly chewing away the flesh and feathers. Support saw what he was doing and nodded to himself, cocking the handle on his weapon back to load the first round.

"Why the fuck not?! That thing is gonna make a dive again and we won't be as lucky!" Engineer yelled gritting his teeth.

"Wait for it to get close! Me and Assault will distract it!" Support replied, firing his weapon at the Nevermores wings.

"Recon, stay there and take out its eyes! The less sight it has the better it is for us!" he ordered, getting a nod from Recon as he aimed his rifle up.

The Grimm screeched and grew agitated, feeling surges of pain stretch throughout its wings with each flap it did. Its eyes locked onto both Support and Assault, glaring at the two. With a single flap it dove towards the two, opening its beak wide.

As it dove Recon took deep breaths, the barrel aiming for one of its right eyes. The Grimm was high on its killer instinct, failing to notice the scope glint that partially blinded its vision.

The world slowed down for Recon as he released his breath, feeling a bead of sweat roll down his forehead. His finger pulled the trigger and at that moment he felt the rifle kick back. The muzzle flashed as the high caliber bullet sped out from the barrel, heading towards the eye.

The bullet struck home as there was a splatter of yellow blood coming from the upper right eye, causing it to stop its attack while screeching out in pain.

Seeing that the Nevermore was close enough, Engineer grinned and aimed for the other side of its face.

Shaking its head the Grimm looked at the direction where Recon fired, glaring at him as it flared his wings open preparing for an attack. Its preparation was short lived though for the last thing that it saw on its left side was a brief glint and the head of a rocket.

Beacon Cliff

Glynda dismissed Team RWBY not to long ago, Yang actually forcefully dragging Ruby away. The young huntress was having a fanatic breakdown once she heard all of those weapons go off, begging to be released as she wanted to see the weapons that Recons friends carried.

There was some protest from Yang before she left, asking Glynda that if they needed help. She dismissed the question, telling them that Recon and his squad were perfectly capable on their own.

She sighed to herself and rubbed the bridge if her nose with her fingers, shaking her head as she had a feeling that Ruby and her team were going to cause quite the ruckus at Beacon. Pushing the though out of her mind she looked up to see Ozpin still staring off at the direction where the fight was going on.

There was some smoke slowly rising from the battlefield, clearly showing the amount of destruction that was caused during the fight.

"They are quite the formidable bunch." Ozpin finally spoke, looking back at Glynda as he took a sip from his mug. "We might be looking at an elite group of hunters."

Glynda was confused at his statement. Why in the world would a recent group of new coming aliens would be already considered elite?

"Ozpin...we don't know for certain if they're elite. We don't even know if they have an aura or semblance." she stated, her tone filled with doubt.

Ozpin grinned and shook his head, releasing a small chuckle as he looked back at the column of smoke.

"You doubt too much, Ms. Goodwitch," he began while taking another sip from his mug, "These men have been at war for years, and they're from a world that is constantly in conflict."

Glynda could never think of a world that was in constant conflict since the very beginning. Sure there was the Great War and the Faunus Rights Revolution, but those were the only two recorded human conflicts. A world living in constant conflict with great nations going against each other was apocalyptic.

"Do not underestimate Mr. Recon and his men. They posses great potential, and great power." Ozpin finished, an explosion heard followed by a pained screech in the background.

'Maybe too much power...' Glynda thought, fearing that Recon or his friends recklessness could bring harm to Beacon and Vytal.

Eastern Edge of Beacon Cliff

The fight raged on as Engineers rocket blew out the Nevermores two other eyes on its left, only one remaining on its right. The bullets from Assault and Support continued to eat away at the beasts flesh and feathers while Recons precise shots left visible holes all around its neck.

"Just die already damnit!" Assault yelled in frustration as he heard the empty click on his assault rifle, removing the mag and checking to see if he had any left.

"Boss, gimme some ammo!" he requested, quickly switching over to his sidearm and firing.

Support stopped firing and reached behind his back to grab an ammo crate, both Engineer and Recon intensifying their firing as they took some steps forward.

The Grimm had enough and screeched out, diving towards the four again while extending its talons. Engineer emptied his mag attempting to stop it, but it wasn't enough.

"GET THE FUCK OUTTA THERE!" Engineer screamed frantically, gaining their attention as Assault and Support looked up.

They scrambled to their feet and frantically tried to run out of the way, Assault managing to get out of the way. Sadly Support wasn't lucky since he was still in the range of the Nevermores talons.

Recon came sprinting down towards Support, dropping his weapons to lighten the load. Grunting he jumped and harshly dropkicked his squad leader out of the way knowing that a push or shove wouldn't be enough.

He was harshly yanked into the air, his cap falling from his head. Recon could feel the large talons cut through his uniform and sink into his skin, shutting his eyes and gritting his teeth in pain. The Nevermore flew up into the air and screeched, flying off towards the forest with Recon.

The rest of the squad could only watch in shock as they saw the beast fly off with Recon, seeing his form writhing and fighting to get free.

Assault gritted his teeth underneath his mask and balled his hands into fists, yelling in anger as he kicked branches away.

"MOTHERFUCKER GOT RECON!" he screamed out, kicking some more branches.

Engineer had his arms crossed and shook his head, taking off his shades and rubbing his eyes with two fingers, "He just got himself fucking killed..."

"He did it to save Boss dipshit, so don't go off claimin' he killed himself," Assault growled as he approached Engineer, "If anythin' you're the one who killed him, all you had to do was just fire another rocket."

"Best watch your mouth before I shove a nade down your throat," Engineer threatened as he too approached Assault, "It was his choice to get himself killed, but at least he did it saving a life."

Assault had enough and shoved Engineer harshly, the demolitions expert stumbling back. The two then went at it, running into each other and trying to force themselves onto the floor with growls and insults being spat at one another. Support had enough and approached the two, his hands grabbing their heads. With a leg he individually swept them off their feet, using his arm strength to forcefully throw them to the floor.

"Thats enough you two," Support yelled with an aggravating tone, "Bitching about it isn't gonna solve a damn thing!"

Engineer and Assault glanced at each other for a moment, grumbling to themselves as Support was right. Merely bickering at each other and fighting wasn't going to solve anything.

"Recon is still out there and kicking, but we don't got enough time left," he offered a hand up towards the two, both Assault and Engineer grabbing firmly as they were tugged up, "Let's go, we'll talk about this later."

With that Support ran off in the direction where the Nevermore flew off to, both Assault and Engineer standing back for a moment. They looked at each other and sighed, placing their bickering behind them.

"Screw it...he's right." Engineer mumbled as he reloaded his weapon, slamming his hand on the side to load a round in.

"After all, we did promise to pull him out of trouble." Assault nodded as he earned a chuckle from Engineer who was grabbing Recons sniper, sidearm, and cap.

The two didn't waste anymore time and followed where Support ran off two, the three in search for their sniper.

Somewhere over the Emerald Forest

Recon had been trying to pry himself free from the Nevermores talons, his writhing only causing the grip around him to tighten. He hissed at the pain and stopped his movements, hanging limply. The sniper sighed and lowered his head, watching the green foliage pass by underneath him. This was something that he could get used to, after all he was tired of seeing cities and forests ravaged by war. No collapsed buildings, pillars of smoke rising, or sirens blaring across the city...just the peace. Recons sentimental moment ended around when he heard the Nevermore above screech.

'I need to get outta here...theres no way in hell im going to die in the talons of this thing.' Recon thought looking up at the Grimm.

He could clearly see that it was in bad shape struggling to fly, losing more and more feathers with each flap. It shook his head and screeches some, clearly in pain with the amount of bullet holes that riddled its body.

'One more solid hit should do the trick...' he hummed, looking down at his body and patting around.

Recon for sure didn't have his primary or secondary weapon on him, but he did have explosives. Widening his eyes in realization he reached for his belt and yanked out three C4s and his detonator.

'Ohh Ruby if only you were here...you'd see how much power this thing packs.' he thought grinning.

Shaking his head he moved his legs and swung, grunting as he prepared to throw the C4 onto the beasts stomach. Grunting, he tossed them up one by one layer by layer determined to take this thing down once and for all. Before he could do that though, he needed to get the hell away from the Nevermore. Recon certainly wasn't planning to blow himself up sky high.

Thinking for a moment he snapped his fingers and reached behind his back, grabbing his trusty Survival knife. He always used it when he had to get his hands dirty, though he didn't like snatching the tags away. Gripping the knife firmly he lifted it up and started to stab the underside of the Nevermore.

The Grimm screeched and only tightened its grip, Recon gritting his teeth as he continued to stab. He growled and stopped, reaching down towards his belt he yanked out a grenade. Taking a deep breath he pulled the pin and jammed it inside of the stab wounds, waiting for the inevitable.

'This better work...' Recon thought shut his eyes bracing himself as he tightly gripped the detonator.

The grenade went off above him, the explosion causing the Nevermore to screech in pain and let go of Recon. The sniper fell down towards the forest at a rapid pace. Taking his chance he looked back up and glared, triggering the detonator. Above him three sudden explosions rocked the Grimm, it screeching in pain as it dove down towards the forest with smoke trailing behind it. Recon watched as it fell towards the forest, crashing down as a large puff of black smoke was seen rising into the air.

'What a nice view...WAIT A MINUTE!' Recon widened his eyes and looked back down, seeing a tall tree rapidly approaching him.

Panicking he reached towards his back and pulled the pin to his chute last minute. It did slow down his fall, but it wasn't enough for a soft landing. Shutting his eyes and shielding his face he crashed into the tree harshly. Grunting he fell through the branches with each one snapping, cuts and scrapes marked along his face. With his chute tangled up in the branches his fall abruptly stop right when he was about to collapse on the ground some feet below.

'That was fun...' he painfully chuckled to himself, losing feeling all across his body. Recon sighed and closed his eyes with his head hung low, slowly succumbing to unconsciousness.

"RECON!" a southern accent called, multiple footsteps approaching him. That was the last thing he heard before everything went dark.

A/N: Now then now that the first of many skirmishes is out of the way, should I give Recon and everyone else names? Also I set up a poll and I would appreciate it if you guys voted. I'm interested to see what you guys think! Anywho thank you for reading and I'll see you all in the next chapter!