Immediately after the end of G. I. Joe Resolute

Really fucked shit is ahead, this is your only warning, I obviously don't own either RWBY or G. I. Joe, also, the live action movies never happened, forget those atrocities.

Four years prior to V1 of RWBY.

/

Springfield, secret Cobra Base and founding town...

"RAAAAAAAAAAGH!" The Commander cried in anguish, slamming his fists against bullet proof glass in a fruitless endeavor to try and escape what seemed like fate, "DUUUUUUUKE!"

Again, it seemed, again his plans foiled by his archnemesis, the one Joe that he seemed to be destined to struggle against, this time however there was no grand escape plan, no way for the serpent to slither away. This was his moment, years of tireless struggle to subdue the free world, years of failure, after failure, wasted men and money, just for it all to end here and by his own weapon no less, the irony was not lost on the Commander, it only made him angrier.

The Commander threw his head back in the air screaming bloody murder, cursing the G. I Joes and their bloodlines, cursing the failures of what he had hoped were competent underlinings, two words that shouldn't share a sentence, but most of all, he cursed himself.

He had wholeheartedly believed that this was it, his moment, everything that he wanted in the world, everything he deserved would be his in but the span of twenty-four hours. Why was this even a surprise to him anymore? He should've been used to it by now, failure, disappointment, defeat at the hands of the Joes.

Yet, it seemed to only hurt more, knowing that this was his one sure fire chance to have the world on its knees, bowing to him. Life however seemed to cheat him at every turn though, this was the grand finale, the end of Cobra, the end of Cobra Commander. In his last moments, the Commander fell to his knees, slamming his right fist into the ground, his eyes burned with inhuman hatred as he gave one last defiant scream to his own weapon as its blast came down from the heavens to vaporize all of Springfield. In desperation, he closed his eyes tight out of reflex, he knew it wouldn't matter, nothing could save him from his fate.

Or so he thought.

Cobra Commander wasn't a very religious man, even if he was he knew no deity would shed pity upon him, he knew he was a monster, but he didn't care because no deity had offered him comfort in the years he lived as used car salesman. So, it came as a massive shock to the Commander as his eyes opened to lush green fertile grass.

He stared in confusion, where was the fire and brimstone? Or was there some sort of mix up in his death because he without a doubt thought incinerating ten million people in a flash of light for the reason to conquer the free world was a sentence to Hell.

"What?" He muttered lifting his head up, observing that he was nowhere near civilization it seemed, Springfield had trees but he was supposed to be underground in a bunker, not surrounded by Californian Redwood sized mega oak trees in the middle of nowhere.

No words could escape the terrorist mastermind, this was impossible, he had to be hallucinating, this was not real, it couldn't be! Curiously he slipped his left glove off and felt the grass, his heart skipped a beat, it was real, this was no hallucination, this was real, he was alive. Somehow, by some sort of divine work or supposed scientific impossibility he was no longer in Springfield with his life on the verge of annihilation.

Any other lesser man would've broke down in tears crying and thanking his lucky stars that he was alive, free to live his life, change his ways even to live a fuller and happier life as a wageslave with some broad and little devils for children in a small little house with a white picket fence and a fucking dog named Rex, completely disregarding his previous pursuits for power and money. Not him though, not Cobra Commander.

His rage built up in his chest, fists clenched deathly white, teeth grinding as he takes in three deep breathes before screaming into the air with shaking fists, "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

The forest echoed his cry, making flocks of birds leave their nests at his sudden outburst, squawking out of panic as their feathers fell from their inopportune ill prepared departure.

"Of all things," He growled underneath his breath as he slowly let his fists fall back to his sides, "for me to fail at. Dying is one of them."

Many would question why someone like Cobra Commander would be upset with surviving a weapon that vaporizes cities in an instant, of course not many would see it from his point of view. Again, he had failed to conquer the world that had wronged him, after delivering such a terrifying ultimatum and killing off ten million people in an instant, now that he was alive he'd have to go back into hiding, again, find loyal members of Cobra, again, and then try it all over a-fucking-gain! Excluding the humiliation, there was the very real possibility of being captured out here in the middle of nowhere.

"Perfect," He said as a bittersweet dry chuckle escaped his throat, "business as usual. Of course, it's not like I exhausted all my assets this time or anything. I wonder if it'll be the Hauge or are the Russians going to try and have my head first."

A smug grin however crossed his lips during his lament, "Ten million in a few seconds. That must be a record, no one can compete with that."

The wind blew to his left, taking Cobra Commander's immediate attention, from what he could see the Sun was nearing noon… he was going to overlook the obvious time difference and just accept that it had something to do with his unexplainable survival, the point was that while his mask had built in night vision he had no intention on staying out in the wilderness without provisions.

Without too much direction Cobra Commander simply started searching for a path in the forest that had the potential to lead him into civilization and hopefully somewhere to lie low and gather his bearings on his place in the world and just how popular he was on the international news stations, he was interested in how exactly the nations of the world would try and calm down their frightened masses, it wasn't everyday a major city just gets wiped off the map in a day.

Of course, he would need a disguise if he wanted to get anywhere in the civilized world, which meant someone was having a bad last day on Earth if their path passed with his own, a witness was not what he needed. The Joes and their allies would be monitoring every single last social media news site and police frequency looking for him, no doubt they'd be on a kill mission instead of apprehending him as per usual.

The stakes really were raised this time around, more than a few of their memorable Joes must've been killed this time, he hadn't done something as terrible as vaporizing Moscow, yet it was just the cherry top to the atrocities Cobra Commander had committed over the years and if he had it his way it wouldn't be the last either.

A few years would need to pass before he could reappear though, just enough time to lull them into a false sense of relative calm, rebuilding assets and an army in the shadows. Much work will need to be done, much planning, but most of all it would take a lot of money. Perhaps it was time to go back to the old drawing board, pyramid schemes and other various scams to swindle money from the ignorant and desperate.

First however, was to leave this accursed forest.

With his pulse and rage subsiding the Commander had remembered that he had an array of special capabilities built within his helmet, one of which was a satellite linked communicator in his helmet that could for a limited time maintain contact with a Cobra satellite before it would start to overheat on his head, a problem that has yet to be fixed, a problem he will want more resources to go to fixing.

The Commander cleared his throat and spoke with his usual authoritative tone into his mask's microphone, "Authorization code: Hotel Yankee Delta Romeo Alpha, this is the Commander requesting Cobra Council to check in, over."

A static reply was not what he was expecting, there was no way the Joes could've taken this satellite out, it was after all it was an American satellite disguised as a Cobra satellite, unless they somehow figured that out but that would be unlikely, it's been up there for years and destroying it would take out service and television for half of the North American continent.

Removing the Cobra plant in the satellite would be impossible without affecting the overall effectivity of the satellite for everyone, yet low and behold static. Maybe he just had a bad reception, the trees were larger than life, he just needed to get to an open area to make the call again, then he might be able to hail someone on the line and get a pick up.

His thoughts however were silenced as the brush to his far left started to rustle, the Commander quickly went behind a tree and upholstered a hidden pistol from within his uniform, he glanced around the tree as the safety was switched off, aiming down the sights at the rustling brush.

Cobra Commander was expecting that the Joes, Rangers or Navy Seals would be jumping out of the greenery, them or the Spetsnaz, some special forces from a world power hunting him down. Yet it was neither of those, in fact he was perplexed about what exactly he was really looking at in all honesty.

Doctor Mindbender created many unorthodox creatures for Cobra to use in the field, but this thing without a doubt had to be one of the strangest creatures he had ever seen. Black fur, white bone that covered its body like armor with bright red eyes, the physique it had reminded the Commander of a bear but this creature was somewhat larger, it looked like it was a weapon of war if anything.

He wanted it for Cobra, but right now it was sniffing the air and it looked hungry, this creature had also locked onto his scent as it seemed if its glowing red eyes staring directly at him meant anything.

Deciding he was going to stand his ground rather than be ran down by this monster of a bear the Commander walked out into view with his pistol in his left hand and sword in his right, "I do not have all day."

The bear stood to a staggering magnificent height and gave a roar that resonated throughout the forest, ignoring the pressure it made in his chest Cobra Commander narrowed his eyes at the beast as it fell back down on all fours, snarling, preparing to charge.

Cobra Commander fired three rounds at the beast, one round struck its hide while the other two bounced off the bone armor, the creature was not fazed by the rounds as it launched itself forward on its giant powerful limbs, closing the distance at an astonishing speed, he squeezed off three more rounds but they went wide, with bear closing in the Commander somersaulted out of the way of its charge and allowed it to smash into the tree.

While the bear was dazed he slashed the back of its left knee, making it fall forward against the tree roaring, he noted that the creature did not bleed yet it had red insides. He narrowly dodged a back handed strike from the large bear as it limped around in a semi-circle, the Commander fired two more before his pistol jammed.

"Damnit!" He growled avoiding the bear's charge again and delivered a gash to its side, it roared in pain, trying to swipe and crush the Commander with its massive paws, missing him each time.

While the Commander was not a field operative a fool would expect him to be physically unfit, in his line of work and in his former approach to world domination he needed quick reflexes and strength underneath his uniform, the men would not find a fat Cobra Commander intimidating. After the civil war in Springfield years earlier he proved himself as a warrior, but the role of commander was more of his tastes.

Cobra Commander raised his sword to the bear with the intent of going through the same dance until he caused the beast to weaken and finally strike with a final life ending strike, but first he had to make sure he could dodge all of those strikes, he was certain that just one would be enough to make him into a pile of smashed bones and bleeding flesh.

Before Cobra Commander could make another move a man came from out of the tree line, in a flash he passed by the bear and suddenly it stopped, for a split second it stood still before falling into two giant pieces, split right down the middle in a vertical cut.

Cobra Commander was speechless, his eyes wide with shock, his brain barely able to understand just what it had exactly witnessed. He stared as the man approached him somewhat cautiously oddly enough, if anything he was expecting the man to recognize who he was and try to kill him, instead he walked right up to the Commander, "You alright? I heard a scream awhile back."

Quickly the Commander responded, "Yes, I am perfectly alright."

Taking a second to observe the man the Commander could see he was just two decades his senior, salt and pepper hair combed to the back, he wore dark maroon colored jacket and trousers with a black flannel shirt underneath his parted button up jacket, his sword was double bladed in design, it was a red broad sword… why was it red? How did he even cut that creature in half so quickly? It was inhuman!

"Good, I'm Luke Redbrook," The man said sticking his hand out, "retired Huntsman on account of my bum leg."

Cobra Commander came up with a fake name quickly as he met the man's hand, "Adam DeCobray."

"Fancy get up you got Mister DeCobray," Luke said eyeing the Commander up and down, "you lost?"

"Very lost," The Commander said quickly, "I really have no idea where I am. I think I may've hit my head hard."

Luke seemed confused by that, "You're wearing a helmet though."

"Yes, but it provides only so much protection, could you show me where the nearest town is? I may need to see a doctor about it."

"Oh," The former Huntsman said rubbing the back of his head, "the next town is along the way to my house, but it's getting too dark out for us to make that journey, you can stay at my place and the next day I'll walk you there."

"I don't wish to intrude-"

"Nonsense! My wife always makes too much for supper anyways, we love company, we rarely go to town on account of the Grimm. Come on." Luke encouraged with a friendly smile.

The Commander pondered for a second but conceded to the man's request, "Fine. I'll join you Mister Redbrook."

"Ah please, jus' Luke." He pointed towards the west, "Jus' follow me this way."

Cobra Commander honestly pitied this man and his family, he had no idea who he was inviting into his home, yet that itself raised many questions to ones that were already piling on his plate. Who really was this superhuman man? Why did he not recognize the leader of the most feared terror organization on Earth? Most of all, just what was that bear, this, Grimm?

He glanced watched in amazement as the corpse disintegrated, perhaps the Commander should stay his hand until he learned more about where he was.

Luke was a very nice man, that was evident to Cobra Commander, it was something he genuinely appreciated, he hadn't known kindness like this in years even if it was in a small gesture of small talk. He was a saintly man that was allowing him into his house and dine with his family, the Commander couldn't remember the last time an opportunity like this was ever presented to him, an indulgence in what would've been considered as a home meal.

Home was a foreign word, Springfield was once home, but like Cobra Island it became an office to him, a place where work was day in and day out, his nightmares filled with his failures, with the Joes. His mind was wound up, tight like a rubber band ball, he could swear that his head was turning gray from the frustrations that come with world domination.

So, a traditional home meal meant a lot for him. It was good for his stress.

"What is the name of the town I want to head for?" Cobra Commander asked as he noticed the tree line getting thinner, showing that the Sun was descending onto the horizon.

"Flatbrook, it's a decent mining town, owned by Schnee Dust Company, the white-haired devils." Luke mentioned in a surprisingly venomous manner.

"Hmm, what have they done to get such a hostile reaction?" A kind man such as Luke flipping at the drop of a coin at the mere mention of a company name was very intriguing, also, dust company? What the hell is that?

"What haven't they done?" He spat bitterly, "Dust shops that couldn't afford their prices closed down, they bought up every other claim there is, so there is no competition, mom and pop shops have been closed down and replaced with a bunch of overpriced super stores. Six outta ten folks is a miner, the only real money maker 'sides the Schnees is a bar owned by a corrupt fat pig, works out of their pocket."

"That sounds rough." It was like Springfield but worse it seemed.

"No kidding, Schnee thugs are always either drinking or extorting folk, sheriff ain't doing nothing, he practically leads them." Luke sighed with his hands on his hips, "I'm old and got a bad limp, that attack on the Ursa really took my wind outta me, I can't get a message out to the authorities, not like they'll do anything about it either."

A grin started to form on the Commander's lips, this was perfect, this town would be the perfect spot for Cobra to rise again.

Luke nodded his head turning to the Commander, "Sorry to get all emotional, but I really do not like these people, they are everything wrong with the Human Race. The Faunus folk got it worse though."

"The Faunus you say?" Cobra Commander asked curiously.

"Yeah, they had it okay here, not many people minded them, I mean jus' 'cause someone has got some rabbit ears on their head don't mean they aren't decent folk. But Schnee's men and his whole family have been terrible to them. Damn shame." He said with vocal disapproval.

'Rabbit ears?' The Commander thought incredulously, 'Well, that probably wouldn't be the strangest thing on the planet after the things Mindbender makes.'

"You, uh, you don't got anything against the Faunus do ya?" Luke asked suspiciously.

"No," Cobra Commander said honestly, "I haven't met very many, but people are people I guess."

Luke nodded as that was a fair response, he looked ahead and his face seemingly lit up like a torchlight, "There it is, built that cottage with my own two hands."

It was like something out of a fairy tale, a handsome log cabin that was large and very homely, it was defiantly a very American ideal of home, at least old American ideal home. Cobra Commander used to believe such a thing could be achieved through hard work, but set back after set back kept on beating him down, when Dan died… things started to make sense then.

"Mister DeCobray?" Luke asked waving his hand in front of his mask, "You there?"

"Yes, I just miles away for a second." He said quickly.

Luke smiled nodding his head, "Hmph, you remind me of a friend of mine in town. Let's just get inside, I'll tell you more about the shitstorm you'll be walking into tomorrow."

A woman wearing a long dress reminiscent of American frontier life from centuries ago rushed out from the front door of the house, she had bright orange haired tied into a pony tail going down her back, her bright vibrant green eyes sparkled as she waved at the two men, "Good evening! Luke you didn't tell me you were bringing a guest!"

"Sorry Barb," He said sheepishly, "I found this man in the forest fighting off a damn Ursa Major without an Aura, speaking of which, why isn't Aura active Mister DeCobray?"

'The fuck is an Aura!?' The Commander thought as his back was against the metaphorical wall, "I guess it's not active, I don't think is ever been active."

"Oh," Barb Redbrook said with her hand near her heart, "going out into the forest without an Aura is rather dangerous."

"Yes, yes, it is." He had to shift the conversation away from this Aura nonsense, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Adam DeCobray."

The lady did a small curtsy with her dress, "I'm Barbra, Luke's wife. If you don't mind me asking Mister DeCobray but why were you in the forest alone with the Grimm all out and about?"

'Shit.' He thought, he had to come up with some sort of lie, "I was traveling with a few friends but we got separated. I'm sure they are fine."

"Jeez, I hope so partner." Luke said with furrowed eyebrows, "You should'a said something earlier about 'em, we could've tried finding them."

"We have been separated for several miles, but they know what they are doing." The Commander said hoping that they'd just drop the topic and move on.

"I hope they made it to Flatbrook or somewhere safe from the Grimm." Barbra said with concern, "Well, come on inside, I have piping hot soup and some bread on the table. Jane is also back from school."

"Jane's my daughter, she's studying to be a doctor, maybe she can take a look at your head and see how bad your bump is?" Luke asked as he lead the Commander into his home.

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline on that, my face is horribly disfigured, I wouldn't want to give her nightmares." The Commander semi-lied, sure he's got scars but they didn't really make him grotesque, he however hated other people seeing his face, it wasn't something that inspired terror like a mask, though it seems he'll have to work on that with these people.

"Well, if you insist Mister DeCobray." Luke said taking his coat off, hanging it upon a coat rack by the entrance of his house, next to a black trench coat and brown parka.

"Dad! Dad I-" A young woman with fiery orange hair wearing a similar dress to that of Barbra Redbrook, "Oh! Hello, I'm Jane Redbrook!"

"Adam DeCobray." The Commander said shaking her hand, he was starting to get sick of having to use this name.

"I met Mister DeCobray in the woods, he was fighting off an Ursa Major by himself without an Aura." Luke said passing the Commander and planting a kiss on his daughter's forehead, which she wiped off looking flustered, "He'll be staying here for tonight, tomorrow I'll be bringing him into Flatbrook to see if we can find his friends and maybe a doctor to get a look at his head."

"Oh, you got hit in the head?" Jane asked as she pulled up a medical bag that had some human biology books sticking out, "I can help."

"I'm fine, an ice pack is all I could really use." The Commander said watching the girl deflate a little at his refusal for treatment.

"Okay. If you say so Mister DeCobray." She said setting her medical bag back down.

"The medical field is a very lucrative one, a very smart choice." The Commander complimented, watching with amusement of how easy it was to get under their skin in a positive way, it was like they had never met a lying scoundrel before.

"My daughter is one of the smartest people in the village, well, besides Doctor Lancaster, he's a really smart fellow but he needs to work on his social skills." Luke said rolling his eyes, "Poor Alex was laughed out of Atlas's science circles after bringing up his theory of an evolutionary link for Humans and Faunus. I dunno what to think about, he's a good enough man but he is very…strange I guess you could say."

'Interesting.' The Commander thought, a scientist was something he could use.

Barbara lead the Commander into the dining room of the log cabin and started setting up a place for him at their round dining room table, "He was really bummed out with all the other populists that supported Ya-Ting Zǐsè, the poor girl spent over a year campaigning for the Mayor's office. But the Schnee backed candidate Adolphus Schwartzmalen won a good chunk of the votes."

"He obviously cheated," Luke said bitterly as he brought out two loafs of bread for the table, "miners took off work just to listen to her speak. When we go into town tomorrow I'm going to send a message out to the Capital, hell I'll even tell the other Huntsmen Academies about what is going on here. It's frankly unacceptable."

"Now Luke, you know that message isn't getting out," Barbra said as she retrieved a picture of lemon iced tea from the fridge, "those thugs will either censor it or it will mysteriously disappear. Did you know that a few of them passed by here a few days ago, they stole some corn from our field?"

"They've also been following us in town, those creeps even went into Doctor Lancaster's school house and tore up a bunch of our class text books. He's going to have to buy Schnee books from their store." Jane said with a look of despair.

"These Schnee thugs sound awful." Cobra Commander said nodding his head, though in truth they sounded just like his Cobra troopers, perhaps given some convincing they could be turned to his side.

"If I was a younger man I'd show them a thing or two." Luke said sitting himself down at the table with a napkin in his lap.

Barbra frowned at her husband with a sigh, "You'd get yourself hurt doing that Lucas."

"Bah," The retired Huntsman waved his hand, "I'll give those bastards a good beating if not outright kill them, I outa jus' do that."

"Dad!" "Lucas!" Both women of the family hissed at the table.

Cobra Commander sat silently observing the scene being played out before him, it reminded him of a previous life when he had similar arguments, if not outright fights with his wife before she just left him and-

'Billy…' The Commander lamented within the privacy of his mind, his greatest failure, his own son, the one thing he would've thrown Cobra away for, if only things hadn't gone so wrong.

Pulling himself away from the thoughts of his greatest failure he saw that the family was nearly done with their little discussion of petty morals.

"I'm not that old you know?" Luke said to his wife and daughter as he stirred his soup, "I reckon I could take on a Deathstalker with an arm tied behind my back."

Barbra rolled her eyes, "You're lucky you can even walk without a cane."

Jane's eyes flickered up towards the Commander's battle helmet, its visor staring back with a reflection of the whole table, "So mister DeCobray, if you don't mind me asking, why are you and your friends traveling this far south of Vytal?"

'Vytal, that's my location.' The Commander cleared his throat, doing very little good as he spoke in his raspy coarse, almost gravellike voice, "We are private contractors, looking for contracts. I mostly deal with negotiations and leadership, though we lost our way after an encounter with some Grimm."

His lie was believable it seemed, they bought his lie without so much of a suspicious glance.

"Hmm, you wouldn't find too much luck down here unless that snake Schwartzmalen feels like hiring non-Schnee muscle to carry out his dirty business," Luke said taking a sip of iced tea, "no offense, I take it that your family's crest is based off of your surname?"

The Commander glanced down at his Cobra sigil holding his shoulder cape together, "Yes, it's my family's crest."

Luke nodded but cringed momentarily, "I'm so sorry Mister DeCobray, I forgot that you're still wearing your mask."

"It isn't too much of a problem Mister Redbrook," The Commander said as he input the specific commands to remove his helmet lest the plastic explosive built into it would be triggered, "I am always prepared to remove my mask."

The Redbrook clan were momentarily surprised that the mystery man had an executioner hood with his family's crest overlapping the eye holes with the cobra's hoods, it was of the same color scheme as the rest of his uniform, bordering on dark blue and black, complementing his cold prominent blue eyes. He set the battle helmet on his lap as the family collected themselves from their initial shock.

"Geez," Luke said offering the Commander some bread, "that thangs pretty scary."

A thing yet smug smile crossed the Commander's lips as he accepted the bread, "I've been told that a lot, it's very breathable of its own, less restricting than most masks."

"If you don't mind me asking Mister DeCobray," Barbra asked looking somewhat concerned, "why do you even need to where those masks?"

"I took an explosion to the face," The Commander lied, "it didn't do its job obviously but it still roughed me up."

Jane and Barbra looked at him sympathetically, "I'm sorry to hear that Mister DeCobray."

"How about after dinner I unlock your Aura for you?" Luke asked, "It might be rather useful with your line of work."

The Commander smiled under his mask, though not entirely for the reason Luke thought, "I would appreciate that."

Luke thought that he was doing a great thing by promising he'd unlock the kind stranger's Aura, only the poor man had no clue of just who exactly he was speaking to, he had only seen a side of the man he knew as DeCobray, the old Huntsman had no idea just who exactly Cobra Commander was. One could assume that if knew he would've killed him in the forest.

Cobra Commander wouldn't blame him, he knew in his heart that this old kind man was a threat, his power from what was observed was immense, the weapon he used was obviously made of a much stronger metal alloy for it to cut through bone as if it was butter. Storm Shadow most indefiantly would find the metal to be extremely useful for new swords.

Though even the cold-hearted man had to admit, he liked these people, they reminded him of his previous life's dream, a nice little family and a cozy cottage, living out on the frontier. Luke seemed like he would be a good candidate for Cobra, but he had a sinking feeling that the old man would instead be more in line with the Joes.

When dinner was finished Luke did keep his word and unlocked the Commander's Aura, speaking a few beautifully written words and a surprisingly warm red glow coming from within the Commander's body he felt a new vigor, almost like he had the energy to move mountains. Unfortunately, the old man did explain what a Huntsman was inadvertently while talking about his past career, and unfortunately for him it sealed his fate as he made himself a threat to Cobra's rise here on this planet Remnant.

As the Commander listened to Luke speaking about his time fighting off Grimm for Flatbrook he heard the cry of a child, "You have a baby?"

"My grandson actually, I'm a bit too old for that," Luke said smirking, his lips fell into a frown though as he leaned against a wall, "Jane's husband was killed several months ago in a mine collapse, I couldn't let her just live alone in their apartment so I told her to move back in."

The Commander nodded, "I'm sorry to hear that."

Luke nodded his head, "Craig was a decent guy, he didn't deserve to be crushed in the mines, but the SDC Foreman wasn't held accountable for it. Our mayor sure as hell doesn't either, since it was deemed an accident no matter how avoidable it was we weren't able to build a case to sue 'em, like we'd get anywhere doing that anyways."

He knew the feeling, government officials being in a big corporation's pocket, the little guy gets pushed around and spat on while they were expected to shill out and fight for their profits to rise. For a while he hated them, but being able to pull both of their strings showed him something, power was euphoric, power made people listen, power was something he craved.

"It sounds like they've got their grip around the town's throat," The Commander said nodding his head, "I believe you mentioned something about the election for mayor, who was the opposition?"

Luke pulled a flyer from out of a desk and handed it to the Commander, "They're called the Flatbrook Syndicalist Worker's Party, a good chunk of the miners working in the town, Faunus and Human subscribe to the party. I find them a bit out there in their views but anything is better than Schwartzmalen being in Schnee's pocket, they even got a few of the smaller gunsmithing and blacksmithing shops waving little red and black flags."

The Commander opened the brochure, of all of the ideologies to mirror ones on Earth, Syndicalism? Guess it's better than the even more extreme ones, Communists, Nazis, Fascists, when you get down to it there's really only a few differences between them, the Syndicalists were basically watered-down Communists, but these townspeople might very well hold some city-state Fascist beliefs and oppose the greater government.

Such ripe conquest, he is love with the town already.

"Doc Lancaster usually doesn't like hanging around with folk, but he sure does love to hear what Ya-Ting Zǐsè has to say about education and technology. She's the party leader and its candidate for mayor, she's a sweet girl, but boy does she have control issues, a bit ambitious, she only started public speaking on account of her being nervous in front of crowds."

A picture of Ya-Ting Zǐsè was on the pamphlet, to the Commander she looked like an Oriental, possibly Chinese, woman in clothes he expected Vladimir Lenin to have worn in the October Revolution. Very strange, her eye color was strange as well, a blue left eye and green right eye, black hair with violet tips, a very thin figure as well, the coat nearly smothered her whole body excluding her head.

Next to her picture was a man, he looked like he belonged on a Soviet style propaganda poster, a man his size and fitness could prove useful in a fight…or revolution.

Luke nodded to the picture, "That there is Tobias, he's a good money man, there's a rumor that Mista Schnee himself fired him because he found a few undocumented expenditures, maybe to pay off some goons, or for a mystery lady. The man likes his protein shakes and morning runs, strong as an Ox."

Another man was visible near the end of the pamphlet, his hair was as red as a certain female Joe he couldn't quite recall the name of, strangely he had a bit of a lupine face to him and- a fox tail? Not the strangest thing the Commander has ever seen, but from what Luke suggested this was considered normal and despised like some, the man rivaled Tobias in size, only he had a automatic shotgun by the looks of it on his shoulders as he posed with some militia men, offering to recruit others to patrol for Grimm.

"That there is Reinhard Blau, a bit of an anarchist hunter gatherer type, I heard his parents and him got in a bit of trouble in Vacuo, never dove in too deep into what exactly went down, rumor has it though that gunfire between them and the Vacuo Defense Force. Gimme a sec."

The Commander watched as Luke dug through his desk and pulled out a photo, it had the old Huntsman standing with the aforementioned party leader and members of the party in what looked like a bar in a basement, each had a frosted mug in their hands and a painfully happy smile on their faces, "That was when Ya-Ting was announced as a candidate, the bar itself is under the table, the town does have a bar but Philip Bedrock is a sonuvabitch that is also in Schnee's pocket, selling his boozes far more than they're worth, got a whorehouse incorporated into his bar, our bar is something the miner's enjoy but they always go over there feeling lonely if you catch my drift."

Cobra Commander nodded, he knew very well how his men would enjoy whatever leave they got on some cheap disease-ridden floozies and piss tasting boozes, though he'd never openly admit it, whenever he got the chance a good shot of Whiskey waited for him in a secret compartment under his desk, his tastes in women were also very high quality, if he had the time he'd make sure he got only the best.

Luke, it seemed had a similar taste in his drink and its hiding place as he pulled a big bottle and a few glasses from his desk drawer, "Don't let Barb know I got this, she doesn't like any firewater in the house, I got some gum to hide the taste."

The Commander chuckled nodding his head, "I understand, my brother and I used to-"

The old Huntsmen noticed how the man before him stopped midsentence, he understood what it meant, "I'm sorry Mister DeCobray, didn't mean to-"

"Its fine," The Commander said surprisingly softly as he took a glass, "he's been gone for a while. Ironically this was his poison, he chose it when he was driving and died because of it."

Luke poured them their drinks, he raised his glass, "To friends, new and past."

The Commander met his glass, "To the future and those we bring with us."

In a flash Luke downed his drink, hitting the glass on some papers that muffled its hit on the table, lest his wife heard. The Commander pulled his hood out a little bit and downed his shot like it was a glass of water and slammed it down next to Luke's, "So when are we leaving for Redbrook?"

Luke nodded and gestured to a map of the area he had posted on the opposite wall, "Though I may be a retired Huntsman I know these woods better than anyone. If we take this path here it'll lead us on a path where we'll more than likely not see very many or any Grimm at all, it's a two hour walk at least, we'll get up bright and early, then after a handsome breakfast and a packed-up lunch we'll be on our way."

"It sounds like a good plan." The Commander said, he memorized the map quickly within his mind, every road, every stream, it was a skill he had developed whenever he was running from the Joes…pretty much every time he faced them.

"This little schoolhouse right here," The Commander's eyes followed the man's finger to a building on the map, "this is where I'll introduce you to Lancaster, you seem like a pretty smart fella, you might even get along."

'I know we will.' A dark thought whispered in the Commander's ear, 'he has use.'

He smiled under his mask and nodded, "I'm sure we'll strike up a conversation on something."

"Good," Luke yawn hiding his bottle and glasses back in his desk, "I'll show you to your room, we always have a guest house prepared just in case any weary travelers were to find their way here."

His room was nothing grand, it was a simple oak room with a comfy bed against the wall under a window seal, showing the broken moo- broken moon? The Commander decided that maybe it didn't deserve looking into, he after all hadn't slept in three days, planning before his address to the U.N kept him up, killing traitors and inspiring a new wave of fear required a certain amount of grumpiness to really get into the feel of it.

After a final thank you to the old Huntsmen he sat upon the bed with his battle mask in his hands, he stared at his masked reflection, concentrating on his eyes as he growled to himself. Today marked the end of ALL failures on Earth, here, here he shall rebuild his beloved Cobra, here he will amass a force unlike any other this planet has ever seen, here, he shall show them what a real terrorist looked like.

Morning came, it greeted the Commander as he had risen an hour before the sun itself, he had stripped the upper half of his uniform as he performed an improvised morning workout routine, a man like him after all could not afford a double chin or beer belly when running a ruthless organization like Cobra. In his mind he was already coming up with the sweet venomous words he'd tell to the leader of the FSWP, he'd bend her to his will like a bow, he'd string along the followers of the party, and then, when the time was right, launch his quiver of arrows at those in power.

They will be on their knees!

They will beg for his mercy!

They will receive none!

They. Will. Give. Him. What. He. WANTS!

A cruel grin crossed his lips as he finished his set of two hundred pushups, hearing movement around the house he clothed himself in his uniform and hood, his battlemask would have to wait until after breakfast before he would decide to put it on to hide himself from the world fully.

He carefully left the room, just because he was an evil terrorist mastermind did not mean he didn't have manners, this after all was a special morning, so he'd let them enjoy it for as long as they could. Barbra walked past his hall yawning, wearing a bathrobe over her nightgown, her hair was looking as if a hurricane had combed it.

She entered the kitchen and started rifling through cabinets, pulling out coffee mugs and setting them on the counter, then she started the process of fixing a pot of coffee for the house. The Commander appreciated the smell of the machine, coffee has been a very trustworthy friend throughout his years, one of the few things he could trust, the mug could not back stab him, the liquid could not shoot him, and the energy it provided could not lie to him.

Coffee was a good friend.

"Good morning." He said as he entered the kitchen, Barbra flinched just slightly as she put her hand over her chest.

"Oh! Mister DeCobray, oh lordly, awfully early isn't it?" She asked with an embarrassed smile and blushed cheeks.

"It is," He looked over at her fridge and pantries, "would you like my help in cooking?"

She blinked seemingly surprised, "I-I couldn't ask you to do that, you're our guest."

The Commmander nodded but insisted pulling an apron on that hung from a hanger on the wall, "You all have been so kind to me, I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't at least start off repaying you all with a breakfast, I'm sure you work hard enough Mrs Redbrook, please, sit down, I promise nothing will explode."

A smile grew on the ginger woman's face as she chuckled, "Well, if you insist. Thank you Mister DeCobray."

He nodded his head as she left, his lips pressed into a thin line, he said nothing as he started finding his way through the kitchen cabinets, it didn't take him long to discover where the utensils and foodstuffs were stored within the confines of fine trimmed oak cabinets. Plates were set, a pan was warming up, and several eggs found their way into a mixing bowl with a dash of milk, he would give them a good breakfast.

It was the least that he could do for them.

Nearly half an hour would past before Jane and her father entered the kitchen, surprised to see their oddly dressed guest fixing them breakfast, Barbra for the most part explained to them why he opted to do it, he even repeated his lines to them over his shoulder as bacon fried in the pan.

When it was finished the leader of the most ruthless terrorist organization on Earth had just made four omelets, one for himself and three for his most gracious hosts. He delivered them one by one. Jane, Barbra, and finally Luke.

"Thank you very much," The older man said with a great big smile, he sat at the head of the table with his daughter on his left and his wife on the right, "it's very rare to come up against such a fine and gentlemanly stranger such as yourself."

Strangely, an ever so foreign feeling hit the Commander, his heart almost fluttered against his ribs, an honest smile tugged at his lips, "It has been very rare for myself to meet such kind generous people. You found me in a forest, lost, alone, and in danger, yet, you still risked your life for mine. Many have rarely ever shown me such kindness."

The Huntsman and his family beamed at him, it seemed almost like a dream, a dream the Commander had long since forgotten, one that he crushed in favor of one of grandeur, one of greatness, one that saw him fulfill his own selfish wants and needs, to satisfy his ego, to prove himself to someone or something even.

He sat down and watched as the family enjoy the meal he had prepared for them, he watched them eat bite after bite, each one seemed to savor the fluffy eggs and firm crunchy bacon.

"We'll set out soon after we get done eating," Luke said between bites, "I also have something for you in the living room, it's a family heirloom but you're an honest enough man. My father's old double barrel scattergun and cutlass, don't mean to be riding you but your saber and pistol weren't really cutting it against that Ursa."

Barbra rolled her eyes, "Really Luke? Cutting it?"

"That was a bad one dad." Jane said nodding her head.

"Well I'm trying, aren't I?" The old man said shrugging his shoulders with a grin.

The Commander let a bittersweet snicker escape him, he saw Luke's eyes flicker to his omelet.

"You haven't touched your food, are you sure you're feeling al-" The Huntsman blinked rapidly in shock as he started feeling his throat tighten, he started coughing, reaching for a glass of water, believing it would push whatever he was choking on down his throat.

Barbra was about to say something but she started choking as well as Jane, all three were either scratching at their throats and or grasping the white cloth of their table.

"He-h-help us!" Barbra cried as she stared with tearing bloodshot eyes at the Commander, reaching her hand out.

With a sigh he removed his hood, surprising the Redbrook clan, his features were fair if not chiseled in the form of a handsome man in his late thirties, his dark brown hair was brushed back by a gloved hand, it seemed there was no indication of him ever being disfigured, he stood from the table looking at Luke.

"Mister Redbrook," He said grasping the man by the shoulder, "I have been lying to you for a long time, but I was not lying when I said you and your family have been so kind to me, normally I feel nothing for little people like you. But you have treated me very well, you have shown me kindness, something very few people in my previous world rarely ever showed me. You and your family are the most ideal thing anyone could hope for, I wished things were different, that we could've been friends in another life."

The patriarch gasped as a knife went right between his ribs and into his heart, tears ran from his eyes as he grasped the Commander's arms weakly, unable to push him off.

A sudden coldness came over the Commander's blue eyes, a single tear rolled down his cheek as he wrestled the knife out and stabbed the old Huntsman in his vena cava artery, he hissed between his teeth as the knife suddenly twisted, "But I love the idea of your town under my boot, its people on their knees, all under me. So I thank you, once more Mister Redbrook, I am sorry this is how it has to be, I will repay you and your family's sacrifice, as martyrs, for a revolution."

He let the old man fall to the floor, blood seeping from his wounds, his eyes glazed, deader than a doornail.

Barbra wanted to scream but she gathered the strength to push her daughter towards the door, desperately she flung herself at the Commander, his knife found its way to the same vital artery, her eyes stared hatefully into his as she desperately punched and kicked to buy her daughter time.

"I'm sorry Barbra." He whispered stabbing her repeatedly in her abdomen, flipped the knife into a reverse grip and stabbed her in the neck before tossing her towards her husband's body.

Slowly the ginger woman crawled onto her husband's lifeless body as she fruitlessly shook him, her face fell against his as the life flickered from her eyes, their blood joining together as it covered the floor.

Jane stumbled towards the front door as she ran from the Commander, her body slammed against the wooden doorframe, desperately and without coordination she grasped the door handle, pulling and twisting frantically as the unmasked man walked calmly towards her from behind, just as she managed to open it she reached around the frame only to stop suddenly as she reared her head back in pain.

She looked down in horror as the a long blade glistening with her blood was pulled back suddenly, her body gave wave falling back within the house, her head hitting the floor unceremoniously, blood seeped from her body as she upon first thought tried applying pressure, only to see the man standing above her, sealing her fate.

"I'm so very sorry," He whispered, watching the young beauty choke and bleed to death before his eyes, "But I could not afford your father ruining my plan, and I most certainly could not afford witnesses…plus, martyrs, they are useful to the cause. Thank you for having lidocaine in your bag, it made this whole ordeal easier for me to do."

Tears streamed down her face as she started to choke something out, reaching towards the sound of crying from within the house, "N-ooo, …m-m-my… b-ba-baby!"

The Commander stabbed downwards into her belly, "It'll be over soon. I promise it'll be quick."

He didn't bother looking down again, the woman had gone silent, her eyes staring down the hall as the Commander walked, her hands reaching out as she desperately wanted to shield her child from the monster they had unfortunately let into their home, her face was appropriate, as it was stuck in a silent scream for help, in anguish, in pain.

Gently the Commander pushed the door open, his eyes locking onto a crib where the crying child lied, writhing on his back as he screamed at the sudden noises that had promptly woke him from his slumber. His pacifier was near the bars of his crib, his blanket and stuffed teddy bear flanked his left and right respectively, just as he was about to send the sabre down towards the child the Commander's eyes widened in shock.

Carved in wood at the front was the child's name, a name that haunted the Commander for years as tears welled up in his eyes, steadily streaming down his face, "B-Billy!?"

The sword clamored to the ground, he fell to his knees with his eyes welded shut, his head nodded to the side furiously as he stood up with his knife unsheathed in a reverse grip. Yet the blade could not fall, his teary bloodshot blue eyes met the child's very own bright radiant blue orbs.

His knife joined the sabre on the floor, gently he wrapped the child up within his arms, "Shhhh, shhhhh, shhhhhh, it's okay Billy, it's okay, shhhhh, shhhhhhh…"

From his long since dormant instincts, he began to rock the child back and forth, humming warmly to him as he had done so previously with his son, the child mewled and whimpered as he continued fussing in the Commander's arms. He plucked the pacifier and pushed it into the baby's mouth, silencing the whimpering and mewling, the Commander then held the teddy bear up.

"You want your teddy?" He asked with a bittersweet smile, shaking the bear slightly, the child as expected reached out and pulled the bear to his chest, looking up at the Commander with questioning eyes.

"It's okay. It's okay. I won't hurt you, I would never hurt you, I promise." Cobra Commander whispered, he kissed the baby's forehead as he held him against his chest.

An hour passed for the Commander as he put preparations in motion, he had gathered up the provisions meant for him and Luke, along with some baby formula he found in the fridge, he didn't spare the bodies a passing glance, usual and unnatural guilt passed through the Commander, he actually felt bad for once.

These people had been kind to him, they fed and they gave him a place to rest, he repaid them with by numbing their throats so they'd choke on the food he made for them, then stabbed them to death to speed up the process. Now he had a dead woman's son slung across his chest, his mother having been drugged back into the house away from the door.

He powered his way out of the house with Red Dust, a quick skimming through Luke's books provided details he needed on how to use these miracle ores. Fully masked with the house reflecting off of his chrome faceplate, the final touches were added to make it look like a break, broken glass and door hinges, bodies arranged so that the worst of travesties befell the family before their demises.

Lies, it seemed, were his best friends followed by coffee, he'd tell a story of heroism, a story of how a poor innocent family was butchered and burned within their home, the alleged culprits would find themselves soon surrounded by a once docile people, tearing them to pieces as they hail him as a hero.

Tossing a lighter onto the Dust trail he walked away as the mineral superheated, igniting the house, he had broken a right amount of windows to give the fire the oxygen it needed, the path it would take leading throughout the house, enough flammable material was laid close enough to further help the spread.

The Commander started walking, clocked in the trench coat his murdered savior once wore, a backpack full of provisions, and a baby sleeping in his sling near the Commander's heart. His new saber replaced his old one, the Dust using sawed off double barrel rested in a holster hidden by Billy's sling.

A grin crossed the Commander's lips as he looked down at the sleeping child, "Just you and me Billy, just you and me, like old times. This time, I will not fail you."

Wow...I'm a sick fuck aren't I? I mean, this all started out with my beta reader and I entertaining the idea of the most ruthless incarnation of Cobra Commander walking upon Remnant, it has been nagging me in the back of my head, so I picked the most fucked up way to introduce the most dangerous man alive to the world of bloody evolution. Now I know some will want to critique me on his portrayal thus far, all he was doing was resorting to old snake tongued tricks to better understand his new world or at least get the bare basics, as to the Redbrooks? He was going to kill them the moment he met Luke, they however managed to remind him of something he so desperately wanted in his past, his life up until then was just failure and hate, they were a welcomed change to that combo but fate wasn't in their favor.

I've mixed up the Resolute anime and the IDW comics, in those comics he didn't kill Billy like in The Devil's Due, Billy died to ninja cyborgs and his body was delivered to him by Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.

He and Billy might've drifted apart, even resented each other, but in the end, Cobra Commander still loved his enough to break down crying in the comic itself and even give him a funeral, one without a eulogy, but it was still something. In his warped fucked in the head mind he has been given a second chance at fatherhood but his ambition is ever present, this isn't a story for the weak of heart, this isn't a hero story, this is going to mostly center around him, but he will cross with RWBY and Beacon when Volume 1 comes towards its end and Cobra having already been slithering around for four years, rises, to strike fear into the hearts of all who oppose it!

HAIL COBRA!