RWBY: Just A COG In The Machine

Tie the Knot

"Why would Ozpin give us a mission on a weekend?"
Velvet asked her team leader.
Soon after Coco arrived, the rest of CVFY showed up for the makeshift briefing Coco had in the dorm room with Velvet and Isaac sitting on the rabbit faunus' bed, Coco stood in the center to address her team, Yatsuhashi stood next to the window with his arms crossed, and Fox sat on his bed.
"Ozpin said it was an immediate threat."
Coco fished her scroll out of her pocket and tapped a few buttons.
"There was also this."
Coco hit one last button that played an audio recording.
"This SDC Shaft 257! We're being slaughtered in here!"
The panicked tone of the miner clear as day as he shouted desperately as if it would save him.
"We broke into a cave and found some kind of new Grimm. They jumped on the security team we sent to clean them out and killed them! Now they are killing us off up to the sur-"
The miner stopped as his breathing increased and a growl soon afterward.
"No! Please! Wa-"
The miner pleaded as his voice trailed as he tried to escape the creature stalking him before a wet crunch was heard and followed by more screaming before Coco shut off the recording.
"He said something about a new Grimm. Think that is possible?"
Fox asked.
"New Grimm are rare but they are not unheard of. Only a year ago we discovered Grimm that shares similarities of a Gryphon."
Yatsuhashi said.
"Where is the mine?"
Velvet questioned.
"It's in Vacuo. Deep in the desert. So pack light and pack water. I don't want any of you to become a heat casualty."
Coco warned sternly.
"Any idea what the mine is like?"
Isaac asked.
"SDC mines are carved out so that large cavern areas are used as offices, storage, and other rooms and have smaller tunnels branching off of those."
Isaac nodded.
"Roger that. When do we leave?"
"As soon as we are ready."

The team did as they were told and packed light. Each of them had a backpack on and was in a similar state of dress to compensate for the heat of Vacuo.
Isaac was in his usual dress only he discarded the standard COG top in favor of the short sleeved shirt under it and had tied his blue bandanna around his left bicep. The pack he carried was the same as the other huntsmen in training, a dark bag with the Beacon logo, and had his Gnasher strapped to the side via magnetics similar to what Isaac had on his armor.
Velvet had chosen a short sleeved style as well on her black under suit and had a more open version of her usual brown vest that had a zipped down the middle. She also had her camera under her bag, strapped to her waist.
Coco had done something similar and wore a brown tanktop that had a belt of ammunition going down her right shoulder to her left hip which intersected with her belt that held even more ammunition.
Yatsuhashi turned his usual garb in for a simple t-shirt but kept the shoulder armor and pants while Fox didn't change at all as his usual clothing provided more than sufficient cooling.
The team boarded the Bullhead and rode the several hours to the wasteland that was the Vacuo deserts.
After a few hours after CVFY had departed, RWBY and JNPR was met with a note on the door that read
'Went on a mission. Will be back soon.
~Coco'
Weiss' eye twitched at her chance to get answers from the mysterious soldier was once again avoided but was calmed down at the teams saying how as soon as they get back she could talk all she wanted. Weiss accepted their with a humph and moved on with her day with Nora groaning about how her pancake time was being dug into.

The team landed a days walk from the mine. Coco waved goodbye at the pilot as he left to return back to the academy.
"Now where too? This all looks the same to me."
Velvet said, looking at the small map she took out from her pocket.
"This way."
Isaac's voice echoed slightly under his helmet as he waved over to his team.
"How do you know?"
Yatsuhashi asked.
"Before we left, Coco gave me a location and I synchronized it to my helmet. So now I have a waypoint to the general area where the mine is."
"That's handy."
Fox said.
"You have no idea. Come on."
After a few hours of walking, the heat took its toll as the team began to sweat and water bottles were rationed to avoid killing off their supply of life giving water.
"This is horrible. How do you tolerate this heat in that helmet?"
Coco asked, having stored her minigun-bag in her backpack for easier transportation.
"I'm used to it at this point."
Isaac said simply.
Velvet huffed as she wiped her head for the ten dozenth time.
"Do you have anything like this back in the COG?"
She asked.
"We have a place called the Deadlands."
"I don't know about you Isaac but the more I hear about your world, the more it sounds like a nightmare."
Fox said and was given a elbow to the ribs by Coco as a response.
"It wasn't always like that. You know what they say about desperate times."
Isaac said.
"Deadlands were made from the Hammer Strikes and that created a dry, lifeless, piece of land that stretched for miles. Never been there myself, and honestly, I have no idea if this place is worse or just as bad as the Deadlands."
Isaac said, adjusting his Lancer into a better spot in his arms as the team continued their trek across the desert for the next few hours until it got dark.
The dark, cold, sands swirled around as night fell, giving the desert a mysterious look to them.
Along with the usual survival gear, Yatsuhashi and Isaac were both assigned a pair of cylindrical bags that contained large tents.
Isaac's helmet was a useful tool as the night became darker, the darker it became and the more difficult it was to see. CVFY had turned on their lights and were met with a plethora of Grimm soon after.
As soon as the light was turned on a pack of beowolves rose from the sands and bounded toward CVFY.
Coco was about to turn the pack into mulch via her minigun before Isaac placed his hand on the weapon.
"Hey Velvet."
The faunus in question turned to face the Gear.
"Show me what you got."
Isaac said with a smile under his helmet.
Velvet nodded before dashing forward and creating a copy of Yang's shotgun gauntlets to launcher herself forward and punch the skull mask of a Beowolf into nothing but shards of broken bone and black blood. Another attempted to pounce on Velvet only to swap the gauntlets in favor of Blake's clever and pistol.
Velvet used the ribbon and threw the Beowolf over her head and forced it down with a quick yank of the weapon, snapping the creature's neck. She turned around and fired a few accurate rounds into three more beowolves before switching into yet another weapon, specifically Ruby's weapon.
Velvet zipped around, swinging the Scythe, cutting apart any Grimm that thought they could get past the holographic blade. Those that chose to keep their distance were not safe either as Velvet would put a few .50 Cal rounds into the creature before moving onto her next target.
The next weapon was Isaac's own Lancer that was fired into the remaining Grimm.
One quietly stalked up to the rabbit faunus, waiting for it's chance to pounce on the vulnerable rabbit. It jumped and met a grizzly fate as the chainsaw blade of the Lancer met the midsection of the Beowolf, tearing the dark creature in half with a shower of its dark blood.
Velvet took a moment to catch her breath as she leaned on the copy of the Lancer.
Isaac jogged over to her and gently set her down on a knee just as the copy evaporated.
"That was impressive."
Isaac said with a smile under his helmet as he handed the rabbit faunus his canteen for her to sip from.
"Nice job Velvet. Let's set up for the night and get some rest. We got a big day tomorrow."
"Agreed."
Coco and Yatsuhashi said, as large teen set down the tent.
After the camp was set up and a security shift was established, the team ate their rations and turned in for the night with Isaac taking the first shift.
The Gear has set up a tarp under the foldable chair he sat on as Isaac listened, within his helmet, to the howls of distant Beowolves as he laid his Lancer across his lap.
"Hey."
Isaac turned and saw Velvet in a tanktop and black pants with a brown blanket, that had her logo on the front, around her shoulders.
"What are you doing out here? Get some rest."
Isaac said as he turned his attention to the scenery once again.
"Thought you could use some company."
Velvet said, sitting next to Isaac.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Security like this is supposed to be dull."
Velvet had a concerned look on her face.
"Something wrong?"
Isaac asked.
"It's just about tomorrow. I don't know why but I'm getting a bad feeling about it."
Isaac came down from his chair and sat next to Velvet and wrapped his arm around her. Velvet blushed and leaned into the gesture.
"We are going up against a different kind of Grimm. It would be weird if you weren't concerned about tomorrow."
Isaac said.
"I know that but I just can't help but feel like something bad is going to happen."
"Sadly that is always a variable when you are deployed to do a job like this. But we are trained to do things like this. One way or another we are going to get through tomorrow and we are going to go back home."
Isaac said.
Velvet took some time to think about her next words.
"But what if we don't? I know it's a little soon to talk about this but I want to do this now incase something happens. Did you think about us? I still want to be with you, if you want to be with me that is."
Velvet said timidly, her ears drooping down. Isaac held her tighter and set his Lancer to the side so he could hold the faunus with both of his arms.
"I gave it some thought and I honestly want to give this a shot. I like you Velvet. I really do. I just don't want to hurt you. I don't want to drag you down just so you can take care of me."
Isaac said in a low tone.
"You won't. You have been a fantastic friend and I would love to have something more with you. I'm willing to do anything if it means I get to stay with you. I've never done anything like this before so please stay with me. I love you."
Isaac sighed and took off his helmet to see Velvet huddled closely in his hold with her eyes shut tight.
He set his helmet down next to his Lancer and gave Velvet a kiss on the top of her head, making her open her eyes in shock.
"I love you too Velvet. If you really are willing to put up with me. I'm happy to have you."
Velvet cried silent tears of joy as she threw her arms Isaac, discarding the blanket, and wrapped her own arms around him and peppered him with her own kisses.
The both smiled as they held each other.
"Aw."
Isaac and Velvet went wide eyed as they turned their heads to the origin of the voice to find Coco, and the rest of CVFY from their tents, with her head and scroll poking out of her tent with a smile on her face.
"That was really adorable Velv. Treat her right Carver or we will have a few issues."
Coco said with a mix between a glare and a grin with Fox right next to her and Yatsuhashi occupying the other tent. Both of them were smiling and chuckling at the blushing Velvet's expense. 
"Coco! Go to sleep!"
"Alright. Definitely worth the loss of an hour of sleep."
Coco said with a smile on her face as she zipped the tent back up.
"Congratulations Velvet."
Fox said with Yatsuhashi simply nodding.
"Please just go to sleep."
"As you wish. Don't try anything weird tonight."
Fox said with a grin as he zipped the tent back up, leaving Velvet blushing.
Isaac picked up the fallen blanket and wrapped himself and Velvet in the warmth of the blanket. Velvet closed her eyes and sighed with a smile on her face.
"Good night. I love you."
Velvet said as she finally went to sleep, curled up next to Isaac.
"I love you too."
Isaac whispered as he gave his new girlfriend a kiss on the top of her head and continued to keep watch throughout the night.