The night was quiet... a little too quiet. Leonardo had been feeling a sense of unease during the whole day, but now with the sun down the little serenity that he had left had dissipated. His ninjitsu training had conditioned both his mind and body to a certain innate calmness. Meditating was not helping tonight. There was something in the air that was making the oxygen around him thicker.

"Leonardo, sir. You seem anxious..." Embolos, the kind giant bull-man, was the closest to Leonardo in his squadron. It was not rare for him to notice something was off with his commanding officer.

"Yes... I can't seem to shake this feeling that something is off..." Leo twirled a bullet casing between his fingers; something he did whenever he was deep in thought.

"Perhaps a nice run would help those nerves?" Embolos smiled at Leo, grabbing for his axe-hammer with his right hand.

Leonardo quirked an eyebrow. "For someone like you out of people to make such a suggestion leads me to believe I must be getting on your nerves with my pacing...?" Embolos was one of the most disciplined soldiers Leo had ever met. To go out at night without real consent was not something he would normally propose. Without a formal agreement, Leonardo sheathed his twin tanto blades and holstered his magnum to his belt. "Lead the way, soldier."

Embolos was heavier than Leo, for which he stayed in low ground while the forest-green turtle rather leap above the rock formations, his martial arts training making stealth and agility second nature. He was called 'the silent death' by many in his squadron... The reasons obvious.

They covered a lot of ground in no time at all, getting about seven miles away from base. "Sir, it is awfully quiet tonight..."

That was the thought that had given Leo his worry all day. "Yes. It is-" Leo's words where cut off by the sudden sound of gunfire going off in the distance. Leo immediately leaped to the floor next to Embolos, a silent glance, then a nod followed, and he started to lead the way towards the noise.

There were Lacerta bodies on the ground, the remaining reptiles very agile, leaping through the air in a savage carnage trying to sink their teeth and claws on whomever they could reach.

The special unit scattered in smaller formations to make it harder for the predators to pick their targets. Their training had prepared them to fight all enemies, but fighting beings who didn't have real tactical movements was proving to be rather difficult, and the casualties, even if few, were staring to add up. Raph got separated from Traximus, both of them leading different groups in hopes of taking the hoard out.

Raph kept firing his gun, his aim unshakeable, he nailed one after the other either in its eyes or under its neck. If anything came too close to him he had Lag close by ready to slash them down with his claw attachments. As a soldier, Lagdora had had a bit of a rough start, the reason being his body features made it hard for him to use hand held weaponry, his fingers being too long to pull a trigger efficiently. But Traximus had seen great potential in him, and had requested the manufacture of claw-extensions, special made out of a special tungsten blend, the strongest natural metal in existence. He had become a master in close attacks, being an invaluable member of the squadron. Any time a Lacerta came too close to Raphael, Lag would swiftly take it down by beheading it, or would slow its movements by gauging its eyes.

"They're never ending!" Casey yelled.

"Keep reloading!" Raphael's forearms where numb from the constant firing of his Smith and Wesson twin revolvers. His body was used to pushing its limits, but for some reason this particular night, the skull lizards where chirping the same way they chirped when they destroyed his home... Raphael kept fighting his mind to stay focused, and ignore the painful memories that were clawing themselves to the surface of his heart.

It was one of those moments that terror jumped in front of him, glazing his sight for the quick second that it took a Lacerta to swipe its claws over his right arm, cutting into his muscle. Raphael roared in pain, Lag quickly jumped forward and took the lizard down. "Raphael!"

"I'm ok! Stay focused!" Raph let his mangled arm hang to his side as he used his teeth to hold a loaded gun-barrel to replace the half empty one in his weapon. Suddenly, he heard a low rumble behind him. He turned to find a Lacerta charging at him. His pupils shrunk, bracing for the impact.

The hard skull of the animal pummeled against his chest. He heard a loud cracking sound followed by the sharpest pain he had felt in his life. His body was sent flying back into a large boulder which stopped his trajectory. He couldn't breathe... every time he tried to expand his lungs he felt as if he was drowning. He opened his mouth to scream, but only a dry gasp came out. "Raaaaappphhh!!!!!!" Casey's scream faded out in a high pitch ring in the turtle's ear-drums. He saw Lag running towards him right before his eyes fogged over. Then, everything was dark.

Lagdora ran for Raphael's body while Casey kept shooting the animals around them. The scaly lizard propped his Commander's body against his own from behind. "I can't get a pulse!"

"Damn it to hell!" Jones' dark eyes where wide with a mix of rage and fear. His Ak-47 kept blasting away a storm of bullets, their casings filling the ground at his feet. For every Lacerta he took down, two would come forward. After sending three more to oblivion, his gun jammed. "Fuckin' piece of shit! Aaahhhh!!!" He threw the weapon at the nearest monster and ran to crouch next to his comrades. He shared a look with Lag, they both knew they were done for.

Suddenly, out of the corner of their eyes, they saw a flash of green.

Leonardo slid on his carapace underneath a line of Lacerta, his twin tanto blades in hand, he severed their heads as he passed them by. Casey looked at Lagdora. "His uniform! He's on our side!" As Leo stood up, he unholstered his Magnum and shot a Lacerta coming form above. The beast fell in front of the three friends, hurt but not dead, it tried to jump on them, but a massive weight came down on its head, crushing its skull with a massive blow. Embolos was roaring as he lifted his axe-hammer with his bull strength.

Leonardo ran to him, he pulled some kind of device from his jacket, pressed a button to its side and threw it to the air. As the cube-shaped object reached a certain height, it opened, a laser-like light emanated from it, shooting down it struck every single Lacerta left on the battle field. Everything went silent. It was over.

"Raph! Raph, buddy!?" Both Casey and Lagdora where shaking Raphael's body, trying to get some kind of response out of his limp state. But Raph didn't move.

"What happened?" Leo approached the two and crouched down, bringing his fingers to Raph's neck.

"He got hit bad, sir," Jones answered.

"He's alive, barely... we need to get his lungs working again. Lay him back." Leonardo guided Lag in lowering Raph's body carefully. He then leaned down and got the side of his face very close to Raph's mouth, trying to hear for signs of breathing. Not feeling anything, he closed Raph's nostrils with one hand and placed his mouth to the emerald turtle's, blowing air into his lungs a couple of times before giving the chance to resume breathing on his own. He repeated this two times, but Raph still refused to breathe. "Come on, soldier... Don't die in front of your men." Leo's whisper was heard in an echo inside Raph's head, and it was after the third time his lungs where filled with Leo's breath that Raph came to in a coughing fit.

"Raph!" Casey and Lag helped their friend to sit, Leo was still close, his hands lingering on Raph's chest.

Raphael's eyes slightly opened, just for a moment, enough to catch a glimpse of Leo's face. He then faded back to sleep. "He will be ok, but his wounds need tending."

"Leonardo. Embolos."

The two soldiers turned to see a blood-covered Traximus approaching them.

"Commander Trax. It is an honor to see you again, sir." Leonardo saluted courteously. Embolos bowed.

"The honor is mine. I owe you greatly, soldiers." Trax then noticed Raphael on the floor, his eyes growing wide in concern.

"He is out of danger, but he needs medical attention, as many other of your men, I'll assume," Leonardo said. "Help is on its way. As soon as we reached you and saw what was happening, I sent an SOS back to base. They should be arriving any moment now."

"Thank you, Leonardo. You are as efficient as ever." Traximus walked towards Raphael and the others. "You have done well, men. I am proud of you all."

Lagdora and Casey smiled at their superior, but their minds where still troubled as they laid eyes on their fallen friend.

Notes:

Come with me as I do my best to take you guys on a heck of a trip where Raphael and the guys are soldiers in an army trying to rid the world of the monstrous Cerebrum Lacertas in this wonderful AU created by @Seigaku-san.

All credits to @Seigaku-san for this story. I'm just a funnel putting it on paper to share with the fandom. Hope you all like! Please leave us your comments below!