Hello everyone! It has been a while since I made a proper one-shot or fic, and this is my latest one. I've been playing Valkyria Chronicles on the Switch recently, and have fallen in love.
I especially love the waifu that is Selvaria. And I also loved the Batomys.
But of course, this one is a bit different than usual. I changed the Batomys into something different, something that would fit into RWBY better. Of course, all the characters here have no Aura, but it felt better to make it more of a Paladin than a proper tank.
Also, some Emerald X Jaune, since we need more of that ship. The dark skinned beauty needs to fall for the dorky knight more often. If anyone is planning to make an Emerald X Jaune fic, please PM me the link.
Also, if anyone wants to use this for themselves, in something like a reaction fic, feel free. Just message me first, tell me your using it. Other than that, go wild.
Though, a fair warning to you all, even I think this is bad. If you say it is bad, yeah, I agree with you. I'm uploading it anyway!
I hope you all enjoy.
Cardin Winchester, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie stood inside a massive light blue chamber, with a massive spiral carved into the far wall and strange etchings covering every single inch of the chamber. The three humans all wore Valean Military Uniforms, though not of the official military, they were part of the militia.
The Continent of Vale was at war, the Emperor rose up from Mistral and conquered half of Vale, and was at war with the Valean Federation, who was allied with Vacuo and Atlas, while the Empire had subjugated Menagerie and were using its military force against Vale.
While most of Menagerie was desolate and uninhabitable, the Empire still forced searches throughout the area, in search of something. In lieu of this, Vale decided to send a special force of Militia into the deserts of Menagerie to find what the Empire was searching for.
After fighting through a wave of Imperial soldiers and tanks, the Militia found an ancient temple.
Nora looked around. "Whoa… I don't know what I expected, but it really wasn't this!"
Cardin smiled and nodded. "Amazing, isn't it? I was surprised when I first came here, too." Cardin and his squad had arrived first, while Ren's team arrived later.
Nora tilted her head to the side like a puppy. "It's… There aren't any windows or sky-lights in here, but it's still so light."
Cardin chuckled. "The ruins are made of stone with a high Dust concentration. It lights itself." He said with a shrug.
"Eeh? It's uncanny." She said before continuing to admire the temple.
Ren stood next to a wall and looked on it. "Look at this. Something's written on the wall here."
Cardin joined him at the wall. "It's in Old Northern script." He noticed.
"Old Northern…?" Ren repeated, hoping that Cardin would explain.
Cardin noticed his look and decided to clarify what he said. "It was the dominant writing system in Vale thousands of years ago. You still see it on a lot of old monuments."
"Do you know how to read it, Cardin?" Nora asked as she skipped about.
"Yeah. We just covered it this year." He said. He took the archaeology courses in school, since after visiting a few places and learning about them, he got really interested in it all. "Let's take a look."
He looked the script up and down and left to right. "It's more or less a recounting of the Faunus Calamity as the history books tell it. The Faunus unlocked some secret property of Dust and tried to conquer the world. 'A hundred cities razed its fell light; ten hundred thousand men and beast therewith.' It says this area used to be one of the cities in that purge as well."
Nora looked down, grimacing. "So they did use Dust…"
Cardin continued. "It was in the middle of that destruction that the Valkyrur suddenly came into the picture. Supposedly they rose to face the Faunus, armed with sacred lances blue with flame. That became the War of the Valkyrur."
Nora looked to Cardin. "I saw a picture book about that as a girl. But it's fiction, right? Like a fairy tale."
Cardin shook his head. "Ruins like these dot Remnant, traces of the culture that once ruled the planet. The majority of the anthropological community now agrees that the Valkyrur did exist."
Ren chuckled. "Wow, this is so educational!"
Cardin got a bit into it and continued. "The Valkyrur won and rose to power, while the Faunus were scattered across the globe. There are some who worship the Valkyrur as the saviors of Remnant even today. Meanwhile, the Faunus got branded with the stigma of their past and were persecuted. With no land of their own, they had to work as itinerant laborers and Dust miners."
Ren nodded with a hand to his chin. "Which is why there are so many Faunus still working in the industrial sector today."
Nora looked down, a bit saddened. "I never knew that… Come to think of it, Blake's dad was an engineer, wasn't he?"
Cardin turned around to face the exit. "Anyway, that's enough history for today. Let's keep checking the Imperial tracks."
Inside a gigantic chamber which travelled down for an indescribable length, a set of giant stair like platforms were situated on the walls around a massive spiral pillar in the center of the chamber which travelled from the top to the bottom. The room was very dark, though was lit with a blue glow which emanated from the Dust infused stone walls.
A blonde man with blue eyes, with a crown of golden leaves around his head, stood on one of the platforms. He wore a pure white suit of armor, suitable for both politics and battle. The armor had highlights of gold. He also had on a massive royal cape, white on the outside and blood red with golden symbols on the inside, while it had white fur on the outter regions.
Next to him was a dark skinned woman with long green hair and bright red eyes. She wore an all-black uniform and stood next to the wall, which had strange script, stranger even than Old Northern, covering every inch.
The royal looking man spoke up. "Tell me, Emerald. Do these walls offer an answer to Our search?"
Emerald placed a hand upon the wall as she began to glow blue. As she spoke, her dialect was unlike any known language in the world of Remnant. "I pray… Where sleeps the ancient power?"
"What do you read, my Emerald?" The royal asked her.
Emerald Sustrai was silent for a time, before she glanced to the man who saved her, and who she loved. "Valkof, the holy lance, scorcher of the vast earth… asleep eternal in the bosom of Vale. Made pillar of its keeper's keep… Kept thereby for eon without end."
The royal smirked and nodded. "Then it's true. The sacred lance lies buried within Vale's walls!"
Emerald turned to her lord. "But Your Grace, how do you intend to control the lance once it is found?"
"Heh heh heh! Worry not. A beast fit to bear that burden will soon be at Our desposal. With this, Our dream is made hard fact. Our crown's shadow will extend to all of Remnant!" The royal said happily.
Outside the Valkyrur Temple, sat a large blue tank. On the tank sat two militia, members of Ren's squad 7.
First was Qrow Branwen, an older man with a crude looking lance next to him. The lance was actually one of the first types of mecha-shift weaponry out there, as it could fire the tip of it out as an anti-tank rocket. Sure, it wasn't exactly mecha-shift, but it was a weapon which lead to mecha-shift technology.
The second was Winter Schnee, a shock trooper of the militia and a member of Squad 7.
Qrow groaned as he looked over the desert. The desert which held massive stone ruins, the last remnants of the buildings burnt and destroyed in the horrible Faunus Calamity, destroyed by the gigantic explosion that the Faunus set off in the middle of the city, leaving the area a barren wasteland for all time. "I been lookin', but I still ain't seen nothing but sand. Those Imps got some strange tastes if they're sunnin' themselves out here."
Winter stared off into the distance with an expression that could be called nothing except 'conflicted'. Qrow noticed and decided to tease her. "What's got you, Winter? Ain't like you to be so quiet. You got the runs or somethin'?"
Winter sighed and shook her head. "You're foul, Qrow. And I'm just annoyed." She looked out across the desert. "Takes some kinda brass to blow up a chunk of turf this big, don't ya think? Looks like the Faunus have been bad news for the rest of us folks since day one."
Blake popped out of the hatch on the tank. "What do you mean by that?" She questioned aggressively.
Winter turned away from the Faunus girl. "Pfft! What do you think I mean?"
Blake shook her head. "No archaeological proof exists to support the theory that the Faunus destroyed Menagerie." She said, even though that exact proof was sitting inside the temple she was just outside of, though she did not know that.
"Look around! How much more proof do you need?" Winter snarled back.
Blake insisted. "And it's an unfair generalization to assume that all Faunus cause trouble for others."
Winter got angry and got real close to Blake. "You sayin' you don't!? Look, it's 'cause of you people that I… that my whole-"
Qrow got in the way and gently pushed the two out of the way. "All right. Time out, you two."
Winter rounded on the man. "You stay outta this, Qrow!"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "We're on patrol here. You keep squawkin' and we'r elikely to get sniped."
Winter looked away. "…Tch." She got off the tank and walked over to a small stone and sat down on it angrily.
Qrow sighed and looked to Blake. "You, too, kid. You know Winter's got a temper on her. You wouldn't go off if you didn't talk back."
Blake looked down and to the side. "I don't believe anything I've said is untrue." She then got back in the tank and slammed the hatch shut.
Qrow sighed and scratched his beard. "Stubborn as mules, both of ya."
Back inside the temple, Ren noticed that on the far wall, there was a massive spiral engraved onto the wall in a circle. "Cardin, what is that?"
"It's called the Valkyrian Spiral."
Ren nodded. "Okay, so… What is it?"
Cardin cupped his chin. "I was talking about their power before, remember? The sacred blue flame? The spiral motif on their relief carvings are said to represent inexhaustible power."
Ren nodded. "Ah, I didn't know that."
Cardin looked back to the entrance. "Still we haven't seen any Imperials here. Not even any signs of entry. I guess it's possible that this wasn't what brought the Empire out here."
"Well, the others are waiting. Let's go back." Ren offered.
"Sure… Let's go." Cardin agreed and the two men turned towards the exit.
A strange sound caught their attention, and they looked back to Nora who stood in front of the wall the Valkyrian Spiral was on, to find it gone. "Huh!?" Nora shouted in surprise.
"What in the…?" Cardin gapped at the place the Valkyrian Spiral was just moments before.
"Nora, what just happened?" Ren asked, worried for her.
"I-I don't know! I barely even touched it and this door just opened!" She stared into the empty space to find a separate chamber.
"It looks like it keeps going." Ren noticed alongside Nora.
Cardin excitedly pulled out a notebook and began writing. Oh, when Oobleck hears of this he'll have a fit! "An underground chamber in the Menagerie Ruins… This is a huge discovery!"
"… S-Should we go in?" Nora asked cautiously, kind of scared.
"Do you have to ask?" Cardin said before he raced ahead of them and into the chamber.
Ren glanced to Nora. "All right, let's take a look."
The three of them pulled out torches and shined it to see in the slightly darker chamber than the last. They could see the massive spiral staircase like platforms that went down and down near infinitely. In the middle of the chamber was a massive spiral that acted as a support pillar.
"Whoa… What IS this place!?" Ren asked in wonder as he glanced to the etchings on the walls.
Nora glanced down over the edge of the platforms. "It seems like it goes on forever."
Cardin was a few paces ahead of them and was staring at one of the walls. "Wow! Look at this wall. Amazing!"
Ren stood next to him and took a look around the walls of the chamber. "There are engravings everywhere. What do they say, Cardin?"
"I'm not sure." He admitted. "I wish I could tell you. They're too ancient for me to decipher."
Nora heard something and looked over the edge again. "Ren… we're not… alone." She ran back over to him.
Cardin heard something as well as shined his light down the stairs. "Who's there!?"
They're eyes widened once a man in white armor and a furred cape walked into view. And next to him was a dark skinned lady with green hair and bright red eyes. She carried with her an alabaster lance that was shaped like a spiral, and a similar spiral buckler like shield that had three bulbs on the outer surface.
"Well…" The man began. "How surprising to find you here. We don't get many visitors. I won't ask how you were able to break in. It's not really important, but you defile this sanctum with your presence." He said before he began walking past them, the woman following.
Cardin gulped. "Uh, guys… that's Jaune." He pointed out.
Nora wondered for a second. "Jaune?... Wait. But he's the enemy commander." Nora pulled out her pistol and aimed it at the Prince of the Empire's back. "Hold it right there! You take one more step and I'll shoot you down! I swear I will!"
Emerald turned around and aimed the lance at Nora. Suddenly, she began to glow with blue flame and her long hair waved behind her. Her red eyes glowed, making them stand out far more amidst the blue fire.
"Uh… What!?" Nora said in surprise.
"Lower your weapon." Jaune Arc the Prince of the Empire ordered Nora. He glanced back at them. "Your lives are worthless to me, but I do not wish to stain this sacred place with blood." Emerald glared at them fiercely. "If you are determined to have this confrontation, why don't we settle it outside."
"Ren…" Nora glanced to her squad leader with fear.
"Ren?" Jaune questioned. "So you're the brat who's responsible." Jaune turned around to face the leader of Squad 7. "My compliments for the Vasel Bridge and the base in Kloden. You've quite impressed Hazel, he was singing your praises, boy. Emerald… come." Jaune turned away from the group and walked towards the exit.
Emerald lowered her weapon, and let the blue flame disappear from her before she turned and followed her lord. "Sir!"
Nora turned to Ren. "Now's our chance to take out the enemy commander, and one of the Princes of the Empire!"
Ren turned to his friend. "She's right, Cardin. Let's go!"
Soon, everyone was outside the temple, and were ready for a fierce battle. Jaune had walked out of sight of the squad, and… something… came back into view.
A massive machine of destruction. It had the general shape of a man on the upper body, but its lower body was almost like that of a spider. Eight massive legs moved separately to propel it forward. It was mainly black in color, with gold highlights and massive floodlights on it to allow it to see in the dark.
"I-is that…!? That's Jaune Arc's personal war-machine, the Nidhogg!" Ren roared into the radio as he saw it come into view.
Glynda Goodwitch's voice blared out of the radio within Ren and Blake's tank. While Blake drove it, Ren took shelter in it and gave out orders as he needed to. "What did you say!?" She shouted back in surprise. "Jaune Arc is there!?"
"Yes ma'am! He has engaged us in combat, what do we do!?" He asked for advice. While he was a good commander, he had no experience with something of its calibre.
Glynda spoke up. "From what we know of the Nidhogg, it is the single most advanced tank to exist. On each of its legs there are two anti-personnel turrets, do not get too close to it otherwise you will get killed."
Ren looked up in fear at the machine as it loomed over them.
Qrow picked up his lance. "Holy shit… That thing's armor is so thick, I don't think even my anti-tank lance will pierce it."
Glynda continued relaying all the information currently known about the Nidhogg. "It also has multiple machine guns on each arm. It has a large amount of missile launchers on its back, and can fire each one to a different location! It's chest is also equipped with a massive cannon, you must avoid it at all costs!"
Winter grit her teeth and lifted her assault rifle, ready to fight.
Glynda then ordered Ren. "Whatever you do, do not get caught in range of its cannon! Don't think to hide behind it, since its upper body can rotate to face every direction! Stay out of direct combat and see if you can find out a weakness. A tank this strong must have some weakness!"
Ren nodded and turned to his soldiers. "Everyone! We are going into battle with Prince Arc's Nidhogg, we must stop it here! If we can stop the Nidhogg and capture Prince Arc here, we can end the invasion of Vale early, and start fighting back against the Empire!"
The soldiers all looked between each other, before looking to Ren and nodding. Ren spoke up again. "I want no heroics, I want each and every one of you to come home safely! You all have families, and this is no place to die!"
Suddenly, Jaune's voice came out of the massive mecha-tank. "Heh heh heh… Now, dear Valeans, flee or be crushed underfoot of the Nidhogg!"
Emerald stood on top of the Nidhogg. "Your Grace. I will eliminate the forces east of the temple, then return to provide support."
"Very well, though I doubt I shall require your assistance. The Nidhogg shall rest atop their riven camp before long."
And with that, Emerald glowed blue and leapt onto the desert, before she raced off to behind the temple, where Cardin's squad was stationed.
The temple itself resided on a raised portion of the desert, a small ways away from the squad and of the Nidhogg.
Ren shut the hatch on the tank as he went inside. "Blake, get us away from the Nidhogg!"
"Yes, sir!" She said, pulling the tank back.
Qrow lifted his lance up over his shoulder and took aim before firing, shooting the tip off at the Nidhogg. It slammed into the armor plating of the mecha-tank, only to do nothing against its armor. "Alright, that confirms it." He grumbled before he turned around and ran behind cover.
Winter ran into cover and looked at the Nidhogg as it moved about. "It's slower than our tank." She noticed.
The air was filled with the sound of gunfire and explosions from the other side of the temple.
Glynda called up Ren again. "I just got the report! Some woman has engaged Squad 1, she's lighting them up! You have to take out the Nidhogg soon or else they'll all die!"
"Right now there isn't much we can do to it! Tell them to hang on for a few more minutes!" Ren roared back.
Jaune Arc spoke through the Nidhogg. "Lie Ren, you have proven yourself a formidable opponent with those stunts you pulled at the Vasel Bridge and Kloden. I shall not take you lightly!" The Nidhogg's legs braced themselves before the metal plating between its many legs opened and a plume of fire was shot out of it.
Soon, the Nidhogg was airborne. "I-IT CAN FLY!?" Winter screamed in shock.
The Nidhogg moved over Squad 7 and landed on a plateau overlooking their battlegrounds. It steadied itself, locking its legs to the plateau before it lowered its arms towards the group and opened fire.
Machine gun fire lit up the battlefield, tearing apart stone chunks and digging small holes in the ground. After nearly 10 full seconds, the fire let up and the dust settled to reveal an empty battlefield.
Behind a small stone formation, Neptune held his hands to Sun's torso, trying to stem the flow of blood. "Shit, man. I don't want to die." Sun said to his friend.
"You're not gonna die. The bullet went all the way through, missed everything vital. You'll be fine." Naptune reassured him.
Sun coughed. "Shit… doesn't feel like I'm fine."
Neptune just smiled. "That's just because you're a big baby."
Sun chuckled before grimacing. "And you're an ass. Don't make me laugh, that shit hurts."
Yatsuhashi lifted his lance and looked out of cover to see the Nidhogg begin flying again and moving over to the tank where Ren and Blake were. "Shit! They're treads are jammed up! They can't move!" Yatsuhashi turned back to his friend Coco. "Listen to me, I'll shoot that thing, you go over and see what you can do!" After Coco nodded, Yatsuhashi ran out.
Coco ran as fast as she could over to the Edelweiss, the modified tank made by Ren and Blake's fathers working together during the First Great War. For this Second Great War, it has been fitted to be even better than most tanks. Coco stopped by the treads and pulled a toolbox off her back. "Commander Ren, don't worry, I'll fix her up for you!" She got to work.
Yatsuhashi saw the Nidhogg flying overhead, and decided to try to attack it. Even if it didn't work, he just had to try. "Take this you damn Imperial!" Yatsuhashi fired the lance into the opening on the bottom of the Nidhogg.
An explosion interrupted the Nidhogg's flight, and it came crashing back to the ground. Yatsuhashi was only just able to get out of the way and not get crushed underneath.
The Nidhogg landed feet first, but it was never made to take that kind of landing, so it had trouble balancing itself. The Nidhogg tipped over and smashed into the stone walls surrounding the battlefield.
Inside the mecha-tank Nidhogg, Jaune Arc put a hand to his head and felt warm blood. He had smashed his head against the controls of the Nidhogg when it crashed. "Damn it…"
The Nidhogg moved, and pulled itself from the stone walls, and its upper torso swivelled to face Squad 7. Its chest opened up and a large cannon slid out into place.
Coco leapt up onto the tank. "Alright, that's it! Get us moving NOW!"
Blake nodded and put the pedal to the metal as it were, and the tank moved out of the way just in time to avoid the Nidhogg's attack.
The cannon fired at the Edelweiss, only for it to miss as the tank was moving faster than Jaune had anticipated and instead hit the plateau it was on before, reducing it to nothing but rubble. "That tank… it's not a normal Valean tank. It must be modified. I won't make that mistake again." Jaune said to himself.
The Nidhogg went to move, but Jaune found that it couldn't. "Damn. That Lancer must have caused the Nidhogg to overheat. I'll need to expose the radiators." The main cannon of the mecha-tank slid back into its chest and was covered by a plate of armor.
The Nidhogg crouched, its upper body moving down until it was sitting on the ground. Three separate panels opened up and large open air radiators faced skyward and began venting large amounts of heat.
Blake noticed this. "Ren! The radiators have been exposed! The Nidhogg is capable of using its massive stores of Dust to increase its defences! If the radiators can be damaged or destroyed, our attacks will be able to actually hurt it!"
Ren nodded. "Thank you Blake!" He pulled up the radio. "Nora! You come in Nora!"
"Yeah?"
"You see those ladders on the Nidhogg's legs?" Ren said, peaking out of the Edelweiss to see ladders used for maintenance and to enter/exit the mecha-tank.
"Yes, I do! Want me to go onto it and chuck grenades in the radiators?"
"Exactly, you know me so well." Ren said, smiling.
"I can do that no problem!" Nora said before putting the radio away and charging towards the Nidhogg.
Nora was forced to duck into a small trench as its many anti-personnel turrets fired on her position. "I need someone to take those out!"
"I'll do it!" Qrow roared as he pulled out his lance, cycling a new lance tip and firing it, scoring a hit on one of the turrets, blowing it up. "I'm afraid that's all I can do! I need to reload, and it'll probably be finished by then!"
"Thank you, Qrow!" Nora said before standing and charging. She made sure to run diagonally and turn suddenly when she needed to escape the lone turret's gunfire.
Once she made it to the leg itself, she was too close for the turret, and it stopped. "I'm almost there!" Nora climbed up onto the Nidhogg and saw the exposed radiator. "Damn it! I'll need to chuck and pray."
Nora pulled out her only grenade and pulled the pin, before she threw it into the air. She kept a close eye on it, and as soon as it fell into the radiator, Nora grabbed hold of the ladder and used the Nidhogg itself as protection.
The radiator exploded and sent shrapnel flying. In response, Jaune Arc was forced to close the radiators, but that was alright, he had vented enough heat to continue moving.
The Nidhogg rose into the air and Nora panicked, as she was still on it. "Ren! Help!"
Ren pulled up his radio. "Nora, stay right there! You're safe there! Once he reveals the radiators again you'll be in the perfect position to destroy the second one!"
Nora stood on top of the Nidhogg's shoulder. "You say that, but it's quite scary, being on the thing you're shooting and all."
"I promise I won't shoot you." Ren said, before a tank shell from the Edelweiss destroyed another turret.
"HEY! That was too close!" Nora roared into the radio.
"What do you mean close!? That was nowhere near you! That was the other side of the damn machine!" Ren shouted back incredulously.
So, thus began the battle of the ages. The Nidhogg VS Squad 7 of the Valean Militia. While the Nidhogg had overwhelming power on its side, Squad 7 had superior tactics and numbers.
The Nidhogg stood on end of the battlefield and opened up its missile launcher, and began to fire out them out. They zoomed into the battlefield and carpet bombed the center, hoping to catch someone.
Luckily, everyone was spread out enough that no one was caught in the blast. This battle has just been miracle after miracle for Squad 7.
That was when Ren was called up Glynda once again. "Captain, what's going on?"
"Lieutenant, Squads 1 and 3 have suffered heavy losses out east. I'm pulling them out." Glynda hung up, but then Cardin got on the radio.
"Ren… It's me, Cardin. I'm sorry, but we couldn't do a thing against her. She had a spiral lance and shield. They… They were the arms of a Valkyria, Ren."
Glynda spoke up once again. "It's likely that her unit will be arriving soon, as backup. Do not, and I repeat , do not engage her. Now hurry up and stop the Nidhogg!"
"Understood!" Ren said before calling out to his team. "We need those radiators out NOW, 7's!"
"Working on it!" Yatsuhashi said as he fired another lance at one of the cannons on the Nidhogg's arms, destroying it. "That's another cannon down!"
The Nidhogg slid out its cannon again, and just as it was about to fire on Yatsuhashi, Velvet rocked up and threw a primed grenade.
The grenade made a direct hit, flying inside the cannon and causing the shell to explode inside the cannon.
The Nidhogg staggered back and once the smoke cleared it revealed that the main cannon was destroyed, and was bright red and hot. "Damn it!" Jaune roared, being forced to expose the radiators again. If he doesn't vent the heat on the cannon, its position in the chest will cause the entire mecha-tank to heat up, and could possibly cook him alive.
Ren saw this and cheered. "It's revealed its radiators! Nora!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got ya." She pulled out her second and last grenade, before throwing it into the second radiator.
It exploded, and the Nidhogg stood back up, having vented enough heat to circumvent the possible cooking of Jaune Arc.
That was when it was heard. Ren pulled out his binoculars and looked into the distance on the other side of the temple. A veritable army of tanks, foot soldiers and lancers were coming their way… at the head of it was Emerald Sustrai.
The army stopped just outside the battlefield, and Emerald stood in front of them all, facing Squad 7. "Lord Jaune…" She lifted her arms and held them out to her sides as she looked up. Blue flames slowly emerged from her, and her red eyes glowed. "Cobalt flames of the Valkyrur, smite our foes!" The small buckler span around and extended, turning it into a proper shield, and her lance also extended out, becoming almost as long as she was tall. The lance and the shield were glowing blue, same as she was.
She glared at Squad 7. "All forces! There stands Vale… Claim her!" She shouted, and the legion she had all roared and charged ahead towards the enemies.
Ren put down his binoculars and roared into the radio. "Emerald Sustrai has arrived, do not engage her! Focus on the Nidhogg, we need to bring it down!"
The Nidhogg roared, and the last radiator was exposed once again as the entire thing went into overdrive.
The Nidhogg moved much faster now, stomping across the battlefield and firing all manner of weapons out at Squad 7. Nora climbed further up the Nidhogg to get at the last radiator, but the heat was stopping her, burning her as she got close to it.
Even with all three radiators, the Nidhogg could not sustain this mode for very long, and with only one, it would likely only last a minute at most.
The Nidhogg moved over to Sun and Neptune. "Oh Gods!" Neptune grabbed Sun and began to drag him away as fast as he could.
"Ahhh! Get us away faster!" Sun screamed.
"I'm trying Gods damn it!" Neptune said as he dragged his buddy away.
The Nidhogg leaned down and punched where they were, cratering the ground and sending shockwaves through the ground, throwing the two members of Squad 7 to the ground, even though Sun was already on the ground.
Blake aimed the Edelweiss' main cannon at the Nidhogg and fired at the exposed radiator. Unfortunately they missed, though did get somewhere close.
As the army arrived at the edge of the battlefield, and began firing down onto the squad, Emerald arrived.
She leapt from the ridge down into the battlefield and engaged in combat.
Yang Xiao Long saw her coming and turned her rifle to her and fired five shots. Each shot connected successfully, but the blue flame blocked each shot, and Emerald glared at Yang.
Emerald suddenly disappeared, and reappeared behind Yang, she did this with pure speed. Yang could not do anything as Emerald batted her away with her lance, not even bothering to deal the finishing blow.
Ruby Rose poked her head out of cover and fired upon Emerald to protect her sister. The bullet was blocked by the blue flames, and Emerald aimed her lance at Ruby.
Ruby had to duck out of the way as blue lasers blasted apart her cover like it was paper.
The Nidhogg, because it had leaned over to punch at Neptune and Sun, had almost thrown Nora off. But, because it had then risen up just as fast, had actually thrown her into the air.
Nora saw the open radiator and had an idea. As she flew through the air, Nora pulled her ammo clip from her rifle and threw it into the open radiator.
The Niddhog staggered as the bullets inside the radiator all exploded because of the intense heat, acting as a make-shift grenade and destroying the radiator, which would not have been possible had it not been for the Edelweiss' shell which had damaged it.
Nora fell back onto the Nidhogg, and groaned as she had smacked her head quite badly. Luckily, she was a tough girl.
Ren cheered. "All right! That's the last of the radiators!"
Jaune growled from inside the Nidhogg. "Presumptuous little vermin!"
Jaune Arc saw his radio come to life. "Your Grace! Are you all right?" Emerald asked worriedly.
"Fine. The Nidhogg itself is perfectly intact, though not for long at this rate."
"Understood. I'll be there momentarily, sir."
Ren picked up his radio and spoke to his squad. "The Nidhogg's radiators have been destroyed. That should also impair its defences, 7's. Everybody, concentrate fire on that tank! Take it down!"
Blake fired at the Nidhogg, severely damaging one of its arms, as its armor plating was no longer strong enough to resist the attacks.
"Hell yeah!" Qrow shouted before taking aim with his lance. "Time for some payback!" The anti-tank weapon pierced inside the Nidhogg before exploding, doing severe damage to its waist.
Nora quickly climbed down the Nidhogg and made her way to a small trench for cover.
Yatsuhashi fired upon the Nidhogg, and with his well-placed shot, finally brought the mecha-tank down.
The Nidhogg lowered itself and crashed to the ground. Jaune sighed. "The Nidhogg, lost to this rabble…"
Emerald landed on top of the Nidhogg. "Your Grace, are you injured!?"
Jaune shook his head as she helped him out of the mecha-tank. "My Emerald, plans for the Marmota must be adjusted to account for these failures."
Emerald narrowed her eyes at him. "In due time, Your Grace! You're in danger here. My men will see you to safety."
Ren cheered once again over the radio. "YES! We managed to defeat the Nidhogg!"
Glynda responded. "Excellent work out there, lieutenant! I've sent the rest of the eastern team to join you there."
Blake turned to her friend. "Ren, the enemy forces have begun to retreat."
"Then it's our turn to advance! Don't let Jaune Arc get away!" Ren ordered, and Blake began to drive the Edelweiss up out of the canyon that was their battlefield.
The eastern team, Squads 1 and 3, joined them and fired upon the retreating Imperial army. Jaune Arc was being protected, and Emerald stood at the back of the retreating army, facing the oncoming Squads 1, 3 and 7.
As she saw many of the soldiers stop fighting and just run, she turned to them. "You cowards! Reform your ranks at once!" As she turned back to face the enemy, a tank shell flew past her and blew up a tank.
She looked into the distance to see the Edelweiss, with Ren out the top, coming towards her, beside a large force.
The Edelweiss came to a stop. "Ready! Fire!" Ren ordered, and Blake fired off a shot, followed by a second one.
Emerald grew angry, and lifted her lance and smacked the tank shell out of the air, sending it into the sky where it detonated. Her shield began spinning, and she held it out in front of her, where it deflected the second shot without her even budging.
Nora, who was sat on the Edelweiss, gaped. "Did you see that? She deflected a tank shell." She said in amazement.
The Valean militia stopped in fear of Emerald. "Such power…" Ren gasped, seeing the overwhelming might of the Valkyrur first hand.
It was true, if Emerald were to fight the Nidhogg one on one, she wold come out victorious.
"Hmm… I see Vale's peasant army has the will to win…" Emerald lowered her shield and got ready to fight, but then her mind went to Jaune, and she remembered he was bleeding. She turned to the soldiers standing behind her. "All units, retreat! Protect His Grace at all costs!" And with that, the Empire retreated from Menagerie.
After everything had settled down, Cardin met up with Ren and Nora. "We drove the Empire back, but not without sustaining heavy casualties ourselves." He looked down, regret at how powerless he was when Emerald was slaughtering his squad, being immune to everything they threw at her, and throwing massive tank obliterating beams back at them.
Ren put a hand to Cardin's shoulder. "We never thought the commander of the entire Imperial force would be here."
Nora looked down as well. "Not just the commander. Jaune Arc had that woman with him. What was she? I can't believe she's human."
Cardin put a hand to his chin. "In her hands borne cobalt lance and shield, therewith to strike down all man's arrows…"
"What?" Nora was confused.
Cardin turned to her. "One account of the Valkyrur describes them in those terms."
"You can't mean that she…?" Nora gaped at him. "But they existed thousands of years ago. If they'd survived, we'd know!"
"I'm not saying I buy all the legends, either. I realize that it sounds a little crazy…" Cardin admitted.
Ren finished his thought. "but what we saw out there could only have been the Valkyria of legend."
"I know…" Nora said, glancing down.
Vale had won a pyrrhic victory here on Menagerie. But how would they defeat the Valkyria, Emerald Sustrai, or stop this 'Marmota' that Jaune talked about? This battle was over. But the war was not yet finished, not for a long while.