I do not own anything relating to RWBY and Battlefield 1. RWBY is belonged to Rooster Teeth and Battlefield 1 is belonged to DICE and EA. All names mentioned in this fanfic belong to their respective owners.
The ideas in this fanfic belongs to me.
Blake Belladonna, a lover of books and a... "a girl of culture" per se, found herself strolling along the halls of the place's huge library, unsurprisingly. At first, she just thought that she was going to watch a movie based on Remnant's Great War so she wasn't that interested since she has read multiple documentations and history books about it. However, since it was the Great War of ANOTHER world, one that made the one in her world seemed totally insignificant, she just couldn't resist having her hands on some reading materials regarding that war. However, there's just one problem...
"Ugh... Where's the damn thing...", the cat faunus muttered in annoyance.
There wasn't anything relating to the war in the library. None. And the strangest thing was that everything, even some non-significant stuff, was there on the shelves, but not history about World War 1, or any wars in that regards. Just as she about to give up and head towards the door, she saw Eli stood against the wall and his left hand is holding a book.
"Looking for this, kitty cat?", Eli held the book up for Blake to see. The cover of the book said "THE FIRST WORLD WAR: A COMPLETE HISTORY".
"Yes, I'm looking for something like that.", but then Blake glared at Eli, "What do you mean by 'kitty cat', Eli?"
Eli just rolled his eyes in return. "Have you ever seen a ribbon twitched on its own? Seriously, I wonder how everyone around you hasn't realised it by now."
Blake just looked away with a small blush. But then she turned back to Eli. "Anyways, I would like to borrow that book."
"No can do, kitty. Don't wanna spoil the movie now, do we?", Eli said, with Blake looked down and sighed in defeat.
"Though if you want it that bad then I'll give it to you after the movie. Consider it as a gift.", Eli winked.
Blake's eyes immediately brightened up and her ears/ribbon twitched in happiness. After thanking Eli, she, with Eli in tow, went back to the viewing area, which had already packed with people.
"Alright then. Is everyone ready for the next viewing section?"
"Yes!", Nora, Sun, Neptune, Ruby, and Yang exclaimed.
"Aye", Roman and Qrow said at the same time, which they just stared at each other weirdly for a second before turning away.
"Hopefully it's less brutal than the prologue.", Winter said softly, still a bit saddened at seeing soldiers dying left and right.
"Don't worry about, it's less brutal than the last one... Not really.", Eli said and whispered to himself at the last part.
"Anyways, let's get right into the movie!"
The darkness on the screen slowly faded away, and it its place, a giant blue sphere appeared.
"Whoa...", the whole audience was mesmerized by it.
"I present to you, the other world, planet Earth.", Eli smirked.
"It's beautiful...", Pyrrha said with everyone agreed with her.
As the image of Earth continued to appear on the screen, an uplifting song began to play in the background, and the narrator began his speech.
"As the old empires struggled to assert themselves, the entire world was caught in an inevitable cataclysm. The war covered the globe. Old empires and new world. Old ways and new ideas. All of mankind fought. A hundred big ideas marched off into 'The War to End All Wars'. It was consuming us all. And there was no end in sight."
"That was surprisingly deep. I would love to meet whoever wrote that line.", Weiss commented with everyone on the same page as her.
"It's also the same to our world's counterpart.", Ironwood said, "After Remnant's Great War, every kingdom has changed in so many different ways. Seems like no matter the place, the results are still the same."
Ozpin, however, was deep in thought. 'Did I accidentally drag Remnant into the war between me and Salem? Is there an end to our fight at all...?"
The view then zoomed in on a certain point on Earth where an image of a man and a tank was seen on the right side of the screen. The narrator spoke up again but his voice was different.
"My grandad fought in the Civil War. Before I left he taught me what it takes to stay alive but... nothing could have prepared me with what I saw. New machines of war – like the tank, can sometimes change the battlefield overnight. Luckily they were mostly on our side... mostly."
"Hey, that guy's voice sounded so weird.", Nora commented with a mouth full of pancakes.
"Nora, please swallow your food first before you speak.", Ren sighed.
"It's because it was the voice of another person, and that person is the one on the screen right now.", Eli answered, receiving an "ohhhh" in response.
"Wait, what does he mean by 'mostly'?", Ruby asked.
Eli just pointed at the screen. "You'll see"
The screen darkened. Shortly after that, it showed some lines of information about the chapter everyone was watching.
RIBECOURT, FRANCE. FALL 1918
It is late in the war.
As winter draws in, the Germans fortify their lines and dare the enemy to come to them.
Waves of infantry die crashing against Germans concrete. The maps do not change.
Heavily-armed and well-protected, the British Mark V tank is a fearsome war machine. It clears trenches. It destroys barbed wire. The tank can break through.
Winter was a bit confused at this. "I thought you said those tanks were unreliable and not safe?"
"Wait for it...", Eli just said back.
On October 17, British forces prepare for a mass assault on the town of Cambrai. With tank support. Allied Command believes a breakthrough is a certainty.
"Big mistake right there.", Roman muttered and Neo nodded.
But the Mark V tank has one major flaw: it is not reliable.
"Told ya.", Eli grinned, and the dear Specialist just sighed in defeat.
The screen then showed a small driveway leading to a beautiful mansion with a small car waiting at the front. It then switched to show an up-close view of a chauffeur wearing a formal suit, a hat, and a pair of white gloves sitting and waiting in the vehicle.
This person on the screen made the two white-haired siblings remember about their chauffeur back at their mansion in Atlas. He was a really nice person and they both were starting to miss him already.
He sat there for a few seconds longer before he looked at the palms of his white-gloved hands. The view also focused on his palms as it slowly zoomed in.
"Uhhhhh... You okay there, buddy?", Yang asked uncertainly.
"It looks like he's haunted or something.", Summer commented.
Suddenly, his hands, as well as his surroundings, changed. Gone were the clean white gloves that he wore just a second ago, on his hands now were two bloodied leather gloves. His clothes changed from a formal suit to a military one. He also seemed older too, and his face was full of dirt and grime. And all around him, fires, corpses of soldiers, and smoke appeared all over the place, while he just stood there all alone. Slowly looking up from his hands, his eyes were voided of life and his face was emotionless. In other words, he looked broken. A ghost of his former self.
The students, not used to seeing this sight, gasped in shock and they all felt pity for the man, while the adults just looked at the screen in sadness and pity.
"What happened to him...?", Ruby asked in great concern and pity.
"I believe it's CSR, or Combat Stress Reaction.", Ironwood said in solemn. "It appears that the poor soldier has just seen something very traumatic that led to him being like that."
Needless to say, the students were all horrified at his answer. They all had one question in their heads almost at the same time: 'Will I ever be like that?'
"General... Is there a way to... cure it?", Nora asked fearfully.
Surprisingly, it was Roman who answered her question. "Suppress it? Yes. Completely cure it? Hardly. It can be completely cured but the success rate is extremely rare". He then looked back at Ironwood while smirking. "Am I right, General Sir?"
"Yes... Yes you are, Roman Torchwick.", Ironwood growled and spat out the thief's name.
The screen kept showing the man with his thousand-yard stare before the scenery changed. This time his face had a bit of life back, his face was cleaner, and all around him were soldiers in British uniforms minding their own business.
"Edwards!", a voice called out to him and he immediately turned his head to the left in response. Standing next to him on the left was a man wearing an officer uniform.
"Sir.", Edwards stood at attention and saluted the officer.
"Townsend.", the officer replied, introducing his name. "Come on, you'll miss all the fun."
"Oooohhh fun. I love fun!", Nora exclaimed with, again, a mouth full of pancakes. Ren just sighed and decided to give up reminding her about her bad habit.
"I don't understand. What's fun about war?", Penny tilted her head in confusion with Ruby also doing the same.
"It's a figure of speech. And honestly, I don't want to know what he meant by 'fun'", Qrow replied with a small frown before taking a sip of the whiskey he took from the bar. 'Dayum! This thing's great!', he exclaimed in his mind.
Townsend turned around and signal with his head for Edwards to follow. While walking, he came across an artillery team consisting of four people operating the weapon to his right. He then looked to his left to find a soldier taking care of four pigeons on a table.
Summer was confused at this sight. "What are they doing there? Are those pigeons their pets or something?"
"In a way, yes. They're messenger pigeons.", Eli replied.
"Messenger pigeons?", Ruby and some other people asked as they'd never heard of the term before.
"It's a type of pigeon used to transport messages wrote on a small piece of paper and strapped to their legs.", surprisingly, Weiss was the one to replied.
"And you know that because...?", Yang raised an eyebrow.
The white-haired heiress sighed and pointed at Jaune. "Ask that dunce over there..."
The boy in question just laughed sheepishly. At the same time, a certain sister was thinking whether she should abuse her power and throw the blonde knight in jail with some false accusations or not.
"Sooooo are they like using those pigeons to send messages back to their loved ones?", Sun asked.
"Nope, they used them to transport messages like fire mission, reinforcement requests, and important messages from the frontline and back to the headquarters.", Eli said.
"Oh...", Sun said dejectedly. The idea of using animals as disposable assets did not sit well with him as well as some other people in the theater.
"I been looking at your papers.", Townsend said.
"Don't worry about me, Sir. I'm ready to do my bit for King and country.", Edwards replied in a rather nervous tone of voice.
"Listen, son. You find forward and reverse when you're told and you'll do alright for me."
"Sounds easy and simple enough to me.", Scarlet shrugged.
Townsend bent down and grabbed two cans of fuel before telling Edwards to do the same. "Grab those, would ya?"
Edwards complied, and with a can of fuel in each hand he walked towards his commanding officer.
"And come and meet Big Bess. Woman of your dreams.", Townsend said.
Edwards then walked for a bit before he stopped and stared at a giant object on top of a hill behind the early morning fog. The fog then cleared a bit, allowing everyone to behold the sight of a mighty Mark V tank, or as Townsend called it, Big Bess.
Roman whistled at the machine. "That's a fine piece of equipment right there."
'Indeed it is. Too bad Remnant doesn't have anything like it.', Neo wrote on her scroll.
"It looks so cool!", Ruby squealed in delight.
"Hmm... I wonder...", Ozpin muttered to himself, with Glynda eyeing him suspiciously.
"Found our new driver, boys.", Townsend announced loudly to the crew of Big Bess.
A soothing and somewhat somber tune was played in the background as the view began to focus on some details of the tank. A simple four letters sentence appeared on the middle of the screen throughout the sentence.
THROUGH MUD AND BLOOD
"'Through mud and blood'... I can't help but have a feeling that this chapter is going to be about comradery.", Summer commented with Winter, Weiss, Pyrrha, Ren, her daughters, and Penny agreeing with her.
The sentence faded away and the screen then shown Edwards entering the steel behemoth. He looked around the interior for a bit and spotted a pigeon inside a small cage, which upon eye contact it suddenly flapped its wings and jumped up, scaring the poor driver and making him hit his head into the cold hard ceiling of the tank.
Some of the audience giggled or lightly chuckled at the scene.
"That was funny, not gonna lie.", Qrow chuckled.
"Ah, bloody-", Edwards began while keeping a hand on his head.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't swear.", a crew member interrupted Edwards.
"She does not like it when you swear.", he said while playfully hit one of the metal pipes.
"Finch.", the unknown crew member introduced, and the new driver replied back. "Edwards."
Winter squinted her eyes at what Finch just said. "He seems oddly attached to the vehicle. It's just a piece of military hardware, what's with the affectionate treatments and all?"
"You don't get it, do you Ice Queen?", Qrow asked which earned him a glare from both Schnee sisters. "When something, like that tank on the screen, is responsible for keeping you alive everytime you go to battle, you'll begin to develop some feelings to it, even if it's just an object. Same thing is happening within your ranks, Jimmy. I've talked to some of your soldiers and they also showed their affection towards their equipments, stating those same equipments are the ones that help keeping them safe and sound."
"Still, I believe it's unnecessary for a soldier to do so and I also believe it'll hinder soldier's performance in combat.", Winter huffed.
"Whatever, Ice Queen.", Qrow just rolled his eyes and took a sip from the newly acquired whiskey.
Both men had a short handshake. "You ain't done this before?", Finch asked.
"Done what before?", a cranky crew member asked the two.
Already, the audience didn't really like the man.
"Dick", Sun whispered to his team which they all nodded.
"Mind your business, McManus.", Finch retorted in slight annoyance before turning his attention back to Edwards. "Listen, don't worry, she'll look after you, yeah?"
Edwards then turned to Townsend as he began to speak while Finch was seen closing the side door.
"Alright boys. This is the big one."
Everyone sat up straight to hear the mission briefing. Being dedicated military officers as they were, General Ironwood and Winter paid the most attention to the screen than others.
"Our orders are to punch through the German line-"
Another crew member with a bit of grease and dirt on his face nodded while staring at Townsend.
"-destroying artillery positions as we go. Finch.", Townsend signaled the mechanic towards the large crank shaft.
"Yes, sir.", Finch complied and proceeded to turn the crank shaft in a complete 360, starting the engine which released some smoke.
"I wonder how they can fight effectively with all those smoke trapped inside the tank.", Glynda gagged.
"That's one of the major flaws of that tank: it's unsafe.", Eli started. "As you all can see, the crew have to put up with the engine's exhaust when operating the tank and they will all be deemed unfit for combat after a few hours of continuous exposure."
The Remnant's locals all felt pity for the crew or anyone who had to operate the tank in that era. Part of them even had great respect for those people as they weren't even have aura to protect them from those kinds of hazards.
"Why didn't they put some kind of air filter or ventilation system in the tank?", Ironwood asked.
"The only ventilation for the crew compartment back then was a roof-mounted fan, but this fan was inadequate for maintaining a stable supply of clean air for the crew due to limitations in technological advancements.", Eli explained.
The scene then cut to Edwards gripping the control sticks of the tank nervously as it was the first time he'd ever seated himself at the controls of a tank, before it changed back to Townsend who's still briefing everyone.
"After that, we'll advance on the French town of Cambrai-". The view switched to McManus staring at Townsend.
"Where I have been assured there is wine, women and song. So you should enjoy that.". The screen showed McManus again but this time he was seen smiling for a bit.
"Ha. McManus won't.", the unknown crew member from before joked while grinning widely.
"Wanna taste some gun powder, Pritchard?", McManus frowned at the unknown crewman, now known as Pritchard. (I took the liberty to add this line in as the game didn't really introduce Pritchard)
Without warning, Edwards suddenly leaned forward a bit too much and accidentally pushed down on both sticks causing the tank to start moving before it stalled with a jolt.
"Jesus, are we in safe hands or what, boys?", McManus lamented.
"I already don't like that McManus guy.", Nora frowned while eating her pancakes.
"Me too.", Ruby nodded.
"Jeez... Take a chill pill, man. The guy's still new to all this.", Jaune commented with Pyrrha agreeing with him.
"Sounds like something our Weiss Cream would say and do~", Yang teased the heiress, who fumed at that.
"Alright, McManus.", Townsend said and laid a hand on McManus's shoulder before turning to address everyone.
"Remember, boys – do your jobs."
McManus stood up from his seat and took out a cannon round from the ammo compartment.
"Take care of each other and Big Bess will take care of you.", Townsend finished.
"May the Lord have mercy on our souls.", McManus offered a short and brief prayer while he was loading the round into the cannon.
Townsend was then seen standing next to Edwards who was sweating from the nervousness.
"We'll get through this together. Right, Edwards?", the commanding officer asked the new recruit.
"Right, sir.", Edwards answered.
Immediately after hearing the words leaving the new driver's mouth, the commanding officer of the mighty Big Bess, Townsend ordered loudly. "Full ahead, driver!"
Edwards pushed the control sticks all the way down, allowing the tank to move forward, throwing the dirt and mud that stuck to its tracks. The scene then cut to the inside of the British trenches where soldiers were running to their positions or preparing their weapons for the upcoming attack. A loud rumbling noise was heard coming closer and closer, then Big Bess herself crossed over the trenches and proceeded to move out of the base camp.
"Whoa! This is gonna be good!", Yang grinned, bouncing her legs in excitement. The sight of the steel behemoth crossing over the trenches effortlessly was enticing to her.
"I want to see how well they are going to coordinate with each other, especially with Edwards since he's still new to all this.", Blake commented with Weiss, Winter, and Ironwood payed rapt attention to the screen.
"With a crew of five including a cranky dude and a recruit who hasn't driven a tank before? I'll say their efficiency is gonna be reduced a lot.", Qrow summarized and received some nods of agreement.
"Well, the only way to know is to watch, so let's watch!", Pyrrha chirped with everyone on the same page as her.
The view changed to outside of the tank, more specifically in chase camera view.
"It's just like in video games!", Jaune exclaimed happily. Before coming to Beacon, he was a rather big fan of video games.
"Huh. Somehow I prefer this camera view to traditional camera works where they focus on the characters throughout the whole movie.", Weiss said, surprising a great amount of people as they turn to stare at her.
"What?", she asked in confusion and they all turn back to the screen.
As the Mark V tank was going, voices could be heard from inside it. Namely, McManus's complaints.
"That damn bird is shedding.", McManus complained.
"Moulting, McManus. Birds moult.", Finch corrected.
"I'll pluck every feather off that damn-"
Luckily, Townsend intervened before things could go ugly. "Easy there, that pigeon could save your life. It's our only line of communication."
"Off to a good start already, eh?", Roman chuckled sarcastically.
"Sounds like our Weiss Cream, alright~", Yang teased and received a slap at the back of her head in retaliation from her white-haired teammate, while Ruby was trying to hold back her giggles.
"Yang, don't say such a thing towards your friend like that.", Summer reprimanded her stepdaughter.
"Thank you, Mrs. Rose.", Weiss chirped happily while smiling smugly to Yang, who stuck her tongue out in response.
"I still don't like using pigeons to deliver important messages like that. What if the enemy shoot them down or capture them and read the intel?", Glynda voiced her concern.
"If that happens, let's just say they're screwed.", Eli just shrugged.
Silence reigned for a short while before Finch asked. "You good up there, Edwards?"
"Yes. Starting to get the hang of it.", the new driver replied.
"What did you do back home?", Finch asked back.
"Drove. A car. I was a chauffeur."
After that, silence once again took place as nobody had anything else to say. The tank kept going for a bit before Townsend ordered Edwards to stop.
"All stop! This is far enough. Infantry'll go on the first whistle, then we follow."
"So they are going to have the soldiers charge into battle first then the tank will follow them behind to provide support? Shouldn't it be the other way around?", Penny wondered aloud.
"I think it's because the low speed of the tank will impede the charge making the soldiers easier to be picked off by the enemy. Again, it's just my theory.", Ren said while stroking his chin.
"Heavens above... You ever seen anything like this?", Finch asked to nobody in particular but McManus answered him.
"I have, I'm sorry to say."
"Damn... I'm suddenly feel a bit sorry for the guy.", Yang said in sympathy.
"Yang! Swear!", Ruby and Summer gasped, and Yang just rolled her eyes.
"Listen. We're going to cut down the guns up by that windmill.", Townsend said and Big Bess sat tight at her position waiting for the signal to move out.
After waiting for a bit longer, multiple whistles blared loudly at the same time and overlapped one another, and ally infantry began to charge into the battlefield. Overhead, planes of different kinds followed the troops.
"Give our boys some room!", Townsend said. When ally troops had run up quite a distance ahead, he ordered Edwards to start driving the tank forward. "That's our cue! Full ahead!"
The audience watched with great interest and excitement as Big Bess, accompanied by other tanks to her right, began crawling towards the frontline behind the soldiers. Although they had already witnessed the tanks in action from the last viewing, they were still eager to see more tank action.
"Let's see how these armored beasts perform in battle.", Ironwood hummed. "Specialist, please take some notes about that tank's performance. We may need those datas to improve our armored vehicles."
"Yes, sir!", Winter said and took out a scroll, ready to note down any datas of value.
"Fire incoming!", McManus warned as an artillery barrage from the Germans rained down on their position as well as their surroundings. Unfortunately, an ally Mark V tank next to them was hit and it exploded, so did some soldiers as they were hit by artillery fire and killed immediately.
"Artillery's tearing our boys apart!", Pritchard said with a bit panic in his voice.
"Don't let those deaths be for nothing! Move!", Townsend encouraged the crew.
"Damn... They haven't even come into visual contact with the enemy yet.", Sage gulped.
"Yeah. Their enemy makes the White Fang looks like a bunch of unruly children.", Weiss commented and her teammates nodded at her words.
"That officer... Townsend, I believe... has shown so far that he's a charismatic leader. He seems fair mannered and level headed, and he doesn't let outside factors affect him even when his brothers in arms are falling around him. Truly, a person destined to be a leader.", Ozpin hummed with a smile, already liking the commander of Big Bess.
Both Ruby and Jaune heard their Headmaster's comment about Townsend, and they both payed even more attention to the screen, especially Townsend. They really want to be the best leaders and this is the chance for both of them to learn and improve themselves.
One of the ally tank to their right drove into a small pond full of mud, effectively slowed it down to a crawl.
"See that tank, Edwards? Don't get us stuck in the muck like that.", Townsend said to Edwards while pointing at the tank in question before one of the field gun landed a direct hit towards the tank's weak spot, destroying the vehicle in a big explosion.
"They got one of ours!", Edwards reported.
"Eyes front! Drive!", Townsend reminded the driver.
The tank continued to drive forward the uneven terrain before coming across a puddle of mud. Like the tank from before, it too slowed to a crawl.
"Why we moving so slow?!", Pritchard complained loudly.
"In case you haven't noticed, there's a puddle of muddy water in front of you.", Sage rolled his eyes at the crewman's ignorance.
After crossing the puddle of mud and rounding the corner, the crew saw their first objective on top of the hill: a heavily defended German outpost. A friendly tank was seen in the middle of climbing the hill while machinegun fire were directing towards it. Big Bess also drove up towards the hill while providing supporting fire for the tank in the front, but a lucky artillery shell landed directly on top of that tank, destroying it instantly.
"How come that tank was killed off so easily? I thought it was well-armored?", Glynda asked Eli, to which he responded. "The top side of a tank is less protected than the other sides, so with just one well-placed shot on top of it can easily penetrate the steel and destroy it completely."
Glynda nodded her head in satisfaction, while Winter was furiously taking notes of what Eli just said.
"Those field guns are shredding our outfit!", McManus remarked.
"Look for where that shot came from, then let them have it!", Townsend said in response.
Edwards began drove the tank up the hill and destroyed rows of barbed wire in the process.
"The more wire we can clear the faster our men can move up!", Townsend said.
"Those steel tracks of the tank just shredded those barricades to pieces. If that were traditional rubber wheels, they would get stuck in the middle of the hill.", Ironwood nodded to himself. He already thought about the idea of producing new military ground vehicles with tracks instead of wheels.
McManus spotted a machinegun placement inside a windmill and started spraying it with his own machinegun, which both killed the gunner and destroyed the weapon. "That's one less machine gun!"
Big Bess then took a hit to the side by a field gun but luckily the damage wasn't severe. The tank then immediately returned the favor, destroying the field gun in one shot.
"Engines fine, we can keep moving!", Finch said after checking the engine.
"This is so cool and intense at the same time!", Nora exclaimed with her legs bouncing up and down.
"Come on, everyone. Just a little bit more.", Pyrrha muttered under her breath as the tank was very, very close to reaching the top.
The crew finally made their way to the top where they were greeted by numerous hostile German soldiers.
"Hold position here. Clean out all the German guns!", Townsend ordered as Edwards drove a bit deeper into the outpost then stopped the tank. The gunners of the tank, namely McManus, Finch, and Pritchard, fired their cannons and machineguns, cutting down any German soldier and machinegun placement in sight.
"One less Emma Gee!", Townsend cheered.
With a tank providing fire support, British infantry began pushing up the hill and securing the outpost.
"Boys are moving up!", Pritchard piped up.
"Continue suppressing fire! Keep them on their heels!", Townsend ordered his gunners.
Waves upon waves of German troops just kept running towards the outpost. It seemed that position was very important to them that they were willing to die in order to take it back.
"Those Germans should have just given up the outpost and regrouped with their ally. What a waste of manpower.", Winter frowned deeply.
"It seems that the outpost holds a great deal of strategic significance that they're willing to charge in and try to retake it, even if there's a heavily-armed tank firing upon them.", Ironwood observed.
After a while of non-stop firefight with the crew of Big Bess totally dominated the ordeal, the Germans decided to abandon the outpost and retreat back to where they came from.
"Fritz is on the retreat!", Pritchard said with joy.
"That's it! Hold and keep them suppressed.", Townsend cheered. Just then, the flag pole that was flying the flag of Germany earlier had been replaced with a British one, which signified that the outpost was now in control of the British.
"We are righteous men!", Finch cheered loudly.
"Good job, lads. Now we take the next trench line.", Townsend complimented his men.
"Yeah! Go, Big Bess! Break their legs!", Nora cheered.
'More like blow them up to pieces.', Neo held her scroll towards Roman, to which he chuckled and patted her on the head.
The tank then continued its way towards the next German outpost, which again was on top of another hill. This one was even more heavily fortified than the one they just captured, with more field guns, machineguns, and even pillboxes.
Pritchard took aim at one of the pillboxes and fired his cannon. The round flew right through the structure's window and exploded from within, detonating the ammunition stored inside.
"Jerry's down!", Pritchard confirmed the kill.
Big Bess continued making her way up the hill while taking down multiple field guns and machinegun placements around her. One of the field gun managed to land a round onto her armor but she was still in good shape, ready to continue the fight.
"We're alright! She might rattle a bit mind!", Finch said after doing a quick check on the tank.
"The tank is taking quite a beating.", Blake said with some worry in her tone.
"Yeah. Thankfully they all seem to hit non-vital places so it's still good to go.", Ren commented after paying close attention to the tank.
"Hope they can keep up for a while longer, since it's clear that the battle won't end anytime soon.", Qrow said before taking another sip from his whiskey bottle.
"Take down that machine gun!", McManus called out to Pritchard as he couldn't get a shot on the weapon placement.
"Nice work, we're showing 'em lads!", Finch cheered.
McManus then spotted a field gun from afar. Loading in a cannon round, he fired the weapon but missed the target. After readjusting the angle a bit, he fired again, this time hitting and destroying the field gun entirely.
"One less field gun to worry about boys!", Townsend complimented the gunner.
They finally made their way on top of the hill and straight into the middle of the outpost. German riflemen immediately opened fire with their rifles on the Mark V tank but they all ricocheted off harmlessly, if anything the Germans did manage to scrape off some of Big Bess's paint.
"Hold here and clear the area, be sure our boys have time to move up!", Townsend ordered.
Swirling its weaponry around, the mighty steel beast cut down any and all enemy fire directed at it. Soon, no German soldier was seen left in the outpost as the crew of Big Bess quite literally killed off an entire outpost worth of soldiers on their own.
Ironwood and Winter were very impressed by the tank's combat prowess. Despite its design flaws, one tank with a crew of only five could easily take over an outpost filled with enemy infantry and defenses, something that gave the Atlas military headaches when dealing with the White Fang.
"Despite having an advantage in terms of technology, I don't think we can capture an enemy position as easily as that tank just did.", Winter commented in awe.
"With those razor sharp barbed wire, machinegun placements, cannons, pillboxes and more? Yeah, good luck reaching the top of that hill without losing a limb or two.", Roman said as he puffed his cigar.
"But we have aura. Shouldn't it protect us against projectiles and such?", Yang asked aloud.
"Sis, I don't think aura can do much when facing large caliber rounds from those cannons and artillery.", Ruby said to her half-sister, to which she nodded in understanding.
While the tank was still holding its position, Finch used this opportunity to patch the tank up from the inside. After some time, he finished his work. "She's ready!"
British infantry finally made their way up the hill and they replaced the outpost's German flag with the British one, effectively declaring the capture of the second outpost.
"For King and country lads!", Finch cheered.
"Good job! But remember, the day's still young.", Townsend praised the crew.
The audience also cheered upon seeing the progress the tank crew had made.
"Woohoo! Now that's what I'm talking about!", Jaune and Sun exclaimed.
"Kick their asses, boys!", Qrow shouted while offering a small toast.
"Despite having a new recruit thrown into the mix, they've shown that they are a cohesive team so far.", Ozpin hummed while taking a sip of his coffee. He was impressed that the tank crew could work together well under high stress situation, even more so when they had Edwards being the newly appointed crew member. The Headmaster wished that more of his students could work together as good as the crew of Big Bess as only a handful of teams in Beacon Academy could do it without too much friction between themselves.
"That Townsend fellow would make for an excellent commanding officer in Atlas military.", Ironwood commented. Winter also shared the same view as the General as she found herself mesmerized by the tank commander's leadership.
"We're heading for the ruins. Clearing a path for the infantry.", Townsend ordered.
On the way towards the next objective, Big Bess was met with heavy resistance from the enemy. Field guns opened fire at the Mark V but luckily they all missed, though some came a bit too close for comfort.
"Hit that gun and move!", Townsend ordered hurriedly.
Edwards stopped the tank for a brief moment so that one of the gunners could fire his cannon more accurately. Upon hitting one of the field guns, he drove the tank again, narrowly avoided a round coming from their left.
"Got it!", Townsend confirmed the kill.
"That was WAY too close.", Penny exclaimed.
"Yeah. If they had stayed just a bit longer, they would have been killed by that.", Ruby said holding her breath.
The tank was very close to the outpost within the ruins. Fortunately for the crew of Big Bess, the surrounding field guns were all destroyed, meaning they only had to deal with resistance from small arms fire. Unfortunately for them, there was no cover inside the outpost.
"Now that could be quite a problem.", Summer frowned.
Big Bess then entered the third German outpost with British soldiers running alongside her as they began securing the place.
"Hold this position! Mop up the remaining Jerries!", Townsend ordered the crew.
As the crew was busy providing fire support for ally infantry or making some necessary repairs, a heavily armored vehicle came into view.
"Stay focused, boys-", McManus said but he was cut off by Edwards shouting in alarm. "Sturmpanzer closing in!"
"'Sturmpanzer'? What's that?", many of the audience wondered confusingly.
"It's basically a German tank.", Eli answered simply.
"A tank duel? Now that's something I gotta see.", Neptune grinned to himself.
"That landship'll rip our boys apart! Edwards, get us in! Gunners, go for the soft spots!", Townsend ordered, unfazed by the heavily-armored opponent in front of him.
Edwards immediately maneuvered the tank to avoid getting shot by the Sturmpanzer while all three gunners opened fire onto it the moment they had the chance. Big Bess took a hit, but thankfully it hit the more armored side of the tank so not much damage was done to her.
"Still running, keep on 'em!", Finch called out.
Enemy infantry, with support from the tank, began charging towards the ruins. Despite the British were doing their best to hold the line, German troops were slowly making progress.
Everyone held their breath as they witnessed the battle being played out on the screen. They were so immersed in the movie that beads of sweat started to roll on their faces. With each second passed, the intensity just got more and more amplified.
"This is sooooo nerve wracking that I don't wanna eat my pancakes anymore!", Nora exclaimed, surprising her friends from Beacon.
"It seems that the enemy have become bolder when they have a tank fighting alongside them.", Winter said.
"If the German side have tanks all along, why didn't they deploy them sooner? Why wait until now and why is there only one of them shows up?", Glynda asked in confusion with Summer also had the same question as her.
"To answer your question...", Eli paused for a short moment to look at his holographic tablet, "... only 20 of them were built."
That information caught everyone by surprise. You participated in a war, one on the global scale no less, and you only built 20 tanks? What kind of moron thought that 20 tanks were enough for a war?
"Wait, wait, hold on. So how many of those Mark V tanks were built?", Ironwood incredulously.
"400.", Eli replied curtly. Again, the audience was caught off guard.
"400 tanks?! Just how the Germans think that they can win against an empire 20 times better equipped than theirs?!", Summer shouted in shock.
"Germany didn't just use their locally made tanks. They also used captured tanks from the enemy to even out the playing field.", Eli explained, but then he added some more lines into the minds of Remnant's locals.
"Sure it matters who's got the biggest stick, but it matters a helluva lot more who's swinging it." (see what I did there *wink wink*)
The audience silently nodded in understanding and they returned to the screen.
A grenade was thrown towards the tank but Edwards didn't notice it so he accidentally drove right next to it. The grenade then exploded, dealing some damage on the Mark V.
"Armor can only take so much, new boy!", McManus reprimanded.
After positioning the tank towards a perfect spot, Pritchard took the shot and fired his cannon directly at the heavily damaged German tank. The Sturmpanzer armor couldn't take anymore hit and the round punched right through the armor, destroying the tank with a fiery explosion.
"We got them!", Pritchard cheered.
"They are messing with the wrong crew!", McManus added. The remaining German troops began running around trying to retreat but were quickly eliminated by Big Bess's machine guns. Stopping for a moment to take a breather while British troops were securing the area, Finch got to work on patching up the tank.
"We managed to move up!", Finch exclaimed as they had finally captured the objective.
"Great work, lads! Time to move on!", Townsend said in delight.
As the crew was about to move up, a large artillery barrage rained down upon them behind the German line.
"Heavies are raining fire!", Pritchard yelled in alarm.
"Heads down!", McManus shouted, prompting everyone to kept their heads down.
"That was on the armor!", Townsend said. Unfortunately, one of the artillery round hit the back of Big Bess, right at the engine compartment, rendering the tank immobile.
"Throttle's dead! I can't move her!", Edwards yelled in panic.
"Finch! I need you out there to take a look!", Townsend ordered the mechanic.
"Watch your arse, Finchy!", McManus yelled.
Townsend then turned to his driver. "Edwards, get on and lend him a hand."
The audience gasped when the artillery barrage hit the tank. They all feared that the crew had been killed in an explosion just like the other ones they saw earlier when dirt and mud were kicked up everywhere when the artillery hit the ground. Luckily, it seemed not to be the case as there was no explosion but the tank was broken down, meaning they were sitting ducks.
"I pray that they'll fix the tank in time. They're stuck in a very dangerous position right now.", Penny said worriedly.
"The sooner they can get out of that place, the better.", Neptune, as well as many others, agreed with her.
Finch was the first one to get out of the tank. When he lifted up the metal side panel of the engine compartment, hot steam and smoke blasted into his face, which he turned away. He then kneeled down and got to work fixing the engine. Edwards then got out of the tank shortly after while holding a C96 pistol in his hand.
"Edwards! You good?", Finch asked Edwards in concern as the new driver was kneeling next to him.
"Yes, mate.", Edwards replied.
However, that reply didn't really assure the mechanic. "You sure?"
"Yes.", again, Edwards replied.
"He really concerns about his teammate's well-being.", Glynda, Ozpin, Summer, Penny, teams RWBY and JNPR smiled at Finch's personality.
"That man will surely be a great huntsman if he's on Remnant.", Ozpin commented before looking at the Roses. "Just like you two, Ms. and Mrs. Rose."
The duo in question smiled at the praise before turning back to the screen.
Almost right after Edwards answered Finch, a large caliber round from a field gun struck the ground next to them, making Finch flew backwards away from the tank. Edwards was seen lying down on his side while still holding the pistol but he was seemingly uninjured.
"Finch!", he called out to his teammate as he quickly got up and checked the mechanic, only to see that he was injured quite badly as he was frowning and groaning.
"Oh no.", Pyrrha gasped at the sight. Her tears were starting to appear again.
"Come on, man. Get him back inside, quick!", Yang said in great concern.
Just as Edwards was about to move the mechanic, he was shot at by the Germans but luckily they all missed and hit the steel armor of Big Bess instead. The rookie driver panicked and ran towards the back of the tank to take cover, while Finch was still lying on the ground in pain. Still in great shock, Edwards stared at Finch while taking cover behind the tank.
"Finch! Get us moving!", Townsend yelled out from the inside.
"What the hell, man?! Can't he see that Finch is lying on the ground injured?!", Yang yelled, her eyes both turned red in anger.
"To be fair, both Edwards and Finch are in the blindspot so it's understandable for Townsend to be like that.", Ren explained calmly.
"Then why didn't Edwards drag Finch with him when he ran to cover or just threw him back inside?!", Yang challenged.
"One, Edwards is very new to all this as that's the first time he has set foot onto the battlefield. Second, if he does what you said then the both of them will definitely die instantly from the gunfire. Third, as you can see on the screen Ms. Xiao Long, he's in great shock.", Ironwood explained to which Yang just huffed in annoyance.
Finch then tried to sit up and reached a hand towards Edwards, but he was shot multiple time to the chest by machinegun fire, killing him instantly.
"Finch is gone!" Edwards yelled loudly while staring at his dead teammate in total shock.
"NOOOOOO!", some of the students yelled.
"Poor man... He was such a nice person...", Glynda said in grief of the young mechanic.
"Now they are lacking a mechanic. Where can they find one in the middle of the battlefield?", Ironwood wondered in great concern.
Edwards then ran towards Finch's body and picked up his repair tool before ran back to the tank.
"Keep it together, lad! Just get us moving!", Townsend yelled out to Edwards and the driver, utilizing the past knowledge when he was still a chauffeur, started fixing the tank from the outside.
Ruby frowned when she saw that Townsend just disregarded the death of his subordinate like that. "I don't like the fact that Townsend just put Finch's death at the back of his mind like that. The man just died a moment ago, for Oum's sake!"
"Ruby, you don't grief the fallen when you're still in the middle of a battle. You do it afterwards.", Summer calmly explained to her daughter. "Besides, I believe that Townsend is the one who is affected the most by Finch's death since it seemed at the beginning of the chapter that they have been teammates for a very long time."
Ruby nodded and mumbled "Yes, mom" before returning to her cookies, though they were less delicious than before.
"Hurry! Get back inside, Edwards!", Townsend urged the driver as he was fixing the tank. After he finished with the repairs, he climbed on top of the tank and entered it via the top hatch.
"Get a move on, driver!", Townsend ordered as soon as Edwards seated himself at the driver seat. The tank began moving again.
"We've took on a damn Jonah and now Finchy's gone!", McManus remarked angrily.
That didn't sit well with the audience as they frowned deeply at what McManus just said.
"What an asshole.", Roman muttered with Neo nodding in agreement.
"McManus! Pull yourself together!", Townsend reprimanded the gunner angrily before composing himself and ordered Edwards. "Get us to that village, driver. Their artillery's holed up there."
The tank then began making its way towards the objective while destroying field guns along the way. The closer they got to the village, the heavier the resistance the met from the Germans. One of the field gun landed a shot extremely close to the tank, kicking up dirt and mud all over the place in the process.
"Stop Jerry hittin' us, you idiot!", McManus berated Edwards who was trying his best to get to the village safely.
"Edwards is your driver. What do you expect, him driving the tank and shooting the guns at the same time?", Qrow growled. "How about you do your job better and destroy those guns, you ass?!"
Everyone agreed with Qrow's opinion. McManus was slowly getting on their nerves and none of them really thought fondly of him.
After destroying more field guns and cutting down some more infantry, they finally saw the objective: three artillery cannons with their barrels pointing upwards, with spent shell casings piled up in the back and tons of ammunition ready to be used. Big Bess fired a single cannon round towards the artillery placement, which detonated the unused ammunition and destroyed the cannons, before the place lit up in a much bigger explosion, covering the whole screen in a yellow and crimson shade.
"Yeah! The guns went BOOM!", Nora exclaimed excitedly. Being a grenadier herself, she really loved explosions, especially the big ones.
"Great job lads, let's find the rest!", Townsend said to his crew.
Edwards stopped the tank for a moment to perform a quick repair on it. After he had done with the task, he immediately went back to driving the tank. "She's ready to move!"
"Thank you, Bess!", McManus thanked the tank of all things.
"Really? You thanked the tank instead of the person who fixed it?", Weiss asked unimpressed at McManus's lack of gratitude towards Edwards.
"Jerk.", Ruby frowned and muttered so that her mother couldn't hear her.
The crew then came across two artillery placements within the garden of the village's church and just like last time, they were met with heavy resistance. However, this time the Germans had a surprise in store waiting for the crew.
"Keep on that light tank!", McManus called out to everyone as a small, fast, and nimble small tank rolled out into view.
Some of the... 'less mature' audience chuckled at the cute little tank. It looked like an ant compared to the giant steel beast that was the Mark V.
"That tank looks so adorable.", Ruby giggled despite being well-awared that the small tank in question was still a machine made for war.
"I want one! Renny, can I have one?! Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee?!", Nora literally 'begged' Ren, at which he sighed.
"No, Nora. You can't have it. Remnant doesn't have anything like it."
"Awwww...", Nora pouted and returned to her dish of pancakes.
"Hmm... I can already see the combat potential of such a small design.", Winter voiced her opinion. "With its size, it can easily outmaneuver and flank the enemy, perfect for quick hit-and-run tactics."
"Though you will have to sacrifice a great deal of armor and weaponry in order to make something like that runs fast.", Qrow said, and Winter had no choice but to agree with the drunkard.
Big Bess immediately opened fired at the hostile light tank. With just three shots, the ligh tank exploded to million pieces.
"Hoho, they are toast!", McManus cheered.
The tank fired its cannon again, this time at one of the two artillery placements. They continued on towards the second and also the last artillery placement within the village and just like last time, fired at it, destroying the placement completely.
"That was the last one! Village is ours!", Townsend cheered.
"Yeah! Go Big Bess, show 'em who's boss!", Ruby cheered excitedly.
"That was awesome!", Jaune exclaimed while grinning like an idiot.
"Now they just have to complete some more objectives and push on towards the town of Cambrai, then they can finally relax.", Sage summarized.
However, Glynda's huntress instincts started to kick in and she narrowed her eyes at the screen. 'Something tells me this won't end like how it should be', she thought.
The crew then pushed on towards a farm that the Germans had turned into a heavily fortified outpost with numerous rows of barbed wire, long trenches, multiple field guns, pillboxes, and machinegun placements.
"Got them!", McManus called out as he destroyed a field gun.
When they got to the farm, German infantry had already taken cover and were waiting for them. However, their resistance was no match for the well-coordinated tank crew as they began mowing down the German adversaries.
"Give em hell, lads. We're taking this position!", Townsend said to the crew.
After a while of totally one-sided firefight, British troops began to secure and change the flag in the outpost, declaring it to be in British control. Big Bess then began moving up again alongside British foot soldiers as Townsend issued a new order. "Artillery ahead! Now we cut them all down!"
A pillbox was seen firing machinegun fire towards the Mark V as well as the troops. McManus then immediately set his crosshair towards the pillbox and fired his cannon, destroying the structure completely. "That's one less machine gun!"
Big Bess's gunners continued to kill off every German soldier and destroy all field guns that came into view before they came face-to-face with another German Sturmpanzer that was blocking a bridge.
"German tank-closing on us!", Edwards called out.
"Another one? Damn, those Germans really are determined to hold off the British advance, huh?", Scarlet commented.
"It appears so.", Ren nodded his head.
"I think that bridge holds a great importance to them since that Sturmpanzer was standing right in front of it, like it was guarding it at all costs.", Pyrrha said,
"Very good observation, Ms. Nikos.", Eli complimented, to which the redhead spartan smiled back. "It is just like she said, buuuuuut I won't spoil anything because it'll take away all the fun and surprises."
Edwards then drove the tank to the side in order to avoid a cannon shot from the Sturmpanzer. When they finally got closer to the tank, the remaining gunners of Big Bess fired their own cannons at the German opponent, damaging the steel platings little by little.
"Infantry, let's cut them down!", Pritchard shouted.
"They already have their hands full with another tank and now they have to deal with foot soldiers too? That's too much!", Jaune exclaimed, worried for the crew of Big Bess.
"Let's see how they will pull this one off.", Ozpin said and took a sip from his coffee mug.
Edwards then had a brilliant idea. He began pushing forward towards the Sturmpanzer while McManus and Pritchard were still firing on it, forcing the German heavy tank to move in order to keep distance. After a while of chasing the Sturmpanzer, the German tank was stuck when its left track fell down into the trenches, making it immobile and can't fire on the Mark V since its cannon was facing towards the sky. Big Bess then fired at the Sturmpanzer's soft spot and the round punched through the steel and exploded from within, destroying the tank and killing everyone inside.
"Yes, that will shut them up!", Pritchard cheered happily.
The audience jaw-dropped at the audacity and creativity of the crew of Big Bess. They were very much impressed at the tactics that Edwards just pulled off.
"Now that's a pro gamer move right there.", Sun, Neptune, and Jaune exclaimed.
"That's quite literally a very good example of 'psychological warfare'!", Penny piped up.
"Did that guy just... quite literally push that tank into the trenches?", Qrow asked, his eyes were still wide as he couldn't believe his eyes.
"That he did, Qrow... That he did...", Summer answered slowly.
"Specialist Schnee...?", Ironwood began.
"Yes, sir?", Winter replied.
"...write that one down."
"Already done, sir."
Meanwhile, Ozpin chuckled at the bold performance. "Very smart, Mr. Driver."
"Edwards, take us over!", Townsend ordered his driver before he addressed the gunners. "Clear the bridge of any German defenses!"
Big Bess then turned back to her original path and started to advance towards the bridge. The only resistance that they met along the way was two field guns, a machinegun placement, and some foot soldiers, which the crew quickly dispatched without breaking a sweat. The tank then began to cross the bridge without a single problem.
The seasoned hunters and huntresses like Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow, and Summer as well as the two Atlesian military officers and even the two thieves narrowed their eyes in suspicion. According to Eli, this bridge was very important, important enough that the German had one of the 20 heavy tanks they had in their arsenal to guard it. So why the defense was so light?
"I have a bad feeling about this...", Jaune voiced his opinion. Despite not being a good fighter at all, he's a very good tactician and he could sense the danger better than anyone else.
"Why, Fearless Leader? Everything is quiet now. It's safe now, right?", Nora tilted her head in confusion.
"That's exactly why I said it, Nora. It's abnormally quiet for a bridge that holds great significance like Eli just said.", Jaune explained and he received an "ohhhhhh" from the pancakes addict.
Right after they crossed the bridge, a large and deep puddle... no, POND of mud greeted them.
"More damn mud!", Townsend growled loudly. "Throttle up, push through!"
The tank then began to struggle as it was driven deeper and deeper into the mud. Just as they were about to exit the muddy pond, the tank got caught in a deep spot, making it unable to advance. Suddenly, German soldiers began rushing the tank from behind as they tried to open the side doors.
"They were waiting for us! Get us moving!", Townsend spat.
"I knew it.", Roman sighed while puffing his cigar. "They're so screwed now."
Ruby glared at the thief and stood up. "Don't say that! They will make it through!"
"How, Red? The tank is bogged down and enemy soldiers are pouring in. They will need a miracle to get out of that situation.", Roman retorted.
Ruby just huffed and sat back down. She didn't want to admit it but Roman was right, the situation was very dire. And she hated it.
"Shit! Shit!", Pritchard yelled in panic.
"Can't get any traction!", Edwards reported. A German soldier was seen getting on top of the Mark V.
"Push 'em back lads!", Townsend said.
"Get off Bessy you Fritz scum!", Pritchard remarked angrily at the German climbing.
"We're fish in a barrel here!", McManus added.
Edwards was still trying his best to move the tank. "No traction, Sir. I can't move her!"
"Come on.", McManus began as he was reloading his cannon. "Come on, man!"
Townsend was seen writing something on a small piece of paper.
"What is he doing?", Blake narrowed her eyes in confusion.
"It looks like he's writing something.", Weiss answered her cat faunus teammate, though she was uncertain about her answer.
The scene then cut to Pritchard firing his revolver towards a German outside before he was called by Townsend. "Pritchard!"
"Sir!", the gunner answered hurriedly.
"Pigeon!", Townsend ordered curtly.
Outside, German troops were banging against the tank's steel armor with their rifles' stock, while some were seen climbing up on top of the tank. The scene then changed to inside Big Bess, as it showed Townsend giving Pritchard a small piece of paper. The gunner was then seen opening the cage containing the white pigeon. Then it cut to McManus yelling in the back.
"Are you out of your mind!? You're gonna get us all killed!"
"What did he mean by that?, Scarlet asked aloud, confused at what the cranky gunner just said. He was not the only one as many people in the audience were also wondering the same thing.
"I don't know. Maybe the answer will show itself as we watch.", Sage said to his friend.
The screen then showed Pritchard gently took out the bird but it immediately cut to McManus raising his own revolver towards the driver seat. "Edwards, behind you!"
Before the new driver could register McManus's words, a C96 pistol was shot right next to his left ear, making him hold his ear and fall down on the tank's floor as all around him, every sound became muffled.
The scene caused many people in the audience to wince, except for Nora. The feeling of temporarily losing your hearing wasn't fun at all and they all felt thankful for having aura to protect their ears from loud noises.
"Damn... that's gotta hurt real bad...", Yang commented with everyone in agreement with her.
Still wincing from the pain in his left ear, Edwards looked forward towards Pritchard who was holding the pigeon in his hands. Then, the gunner was suddenly shot right in the head as his head jerked back, killing him instantly. The pigeon in his hands got startled and began flapping its wings in panic, before it started flying all over the place.
"Edwards!", the muffled sound of commanding officer Townsend was heard as he was trying to hold the hatch in place. "Edwards, grab the pigeon!"
However, Edwards was still too disoriented and the sound wasn't fully registered in his head so he couldn't do anything aside from sitting there and holding his damaged ear.
"Don't do it.", McManus said.
"Grab that pigeon!", Townsend ordered again.
"It's suicide. You're gonna blow us all to bits.", McManus tried to reason.
"It's the only chance we got, McManus!"
The pigeon then finally landed at the now deceased Pritchard. The recruit was finally recovered a bit as he could hear things a bit better and began crawling towards the pigeon.
"Edwards, grab the pigeon!"
"Don't do it! Don't listen to that man!"
The German soldiers outside kept hitting the tank with their rifles and other tools, trying to pry open the Mark V.
"Release that pigeon now and you'll kill us all, Edwards."
Gently, Edwards hold the pigeon up in his hands, though he was still a bit confused and disoriented.
"That's an order, son!"
Everything then finally cleared up and Edwards could hear clearly again.
"Edwards!", his commander shouted, "Release the pigeon! That is an order, son, do you understand me?"
"Sir... Sir!", Edwards replied as he slowly got up from the floor. He looked for a bit then he found a small hole that was used to release the pigeon. He then release the pigeon through the hole as it flew away without the Germans noticing it.
The camera then changed to chase camera view behind the pigeon as it sailed through the air and across the vast battlefield, making its way back to the headquarters. Along the way, the battle was still raging on. On the ground, soldiers from both sides were fighting and killing each other. On the sky, fighter planes were chasing each other, machinegun fire came out from the planes' noses. A plane was seen crashing down from the sky with fire coming from its engine, before it hit the ground nose first and exploded. The landscape also changed as pigeon made its way further and further back to base camp. It changed from a bit of green where grass and trees were still standing to a barren wasteland where the fight originally began. As all this was happening, a beautiful yet solemn melody was played in the background, which further signified the things being shown on screen.
There was complete silence among the Remnant's locals as they all took in the sight before them. For a long duration, nobody had anything to say.
"Beautiful, isn't it?", Eli asked everyone, effectively pulling everyone out of their stupor.
"Yes... Someone should take a picture of this...", Blake commented. She still had her breath taken away by such a symbolic scene.
"I could write a song or a short poem out of this...", Weiss said.
"It saddens me to see such a symbol of peace be used in wartime like that.", Pyrrha commented, and everyone sans the two criminals agreed with her without a single doubt.
"But it still doesn't answer the question as to why that McManus guy kept saying that releasing the pigeon will get them killed.", Summer asked aloud.
Nobody except for Eli really knew the answer. For the meantime, they had to make do with their own speculations and guesses. Some of those guesses weren't really pretty, though.
The pigeon finally made its way back to base camp as it started its descend.
"Message coming in!", a random soldier yelled out. The pigeon then landed on top of the other pigeon cages where a soldier in the background ran hastily towards it.
Another soldier then yelled "Orders!" before the one that ran towards the pigeon came up on his superior and saluted.
"Sir, new fire mission.", he then passed the note. "It's Townsend, sir."
The man then laid the small piece of paper out on the wooden table, allowing the audience to read what the tank commander had written earlier.
"FIRE MISSION. URGENT! OVERRUN! GRID 317241 ELE60"
Sage suddenly gasped at this. "I think I know what's going on now!"
"What? What is it, man?", Sun asked his teammate.
"Townsend knew he and the crew would be overrun so he decided to have ally artillery fire onto his position!", Jaune exclaimed worriedly.
"So that's why McManus was actively objecting his superior's decision.", Ruby summarized before she gasped in shock. "But doing that will get them killed!"
"It seems that the commanding officer was willing to sacrifice his life instead of letting the enemy have their hands on the tank.", Ozpin said in solemn. He, Glynda, Ironwood, and Winter all kept their heads down in respect of the brave commander.
"No...", Ruby muttered in denial, tears started rolling down her face. "I don't get it... Why do good guys like them have to die...? Mom, why do they have to die...?"
Summer just didn't know what to say. In the end, she said what she thought was the best answer for her heart-broken daughter. "Ruby... You have to understand that... good guys don't always come home safely. In a lot of instances, they will fall in the line of duty."
However, that wasn't enough for the little reaper as she was still silently sobbing. "But... There has to be another way... Right, Mom? They could try and... fend off those soldiers... or wait for reinforcement... they didn't have to do that... Like what McManus said... they will die if they do that... Then why, Mom? Why did they choose to die...?"
"Rubes...", Yang put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "I also don't like it just as much as you do but... think about it for a second. There are only three of them left and the Germans are very close to pry open Big Bess. They couldn't fend them all off and if they had decided to wait for the reinforcement to rescue them, then they would have been dragged out of the tank and those Germans would have done Oum knows what to them. So in a way, this is the best option. At least they get to keep their dignity and honor."
Ruby was still sobbing quite a lot but thanks to her mother and sister, she eventually came around and calmed down a bit. Because of his position, Qrow couldn't come and comfort his distressed niece. In the end, he just sighed and took a swig from his bottle. 'Sorry that you have to learn about reality this way, kiddo'
The soldier then passed the message towards the commander of the artillery team. "Sir."
Upon reading the small paper in his hand, the commander then immediately ordered his men to work. "Grid 3642!"
The men then began loading a large caliber round into the artillery guns, more specifically three of them, methodically before all three gun barrels were directed towards the sky, all three were aiming at the coordinates written in Townsend's note.
"Fire!", the commander yelled, and all three guns fired a shot, sending heavy artillery rounds towards the sky.
Back at the bogged down tank, the Germans were still trying to pry open it though with less violence than before. Inside the tank, Townsend looked up from his place, his eyes were filled with tiredness and defeat.
"Here it comes, boys.", McManus said his farewell with a small bit of fear in his voice. "Nice serving with you, lads."
Ruby closed her eyes and pulled the hood of her cloak down to cover her face. She couldn't handle seeing the crew of Big Bess die like this. Besides her, Summer and Yang hugged her in order to comfort the young crimson reaper.
Everyone else in the theater, sans Eli, put their heads down and closed their eyes in respect of the brave tank men. Most of them even offered a quick prayer.
A German soldier outside looked up and saw three rounds of artillery fire closing in on their position. He then shouted in great panic, warning and telling his comrades to run for their lives. Inside, Townsend closed his eyes in acceptance, before the screen suddenly turned black and sounds of explosion could be heard coming out from the screen.
...
A/N: I received a comment suggesting that I make the RWBY casts listen to a Sabaton's song about WW1. What do you guys think about this idea? Lemme know in the reviews section below and as always, thank you so much all the support, and I'll see you guys later.
PEACE!