DISCLAIMER:

This story in no way shape or form paints the Third Reich in a biased way. The reason I'm actually writing this story is 1. because I just really love tanks, and I like RWBY, and 2. because I'm a HUGE history buff, especially on WWII. That being said, if anyone sees that one guy who had appeared is wearing a swastika, yes, he is, but remember that that is simply part of HIS uniform. That being said, the outfits that RWBY receive during this chapter do not share that aspect of the uniform, instead replacing it with their own insignia.

Just something I thought I'd put out there before someone gets the wrong idea and screams over the internet that I'm a Neo-Nazi. Now that that's out of the way, let's get on with the story...

It had been several hours now since they'd blasted their way out of their once dire situation, and still they were a very, very long way away from Beacon. Sure, they could maybe cross about 28 to 32 kilometers in an hour, but that still made their journey easily three days. It would have been an easy journey if it weren't for the plethora of mechanical issues it had...

"Crap! Weiss, halt the Panzer, the tracks are digging into the dirt again!" Ruby called down to her partner, who immediately halted the tank before taking her hands off the wheel and sitting back for a moment and wiping her brow. They were still a good 80 kilometers away from the nearest town, and here they had to take yet another stop to halt the tank, reverse it, and go around on ground that only looked more solid than what they were currently on.

Ruby several times had to slap herself across the face to keep herself from falling asleep. Her team were quick to complain at how loud the tank was, or how bumpy the ride was on their current terrain, but Ruby herself was getting drowsy from it. Something about it just... relaxed her. She was comfortable, despite the lack of padding on the seats, the engine, despite being however loud, was oddly relaxing to focus on, and the bumpiness of the ride really didn't bother her.

It took about two or three moments, but Weiss was finally able to get the Porsche Tiger out of the dirt and get it moving back onward toward the town. For another two hours they drove on, only making it 50 kilometers due to the engine failing twice during operation and Ruby and Yang having to step out to fix it. Night was falling, and it'd become difficult to see, initially, though Weiss, upon looking back through the manual, found the headlights and turned them on. So they were on their way once more...

Ruby roared in frustration, punching the side of the tank. The engine needed it's spark plugs replaced, and just what didn't they have on the tank? Replacement spark plugs. She sighed at the hopelessness of the situation, as they just HAD to break down in some way or another just 2 kilometers from their destination. Ruby looked back up at the tank. She didn't so much dislike the big beast, in fact she'd quickly developed a fondness for it, but that didn't change the fact that almost all the materials in it's engine were of low quality, and that it had an iffy belt system. It was a quirky beast, one with shortcomings she planned to rectify as soon as they'd gotten to town.

"Hey, Ruby? At least we can still use the turret... somehow. The engine is a hybrid electric and diesel engine, so it may be electricity that's letting it move but... I dunno." Blake said, swiveling the turret back and fourth to prove her point. This didn't much comfort Ruby, as they were still dead in the water, and still only two kilometers from their destination, too. Looking up and around, she could make out the lights of the town down the road, and the people in the streets. Guards stood at the ready to meet any Grimm that might try them, and just a bit further down the road into the town she could see the mechanic, too. She was unsure if the place was big enough to accommodate their current vehicle, but if they could...

Exactly at that moment Ruby had gotten her idea, and pulled out one of the Tank's spark plugs and handed it to Weiss...

"Weiss, I need you to take this and run up to the town. Get the mechanic, show him the spark plug. If he doesn't have any like it, we can at least hope he'll have something strong enough to move the Tiger." Ruby swiftly ordered, to which her partner nodded, taking the spark plug and running off towards the town. The night was very dark, and they could barely, just barely see much in front of them, though the town they could easily see, it's lights bright enough to make them need to squint somewhat to see clearly. Their tank was where the light of the town didn't reach, just a little too far to be seen from the town.

With the Heiress on her way, that left the rest of RBY alone in the dark, not that it bothered Blake. Blake had stayed on the gun, her natural night vision leading her to be the best gunner for the situation, and Yang simply sat next to the raven haired faunas, messing with the girl's ears every now and then as the amber eyed girl didn't seem to mind. Yang herself had already loaded in another 88mm HE round, so found herself rather bored in waiting. Ruby stood on top of the tank's turret, surveying the area to the best of her rather limited current ability. She'd deployed her scythe, and was merely lying in wait for any attack the Grimm might make in the dark...

It wasn't even five minutes before her worries were realized. From down in the turret, she heard Blake yell up at her...

"Ruby, we've got several dozen Beowulves charging at us from multiple directions! Your orders?" Blake yelled up at her, the reaper merely gazed off in the direction the gun was pointed before responding.

"Blake, fire at will!" she screamed back, the second half of her words being lost under the boom of the following explosion. She still could not see the enemy, but the explosion had somewhat lit up the area, even if only for a moment. It was easy to see why Blake was so worried about them, as the light revealed a massive horde of beowulves charging at them, not just a few. Preparing her scythe, she readied her stance as the crack of the gun firing resounded once more accompanied by another boom.

The horde inched ever closer, only being somewhat slowed by the blasting of the Tiger's main gun. Some foliage caught fire, which quickly spread, revealing what exactly they were fighting. Ruby wasn't very concerned about the panzer, no, it'd easily survive whatever mere beowulves could throw at it, she was worried about herself and her team. They'd already fired twelve rounds, leaving them with only 56 shells left in the ammo racks. There was one alpha hanging at the back, but it didn't seem intent on moving just yet. Ruby noted that it was probably waiting for it's younger brethren to bog down the tank.

'This is bad!' Ruby thought, noting that they simply weren't firing fast enough to make enough of a difference to stop them from reaching the tank. It was only a moment later, that a the gun fired and the first Beowulf jumped into range. It instantly met it's end by the scythe of the young reaper, decapitating the beast and letting the head fly past her as the body slumped against the side of the tank. Spinning about and holding her scythe at an angle, she effortlessly bisected another two beowulves and decapitated a third, before lunging out with the blade of Crescent Rose extended outwards to impale a Beowulf through the face.

The cycle carried on for several minutes, with Ruby cursing under her breath that Weiss should have been back by now. Beowulves would meet their end at her blade, and the earth would be shook by big, explosive bullets. During the attack, Ruby had only been able to herself from attacks so long, not being able to move off the top of the tank she'd taken scores of hits, her Aura dipping into dangerous levels.

After what seemed an eternity, the horde finally had dissipated, revealing only the Alpha left. The Alpha had stealthily closed the distance, and was ready to pounce and finish off the Rose from behind. Ruby, having realized something was off, swiftly turned around at the sound of a blood-chilling roar as the Wolf had pounced at her. Raising her scythe to block the blow, she knew she'd still get badly wounded from such a blow, and braced herself for the inevitable...

Bang!

The blow never came, as Ruby opened her eyes, she saw the wulf fall limply to the side, a large hole blasted through it's right eye.

Swiftly, Ruby threw herself around to see her savior, but noticed something odd. There was Weiss, and a bewildered mechanic to boot, but the shooter was someone else entirely. An older man, perhaps in his early 50's and standing at an average height was dressed in what looked to be a gray military uniform of a general, a stylized eagle holding a swastika within a ring on the right side of his chest, and over his heart there were several military honors. A stylized cross was displayed over his sternum and on his head he wore a capped visor with the same insignia on it as was on the right side of his chest. In one hand he held a handgun, it's clip oddly enough located in front of the handle as opposed to how it's normally located inside of it. He didn't say a word, merely waving his hand to the her, getting a small wave in response. Weiss walked up with the mechanic, whom was holding in his hands a large toolbox, and in his other hands spark plugs. And they were the same as on the tank, too! Giddy with joy, Ruby hopped down from on top of the tank before approaching her teammate and the mechanic.

"Oh my gosh, he actually had the exact same spark plugs?!." Ruby swiftly said, before looking to the mechanic.

"Yeah, don't know how they got there, though. Sure as hell know I hadn't seen em on my work bench before tonight, but there they were." the large man said, handing the plugs over to the red clad girl. "oh, and by the way, that uhhh... Panzer, right? Since it's a panzer, and it's yours, you're gonna wanna talk to this gentleman over there, in the military uniform."

Weiss decided to chip in, too. "He's right, this guy claims to know about the Panzer, and we don't know anything. We'd be fools to disregard him." Ruby looked to her partner, and nodded, fitting the last plugs into the engine.

It only took about two minutes to get the tank moving again, this time with two more passengers. The tank clattered on unhindered for the remainder of the trip, and soon enough rolled into town. Everyone in the town gawked at the appearance of the massive vehicle, to which one small child pointed, yelling excitedly while jumping up and down and pointing at their tank, saying something along the lines of "look! A Panzer! A Panzer!"

Pulling up into the garage, taking up the entire space, they all exited the tank, with all of team RWBY leaving the mechanic with the manuals and following the officer looking man to the small house the townsfolk had gifted him. It was a small, but cozy house, with a large table in the middle of the main room with maps and various letters and the sort scattered about across it. The man had pulled up several seats for the girls on one side of the table, and pulled up a seat for himself on the other. They happily took the seats provided, thanking him before setting their weapons down beside them. The man before them took off his hat, setting it on the table before taking a seat himself. His head was shaved, it much the same way one would expect from a high ranking general of a military. The man smiled, looking at the four girls before deciding to start.

"Well, I'm sure you're all curious as to who and what I am, nein?" The man started, his voice firm, yet friendly. His statement was met with several nods. Chuckling slightly to himself, he set both his hands down on the table, bringing them together over a map of the area. "I am Field Marshal Rommel. I am, or at least, was, a high ranking member of the Third Reich. Your Panzer, the vk 4501 P, or Tiger Porsche, if I'm not mistaken? It came here in much the same manner I did, did it not?"

"That depends." Ruby said. "How did you show up here?"

"I was about to commit suicide, after failed assassins of the Führer had mentioned my name under interrogations. However, as I was about to take the poison two months ago, a green light, seemingly out of nowhere, enveloped the room. Not a moment later, I was lying in the middle of this forest, my poison nowhere to be found. It has been strange, I can say, adapting to this new world you people call 'Remnant', but I've managed... however, I'd imagine you're more interested in learning about your panzer, nein?" The Field Marshal said, shocking the girls with how casual he was with the situation he was in. Shaking the though from their heads, they nodded in affirmation to the man.

"Your Panzer, or, tank, as most not in Germany seem so keen as to call them, is the failed Porsche prototype of the Panzerkampfwagen VI requested by the führer in 1942, not that that date would hold any meaning here. I believe you already can see why it's failed." Rommel chuckled. "Nevertheless, here you have resources at your disposal so that you can improve upon its shortcomings... Not that it matters right now. You four don't even know the slightest thing about your tank aside from the basics, do you? Yes yes yes, perhaps you know how to drive and shoot to a... basic, degree, but do you even know how to best apply your Panzer in a situation, the best battlefield role of your tank, or how to effectively repair it?" His questions were all met with silence, which led him to sigh in turn. These girls didn't know the slightest thing about the use and application of what they had, though he couldn't exactly blame them. In either case, he knew what he had to do...

"OKAY!" he said sharply. "I want you all to rest up for the night in the room to your left," he said, gesturing to the room where a few mattresses waited, "for tomorrow, I shall be teaching you all how to effectively utilize the vehicle at your disposal. Frauen, du bist entlassen." He finished, before walking upstairs to his own room. The four of them merely looked confused, not understanding the last part of his lecture but kinda understanding at the same time.

Sleep came easily, given how tired they were. They wondered how the man, this Field Marshal Rommel, could help them operate this Panzer (Ruby refused to simply call it a tank, stating that "panzer" was just so much cooler). They didn't even know how long they slept, only that when they woke up the sun was already halfway up the skies. Doing their small morning routines, they all took a few minutes to individually shower and brush their teeth before walking out of their room to be greeted to the smell of fresh bread, honey, eggs, cheese, pork, and coffee. Looking around, they all saw plates on the table with such things on them, and in the coffee's case, in mugs beside the plates.

Looking back and forth, they saw no trace that Rommel was there besides the plates, so they assumed he must be out on the town at the moment. Sitting at the table, they all began to briskly eat their meals, chatting aimlessly to pass the time as they ate. They were still far, far away from Beacon, being still roughly 1936 kilometers away. It didn't matter, they supposed. As soon as they could they'd send a message over to Ozpin that they were fine... that is, once they got out of the jamming range. Their scroll communications were still jammed, meaning that no time soon would they be speaking with their headmaster.

They'd only finished their meals when the door swung open, revealing Rommel, whom himself was holding a cup of coffee too. He looked on at the girls with a blank stare, only giving them each a once over, before he gestured with his free hand for them to follow. Team RWBY decided it'd be best to follow the man, and walked out the door behind him.

The town was small, basic, but they could easily see it was well defended. The town was enclosed on all sides save for two openings by hills obviously made by man, with trenches and sandbag emplacements erected atop the mounds. Barbed wire surrounded the base of the mounds and from a quick glance Ruby's eyes had been able to make out what looked like mines when she'd first entered the town. Judging by how differently the town was defended compared to other ones in the area, they had an inkling feeling that this Rommel guy was partially responsible for the town's defenses.

They were walking along the road, taking a different one than they'd taken in their Tiger. Eventually, Rommel led them into a small shop with large cabinets and mirrors against the walls, an ironing board, ans several suits displayed. It was clear that they'd just entered the tailor's shop, and that they'd be getting new outfits... fitting, as their current outfits were getting rather uncomfortable in their damaged states. The tailor, a man who they'd guess was maybe in his late fifties, merely smiled to the Field Marshal as he held up a sketch of what he wanted made for the four girls. First was a gray, button up, long sleeved and collared shirt, followed by a black or dark gray field jacket with epaulets and a badge at the front of the collar on the jackets. The same badge was found on the sketch of the uniform as was seen on the right side of Rommel's, except the ring held by the eagle was blank. He also had a sketch for a similar hat, though it also said it was only for Ruby as she was the tank commander. Next were trousers, basic black ones with several pockets not much different than what he himself was currently wearing, and black combat boots.

"Damen." Rommel started, "Today, you'll be leaving those tattered uniforms behind. Clothes make the man, as the saying goes, and this panzer is yours. If you're going to be a Panzer vk 4501 p crew, you might as well look the part, nein?" The girls looked to each other, before nodding in unison. Rommel showed off a toothy smile, before looking to the tailor...

"Na dann, lass uns anfangen!"

It was midday by the time they were fully outfitted, having filled out their respective insignia on the blank parts of the badge they now each wore. Ruby quickly became fond of the field visor she'd received, and each had matching badges in design on their collars, those reading out their initials on the right, and the name they'd yet to agree upon for the tank on the left. Until they'd decided upon a name, they were not displaying a badge on that side. The mechanic and his team had yet to finish their modifications upon the Tiger, so for now, they merely had to listen and learn from the kind Field Marshal who was teaching them.

Right now, they had a simple set up. The loading system of the Porsche Tiger had been recreated in a model where they could effectively practice taking the shells out of the rack and pushing it through to where it could be fired. So far, they'd all trained for about an hour on it, learning how to reload efficiently in the case that their designated loader be incapacitated. Though, while they all learned how to effectively load the gun, Yang had to practice most with it, as she was the designated loader. She'd managed to cut down her reloading time with the 88mm shell from 8.5 seconds down to a 7.6 second average. Though, during that time, from lifting and pushing so many shells through, her arms she found at the end to be sore as hell, like she'd just finished pushing out a new max on her bench press.

Ruby herself was getting real tired of lifting shells and pushing them through. Her arms hurt like hell, and the shells, while not initially too heavy, now felt like she was lifting big bags of bricks. She saw that Blake and Weiss weren't doing much better, and that all of them were visibly sweating, though Yang the least of them. Rommel had commented that the decision of making Yang the loader was evidently the wisest, and commended Ruby for initially picking her out as the loader.

Given a few hours, they were all sitting at a table, with Rommel educating them on proper battlefield tactics and etiquette (which Ruby didn't quite fully understand, given the difference between a battlefield and a ballroom). Weiss, as they'd all expected, was taking detailed notes on Rommel's current subject, that being how to properly fight when outnumbered. Though while Weiss busied herself taking notes, Ruby had found it easy to listen and learn from the man in front of her. It was obvious he'd told the truth about his knowledge of proper tank usage.

Yang struggled to grasp many of the concepts presented before her about the tactics and strategies, though Rommel had simply told her not to worry to much about it. After all, her job was just to dump the used shells and load new ones in. Blake understood much of it, but noted that she'd probably only remember what to shoot, when to shoot it past the night. Weiss's notes were comprehensive and in detail, though Rommel had told her that such notes were unnecessary as he'd already written a comprehensive and in depth book on the contemporary tactics of armored warfare. Ruby had shown a remarkable comprehension for the tactics and strategies of armored warfare, and even had noted several points before the Field Marshal had even gotten to them.

There was little way currently to practice driving and shooting skills while the tank was undergoing modification and upgrades, so that left Weiss and Blake untrained in their respective roles for the day. Despite the idea of being in a big, armored war machine with a massive gun that utterly wrecked crap weighing in at 57,000 kilograms being such a new concept to them, they were eager to learn how to handle their big bad Tiger Porsche.

The day was finally coming to an end over the town (of which they later learned the name was "Wulften"), and RWBY were now laying exhausted, mostly mentally, from their training with Rommel. With their training for the day done, the four girls decided to turn in for the day, but not before visiting their tank...

"So... We have to name it, don't we?" Blake asked, looking to her friends whom she could see all had the same thing on their mind. They all had ideas, but nobody was quite sure on an appropriate name, and they already put down the law that anything coming from Yang would be shot down. After her proposal to name their Bullhead, her ability to name anything the team used had been brutally revoked... The Phallic Blaster was no name for a bullhead...

"How about..." Weiss began, "The Blade? I mean, it's short, and it emphasizes on it's ability to attack." Blake, however, was quick to counter Weiss's claim.

"If we were naming it based on it's ability to attack, we shouldn't give it a name more fitting for an assault gun. I say... Bulwark." Blake stated, earning a curious look from her white haired counterpart.

"Why Bulwark?"

"Well..." Ruby now chimed in, "it does have 200 millimeters of frontal armor... though it's no Maus we're using, here."

"Well then," Blake started. "Why don't you, Ruby, name this tank?"

She thought for a moment, remembering Rommel had said something to her when she came in to see the tank earlier, though she believed what he said was directed at the tank rather than her...

"What about... Der Verteidiger?"

"What's that supposed to translate to?" Weiss asked, an even more confused look on her face.

"Well... it, ah... it means, uhh-"

"It means," came a voice from behind them, "'The Defender', in your language. And good job on picking up that I meant the tank earlier, Rose." Ruby's cheeks reddened from the sudden compliment, merely nodding her head in affirmation.

"The Defender... huh." Blake said, trying the name on her tongue for a moment before nodding her head. Weiss followed suit quickly thereafter, and Yang merely shrugged.

"Long as it sounds cool." the eldest of the two sisters said.

Rommel smiled slightly. "Der Verteidiger sollte es dann sein. Tuck in for the night, ladies, I shall see to the items relevant to the naming of this panzer." He said, smiling kindly at the four girls as they nodded and ran off.

Rommel stood at the table in the town hall with the mayor and the chief of defense. Scouts had reported the White Fang mobilizing for another attack, and Rommel intended to quickly and efficiently destroy these attackers. But he wouldn't need the Panzer for this, no, he'd already seen to the town being quite well enough defended to make a mockery of this coming assault...

"Erwin..." came the voice of the mayor, a tall and skinny man named Lutolf Baker. "Are we ready for this attack? We've produced the equipment you told us to, both the 7.5 cm IG 37 and the 8.8 cm Flak 18-36, infantry based equipment too, but..."

"If all equipment is in place and the troops have been training as they should have, then these terrorists are in way over their head. Ich bin fast beleidigt, dass das alles ist, was sie gesendet haben. Nur ein paar Dutzend Fußsoldaten und keine einzige schwere Waffe. Erbärmlich." Erwin Rommel swiftly cut the mayor off, stating what was in his own language swiftly, scoffing at the end. Looking to the Chief of Defense, he patted the man on the shoulder and gave a simple order to the man.

"Rouse the troops at rest, I want these törichte terroristen to taste an utter, absolutely crushing defeat at our hands tonight.