Hahaha...so I know its only been a few days since the last chapter release, but I was in the mood so I wrote this one too before I move countries and lose internet for a little while, hope this holds you over until I get it back.
Special thanks to 'Form One Lane' for some of the ideas of this chapter. And DragonManMax for being a great wall for bouncing ideas off of as well.
(I do not own RWBY)
The Soldier's Battleground
ザー・ソールジュズ・バタルフィールド
Chapter XII: As Above So Below
Jaune leaned up against the tunnel wall before leaning out cautiously to peer around the corner into another tunnel that branched off the main tunnel Yang and he were traveling on. Seeing nothing, he breathed a sigh of relief before signaling to Yang that the coast was clear. Their search so far of the tunnel revealed very little. But then again the tunnel system itself was quite extensive and probably ran underneath most of the hill they had just captured.
He was about to discuss what to do next with Yang when the sound of something falling caught both of their attention. The two of them quietly made their way to where the sound had originated and saw that there was a small room with an Imperial soldier writing something quietly on the desk in front of them. Not wanting to rouse them, Jaune pointed at Yang and signaled for her to watch the door. He then pulled out Crocea Mors and stealthily made his over to the unawares person.
With a swift motion he covered the man's face and held the blade of his knife to their throat. "If you value your life then don't move a muscle." He hissed in to the person's ear. The enemy soldier nodded and slowly raised their hands above their head.
"Alright buddy I'm going to remove my hand from your mouth and if you even think of yelling for help I'll end you." Another small nod of compliance made him remove his hand.
"How many soldiers are down here?"
"I'm not telling you anything." The Imperial soldier whispered defiantly. Jaune pressed the knife a bit harder into their throat. "You'd had better tell me pal."
Yang who was protecting the door heard footsteps coming down one of the tunnels and turned towards Jaune to warn him.
"Fritz! Are you done writing your letter? I need to borrow your…." The Imperial soldier stopped in his tracks and raised his rifle in alarm when he meet a young Atlesian woman who pointed her shotgun at him. His gaze flicked over to his buddy who had a knife to his throat by another Atlesian soldier.
"Lower your weapon chump, before I blast a hole in you." Yang said with an edge to her voice. The tension in the room rose exponentially at the new development and everyone didn't dare move a muscle as to not startle the other party.
It was so quite that the sound of a pin dropping could have been heard, but the silence was broken when the Imperial soldier flicked off his safety on the rifle making Yang take an aggressive step forward from the action.
"Let Fritz go, or I will kill your partner." The knife against Fritz's throat tightened and a trickle of blood seeped onto the blade. "Not going to happen, lower your weapon before things get messy in here."
After a few tense moments the Imperial soldier took a deep breath in and lowered his weapon when all of a sudden.
"Intruders sighted!" Yang cursed underneath her breath and charged at the enemy, with any luck she could knock him out without having to fire her weapon which would surely cause the alarm to raise.
Seeing the young woman charging at him, the enemy soldier lifted his rifle and fired off a wild shot which struck her in the left shoulder. Grunting, she fired her shotgun and their world went black.
With the two shots being fired, the sound of other Imperials could be heard coming from down the tunnel and not wanting to be caught off guard, Jaune slit the throat of the Imperial he had in arms before dropping the body onto the ground gently.
"Let's get out of here." Jaune grabbed Yang and steadied her as she ground her teeth together from the shoulder wound that was inflicted upon her earlier. The two of them left the room and when they rounded a corner they came face to face with a group of Imperial soldiers who all raised their weapons at them.
All hell broke loose underground.
Blake finished wiping away the last of the grime from her weapon before she methodically and carefully started to put it back together. By the time she had finished with the cleaning the sky had completely darkened and she was working by the soft light of a lamp by her side. She could see just fine in the dark, but not only was it necessary to keep up appearance that she was human, having to use her night vision put a bit of stress on her eyesight if she used it for to long.
A small rustling from behind caused her acute sense of hearing to make her ears perk up from the sounds, and she set down the submachine gun lightly before drawing her pistol and making her way over to the side of the trench. Taking a quick glance of the surrounding area, the only thing she saw was the two females still working on repairing the busted tank from the previous battle with a few lamps around them to light up the work area.
Not noticing anything suspicious she dismissed the sounds she heard as the two of them and walked back over to her partially assembled weapon and once again started to put it back together, only to stop once more as she heard the sounds again but coming from the other side of the hill. Wanting to find out who or what was making that sound she got back up and walked silently and let her night vision take control to guide her walk in the darkness.
Guards had been set up along the perimeter to prevent any surprise attacks from the enemy, but seeing as no had raised the alarm, perhaps it was just an animal that was the sounds, or so she hoped. Walking for a few more yards, she came upon a guard who was leaning heavily against his rifle as they stared out at the wasteland. Seeing as she didn't have a light with her she decided to make her presence known as to not completely spook the guard.
"Morgan, status report." She whispered and waited for them to acknowledge her presence only to see them remain leaning on their rifle. "Soldier if you've fallen asleep on guard duty…" Taking a few steps forward she reached out and shook them on the shoulder only for them to slump down to the ground. Alarm bells started ringing her head at this and she knelt down quickly only to discover after turning the body over that there was a crossbow bolt lodged in their chest.
Her senses went on full alert and she scanned the area to see if she could the attacker. The rustling she had heard earlier became much louder in volume and just as she saw the glint of weapons down the hill.
All hell broke loose above.
Jaune shoved Yang to ground just as the Imperial soldiers opened fire on them. A round slammed into his chest forcing the air out of his lungs as he stumbled to the ground from the impact. The sound of a shotgun going off and the screams of wounded made him come to his senses and he looked over too see that Yang had fired her weapon at the enemy despite her wound.
Because of the fairly narrow passage, the blast had hit every Imperial soldier in some way and they were writhing on the ground from their wounds. He sat up with a grunt and fired his pistol, quickly killing all of them.
"You alright?" He loaded a fresh clip into his pistol.
"Next time you decide to push a lady to the ground, give her some warning." Yang gave him a smirk, one he just shook his head at.
"What about you? You took a round to the chest." Her tone had taken on a hint of concern. Standing, he offered a hand to help her up. "I feel like a bullet hit me in the chest. Come on let's get out of here."
The two of them quickly made their way back to where they had originally entered the tunnel, but gone was the element of stealth and soon enough they were engaged against the enemy.
"Arc! Two on the left!" Yang yelled as she saw a few Imperials coming down a tunnel to the side of them. He twisted his body and fired off a hail of bullets, dropping the two enemy soldiers. He refocused his vision up front and popped off another round before he had to reload.
"Xiao Long we've got more incoming!" Sure enough an Imperial rounded the corner, only to receive a face full of shotgun lead to their face. She pumped her shotgun after the shot and looked over to see that Jaune had finished reloading.
"Move, I'll cover you!" He yelled as he aimed down his sights waiting for a target to appear. She nodded before sweeping the area in front of her as Jaune brought up the rear.
A bullet whizzed by them and shattered a light which peppered the two of them with a few glass shards. Not having time to deal with the wounds the two of them picked up their pace and tried their best to get back to the room they had originated in.
'I can't believe we managed to stir the hornets' nest, what shitty luck charm did I buy to cause this?'
A few more Imperial soldiers opened fire on him and he cursed as a few of the bullets came a bit too close for comfort. Firing his weapon more to keep their heads down rather than to kill them he back peddled and dropped to the ground as Yang told him to. The promise of hot lead made the advancing Imperials scatter as she fired her weapon down the tunnel.
"Move it Arc!" Yang turned and Jaune scrambled to follow behind her while the window was open. They were about to cross an opening were the tunnel made a T, only to be forced back by a storm of bullets. Jaune leaned out and blind fired his pistol in hopes of suppressing the enemy, which it did work but only for a brief moment. Jaune leaned back from the edge and checked his clip to see how many rounds were left.
The situation was not looking to good and they needed to get back to the surface to warn the others. Fortunately for the two of them, an idea crossed Yang's mind and she couldn't help but smile at the stupidity of it. She tapped Jaune on the shoulder and told him the plan. He just looked at her and readied himself. Yang on the other hand, stepped back a few feet before running forward.
"Now!" She yelled as she dropped to the ground and started too slid on the dirt. Jaune leaned back out and started to pop off shots down the hallway. With the enemy's attention on him, they were not expecting for her to slid across the opening and fire her shotgun as she slid to the other side. Using the new opening, Jaune dove across the opening and bumped into Yang who was reloading a shell into her weapon.
Having gotten past the danger for the present, they finally made their way back to the room they had started in and Jaune signaled for her to start up the ladder as he watched the area. She started up the ladder, only to feel the ground around her shake violently and looked up to see a pile of dirt falling down the exit shaft…
The hill lite up with explosions as the enemy artillery bombardment blanketed the area. The sleeping Atlesians were caught off guard and many of them scrambled to gather their equipment and seek shelter from the hell storm. Some were not as fortunate as a few of them were struck by the shrapnel flying in the air and collapsed to the ground severely wounded or dead. Blake dove for cover as a shell blew up near her showering her body in mud and filth.
Keeping her head low, she quickly made her way down a trench towards were the Lieutenant had gone, only to find the area torn to shreds with shell holes pocketing the area. There was no sign of the Lieutenant, hoping that he survived the blasts, she decided to take charge until he returned. Making her way to were the tanks had been parked, they had only attacked the hill with half a dozen of them. Fortunately none of them had been destroyed in the last conflict, unfortunately she saw that two of them were either under maintenance or repair from the previous battle. Leaving only four of them operational.
"Lieutenant Adel! Gather your men and prepare for a ground attack from the enemy!" Blake yelled at the young woman who nodded wordlessly. She felt her face heat up as an explosion destroyed a nearby tank. Sadly that was one of the operational tanks and now they only had three left. The sounds of screaming could be heard coming from within and a body stumbled out of the wreckage engulfed in fire.
Before Blake could take a step forward, a figure brushed past her roughly and she noticed that it was Banning, one of the medics that had passed her. The young man leaned down and started to roll the figure on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the flames on their body.
Just as he succeeded, a shell came whistling in and exploded, vaporizing Banning and the body beside him. Blake felt the urge to puke from the sight but forced the vomit back down her throat. She still had a job to do despite what she just witnessed, gathering her wits, she ran away from the tank wreckage to where she had left her submachine gun.
By now the shelling had ceased, and flares had been fired into the air, illuminating the surrounding area. Blake stumbled into the area where she had been her weapon back together and scrambled to finish putting the submachine gun. With gunfire now filling the air, she loaded a magazine into the gun and rushed towards the fighting.
Imperial soldiers were now charging up the hill and Blake hastily organized the soldiers around her as they tried their best to repel the enemy. She felt her weapon kicking her shoulder as she opened fire on a group of Imperial soldiers that were approaching her position.
A line of enemy soldiers suddenly stood up from cover and threw a bunch of grenades into the Atlesian trenches.
"Everyone down now!" Multiple explosions went off, and the wailing of the wounded now filled the air. Blake stood back up and saw an Imperial charge at her, she raised her weapon and pulled the trigger, only to hear a click, she twisted the gun and saw that mud had gotten into the receiver and had jammed it.
By now the Imperial lunged at her and she felt herself getting tackled to the ground. A blow to the head made her vision swim, but that didn't stop her from wrapping her legs around them and turning her body so that they were now underneath her. She reached for her knife and quickly stabbed them before they could get out from underneath her.
Shoving the dead body off of her she saw the sky above her light up in flames as bottles with burning cloth more commonly known as Molotov's fill her vision. Even though they were meant for the Atlesians, with it being dark and with each side being so close to each other. Both Atlesian and Imperial soldier alike found themselves rolling on the ground, trying to put themselves out.
An Atlesian tank rolled into view and started to open fire, but in an effort to not hit their own men they only fired at advancing Imperial soldiers and not the one's engaging with their fellow soldier. Someone threw one of the Molotov's and it shattered against the side of the tank harmlessly, but still lite the area around it on fire.
Seeing this as an opening, an Imperial soldier climbed up on top of the tank and opened the roof hatch before tossing a grenade inside. A muffled explosion inside the tank and the ceasing of machine gun fire more than likely meant the crew inside was killed from the grenade.
Blake felt her mind reeling from the events happening around her and felt herself trip on a corpse lying beneath her. Taking out her sidearm she shot an Imperial who was about to stab an Atlesian soldier before surveying the area in order to try and find a way to restore some sense of order.
Her answer came in the form of the other two Atlesian tanks coming over the ridge and opening fire on the Imperials. The support came just in time as major damage had already been inflicted on the Atlesian lines.
With renewed resolve the remaining Atlesian soldiers fought against the Imperials and started to push them back down the hill, but were stopped when the sound of multiple whistles could be heard coming from down the hill. Blake scanned the area and saw a flare gun lying on the ground next to a dead soldier. She picked it up and fired it in the direction from where the whistles had come from and saw a new wave of enemy soldiers charging up the hill. Even with the help of the tanks, there was no way they were going to be able to repeal the next wave.
"Everyone fall back! Incoming wave of fresh troops, retreat to the tanks!" The Atlesian soldiers started to stumble and in some cases crawl their way towards the tanks. Another artillery strike teared into the disarrayed Atlesians and the screams of the wounded were muffled by the dead on top of them. It had become a bloodbath.
Yang fell down with a cry as dirt started to bury her body, she started to cough as some of it landed in her mouth but was saved when she felt an a pair of arms pull her out of the way.
"I got you, you alright?" She looked up to see Jaune looking down at her with a worried expression.
"Peachy, but we'll have to find another way out, this one's blocked." She gestured to the collapsed exit. The ceiling above them shuddered from explosions happening above them and Jaune couldn't help but worry about what was going on above.
"But we just got done with escaping the party, and now you want to go back?" Jaune's voice started to drip with sarcasm. She smirked and pointed to were they had just come from a few moments ago.
"Lead the way boss!" He groaned as he pulled her up.
"First rounds on you when we get out of here."
"Deal, I know a bar called 'Juniors' we can go too."
Even though trying to keep up with the whirlwind that was Penny was tough, Ruby did find herself enjoying her time conversing with the upbeat woman. Along those same lines, she did not find herself enjoying the bombardment and gunfire that was coming from the hill in front of her. Griping her rifle she wanted to go and join the fight, but that would mean leaving Penny almost defenseless if she left. Not knowing quite what to do she turned towards her friend? Colleague? for an answer.
"Penny I need to go help them, do you think you can handle yourself here?" The young woman tilted her head at the question. "If you are referring too my ability if I can fight or not." She climbed into the tank's driver seat and tried to start the engine. It spluttered a few times before roaring to life. She smiled at Ruby. "I am combat ready!" Ruby looked at the beaming young woman and shrugged before she quickly clamored onto the back of the tank. Getting into position, she placed her rifle on the top of the turret and braced herself for when she had to fire her rifle.
"Ruby there is a hatch located on the back of the turret, please open it." A muffled voice came from within the tank and she glanced down to see that there was indeed a hatch right in front of her. When she opened it up she saw the back of Penny's head. "Alright it's open, why did you want it open?" Without turning her head, Penny answered Ruby's question. "I need you to spot targets for me." The statement made sense and Ruby just mentally shrugged before readjusting to aim down her rifle.
"We're moving out!" The tank's engine revved loudly for a moment before the small tank started to roll slowly up the hill. The sounds of battle were getting more intense and Ruby gripped her rifle handle for the coming conflict. Just as they were about to go over the top of the hill an Atlesian tank came rumbling over the top with the front of it burning and spouting smoke. Bloodied and beaten allied soldiers were following right behind the tank and Ruby couldn't help but notice that this was a full on retreat. What had happened to them that they were in full retreat?
"Contact! We've got friendly forces retreating over the hill!" Ruby informed Penny who gave an affirmative sound. Followed closely behind the Atlesians were the advancing Imperials right on their tails. Ruby lined up a shot and let loose a round. Her targets head exploded and crumpled to the ground. Clamoring sounds beneath her made her look down to see Penny loading a round into the barrel.
"Danger close! Target sixty yards, fire!" She relayed her findings to Penny who adjusted the sights to find the target. "Firing!"
The tank round flew out of the barrel and exploded into the group of Imperial soldiers that had come over the hill. Ruby shifted to the right quickly as Penny flung the expended shell over her shoulder out the back of the turret. At this point though the situation was dire as more enemy soldiers flooded over the hill. Doing her best to help, Ruby fired into the mass, trying to take out officers or anyone of importance. An explosion marked the end of one of the two remaining tanks as it took a direct hit from an artillery round.
A raven haired female jogged up to Ruby's location and looked up at her. "Rose glad to see your alright, but you need to get this tank out of here now." She relayed the message to Penny who gave a thumbs up at the order. They started to back up firing as they did so into the Imperial lines.
Blake swung her knife at the enemy and made contact with their thigh. Gripping the handle tightly she stabbed them in their left ear before removing the blade and firing her pistol at another Imperial soldier. The line between the retreating Atlesians and the advancing Imperials was blurred and weapons were fired point blank into each others faces, clubs were swung and the dying lay moaning on the ground.
What had been a resounding victory for the Atlesian side, now had turned into a struggle for survival. The surviving soldiers frantically scrambled into the trenches at the bottom of the hill and took up positions against the incoming enemy. Blake found a rifle abandoned on the ground and upon a quick inspection saw that it was in working order. Scouring ammo from a dead soldier next to her she reloaded the weapon and raised it to her shoulder. The last surviving tank was lumbering its way back and almost made it back to friendly lines until a glancing round destroyed its right tread making it halt in the mud.
"We've got a tank down, cover me I'm going to check for survivors." Blake ran the short distance to the steel beast and slammed the buttstock against the door a few times.
"You guy's alright in there?" Some cursing could be heard coming from inside and a brief moment later the door opened to reveal a sweaty Coco with a tired expression on her face. "Glad to see a friendly face, some of my crew is injured I need you help getting them out of here." Blake ducked her head and entered the tank and saw a pipe spraying oil and a few lines leaking what looked to fuel.
A bunny Faunus was trying her best to repair the damages but finally kicked the engine in frustration. "Bullocks! Coco this engines gone I can't repair it with the tools I have on me." The Lieutenant sighed and walked over to the distressed young Faunus and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.
The Lieutenant sighed and walked over to the distressed young Faunus and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's okay Vel you did your best."
Coco turned her attention to Blake. "I need you to provide cover while Velvet takes Fox here to the trenches, got a busted leg from an explosion." She nodded and made her way over to one of the machine gun turrets and started to open fire on the enemy.
Velvet walked over to the injured man and threw one of his arms over her shoulder. "Let's get you out of here." The two of them made their way out of the tank and towards the safety of the trench line.
She craned her head backwards and saw Coco aiding another one of their crew members. Turning her head forward once again she helped the young man into the trench before turning around to see that Coco what right behind her with the other rather tall man.
"Belladonna we're clear, get out of there!" Coco yelled behind her as she too made it to the protection of the trench. The machine gun fired a few more bursts before it went silent and Blake's body appeared, exiting the tank as she started to make a mad dash for them.
Enemy gunfire sprayed the area around her and she heard the screeching of a bullet hitting something metal and something shoving her to the ground. Rolling over from the unknown force, Blake looked down at her belt and saw that her bayonet was bent out of shape and was probably the cause of the sound and the push, it saved her from a serious injury. Stumbling back to her feet she started to make the final stretch to the safety of the trench when another bullet flew towards her and struck her leg, making her go down with a cry of pain.
Coco upon seeing the go down from enemy fire, was about to go aid the injured woman when an explosion happened next her and she saw a dust cloud coming from a hole in the side of the trench, a tense beat later a dirt streaked Jaune and Yang crawled out of the opening and made eye contact with Coco.
"How's the situation going Adel?" Jaune was curious why the tank woman was not driving in her tank, but seeing her so far from their original position and without her tank, along with the Imperials charging down the hill, he knew that they had lost the hill to the enemy. He also saw an injured Blake struggling to crawl her way back to the trench. Without knowing what overtook him he stepped out of the relative safety of the tank and ran over to the injured young woman.
Bullets threw dirt and mud all around him and more than a few of them whistled by his face, but his thoughts were elsewhere as he felt a need to help the young woman.
"Belladonna where are you hit?" The woman hissed as she gripped her leg. "T-they hit my leg." Jaune crouched down and hefted her up on his shoulder. "I'm getting you out of here, hold on." He briskly started to make his way back, until a round struck his back making him stumble and ultimately drop Blake from his shoulder. The two of them fell to the muddy ground and she hissed from the impact of the drop.
"I'm sorry, you alright?" Jaune glanced over at Blake who nodded, his gaze narrowed and he turned his attention to the enemy. A bullet impacted against his chest, but instead of falling to the ground, he stood up shakily and fired his weapon at the enemy. Another bullet struck him and he flinched from the hit but shrugged it off and kept firing his weapon at the enemy.
"Get out of here, I'll cover you." Jaune looked at Blake with an expression of determination, the fire in his eyes briefly mesmerized her, but the moment was broken when once more he was struck by an enemy round. This time he did stumble but was able to remain upright. "GO! That's an order!" Blake shook her head vehemently. 'No Lieutenant, we go together."
He gazed at her for a fraction of a second before sighing. "Have it your way." The two of them pointed their weapons at the approaching enemy...
Uh yeah, so this is the end of this chapter, I hope you enjoyed my sorry ass attempt at trying to switch between two different scenes and characters. Never done anything like this before so if you like it then let me know as I did find it slightly easier to write this way. Or if you don't and prefer less scene skipping I'm fine with that too.
Cheers!