Hello everyone, here is the next installment of the story. On a side note don't be an idiot like me and forgot to save the word document, it will result in losing everything you've written...
Anyways please read and review!
(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 XV: In for a Penny, In for a Pound
A few weeks after the attempted kidnap on the Schnee heiress, Jaune found himself once more being visited by Neo with a truckload of equipment and uniforms that were being given to his unit as a reward for saving Weiss Schnee. Initially he tried to refuse the reward, but a quick discussion later with Neo and he went about gathering his unit for a rundown on everything that was being given to them.
"What's going on sir?" Everyone gathered around a group of crates that Jaune and Neo were standing on, Neo being on a crate higher than Jaune.
"It seems that because we rescued the Schnee heiress we are getting rewarded for our action that day in the form of more weapons and equipment…why it can't be something simple like a steak or vacation days is beyond me." He gestured to Neo who grinned and waved at a pile of crates.
"In those crates you will find different weapons and equipment that have been given to us to use in the coming battles. If you want to try out the weapons there is a firing range over there just for that." One by one the group slowly started to spread out in the immediate area to peruse the contents held inside the crates leaving only him and Neo behind.
He turned to Neo who was holding a folder out to him, sighing he grabbed the folder and opened it. "Let's see…On behalf of the Schnee company we wanted to properly thank you…not important I'll read it later." He grabbed the paper and tossed it to the ground.
"Anyways what have they got for me? Uh, the Mle RSC II is a gas operated rifle with a rotating bolt system. Chambered in 8mm, is shorter and lighter than the I version, corrects all the previous iterations drawbacks and now uses the 5-round Port clip instead of the previous Oobleck clip."
Looking up at Neo for clarification she just shrugged and swung her legs back and forth on the crate she was sitting on. He matched her shrug and went back to reading.
"In addition, we have added a bolt hold-open device that is located on the right side of the receiver that will go up automatically after the clip's last round has been fired. And seeing as how you are a smaller man…who the fuck wrote this? I am not that small!" Snickering in the background made Jaune look up and scan the area around him, only to see everyone looking down at their folders with serious expressions.
"…We originally thought of giving you the carbine version of the Mle RSC II but decided against it." He scoffed and closed the folder. "Alright then, Neo show me this rifle they speak off." She smirked at his expression and hopped off the crate she was sitting on before making her way over to a smaller crate. She opened the lid and handed the rifle to Jaune who started to examine and inspect the new rifle.
"Well it feels slighter lighter than the rifle I have now. I'm assuming, that since it's not a bolt action rifle it has a faster fire rate?" Neo nodded her head and gestured to the firing range.
"Yeah, I'll put a few rounds downrange later, what's all this stuff in the crate?" He reached down and picked up a new helmet he had never seen before. Neo tapped his shoulder and he turned to her for explanation.
"This helmet is an experimental design that could replace the Brodie helmets currently issued. It covers more of the head and goes lower to help protect the ears and neck, Roman also added a frontal plate of armor that fits over the top of the helmet and gives more protection to the forehead. It's metal composition is like your chest armor."
Jaune turned the helmet around in his hands before placing it atop his head. It felt heavier than the helmet he was used to wearing, but would the extra protection be worth the weight?
"Neo this thing feels decently heavier than the Brodie helmet, how do I know this added forehead armor is worth it?"
"Trust me, it works." He raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. "That's not exactly reassuring." She wordless sighed and shook her head before reaching behind her back and pulling out small pistol. "Woah what are you Neo!?" An evil smirk crossed her petite face and she aimed the pistol towards Jaune and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Jaune's felt his neck snap backwards from the impact of the bullet and his vision blurred from the pain that was starting to bloom. "What are you a psychopath!? Why did you just shoot me!" He reached up and lightly groaned as he held his sore head.
"It worked, didn't it? I told you to trust me." She holstered the pistol and put her hands on her hips. "This is also payback for not getting me my ice cream at the ball."
'I can't believe she actually shot me! What a crazy bitch, I'll never question her again.'
"Fuck Neo I believe you, but never do that again."
"Hey at least I didn't shoot you with a rifle, that probably would have ended in your death." She silently snorted.
"Not funny Neo." He took off the helmet and looked at where the bullet impacted to find that it didn't even puncture the added forehead armor piece like she said. Mentally shaking his head, he decided to see what else was in the crate.
A black coat with red stripes on each of its arms and one going down the buttons of the coat, was sitting atop a matching pair of black pants with brown knee-high leather boots placed next to them.
Jaune reached down and picked the coat up to feel the fabric and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was a nylon like material. Removing his current muddy coat, he slipped on the clean one and moved his arms around to see how it felt and found that it was a perfect fit.
"I'd like to try on the pants." He looked at Neo who just sent him a blank stare. "Well what are you waiting for then?"Shaking his head, he started to undo his buckle. "Never mind, not like you'd turn around anyways." Removing his boots and pants, he quickly pulled up the new pants and fastened the buckle before slipping on the boots over his feet.
Walking around the immediate area, he got a quick feel for the boots and the rest of the outfit and liked what he discovered. Looking over at Neo he saw a predatory look in her eyes and he raised an unamused eyebrow at the gaze. "Like what you see?"
"No harm in a girl enjoying the view." She batted her eyelashes at him making him snort at the action. "Sure, it is, anyways I do like how this outfit feels, but I'll have to wear it for some time before I can give my full opinion on the matter." He walked back to the crate and saw a pair of metal forearm bracers with a pair of black leather gloves laying on top.
"Roman made you some more armor to go along with your chest and helmet." She jabbed a finger into his chest making him grunt from the poke. "If you damage these bracers like you did to your last chest armor, I'm going to make you pay." He held his hands into the air and shook his head.
"I'll do my best to not get them banged up." Before she could jab him again he donned the gloves and the greaves before flexing his hands to see if the armor impended him in any way and found that because of the small layered plates his movement was barely hindered.
He looked back at Neo to comment on the bracers but stopped when he heard the heavy pounding of footsteps approaching.
"Hey Boss, Boss!" Jaune turned his attention to the approaching Nora Valkyrie holding what looked to be a metal tube with a grenade attached to the end of it.
'Oh god what has she thought of this time?'
"Yes Corporal, what is it?" Nora skidded to a stop and shoved the device in her hand towards his face. "We finished it boss, my new baby!" Not wanting to guess at why it was, he decided to just ask her.
"Alright then, what is this device?"
"Well artillery can't always be there to save everyone's ass's when a tank or machine gun emplacement rolls up on them, so I thought that maybe having a portable Valkyrie would be a great idea!"
'Don't take that sentence out of context.' Jaune thought dryly to himself.
"A bullet in a nutshell has a charge that flings the metal out of a barrel, so I got to thinking why can't we do the same thing for a grenade? So, I had my local scientist Ren help me with the planning. The first draft had the grenade inside the tube for firing, but having the grenade in the tube meant that we had a wooden rod the size of the grenade, which lead to the grenade being lighter compared to the rod. So, we put the grenade on the outside of the tube added some fins to the base of the rod and now the weight issue has been solved!"
He gingerly took the makeshift device and turned it around in his hands as he inspected it. "How do you fire the weapon?"
Nora grabbed the tube back from him and pulled out the explosive from the tube and he took note of the wood rod and collapsed fins on the back. "So first you insert the rod into the tube and..." Jaune held his hand up to stop her. "You should rephrase that part but continue."
"Huh uh okay? Anyways after that you put this gunpowder charge in the back of the tube and push it in till it hits the back of the wood rod. This puts the gunpowder directly under the trigger on top, which ignites the charge, causing an explosion that forces the grenade out of the barrel and into the air. Since it's a hollow tube, the back blast will just go out the rear with very little recoil on the user. Here I'll show you!"
She led him over to small field where a small pile of sandbags had been set up in the distance. He also took note of an exhausted Ren laying down on the ground near them as well.
"Well done Ren, I see you've set up the display." Ren tiredly gave a thumb's up from where he lay before dropping his arm back down onto his chest." Jaune mentally sent his support towards the young medic before diverting his attention back to Nora who was holding the tube under arm and aiming it towards the pile of sandbags.
"I am queen of the castle!" A loud bang was heard as the grenade flew out of the barrel and into the air. The two of them watched with anticipation until the ensuing explosion blew the sandbags away.
'May Oum have mercy on whomever gets into that thing's crosshairs…' Jaune looked over to Nora who was cackling at the sight. '…And hers as well.'
"Well Corporal I see that you've created a unique weapon that I'm sure will be used in the future. Great job."
"Thanks boss, but I forgot to add that this weapon does have a short firing range so you need to be rather close to the target to fire accurately."
She reached down to her belt and pulled out a small hand sized canister and offered it towards Jaune.
"Which is where this thing comes in super handy! I don't know exactly how it works, but supposedly this thing uses a powder called dust? Or something, to create a smoke screen to conceal yourself from the enemy. I wanted a pink one but the closest one they had was a red smoke. Such disappointment."
Genuine remorse filled her voice and Jaune almost found himself wanting to see if pink smoke could be made for her, but stopped himself before that thought went too far down the rabbit hole.
"Oh, before I forget boss, I was told to tell you that besides the smoke grenades, they used the dust material to also create something called a tracer or something? They put a small amount of it on the tip of the bullet and the heat of the bullet leaving the barrel ignites it and makes it visible to the naked eye."
She pointed at the rifle leaning against his crate. "I bet you have some tracers in that crate of yours for that rifle." The two of them made their way over to his crate where Neo handed him a small belt of ammo.
He grabbed the new rifle and all three of them walked over to the firing range. Opening the magazine latch at the bottom of the rifle he grabbed the capacity clip and saw that every other round was tipped with a green like substance. Inserting the clip, he closed the magazine latch and racked the bolt handle before shouldered the rifle. Aiming it down range, he pulled the trigger and felt the rifle kick his shoulder as the round flew out of the barrel and impacted a target about hundred meters or so away.
Pulling the trigger once more, he saw what looked like a bright flash of green light leave barrel and streak its way through the air away from him. Nora cheered next to him when she saw the tracer zip through the air. He fired the remaining three rounds in the clip before opening the magazine latch and dumping out the expended clip onto the ground.
"Well the rifle has a decent kick to it, but it's a pretty comfortable gun to shoot overall. The tracers are a nice touch, I'm assuming everyone else's weapons will have the tracers on their ammunition as well?"
Neo nodded her head and gestured to the other soldiers around them that were now making their way to the firing range with an assortment of weapons in their hands. He mentally took note of Yang carrying a different shotgun than her usual one.
For the most part it looked like your average shotgun, with the wooden stock and shell tube located beneath the barrel. But the receiver looked different in that it was missing the usual cover. Loading a shell into the barrel, she flipped the weapon sideways and loaded a few shells in to the tube beneath before aiming the shotgun downrange.
A loud boom pierced the air as the expended shell was immediately ejected upwards out of the receiver before it slammed forward and loaded in a new shell. Yang rapidly fired the rest of the shells before resting the stock on her hip and grinning at what she just did.
Jaune smiled and shook his head at what she had just done. He then looked around for her sister and noticed that more than a few members of his squad were nowhere in sight. Then again, the one's missing where a part of the armored corps. Speaking of which, he needed to go check up on them too, considering they should have gotten some upgrades as well.
Slinging his new rifle over his shoulder he started to make the journey over to where the vehicles were parked and maintained. Excited chatter started to fill his ears the closer he got, and soon he saw Penny, Velvet and Ruby talking to each other and gesturing to the small tank behind them. He cleared his throat to get their attention and the three of them quitted down and shifted their attention to him.
"Hey guys, what's with all the excited chatter? New equipment?" Penny smiled at the question and rapidly nodded her head. "Indeed, you are correct, this tank is the updated and upgraded version of the original tank I first received."
She pointed at the front of the tank. "The front idler wheels that were made of wood are now made of steel, making it more durable. Additional vision slits are added to aid the driver. We refitted the circular turret with a polygonal one and since the 37mm cannon did not have enough punching power, we replaced it with a new 39mm high velocity cannon."
Moving to the back of the tank she opened the rear hatch and gestured to the engine. "Scarlatina is a superb mechanic and was able to rebuild the engine block, so now this machine can drive around nine miles per hour, four miles per hour improvement over the last model. The last improvement was adding a Lewis machine gun to the top of the turret for an outside gunner to fire, or the turret gunner can open the turret's rear hatch and fire it as well."
Jaune who was quietly listening the whole time, nodded his head in approval at what the young woman was saying and spoke up when she finished. "Well I gotta say, you ladies have certainly done a great job with the tank, my hat is off to you." All three of them grinned at him, and he gave them a thumbs up.
The sound of someone's stomach growling made everyone's attention shift to Velvet who blushed a deep red and lowered her head in embarrassment. Jaune glanced at his watch, "Well it is about time for lunch, shall we go get some food?" Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and the small group slowly made their way to where the food was being served.
As they were making their way there, Jaune saw Blake sitting on top of a crate with a new weapon leaning next to her and a book in her hand. 'She does like to read her books whenever time permits it.'
He excused himself from the group and walked over to the young woman who noticed his approach and lowered her book. "Lieutenant." He waved his hand in response. "You get a chance to look at the new equipment we received?" She nodded and wordlessly gestured the weapon beside her.
'Redundant question, fair enough.' Mentally slapping himself in the face he gestured to the book in her hand. "Well that's good to hear, so what are you reading then if you don't mind me asking." Her expression subtly changed but Jaune noticed how she seemed to perk up from the question. "It's the next book in the series your sister is writing."
'Damn, I probably should tell her that I'm the author and my sister is the one promoting it while I'm away from home.' He cleared his throat and nodded at her.
"Well uh if you got the second book, I'm going out on a limb and say you enjoyed the first one then?" She raised the book to her mouth and shook her head affirmatively.
'Who would have thought the quiet and deadly Belladonna would enjoy a smut book. Then again, I am the one who wrote a smut book so I wonder what that says about me…'
"So, what about the books interest you? Feedback is an important thing."
Blake's expression took on a contemplative look as she thought of her answer. "I would have to say how the author manages to capture the raw emotions of the characters in the story."
"You could say it is a 'raw' book indeed." Jaune smartly kept the comment to himself and continued to listen to the young woman.
"I'd love to meet the author one day; their words really speak to me. For example, listen to this passage in the book." She flipped through the book rapidly before stopping about midway through and started to read. "I love you, Sierra." The man usually wearing the mask said, his voice catching in his throat even before he continued. "I know you love me too... Why should we stop what even the Gods cannot interfere with?" She looked down into his eyes, his brown ones reflecting her own even as the moonlight streamed in from the windows, casting her in a heavenly glow of pale midnight, accentuating every part of her. Every single part was hers, and he loved every part all the same…"
An evil thought crossed Jaune's mind and he tried to suppress a grin that threatened to break his serious expression. "So, you think being bathed in the soft glow of twilight with a katana being put into its sheath resonates with you?"
A light blush coated Blake's cheeks as she realized that she had just read out loud the beginning part of a steamy make-out scene in the book, to the lieutenant no less. Witnessing her blush at his comment, made Jaune start to tremble as he tried his best to hold in his mirth.
Seeing him trying and failing to stop laughing, Blake walked up to him and lightly punched him on the shoulder as a new wave of pink assaulted her cheeks.
He grabbed her hand and gently pushed it off his shoulder as he grinned at her. "Well if you do meet the author I'm sure they'll appreciate that you like that particular scene in the book." She wound her arm back and punched him again, albeit a bit harder this time. "Stuff it Lieutenant."
He started to come back with a reply but she put her finger on his lips. "Get your head out of the gutter." She then lightly flicked him on the forehead. 'Why's he such a goof?'
Jaune raised his hands in the air in surrender as he dramatically fell to the ground from the harmless flick. "Oh, heaven's what a blow you rendered unto me!"
The sound of someone made the two of them turn their heads to see Penny studying the two of them rather intently. "You two seem to get along quite well, but nevertheless Major Ozpin has requested the presence of Lieutenant Arc so I must sadly cut this interaction short."
Jaune sighed and got up from the ground before lightly dusting himself off. "Copy that, I'm on my way." He turned to Blake, "We'll have to continue this conversation when I get back."
Bidding the young woman farewell, he walked by the firing range and noticed Ruby firing a rifle that was as long as she was tall. The magazine sat atop the rifle slightly slanted to the side and judging from its size, the ammunition she was firing was of a large caliber.
Taking a look around the firing range he saw Velvet firing a carbine like semi-auto rifle with a stick magazine coming out of the bottom right in front of the trigger guard. He watched them for a few moments before leaving them and continuing his way to the Major.
He found Ozpin sipping on a cup of coffee and studying a map laid out on a table in front of him. Clearing his throat, Ozpin looked up and motioned at the map. "Lieutenant I saw how everyone has been informed of the new equipment we received. Which is good, as we have just received orders to move to a new location."
Ozpin took another sip of his coffee before answering. "We will be joining the 198th Battalion and landing in the port city of Vale, we will capture and secure the location before moving on to Mt. Glenn."
"Sir if the mountain has tunnels, wouldn't that mean there could potentially be tunnels running under the city as well? It would make it easier for soldiers and equipment to go to and from each location without exposing themselves."
"You are indeed correct, Command also thinks the same thing, which is why that is a secondary objective when capturing the city. If there are indeed tunnels to Mt. Glenn then that will make taking it tremendously easier."
Jaune studied the map and grabbed a few pieces of papers that held details of the city. "What are we looking at for defenses?" Ozpin adjusted his glasses and motioned to the papers in his hands. "According to initial reports it is only lightly guarded and should not pose much of a threat for when we land."
He listened to what Ozpin said and shuffled through the contents of the papers. Having served in the war for quite some time now, he was not naïve enough to take reports as completely accurate up front. Taking all information with a grain of salt made it much easier to adjust when the reports were wrong and inaccurate.
"Even so, an amphibious assault is maybe not the best strategy, most soldiers have been fighting in the trenches their entire time serving, telling them to get onto a boat and sail it to land could easily result in them drowning. One doesn't need to know how to swim in this hell."
Ozpin sipped his coffee once more and regarded what he said for moment before answering. "I completely agree with you, but sadly this is outside my control. What you said is one of the reasons why there are going to be two battalions going in. Hopefully enough of you make it to shore and capture the city until reinforcements are sent in."
"This plan can and more than likely will go wrong on so many levels. The city may have more enemy soldiers than originally thought, the weather could be foul, the reinforcements may not make it in time before the Imperials wipe out the first landing forces."
Ozpin sighed and nodded at the reasons he was listing off. "I know this plan has many flaws in it, but we have our orders." Jaune pursed his lips and looked back down at the map.
"I still don't like this plan, but when do we leave?"
"Three days Lieutenant, I suggest you get your squad ready." Jaune saluted Ozpin and made his way out of the room but was stopped when Ozpin cleared his throat.
"Lieutenant, have you read any fairy tales in your life?"
He paused and turned back around to face the Major. "Um, I read my fair amount of them when I was a child. Why?" Ozpin adjusted his glasses and picked up a few papers, neatly organizing them. "Have you ever heard of the fairy tale, 'The Legend of the Four Maidens?"
A perplexed expression crossed his features and he shook his head. "No, I don't think I've ever heard of that one. Is it a popular one or something?"
"I'm afraid not, this particular fairy tale is one that has been passed down my family for generations, but never made it to the public eye."
Jaune felt his curiosity peak, but refrained from letting it show. "Oh, if the public doesn't know about it, then why are you telling me?"
"Because I've seen how you act around your soldiers and those around you, and I think you've more than proven yourself qualified to listen to the tale."
"Well thank you, but I'm just trying to do my job to the best I can."
"Even so, you deserve to know who you're fighting alongside with."
Jaune walked back over to the table and looked at Ozpin on the other side. "Alright then, I'll bite, let's hear it."
Ozpin set his coffee cup down and folded his hands together. "Well according to the story, many millennia ago, the world was ruled by the four maidens, and were assisted by heavenly beings. They helped rule and keep order over the world humans lived in. But after serving the maidens and having to deal with the troubles of humankind."
"The beings grew tired and decided to rebel against their masters. Tricking and convincing part of humanity to rebel as well, the War of the Fallen began, with the battles raging across the world, much of land was ravished and made uninhabitable for any living creature to live in."
"Fortunately, not all of humanity had sided with the fallen and they fought alongside the four maidens to restore peace and order to the world. After a hundred years of conflict, the land was renamed Remnant, because of how much of the world had been made inhospitable. The fallen were defeated, banished, and cursed to roam the wasteland as hideous creatures for their actions."
"Not wanting the loyal humans to suffer from the fallen, each maiden bestowed a gift to humanity. One was Dust, a natural source of energy in a crystalized format, and a powerful element. The second was Aura, which was the manifestation of the soul and was used to fortify the body against major injury. The third was Semblance, which gave the humans the ability to use their aura as a weapon."
Ozpin took a long sip of his coffee and his eyes meet Jaune over the rim of the cup. "The fourth and final gift, was the creation of Faunus, a mixed race that had 'animal like abilities' and were to be guardians and warriors against the fallen. Sadly, as time went on, the Fallen, the Maidens, and their gifts to mankind faded into legends."
Jaune raised his hand and politely interrupted Ozpin. "Sir you mentioned that the creatures were called the fallen, I know that there are tall tales of ferocious creatures told in taverns and bars. Do these tales and the fallen have something in common?"
Ozpin smiled. "Yes, you are indeed correct. While the name 'fallen' is their original name, they have been called many different titles. Have you ever heard of the creatures called Grimm?"
Cliffhanger! Bwahaha!
I will be adding this info to my profile page, but the new weapons every is getting is as follows.
Jaune: RSC 1918 carbine rifle.
Nora: A heavily modified grenade launcher of her own making.
Ren: Webley 1913 semi auto pistol.
Blake: MP-16
Ruby: Prototype Experimental 1918 Winchester .50 Cal Anti-Tank Rifle.
Yang: Sjogren Inertia Shotgun.
Coco: MG 14/17 Machine Gun.
Velvet: M1907 SL.
Penny: Smith & Wesson No. 3 Revolver.
"Afterword from DragonManMax: Hahahahaha! Man, I Almost wrote smut. I mean, who would've thought eh? It's not like I have some smut already on my profile... (Hint, wink, nudge.) Anyways, here's the first beta note I've done. Really, this is just to let you know I'm here, and actually doing stuff. So yeah... Leave some reviews yeah?"
On another note, I do have an artwork piece of Jaune/Nora/Ren/Blake (Take out all the spaces) If this link doesn't work head over to DA and look up "The Soldiers Battleground" in the search bar.
ria ly nkv.d evia nta rt ar t/T he-Sol dier-s-Ba ttleg rou nd-71 53 46 383