I know I've been on a haitus for awhile, haven't been in the writing mood lately. But I wasn't completely idle with the time as I still did research and gathered my thoughts. Dragon and I were bouncing messages back and forth like crazy.
(Q A)
SnowPegasi: I was thinking of doing a Christmas chapter soon for this story and it was going to loosely focus on the Christmas Truce, so yeah.
NightshadeDawn34: Mission success then.
Booker.338: Well I was thinking of starting a discord or something to keep everyone a bit more in the loop, but thank you for the heads up.
WackyNerd: Thank you so much! I really wanted to give a 'mostly' historically accurate story on WW1 and I'm glad all my researching is paying off.
WinterBreath0602: Yes the main pairing is Jaune and Blake.
Like I said above, what do you all think about a Discord? DragonManMax suggested the idea to me and I like the idea since its not exactly easy to provide updates that is easy for everyone to see and not irk someone in the process. Let me know in a PM or something if you like the idea.
(I do not own RWBY)
ザー・ソールジュズ・バタルフィールド
Chapter XVII: Into the Abyss
A hazy fog covered the city and obscured the surrounding area as Jaune walked down a street, slowly down every once and awhile to regain his bearings before resuming his walking. Moments later he saw Ruby sitting down on a wall of sandbags drawing something in a notebook and waved at her to get her attention.
"Sergeant Rose, how's life?" She paused in her sketching and smiled at him. "Hey Lieutenant, nothing much, just writing down an idea of mine." She lifted the notebook towards him and he took a quick look at it.
"Ah, a new weapon design I see." He could tell that she was designing an air-cooled, top-fed box magazine weapon. "This looks like a modified version of the Madsen light machine gun?"
"You would be correct in thinking so, I did base the overall design off that weapon platform, but having the privilege of using the weapon, I thought there could be improvements made to the system. The Madsen, Lewis, or the Chauchat just to name a few, are popular with troops as they offer greater firepower than the bolt-action rifle but are much lighter than the heavy water-cooled machine guns we still use."
"You're not wrong, but you do know that water-cooled weapons can be fired much longer than the air-cooled machine guns we have. What you gain in portability, you lose in extendibility."
Ruby grinned and pointed at the finned barrel. "Not a problem, I took that knowledge in mind and added a quick-change feature, so instead of having to wait for the barrel to cool down, you can just swap it out for another cooled down one and resume firing. Something else I added, was a recoil spring in the buttstock to help with dispelling energy made from the bolt cycling backwards. Should help in theory with the recoil kick."
Jaune snorted. "I feel like you should have been a weapons designer instead. Knowledge like this is wasted on grunts like us." He gestured to her rifle. "Then again, you've more than proven yourself as an excellent sniper. You had an impressive record before coming under my command."
Ruby's smile changed into a sad one as she played with her fingers. "Yeah, and you know what that got me. A nickname that haunts me to this day."
Jaune laid a hand on hers and spoke softly. "Hey, don't be like that. For every person you've killed, how many more have you saved in return? I know for one that I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you providing support."
She looked up at him with a conflicted look in her eyes. "Then shouldn't I be designing something to save live rather than taking them?"
"Nothing's stopping you from doing that. But the idea you have here in this notebook is something that shouldn't be put up on a shelf and left to collect dust. Don't waste the talents that have been given to you. Accept the things you've done, learn from them and move on in your life."
"Have you? Have you accepted the things you've done in this war? The decisions, the death." Ruby stared at him awaiting his answer.
Jaune leaned back and looked up at the cloudy sky. "I have, I've accepted the fact that if I don't kill the person who's trying to kill me, they will move on and try to kill those who I've come to view as family. And I refuse to let that happen if I can stop it. I want to go home, and I know the only way that is going to happen is by ending this war."
Ruby contemplated his answer in her head and after a few moments slowly nodded her head. The hairs on the back of her neck raised and she grabbed Jaune by his jacket and yanked him down on top of her as a bullet shattered the window behind them.
"Thanks Rose, I owe you one." He rolled off her and peeked his head out over the sandbags and saw a group of Imperial soldiers approaching their position. In his peripheral he saw Ruby aiming her rifle.
She pulled the trigger and he saw two of the enemy soldier's heads explode in shower of visceral blood and brain matter from the shot. The happy expression she had previously was now replaced by a cold calculating expression. She racked the bolt and loaded in another round before firing once more at the enemy.
He filed the knowledge away for another time as he joined her in repelling the enemy. As more enemy soldiers poured into the street, Atlesian soldiers started to appear and the heated skirmish continued for a while until the enemy forces retreated into the fog.
'How did the enemy get behind us? This area of the city was cleared, and we did a thorough sweep of the buildings and didn't find any more Imperial soldiers.' Jaune motioned to Ruby and few other soldiers to follow him as he walked down the street.
'I don't know how they got behind us, it's possible we missed a group of enemy soldiers on our initial sweep of the area. But why did they retreat to where we landed?' The small group swept the area were the enemy soldiers had retreated but could find no sign of where they had gone.
Jaune scratched his head in confusion and looked down at the ground as he gathered his thoughts. He took note of a manhole that lead down to sewers and paused in his thinking. 'No, they couldn't have.' Reaching down he lifted the lid and instead of rearing back from the expected stench he only smelled stale air. 'Fuck man, what am I a tunnel rat?' Standing back up he pointed at the uncovered hole. "I think they went down here."
Ruby pinched her nose and made her way to peer down into the dark hole. "Rose there's no smell coming from below." She stopped pinching her nose and gave a tentative sniff before looking at Jaune. "Your right, that's weird there's no smell. Perhaps the sewer label is a cover-up?" Jaune shrugged, "You may be right, or the system hasn't been used yet, either way I need you to go inform Major Ozpin of this, I'll gather a platoon and check it out." She nodded and gestured for another soldier to follow her as she walked away.
Jaune looked at the soldiers still with him. "I highly doubt when they called us pieces of shit back in boot camp they were thinking we'd be searching a sewer line." Grumbling filled the area as many of the soldiers rummaged through their equipment for cloths to cover their noses if the need arose later.
A little while later Jaune and the platoon were sweeping the sewage tunnel with pistols in one hand and lamps in the other. Lights up ahead made Jaune raise his hand in the air and signaled to the group to stay put as he moved up ahead to peer around the corner of the tunnel.
He was surprised to not only find the connecting tunnel was well light, but also way bigger than the current one he was in. Motioning for the group to move up, he extinguished his lamp and hooked it onto his belt as he unslung his rifle to scan the bigger tunnel in both directions for any person's but found none.
Laying around the area were piles of railroad tracks and wooden beams, with the occasional tool lying about as well.
"What is this place?" Someone asked in hushed tone.
Jaune pointed at the steel tracks. "I've heard of cities modernizing themselves by putting the tram car underground to make more room for cars on the streets above. Perhaps this is one of the tunnels, I mean it would explain the railroad tracks at least."
He made his way over to one of the piles and saw that a thin layer of dust had settled on the surface, showing that it hadn't been disturbed for quite some time. Catching something in the corner of his vision he knelt and discovered a bloody bandage on the ground. The blood was still fresh.
"Stay frosty everyone, were not alone down here." Showing the cloth to everyone, they all nodded their heads.
The group continued their sweep of the tunnel but was unable to find any more clues as to where the retreating Imperials had gone. The one thing they did discover was that the further they went, the more developed the surrounding area became. Soon enough, they came across a mostly constructed tunnel with tracks laid on the ground and a few signs on the walls.
"Well I guess I was right, they seem to have been building a subway system of sorts. I wonder if these tunnels cover the entire city." Jaune studied a map on the wall as he tried to answer his own question.
"Sir, does any of the tunnels lead up to the mountain? It would make attacking it so much easier." He looked for any lines going away from the city and was pleasantly surprised that there were indeed a few lines that lead to Mt. Glenn.
"Well shit, there are some. We'll have to get this info back to Command." One of the Atlesians scanning the area yelled in pain as a bullet smashed into their shoulder, making them fall to the ground in pain. Everyone dove for cover as the enemy continued to open fire on them.
"Lock and load, take them out!" Jaune popped up and fired off a few rounds before ducking down.
Gunfire was traded back and forth as the two sides tried to push the other one back. Regrettably for Jaune and his platoon, they were quickly surrounded on both sides and the number of injured rose.
"Miller's down! He needs a medic!" A soldier grabbed ahold of the wounded man but slumped forward when a bullet struck his heart. Killing them instantly. Jaune clenched his jaw as he tried to go for the fallen soldier, but was forced to take cover as the enemy fire was too intense.
Once more trying to go for the soldier, he stopped when a few rounds struck the man, killing him. Looking at the remaining soldiers beside him he took note that only about a dozen or so of the original group was still able to fight. Things were starting to look bleak as the platoon was completely cut off from the way they had come.
Knowing that if things continued the way they were going, all of them would be killed or captured, he yelled for the radio operator. The Corporal made their way over and Jaune keyed the radio asking for assistance. But was only met with static. Trying once more, he was met with the same result.
He fiddled with the radio and opened the bandwidth and spoke into the mic. "This is Arc 187, transmitting in the blind, I repeat, transmitting in the blind!" We need immediate assistance. Is anyone out there?" Silence was his reply and he exhaled in frustration.
"You two, I need grenades thrown to that side of the wall. Jackson throw a smoke grenade to give us cover. We need to break through to get out here. Move or die people!"
Jaune pulled out Crocea Mors and took the lead in breaking through the enemy. Lining up his iron sights, he dropped an Imperial soldier and continued forward. Another enemy popped out from behind a corner and not having time to slow down he tackled the soldier to the ground and slashed them across the face, making them scream in pain.
Scrambling back up, he flinched as a round ricochet off his chest armor but that didn't stop him from acquiring the shooter and killing them. The flash of a bayonet made him raise his left arm, deflecting the blade upwards. He shoved his pistol into their chest and fired off two rounds before kicking them away.
The platoon had made good progress and were soon back into the less developed area of the subway. With the enemy only at their backs now. Their breathing room was bit less constrictive. Jaune pulled the pin on a grenade and lobbed it behind him. He sheathed his knife and waved at his men.
"Go, Get the wounded out of here. I'll hold them off." He shouldered his rifle and felt the kick of the rifle as he fired off the entire clip towards the enemy. A grenade came sailing through the air and without putting too much thought into his own safety, smashed the grenade with the buttstock of his rifle back towards the enemy before diving to the ground with his arms covering his head. The explosive went off and he felt a stinging pain on his right forearm, looking at his arm he saw that a thin piece of metal had lodged its way into his forearm bracer and was sticking out of the armor.
'Well damn, I'll have to thank Neo for these bracers next time I see her.'
He stood up and hastily made his way to where his men had gone and was thankful that they had been able to get away relatively safely. The tunnels still needed to be cleared out of the new threat below, but that would have to wait until another time when it wasn't just him. But for now, it was his turn to make his getaway and he wasted no time in doing so...
Penny reached down and grabbed a pair of pliers from her belt and dislodged the metal fragment in Jaune's armor. Inspecting the metal meticulously she saw that there were a few more dents present on the metal, but overall it seemed in decent condition. She handed the bracer back to Jaune who had a small bandage wrapped around his forearm.
"Thanks, I didn't think I could get it out without cutting my fingers."
"Not a problem sir, your request was an easy one to fulfill." She put the plyers back on her belt and smiled at Jaune. "If you do not mind me asking. By what means did you manage to get a piece of metal lodged in your arm?"
"A mailman dropped off a letter filled with explosive words. Got a papercut from throwing it away."
She tilted her head and gave him a confused look. "My apologies, but I do not understand what a mailman has to do with question."
Jaune cleared his throat and a sheepish expression crossed his face. "Ah, it doesn't really have anything to do with the question, it was from an enemy grenade going off near me. Sorry for the confusion."
Understanding what he meant now, she nodded her head. "You used the mailman as an analogy for the grenade being thrown and exploding. I shall file this information away, so it can be used at an appropriate time later."
It was now Jaune's turn to take on a confused look as he found her way of speaking different than what he was used to hearing. His response was of the highest caliber. "Okay then."
Reattaching the bracer, Jaune adjusted it till it was where he wanted it. "With the upcoming operation, we will definitely be needing your assistance on the battlefield. This will be the perfect time to test the new additions to your tank."
"Correct, I believe this will help provide crucial data, perhaps this battle will even show me areas of weakness to improve upon as well."
"I need to go have a chat with the Major, so I'll leave you to it. Good luck out there." He gathered his gear and walked towards the temporary Command post that had been set up in one of the city's squares. On his way there he passed by Belladonna who upon seeing him jogged over and nodded her greetings.
"Lieutenant, I heard you had quite a skirmish down below. Glad to see you're still in one piece. We wouldn't want to lose everyone's favorite officer now would we?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "Why Sergeant, I do believe I can hear you voice dripping with sarcasm."
Blake stopped momentarily and looked at him dead in the eye. "Perhaps the last part, but I really am glad that you're safe. The thought of you dying is not something I want to entertain."
She gently raised her arm and touched his bandaged arm. "Just don't get yourself killed. Please." He wordlessly nodded, and she dropped her arm back to her side. "Good, now where were you heading?"
"To see Major Ozpin, I know he's already been informed of the underground threat, but I wanted to go over the attack plan for assaulting Mt. Glenn once more, seeing as how we now have a potential tunnel route."
"I would think after clearing out at least the city of any enemy presence there will be a two-pronged attack on the mountain, one from below and one from above. Although with that said, I doubt with the injury you just received you'll be participating." Jaune just shrugged at what she said. The cut wasn't severe enough for him to not participate in the upcoming battle. But he'd follow whatever the Major decided for him.
The two of them made it the city square and found Ozpin sipping his ever-present coffee as he looked over a map of the surrounding area. "Ah Lieutenant, your timing couldn't be more impeccable. Your platoon's main objective alongside two other companies, will be to secure the Hagen Fortress near the base of the mountain. Intel suggests that only a company of Imperials are defending the fortress so taking it shouldn't be too much of a problem."
"Sir, wasn't there a saying somewhere that says for every man defending a place you need at least two to flush him out? We'll be at a disadvantage as we must fight uphill while they will be firing down at use from hardened defenses."
"Command has taken this into account and you will be aided not only by tanks, but by artillery as well."
"This plan sounds like it could easily fall to pieces. No plan survives first contact, I hope it doesn't backfire horrendously on us."
Ozpin sipped his coffee. "Then let's hope the plan survives and we won't have to worry about it backfiring now will we."
"You've been in this business long enough to know that's never going to happen. Also what of the new tunnel system that was discovered. Will we be using it to secure the mountain?" He motioned at a map on a table near him.
"Ah yes, that information is still being decided on by the higher ups. So for now the original plan is still in effect as of now."
"Understood, although I wouldn't be surprised in the least if the enemy has sealed off those tunnels so they don't get attacked from underground. But that's above my paygrade." Ozpin smiled at his statement. "As well as mine Lieutenant. Good luck out there."
Hundreds of Atlesian soldiers steadily walked up the side of mountain in disarrayed rows with tanks spread sporadically in-between them. Smoke and gunfire filled the air as each side fired on one another in an effort to push them back.
"Get up that hill! Use whatever cover you can!" Jaune pushed a fellow soldier down as a hail of bullets sprayed the ground near them. Turning his head, he saw Penny's tank rolling up behind him and he waved at the person riding atop of the tank. "Rose, shift your fire left and cover the advance!"
Ruby who was crouching on top of Penny's tank leaned her body right and fired a steady burst towards the enemy. Seeing a potential spot for an enemy machine gun to be set up she banged on the tank turret. "Penny, fire a round into that outcrop over there, I don't want our men ambushed!"
The tanks turret rotated the cannon and lined up her shot before firing the shell into the mountainside. Smaller explosions afterwards indicated that some type of explosives had been hit and were now going off from the shot.
"Great shooting you two, keep it up!" Jaune popped up and fired off a few rounds before jogging forwards a few yards to a pile of boulders. He leaned out and surveyed the area in front of him. "Keep it up everyone, I can see the fortress ahead of us."
Low rumbles filled the air and everyone looked up to see trails of smoke arcing into the sky. "Incoming artillery, take cover!"
Everyone scrambled for any type of cover as the shells rained down and pummeled the ground, sending dirt and debris into the air. A shell landed near Jaune and exploded, leaving him disorientated from the blast momentarily. Shaking his head in an effort to clear his vision he saw more than a few tanks and soldiers strewn across the slopping ground, burned and mangled beyond recognition.
Pushing the horrific sights to the back of his thoughts. He refocused his attention towards the enemy and continued forward. They were too far for the navel guns sitting offshore to provide support. That meant there really wasn't anything that could be done about the shelling until they stormed the fort. Bullets zipped by and sprayed the ground or ricocheted off the advancing tanks, some even ricocheted off of Jaune's armor, much to his chagrin.
As he advanced closer to the main objective, he saw a row of sandbags and logs subtle hidden into the mountainside. He squinted his eyes in an effort to identify what he was looking at, and was able to find his answer when it came alive with gunfire.
"Enemy trench! Shift your fire!" The soldiers around him adjusted their fire as even more enemy lead filled the air. Many of them yelled in pain as they were struck down by the enemy gunfire. Sneaking a glance back, he saw Ren and a few other medics trying their best to treat the wounded lying on the ground.
Knowing the wounded were in good hands he motioned a few hand signals to Ruby who in turn relayed the orders to Penny. Moments later explosions filled the trench, as the Atlesian tanks opened fire with their cannons. He took the opportunity presented to him and charged his way up the mountain. Many followed suit, and soon both sides clashed in a disarray of bodies and equipment.
Jaune swung his rifle and deflected a bayonet before tackling the Imperial to the ground. Slipping off his helmet, he bashed it into their face, making them scream in pain. He quickly reached down and drew his knife out, stabbing them in the chest. A rough hand grabbed him by the back and yanked him backwards, making him stumble into one of the trench walls.
He raised his arms just in time to stop the downward strike of a knife and grunted as he felt them pushing down harder. Not wanting to die, he kneaded them in the gut and took that moment to look around for a weapon. Outstretching his right hand, he was able to grab ahold of a nearby shovel and embed it into his attackers shoulder.
Not wanting to get caught off guard again, he swung it at another nearby enemy and heard a sickening crunch as it dug into their skull. Feeling the bile rise up his throat from the sight, he once again pushed aside the horror to the back of his mind and was able to keep his food down.
By now the trench around him had been mostly secured and Jaune was able to find his weapons on the ground before pushing forward through one of the trenches that lead towards the fortress. He alongside a few other soldiers swept the trench and upon rounding a corner yanked one of them back as a machine gun opened fire.
"Out of all the trenches they could have placed it, they put a machine gun in the one I'm clearing. Grenade out!" He pulled the pin and chucked it around the corner, silencing the gun when it went off. Satisfied that the immediate danger was out of the way he rounded the corner and was met with darkness...
Jaune opened his eyes groggily and felt his vision swimming as he took in the unfamiliar environment. A few other soldiers were next to him, tied up and on their knees. The sounds of footsteps echoed in the air, and moments later the single metal door in front of him opened and an Imperial Major walked into the bare room.
"Who are you and where are we." He subtly tried to break free of his bindings as he looked up at the man.
They waggled their finger and clicked their tongue at him. "Ah ah ah, I'll be the one asking questions. But with that said, I will answer your first question. I am Major Tyrian Callows. A pleasure Lieutenant." Callows gaze shifted away from him and to another prisoner. He knelt down and grinned at the shaking young woman.
"What a beautiful human specimen you are, my dear. Too bad... it will be such a waste." Without warning he drew out a knife, and stuck it into her left calf before turning it to the right sharply, resulting in the blade becoming one with the girl's muscles and bodily fluids for a moment before he pulled out.
Her frantic, painful scream echoed off the walls of the room and down the hallways. He laughed, but this was no ordinary laugh. This was a laugh of a man whose psyche had been destroyed long ago and nothing, but empty craziness remained.
His eyes gleamed with a murderous intent, causing the girl to tremble violently. Without warning, he raised his arm and stabbed it into her chest. She gagged as the blood slowly pooled inside her lungs.
"Hel-" the girl's voice was cut off with her body spiraling into shock. Jaune clenched his fists as he struggled to get out of his bindings. But was beaten to the punch when one of the men from the group stood up and charged at the deranged man.
"Let go of her! You sick fuck!" The Imperial pulled out the knife from the girl and threw it with deadly accuracy at them, lodging itself into their left thigh.
The man tripped and slid the rest of the distance, until he stopped right in front of Callows feet. He weakly struggled to push himself off the ground, but the Imperial kicked the boy onto his back before smashing his left foot on the young man's face, crushing it with a sickening crunch.
"And there someone goes and tries to ruin my fun, typical." The crazed man shrugged his shoulders before taking his sidearm from its holster and then turned his weapon to the girl still in his grasp and whispered, "Sweet dreams doll face." He then shot the girl point blank in the head, making parts of her skull and brain splatter about the ground.
"No! You bastard!" Jaune screamed as he finally managed to free his arms.
The Major who was now covered in the blood of his victim turned his attention to Jaune. "Ah, another one of you bugs that I have to crush, alright let's see what you've got." He holstered his sidearm, fully confident in his hand-to-hand combat skills. Jaune's face turned into a grimace before putting his arms and body into a fighting stance.
Both men slowly circled each other, neither one of them making a move other than with their eyes, observing their opponent. The facial expressions on each where as different as night and day. Jaune's face was that of grim determination, while Callows was a sadistic grin with crazed eyes.
"What's the matter? Too scared to face me? You coward," He taunted Jaune with his words. But something that Jaune learned during training, was never to rush into a situation without a plan, especially against an opponent that you didn't know. Now following it on the other hand was a different story. 'Blake's going to chew me out afterwards for doing such a reckless move.'
He let out a yell as he charged...
Thanks for reading! I will try my best to get the next part out soon.
On that note, are any of you playing the new Monster Hunter World? It's become my new Dark Souls...I'm loving it.