Disclaimer: I do not own World of Tanks or RWBY.

There is, as has been said previously, a rather vast distance between the city of Vale and Beacon's campus, a distance composed primarily of the Grimm-infested Emerald Forest. However, there was an exception to the homogeneity of the forest; a single, rather long, poorly maintained dirt trail leading through the forest all the way to the city. Originally, its crude nature was an intentional decision to separate Beacon and its students from Vale, mostly as one of the many brutal culling methods used to ensure only a scant few of the devoted future Huntresses and Huntsmen would even get to the Academy, even before the Initiation process. At least, in theory it would serve to deter most anyone- in reality, the Academy was in its immediate post-War days attended mostly by, much to the consternation of everyone involved, former Knights of Vale, and most often by those who had served as frontline infantry on the basis of not having any nobility to fall back on. These footsoldiers, coming fresh from the final campaign in Vacuo and the few defensive skirmishes fought on Anima's coast, having already had to get used to long marches with periodic Grimm skirmishes, found no trouble in the otherwise wearying journey.

Of course, every war only produces so many veterans, and eventually the last of the King's footmen made their way through the halls of Beacon. At last, it seemed, the trail would be used to ferret out all those students who weren't dedicated enough, rather than being a minor inconvenience. But once again, the Great War reared its head to ruin this plan, now through the repurposed stocks of equipment. For Remnant, the engine came from the gun- or, rather, guns. Specifically, the myriad of surplus, rapidly-obsolete Atlesian armaments and ammunition, representing hundreds of tons of metal and semi-refined Dust with little purpose in a world where Huntsmen were taught to reject any weapon that had so much as a prior duplicate prototype, much less something mass-produced. In total, the guns accounted for a few hundreds of tons of metal, well-worked by Atlesian smiths and in dire need of some purpose- but for a time, no one could say what could be done with a barrel for concentrating a Dust explosion, save for violence. Eventually, though- especially with the smuggling of these arms out of Atlas and to foreign markets, needs, and minds- the guns would be converted to pistons for a revolutionary new engine using internally contained explosions, eventually moving away from the original gun barrels altogether to become purpose-made barrels for better and better engines. The way the engine was invented became a footnote of history, an interesting fact which held behind it a potent symbol of humanity's supposed ascension beyond the need for mass weapons, towards an era of peace and prosperity where the nations of the world were interconnected by fast trade routes and brilliant innovations...

...and none of this was what was going through Yang's head as she revved the engine of her motorcycle ever faster. Instead, it was the emotion which had made those original guns- not the engines, but the weapons themselves- that was running through her mind; namely, anger. Anger at her little sister for just ditching her with no warning. Anger at Weiss for having been insufferable about the mess and the plates and putting everything back neatly. Anger at the weird tank people for maybe abducting her little sister. Perhaps most of all, anger at the poor craftsmanship and maintenance of the incredibly bumpy trail she was on.

Boom!

And then, abruptly, her thoughts were cut short by the thunder of cannon fire. Quickly, she planted her foot on the ground, her Aura letting her rapidly slow her motorcycle with the action rather than letting her foot be rapidly ground down by friction. A plume of dust kicked up in the air, from her foot sliding along the dirt trail, and so she had to squint for a moment while it blew past before finally being able to see ahead again, and observe an equal plume of dust slowly drifting by. After another few moments, she finally saw what had fired- Gladys' tank, sitting around in the forest with Ruby standing on the back, waving. Yang's eyes narrowed momentarily, before she revved her motorcycle again, speeding towards the tank.

Whether Gladys had intended it or not, her tank wasn't, unfortunately for Yang, anywhere near the trail. Yang nevertheless made a beeline straight for her sister, zooming in between trees and flying through the air after jumps on tree roots more often than actually touching the ground. In fact, when she finally got to the tank, she was still somewhat in the air, and thus her kick-stop trick was just her kicking the top of the tracks while her motorcycle smashed against the tank with a rather loud sort of clang. Quickly, she let go of the handles and let the bike fall to the forest floor while she half-jumped onto the engine deck.

"Nice," Ruby complimented, and Yang nodded, "Could've been better. Maybe if I'd let go earlier..."

As she spoke, Gladys popped out from her cupola, but nevertheless waited patiently for when she wouldn't interrupt.

"Ooh, or you could put a hook on the front!" Ruby said, "And then it'd just hook on and you could even use-"

Boom!

"-it later," Ruby finished without stopping in the slightest from the cannon fire. Nearby, Gladys coughed up a storm in the dust, and Yang pointed out, "If I'd jumped higher, the-"

"-the front wheels could've been the hook," both sisters finished together, Ruby excited and Yang still nonchalant. Ruby cheered, "Quick, get back on and do it again!"

"Pardon," Gladys interjected, "But I'd rather you didn't."

"It'd be cool," Yang pointed out, and Ruby agreed, "It would be-"

Boom!

"-so cool!" she once again finished casually, even as Gladys once again started coughing in the dust plume. Yang agreed, "It'd be really cool."

Gladys coughed a bit more before sighing, probably just to try and get a full breath of clean air in her lungs, before returning, "It would damage the vehicles."

"Eh, I'm fine with that," Yang shrugged, and Gladys retorted, "I'm most certainly not."

With that, the commander disappeared back into the turret. Yang shrugged and Ruby sighed, before Yang asked, "So, what are you guys doing?"

"We were shooting stuff," Ruby answered, and Yang nodded, "Nice. Better than hanging around Weiss."

Ruby shrugged, "I mean, there wasn't really a picnic to go back to, right?"

Yang shrugged in return-

Boom!

"I don't see any Grimm," Yang pointed out, and Ruby nodded, "They're shooting a few hundred yards out."

Yang raised an eyebrow in surprise, and Ruby asked, "So, were you just going to Vale?"

"Oh, yeah," Yang nodded, "Gonna hit up some clubs, hit people in clubs, you know."

"Yeah," Ruby nodded. Yang started to get off the engine deck when Ruby stopped, "Wait! I... uh... have an idea."

Yang turned her head back to her sister, as the girl said, "So, uh, remember how you lifted Gladys before? When she first got here?"

"Yeah," Yang nodded, "When she ran you over."

"Well, I really wanna look inside the tank," Ruby said, "So... um..."

"You want my help picking up a chick?" Yang guessed, and Ruby added, "And then you two could, uh, go off to Vale."

"So I'm kidnapping her, too," Yang said with a hint of doubt in her voice. Ruby chuckled awkwardly, and Yang shrugged, "Sure, get her out."

Quickly, Ruby knocked on the cupola, and Yang stood by her, waiting. After a few moments, Gladys came out, noting, "If you'd move out of the way, I could see behind and you wouldn't have to warn me-"

Her calm chiding quickly turned to a sort of startled yell as Yang grabbed her, once again by the collar of her coat, and dragged her out. Before the woman had even been able to return to speaking normal speech, Yang hopped off the engine deck, saying, "See ya!"

"Bye!" Ruby said back, quickly stepping into the cupola. Calmly, Yang released the woman, and she fell on the ground in a heap while Yang picked her motorcycle back up. For a moment, though, Gladys was back on her feet, chastising, "That's not your bloody tank, you-"

Her speech once again turned to a cry of complete and utter shock, as Yang wrapped an arm just underneath the woman's breasts and revved her motorcycle. In a moment, she was away, and in another, she was far away, much too far for Gladys to have thought of walking along the dirt trail flanked by Grimm.

-Back to the tank

"U-Uh, hey guys."

Ribbans looked up from his gunsight and around to the commander's position, to see Ruby standing there. The girl awkwardly chuckled, and Emma shot, "Bugger off."

"Gladys said I could be here," Ruby said, "It's, um... to... uh... strengthen the, uh... bond between... our... teams?"

With the last word, the girl's voice raised, like if she were questioning or doubting what she herself was saying. For a moment, both of the tankers paused, vacillating on what to think of the remark, and Ruby looked about to add something. Ribbans sighed in consternation, having decided it was a lie and being proven right by the girl wanting to confess, but Emma huffed, "Certainly sounds like something she'd think of."

"No it doesn't," Ribbans retorted, "Why on Earth would she decide to leave the tank?"

"Why on Earth would we become schoolchildren?" Emma retorted, to which Ribbans sighed again. Ruby asked, "So, uh... what do I do?"

"You're in the commander's position," Ribbans answered, peering back into his gunsight, "Your job's to spot targets."

"Oh," Ruby said, "But I wanted to shoot the gun."

"Alright, Ribbans," Emma said, "You heard her."

"Bugger off," Ribbans retorted, "Bad enough that the brat's in here."

"Hey!" Ruby objected, and Ribbans shot, "It's what you're being right now."

"Well what good's it to be a gunner if no one's spotting targets?" Emma pointed out. Ribbans sighed, and Emma said, "Good, now you'll be the loader, she'll be the gunner, and I'll do the commanding."

"Why should you be the commander?" Ribbans questioned, even as the other two already started to move to get to their new positions. For a moment, he held stubbornly out, sitting in his chair while Ruby stood next to him and Emma clambered into the commander's position. Abruptly, the tank lurched into motion, merely moment before there was a horrific metal screeching. Emma shot, "Ribbans!"

"Shut it!" Ribbans retorted as he got up. Ruby quickly took the seat, and Ribbans sighed to himself as he walked past the gun breech. Quickly, Emma ordered, "Gunner, traverse left!"

She grabbed the intercom, while Ruby merely murmured, "Uh-"

She was cut off by more screeching, and Emma barked, "Carney, turn us right!"

The moment she let go, Ribbans barked, "Just traverse the damn turret!"

"I-I'm trying!" Ruby retorted, staring at the controls. Emma eased, "We have a speed advantage, we can just pop off, but keep calm."

"Or we could have a half-way competent gunner!" Ribbans shot, and Emma pointed out, "Well maybe they could tell her how to traverse!"

"Is it this one?" Ruby asked.

Poom!

Ribbans sighed and grabbed a round, and Emma shook her head, "That's the gun."

"Well there were two triggers," Ruby said, "So I figured one would go left and the other would go right."

"It's the handle!" Ribbans yelled, "Why in blazes would the traverse be done by triggers!"

"Oh," Ruby said. Quickly, the turret started spinning left-

Strut-dut-du-du-du-du-

"Fire the main gun!" Emma shouted, and Ruby retorted, "I wanted to see what the other one would do!"

As she finished the sentence, the tank abruptly swerved to the right. Emma and Ribbans reacted quickly and grabbed hold of bits of their stations; Ruby, on the other hand, fell out of the gunner's seat. Quickly, the girl got back in, as Ribbans grumbled, "If I'd been the gunner, we wouldn't've had this issue."

Poom!

Quickly, he loaded another round, as Emma instructed, "Traverse a bit more left."

The turret rotated a bit more.

Poom!

Ribbans quickly loaded another round, as Emma said, "Now bring the turret back around."

-Both Elsewhere and Later

Yang sighed, finally having to bring the joy of riding to a stop as she finally got to a parking spot deep in the city of Vale. Calmly, she kicked her stand down, then let go of Gladys, who she'd clutched in one arm during the entire trip. The woman dropped onto the pavement like a sack of potatoes, and Yang said, "Here we are."

Gladys hadn't even gotten up before she threw up, and Yang had to quickly push her onto her side, noting, "That's for after the booze."

The woman said nothing in response, still emptying her stomach. In fact, she took so long in doing so that her stomach probably really was empty by the time she was finished, with a murky green puddle in front of her and several bystanders watching in disgust. Finally, though, the woman coughed rather than hurled, and Yang guessed, "You all good?"

"Y-You... bloody..." Gladys managed to get out, before coughing, then somehow managing to throw up some more. Yang couldn't help but wonder if it was some kind of incredibly weird Semblance, since she, in all her time of visiting clubs, had never seen someone hurl quite so much. Finally, Gladys seemed to stop again, and Yang noted, "Guess there's a Vomit Girl and a Vomit Boy."

Gladys said nothing, instead breathing short, shallow breaths, and Yang lifted her up, saying, "I'd rather not just stand here all day."

The woman's feet dangled and kicked around for a moment before finally getting level with the ground, and Yang walked over to a wall before letting go. Quickly, Gladys grabbed at the wall, and this time managed to actually stand rather than fall to the ground again. Yang asked, "Seriously, are you good?"

"I... I-I'm... no!" Gladys said in between raspy breaths, "Wh-Why- h-how would... I be... fine?"

She stood fully up, barely taller than Yang, and fumed, "You... a-abducted me!"

Yang shrugged, and Gladys shot, "Take me... b-back. Now!"

"You wanna ride all the way back?" Yang retorted, "Maybe faster this time?"

Gladys stared at the blonde in horror, then shook her head, and Yang said, "Come on, I know somewhere we can chill out for a while."

She grabbed the woman's hand, before being smacked on the head, repeatedly, as Gladys cried, "D-Don't!"

Yang let go, murmuring, "Alright, geez. We're trying to relax."

"How can I relax?" Gladys shot back, "You've taken me away from my crew, away from my tank, and I'm bloody powerless to do anything more than die! How do I relax?"

"The place we're going has tea," Yang said. Gladys hesitated a moment, then murmured, "I... i-if it's a good brew..."

She sighed, and Yang turned back around, leading the way along the sidewalks of Vale. After a few steps, Gladys questioned, "Why did you kidnap me, by the by? Is this still for my having only nearly done something?"

"You nearly ran over my sister," Yang retorted, "And she wanted to see inside."

Gladys sighed, and Yang questioned, "Why'd you bring her along, anyway?"

"We didn't," Gladys answered, "She simply wanted to hang about and I thought it would be rude to tell her off."

"So she just abandoned me for you?" Yang shot. Gladys' footsteps paused for a moment, before quickly picking back up as the woman apologized, "I-I- ah- it, u-um, w-was her decision."

"I know that!" Yang fumed, spinning around. Gladys quickly leapt back, stumbled with her footing, and collapsed on the ground again. Yang sighed, then murmured, "Sorry. Just... frustrated."

Gladys nodded quickly, then stood up, as Yang noted, "I just... she's my sister, y'know? And our leader. And she just left, without saying a word."

"Perfectly understandable," Gladys said, "I even pointed that out to her. Well, the bit about the team."

"A-And what if she just didn't come back?" Yang questioned, "What if I hadn't found her?"

"She was perfectly safe with us," Gladys shot, and Yang retorted, "But she's my sister! I'm supposed to be with her!"

She sighed, and Gladys realized, "You're... worried that she'll just... leave?"

"How am I supposed to stop her?" Yang questioned, "She's fifteen now, I can't just say I'm her big sis."

"Why would she leave?" Gladys questioned, "I'd thought she seemed happy."

"Yeah," Yang said, "But... she still could."

She sighed, and Gladys noted, "I... can't say I've ever felt quite the same. B-But, ah, th-that isn't to say that y-you aren't right, I, ah, I just, d-don't have experience, i-is all."

"So you think it's weird for me to worry about my little sister?" Yang shot, "Who I've had to save before?"

"N-Not at all!" Gladys quickly cried, "I-I, um, ah, uh, think you're right, sh-she shouldn't be allowed to go, I, er, just, ah, am regretting not telling her off. I r-really should have said 'you'll', ah, 'you'll worry your big sister'. Y-Yes, that's, uh, what I ought to have done."

Yang sighed, then noted, "I didn't want you to get involved."

"Don't, um, worry, I'll steer quite clear in the future," Gladys said, and Yang guessed, "'Cause I keep throwing you around."

Gladys paused a moment, then nodded, "A... ah... tad bit."

Yang sighed, and Gladys murmured, "By, ah, by the by- how do your eyes change color?"

"It's..." Yang sighed, then realized, "I got angry enough for my Semblance to kick in."

She paused, then asked, "If you were in your tank and I was talking to you, what would you say?"

"I... probably something along the lines of 'bugger off'," Gladys answered, "And then I'd get in quite quickly."

Yang snorted, then asked, "And about Ruby?"

Gladys paused a long moment.

"Please?" Yang said, "Am I... really a monster."

"N-No," Gladys answered, "But, ah... lights must charge when they feel."

"What?" Yang questioned, and Gladys explained, "I've... a-always been open to people leaving, if they want. At every step of the way, I told my crew they could leave- I'd probably still let them, to be quite honest. Though it'd be quite a problem, smoothing it with the headmaster."

"And you didn't think they'd leave?" Yang guessed, "You know them that well?"

"No," Gladys said, shaking her head, "I... was rather terrified they would. But, ah, better to let them go than have to bicker constantly."

Yang hesitated, then murmured, "Yeah."

"I... really was terrified, though," Gladys noted, "It's perfectly fine to feel that, but... you know your sister well enough that you knew she wasn't likely to really leave."

"You think so?" Yang questioned, and Gladys nodded, "In, ah, my limited dealings, yes. As for you?"

Yang hesitated, then nodded, "Yeah."

"Then I suppose your fears are merely fears," Gladys said, "No need to dwell on them."

"But... what if she did?" Yang questioned, and Gladys sighed, then repeated, "No need to dwell. That's, ah, all the help I can give."

"You know, for someone talking to their kidnapper, you're kinda helpful," Yang noted, and Gladys noted, "I couldn't see a great way to exit the conversation."

Yang shrugged, then asked, "So... your turn. Why do you hang out with that one guy from the other tank?"

"Han is a solid enough fellow, especially for a German," Gladys answered, and Yang noted, "Yeah, but it really seems to be you two."

"I... he did save my life," Gladys answered, "Twice, actually. The second time ended up with him dying."

"Ooh," Yang murmured, "So now you're swooning for your savior."

"N-Nothing of the sort!" Gladys shot, "To think of swooning, for a Kraut!"

"Yeah, but he's a really solid one," Yang said, "So do you wanna feel how solid he can be."

"By Jove!" Gladys gasped, then shot, "I should think it possible for a man and a woman to simply hang about. Do you also believe that I'm... I-I'm... involved with Carney, or... d-doing... that, with Ribbans?"

Yang shrugged, then noted, "Protesting an awful lot, though, b-baka!"

She raised her voice at the last word, as if doing an imitation of something, something which Gladys didn't know. Instead, the commander retorted, "If my protestation cannot prove that I am merely acquainted with Hans, then I simply can't convince you of that, can I?"

Yang shrugged, "I mean, if you did fuck-"

Gladys gasped.

"-and then say he was bad or something," Yang finished, "Then maybe."

"Here I had though Emma to be vulgar," Gladys shot, "Though I suppose you are closer to a Yank than anything."

"Oh, sorry," Yang sarcastically apologized, "I must have forgotten my table manners. You'll have to pardon me."

"It would be quite alright, were this a less indecent subject," Gladys retorted, and Yang pointed out, "I already have to deal with Weiss all the time, let me fucking say whatever shit I want, alright?"

Gladys huffed, and Yang said, "Oh, and here we are."

Calmly, she entered the grounds of a small, streetside cafe, which was inexplicably abandoned. After a moment, she chose one of the many open tables, and Gladys sat on the other side. Quickly, both women picked up the menus, and after only a moment's reading, Gladys noted, "The only tea here is iced. It hasn't even labeled what sort it is."

"It's tea," Yang noted, and Gladys murmured, "More and more American..."

-Elsewhere and even Later

"So... uh... can we stop and eat?" Ruby asked. Emma advised, "There's another one, about five-hundred meters out and to the left."

Ruby struggled with traversing left for a bit, overshot where she needed to be, then turned a bit right. Ribbans sighed.

Poom!

Quickly, he loaded another round, as Ruby noted, "You should really have an actual range adjuster."

Poom!

"You should learn to hit," Ribbans shot, loading another round, and Ruby complained, "I don't know how much higher to shoot."

"She's learning, Ribbans," Emma noted, "We're dealing with a schoolgirl."

"Hey!" Ruby objected.

Poom!

"See, I... uh... meant to hit that tree," Ruby said. Ribbans sighed, getting another round, and Ruby noted, "Maybe we should stop and eat, you know, brain food?"

"We had biscuits a bit ago," Emma noted, and Ruby pointed out, "But, like, real food."

"Ah, yes, the imaginary biscuit," Ribbans quipped. Ruby questioned, "Don't you guys have cookies? Or strawberries? Meat?"

"If we're lucky," Emma answered, "We could find a Chi-something. I've nabbed their rations once or twice."

"Wait, do we not have snacks?" Ruby questioned, "Or food?"

"We've got biscuits," Ribbans shot, "That'll be plenty."

Ruby groaned, then whined, "We should go back."

"You've still not shot that... what was it, bay-wolf?" Emma noted, and Ribbans noted, "I swear, Carney's done the most work so far, and she's making him do more."

"Also," Ruby said, "Also, uh, if we don't stop to, um, eat, what about bathroom breaks?"

Emma sighed, and Ribbans noted, "Well, you miss enough that we've got plenty of rounds for you to use."

"But... uh... when do we go to a bathroom?" Ruby noted, "'Cause, uh, I've got another hour maybe."

"Is that why you didn't have much tea?" Emma asked, and Ruby pointed out, "It was really hot!"

"It's supposed to be, it's tea," Ribbans retorted, and Ruby bickered, "It was really hot and it wants out!"

"Let it out in one of the round casings," Emma suggested, and Ruby gasped, then murmured, "Is this how Weiss feels?"

No answer came, obviously, as she murmured the question rather quietly and was in a rather loud tank. Instead, the conversation simply died off, and she was left to stew with her thoughts and her bladder, occasionally firing at targets and noticing the spent rounds being moved about.

Author's Note: For those wondering why I decided to do an absolute lore-dump in the beginning of this... frankly, I procrastinated a lot on writing this, so much so that this author's note was actually written during that procrastination. And in that procrastination I came up with all the lore in those first two paragraphs, but I couldn't figure out how to get the chapter to begin without them or without being jarring. So, bam; fan-lore dump.