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

Knock-knock.

Both Weiss and Blake looked up from their books, the silence that had reigned in their dorm for hours having finally been broken. Calmly, Weiss stood up, and then opened the door, revealing Yang on the other side. The blonde entered, immediately shattering the carefully built quiet by greeting, "Hey guys, what's going on?"

Blake shrugged, and Weiss angrily shot, "Given your negligence, I took it on myself to deal with the mound of homework you'd left incomplete."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that," Yang said, "Like, really, why'd you do that?"

Weiss sighed, then shaking her head, murmured, "I don't know."

She stalked away, seeming like a quiet, furious wisp of air more than anything as she packed up her supplies and textbooks and the papers she'd prepared for Yang. The blonde, who for some reason only detected the former descriptor, turned to Blake and asked, "Did I miss anything?"

Blake shrugged again, and Yang pressed, "Well, what's been going on? Or did everyone leave."

Blake paused a moment, then informed, "I was reading."

Yang paused a slightly longer moment than her partner had, then questioned, "You guys just read all day."

Blake shrugged, and Yang murmured, "Huh."

A long moment of silence passed, as Weiss placed her belongings back in their proper places and Blake went back to reading.

"So," Yang said, "Where'd Rubes go?"

Blake shrugged, and Yang asked, "Has she been back at all?"

Blake shook her head, and Weiss shot, "Your sister hasn't been here."

Yang paused a moment, then murmured, "Huh."

She stared at the door for a long moment, and finally the silence of the room returned, as the blonde became lost in her thoughts. Weiss huffed and retrieved her own recreational reading- which, of course, was just a textbook that would be used in their second year. Finally, she informed, "I'm gonna head out."

Blake shrugged, and the blonde left the quiet room to end up in the quiet hallway. In fact, all the world was quiet, on account of the fact that it was nearly ten o'clock at night. All the world save the lock of a door a floor below, from which was coming a steady stream of beeps as it repeatedly denied a keycard. Yang promptly followed the noise, and found Gladys standing in front of a door, swiping a keycard at its lock repeatedly. Quickly, Yang bluntly said, "Where are your buddies?"

Gladys staggered back a little, then noted, "My word- it's quite quiet in here, so if you could give some warning as to when you'll strike me or strike up a conversation, it'd be much appreciated."

"Yeah, sure sure," Yang said, "Ruby's not back yet. I thought you said your guys must've come in."

Gladys noted, "Them being absent would explain why no one has bothered to help me with this door."

"Ruby's still gone," Yang shot, "Where did Carbans or whoever take them?"

Gladys sighed, then answered, "Somewhere in the forest, I suppose."

"You suppose?" Yang questioned, and Gladys retorted, "If you hadn't noticed, I've been rather separated from them all day. Chiefly on your account, I might add."

"Where are they?" Yang pressed, and Gladys explained, "I really don't like to say this, but today you've drug me out of my tank and around to half-a-hundred pubs. So please, bugger off."

Yang punched Gladys in the arm, hard enough that the commander lost her footing and slammed against the still-locked door. Quickly, Yang's other arm pinned Gladys' other arm to the door, as she demanded, "My sister has been gone all day and no one knows where she is! Where did you take her?"

Gladys stared at the blonde for a long moment, her eyes suddenly wide with fear, her legs trembling so much that she might've fallen down if Yang let go. Finally, she managed, "I-I d-don't know."

Yang didn't quite let go, and instead pushed herself off of Gladys with a huff. Gladys quickly latched onto the door handle, uselessly twisting it as far as she could, and Yang guessed, "My eyes were red, weren't they?"

"I- um- it, ah, is rather hard to see in this light," Gladys stammered, "P-Perhaps, um, i-if I could get inside and-"

She stopped talking when Yang sighed, and the blonde murmured, "Alright, go ahead, tell me I need to control my anger better."

"I, um, n-no thanks," Gladys retorted, "I-I'd just really like to get in."

She twisted the doorknob again, then again, then muttered something that was more desperate than angry as she twisted the knob in the same direction without having changed anything. Yang eased, "It's alright, I just got carried away."

"S-Sure," Gladys said, "Most certainly."

In the meantime, she was still twisting at the knob desperately. Yang sighed, then grabbed Gladys by the wrist still holding the card. The commander shuddered, and Yang simply brought the hand through the card reader. The door beeped as it unlocked, and Yang questioned, "Am I that scary?"

Gladys said nothing, at least not until she managed to get on the other side of the door, at which point she quickly answered, "Yes," and slammed the door shut, so quickly that Yang could feel the air whooshing into her face. Promptly, the blonde sighed, then looked down at herself, wondering if her body really was the body of a scary monster-person. And on the other side of the door, Gladys breathed a sigh of relief, slamming the door shut to seal herself off from the half-demonic blonde. It wasn't the first reprieve from her company Gladys had gotten since being abducted by the blonde, but it was relieving nonetheless.

Throughout the day, they'd traveled to places where young women really shouldn't have gone, and Gladys had hidden in awkward corners, watching as the girl easily fist-fought with far more people than she should have been able to. Not once in the day had the girl showed anything resembling fear or hesitation in a fight, while Gladys cowered and wished she'd just been in her tank. The thought of making the girl angry, much less seeing her angry, was frankly terrifying to Gladys, especially after having seen scores of dangerous-looking men be knocked about like toys, and even moreso with her tank still missing.

Quickly, Gladys cast a glance nervously in each direction, then shook her head, trying to dispel those thoughts as she walked away from the door. That the blonde was right in saying that Gladys' tank and crew were still elsewhere was extremely obvious, meaning the commander was alone. Alone, with an angered force of nature at the door. Gladys let out a shaky sigh, then laid down in one of the beds and stared at the ceiling, trying to go to sleep. The room was a spartan room, on account of none of her crew really having anything to decorate it with, and so the ceiling was simply, plainly white, but Gladys' gaze remained fixed on it, unable to shut. Finally, she let out another sigh, and forced her eyes closed.

They only closed for about a half-second before she had to open them again, her every nerve crying out that she was about to be attacked. As soon as her eyes were open, she shot her gaze around, and found nothing in the room. Neither friend nor foe; just her and her imagination. Gladys let out another sigh and laid down again. Two hours later, she heard the doorknob shift by an inch, and promptly shot up, her hands clutching her blanket like a shield. The door beeped, and she heard a male voice muttering on the other side.

Quietly, Gladys got up and approached the door, then murmured, "Hullo?"

There came a sigh from the other side, then Emma asked, "Mind getting the door?"

"Please!" Ruby added. Gladys opened the door quickly, and a red ball promptly flew past, followed by Emma, a chuckling Ribbans, and Carney. Emma murmured, "We hadn't stopped for her to take a wee. Poor girl just held it."

Gladys nodded, murmuring, "Poor thing."

Ribbans asked, "Shouldn't you be going to bed about now? Or were you really waiting on us?"

"Think that's something to be grateful for," Emma pointed out, "Since you couldn't open the door."

"I could've," Ribbans retorted, and Carney butt in, "Before this continues, might I apologize for them letting you be kidnapped."

"Hey," Ribbans retorted, "You did too."

"He couldn't see what was happening," Gladys retorted, "But it's appreciated."

Carney nodded, and Emma pointed out, "The brat said it was your idea."

"And I was there, saying it was a lie," Ribbans pointed out. Gladys requested, "Could you scoot along so I can shut the door?"

"Alright, alright," Emma said, moving further away, allowing everyone else to move further away. Promptly, Gladys shut the door, then murmured, "I'll, ah, just say that it's good to be with you again and we'll leave it at that. No need for blaming anyone, alright?"

Emma shrugged, and Ribbans pointed out, "It was her fault, though."

"I don't care," Gladys said, then sighed. Carney quickly picked up, "Come along, she's quite right. It is rather late, so we should be getting to sleep."

There was a quick flurry of agreements from everyone else, and Gladys finally took off her coat and skirt to go to bed, having been too panicked to do so before. Quietly, she got into a bed, and easily shut her eyes, then drifted off to sleep. At least, for a few moments, before a door opened. Groggily, Gladys sat up, infinitely less on alert than before, and saw Ruby making her way through the room. The girl quickly said, "Sorry."

Gladys nodded quietly, then laid back down, and drifted right off to sleep again. For a little bit, before the ceiling erupted with noise. For the briefest of instants, her breath caught, hearing Yang's voice yelling- happily yelling in celebration, but still yelling. But the moment passed, as Gladys sighed, glancing at her crew, before laying back down and drifting off for the last time that night.

-The Next Day

Hans stomped about, furiously angry as he repeatedly walked the same straight line in front of the dorms. The reasons for his anger were, for once, more complex than someone doing something to him which he took to be not adequately praising of him, or generally existing in a way he didn't like. Instead, it was some-two who had done things which were, in Hans' opinion, not what he deserved. One of them was, of course, the English tank which had been crewed by people who were, in Hans' opinion, fools who had dared to knock out his own tank. It was just nearby, on the other side of the walkway, bearing a little battle damage but seeming no worse for wear- certainly not how Hans would have it.

The reason why he wasn't destroying it piece by piece, and naturally also the other reason for Hans' anger, was standing just nearby; Beacon's staff. Namely, Ozpin, as well as Glynda. And, as Hans finished his eight-hundred eighty-eight circuit, the doors to the dorm finally came open, as four red-coated Tommy's rushed out to their tank-

"If you'll stop, please," Ozpin said, "I'd like a moment of your time."

One of the women and one of the men stopped. The other two kept running ahead, the other woman even pointing out, "We've got Jerry's to-"

She was cut off by Fritz tackling her to the ground. The two promptly engaged in a fistfight, while Ozpin simply moved in front of the Englishman, who came to a screeching halt. Seeing the fistfight, Hans shouted, "Jetzt sehen Sie, was passiert, wenn Sie dieses Ungeziefer am Leben lassen! Sie beißen dich an! Der Meister muss den widerspenstigen Hund töten!"

"Emma, stop!" the standing Englishwoman commanded. Promptly, Emma drew away, only for Fritz to drag her back down, slamming her back against the ground and positioning himself on top of her. Quickly, he started beating her stomach, and Jerry moved to join in, kneeling near her head, only for the two men to be hoisted invisibly into the air. Quickly, one of the Englishmen approached, murmuring, "You alright?"

"I'm fine," Emma said, getting up quickly. Well, getting half-up- she still remained somewhat bent at the stomach, with an arm laid across it, as she shuffled over to her cohorts, with the Englishman slowing down to the same speed. Hans glared at the pair as they withdrew to the safety of the rest of their herd, and after a moment Fritz and Jerry were set down next to him, making a German counter-herd. Ozpin informed, "You all were involved in an unscheduled fight here yesterday, weren't you?"

As Karl translated, one of the Englishmen pointed out, "It's not really a fight if it's against Germans. Then it's justice, innit?"

Ozpin sighed, and Hans piped up, "Wir wurden von den feigen Inselaffen überfallen und wegen ihres Verrats bewusstlos geschlagen! Ich fordere, dass wir sie töten!"

He grabbed at Otto, and the commander pulled out the loader's pistol for himself, only for it to immediately fly through the air, joining Hans' and Fritz's pistols, which they'd already attempted to use. The British commander noted, "We, ah, tried our best not to damage anything else."

"You blew a hole in one of the walls," Glynda pointed out, and the English commander informed, "That was their missed shot."

"Das war kein Fehlschuss!" Karl objected, "Es ... es war ... taktisch verdeckt Ihre Sicht!"

"Dass du die Schüsse verpasst hast, hat diesen Ratten das Leben ermöglicht!" Hans bickered, and Otto noted, "Er hat sein Bestes versucht, aber da wir uns so schnell bewegen-"

"SCHWEIGEN!" all the other Krauts yelled at once. The Tommy commander asked, "What, ah, are they saying?"

"Schüler, bitte, konzentriert euch," Ozpin cut in. Hans huffed, and turned back to the headmaster, asking, "Wann können wir mit den Hinrichtungen beginnen?"

"You won't be executing anyone," Glynda shot, "This is going to stop."

She sighed, and while Karl translated, Emma questioned, "You want us to stop?"

"Yes," Ozpin answered. By then, Karl had finished, and so Hans fumed, "Nein! Wir werden nicht! Wir werden nicht aufhören, bis sie und ihre schmutzige, missratene Rasse ausgerottet sind!"

"Das ist nicht möglich," Otto pointed out, and Fritz roared, "Sie haben hier kein Mitspracherecht! Stell dich zu deinem freundlichen, verräterischen Schwein!"

He then kicked at Otto, who quietly moved over to the English side, and Fritz mocked, "Schau, wie schnell der Feigling rennt, um sein wahres Gesicht zu zeigen."

"Das ist genug," Glynda cut in, "Keiner von euch soll mehr gegeneinander oder gegen andere Schüler kämpfen."

"Außer natürlich im Duell," Ozpin noted with a slight smirk, while Otto translated. At the end, the Tommy commander paused a moment to make sure that the conversation wasn't going on any longer, clearly not having understood a word of it, but nevertheless finally got a chance to declare, "I... suppose I may have been a bit rash. You have my apologies for fighting."

"Da kann man sich nicht rausreden!" Hans fumed, then ranted, "Wir werden unseren Betrieb nicht auf Ihren Befehl einstellen! Wir sind Reichsknechte! Wir werden uns allein dem Führer verantworten, du ungezogener, ungehorsamer Schulmeister! Unser Zorn wird kommen auf-"

Fwoosh!

The world fell silent for a moment, as, with no context, an MP40 flew through the air and joined the pistols. Hans turned to his gunner, and demanded, "Warum würdest du mich unterbrechen?"

"Ich... wollte den Überraschungseffekt," Karl answered, his eyes suddenly glued to the ground, "Um dem Reich besser zu dienen, indem wir Kämpfe beginnen, die wir nicht gewinnen können."

Hans huffed, "Und jetzt hast du aufgegeben. Beschämend."

Karl sighed, then glanced over at Otto, while Hans turned back to the headmaster. Ozpin promptly and pre-emptively cut off, "Wenn Sie sich weiterhin mit anderen Schülern streiten, werden Sie der Schule verwiesen."

"Was macht es aus?" Hans retorted, "Ich kümmere mich nicht um einen von euch Untermenschen oder um die Regeln, die ihr verwenden würdet, um meine glorreiche Eroberung zu verhindern!"

"Dann kann der große Hans Karlson akademisch nicht mithalten," he hesitated a moment, then finished, "Untermenschen?"

"I'd thought they were the only Nazis about," Ribbans grumbled, and Gladys hushed, "Listen to the tone."

Of course, Ozpin then didn't follow up his remark with anything else to listen to the tone of. In fact, no one said anything. The English crew were, by this point, completely lost from most of the conversation, and interjecting would have been far too awkward and borderline rude for anyone but Emma to do, which she didn't. Otto, Karl and Jerry were all quiet, all being entirely too subservient to speak their voice. Ozpin sipped his coco, a slight, oddly triumphic smirk on his face, while Glynda tightened her grip on her crop, seemingly expectantly. Fritz looked to his commander, expecting a decision that he could be behind. Hans himself said nothing, instead emitting a quiet grumble- not a worded grumble, but just a groan with a bit of an angry edge to it. Finally, he shot, "Karl!"

The gunner headed quickly over, and the commander informed, "Sag den Engländern und dem Verräter, dass wir mitspielen werden. Umso süßer wird es, sie zu vernichten, wenn sie erkennen, dass nichts, was sie tun können, mich aufhalten kann, so wie nichts ihre missratene Insel tun kann, um den Willen des Führers oder die Macht des Reiches aufzuhalten."

Fritz and Karl both paused in disbelief, and Hans yelled, "Jetzt!"

"J-Jawohl!" the gunner returned. Then, he walked over to where the English crew were standing about, and informed, "We won't give you anymore trouble. Yet."

He then hurried back off to his own crew, and Ozpin asked, "I presume you can be counted on not to start any more fights?"

"I... y-yes," the English commander nodded, "I suppose so."

"Then this is resolved," Ozpin finished, and promptly headed away. The guns clattered to the ground, and Hans picked up his Luger, muttering, "Bald, lieb."

He then headed over to his tank. Fritz followed, picking up his pistol, and Otto's, and the MP40, at which point it became clear that the commander wasn't going to do anything and that the crews could get to their tanks. Naturally, the English crew headed over to their dinky little Cruiser, and as Hans settled into his cupola, he swore lightly, seeing that Otto was approaching. Quickly, he shouted, "Nein! Ich will keine Schlange in meinem Garten haben! Zurück mit den Würmern!"

He smiled a little, rather proud of that metaphor, and the loader paused, sighed, then headed over to the English tank.

Gladys sighed to herself, wondering-

"Did they actually get a Kraut to decide not to fight?" Emma wondered aloud. Ribbans noted, "Quite the feat. So I'd doubt it."

"Right," Emma said, grabbing a round, and Gladys shot, "We aren't going to start the fight. We'll still beat them, after all- so we ought to not be the ones breaking rules to do it."

"You want us to just faff about killing monsters," Emma questioned, "While there's a Panzer right there?"

"Yes," Gladys nodded, then sighed. Emma shot, "You've lost it."

"Emma," Ribbans cut in, and Emma continued, "We're tankers, for God's sake, and now she's having us be pacifist bloody schoolchildren!"

"I know!" Gladys yelled, "I know this is wrong, I know, I just..."

She sighed, and Ribbans said, "She speaks for herself."

"Of course she does," Emma condemned, "No one else is stupid enough-"

"I was talking about you," Ribbans shot, "The rest of us know to stick by our commander."

"I know this is wrong," Gladys said, "But we can't simply do as we've always done, can we?"

Emma sighed, then murmured, "Would rather we could."

Gladys nodded quietly, gently encouraging-

Knock-knock.

-nothing, because she, and the entire conversation, were interrupted by someone knocking on the turret. Quickly, Gladys turned her periscope around, and saw Otto standing on the engine deck, with the Panzer III very clearly moving just off to the side. Emma guessed, "It's that damn Kraut, isn't it?"

"Yes," Gladys sighed, and Emma noted, "Really not what we've always done, making friends with the enemy."

"We've taken rations," Ribbans said, "Why not a loader?"

"You thinking of replacing me?" Emma realized, "Because I keep bickering."

"You just now notice?" Ribbans joked, simultaneous to Gladys gasping, "Of course not!"

Emma snorted, and Gladys said, "It would be better to have a backtalking loader than a Hun."

"If he knew what he was about, though," Ribbans said, and Gladys shot, "We aren't replacing her."

"Good," Emma said, "If you did, I'd have to go see if Jerry would need a new loader."

Knock-knock.

"Right," Gladys said, "I'll deal with him, and you put the kettle on, and then we'll drive off, shall we?"

"Finally," Emma grumbled. Gladys sighed in relief, having dealt with the second crisis of the morning, and opened her hatch, to see Otto still standing there. Quickly, she shot, "What do you want, Otto?"

"My crew left me," Otto informed, "Did you need a loader."

Despite being turned-out, Gladys could still hear Emma's roaring laughter. It was so loud, in fact, that the commander didn't speak for a few moments, as she probably wouldn't have been heard. Finally, she was about to say something, when Otto guessed, "You don't."

"No," Gladys said, shaking her head, "We were simply going to be off. Fairly cramped turret as it is."

Otto nodded, and Gladys asked, "So, could you be off? The engine deck, at least?"

"Of course," Otto nodded, getting down. Promptly, Gladys withdrew back into the turret, picked up the intercom, and instructed, "Carney, take us forwards."

The tank lurched into motion, and Emma, smirking widely, said, "What," she let out a little, preemptive chuckle, "What did he want?"

"The man was asking about for a job," Gladys answered. Emma promptly set to laughing again, and Ribbans pointed out, "We all heard you the first time! Carney even heard you!"

-The Next Day

Gladys sighed to herself, gazing out the window and seeing a few of the suit or short-skirt clad students of Beacon already going to their classes. For a moment, she paused, internally debating the same thing she'd been debating since coming to Beacon. But, finally, she sighed, turned around, and informed, "I believe we may have classes again."

"What?" Ribbans questioned, and Gladys informed, "The schoolkids are back in their uniforms. Emma, if you wouldn't mind getting the Besa and meeting us in Peaches'?"

The loader sighed, then nodded, and headed away, while Carney noted, "It would have been nice to have this scheduled before hand."

Gladys nodded quietly, and led the way along the semi-familiar path to Peaches' classroom. It felt a little different now, having tasted the freedom beyond it. Shooting monsters could never compare to a true fight, but it had its own thrill. And as soon as Gladys stepped into the classroom, to see professor Port at his usual podium, as if the last two days hadn't happened, the commander knew she'd miss even the small freedom she'd had the previous day. Quietly, she headed to her usual seat, with her crew following.

A few minutes later, Emma entered through the door, bearing the not-at-all disassembled Besa, and noted, "We really are back to this, then?"

Gladys nodded, and Port informed, "I applaud your enthusiasm, but weapons aren't allowed in the classrooms."

"Someone could nick it if we left it out there," Emma retorted, and Gladys sighed, "We could disassemble it."

"Then do it," Port said, "And before class, to be properly prepared."

Emma sighed, then shot, "You're each carrying a bit, then."

The loader then took her seat, and started disassembling the gun. A few more minutes later, the gun was in parts, and the bell finally rang, starting the lesson. And about a minute after that, RWBY finally burst through.

Author's Note: I don't really have anything to put here, but this document felt weird without an ending note. So, uh... happy September starting. Yey. Festive noises.