Holding off a Grimm attack? Most certainly soldiering.

Chapter 16: Wrap Up

Beacon Academy, Vale

"But we need to practice on live Grimm!"

"Listen, kid, we told you once and we'll tell you again. We're doing heavy ordnance training and it's not safe for anyone but us to wander the forest," Sixers sighed as he tried to explain to the leader of the 3rd year Huntsman team. While there was truth that their forces were indeed using heavy ordnance, the lie was that they were testing it. Since the morning of the attack, the RAC130 Frigate Crumble has fired almost non-stop on the surrounding area of Outpost 327. The defenders of the outpost have gone all out as well, unleashing their tanks and using their mortars.

Minutes earlier, the Marshal left with half of Sixers' company to reinforce the base while Commander Moris left the rest of his company to block off access to the Emerald Forest. So far, he had to turn around 4 teams, 5 if he included the third years that he just shooed. However, it seems this course of action has now upset the legendary Glynda Goodwitch as she marched toward his troops. The fact that she can make his men uneasy was a testament as to how terrifying her temper is. To his right, Sergeant Gambit, who has just returned from medical leave, stepped up. His intention was clear, and the fact that he was going to challenge Glynda of all people made his men more anxious.

"What is Azure up to this time?" she demanded to know as she stopped just in front of the troopers. Her face showed that she was not happy in the slightest and this did not really sit well with the Captain. Sticking to the etiquette that he was trained with, he replied, "Heavy ordnance training Miss Goodwitch, We locked down the docks to prevent them from seeing our presence. We'll lift the lockdown once we determine a safer flight path."

Unfortunately, Glynda can see through the half-truth, "I am aware that Azure himself left the Academy with some of his men. There's more to this than what you're saying." Several troopers turned their heads towards the Deputy Headmistress and sweat began to drop from within their helmets. Sixers was also taken aback by the sudden follow-up, but he had to stand his ground, "Ma'am, the exercise needed more men, the Marshal himself wanted to be on the field for it. Surely you're not questioning our intentions to avoid collateral."

The strict professor intensified her glare at the Guard Captain, a thick tension filled the air as troopers grasped their rifles firmly.

"We understand Captain, we'll inform the students about the predicament to help ease the questioning," a voice said. Both the Captain and Glynda looked towards the source of the voice and were met by the sight of Headmaster Ozpin, his trademark coffee mug in one hand, his cane in the other.

"But to lock down the docks Ozpin-" Miss Goodwitch tried to protest.

"Our visiting Marshal Commander has given me the schedule and flight plan for the bullheads," the Headmaster interrupted.

This seemed to satisfy the Deputy Headmistress, albeit begrudgingly. As she walked away, Ozpin turned to the Toro Captain and said, "I do hope your men make it out."

Sixers nodded in thanks as he watched the Headmaster return back to the campus. His thoughts then drifted to the battle nearby. Another explosion rocked the ground. It really begs the question, how is the front fairing?

Outpost 327, Emerald Forest

"FIRE!" a mortar captain shouted as his crews covered their ears while carefully dropping their high explosive shells in sync. Several rounds flew over the walls and descended on a small swarm of Grimm that tried to climb up the walls. Along the walls, the defenders were now holding their ground to the point that they began to take casualties. The evacuation effort had been faster than anticipated as men loaded equipment into the gunships which in turn, would send them to Beacon where Murray's Marines will receive them.

The Marshal remained steadfast on the wall, as he directed artillery fire personally. With the combined fire of both the Outpost's mortars and the Crumble's guns, the hordes of Grimm were reduced to a more manageable threat. Unfortunately, a threat is still a threat. One that the Clone Trooper's on the walls had to fight off with either a blade or a blaster. Azure was about to direct another strike on the Grimm when he heard a growl near his part of the wall. He quickly whipped his pistol and faced the source of the sound. Then, a beowolf struck as it pounced on the Marshal, trying to kill and devour the ambushed man.

Azure struggled as he tried to fight off the Grimm, pushing its jaws away while withstanding the Grimm's claw attacks. Despite his efforts, the Grimm was stronger than him and the Marshal knew he was losing the fight. Then, an audible shrink made itself known, pausing the beowolf's attack as it turned to see a Toro Company trooper stab his bayonet to its side. The trooper then pushed further in, making the Grimm disoriented enough for the Marshal to roll out of the way and use his pistol to finish it off. The Grimm was soon reduced to a cloud of dust as the Marshal was helped up by the same trooper who helped him out.

"Much obliged trooper," Azure panted as he dusted himself off. The trooper nodded as he resumed his position, firing his rifle at the approaching Grimm.

Another volley of mortar fire landed on an approaching horde, shaking the ground yet again. When the smoke cleared, a troublesome sight appeared before the defenders. A herd of stampeding Goliaths stomped their way towards the base at an alarming rate. Without orders, several of the clone troopers replaced their rifles with rocket launchers and fired at the large Grimm.

The squadron of TX-130 tanks deployed earlier into the battle had to move quickly as they can to avoid the oncoming beasts, throwing their gunner's aim off. One unfortunate tank had its hull dented as a large foot stomped on it. An audible angry curse could be heard from within the tank as it reversed at full speed to fall back.

Then, the Goliaths slammed into the walls, shaking the soldiers who continued to fire their blasters at full power. To their misfortune, their blasters seemed to do little against the thick skin of the Grimm and another slam threw the men off even more. Azure himself fell from the walls and onto the courtyard as a Goliath slammed directly into his direction, sending him and some of Toro Company's men off the walls. As he stood up, a familiar ARC Trooper ran up to him, helping him stand and regain his bearings.

"Are you alright Marshal?" Jesse asked as some of his men helped the rest of the men to their feet.

"Could be better," Azure muttered as he dusted himself off yet again, "Get the men off the walls, Jesse."

The ARC Trooper nodded as he went off to follow his new orders. The Marshal then tapped his helmet, "IRIS, are you there?"

"Yes sir, I marked the position of the front wall on your HUD," came his A.I.'s voice as the aforementioned information displayed on his helmet's HUD.

"Thank you IRIS," he replied exhaustedly, "Get me on the line with the Crumble, I have a new target."

"Copy that boss, redirecting you to Captain Hopper."

There was a scrambling noise for a second before it was replaced by a clone trooper's voice, "Crumble 1-1 speaking, what do you have for us, sir?"

"Hopper, I have a new fire mission for you. The target is danger close, use your turbolasers."

"Roger that Field Marshal, I suggest you get more distance, we're turning the guns up."

The line was cut as Azure yelled at the clones to take cover. As men scrambled left and right to get away from the front walls, the RAC130 Crumble began to turn its turbolaser turrets towards the battlefield. Then as the Goliaths prepared to hit the walls again, blue flashes of light rained upon them, creating devastating damage to the Grimm and the walls alike.

Once the dust settled, the walls were reduced to a series of ruins that could barely hold the Grimm back as some slipped through the holes created by the Crumble's attack.

"Back on the walls men!" Azure shouted, rallying his men, "Those foul mutts took a wall and some blood! Make them pay tenfold!"

"YES SIR!" his men replied as they ran to man whatever they could on the front walls.

And so continued the struggle of Outpost 327 as the 2 forces clashed against each other.

...

"That karkin' beast almost crushed me!"

"Quit your yapping, 5-2, and focus on driving!"

"Both of you shut it! Our comms got hit by that stomp, now I can't hear jackshit-"

"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP RIGHT NOW!" bellowed a trooper, quickly reinstating order to the chaos of the other troopers within the tank.

The TX-130 continued to stroll away from the battlefield, a heavy silence now present among the crew of Axe 5. This was the unfortunate tank that had a Goliath slam its foot in. With the damage sustained, the tank commander, Sergeant Spade, felt it necessary to pull back and return to Beacon where they would be picked up soon. They barely managed to get a message to the lead tank before their comms finally gave up and sparked out much to the displeasure of Axe 5-4.

"Right, 5-2, move the tank into that clearing on our North East," Spade ordered.

"Copy that, let's hope she doesn't fall apart sir," replied the driver as he turned the damaged TX-130 towards the aforementioned clearing. Then, after a minute, the tank's engines were turned off as the crew hatches opened up to reveal the crew of 4. The crew's gunner opted to stay on his turret as he pulled security while the rest of the crew surveyed the damage.

"Yup... the front's busted alright," the driver stated, "Any further and they would've crushed the crew compartment, and any deeper and the engine would've been rendered inoperable. We're running a big risk if we're gonna drive her all the way to Beacon sir."

The Sergeant crossed his arms as he sighed, "Well, we have to Cutter, gunship carriers are too preoccupied with moving equipment from 327 to Beacon."

Cutter, the driver silently cursed the tank's luck. The comms man was sitting on the tank's wing as he tried to tinker with the radio, hoping to get a better line with any Republic forces. Spade approached him and asked, "How's the radio Chatterbox?"

"Well," Chatterbox began as he held up the tank's dismembered radio, "The good news is, is that we can still get a connection to all of our local channels. The problem is our transmitter, the thing's busted so if we can get a message out, it'll be very choppy."

"Think we can try morse code?" joked Spade.

"Get me one of the Marshal's notes then we'll talk," the comms man humored him.

As the crew continued the tank's touch-ups, a rustling was heard from the bushes, earning the attention of Axe 5's gunner.

"Spade, we got something in the bushes," he called as the rest of the tank crew drew their DC-15S carbines.

"Anything on thermal, Scopes?" the sergeant asked as he slowly walked towards the tank's crew hatch.

It took the gunner a split second before he replied, "Yeah, 4 contacts... but... they're not Grimm."

"Fang?"

"Negative, can't ID properly."

Spade lowered his carbine as he tried to use his visor's own scopes to get a bead on the supposed threat. His crew kept their blasters pointed while his gunner, Scopes, kept the TX-130's turret aimed towards the bushes. Finally, a red and black color scheme emerged from the forest.

"It came from here! Maybe it's a Grimm!" exclaimed a young voice.

"Ruby Rose! Get back here!" shouted another.

At this point, the crew of Axe 5 lowered their blasters and turret as they came face to face with 4 young huntresses-in-training. A rather prominent team of Beacon named team RWBY.

Spade looked at his crew and then back at the students before sighing in relief, "Well that's a relief... get back to working on the tank. I'll handle our guests."

Back with team RWBY, the 4 girls have already noticed the TX-130 tank being crewed from earlier. The leader, Ruby Rose, stared in awe at the beautiful machine in front of her. Ever since arriving at Beacon, the young leader couldn't help but be fascinated with the weaponry of the newly instated Beacon Security Forces. Their weapons were unlike anything she's ever seen. From the look of their weapons, they fire off plasma, and it was a very strong plasma too.

As she tried to ogle the hardware before her, the rest of her team mused as they also paid attention to the tank.

"While our leader continues to fawn over our security guards' weaponry, we should address the elephant in the room," Ruby's partner, Weiss Schnee, stated, "The school administration announced not too long ago that the BSF was conducting exercises in the forest."

The team's blonde brawler, Yang Xiao Long, nodded, "Eyup! So what's bothering you Weiss-cream?"

"Well," the blonde's partner, Blake Belladonna, began, "If you'll actually pay attention to the tank Yang, then you'll notice that it looks like it took a bad hit."

Yang took another look at the tank, "Hmm... fair point. Yo, Rubes! Snap out of it!"

"Huh? Wha-" the silver-eyed girl stuttered before she noticed the damage, "Oh yeah... that doesn't look good... by the look of the print, it looks like it got smashed by a Goliath."

Weiss then interjected, "Which is exactly my point. What kind of exercise are those soldiers doing if it's actually causing damage to their hardware?"

"We do sometimes get injured when we're training Weiss," Yang stated as she crossed her arms, "Maybe a freak accident happened?"

"This is different though," the heiress replied, "No military exercise would yield that kind of damage to equipment Yang."

Before they could continue their discussion, a gruff voice interrupted them, "Ladies, I'd appreciate it if you stop making assumptions on what we're doing in the forest. As the administration said, we're just doing an exercise."

The 4 girls looked toward the source and were met with Sergeant Spade, his helmet covering his eyes, but obviously giving them a lecturing glare. He then continued, "And what I'd like to know, is what the hell are you kids doing here? Didn't the admins say too stay in the Academy?"

All eyes were now on RWBY's leader as she scratched the back of her head, "Uhm... ehehe... well we were already in the forest when the message came out so..."

"And you didn't bother going back?" asked the Sergeant.

"Well you see, we were about to do that when-" Ruby began, but then a distant explosion sounded off, "Yeah, that's why sir..."

Spade shook his head, "Well your trip's gonna have to wait, our exercise isn't done yet."

Another explosion echoed, this time it caused the nearby Axe 5's gunner to comms in, "That blast was close sir, we should probably get moving."

"I hear you 5-3, stand by to move out."

"Roger that boss."

"5-1, out," Spade finished as he turned back to team RWBY, "Now what do we do with you four?"

"M-maybe let us go our merry way and we just stay away from explosions?" Ruby suggested.

Yang grinned.

Blake sighed as she closed her eyes.

Weiss facepalmed.

Spade somehow managed to imagine an eyebrow on his helmet, raising.

Suddenly, a loud CLANK was heard, turning all attention towards the tank. Smoke came from the front hull as the remaining crew of the tank scrambled out of it. Cutter could be heard cursing profusely while Chatterbox and Scope looked at their tank with a solemn look. The tank finally stopped whirring as Spade and the 4 huntresses-in-training pulled up. Cutter looked towards Spade and sighed in defeat, "Engine got busted to the point that it won't move properly."

"So we're stuck here?" asked Spade.

"It can go as far as making it back to the AO, but a trip back to Beacon is a no Bueno," replied the driver.

They were then interrupted by Scopes, "Forget driving it, the forward repulsor is too damaged to move. We're gonna have to push it anywhere."

This caused Axe 5's leader to sigh at the misfortune his tank was facing. Then, as he looked around, he noticed Yang throwing rocks at the trees to pass the time. Upon impact, he noticed how there was noticeable damage on the bark. Then, an idea formed in his head. It may cause more trouble for the army, but it'll certainly be better than having to leave the tank.

"Hey, blondie! C'mere, I got something to ask you."

...

"They're taking the walls! Fall back! Fall back!" a trooper yelled as he unloaded his blaster. He began to run back to try and get a better position when he was pushed back by the Field Marshal, "Get back there! Do NOT leave your brothers behind," anger flared in his voice as he kept the men in line. The trooper, who the Marshal now identified as one of the Depot troopers, ran back to his post, rejoining his squad as they continued to fire through gaps on the walls.

"Hold the line!" Azure yelled as he fired his pistol into the Grimm, "I SAID HOLD THIS LINE DAMN IT!"

But he knew that his men couldn't hold the wall properly. Not when they were scattered along the broken front wall. He needed to plug in the gap.

"Jesse! Pull the men back in full!" he ordered.

Jesse nodded in affirmation as he ordered his platoon to fall back, firing behind them to slow down any Grimm slipping by. Then, as they got back to more secured lines, a battle cry was heard when the Marshal's voice bellowed, "TORO COMPANY! CHARGE BAYONETS!"

"HAH!"

"CHARGE!"

"RAAGH!"

Like a tidal wave, the soldiers of Toro Company charged toward the broken walls with bayonets and blaster fire. With the momentum gained from the charge, the Grimm were forced back by the organized counter-offensive. When the gap was plugged, the Grimm began to run away again, once again giving the Outpost defenders time to relax. Azure sighed as he sat in the courtyard while taking off his helmet. It has been a rather exhausting time for him as he hasn't been in the heat of action for some time and this experience certainly reminded him to take a turn on a simulator next time he could.

A hand offered him a water canteen and he graciously accepted it as he downed the contents in one go. Looking up, he recognized the hand that gave him the canteen belonged to Foster. He nodded in thanks as he stood back up. Picking up his helmet, he asked, "How goes the evacuation, Foster?"

"We've managed to evacuate 85% of our equipment, but now that we don't have the armory anymore, we now have a limit on munitions," the Torrent Captain replied as he stowed the water canteen away, "We also had the mortar crews pack up and evacuate since the Crumble and the Lartys seem to be on top of things."

Azure nodded as he stretched his back, "By the way, I saw a TX get damaged earlier, did anything happen to it?"

"Axe 1 says that he sent the tank home, but after that, radio silence," replied Foster as he walked behind the Marshal.

"That's not good... send a recon droid to find them," ordered Azure as he placed his helmet back on.

"Already done sir."

"Good," Azure said as he holstered his pistol, "Tell me what you see after the next wave."

"Yes, Marshal!"

As Azure walked towards the frontline again, the rest of the defenders continued to survey the area. In the command center, a radar operator noticed something peculiar on his station. After rechecking his radar, he alerted his superior, who at the time was Lieutenant Kol and pointed towards the disturbance.

"There sir," the operator explained, "The signal shows up every 1-4 minutes."

"It says it's Republic," Kol mused as he crossed his arms, "Do you have a tag on it?"

The operator shook his head, "Negative, no ID tag. Whatever it is, it's heading this way."

"Right, I'll inform the Captain. Keep me updated."

Somewhere else in the base, Foster continued to organize the evacuation. This time around, he was evacuating their prisoners. All White Fang with the exception of 3 or 7 bandits who unfortunately ran into them. As he loaded one of the last gunships. his comm went off and he was obligated to answer it. Tapping a button, he spoke, "Foster, what is it?"

"Sir, it's Kol. Radar's picking up a bogey coming from the North."

"Get a sharpshooter team with a rocket launcher on that," the Captain ordered, "I want updates. Inform involved stations if it's the missing Axe."

"Copy that, Kol out."

Turning his comm off, Foster looked back towards the gunship as it took off, taking some of the last objectives back to base. All they had to do was repel one more attack before they could evacuate. Little did anyone on Outpost 327 know that their evacuation was about to get very interesting.

...

"Put your backs into it! Push!" yelled Chatterbox as he and Cutter helped team RWBY sans Ruby, push their TX-130 back to the outpost. It's been a few minutes since they last set out with the student team. The trip had gone smoothly, but still rather slow. Spade was ahead of the tank, guiding the crew and huntresses to their destination while Scopes had decided to stay on the turret where he was bombarded by Ruby Rose with questions of all kinds.

"So how do you deal with any Grimm that get close?" she asked quickly.

Scopes, who was trying his hardest to answer replied, "Well if they managed to get this close, then that means we're doing something wrong."

"Why's that?"

"We'd usually be able to spot them before they even spot us so..."

Ruby nodded in understanding as she made her next question, "So how much dust does it use?"

The gunner had to pause in thought as he wracked his brain for an answer that wouldn't reveal themselves as people from Outerspace, "Well, quite a lot... kid, but our repulsors are able to conserve this dust effectively."

The young girl ooed at the explanation and continued to ask more.

Spade kept walking ahead, trying to find a radio channel that any trooper was listening to.

"Come on... come on... how about scramble set 5? Nope."

Try as he might, the Sergeant just couldn't get in contact with any unit within the vicinity. Just as he was about to try another scramble set, he heard a disturbance. He halted the tank as he grasped his blaster. Scopes, now free from questioning, looked at his thermal cameras and called out, "Grimm incoming! I'm counting 10 packs of 5 wolves."

Spade cursed as he replied, "Fire when you have a good sight, Scopes! Huntresses! Watch our flank! Chatterbox, Cutter, get back in the tank and see if you can do anything!"

"Sir!" replied his crew while team RWBY got ready to defend the tank.

As expected, a first wave rushed them but was taken down by the TX-130's beam turret. Come to the 2nd wave, and team RWBY sprang into action, effectively wiping out the waves of Grimm. Meanwhile, the remainder of Axe 5's crew began to work their way into getting the tank to restart. Scopes began to fire in short bursts as more Grimm began to converge on him. Spade was on the tank's hull as he fired his blaster wildly into any Grimm that dared to get close.

"You want a piece of me?!" the sergeant jeered as his carbine fired in full auto, "Then come get me!"

His emotions ran high as he fired his blaster. This had the unfortunate consequence of attracting more attention to him than there should be as a Grimm that went unnoticed by the group. Taking the opportunity, the Grimm lept at him, knocking him off the tank.

"Gah!" he grunted as he tried to fight the Grimm off. Being a tanker and having to deal with heavier equipment gave him the benefit of a stronger body, and he managed to push the Grimm off before he grabbed his blaster and sprayed the Grimm with blue plasma. The blaster had little effect as the wolf-like creature growled and got ready for another attack. Then, it was stopped when a blur of yellow sped by and punched it into a group of other Beowolves.

The yellow blur turned out to be Yang as she helped Spade up, the latter thanking her, "Thanks sparky, I owe you one."

"Count on it," she winked as she sped off to do her own thing. The Sergeant couldn't help but shake his head at her antics as he climbed back into the TX-130's crew hatch. Inside, he was greeted by a thin cloud of blake smoke as Cutter worked away inside. Noticing the tank commander enter, he grinned, "Close call had it not been for the blonde eh?"

"Shut your trap Cutter and get back to work," Spade snapped as he tapped away at his own panel, hoping to get the tank working. By some miracle, it did as the tank began to shudder before a whirring sound started to emit.

"Hah!" the driver gawked, "It's working again!"

Spade smiled in turn, "Finally, let's get back to business gentlemen! 5-2 rotate us on our axis and fire what rockets we have left!"

"Sir!"

"5-4, see if you can connect the transmitter to the tank again and get a message to the Outpost!"

"On it, sir," replied the comms man.

"Scopes, give those girls some good covering, and hold on!"

A shout from the top hatch replied, "Like I have a choice!" followed by the sounds of the tank's beam turret letting loose. Spade elected to ignore the sarcastic remark as he focused on helping the tank maneuver around the field. Outside, the rest of team RWBY gracefully thinned out the herd for the tank, with Ruby and Weiss staying close to it, while Blake and Yang were on the farther sections, targeting the more dangerous Grimm first.

The skirmish was almost like a graceful dance, with the TX-130 spinning with full control, tearing away at any Grimm its ordinance could fire upon, while team RWBY used their skills to cover the tank's blind spots. Weiss even went through the trouble of creating platforms for the tank to hover on for better maneuverability. The fight was going swimmingly for the unusual team, but unfortunately, some people just don't know when to keep their mouths shut.

"This is too easy!" Cutter cheered as he blasted another Grimm with the tank's twin cannons. Then, a spark lit up on a console. This made Spade nervous as he tried to figure out what just happened before his eyes widened, "Shut the tank off!"

Cutter hesitated when the order was given, but when Spade repeated himself, he jumped to it and powered down the tank. Team RWBY noticed the tank go adrift as it slammed into a wolf that Ruby was facing before the tank drifted into it and kill it by slamming into a tree. The gunner of the tank was shaken as he felt the tank finally power down, his turret now inoperable.

Sensing something wrong, Ruby approached the tank, "Did something bad happen?"

"Yeah," replied Scopes as he grunted in pain, "The tank's given up. The battle strained it to its limit and now she's dead on the ground."

"What're you gonna do then?" she asked, worry filling her voice.

The tank's crew hatch opened as the rest of Axe 5's crew crawled out in all various states of injury. Weiss rushed in to see if she could do anything to help, while Ruby gave her cover fire. Upon inspection, Weiss noticed how Spade's leg was twisted in a way it shouldn't be. The sergeant's words were a series of hushed curses as he tried to straighten his leg. The comms man, Chatterbox clutched his head and if one were to inspect even closer, one could see blood slowly drip out of his helmet. Finally, the driver seemed to have the worst of it as his helmet was covered in debris, his visor was cracked and his chest plate had penetrated his chest, a piece of metal protruding out of it.

Much to the Schnee's surprise, the injured troopers began to go for their blasters. Knowing they'd cause more injury, she tried to keep them down, "Sir, you're injured. Please stay away from harm."

Spade hissed, "No. We don't have a choice kid, I know that you guys can't take them all on. Let my men help."

His two crewmen agreed as they somehow managed to get up and prop themselves on the tank.

Spade then continued, "Look... damn it... there's an outpost if you keep going in the direction we were going. Your Professor Azure is there organizing a defense, go there and tell them we have a Scorched Earth problem."

Ruby blocked another wolf from pouncing on the injured troopers before zipping her way toward Weiss and Spade, "Weiss, what's going on?"

"You're going kid," Spade replied urgently, "The tank's dead and we can't leave it. You take your team and keep heading South. Find that outpost and get back to your school got it?"

"B-but what about you guys?" the Reaper exclaimed, feeling dread from what the soldier was saying.

"We'll be fine kid, now take your team and go!" the Sergeant ordered as he raised his blaster and shot at another Grimm.

Ruby began to weigh her options as the troopers made their intentions to make a final stand here. As much as she hated to admit it, if she tried to help them back to where they said to go, they'd slow the team down and make the problem worse than it is. But she remembered the soldiers at the initiation that held off the Grimm waves for them.

"Not this time... I'm sorry RWBY, but we have to help them," the Rose resigned to herself as she spun her scythe around, "We're staying sir, your friends helped us last time. Let my team return the favor."

Spade was about to protest when more howling echoed, "Damn it, kid... fine! Give Scopes cover! He has a rifle!"

The two teens looked at each other and back before nodding.

Cutter looked at his Sergeant and said, "Well sir, if we don't make it, we gotta at least try and get those kids outta here."

"You're telling me," Spade muttered, "How's your eye?"

"I can still shoot," the trooper replied as he did exactly that, putting another Grimm down.

Axe 5's commander smirked as he continued to fire. With now more weight on the line, the troopers and the huntresses made their stand. Scopes had his DC-15A rifle on fully automatic, firing at hordes without any sign of slowing down. Chatterbox laid back against the tank, his shots going wide as his head injury began to affect him.

Despite the handicap, the group put up stiff resistance, keeping the Grimm away, yet with each minute, the Grimm keep getting closer and closer. What's worse is that the group knew that ammo wouldn't last, especially for Axe 5's crew as they continued to fire any ammo they had left.

As Ruby hacked her way through some of the final packs of Beowolves, she felt the ground shake. Then, to her horror, she spotted an elder Goliath, emerging from the trees. However, it wasn't focused on her. No, the Goliath was eyeing the injured crew of the TX-130 and recognized their danger. With a mighty roar, it charged forward. Scopes had already seen the elephant and unloaded his DC-15A's clip into it, and no sooner did it run out, he reloaded quickly and continued to fire. The rest of Axe 5 followed his example, but deep down, Spade knew that they were done for.

Ruby shot her rifle repeatedly, desperately trying to slow the Goliath down while Weiss used her gliffs to support her team's movement. Yang and Blake tried to trip the Grimm using the latter's weapon, but they had to let go when even that began to snap.

Soon, the Goliath was upon Axe 5, and its leader let out a resigning sigh, "I'm sorry brothers... I thought we could pull this off..."

Cutter whimpered, "And we were so close..."

"It's been an honor vod," said Chatterbox as he bowed his head, waiting for the final blow.

"Never even got to visit 79's again," muttered Scopes as he lowered his rifle.

Everything slowed down as the moment grew tenser than it ever could.

Before RWBY could protest the crew's demise, several loud wooshes came from the forest as purple rockets slammed into the Goliath, putting the beast down and catching the attention of everyone.

From the trees emerged a familiar sight.

A squadron of TX-130s zoomed in, blasting Grimm left and right and sending any nearby beasts running. Their gunners focus on giving their downed squadmate fire.

"It's Axe squadron!" Chatterbox cheered as they watched the rest of their squadron wipe the floor.

When the fight settled down, a tank approached the downed Axe 5 and revealed its commander, "Spade, you guys alright?"

"Better now," Spade grinned under his helmet, "How's the OP?"

"We're about done there," the squadron leader replied, "We were actually ordered to find you out here when we picked up a faint signal. Looks like we arrived in time too."

The Sergeant nodded in agreement as he gestured to the awkwardly paced team RWBY, "What do we do with the girls, sir?"

The Commander looked at the girls before replying, "We're taking them back to the OP. Marshal says we're ready to pull everyone else out."

Axe 5's leader nodded in understanding as he propped himself back on the tank. Guess he and his merry crew will live to fight another day.

...

Garreth Azure sighed in relief as he watched the last of the Grimm run away, finally giving up after countless waves. His men cheered as they finally basked in their victory. One trooper also got GAR standard and began waving it in celebration. Usually, the Marshal wouldn't condone such actions when combat need quite literally seconds ago, but after reassuring himself that no more Grimm were coming, he allowed it to slide.

Foster walked up behind him, arms crossed behind his back, "That's the last of them, sir?"

"It seems to be the case Foster," Azure smiled as he removed his helmet.

"Gunships will return shortly and we've sent survey drones to make sure we didn't leave any hardware behind."

"And what about Axe squadron? Have they reported back?"

"Uh... no sir. I think they don't need to," Foster awkwardly replied while pointing forward, "Look, sir."

The Field Marshal followed the Captain's finger and was met by the sight of the Axe squadron coming, behind them was the broken TX-130 of Axe 5 with the crew laid upon the hull, and to his surprise, he saw team RWBY sitting on the hull with the crew, "What the hell..."

As the tanks come through the broken gates, they were greeted by the remaining defenders who cheered them on. Medics were soon on the field to treat the injured members of Axe 5 as they were loaded onto stretchers to be brought to their medical tent. The huntresses-in-training tried to hide behind the tank to avoid attention, but it was very shortlived when the familiar voice of their Security Chief yelled, "Team RWBY! Front and center here, NOW!"

Lo and behold, they were met with Azure's glare. His look promised pain as he marched toward them, Foster following behind him. The 4 girls assembled in a row in front of the tank as the Marshal finally got to them.

"So," he began, "Will you admit your reasonings as to why you're here in the forest? Or will I have to play charades with you?"

Ruby began to speak, "Well, in all honesty, sir, we were out here training when the message to stay came in..."

"And you didn't bother returning why?"

Suddenly, Spade hopped towards the assembly, a medic visibly annoyed behind him, "It was my decision, sir." Eyes were turned to the Tank Sergeant as he finally presented himself to the Field Marshal.

Beginning to draw a conclusion Azure nodded, "Explain then Sergeant."

"My tank was too damaged to return to Beacon sir, and since we determined we only had enough power to get back to the OP, I asked these girls to help us back so that we could avoid scorching the tank," explained Spade as he tried to desperately to stand at attention, still to the annoyance of the medic tending him.

"And I can assume your comms were damaged if you didn't check in?"

"Yes sir."

"..."

The tension around them suddenly grew thick as the Marshal began to think about what he should do. Then, he asked, "And what about the tank? How'd it end up in that sorry state?"

Spade answered, "We managed to restore a bit of juice to speed things up, but we pushed it too far and it left my crew vulnerable. Had it not been for the rest of the Axe squadron and team RWBY, we would've died sir."

More silence.

Finally, Azure turned to the girls again, "Do you have anything to say for yourselves?"

"Yes professor," the leader of RWBY spoke, "When we did see the message, we tried to distance ourselves away from the explosions."

The Marshal raised an eyebrow before sighing, "Seeing as you did a good thing here today and you did act more responsibly, I guess I can't fault any of you under these circumstances."

RWBY sighed in relief as the tension finally died down.

As the area began to relax, the sound of gunships approaching began to fill the air. Seconds later, the LAATs appeared once more, ready to evacuate the defenders. Troopers cheered once more as they began to board the gunships, with the injured being given priority first.

The last gunship was boarded by the Field Marshal, along with team RWBY and Foster's squads. The latter looked at the base one last time before nodding at the Marshal. The doors soon closed as the gunship took off into the air, leaving Outpost 327 for good.

6 hours later...

Teams of White Fang began to converge on the ruined base. After they made sure the Beacon Security Forces left, they made the objective to retake the base clear as day. Soon, the entire base was filled with Faunus who jeered at what their enemy left. No combat equipment was found, but several barrels of fuel were scattered across the base. Maybe they could use this for bombs or future vehicles.

The White Fang Commander, a tiger Faunus grinned as they entered the old control room. It seems the humans had left in such haste that they forgot to take their fancy computers. No matter, the White Fang could benefit from this donation.

When his subordinate activated a hologram table of sorts, a transmission began to play. It began to display the Chief of Beacon's Security in his full white and black uniform, his face showed no negative emotion. They could even say that he was finding the watchers humorous.

"Ah, hello there! To whoever I owe this pleasure of surrendering the base too, I offer you my congratulations for driving my forces off!"

The White Fang operatives looked at one another as they continued to listen to the transmission.

"I must admit that the hordes of Grimm you managed to sick on us became quite a problem, thus leaving us to evacuate the base. Now, whoever the commander is, you might be wondering now why I bothered leaving this message that exposes my identity and why I left all this new technology for you to see."

The Chief's face turned into a dark grin, "Because you repulsive fools, this will be the last thing you see in your sad lives... and if you still don't get it, allow me to explain."

More confused expressions from the White Fang turned up.

"This base is about to explode in 5 minutes."

Then, the room suddenly glowed red, and across the base, several beeping noises could be heard. The White Fang grunts looked in confusion when this happened, while the Commander's eyes expressed horror at the implication.

"Oh, did I say 5 minutes?"

The beepings got faster and soon got replaced by a whirring sound.

"I meant 5 seconds."

That night, the forest shook one final time for the day as what was once Outpost 327 was engulfed in a cloud of smoke and flame, leaving nothing behind but a massive crater.

At a safe distance, a dark armored soldier surveyed the area before speaking into his comms, "Base is destroyed sir, no survivors."

"Good, let's go, Sergeant Gaz, the job's done," replied a voice in his comm channel.

Like many times before, the commandos of Besh 6 disappeared without a trace.

This is perhaps one of the longest chapters I've made in a long time, and I am proud to say that I don't feel bad about this one in the slightest! Now, that I've regained my bearings, let's hope the next line of chapters can follow this as well!

Until then, this is where I get off! Stay frosty boys because that's soldiering!