Chapter 20
"Two months had passed since the Battle for Beacon and Vale had ended. War was brewing and I along with my friends had found ourselves transforming from soon to be keepers of peace to the swords of war. Jaune had confided to me the morning we left from Vale that he felt that there was no going back, that from that moment on we would no longer get to be Huntsmen but soldiers in a war that began long before we were born and would still be going long after we were dead. The worst part about that was the fact that I couldn't help but agree with him."
Pyrrha Nikos stood on the deck of the Arcadian troop transport ship Gefjun, one of nine transports escorted by a squadron of Arcadian warships. They had been at sea for about six days and were expecting landfall within the next few hours. Already Pyrrha could see the vague shape of land in the distance.
She had found the journey at sea to be exciting at first but Colonel Heim had warned her that the novelty would wear off soon. Pyrrha of course didn't believe that, well at first she hadn't but as time stretched on she realized the truth of those words, the greyness and fluorescent lights inside the ship got boring while outside the salt spray of the cold sea constantly threatened to drown out her senses.
Nor was there really anything to do on ship, she had no duties other than monitoring and keeping the peace of the soldiers onboard. So she just had to content herself for the near nightly bouts of making out with Jaune, not that she would actually complain about that.
"Jeez I hate being out on deck." A voice called out from behind her and Pyrrha turned to see Nora walking up to her shielding her eyes a little from the spray of sea water.
"I know what you mean, I feel like I need wash my hair every time I come out here and get rinsed with salt water."
"Then why are we being stupid and standing out here?" Nora asked and Pyrrha shrugged.
"Because being stuck inside for too long makes me want to jump into the water."
"That's a fair point." Nora said before flashing a knowing grin at Pyrrha.
"So I've been meaning to ask where you're bunking but Captain Kofoed from 3rd Battalion said she saw you leaving Jaune's room this morning. Anything you wanna tell me?"
"Is there anything you don't already know?" Pyrrha asked in return and Nora nodded.
"Did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Ya know." Nora said before making a circle with one hand then putting a finger in and out of it repeatedly while flapping her tongue around in a rather lewd manner. Pyrrha felt her face burn up as she grabbed Nora's arms then forced them down.
"Nora!? That's inappropriate!"
"Aw boo." The hammer wielder said Pyrrha let go of her, the two of them then decided to head inside as their clothes were starting to get wet.
"So, how much longer till we make landfall?" Nora asked and Pyrrha gave her a quizzical look.
"You should know this by now, we're going to make landfall in less than a few hours." Nora waved away carelessly.
"I leave that to Ren to learn then tell me after."
"Then how come you don't remember Ren telling you about this?"
"I have my reasons." Nora said giving a sly grin though in truth she didn't want it to slip out to Pyrrha that she had been busy eating pancakes that Ren had made from the stove in their room which incidentally was against ship rules at having a fire hazard in the troop compartments.
"So what do you think about the mission?" Nora asked changing the topic and Pyrrha just shrugged.
"I'm not really sure what to think about it, there's just so much about it that doesn't make sense or is completely outside my knowledge."
"That's true but I know I didn't want to fight in the Outlands again after what we saw in the Hurin Valleys."
"Well to be fair we didn't do most of that fighting."
"Saw enough to know that it's going to be messy."
"War is always messy." A new metallic sounding voice said and the two of them turned to see a third woman standing at one of the bulkhead doors. They both saluted.
Colonel Elva Heim had pale skin and greying hair with storm cloud colored eyes though the most distinctive feature on her was the fact she was technically missing the bottom half of her face.
From what Pyrrha heard Heim had been had lost her lower jaw to an Ursa Major when she was a sergeant but somehow lived long enough to get professional help to save her life. After which she had been fitted with a metal replacement giving her a metal skeleton mouth which left her with an eerie look.
"At ease." Heim said walking towards them.
"What can we help you with ma'am?" Pyrrha asked as she lowered her arm.
"Well Huntress Nikos I was coming here to ask if you had you were ready or needed assistance." Heim said no doubt referring to the fact that aside from Jaune she was the only Huntress that still wore what was considered as civilian clothes.
"I'm ready Colonel." She began but Heim held a hand up.
"I know you think you are ready but what I asked is, are, you ready. From what I understand is that your previous battle attire was damaged and you lost your sword leaving you with just a shield."
"Rest assured Colonel Heim, Pyrrha is very proficient at using her shield offensively or defensively." Nora chimed in.
"That may be fine to you Huntress Valkyrie but I would feel better knowing that we weren't bringing someone along that isn't ready for a military campaign." Heim said but before Nora could reply Pyrrha held her own hand up.
"You have nothing to worry about Colonel, I was able to rearm and armor myself before we set out. I won't be a liability." She said emphasizing the last part and Heim seemed to scrutinize her for a few moments before nodding.
"Good, carry on Huntresses." She said as she began to walk away when she seemed to be out of ear shot Nora looked at Pyrrha.
"What was that about?"
"I think she was just concerned about how capable I was after my rather well known defeat at Beacon Tower."
"So you managed to repair Miló?"
"Yes and no. I got Ilex Maron to check it out and she said that she couldn't repair it exactly but could give me a copy of it but I decided I would help her in making a new weapon for me, though I'm not sure if I should call it Miló anymore."
"Why not?"
"Don't know, just doesn't seem right."
"I think that makes sense, new you, new weapon, new name. Sort of like a new chapter in your life." Nora said as she descended a set of stairs that led towards a relatively small mess hall. There were only about a ten people excluding them but she felt a small smile grow on her face at seeing Jaune sitting by Ren, Ruby and Areto.
"That was surprisingly insightful." Pyrrha finally said looking Nora who just shrugged. The two of them moved towards the far left wall of the room where a row of food was set out in large containers as sailors or soldiers stood with plates. After getting their share they moved towards the table to join the others.
"I'm going to assume you two were out on the deck." Ren said before pointing to his hair.
"Yea even a few minutes out on deck only to get sprayed by cold sea water is better than six hours of being dry in here." Pyrrha remarked.
"Sort of makes me wonder why you keep going to the deck despite knowing that you'll get wet to some degree."
"It's got a nice view plus being inside sucks." Nora said.
"Gotta say I agree it makes me feel a lot of pity and respect the sailors that live in these tin cans." Jaune but Areto just chuckled.
"You're just not used to it; sailors spend months at a time at sea in a relatively cramped ship breathing the same air that's been recycled a few hundred times, eating the same food, and having nothing but water to look at as far as they could see in any direction." Jaune rolled his eyes at that.
"Okay we get it, we're new to it, don't need to rub our noses in it."
"I'm just teasing." The older woman said.
"Oh yea, did Colonel Heim find you?" Ren asked looking at Pyrrha who nodded.
"Yea, we ran into her just before we got here."
"And she was being a little rude to Pyrrha." Nora chimed in.
"Not really, she was just worried about whether or not I had weapons to fight with." Pyrrha said before looking at Jaune.
"Actually I don't think I've seen you with Crocea Mors or armor since your father took them. Did he leave something before he left or is Areto going to like give you a spare suit of armor or something?"
"My father was just refurbishing Crocea Mors and upgrading my armor but you'll see it once we get into the field."
"Upgrade? Ilex never mentioned seeing your stuff before we left." Pyrrha said but Jaune shook his head.
"Nope, he did it on his own; believe it or not when we were living in the Outlands my father spent a lot of time forging weapons and armor."
"Ya know for some reason I'm not really surprised by that." Ruby said and the small groups chatted for a while until a few other people joined them.
One of them was a stocky older man who looked to be in his late thirties, he was wearing a tan grey leather jerkin with plated armor on his arms along dark trousers that were tucked into shin high boots.
The other person was a Faunus women with green and black scales on her face with short green hair tied behind her head. She wore a simpler outfit that consisted of a black leather jacket fashioned with multiple straps that wrapped around her torso tightly with grey military trousers and boots.
"Hello Ciane, Grall, what can I help ya with?" Jaune asked as the two of them sat down.
"Nothing much Commander, we just wanted to sit with you." Ciane said but Jaune just grinned.
"I doubt that's the reason why you're here Lieutenant. You want to know more about the mission." Lieutenant Ciane Euryale and Captain Grall Epon were some of the more senior members of the Huntsmen Company. That being said they technically weren't the most experienced merely the ones that accepted leadership positions.
The heavy individuality of the Huntsmen Company made it appear as a difficult challenge to operate as a large unit as such the two of them didn't really give orders of their own but simply were there as a logistical need. If anything the only real benefit to the position was more in what it meant that what they could do.
Pyrrha suspected that they actually took the positions as a form of power to propel them up socially or politically; she had seen a camera crew hanging around Ciane when she arrived at Beacon while there were rumors that Grall had close connections with senior members of the Vale Council.
"To be frank sir, I think we should know some more. All you told us was that we're going to support this, 9th Brigade commanded by Brigadier General Karsidottir who's also the JTFS Commander and that we'll be fighting in the Outlands against both the Creatures of Grimm and people but what does that really mean?" Grall cut in.
"I mean I said more than just that."
"Aye you did but most of that was just rubbish, for instance why haven't we ever heard of this Outland territory you speak of? Surely an Outland territory on the verge of what can be considered a small Kingdom is something that should be memorable if not common knowledge. Then there's the matter of what exactly we're facing here, from what we've heard of Arcadian Brigades they're already a hefty force so why are we needed?" Grall asked as he leaned forward on the table staring Jaune down but the younger man didn't seem to react and Pyrrha could see a snarl twitch at the man's mouth.
"I'd watch your tone Captain; you're talking to your commanding officer." Areto said evenly and Pyrrha could practically feel the air ice over but Jaune held a hand up.
"It is fine Areto, Captain Epon is a strong willed individual and a veteran Huntsman, and I already was going to give them a special briefing to our current mission." Jaune said before looking at Ciane.
"Are you two the only ones that feel this way or are there others?" He asked and Ciane nodded.
"There are some but most of them seem content in following you and Ruby." She said referring to the fact that there were a number of people in the Company who were students who fought during the Battle for Beacon which had cemented their friendship or willingness to follow amongst them. Jaune had always thought it was some ad lib philosophy about comradeship that Areto had tried teaching him but it seemed fighting together tends to bring people closer.
"Alright then, gather the Huntsmen and Huntresses in Conference Room 4."
30 Minutes Later…
"Alright then, I'm sure you're all aware of why we're here." Jaune said as the conference room jammed packed with people settled down. Pyrrha watched from the side as Jaune stood behind a large podium with a wall mounted black screen behind him.
The lights in the room dimmed but a small light source shined on Jaune's face before getting overshadowed by the screen on the wall turning on to reveal a map of what she assumed was the region they were heading towards.
At the very top was a dot marked as Joint Task Force Sanus. The map however seemed to be focused in on a particular area of Central Sanus on its southern coast. It looked like a normal patch of lands with a large crescent shaped mountain range to their north that disappeared as it curves southward with evidence of a lush forest or woodland geography.
"Right now we're heading to an Outland territory state called Brythonia or the Brythonia Realm as it's sometimes referred to in some form or fashion, it's been around for more or less five hundred years yet has remained a small player in global affairs making it a relatively minor blip in the big picture for the most part something they're not that eager to change that fact. It wasn't until this century that it came into contact with some of Arcadia's surveyors, upon which we were able to establish a presence within their territory along the coast in a port city called Terrelan which functional serves as Arcadia's embassy that trades with the rest of the Brythonia Realm. Their territory is relatively small in comparison to the other Kingdoms save for Menagerie with a population a little more than a million people. That being said they have a functional state with their own culture, laws, government and even a military force. As such for most of the years we've known Brythonia they've never truly needed our help until now." Jaune said.
"About a month ago we started receiving reports that unrest had taken root both in and around the Brythonia Realm with allied Outland towns were mobilizing forces to be sent towards them. Soon we began to receive reports of fighting breaking out within it. Castellan Rallis, the person charged with governing and protecting Terrelan sent out a distress signal. Apparently the ruler of Brythonia, King Hurthar Venragon died, with his death marked the start of the troubles. Someone known as the Arch-Knight of Brythonia, Luclet du Lac has turned most of the powerful Nobles of the realm to his side in his quest to take the throne from the heir Arthus, they struck hard and fast setting siege to both Terrelan and their capital Caer Kameloth as well. Then this is where we jump in, Brigadier General Karsidottir of the 9th Brigade and the overall commanding officer of Joint Task Force Sanus was already moving towards them to resupply her Brigade only to engage the Rebels lifting the siege at Terrelan before Caer Kameloth but she's stuck in a holding action against the Rebels. The enemy outnumbers her and has the home field advantage so we're to move in to strike from the north at any Rebel positions as we move to regroup with her then fight the Rebels long enough for the Loyalists to muster their strength to fight with minimal assistance or the more the likely case the Rebels surrender." Jaune explained and a few hands rose into the air so he gestured towards a Huntress with red cat ears sitting near him.
"Sir, I don't get it how is the General being held back? Even with numbers against her I imagine she's as well if not more equipped than our regiment is with a technological advantage to even it out. Or do these Rebels have an equal technological aspect?" She asked.
"That's a good question and the simple answer would be no. Overall they aren't technologically superior or even to an extent equal as a whole to any of the major Kingdoms and I mean that in the broadest sense, how fast and how much they can produce wouldn't hold up in a contest with any of the major powers." Jaune said before tapping something on the podium, the image changed to a man dressed in plain colored military fatigues with shin high boots and a wide rimmed steel helmet. He wore bulky light brown webbing around his torso while holding a wood and metal magazine fed rifle with a bayonet attached to its barrel with a holstered sidearm at his waist.
"This is what the average infantryman serving in the Brythonia Army looks like, they're equipped with Dust based weapons so nothing so unfamiliar with that as well as being trained in basic bayoneting and close quarter combat primarily using knives. Most if not all of the professional soldiers will have their Aura unlocked while the levies it will be more sporadic with less advance gear overall but regardless treat them as competent combatants, I'll see to it that a basic breakdown of unit structure and known weaponry gets passed out later."
"Now then to address the more complicated answer." Jaune said as the image changed to two people who looked completely different than the first man. On the left was a person with plate armor on their arms and legs with a chest plate over what seemed to be leather underneath it. While he also seemed to be wearing some sort of beaked helmet and was armed with an unfamiliar long bladed spear with a small disk of metal separating it was the haft of the weapon.
The other person was also similarly armored though the helmet was much different as it was open face with a protruding rim on top and flared out neck. They sat on a strange armored bike, except it had no wheels with small curved wings fixated on the bottom half with a long narrowing conical nose with two barrels sticking out of either side while the rider held what looked to be a jousting lance with hollow metal neck that led to a sharp point but it seemed to be tethered to the odd looking bike.
"What you see here are members of the Brythonian Dragoons or just Dragoons these are the elite units of the Brythonian Army, nobles trained from a young age in the art of combat, some of them opt to fight as neo-cavalrymen on these, jetbikes or Sky Hunters. They're fast; nimble and well equipped with two weapon systems with a noncombat operational range of around one hundred kilometers and a max altitude of one thousand feet. They have inbuilt twin linked heavy machine guns chambered for Dust rounds that fire a mix of Burn and Ice rounds but the primary weapon is the Thermal Lance, a weapon derived from one of the few ancient Knight walkers they have in their possession, those massive walking war machines that you may have seen at Beacon, though while these lances are on a much smaller scale they are still very deadly." Jaune said before the screen changed to show a video.
It was in a large field; the person recording panned around showing a group of Arcadian officers and richly dressed people watching a mostly empty field. About a thousand feet away were a group of dummy targets spaced out; it soon became clear that this was a demonstration video of the Dragoons as the camera panned over to watch as six of them soared towards their practice targets firing their heavy machine guns as they hurtled towards than passed them.
Pyrrha had to admit it wasn't a bad showcase despite being limited in its intent. They had been around eight hundred feet in the air as well while being at least a mile away before closing in on their targets fast enough that they covered the distance in less than thirty seconds while staying in formation and accurately putting shots on target.
The video cut to what looked to be an unfamiliar tank that stood motionless; from the far right was a mounted Dragoon who hovered a few meters off the ground with a lance that glowed at the enlarged pointed end. Pyrrha watched as they flew forward before passing to the side of the tank the lance tip ripping into the side of the tank leaving a glowing gash a few meters long in its side.
There was more to it as well as the camera panned to a second tank, the same Dragoon came to a stop the lance vented some sort of gas or steam from its rear before it began to glow again. Pyrrha noticed the small jump in footage which to her meant that there was a recharge factor between usage which would be covered by the bike's fast and agile nature. When it seemed to reach an peak glow they were all taken aback as it was lowered and the lance shot a beam of energy that hit the tank in the side. Pyrrha could see that the shot had penetrated the side armor as it left glowing hole in it like the other tank.
"Not only are they dangerous with their vehicles but they're also have capable infantry as well called Foot Knights, having their Auras unlocked at a young age before training and then forming units to fight on the ground. Though they don't have power weapons or power armor so the fight should be in your favor but don't expect it to be an easy one." Jaune explained and a few more hands rose up before he pointed to a man.
"Sir, from what you're saying it seems like Brythonia has a strong state and military but then why are they so small and need our help?"
"Well for one the Dragoons don't form the bulk of their forces at most they are around three or four thousand strong. Their main Army numbers around ten thousand fully trained infantrymen, a number that normally would be sufficient to guard their borders from Grimm or bandits. That number can then be raised closer to fifty thousand however that additional number relies heavily on levies most of whom will be semi-trained individuals that might be able to fight skirmishes maybe even small battles but as it scales up they'll hit a wall in capability fast. As for their Armor contingent aside from the Dragoons they possess eight hundred Main Battle Tanks of their own design with a little less than a thousand Cruiser Tanks and Infantry Tanks though they should only be able to field around four hundred tanks at most with at most a six hundred Cruisers and Infantry tanks." Jaune said before continuing.
"This however plays an important role due to the fact that when the Arch-Knight Lac started his rebellion he had the support of the Army behind him taking most of the professional soldiers and a lot of Armor with him on top of a decent chunk of the levies who followed their Lords and Nobles. At the same time a lot of those Lords that rallied behind him also hold the allegiance to most of the Noble Dragoons and Foot Knights so he has roughly half their elite fast attack, elite infantry and the bulk of their trained and semi trained army which they of course used to attack the other half so the Loyalists were weakened even more hence why they need our help." Jaune explained before frowning as he began to rub his chin, the Huntsmen and Huntresses looked at each other as the silence stretched on before he nodded to himself.
"The third and probably most important thing is a little more complicated. There is a reason why Brythonia has been and is a small player in the world; they have things that happen to them that are truly troubling as much maybe even more so than the Grimm." Jaune said as he looked over the crowd before his eyes found Pyrrha's and he nodded though she suspected more for his own sake than her.
"I know or at least assume you all remember the Grimm Wyvern that appeared during the Battle of Beacon." This brought a lot of murmurs and more than a few were getting worried with what may come.
"Then I know that you are all aware of how it was killed." Jaune said before continuing, the implication starting to sink in.
"Brythonia is surrounded by lands that contains creatures or beings who roam freely, hostile to both people and Grimm. They do share the same characteristic as the Grimm in wanting to kill every person they can get their hands on but they're also intelligent so they know when the right time to strike and no doubt we will be seeing them either as we travel into Brythonia or during our time there." A few people raised their hands up and Jaune pointed to one.
"Sir, what sort of creatures are we talking about? Are we going to face another Dragon?" This brought a lot of murmurs from the assembled group.
"I can't really give a good answer to that since everything we know about Dragons is found in legends or myths. Which I know you make be thinking that clearly they're not but that doesn't mean we can trust what we thought we knew before. That being said we're not entirely clueless on the subject as a whole however I feel that it would be more appropriate to hand this particular topic off to someone who is more familiar with this subject, Areto." Jaune said stepping away from the podium as the armored woman stepped behind it before the screen behind her turned to show an oddity that no one there save for her had ever seen before.
Centered in the image was a three meter tall tree like creature with unnaturally long arms and a bleached antlered skull. The odd creature seemed to have one long arm raised, in its long fingered hand was a strange looking sword with a wooden handle and a blade that looked to be made out of a glassy black rock of sorts.
The image seemed to be from a helmet as they could see that this was taken during a battle in a wooded area with light fog. In the background they could see Praetorians and other odd tree creatures frozen as they fought; the person this image originated from was in the process of moving their sword into position to block the incoming blow.
"What you see before you is something that is called a Dozorca; they all generally look the same, trees formed in the shape of people with variations only coming to their skulls, the appearance of the wood or their weapons. As far as we are aware of they've existed as long as Man and Faunus have been on this world. We believe that they are tree or forest spirits who have risen up to correct what they see as an imbalance in the forests of the world which to say is that they want to purge not only us but the Grimm as well for the disruption of nature as they see it. They can't be reasoned with and they will kill you every chance they can get. Most Outland Villages suffer their wrath in small forms such as disappearances of those that wonder into their territory or children going missing at night but if a village or town starts growing too fast or just gets plain unlucky then there is a window of time in which it is likely to suffer a nightmarish attack that can come in various forms. The most common relates to what I said before about disappearances but instead of people who wondered away from their homes we've found villages with room for hundreds of people vanish without a struggle. The second form is far more violent, the bodies of the slain are left hanging from where they were killed, new trees seeming to have sprouted out of nowhere used for this effort to hang the dead. If you get caught in a fight you can win, they can be killed like other living thing but remember this they're stronger than they appear, I've seen soldiers with their Aura unlocked get ripped in two like a baker with dough. There are other things out there, fewer in numbers but just as if not even deadlier than the Dozorca but we'd be here for the better part of a day talking about them." Areto said before stepping back as Jaune came forward again.
"With that ladies and gentlemen you now have a better idea of what we're dealing with for the time being, I'll see about getting permission to share more information with you but for the time being treat it as a need to know basis. We make landfall in less than an hour, see to your gear and be ready to muster with your battalions as soon as you disembark." Jaune said and the room began to empty slowly as a few Huntsmen or Huntresses asked some other simply questions either about Brythonia or regimental questions the latter of which he suggested that they ask the Battalion commander they were with. He only suggested that as a way to encourage more dialogue amongst the officers of the regiment.
"I think that went rather well." Jaune said looking over his shoulder at Areto who shrugged though the gesture looked odd in her armor.
"Perhaps but I fear they may not have all taken the warnings seriously."
"There isn't much we can do about that, even I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. If it hadn't been for Sanian or well the freaking Dragon at Beacon then I would have found this hard to believe as well."
"I doubt that, we all took the news about the Daemons and Gods fairly well." Ruby said from the side where she along with Pyrrha, Ren and Nora sat watching them.
"Plus we saw those things in the Hurin Valleys." Ren pointed out.
"When you mention that I guess it doesn't seem so odd but to think that there's really that much we don't know about the world even in this day and age is kind of concerning when you start to think about it." Nora said before they lapsed into silence each one of them lost in their own thoughts about what might be in store for them.
The Next Morning…
Ren watched as the 3rd Regiment of Joint Task Force Sanus prepared to move further inland. Yesterday they had docked at a place called Port Plalem, a sea side town that was apparently the only harbor that they could safely dock and disembark. To the southwest was a long stretch of lightly forested land while to the northeast as well as straight east was a line of tree covered hills.
Rumors had begun to circulate that the Rebels had struck farther north than their contested realm. Capturing or destroying any viable ports while patrolling the most likely coastal spots that a hostile force may use to land.
Jaune then relayed information to him from Heim and the Regimental staffers that this meant they would have an extra two days to their journey before they reach the Brythonian Realms along with the added danger of getting ambushed by the Rebels.
So now Ren stood on top of his designated vehicle, a Tauros modified for long range reconnaissance. The top mounted heavy weapon was replaced with a telescopic device that apparently double as a range finder attached to the thick curved metal gun shield as well as being equipped with a high powered long range vox set capable of reaching any vox caster within thirty to forty miles.
Below him was Nora who was loading up boxes of ammunition both for his weapons as well as Magnhild. Nearby was their third crewmate, Hilda Autumn. She was unclamping a long hose that connected to a nearby fuel truck, the third year Beacon Medical Student had signed up to join with the Huntsmen Company both as a fighter and medic.
Since she didn't have a team she was paired with Nora and Ren who had opted to join the Regiment's Mechanized 4th Battalion. The three Beacon students were then given lessons for about four hours a day in simulation machines of how to manage their vehicle while they had been at sea. Ren was certain that he could operate the machinery but he knew that anything beyond basic functions or operations would be beyond their means of dealing with.
"So when are we going to leave? We've been here for over a day." Nora said from below as she closed the side compartment of the scout vehicle.
"We should be leaving soon, the Regiment is already forming up and the supplies should be about done being loaded." Ren explained.
"It's also why they wanted us to top off the tanks of this thing." Hilda added before walking the hose back to the truck, it soon rumbled away as it had finished supplying the entire Reconnaissance Company of the 4th Battalion. Including them there were a little more than forty vehicles along with five Salamander Command and Reconnaissance tanks.
The order of movement for the Regiment had been the following; the 4th Battalion was to take the lead in a loose formation to cover the front of the regiment in a loose line followed by the 1st and 2nd Battalion who would cover their flanks with their own light armor. After them was the Regiment's precious supply contingent which would inhabit the heart of their soon to be massive train of men and machines as well as the supporting Self Propelled Artillery Company with the 3rd Battalion bringing up the rear with the bulk of the Armor Battalion.
"Oi! Listen up kids." A voice called out and the three of them turned to see a man walking up to them with his helmet in the crook of his arms.
"Yes Captain?" Ren replied recognizing the company commander.
"Lie Ren is it? Well I came here to check to see if you three were set to go, orders came down from Battalion, the Regiment is on the move and we're to take point. So hop in I want to make sure you aren't inept at this or I'm going to leave you behind for the other Battalions to babysit you." Captain Bastiano Salvi said as Ren climbed into the little spot behind the telescopic range finder, he strapped himself in as Salvi climbed up the side. He watched Ren as he ran over the small check list that he had posted on the inside of the gun shield powering up the range finder and long range vox.
"Well it looks like you're not useless, good work. Do you have your beads set up?" He said touching at his neck referring to the throat microphones they had received since they didn't wear helmets. Ren nodded so Salvi hopped down to inspect the vehicle knocking on the various compartment doors that housed their personal supplies along with the vehicle parts or repair kits.
Ren at first had found the man to be a little rude but he quickly learned that it wasn't a genuine dislike but merely how the Captain was to everyone. Yet Ren also knew that it could be worse, Ruby and Pyrrha both spoke regularly that some of the Captains along with a lot of the rank and file of the Regiment still harbored a relatively small dislike of them despite the success of their integration plan of the Huntsmen.
"Alright, you're all set; you have your call signs set?" He asked looking at Ren, referring to the other small sheet they had that which listed the names of the battalions and commanding officers within them by numerical value starting with Jaune's command section.
For sake of clean communication most of the Beacon teams of students still retained their team names. Where they simply added a number to signify which of the four members they were supposed to be which then was logged in the Regiment's logistical and tactical flow before being distributed amongst the officers.
For them however with Jaune placed in his own separate command section Hilda was technically their new fourth member taking his spot while Pyrrha still retained her call sign despite riding with a different unit.
"Alright, here's the formation." Salvi said as he dug around in a small pouch on the side of his waist before handing it to Nora who showed it to Hilda, the only one amongst them to have a driving license as such given the task of driving them.
"Keep up but don't get in the way of the other drivers, Huntsman Ren since you've got the scope the moment you glass anything you light up the vox." With that said Captain Salvi walked away though it didn't take more than a few feet for him to start yelling at the next trio of soldiers who were getting berated by an Enginseer while a second was under the hood of their Tauros.
It didn't take long however for the company to get ready and before Ren knew it the first vehicles began to rumble off.
Ren felt a pit in his stomach form as the Tauros rumbled to life beneath him, six other vehicles moved out before Hilda followed them as the ever increasing convoy moved through a distant set of wooden walls where a gate lay open for them.
Glancing over his shoulder he could see a growing cloud of dust being kicked up from the vehicles as they moved away from the town. The most surprising thing of it however was the noise he could hear of hundreds of armored vehicles and tanks made when bunched up like that.
He looked ahead again blinking away some of the dust that was being kicked up more thickly as they began to pick up speed into the unknowable Outlands.
Thirty Six Hours Later…
Ruby brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face; the steady rumble of the troop transport truck had finally stopped being annoying. At first it had been a fun experience to sit in the front cab of a truck laden with soldiers on the move in the Outlands.
After an hour however the constant bump of the dirt road started to bug her till she had finally become numb to the sensation. Even when they took their first break Ruby's backside still felt relatively numb.
She looked out the passenger window to see the column of vehicles they traveled with, most of them were also trucks laden with troops but she could see the occasional truck that had only two soldiers near the rear opening to keep an eye on the supplies they carried.
"How far have we made it?" Ruby asked turning to look at the driver, a corporal by the name of Merle Schwann.
"Well we're making good time so I'd say another day at most including breaks barring any unforeseen circumstances before we reach the outskirts of Brythonia but I would need to look at the map first before I make a solid guess."
"That's good."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"I mean, you're from the Four Kingdom's right? I thought you people would have a great deal of aversion to battle?"
"Not true, we just prefer to fight the Creatures of Grimm than people. Plus I was at the Hurin Valleys this fall and saw fighting there."
"Really? Did you just fight the Grimm?"
"No." Ruby said feeling a little uncomfortable at the memory of it and the two of them lapsed into a long silence before Schwann decided to break it.
"It's a funny thing killing a person for the first time." Schwann said and Ruby glanced at her.
"Funny? That's not how I would describe it."
"Well I guess funny isn't the right word but there's something to it when you're in the moment, it's surreal."
"Yea before the Hurin Valleys I think that I couldn't really kill a person, sure hurt them really bad if they attacked me or someone I love or if I got seriously anger to the point of no control but killing had always seemed like such a final solution to a temporary problem."
"Had?"
"Yea I guess now in light of everything I've seen there are times when finding a peaceful situation or an alternative solution just isn't easy or even right."
"I once read a quote from the High Lord when I was in school, I think it was something like, violence is man's most tried and true solution to problems that it can't handle with words or money." Schwann said solemnly before looking over at Ruby.
"And I can tell you that I believe those words more and more as time passes." Schwann said before slapping the steering wheel.
"Like come on, look where we're going? A bunch of crazy fucks are essentially killing their neighbors cause some greedy fuck wants to be in charge, if that doesn't require more than a few heads to roll than I don't know what else to do."
"I mean, have we considered that they might have a legitimate claim or concern about their current state."
"Look Ruby, you seem like a good kid but I don't think you really understand that people are just shitty."
"No I get that but that doesn't mean I want to accept it as the first and foremost answer to everyone's actions."
"Fair enough but you'll be surprised how often that it does come to that." Schwann replied and Ruby couldn't help but feel that there was more merit to what she was saying than what Ruby was comfortable with accepting wholeheartedly. At the same time an old part of her didn't like the idea of harming another person, sure they might do something bad but that doesn't mean that they're completely bad. To her people were capable of doing as much if not more good than they could ever do bad things, Areto likes to call her naïve but her gut always said that it's better to save a life by having them to good than to take one.
"Hey, Ruby, focus up." Schwann said snapping her fingers and Ruby realized the corporal had her helmet on.
"What's up?"
"Stop daydreaming and listen to the vox." She snapped back and Ruby shook her head as she looked at the vox set that was built into the dashboard.
"All Elements this is 1-Actual, standby to receive." A voice called spoke through the speakers and Ruby recognized Jaune's voice.
"All Elements be aware that 4-2 has picked up unknown Victors twenty klicks west by south west they are moving to intercept, break, all Elements tighten it up and watch your sectors we might not be alone out here." Ruby looked out the passenger window however the only thing she could see was more trucks. So she brought up Crescent Rose which had been resting upright between her legs before rolling down the window.
"Hey what are you doing?" Schwann asked as Ruby unbuckled herself.
"I can't see anything from here so I'm gonna ride on top for now, let me know when we're in the clear." Ruby said as she climbed out of the window before pulling herself up to the cab rooftop.
Ruby had to consciously make the effort to keep her mouth closed as she knelt on the rooftop, mainly because the last time she didn't when driving down the road a bug had gotten into her mouth. Looking straight ahead and behind her was a long stretch of vehicles that rumbled rather nosily down the bumpy dirt road.
However to either side of the ill kept road were long trenches deep enough for an average height man to hunch forward to avoid sticking his head out while wide enough to fit a troop transport.
Beyond that there weren't a lot of trees or shrubs that would conceal a large force waiting to ambush them. Still she reckoned that the caution that was issued must have had some merit as they knew that the Rebels had fast attack units.
Even still Ruby reckoned that at the current moment that no one would be foolish enough to attack such a large group of armed and armored soldiers. Even the Grimm would probably leave them alone until they felt ready to attack.
Looking to either side of them Ruby got a good look of the land, to their left was mostly clear grassland with some shrubs and a few lonely looking trees. To their right however were some more robust patches of trees with other types of bushes. The longer Ruby looked however the more she felt unease so she lifted Crescent Rose up; its tiny optical popping up but she didn't look through it as they weren't going fast enough.
Ruby however wasn't expecting the troop transport to come to a sudden halt nearly making her lose her balance, soldiers began to make noise and it took a few moments for her to realize that they were getting out of the trucks.
While other trucks were pulling off towards the left down the small slope before the ground evened out. A few of the escorting Tauroses began to spread out with their mounted guns turning to scan their surroundings for targets.
In the distance Ruby could see something glinting, her unease tripled as she stood up to look through her scope at the glinting again. She could see what looked to be a motley dressed group of soldiers uncovering what looked to be gun emplacements.
"Get down!" A soldier shouted at her from the road as Schwann revved the engine pulling the truck left as well as Ruby jumped down.
There was a series of loud thumps before at least a dozen explosions ripped across the ground. Ruby pushed forward while squads of soldiers rushed down the right side of the road, she got down onto her stomach with the soldiers.
Another volleys of shots rang out and Ruby winced as one of the Tauroses exploded as a shell struck its side in a tiny flash of fire as the engine combusted. Someone began to scream while others were calling for help. The other Tauroses began to peel away either heading up or down the road as shots followed them with the troop trucks either moving away from the area by going down the road, reversing or pulling off to the other side.
Next to her was a Lieutenant who was holding up a monocular in one hand while in the other was the handset of a vox caster.
"Break, Break, 2-2, I repeat 2-2, this is 2-2-Bravo we've got enemy anti-tank guns firing at our eastern section nine hundred meters out, I repeat, nine, zero, zero meters. I count at least twelve guns. Over." The Lieutenant said as Ruby climbed up to peer over the side of the trench just as another salvo was fired, one shell hit the ground a few meters away from Ruby and something hard struck her face make her stumble back.
Two soldiers were immediately over her asking if she was okay but she gave them a thumb up as she shook the ringing out of her head before sitting up rubbing her forehead.
"Ow." Ruby muttered and one of the soldiers nodded as if understanding.
"You got unlucky kid, took a rock or shrapnel hit to the fact it looked like."
"I'd say she got luck since she's not dead." The other retorted.
"Alright, listen up! We need to draw the attention of those guns and cover the trucks." The Lieutenant called out, just as he said that another cluster of shots boomed this time however there was a bone shaking boom as one of the shots hit a truck ripping apart the front cab in the subsequent explosion.
"Shit on a stick, Hacket! Baro! Pass the words, smokes on my mark then we advance by squads." The Lieutenant called out over an open short range vox channel before looking at Ruby.
"Huntress, I don't have anyone with Aura in my platoon so you're on point. Get ready!" He called out looking at Ruby as she unfolded Crescent Rose much to the surprise of the two soldiers who had looked over her making them move back a dozen steps.
"I'm ready!" She called out as a few shells racked across the ground sending gouts of torn up soil into the air. Soldiers began to throw smoke grenades over the lip of the trench, Ruby soon heard the popping hiss of them going off and with that the Lieutenant crawled up over and she followed him.
"Keep going as far as you can! Pop smokes after we clear the first set." The Lieutenant called out as they advanced across the ground, Ruby didn't break away from them at first opting to stick close as dozens of soldiers ran in a spaced out line across the relatively flat ground. The distant guns began to pick up their fire, a few shots landed amongst the advancing soldiers sending them flying sideways or flooring them instantly.
Ruby widened her steps outpacing the Lieutenant. Once she was about a dozen feet away she picked up even more speeding closing in on the enemy position, more of the shots began to be diverted towards her but with the help of her semblance she shifted left or right in short burst covering a dozen meters at a time as she continued forward.
She was vaguely aware of the Lieutenant calling for her to stop but she ignored him, people were dying and she knew that she could reach the gun position in a short time.
As Ruby got closer more and more shots were fired at her a few passing dangerously close to her as she shifted side to side avoiding the incoming shells. While she avoided getting hit directly she felt the not so gentle pricking and push of shrapnel or the concussive force of the shells going off near her. Still it wasn't long till she was less than a hundred feet from them where she was able to get a close look at them.
There were about thirteen gun emplacements, with relatively short barrels crewed at most by three people while using trees and the shrubs as cover. Though looking at it from a close distance should that it was pretty obvious they were there since the guns had surprisingly high profiles. In the back was a large stockpile of shells in the center with lesser piles of used ones by each gun.
All in all however there were forty people; Ruby twisted Crescent Rose around firing a few shots to help propel her first to the side then into the air as she charged them. A number of the men looked at her in awe but many more were getting their sidearms or rifles out to fire at her but it was too late.
She landed behind one of the guns, spinning around she slammed the back end of Crescent Rose into the nearest man and she ignored the audible crunch as people began to shout. Spinning aside her scythe slashed at two more men nearby who carried a pallet of shells making them spilling the ordnance.
Twisting her scythe around she slammed it into a man with a handgun aimed at her head sending him sprawling to the ground before dashing forward with her semblance while spinning using Crescent Rose to hammer aside two more people who fell limply to the ground.
She moved backs towards the guns jumping over the closet one before sending the tip of Crescent Rose into its barrel puncturing it inward Ruby knew enough that despite it being still usable a backfire or blow out was risky. So she decided to make her way down the line of guns attacking the crew then damaging the gun in some form or fashion.
However the more she did so the more they bore down on her, she had already felt the painful punch of bullets hitting her before firing back her own rounds but the weight of fire was greater than what she could manage even if she used her semblance to speed her actions up.
She didn't need to worry about that however as her goal of distracting the enemy allowed for the Arcadians to come down on them. Five Tauroses roared in, four of them used their mounted heavy stubbers racked across the enemy soldiers; Ruby winced as she watched one man practically come apart in a cloud of gore. While the fifth, equipped with a light caliber autocannon attacked the guns as well finishing them off for good.
It didn't take long for the remaining enemy to throw down their arms either to surrender or run away. The Arcadian soldiers finally caught up, teams of them gathering the discarded weapons while others tied the hands of the people who surrendered behind their backs after searching them for tools or weapon.
"That was a reckless thing you did out there Huntress." A voice said and Ruby turned to see what she assumed was the helmed Lieutenant again.
"Maybe but no less dangerous than what you were doing as well but we distracted them didn't we which was the point of it." Ruby replied but the Lieutenant shook his head.
"Yes but we were only going as far as we needed to get into firing range but you went on without us while we're on flat ground making it hard to cover you without hitting you." The man moved closer to her. Ruby felt a little uncomfortable as the helmed man seemed to watch her.
"Don't break formation on your own like that, for now you got lucky but if you went down then we wouldn't have been able to help you without putting ourselves at serious risk." He said before turning away.
"Consider this your official reprimand when I make my report to Captain Pryde." With that Ruby was left standing there alone unsure of what she should do next.
Later That Night…
Pyrrha stood on the crest of a small ridge, the regiment had come to a stop for the night. Though she heard Heim and Jaune arguing about whether they should continue going for a few more hours or not.
Colonel Heim had insisted that they should continue moving to catch up on the hour they had lost after the ambush earlier that day saying that if they stay to close to the incident site then they would be inviting more danger. Jaune had countered by saying that if they tried moving at night their visibility would be cut by at least half making it easier to be caught in another ambush.
In the end Jaune ordered the Regiment to halt but increased the amount of night patrols, so now Pyrrha stood on a small hill where she looked out into the darkness where she knew the regiment was hunkering down with orders to stay dark to avoid drawing attention. She was to assist with a platoon of soldiers from Colonel Heim's own company in the 1st Battalion to watch the grasslands.
They were good people; she had been travelling with them the entire time so far after they had left Port Plalem.
"It's fucking cold tonight." A voice said from nearby and Pyrrha looked over to see most of the platoon sitting around a large fallen tree. They had their helmets, vambraces and gloves off as they ate chemically heated ration packs.
"You're always cold you dumb lizard." One of them cracked back in response much to their apparent delight of the humor that escaped Pyrrha as they chortled loudly.
"I don't know maybe Lucia can help warm me up later."
"The only thing that's gonna get warmed up is whatever tiny piece you try to show me." Pyrrha shook her head as their raucous laughter brought one of the sergeants over, a woman by the name of Iris Hoehmann, down on them.
"Don't mind them, they're always getting into trouble some way or form." A voice said next to her and she looked to see Corporal Dennis Falkenberg standing nearby with his rifle hanging loosely from its strap around his shoulder.
"It's not a problem really; it just sort of makes me miss school that's all." Pyrrha said watching as the group of soldiers chatted lively amongst themselves.
"Aw, that's right; you were still a first year at Beacon weren't you?"
"Yea…we were just about to finish our first year then we'd only have three more years before we graduated yet now it seems like a lifetime ago when I was thinking about exams or getting to bed early for morning classes now I'm accompanying a regiment on its way to war."
"Yea life has a way of mixing things up, you end up becoming something that you never thought or even wanted to be in the first place." Hoehmann said as she walked towards them.
"So is there something that you wanted to be instead of joining the army?" Pyrrha asked and Hoehmann nodded her head.
"I remember when I was a little girl I wanted to study and become an Explorator." She said Pyrrha could hear the hint of wistfulness in the older woman's voice.
"An Explorator?" Pyrrha asked but Hoehmann waved a hand dismissively.
"I forget you're not that familiar with our culture, an Explorator is someone from the Mechanicus who tries to discover things in the universe, think of it like a more beefed up version of a surveyor or cartographer."
"That makes sense; we barely seem to understand the land we live on even now so having a group of people try to figure it out while we get distracted with the day to day stuff is important." Pyrrha mused but Falkenberg shook his head.
"You're close but there's something about that you don't really get."
"What's that?"
"She said the universe." He clarified and Pyrrha furrowed her brow in confusion.
"I don't think she gets it." Falkenberg said looking at Hoehmann who shrugged.
"So space exploration?" Pyrrha asked slowly catching on and the sergeant nodded.
"I loved looking at the stars as a kid, which is why I wanted to join the space program with the hopes of escaping or crafting a way to leave this world to allow civilization to grow unimpeded by the Grimm on Remnant."
"That's a tall order, the Four Kingdoms tried that but Dust doesn't work outside our atmosphere."
"We know but that isn't a big problem for us since we don't rely on Dust for a lot of our tech."
"So how come you're not exploring the stars or making spaceships?" Pyrrha asked.
"Money, aptitude, circumstance, honestly there were a number of reasons why I couldn't and didn't continue down that path." The sergeant said before chuckling at the expression on Pyrrha's face.
"It's like I said kid, life throws you a curve and sometimes you just gotta swing." Pyrrha nodded at this before turning to look out towards the empty grassland, the moon wasn't out and the few red lights the platoon hand on did little to alleviate the oppression of night had on her.
"Do you think they're out there planning another attack?" Pyrrha asked after a few minutes.
"The rebels?"
"Yea."
"Probably, the 4th lost sight of those vehicles earlier and it's safe to say that they might have been the ones to drop off those ATGs."
"I heard there were prisoners, what happened to them?" Falkenberg asked but Hoehmann shrugged.
"Above my pay grade." She said before the two looked at Pyrrha who shook her head.
"Sorry, I don't know anything about that either."
"That's a shame but I can't fault you for that it's a need to know basis for anyone not directly involved with the situation and the officers."
"Sergeant Hoehmann." A voice called out and the three of them turned to see two more soldiers walking towards them.
"Yes Lieutenant?"
"We've got orders." Lieutenant Julia Greyfallow said before gesturing them to kneel down as she took out a red lens light to shine on a map.
"Captain Grünfeld is pushing his entire Company out for a shallow patrol for about three klicks; we're going to be on his southern flank pushing until we reach this stream where we hold up for a bit until a detachment from Captain Keegan arrives. The 4th had already swept the area which shows signs of travel, the most recent tracks indicating that a number of wheeled vehicles have been using a bridge there to skirt around the main rounds, possibly being the route they used to ambush us earlier today. So we've got five minutes to get squared away before Grünfeld starts moving." With that the soldiers moved to get the platoon in order, Pyrrha didn't have much else to do other than check herself over. She had her new armor and weapons though still didn't have a real chance to test them in a proper fight outside of a few sparring matches with Ruby or Areto.
She had ditched flashy outfit from her days as a tournament champion opting instead to have a set of armor forged more appropriate for what she believed she was going to face.
Of course the first thing of note was the addition of more armor on her. Now instead of a metal studded leather corset she wore a full metal bronze colored cuirass complimented with pauldrons on both shoulders with long custom made vambraces on top of her elbow length gloves. She now wore a skirt that had been lengthened to fall further down over her armored legs as well while being fashioned with sharp pointed bronze colored scales on the outside with a hidden benefit along with her new bulkier vambraces.
Lastly where the two most difficult choices for her new look the first, while hard to think about was at least acceptable for intent, that being her new weapon. While still retaining her old three function pattern the overall design had change, instead of her Xiphos blade her sword took the form of a gladius.
Her javelin was more or less the same just with a slightly wider head meaning she had to shift her hands in finding its center balance in order to throw it. Though with the change of blade it actually had a little longer reach in that form.
The final but probably biggest change was in regard to her rifle where she upped the caliber by nearly a third. A tricky decision as it required her to reload more often while retaining less ammunition on hand while making her customary boost to her throws more powerful.
Aside from her weapon there was a much more sentimental choice of change when it came to her head piece, ever since she was gifted the circlet by her family she had always worn it even during school or regular outings.
So at first Pyrrha thought about putting it aside as a gesture of how times have changed but instead she decided to incorporate it into the new look she was going for, so with the help of Ilex Maron and Areto who had suggested the actual redesign, based on something called an Attic Helmet her circlet would be born anew.
The new addition of the helmet which would cover her had been forged around the circlet but the chain loops she had were replaced by a pair of cheek guards inlaid with two emeralds in the center of an elaborate spiral designed by Ilex.
So now Pyrrha was decked out in a new suit of armor with a new weapon that she still had no name for.
"Huntress?" A voice asked and Pyrrha looked to see a soldier nearby no doubt waiting to tell her that the platoon was ready to move.
"I'm right behind you."
With that Pyrrha kept Akoúo in her left hand with her new sword in her right as she followed the platoon. The fifty soldiers spread out in a loose formation with three squads spaced out three meters apart with two squads following behind another ten meters. Pyrrha took her position on the far right wing of their slow advance.
She might have found it difficult to walk in the moonless night but thankfully she had been issued a pair of night vision goggles during the trip that she could now slip on before her helmet for just this occasion. Though Pyrrha now had a better understanding as to why the soldiers wore their helmets as they had a number of functions to use in one convenient device.
It didn't take more than twenty minutes for them to reach their destination, in a relatively small grove of trees was the stream that they were sent to hold.
As such the platoon was ordered to hold both sides of the bridge while they waited for the detachment of Enginseers to arrive.
Pyrrha would be posted in between two fireteams on the far side of the stream to watch the dark woods for any signs of movement. It was during that time in which they waited for the Enginseers to arrive that Pyrrha noticed that they were being watched.
At first it had been an odd sensation, she could feel that she was being watched so she looked around and realized that aside from a five person fireteam there was no one there with her. So she began to scan the woods looking for any irregularities.
In the distance she noticed something between some trees; it took her a second to realize what she was looking at. At first she had thought it to be a trick of light or some animal that she happened to find but the longer she watched the more she realized that they were eyes of something unnatural. So she raised the goggles seeing what looked to be two green dots that starred at her, she lowered the goggles again.
"Hey, I think we're being watched." Pyrrha said as she turned to address the fireteam near her.
"Are you sure?" The fireteam leader, a corporal, asked though Pyrrha couldn't remember his name off the top of her head as she looked back to point at the direction of what she saw but wasn't surprised to see that it was gone.
"They're gone." She mused aloud but she didn't feel any better by that fact as the corporal moved to her side.
"What did you see?" He asked and Pyrrha described the eyes.
"Vorlen here, the Huntress might have spotted a Dozorca." The corporal said over his helmet's vox, Pyrrha waited as the corporal talked it out before nodding one last time.
"Roger that." He said before looking at Pyrrha.
"Good eyes there Huntress."
"Yea wouldn't want one of those assholes sneaking up on us." One of the soldiers remarked.
"Shut up and watch your sectors we're not alone." The corporal said before turning back towards the bridge as if looking for something.
"Alright, the Enginseers should be here in another five minutes but we're pulling back onto the bridge for now." With that Pyrrha waited as the soldiers began pulling back by fireteams, she only moved with the last one as they walked back halfway back over the bridge before stopping.
Four of them dropped down onto their stomachs, two of them setting up Assault Stubbers to cover the shrouded woods ahead of them as Pyrrha knelt behind them ready to come forward with her shield to cover them in case something came out at them.
Nothing happened, the Enginseers came and Pyrrha watched as they began putting down explosives both in the water as well as under the bridge before setting up signs that indicated the area had mines in it.
After that the platoon escorted the Enginseers back to the main camps, they would take their position back on the hill and take turns watching. When Pyrrha finally was told to get some sleep she found that it eluded her, the feeling of being watched had yet to leave.
By the time morning came she ended up surprising most of the platoon by already having her stuff stowed away none of them knowing that she hadn't gotten an ounce of sleep.
64 Hours Later…
The Regiment would continue traveling through central Sanus. Yet even after the ambush and the relay of information about being watched at night as Pyrrha hadn't been the only person to spot or feel eyes watching them, they would do so mostly in peace. Though the day before the 4th Battalion had a small running skirmish with a pack of Beowolves but other than that they had nothing to fight.
As such with no real interruptions, the little less than six thousand strong force was finally able to catch up to their original schedule by arriving at the northern passes that separated them from the Brythonian realms. If they had the time to spare Heim and Jaune both agreed that it would be best to avoid travelling through the mountains.
They were both well aware that a motivated enemy or the Creatures of Grimm could wreak havoc on a stretched out line with no cover or decent maneuvering room when on a mountain path. Yet the nature of the few days of extra travel time had already been ill omen of the situation at hand that the enemy was aware that reinforcements would come and thus wanted to delay or prevent that from happening no doubt.
Already they were technically the attacking force in this situation which meant the longer they gave the Brythonia rebels time to solidify both their martial and political position it would push the odds of winning even more out of their favor. With no real choice, the Regiment stretched itself out as it began travelling slowly through the mountains.
So now Jaune sat inside of his designated vehicle, a Salamander Command and Control Tank. The Salamander was an armored two unit tracked vehicle a little more than sixteen meters long meant for Regimental and Divisional level staff officers when on the move that differed from the rest of the regiment.
It was probably one of the more unique vehicles in the regiment by virtue of being the only one of its kind with them. The reason being the difference in capabilities between it and the more common Chimera Command and Reconnaissance vehicle used by most of the Army.
The Salamander was in no way a front line tank; in fact its overall design made Jaune think that someone in the Military made a bet that they couldn't actually make a version of a civilian Recreational Vehicle minus any apparent armament or real defensive ability aside from a few inches of high grade armor.
With no heavy weapon or need to store ammunition the Salamander had to room house a strategic command board to monitor friendly forces in real time while being able to mark then plot down known enemy positions or anticipated movements as well as their own on top of the multiple stations of long range vox castors. So excluding the five actual crew members the Salamander had room for twenty people, seven vox operators along with five strategic coordinators.
The command board would be fed data or have previously recorded maps of known regions where a display can track the vox signals of not only the battalion vox operators but even Company level units giving a better idea of the ongoing tactical situation in the field despite not being present.
Yet it had its drawbacks, if the company vox caster was destroyed their signal would be lost even if the unit as a whole was intact or if the signal was being blocked or crippled. A new vox caster signal could only be acquired if there was an uninterrupted data transfer that lasted fifteen minutes which in a battle was difficult to manage at best or quickly if they did a hard link between the devices but that required the vox caster to be physically there.
The second drawback was the static nature of the maps provided, while the maps do get updated it takes a long amount of time and effort for the data to be compiled then dispersed meaning any significant changes in the landscaped would have to found out the hard way.
But all that didn't mean shit to Jaune as he was still only half way through reading the user manual that Keegan had given him even after the three hour lecture on its uses. A part of Jaune was glad that he had a choice of leaving this to others as he doubted he would be of much use at it if a major battle broke out.
"You look constipated." Areto said from her spot near the rear hatch of the Salamander.
"You do realize there's a reason why you're not actually supposed to look over this stuff, this is Svangeirsson's job, his staffers are supposed to handle the heavier side of battlefield information that way you can keep an eye on the big picture rather than the details that's not even taking in account that you have your own unit to take care of during battle."
"True but I've got less than a company on hand to lead in battle if things get to the point where I need to commit myself into the fray then there are other things to worry about. Even then I want to at least have a working understanding of what they'll be doing otherwise I'll just be a drag on their attention. For instance that ambush, I didn't even know how to access the map charting functions to see which units were under attack."
"Even without that you acted in an appropriate manner, you order the Regiment to be on alert after receiving the information from 4th Battalion's recon units then when there was an ambush you alerted the Regiment of the situation in a calm manner before allowing the battalions to react accordingly. Then you've allowed Heim to give orders to the Regiment when the Grimm started poking their noses around us yesterday, you're doing fine in letting your officers handle the smaller details while you keep your eyes focused on how close we're getting to the borders of Brythonia."
"That's not the point." Jaune began but Areto cut him off.
"It is Jaune, I still don't think you understand that you're not supposed to be this involved in everything. Have some trust will you in those around you." She said and Jaune sat silently for a moment before looking down at his hands.
"You're right Areto, I'm sorry."
"As long as you're aware that you're not always right, then you don't need to apologize to me." Areto said as she stood up before walking towards him effortlessly despite the heavy jostling of the Salamander as it made its way over bumpy mountain trails into Brythonia.
"If anything I'm more worried about your swordsmanship. You haven't been training nearly enough as of late partly because you're so worked up about meeting expectations that I assume you believe your father has for you." Areto said and Jaune felt a flash of anger but the armored hand of Areto rested on his shoulder in an oddly reassuring manner.
"Command and strategic thinking requires a sharp mind. That is true but you forget that at your core you're a soldier and a fighter who needs to keep his blade sharp and his arm strong for the bloodshed to come." Jaune sighed before nodding.
"You're right."
"Of course I'm right, just because you only have a few platoons doesn't mean you can't be useful on the battlefield as a unit. The other battalions can have their own tactical objectives your goal would be to assist the unit with the most pressing strategic objective in which case even a few platoons in the right place at the right time can be invaluable." Areto said.
"Commander Arc?" A voice called out and Jaune turned to one of the vox operators whose headset in his hands.
"Major Bertran is on the line asking for you." He said so Jaune moved over to take the headset.
"This is 1-Actual." Jaune said as he lowered the boom microphone.
"Commander, Bertran here, my lead elements have eyes on a small town about twenty klicks out. It looks like there's an army unit there, looks to be a Brythonian unit."
"Roger that 4-1, standby." Jaune said before pressing the mute button on the vox caster.
"4th Battalion has eyes on Brythonian soldiers, allegiance unknown; alert the Regiment and double check the maps for anything we might have missed, possible camps or bases in the vicinity." Jaune called out before turning back to the vox caster pressing the mute button again.
"Interrogative, 4-1 can you determine their disposition?"
"Negative 1-Actual we're still too far out."
"Standby 4-1." Jaune said before he looked over at the group of officers studying the map, one of them looked up.
"Sir, it appears we're coming on a town called Alnerwick, what information we have on it suggests it's a traveler town with about three thousand residents."
"What are my options here do I tell Bertran to continue moving or to hold position for the rest of the regiment to catch up."
"I can't say for sure Commander, we need more time to dig up information." The man said and Jaune nodded.
"Alright 4-1 standby for new orders."
"4-1 ready to receive."
"Deploy your elements to scout the town to determine their allegiance, if they're loyalists then establish contact if they're rebels encircle the town until we arrive."
"Sir what if they attack us?"
"Then you have permission to respond with force but avoid pushing on the town itself to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties."
"Acknowledge 1-Actual, 4-1 out." With that Jaune moved to a different Vox Operator who handed her headset over.
"This is 1-Actual to all Elements standby to receive." Jaune said before waiting as a series of acknowledgments from the battalions as well as the support elements came in.
"All Elements be on alert, 4-1 has spotted an armed force garrisoned in a town twenty klicks from their position by the name of Alnerwick, they're currently moving into an observation pattern to identify these unknowns but be prepared to support them if fighting breaks out, however ROE dictates that we are not to push into the town unless they're declared for the Rebels and are unwilling to surrender so do not advance on the town proper unless clear evidence suggests that. If nothing happens then all Elements are to form on 4-1's positions once they've clear the mountains and maintain a perimeter until the Regiment is completely assembled." With that Jaune handing the headset back before looking at Areto who stood by as the staff officers in the Salamander got to work, Jaune watched in awe at how easy they made it looked as they listened to the vox traffic marking positions that were being relayed or indicated lines of advance of other units as they moved to take up position around the town.
"Jaune, I think it's time you got you got ready." Areto said softly as she stood next to him and he nodded.
There was no telling what was going to happen next.
You know what's the best kind of dump to take in the morning? Information dumps, which is essentially what a third of this chapter really was but oh well, work before play as they say.
I also decided to test out a new little gimmick if you somehow hadn't noticed at the very start of adding in little memoir excerpts to preface the chapter, I might stick to it for just this Arc though so it probably wont be there forever.
Brownie points to those that figure out the theme I plan on using for this Arc of the story.
Anyway let me know what you think of this chapter, what worked, what didn't, I'm always happy to hash out thoughts or ideas.
Till Next Time!