Author's Notes:
Alright before we start this off, I would like to make a few things clear first
1. This story was written with full approval of KenjiPark97, I've messaged them and asked them if they would allow me to make changes and adopt their story, they has agreed and given me full permission
2. I somehow have a life(ik crazy), which means that this story may not be updated often as is with many of my story but I'll try my best to do so
That is all and I hope you all enjoy this first chapter, Comments and constructive criticisms are welcome
They say War is hell
I thought I knew that fact when I left home, I thought I knew everything I needed about the war
I thought I was smart and capable and nothing in the War could stop a proud Arc when I signed up but it turns out I was just a fool like everyone else around me.
We glorified war and showered anyone who went to war with praises and songs but called anyone wise enough to refuse a fool and an coward.
War is hell, War is cruel and War is brutal. War is something we should never have to experience. But it isn't pointless
We faced and committed atrocity, so those we love wouldn't have to, we were hailed as heroes and saviors of the people and part of my mind thinks that maybe we were right, Maybe we are the heroes that our countries needed and maybe War wasn't that bad.
but in the end. We signed a contract and it will take it's price. The contract I made took my soul and almost everything I loved, War is Satan itself and surviving War is the hell I have to endure
- Sherman Arc(Veteran of the Mantle Uprising)
FWEEEEEEEEE
The shrill sound of the whistles being blown startled any sleep out of the young man clutching his rifle as he quickly affixed the firearm with his bayonet before peeking over the trenches, his heart almost stopped at the sheer amount of enemies charging at them. The vast stretch of land was almost filled to the brim with men in feldgrau uniform charging on as if they themselves had already forsaken the idea of surviving this encounter
And indeed they had as the machine gun fire and rifle rounds quickly tore into the waves of enemies, shredding the enemy troops and splattering the ground with gore, viscera and blood. Those who managed to get through the gunfire was skewered by the blades of Atlesian soldiers just as quickly, Few were lucky enough to fire off a few shots and take someone down with them. Most died before they could even reach the trenches
"Dear... god..." The man whispered to himself in horror as he watched on, completely oblivious to a wounded enemy behind him with a bayonet in hand preparing to take an innocent soul for the sake of his country and his own pride. And he would have succeeded if it weren't for the rifle round that embedded itself into his heart
"Be more careful Private, They taught you how to shoot, follow orders, and keep your rifles clean in training, but they never taught you how to survive on the trenches" A voice said calmly as the man fell to the ground, dead before he even slumped over in the cold wet mud, the private turned his eyes to the man who saved his life
"l-L-l- Lieutenant Arc, I- uh Thank you for saving my life sir" The soldier said nervously, he clutched the rifle close to him as Jaune stabbed the corpse to ensure the death of the man before rummaging through the man's corpse, Finding a watch, med kits and some packs of cigarette which he took before picking up the man's rifle and sidearm
"All in a day's work private... all in a day's work" Jaune replied as he walked off, Pocketing the cigarettes and med-kits before putting on the watch, He has lost his own a few day ago during another rush from the line, They were barely able to repel the push and he had been stabbed on his wrist during one of the fight. The only thing that saved his hand was the watch that he was wearing but when the soldier pulled the bayonet away, the watch went with him before he was obliterated by a hail of bullets
"Hopefully, I'd get something good for this"
"Pshhhh Mistralian-made, At least it'll tell the time" Jaune complained as he pushed away the tent flap to the "armory", An lazy looking man sat there polishing an Mantinese 1911 as he greeted the lieutenant with a small salute, Jaune rolled his eyes as he laid the bloody and mud covered rifle onto the table before taking a seat on the nearby box
"Oooo, Another Vacuoan Ironbolt? Nice salvage" The man said as he holsters the 1911 before picking up the dirty rifle and cleaning whatever he could off of the rifle before unloading the rifle and placing it into another pile of similar looking guns
"Any good trade for a Ironbolt David? you are the resident gunkeeper after all" Jaune asked with a smile as David rolled his eyes and picked up some spare ammunition before handing them to Jaune who took the ammo gratefully, bidding the man farewell, Jaune again pushed the tent flaps away as he exits from the
"Lieutenant." The calm and gentle tone that belonged to only one person on this battlefield startled Jaune as he almost dropped his weapon and newly acquired ammo, He quickly turned to the man who called for him as he pocketed the spare ammo into one of his pouches
"Major Ozpin, What are you doing here?" Jaune greeted as he followed the Major to his car and climbed in after the Major gestured him to do so, The roaring of the engine was all that Jaune could hear for the next few minutes as they travelled the unpaved road toward the main camp
"Lieutenant, We have orders to push the Vacuoans back" Ozpin said grimly as Jaune's head snapped towards him, Shock evident on his face as the young lieutenant begin to protest even as the Major started to try and calm him
"Sir, You know we don't have the numbers to push them back, We are barely surviving the artillery's and waves of Imperials charging at us every day. Charging back is suicide" Jaune protested as Ozpin's face hardens, It was evident neither of them liked the idea of sacrificing thousands of man to gain a few hundred feet of land like the imperials are trying to do
"Orders are orders lieutenant. you know that as well as me" Ozpin's somber tone made Jaune click his tongue angrily, Jaune knew that the Major was right and as much as he despised risking his own life, he hated risking his man's life even more and he would go any length to make sure he doesn't have to do so, even for a good cause
"So what are the plans? Blind rush like them damn royalfuckers been doing for the past month?" Jaune asked as the silver-haired major turned back with a glance before opening his mouth to let out a single word
"Language" Ozpin warned as Jaune snorted in amusement, He has shot and killed so many men on the frontlines and skewered any who got too close that weren't their own, Jaune was pretty sure that a few curse words should be allowed in his case even if he was tragically underaged for his role. The duo entered the Major's tent where two others were waiting for them
"So this is the famed lieutenant I was hearing about?" A gruff voice asked as Jaune's eyes flicked to the person, First thing he noted was the clean and freshly ironed uniform of Mantle that the man was wearing, The next was the medal and title attached to said uniform and finally the prosthetic hand that the man had. Signs pointing to the man either never been in combat or had already experienced enough to the point he lost an arm
"General Ironwood, To what do I owe the pleasure?" Ozpin drawled out sarcastically as Ironwood turned to stare at the man, rising to full height as he walked over to the Major and towering over the already impressive 6"3 of Ozpin as the two man stared at each other
"You know why I'm here Major" Ironwood said with a somber tone as Ozpin stared back impassively, The tension in the room steadily rose as Jaune prepared to jump in if a verbal fight ever broke out
At this point... I'm half sure Major Ozpin would just start swinging right here and now Jaune thought to himself nervously while he mentally prepared himself for both a new Major and a new headache but before any of them can say anything, A thud came from the table
"Gentleman, Gentleman, We have a war going on. Please stop wasting both our and their time" the feminine voice said exasperated as both Ozpin and Jaune turned over to see an older attractive woman before his eyes lit up in recognition, Lieutenant Colonel Glynda Goodwitch, Despite ranking lower than the General, It still seemed like she was the one in charge and giving out the command instead
"Yes yes, you are right Glynda. Very unprofessional of us" The general apologized and backed away towards the map as Jaune and Ozpin followed him to see the layout of the battlefield in front of them, Their own 15 mile stretch of land with trenches and craters on both sides condensed down to just 40 inches of paper, unbeknownst to Jaune, His fist curled as he stared at the map
"We are forced to go on the offensive, Our supplies are dwindling, Food is slowly starting to run out and at this rate. We are going to be sitting ducks" The General started as the other three listened on attentively, any previous thoughts was discarded as they laser focused in on the general and him alone
"And how do you propose we do that? With all of our forces? the High Council knows that pushing is suicide and any progress we gain will just be taken back" Ozpin stated as Ironwood's expression soured and with that so did the mood as Ironwood took an deep breath, There were no bitterness in Ozpin's words, only stone cold facts
"No, A full rush would simply wipe out all of our forces. so instead we'll bait them in, Act like we are retreating and ambush them when they advance" Ironwood suggested as Jaune's brows furled, He hated the idea, the idea made it sound so easy and the map made it seem so plausible but with what he's seen...
"it's not possible" Jaune voiced out his thought as the company present turned to him in surprise, he pointed towards several point on the "no man's land" an area of land that separates the two trenches, and the area filled with cover that could save hundreds of soldiers
"The No man's land isn't flat like this map would want you to believe, heck I would want to believe it but no, there's hills and craters from artillery's that the enemy can use to hid in, the planned ambush would take out five hundred at most, and the time to get to the Machine gun nests... it would take too long, before we can get back we would get slaughtered by the enemies" Jaune pointed out as the General and Major considered what he said before sighing
"Well what other choice do we got?" Glynda asked as all three man looked at her grimly before Jaune stared at the map again, unknowingly drawing the attention of the other three in the room as they waited for the Lieutenant to say something
"...I may have a plan... But it will take a hell lot of luck to pull it off" Jaune said with a grimace as the group started to strategize again, the sun already setting as night quickly approached but none of them would get a wink of sleep for the offense would soon be underway
"Prepare yourself private... You are about to get a glimpse of hell" Jaune whispered as he readied his bayonet, affixing it to his rifle as he watched the sun slowly rising in the horizon, the heavy fog and dawn would hopefully cover them until it was too late for the Imperials to see them, He felt a tap on his shoulder and Jaune quickly launched into action and hoisted himself over the trench into the dangerous stretch of land only 400 yards wide
"Let's go" Jaune said, unsure if he said that to convince himself or the private beside him, there were no whistle to indicate the charge and there were no artillery fire hitting them as he heard the sound of more than a thousand boots squelching and thudding as the entirety of the front is now charging at the enemy, all of them risking their life like their enemies the day before
The sharp whistle of the enemy finally pierced through the silence as everyone dove for cover, most managed to find some shelter from the hail of bullets that were showered their way, those who didn't were riddled with holes, Jaune barely managed to drag the private down with him before a slew of bullets flew over them and into their cover, he waited for the stream of lead to end before peeking over the cover to fire off a precise shot before ducking under another hail of bullets
"ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod" The private next to him muttered as Jaune took a deep breath before charging again, they were so close to the enemy trenches just a few more feet and they would get there, His heart pounding and his ears ringing. Jaune barely managed to reach the trench as he let out a roar of anger before he skewered a Vacuoan soldier, The man looked at him in surprise as his comrades found themselves in similar situations
"ATTACK, PUSH THEM BACK AND SEND THESE DAMN DIRTEATERS BACK TO HELL" Jaune roared as he kicked the corpse off of his bayonet just in time to block a strike from one of the closer soldier, Jaune barely managed to overpower the older man as he pushed the barrel of his gun far enough to fire off a shot and send the man's gray matter all over the trench
"FOR MANTLE AND FOR VALE" Jaune shouted as he skewered another man on his bayonet, it was chaos all over the trenches, Man getting shot and skewered. Others wrestling in the mud to try and overpower each other, Corpses already littering the trenches as other fight around or on top of the dead
"Jesus christ" Jaune muttered to himself as he quickly spun around to block a strike with his rifle only for the gun to be slapped out of his hand, he faced his opponent and paled as he watched the towering man with a giant club as he drew his own personal weapon, His rifle already shattered from the powerful strike
"FILTHY VALE SCUM" The man roared as he swung the club towards Jaune who quickly backed away, he had no way to get to the man and the man had only one way to swing the club, Jaune growled as the man raised the club again but this time he rushed in instead of backing away and slashed the dagger at the man's torso
"NICE TRY DICKHEAD" The man shouted again as he ignored the gash in his side and instead slammed his fist into Jaune's midsection, a flare of pain spread through Jaune's body as he was launched back a few meters, The powerful strike discombobulating Jaune as he groaned in pain with the soft wet mud covering his back
"Do you think you puny soldier can defeat me?" The man asked as he dragged the club behind him, the blood already staining his uniform red as he hefted the club up and raised it above Jaune, ready to end it once and for all as he smiled
"Good try but better luck ne-" the man never got to finish his sentence as Jaune quickly brought out his muddied sidearm, an Mantinese 1911 as he quickly embedded a bullet straight into the man's heart before firing another one into the man's skull, ensuring his death as he crumpled to the ground, the club landing just beside Jaune as he let out a sigh of relief
"...With a guy like him how does the front line of the imperials get fed?" Jaune asked as he heard artillery strikes starting to land, signaling the success of the attack as he quickly climb to his feet and ignore the aching pain in his stomach to see the imperials soldiers fleeing their trenches back as artillery tore them apart along with the scattered fire of his own man
"We won... hahah we won" Jaune laughed with disbelief as he stumbled towards one of his fellow soldier before something caused him to almost trip, he turned to see the private that he saved and commanded laying in the trench, blood pooling from his throat, his expression frozen in agony and pain.
"Oh you poor soul" Jaune whispered as he got onto one knee and sifted through the clothes to find the man's dog-tags before the still warm metal touched his hand, he quickly brought out the dog-tag and snapped the identification, his hand moving to clean the tag as he read the name
"Elias... You should have never been... FUCK" Jaune shouted in anger as he pocketed the tag, his eyes lingered on the corpse only momentarily before he picked up the discarded rifle, he was never going to use it again
I really hate this job