章節 79: Quelling The Uprising
The northern marches, a frontier with no one else but the wild and those who were brave enough to trek to a dangerous and unforgiving hellscape.
Creatures of Grimm never ventured to the northernmost tip of the continent of Solitas, finding it even more inhospitable than they could handle. Even with evolution bringing an advantage to their survival.
Outside were the never-ending nights that kept the north blanketed in an unending pile of snow, with only small vestiges of settlements that braved the harsh winds.
Of these was one of the last remaining Council members that could muster resistance to the new dictatorship that gripped the country, Ash Veneer.
Unswayed by the promises of a bigger living space by the new leader, he had thought it was a crime for the new leader, Weiss Schnee, to seize control.
In his hands were his most precious treasure, not one of jewels or wealth but a simple picture he had that mellowed his heart and soul.
Meeting and eventually settling down was a monumental decision. In the end, he followed his heart and kept her close. Eventually, they both moved to the capital and he pursued a political career.
His sweetheart and the love of his life gave him the knowledge and will to improve the lives of those outside the protection of Atlas. It was troublesome considering it needed a majority in the Council.
Thankfully they all had made sense and decided to invest more in the security of the villages far off from Atlas' borders… up until that day he would always remember.
He stared and smiled as he swiped the image clear of any dust that settled. He had done it over and over, feeling the film in his fingers. He didn't have a digital copy; he wanted a physical connection.
But the thought went sour, his chest ached from the heavy pressure of guilt and sorrow. Because this woman, the girl he had given everything to, was already dead.
It was natural causes, a chill that turned deadly, or a fever that was predicted to settle. May it be stress or the environment, it didn't matter because, in the end, it was too late.
Ash stood up and brushed his coat from the wrinkled edges, his eyes were darkened from the last few days of constant exhaustion. He walked to the door and swung it open in a sluggish way.
"You look worse than yesterday."
He turns to his left, a woman maybe in her middle age at worse had her arms crossed as she walked towards him.
"Violet, you know very well that I have a good reason to. One of the villages I promised protection is now going to be a risky battleground. Weil has no reason to trust that man even when he promises his aid. No one gives anything without asking for something back."
She shook her head, not in outright denial but with a hesitance to the matter.
"It's not like we have a choice. Our finances are already dipping once that Schnee wrestled control over what we had in Atlas and Mantle. Also, call me by my first name. What's so hard about that?"
"My wife would appreciate it, I personally don't like making her uncomfortable, even if she doesn't ask for it." Ash spots a glint of metal that grabbed his attention. "What's with the gun?"
He points to the handle peeking out from a holster behind her, secured in place by what looked like a belt. In response, Fera takes it out and stares at it.
"When dealing with life, I compare it to a good financial decision. There's not always a guarantee of getting what you need after a disaster. In the end, it takes a bit of insurance to make the most of it."
"Insurance?"
Her mouth pulls to an uneasy look, like seeing a person you don't like but you force yourself to tolerate their presence in front of them.
"They won't take us alive; I have a kid that I want to keep safe. After what Watts made us do to give us a fighting chance, I can't let them target my family. Sorry if this offends you, but I still have something to lose."
"So, you'll fight?"
"No, I'll die by my own hand than surrender myself to them. It's better if they know they can't get anything from me. My son would be left alone as long as they can't hold him hostage for anything I might have with anyone else."
"They definitely won't let us go back to living our lives. We had attacked them the first time in a gamble that was… foolish. Then again, we were at our last option."
Fera returns the gun to its holster as she readjusted her coat back into position.
"Come, Weil is calling for us. That last attack was successful but it'll be inevitable that they would retaliate."
A village of previously only a couple hundred now housed what would be the center of what they thought was the next grounds for a rebellion. They had the support of the others but everyone was distrustful - even among allies, the shroud of doubt was already seeding itself to sprout.
It was less of a bustling metropolis but more of a desperate action by those who wanted to flee and fight against tyranny - though this was only one of the interest group's goals.
Ash walks with Fera as towering masses of white trudge their way through the haphazardly made base. The Paladin, many donated seemingly out of no cost to them.
People were busy after they fled to this location. As dozens expanded the buildings, many were armed and posted to guard the further lines of fortifications.
The duo reaches the quickly built planning building, reinforced with steel and stone, the winds could do nothing to blow it down. It was a location presented as where their meetings would take place.
A knock on the solid wood door announced their arrival. The guards flanking the side recognize them, either as a sign of laziness or complacency of procedure - none of them even stop to check who they were. A side effect of making soldiers out of civilians.
They step into the halls and find the door at the end, Ash puts a foot forward inside as he enters to room with a creak from the door.
"Ah, there they are. We shall start soon, details are on your paper. All of you will see what some of you have put forward as we begin."
The room was filled with tension but everyone knew that they only had one choice left. They had reason to meet in such an isolated part of the world, confident of the speeding winds when the year was ending.
Ash sat down, with Fera to his right. He took one look at the paper and saw the first of their proposals - a full-on plan to arm the people in Atlas and Mantle.
"This is ludicrous!" One of the men said, a red headband on his head is what stood out from the rest of the conspirators. "Have you ever seen Atlas and Mantle after your stunt?!"
"This is why your generation is considered weak. What is there to fear? We can smuggle in guns if we wanted to." Weil responds.
Ash didn't show it but he agreed with the young man, though he didn't dare to challenge the one truly with power. Unlike him, Ash only had the support of villages that were isolated from defenses.
Weil on the other hand had shares and businesses that stretched from the entire continent to beyond. Most were ill-gotten from unsavory business practices and were put into offshore accounts to avoid inspection.
His head had a moment of pain surface, a headache for the specific thought.
'That's not true… even from the news, I can see they have tight control. The news I knew before never reported the good things, only the bad. It's blatant propaganda to let the people know everything is better with the Schnee.'
The young man stood up in protest. "Smuggling guns is impossible, they check everything from now because of your attack that cost them lives! We could have continued with the underground meetings but you lot had to screw it up!"
"Watch your mouth, boy. Who paid for the transport here? Who had paladins carried you around with that small squad you call your 'revolutionaries'? Me!"
"I have a question about that, Weil." Another man asked this time dressed more in line with a wealthy person. An Atlesian that lived on the upper echelon, Ash guessed.
"Why exactly are you committing orders from a mysterious man that even we don't know about? Is there a way we can trust him? How come we haven't been informed of this?"
"His help is needed, a donation that will benefit us. Newly acquired Paladins as he calls them, a wonder of technology that even Atlas tried to replicate."
"This is all his words, yes?"
"You can see for yourself what it can do. For now, all we have is to wait until we can build up the next coming months."
Ash raises his hand. "You are confident but is that truly wise anymore? As the young man had said, they are on high alert. I doubt they would leave us alone."
"Hah! Ash, you're a smart man - I do not need to tell you that a blizzard is not going to prevent them from using their VTOL here."
"…I guess so but when the winter settles down, how are we to even take back Mantle and Atlas?"
"We have been promised more materiel for our men. Other nations can also support us, like the one from Vacuo. Let's say that a certain individual has debt owed to me. As such we have an asset we can use. Other than what Watts has in store."
Ash read over more of the paper, details such as infiltrating the dual cities and sabotaging what they could before launching attacks. Though what he was involved in was the task of cutting food for the city.
"Ash, you still have the trust of the villages, I assume? With all of our assets combined with the economic minister, Fera - we have enough ways to fund and feed before we starve the Schnee's army."
The army, a horrible reminder of total rule. Ash had seen the broadcasts, although heavily distorted due to the nature of their CCT, he could see the broadcast of thousands marching along a foreign tune.
Not anything intimidating though, he only could hear the distinctive word of Erika.
With the local CCT receiver that could only receive and send info over short distances, everyone should be fully aware of the possible strength of the Wehrmacht.
'I can't help but feel hopeless… such a large army can't survive without imports but they have power that even the old Atlas couldn't match. How are we to trust Watts can deliver on his countermeasures?'
He tried to sigh but made sure to keep it in, just in case Weil took it as an insult.
'This isn't a joke, the last time war was considered that had been with swords, bows, and flintlock rifles.'
"Where is Watts in this?" The boy asked another question, Weil obviously was disgusted - another interruption made him clench his teeth. His patience was waning.
"No more questions? Good! Dismissed, we will look through rationing our supplies until winter has ended."
It was a rushed finish that Ash was fine with prematurely ending. He stood up hastily, leaving the chair screeching as he headed with Fera to the local store for some lunch. Nothing luxurious obviously but he can manage.
"Violet, is this all we could think of?"
"Maybe not, there was an option to flee all the way back to the other continents. We may risk getting stopped and searched by patrols but it's a decent option."
He stopped dead in his tracks, those words resonated within him until something clicked.
"Watts… do you think he already fled?"
"Why would he? Aren't you the one who said there should be a return for his donations? I'd assume he would stay here to ask for what he wants."
"What if he wanted us here? To make Weil think he and many others have a fighting chance…"
He had gone through a conclusion that many overlooked. "The Paladins… why give it to us? …Does he intend for us to be hunted down because of the threat those things present? No… I can't believe it."
"Why would he want us dead?"
"I don't know… I just don't want to condemn the original citizens here to death because heavily armed mechs are here. Who knows what the Wehrmacht would do? …Maybe, it's not that he wants us dead. Not everyone at least."
"…"
The silence penetrated deeply through their thoughts. It wasn't a perfect reason but just talking about how Watts, their beneficiary could have already run away.
They wouldn't know the reason why he left but he wasn't obviously here. Which begs the question of why Weil seemed so adamant to be allied to Watts.
"Hey, don't think about it too much. Let's head to lunch before everyone takes the hot stuff again."
"Yeah… okay." He worryingly responds.
~
The day was otherwise filled with nothing else but the incoming night that lasted longer than normal. They were almost at the north pole directly, so nights began at 14:00.
Ash headed back to the meeting place in order to discuss with the rest of the group how they would ration now that the others had arrived.
This time, it was even more suspicious.
It was already time for the meeting yet as Ash scoured the room he could only find a dozen rather than the original 30 or so.
"Where is half of the others?"
"Who cares? They probably got scared of this, no matter - we have enough manpower from your villages. We could muster enough even if the others pulled out of this alliance."
Ash felt his face turn red, a heated feeling reached him as he yelled at Weil.
"What?! I didn't say anything about this! I won't involve the villages any further by forcing them to fight! We needed the support of the others since they have more dedicated followers than us!"
"Ash, calm down." Fera whispers from the side.
"Well, Ash! I would've thought that you would be on board with this, considering I was the one to break the vote and allow your so-called security measures to be enacted within the Council!"
"That doesn't matter anymore, Weil. It didn't even come to effect, I don't owe anything to you."
"But it does, you expected to pay me back in any way as soon as I promised you my support! It is still in effect… or maybe you forgot the reason why your wife died so early?!"
"…What?"
"Ah." Weil had a slip of the tongue. "I suppose you should know, you were always so hung up on being honest. A little push was all it needed for you to finally try to receive my help."
Fera stood up, seeing Ash as he gripped the table in shock.
"That's horrible! If that's true why would you kill someone?!"
"I wanted more to my side, everyone needed to be in my pocket in the Council. Friends with others are always a requirement if ever I needed to push through more tax exemptions. Ash here was another piece I'd like."
"It was so close too, yet that woman of his always stopped him from accepting my help. I had her killed and framed it as just a normal sickness turning worse. He was so depressed and do you know who was there to help with his wife's wishes?"
"It was you…" Fera answered.
"Exactly."
"Why reveal all this now?"
"Because I will do the same to you two as I have done to your wife. You are more of a liability now. I can convince your villages easily, even without your help."
Ash had finally enough and raced to the side of the table. He stomped heavily as Weil stood up from his seat.
"You bastard! I'll kill you-"
*BOOM!*
A large explosion halted the argument and the sudden revelation of his wife's true nature of death was put on hold as an explosion rang out from outside.
"What the hell was that!" Weil rushed to the door and found the guards cowering with their weapons at their side. "What happened?!"
"The local CCT!" The scared guard points in the distance. The CCT was important for reasons already obvious to many, yet it now lay on the ground destroyed.
*BOOM!*
Another explosion happens, then another, and then another. It reached their ears and doom had been spelled out to them.
Ash was horrified, one after the other - the situation had gone from worst to downright disastrous.
"Where are you going, Ash?" Fera gripped him by his wrist as he tried rushing elsewhere.
"I can't leave them alone! Everyone in this village is going to get slaughtered I need to help with the defense!"
"That's a lost cause! We need to head for a way out!"
"No." he forced his hand free as he dashed for the center of the battle.
Fera saw his back getting further away as she hesitated to act, she made her choice as her legs moved in her chosen direction.
~
Ash made it to a scene he had been fearing ever since he saw the power that the Wehrmacht threatened. An inferno of multiple buildings, some civilian and mixed with their quickly made storage for the guns they would eventually keep.
There he saw it, a Paladin - laying on the ground with its legs blown out. The pilot is nowhere to be seen. He saw the carnage being shown to him in front.
Quickly made defenses of furniture were being destroyed as young and old tried holding the road. Gaping holes filled the bodies that had already fallen to the ground.
The lamppost he was leaning to creaked as more bullets whizzed past the lines.
He felt bile from his stomach raising, he vomits as he saw another soldier getting his brain ejected from his skull by rifle rounds that even he thought was too much.
Grimm was a primary target for guns, never a person ever since the late king of Vale prevented armies from being raised for the purposes of conquest. Such devastation caused by the bullet resulted in gore spurts that he had never seen before.
'What had happened?' He thought. The winds still blew strong, yet it was obvious an enemy had reached them in such a short time.
It was an impossible task, even driving through the snow was difficult for them to get attacked. No more than a day and a half since their attack was something he couldn't believe.
He discharges more of the contents of his stomach again as his fear tried to subsidize, then his face felt wet. He reached up with his finger at the spot. His shaking hand swiped the seemingly sudden water he felt.
"...Blood?"
Another drip caught his attention, and his eyes widen. With his mind telling him no, he looked up. The lampost was dyed blood that was unnoticeable from a distance.
He had been so distracted by the battle that he had tunnel-visioned on it. He saw a pair of eyes, or what used to be a pair of eyes.
It was the Paladin's pilot, hung over with his lower half gone and soulless pupils staring at him, his body contorted on the lamppost.
"Fuck!"
He vomits again, emptying what used to be his breakfast on the ground. He steels himself after such an event and takes control of the situation.
"Everyone! Listen! We need to retreat and not fight them with lines of fire! It'll expose you from their superior fire."
In a short amount of time, he had created some kind of response. It was obvious that simple barricades could do little more to stop such a powerful round.
If it was enough to destroy someone's head through a table, it was probably a bad decision to try and fight them.
Only, these soldiers of theirs weren't trained individuals. They got given a gun and asked to point and shoot, nothing more. It showed the true nature of warfare and how hopeless it actually was.
Seeing someone try to take command, their will already broke. As soon as someone tried asking them to fight even more, they did what they could only ask themselves to do.
They ran.
"No! I don't want to die-"
*BOOM!*
It had arrived, something that everyone feared when they saw the marches. Words could do so much to persuade them to resist Hanns' rule but they forgot that at the end of the day.
Words could do so little convincing when a gun was pointed in their direction.
Instantly being turned into a burnt mist of blood and bones, everyone broke rank and fled. Civilians around them cried and howled in pain as shrapnel or other objects were blown in their direction.
It wasn't intentional but civilians were an inevitable casualty in a town environment.
Ash did his best trying to usher who was left, he grabs the arm of a fleeing young man. He saw the horrified look but shook him to make him listen.
"Take off everything that may incriminate you of being a soldier, throw your gun away and ask some of the villagers here to give you asylum - tell them Ash sent you, they all know me around here."
The soldier nodded frantically and started removing old Atlesian helmets and other scrounged-up parts to make up the uniform he had.
Ash did the same thing to many, he wouldn't know if they would survive but he tried his best.
Paladins fell one after another as the tank finally reached the road where a defensive line used to be.
Ash took one look and left, the machine gunner of said tank recognizes Ash and told the tank commander who was inside at the time to call up their superior.
Ash ran, and he eventually came back to where they would be advised to flee. Small snow bikes that have a tarp over them to blend in.
But it wasn't there.
"They must have already left..."
Ash was alone he thought, his knees wanted to give out and surrender so that the village wouldn't suffer even more damage.
"Ash!"
He turned to the feminine voice. His words almost sealed themselves but he blurted out, "Violet? You didn't leave?"
"I followed Weil and some of the others, when we arrived here - nothing was left!"
He assumed his theory "The others already left, Watts probably knew this would happen..."
"We need to hide! There's no way we could survive wandering out into the wilderness."
"Hide? Violet? There's no hiding from them..."
She saw his disheartened look before forcefully dragging him by the shoulders and trying to carry him. "I won't leave you out here looking like that, if we aren't caught we could still have a chance!"
"Stop, it's inevitable."
"Screw that, if I'm going to get hunted down, I'll at least put up a chance to live before they find us! Would she want this, Ash?"
His heart pounded, the ringing in his ears began and a memory he would always cherish surfaced. His hand stops quivering and lands on his jacket, he took it out and felt the film for what felt like the last time.
"She wouldn't want this, I still have a promise to fulfill."
They both ran aimlessly until Ash had an idea. "I have a cellar in my cabin, it could work if we tried hiding it."
She nods but Ash sees her hand hovering over her back.
They reach his cabin, and the sounds of screams and gunfire still reach earshot. He peeks through the window and saw something happening that he wouldn't forget nor forgive.
A soldier breaks open the door of the house a couple of dozen meters in front. The soldier enters with several others as they usher out everyone somewhere else.
They search each one down to the detail. The final of the civilians gets patted down, only this time the reaction was different.
The Volkian soldier found it, a line of dust bullets strapped to the hip that the resistance soldier hid as a civilian couldn't remove in time and had covered with his shirt.
The civilians plead with the soldier but get shoved back to the building, a second later the barrel end of his gun met the head of the resistance soldier.
A single shot was all it took for the man to cease living. His body fell to the ground as the soldier moved on to the next building.
"Everyone is getting killed, if they find you with weapons we're done for."
He turns to Fera that finished moving around furniture, she got inside the cellar and told him, "We don't have much time. Get in."
He hurried over and blocked the entrance with a rug before trying to enter himself.
Ash felt his heart stop when the door slammed open, he turned around expecting the worst. "Weil?"
Weil was no more the distinguished gentleman he tried making himself as, he was tired and clearly exhausted. He pushed the doors in and searched the rooms as he arrived in the kitchen. Without another word, he saw the cellar and ran to it.
"Oh no, you don't!"
Ash yanked the again man away and pinned him to the ground. "I won't let you live without facing what you've done!"
"Ash! Don't! We might as well let him in! He's going to tattle when he gets caught!"
"Not if I kill him." He reaches over and opens a palm, asking for something.
"You... you're going to use my gun for it?"
"What else? The perfect disguise would be a killed Council member. Wouldn't this be better with someone so worthless as him?"
"We can't-"
"Just give me the gun!"
The sounds of gunfire approaching made them even more nervous, Ash forgoes the chance - favoring killing Weil later.
"Fuck, fine get this bastard in!"
All of them get inside and Ash reluctantly allows Weil to get inside. As they shut the door connecting the cellar from the kitchen. They all lay silent, among the beats of constant cannons going off, they listened closely.
*THUD!*
They hear it, the heavy footsteps of someone up top that searched the rooms. More and more enter, Ash counted 5 but there could be more.
Fera's hand took the gun in her hands. The footsteps came closer, she didn't know if she had the heart to do something drastic.
Her gaze landed on the trigger of her gun, her hand shook violently. As the thuds ceased, her heart rate couldn't be higher than it was.
She carried the barrel before pointing it back to her, her chin felt the coolness of the metal as her hand jittered from fear.
"Violet. Don't." Ash quietly whispered, wrestling the gun away but careful to disarm it in a way to not accidentally discharge it.
"P-mmph!"
"Shhh..." Ash quickly placed a hand over her mouth, he looked back to the entrance and quieted down.
"Are they gone?" Weil mentions.
'Idiot!'
*BOOM!*
A charge was already placed on the cellar's door. Men jumped down from the breach as Weil scampered away, holding up his hands toward the men.
The soldiers adorned in black aggressively knock Weil down, his hands were already in the air but something in them made their actions more tuned towards revenge.
"Gun!" one of them shouts.
They all aim for Fera who still had the gun in her hands. She aims toward the soldiers but the men don't open fire. It was a small caliber and everyone knew it couldn't even punch through their faceplate.
"Violet! Don't do it! Just put the gun down!"
Her eyes meet his as soldiers approached Ash and force him to the ground. He unwillingly knelt into position as he stared at Fera in tears,
"I'm sorry, Ash."
"No!"
She quickly turns the gun to her chin, Ash watched as her finger slowly pulled down on the trigger. Some resistance was felt but she forced it down, closed her eyes, and wept her last tear.
"Goodbye."
Ash was silent as he saw the gun leave Fera's hands and her body drop to the floor. The soldiers kept their hold on him as he silently stared at the scene.
"Shit, why didn't you guys shoot the gun off?!"
"No clear shot, we could have hit her instead."
"How am I going to explain this to the captain?"
"I don't know sergeant. Maybe, he'd be afraid to tell the Überkommandant about this too."
The sergeant sighed, he touched the base of his earpiece and tried contacting his superior. "We captured two of the Council members, one is dead. Suicide."
The man nods before signaling to his other soldiers, "We need to move, the Überkommandant still needs us to find everyone else on the list from the Gestapo."
This was how the day ended, a slaughter for the first time in centuries where a government actively hunted down other people.
It would be a day that never happened according to Torchwick. The public would never know what happened during that day, at least what had truthfully occurred.
For all they know, the Council fought back and some were killed in the crossfire. The villagers were all traitors and thus apprehended while making it seem like they were all radicals rather than normal people living their lives.
This was true even for team RWBY, who Hanns made sit out of the mission. He knew what this would result in, he wanted to spare them the thought. Though he was used to the slaughter the first time he killed Atlesian soldiers, such was the way of life.
Without a lens to tell a story through another perspective, crimes like these would never be told in a manner that villainizes the so-called good guys.
History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books — books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, 'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?'
In the end, the lives these resistance soldiers lived didn't matter. Their individuality, aspirations, and dreams were nothing more than a speck of dust in the wind as the Wehrmacht marched along the blood-stained tundra.
Forgotten and ignored, everyone had the same end when facing the end of a barrel.
Was this truly what it took for a better cause? The lives of a few hundred extinguished for the future of Remnant as a whole?
History would say yes. At least, in this version.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票