Authors Note: Good grief three chapters in a month, what is wrong with me. Anyway more of a filler chapter but things are starting to go down.

Thanks for the reads and review, hoping you guys are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing this.

Chapter Seven - Louder than Words

Wilks stirred at the sound of the civilians outside tending to their grubby laundry. He hadn't expected to fall asleep. For most of the night he and Aidie had lain awake together, holding one another in consolation, comfortable in the silence around them.

He glanced down at Aidie's sleeping form, her hand draped across his chest as she nestled closely to the warmth of his body, her legs intertwined with his own. Her hair now a tight twist of curls over her face as she breathed heavily in slumber beside him.

He reached across and teased a strand behind her ear, she let out a slight moan at his touch and her eyes flickered into consciousness. He felt her arm squeeze his chest slightly as she acknowledged him.

"Please tell me it was all a dream," she murmured sleepily.

"I'm afraid not," he placed a hand against her back in comfort.

"Poor Tate," she seemed to be in no hurry to leave the warmth of his side, "his poor little children."

"I will do everything in my power to make it right for him, I promise you that,"

They lay in silence for a little while longer, listening to the civilians living their ignorant lives outside the bubble of their tiny shack. Wilks played his fingers through Aidie's hair, lifting it up and untangling the knots to drop against her shoulders. She let out a light sigh at his touch.

"I should have made him stay," she broke the silence finally, "he came to me. I could have stopped him, out of everyone, it should have been me. But he wanted to embrace civilian life and honour the Allfathers with his children. He would have listened to me, I should have called him an idiot and told him to stay."

"And how often has that ever worked for you? Unless you had some power over Tate that trumped Sofie, he would have chosen her. He always has. No I'm the one solely responsible for this, if I had reeled in my aggression we wouldn't be in this situation."

She thoughtfully traced her fingers across the scars on his chest through his t-shirt, following them by memory. His chest rose and fell as he watched her carefully before taking her hand in his to stop her.

"Do they still hurt, your scars?" she said quietly staring at their clasped hands.

"Why do you ask?"

She plucked her hand from him and swung her body round to sit facing him. Her legs folded around her as he hoisted himself to a semi sit beside her.

"I just keep wondering how long it'll take Tate to fully recover from his injuries. If he even recovers at all."

He thoughtfully shook his head, "you can't put a time frame on these things. The physical is one thing, getting him out of the woods is the first challenge, then helping the scars mend over time. But I don't think you ever fully recover from the emotional and mental damage."

She let out a slight gasp in response, as she blinkingly gazed across his own marks over his face. He had never really seen her scrutinise them before, like she was working out how she could fix him from this revelation. But he knew this wasn't the time, he didn't want her pity. Desperate to deflect her concern elsewhere he continued.

"My injuries were nothing compared to what happened to Tate, whatever attacked him was calculating and vicious. They took away his manhood then killed his children in front of him, what Locust has ever done that?"

She shook her head, "none."

"Which means we're dealing with some horrific human beings,"

"How do we respond to this?" she asked, diverting her attention to something more productive.

"Our first step is to work out if we can retrieve the women, getting Sofie back safely to Tate is all that matters now,"

"Would Burn even let us?"

"I'm not going to give him a chance to stop us," he told her decisively as he heaved himself off the bed, "Tate and Sofie are our family. No matter what, we're going to get them through this."

They stood in a room as the tension sizzled against the walls. It felt like they had been there for hours arguing their next step. Burn pacing back and forth so much he had almost created an indentation in the ground where his heavy footsteps had thundered. Wilks on his feet for so long gesticulating wildly, his arms aching. Voices were raised in anger and grief as they both argued their point across so aggressively that those listening had no clue as to whose side they should actually be on.

"So you're saying what exactly?" Wilks demanded of Burn for what seemed like the hundredth time, "we leave the women to be brutally tortured by whatever did that to Tate?"

"What if they're Locust Sergeant?" Burn bellowed back, "shall we just leave our gates open for them. Who knows if they followed the kid back. You saw that Ticker last night, they're still out there. And we have our hands tied enough with the Lambent each night. We can barely defend the village from one enemy what are we supposed to do with two?"

"So we're expected to allow whatever happened to Tate and the women and not retaliate," Wilks responded, "I can't stand for that Burn and you know it."

"And you're suggesting we leave this village completely undefended and at the mercy of whatever may attack it,"

"I'm not saying that,"

"But you are implying that you plan on going after whatever attacked your friend," Burn swung himself round threateningly to Wilks, "You forget yourself Sergeant. You are here under my control. You have very little say in this matter."

"Oh come on Burn, this again!" Wilks strode towards Burn and the pair sized each other up again, the others in the room stared back silently, "So you'll just let those women go missing and do nothing about it. Tate's girlfriend is amongst those, I'm not going to sit back and let that happen."

"They took my wife and daughter too," Burn let his words hit its intended purpose, Wilks shook his head in disappointment.

"That should be more of a reason to go, not less,"

"This is not up for discussion Sergeant, your role here is to act as protectors for this village. I am devastated for these women but as the leader of this village I will make my own provisions to find them in my own time. We need you here more than they do,"

"That's where our opinions differ Burn,"

"If you don't like it, you can leave," Burn pushed Wilks that one step further in the hope that the Sergeant would fully understand his role in the village.

Wilks' response was not what he expected.

"Fine, we'll leave," he turned towards the door striding confidently away, "Cam, Miles, Aidie, with me. Assemble yourselves by the gate, we're going."

He stopped himself as he opened the door, turning back to Burn, "You need us more than we need you."

As he left the room Aidie leaned across to Cam in confusion, "should we be following him?"

Cam patiently held his hand up for her to remain seated, he had grown accustomed to the classic Wilks tactic. Although it had been the father's go to move previously, it was the first time he had seen the son perform it with such finesse. Somewhere along the line Wilks had suddenly become the professional Sergeant, rather than the reckless lad he had been used to following.

It was Archer who made the move that Cam had been waiting for.

"Sergeant wait!" he called, abandoning Burn's side to head after him.

Burn watched him go with a look of betrayal, "Archer?"

"They may be your wife and daughter but they're my family too Burn. You keep forgetting sometimes that in your quest to protect everyone in this village you neglect the ones closest to you," he gesticulated to the three Gears sitting dumbstruck at the side of the room, "you taught us to hate the COG for a good reason, but these people, they gave us the tools we needed to protect our village. Let them save our people before there is no one left to protect."

Burn and Archer stared at each other silently for a moment.

"Archer can we have a word in private?"

His second in command nodded obediently as his leader led him to his private chambers, slamming the doors behind him.

"Hmm, interesting," Cam responded thoughtfully as he took to his feet, "that went better than I expected."

"How so?" Miles asked following them into the street.

"Well Burn may be the leader but his priority will always lie with the village. Archer is something completely different. Archer has the knowledge we need to scout the women and he has access to the weapons. If anyone will sway Burn, it's Archer."

"So what do we do?" Aidie asked.

"We let 'em hack it out between them," Cam indicated towards the weapons building, "lets get ourselves prepped, so when Wilks makes the call we'll be ready."

Wilks sat at Tate's bedside in the rudimentary recovery room. Half of him had been wrapped up with strips of bedding in lieu of bandages. The medics had administered a strong dose of self made painkillers to help him cope with the shock of his injuries. He drowsily gazed over at Wilks with his swollen eye and reached a hand out with the remnant of his fingers. Wilks cupped them in his and closed his eyes.

"We're going to get your Sofie back Tate, you just rest here and we'll be back with her before you know it,"

"They were human Olly," Tate quietly croaked confirming Wilks' suspicions, "those monsters that took the girls. They were human."

"Shh," Wilks squeezed his hand slightly.

"My beautiful babies," a tear escaped down Tate's cheek, "my tiny little ones."

"I am so sorry Tate," Wilks felt a lump form in his own throat, "if I could bring them back to you I would. I'm doing the next best thing, I'm getting Sofie back."

"She'll never want me now, look at me, I'm a monster,"

"Nah, a few rugged scars add to the allure," he said with a strained half smile in an attempt to lighten the moment.

"You think so?" Tate didn't sound entirely convinced.

"She loves you Tate, she'll be happy to be back with you," there was no point reminding Tate that she had dumped Wilks even before she had seen the damage after his accident. He just hoped that Sofie loved Tate enough to see through the destruction.

"You were right all along," he wept, "I couldn't even protect my babies from humans. I'm such a failure."

"Oh Tate," Wilks fought back the lump, he wasn't going to cry, he couldn't, "I should never have said that. I am sorry. I'm so sorry. You are no failure. If anything I don't stand up to comparison. I should have been there by your side. You should never have done this alone."

"The sick bastard," Tate grumbled to himself as he suddenly gripped his friend's hand, "he wore a Locust Skull over his face. Twisted in the head. It was as if he enjoyed hurting me so he could hear Sofie and the kids scream in response. He cut me Ol, he cut me and enjoyed it. I'm half a man."

"Never Tate, not to me,"

"I keep hearing Sofie begging him to stop and her screams. Oh god her screams as he beheaded our babies in front of us. Even little Tyrus. I failed them, I failed her."

He started to cry again, his body convulsing in sobs so much that the nurses rushed to attend to him.

"I'm going to get her back Tate, I promise," Wilks uttered firmly as he prised himself away.

He left the room, glancing back through the window to watch the nurses pin him down through his seizures, injecting him with a cocktail of drugs to calm him. Wilks took a few steps away before he dropped to a seat in the corridor, put his head in his hands and sobbed.

It took a few minutes to bring himself round. He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair before taking to his feet. He let out a heavy breath, reminding himself the reason he was continuing as he exited the building.

Archer had been waiting for him outside. Adorned with a double shoulder holster equipped with Boltok Pistols, round his waist hung a homemade utility belt with different tools and weapons attached.

"Going somewhere?" Wilks asked him, eying him up and down.

"Burn caved, I am at your disposal,"

He nodded thoughtfully, "Okay. We're leaving in ten, get yourself ready and say goodbye to anyone you love."

He watched as Archer jogged down the streets towards his home. He continued his journey to the gates where his squad dutifully waited for him. They were clad in their COG issue armour, aside Aidie who had adapted the protective plates to her practical Sniping needs.

"So Archer is coming," he announced to them, but they already seemed privy to this information, "You sure you want to join us Aide?"

"What kind of question is that Ol, of course I'm coming,"

"You've seen what these bastards can do, we can't carry you if you aren't able to do it,"

"Since when have my abilities been in question?" She asked curiously, "You personally supervised my training. Two years ago I may have been inexperienced at handling myself, but can you say the same now?"

As if to answer her case she picked up the armour plates that Cam had left on the floor for him and assisted Wilks in attaching it over his shoulders, clipping the pieces in place where he may have struggled. It had been a while since any of them had worn their adapted plates in the heat. She then attached his holster to a strap across his thigh, sending a sly smile up to him as she did so.

Miles nudged Cam as the pair observed them in fascination, "wrapped around her finger."

"Don't make me punch you Miles," Wilks commented as he cleared his throat in an attempt to draw his attention from her.

"Besides," she continued to reaffirm her case as she handed him his Lancer, "they wanted the women didn't they and I don't see any woman here except me. The way I see it, I'm your way in."

He assessed her carefully checking her readiness based on how he had prepped her. Her Longshot was attached to a sling on her back, an adapted utility belt hung loosely around her hips to holster her Gorgon and three pouches with ammunition. Inside her calf length boots, around her ankle, she had strapped a knife. He had spent a long time perfecting and tweaking her abilities as a Gear to suit the specific needs within his squad. Tate had even originally been set up as her training buddy and spotter during the long gruelling nights. As she stood before him now, he had no excuse to keep her back any more.

"You are right, of course," he nodded, "I don't think we could do this without you."

Archer took the lead, pressing ahead towards the Allfathers sacred ground in the hope that they could track the women by assessing the scene of the attack. He had predicted that if they continued on without stopping to sleep they could make the ground in just over a day.

"My sister; Burn's wife, has done the journey twice. She went this time to support her daughter because it was her turn to honour the Allfathers with the birth of her own child,"

"Seems like a stupid tradition. Baring yourself to a load of statues in the hope that you honour them by exposing your bits whilst you push out a watermelon sized human," Aidie commented dryly from the back of the group.

"And like that I'm gay," Miles responded quickly.

"It depends on how strong your faith is I suppose," Archer replied, as if he had gotten used to Aidie's observations, "My sister and I weren't particularly religious but when we met Burn's family the pain they had endured and gone through had led them to become devout Allfathers followers. You've seen what Burn looks like, how could you go through that and not find yourself in the same way."

"Well Wilks found a different kind of religion," Miles chirped, "I believe it was called Aidanism."

"You're an ass," Aidie leapt forward and tripped Miles up from behind.

"I'm surprised no one from Jacinto ever adopted those religious honouring,"

"Jacinto was the only COG stranglehold for a long time. If the COG had allowed civilians to embrace such an archaic religion they would have found a way to influence it somehow." Wilks responded with his reasoning, "Civilians generally put their faith in hospitals and the walls protecting them. My father never really encouraged a religion, he saw so much death dealt by humans and monsters he had already given up on a higher purpose."

"Why forego the comfort of a bed when you can bare a child on a stone floor in the open air," Aidie continued sharply.

"Yer overly critical of their beliefs Aidie," Cam noted.

"Yeah well you'd be critical of anything that involved you men having to expose yourselves in front of a statue for the soul reason of honouring a deity," Cam's expression fixed on her longer than she was comfortable, forcing her to elaborate, "I was brought up in a Compound that preached such beliefs, I've seen enough to know my opinions of it."

"Neither my sister or niece embraced the religion in all honesty, but they did it for Burn. He was there at the birth of both of his children and appreciated my sister all the more for it,"

Archer led them up a path which twisted into the cliff as they trekked above the main route towards their destination.

"Would you then Aidie?" Archer asked her as he stepped over a mound of rock.

"Would I what?"

"Whoever you choose to bare children with, if he requested, would you do it for him?"

"Who says that I want children?" she picked her way over the rock, leaping down from a particularly high chunk and landing easily on the balls of her feet.

"Really?" Archer looked back at her, "you surprise me. Even after everything we discussed?"

Wilks stopped mid step to glance over at Aidie, a little niggle of jealousy twinged somewhere inside him. He had assigned Archer and Aidie together on the basis that neither had seemed to get on with the other, this unlikely cohesion unnerved him.

"I'm not saying it'll always be off the table, it's just that I can't see myself raising a child and living like this. The problem is finding someone who understands that and shares my beliefs."

"Even if he wants you to honour your child to the Allfathers,"

She paused and gave him a sneaky smirk, "Touché Archer."

Cam nudged against Wilks as he squeezed passed him, "Careful, yer jealousy's showing."

Wilks shook himself round, "didn't realise I was staring."

Cam shook his head and tutted as Wilks caught up with him.

"Get yer head straight kid,"

The path inclined narrowly forcing the group to commence in single file, steadying themselves against the rock as their route reached an apex. Each one stopped to take in the Seran landscape below them, a vast expanse of destruction and acrid wilderness cast itself before them and all they could do was stare at it.

"So much desolation," Archer commented, "How could you destroy something so beautiful?"

"Hey, it's not like we personally flipped the switch on the Hammer ourselves. We were as shocked as you that Prescott resorted to such actions," Miles defended his people as readily as he had always prepared himself to be.

Aidie had pulled out her Longshot to scope the land around them. She had started scanning behind them first, to make sure no one was tracking them then shifted her vision along the gully below them until something caught her attention in the distance.

"Locust," she breathed, she lowered her sights to report back to her squad only to realise that they had continued on without her. Although she had been trained to keep back to scope for danger, it slightly annoyed her that they hadn't communicated it to her. She slung her Longshot over her back and carefully stepped down the rocky path as it started to descend sharply downwards. She had always been light on her feet, which she used to her advantage to fight against the crumbling path around her. She built up momentum, jogging uncertainly down the path till she had started to catch up with her squad.

"Incoming!" she called, knowing that her pace would be too fast to stop in time before she hit someone.

Wilks dropped to the back of the group and readied himself, he took hold of her hand and pulled her to him to take in the remnant of her pace to slow her. He took a few steps backwards to steady himself until she had drawn to a halt.

"You okay?" he asked, she looked up at him with a steady smile and nodded.

"Archer, please tell me you don't take the pregnant women this way?" she asked as she disentangled herself from Wilks.

"No they take the main route down there, its longer but safer for them," he responded from the front, "this route is much quicker, but more dangerous."

"I was starting to question your methods in all honesty,"

"You see anything back there?" Wilks asked, indicating to the apex behind them.

"Locust, in the distance, couldn't see much detail because it was too far for the sights to pick p. But they were definitely Locust,"

Wilks nodded thoughtfully, "Okay, worthwhile just keeping an eye on them every so often. Best keep our heads down and cross this cliff as quickly and quietly as possible."

They pressed ahead, following along the path which dug its way through the hill, the bank of earth had started to tower over them, years of silt and sediment had formed it into a tunnel. They entered the darkness until it brought them back into the open. Miles had taken over at the head whilst Archer had dropped to the back of the group where he and Aidie had been chatting and joking quietly.

"Wait!" he announced suddenly, causing Wilks to stumble over Miles. He made his way through the squad to approach a pile of rocks at the side of the path. Dropping to his knees to dig through the dirt to reveal a rope ladder. He picked up the knotted lengths, which had been tethered to the cliff to the left of them, and dropped it down the side of the ledge to their right. "We go down here now."

Wilks peered suspiciously over the edge, it was a significant distance to descend via an old rotting piece of rope. But despite his reservations he knew as their Sergeant he had to make the first leap of faith. Without speaking he swung himself over the ledge, gripping hold of the ladder, trusting it could take his weight. Unsteadily he lowered himself down allowing the ancient rope to take his full weight one rung at a time, the ladder swung and swayed at his rough handling and his stomach lurched. Finally his feet reached the ground and he allowed himself to exhale. He indicated for the group to follow him down as he held the rope ladder securely to aid descent. Cam was the next down, scaling the ladder like it was second nature, but then to Cam most things came naturally to him. He rarely let himself be controlled by fear. It would have made him a much better leader than Wilks ever could have aspired. Cam leapt the last few rungs to the ground effortlessly and brushed the dust down his shins. Miles and Archer shortly followed, as Aidie had insisted she scope the landscape beforehand to give them an idea of their location.

"Aidie said she saw movement somewhere down here," Archer told Wilks as he inadvertently took over at the foot of the ladder, "so we need to keep aware."

As Wilks unhooked his Lancer in preparation he couldn't help notice Archer assist Aidie to the ground with the final steps, his hand resting lightly on her bottom. He turned away quickly before he retaliated and did something he might have regretted.

Aidie held back as Wilks strode towards the others, she sent Archer a look.

"What are you doing?"

"Who me?" Archer sent her an innocent look as he twisted the rope ladder and slotted it into a crevice slashed down the side of the cliff.

"Oh come on, I know your game," she admonished, "leave it will you."

"Ah what's a little jealousy to spark things off between friends," Archer joked with a smirk, "you and I both know there's nothing going on. But he certainly doesn't."

"Archer, he's my Sergeant, there's a sixty percent chance he'd punch you,"

"I like my chances," he smirked and patted her bottom playfully as she walked passed.

"Touch my ass again and I'm going to be the one punching you."

"Too easy," he grinned as he followed behind her to the others.

The Allfathers Sacred Ground was nothing much to look at on first approach, an old ruin of a church with a large courtyard surrounded by archaic faceless statues. As they neared the structure the ornate architecture became apparent. The church, although it had lost the unique features once carved into every crevice, still maintained a vague resemblance to the building it had once aspired. A variety of plant life twisted and weaved through the slate grey stonework. It creeped through broken windows and covered the crumbling roof as undeniable proof that Sera was far from ready to relent to the destruction around it. Moss carpeted the courtyard in patches, thick and spongy to the touch. As if some mystical control had power the moss had ceased to grow the moment it reached the dried earth outside the grounds. Life flourished in this sacred area where everywhere else destruction persisted.

Archer took the lead to sit in the middle of the mossy stone circle to talk to the towering Allfathers. He glanced over at the others and ushered them to follow suit.

"Please humour me and kneel a moment whilst I request permission to enter the site,"

The Gears exchanged looks with each other, trying to figure out who would make the first move. Eventually Wilks let out a sigh and took the lead, positioning himself on his knees behind Archer, the others followed.

"Almighty Allfathers I plead to you to protect us whilst we honour you in this moment of tragic circumstances,"

"He knows he's talking to a statue right?" Aidie commented sarcastically, "Statues didn't protect Tate did they?"

Wilks glanced at her sharply, "Shh. You may not believe in these people's beliefs but we need to honour his wishes whilst we are in his place of worship."

"Busted!" Miles nudged Aidie in response with a grin. Wilks shot them both a look before he turned back around to listen to Archer.

On their knees they took in Archer's worship whilst he pleaded in a language no one had heard before. His voice almost sounded sadly melodic as he chanted to the deities around them. Eventually he switched to speaking in Tyran so they could all understand.

"We have suffered a tragic loss to our family and I ask you to help us to move onwards from this tragedy in a way that only you mighty Allfathers can help."

As they sat there in silent contemplation the moss started to grow warm as it rippled around them. Archer placed his hands gently on the greenery and stroked it with his fingers. From their positions the Gears could see the moss moving upwards along the statues and towards them in a motion no one could fully explain. They sat as tiny fungi started to rapidly grow around them, surrounding them in a tight circle. They looked around, trying to work out whether everyone was equally as dumbfounded as the other. A vine crept up towards Aidie and started twisting itself up her thighs and around her waist, its creeper tickled around her fingers and snaked up her arm, yet somehow she remained completely at ease with it. It grew a white flower which blossomed over her stomach. The petals dropped quickly to her lap as the vines retreated down her body and back to its original position around one of the statues surrounding them.

In what seemed like an eternity was actually over in minutes, leaving four Gears sitting in stunned silence. Archer quietly took to his feet once he had completed his chanting and turned to look at them, bursting into laughter.

"Looks like we've made converts out of you,"

"What... what just happened?" Wilks asked woozily as Archer helped him to his feet.

"Take a few moments to steady yourself, the first time always hits you the hardest," Archer assisted Wilks to sit on a rock.

"What was that?"

"That was the Allfathers expressing their pain at our situation. Interesting actually because I've never seen it show itself to non converts in a first sitting. It took a few times for it to reveal itself to me and even then I was sceptical," he turned to see Aidie still sitting on the moss with white petals around her, "Interesting."

He approached her kneeling down to check her over as she queasily gazed back at him. He helped her to her feet and guided her to one side, where she doubled over and dry heaved. He patted her back lightly as she vomited up bile.

Wilks staggered his feet whilst Cam and Miles watched in curiosity.

"Aide?"

"She'll be fine," Archer explained stepping away from her to give her space, "the spirits are always drawn to the women more, they always have more of a response from it than we do. I expect it's just triggered a natural reaction inside her. Give her a few minutes."

As they left Aidie to herself Wilks suggested they make camp inside the Church before they start the next task of tracking the women.

The Nightmares watched their fire burn in the darkness. Their Leader twisted a piece of meat over the flames, watching as the skin scorched in the heat. He drew the stick to his mouth and took a mouthful of bloodied juicy meat, the blood dribbled through the gap in his jaw down his chin and dropped to the floor. He wiped a hand at his mouth and shook the juices off his fingers as he took another bite.

The Commander, along with a small group of mercenaries, had led the women back to the Professor. She had suggested that her Leader create a trap to draw further inhabitants out of the village. He had set up camp a short distance from the church, watching every movement made in preparation for their ambush.

The Scout made his way into the heart of the camp, his mask had been a horrific combination of human and Locust skins stitched together. He made his way directly to the Leader and sat on the earth beside him, tipping his mask up to address him. The Leader offered him a shank of bloodied meat, he accepted it gratefully wolfing down the remnant and gnawing down on the bone until it snapped in his teeth.

"Anything to report?" he asked, knowing full well the Scout had returned with news.

"As you predicted," he said searching around for a mug of liquid to wash the meat down, he wiped messily at his face and continued, "the fool walked straight to the gates, led me right to them. They sent out a group of five. I followed them through the canyon and they are camping at the Church for the night."

"Five? That's all they sent out to fetch back their women?" He almost felt offended, "They could have at least made it a challenge. Do they care that little about their female population?"

"The four of the five are Gears, I'd know that armour anywhere,"

"Makes it more interesting,"

"One is female,"

"Now that's more like it," he leaned forward to address the rest of his men, "gentlemen, sleep well because tomorrow morning we shall be slaughtering ourselves some Gears."